Hello all! I'm excited to be seeing all of you very soon!
@Viper466 has tasked me with arranging for the set up etc. at Expo.
Expo requires that we book times now to use the loading area. For obvious reasons they can't have all of the vehicles arriving at the same time. We are considered "orange zone" which means we have to load in between 5 - 7 Wednesday evening or between 7 am and 11 am on Thursday morning. I am booking @Viper466 in for a slot between 9:30 and 10:30. We MUST be loaded in completely by 11 am on Thursday. The show opens to the public at 4:00 pm on Thursday but I believe that VIP's get in at least an hour earlier.
To be safe, we are capping our set up time to 2:00 pm.
I know that there are a few others who have items to drop off.
I will need to book you a time as well. Please message me so we can work that out. Keep in mind - this is ONLY if you need to drop off the items using the loading area with a vehicle. If you can just walk the items in easily from where you park in the parking lot, we don't need to book you a time. You do need to bring them in at the back though, (marked in orange on the 1st map below) if you are coming in outside of the convention being open. Keep in mind as well that the Expo Centre has very strict rules about what can come in it's front doors, so when you bring in your costume - bring it in the back. They will not allow you to roll anything on those front floors. If you can carry it, easily, you should be okay. Normally this would be so easy - we'd have a change area to store everything and you wouldn't need to do that. However, they weren't able to give us that this year do to space restrictions. So we just have to do our best.
WHEN IN DOUBT - CALL/TEXT ME - 780-910-4737
We have exhibitor badges and the Expo has kindly given us this for free. The Expo has also given us the booth space for free. Given that, please, please, please if you can and you haven't contributed in other ways with builds of your own, throw some money at Viper466. He's posted an accounting of what he has spent, which, can be used time and time again for the group. If you have done a build - please discuss that with Viper466 so we can work on trying to even out the expenses across everyone.
As an aside, I need to remind all of you that you are representing not only Snowburner but the Canadian Regiment and the 405th as a whole while you are at this event. Please be on your best behaviour. Stuff is definitely going to go sideways and likely multiple times. So much of what happens at these events is out of our control and lots of times the information coming in gives us mixed messages and can be confusing. When this stuff happens, take a deep breath and reach out to me or to Viper466. Let us deal with whatever it is. We have to be kind to Fan Expo Staff and Expo Centre Staff. They are all just doing their jobs and what they are told. Please be kind to the other fan groups and to other costumers. I know it's easy to judge but remember, we all started where they are. We are ambassadors for not only the 405th but also for what costuming groups SHOULD be. Uplift everyone. The other fan groups around us are great people. We're very fortunate as that isn't always the case. Embrace the community and show everyone how freakin' fabulous this group is.
Make sure to put your best foot forward. Bring your deodorant and use it often but don't douse yourself in shower in a can. Wear 405th logo clothing or other Halo clothing while working in the booth and not in costume. If you have neither of those, don't worry. Just dress nicely in something non-fandom. Please make sure that you show up on time for your shifts. And check in often to see if we have a gap in coverage that we're looking for people to cover. It's so easy to let time slip away at a convention so make a point to keeping yourself to the schedule. Don't give club information to people if you aren't sure you have the correct answer. Remember no one needs a costume to join and deployment is not a requirement. We also have a tier system for deployment for those that wish to deploy allowing for a very wide range of builds being deployed. The forum is the home of the 405th. The social media assets are extra add ons so please direct people to the forums.
People want to see costumes so if you want to hang on in the booth in your 405th costume even outside of your shifts that's totally fine. However, be aware of what you are doing. If you're all standing in a circle chatting with one another, you're making yourself unapproachable and potentially blocking people from getting in to the booth.
Any questions, please let Viper466 or myself know. I'll be there Wednesday at 5:00 to get the badges and scout out our spot. We will be there for set up at 8:30 Thursday morning as well and can come out back to give you a badge as you arrive. Just text me and let me know when you plan to arrive. We are located in Hall C in booth 613. We are directly across from the Family Zone. On the other side of the Family Zone directly across from us is the Star Wars groups and on the end of our row is the Ghostbusters of Alberta. On that note, it's going to be LOUD. The Ghostbusters are generally very loud and I image in the Family Zone is going to be very loud. Because we don't have a charity with us, I highly recommend telling people that if they wish to donate after getting a photo with us that they can contribute at either the Ghostbusters or the Star Wars booths. There isn't much sense in us bringing in another charity to such a small area but we most definitely can help build the donations of the two that are there!
I know this is a lot and frankly I've likely missed some stuff. Please let me know if you have any questions!
