Sunday Lessons
Jean Sexton writes:
Ever gone to a con and wondered about how the booths are set up? Today I got a practical lesson in how to do that in reverse. Steve Cole was my instructor.
The rules of Origins are that you may not break down the booth until after the last customer leaves. We didn't break down anything, but we also didn't feel compelled to add more copies of things we sold as long as there were copies already out there.
At 4:01 p.m., the fun began. We had some boxes already packed by having consolidated our stock. We quickly packed all of our books and the unsold minis. The shirts were already in boxes and all we had to do was to add the lids.
Then Steve Petrick came back with the bad news: no big carts were to be had. That meant he would have to make multiple trips with the hand cart. That change in procedure meant packing the vehicle would be much slower and also meant that he couldn't help Steve Cole pack things up. Boy, was I glad I stayed to help them!
The tall magazine rack broke down into three parts, each with its own box. The clear magazine racks were actually six parts that had to be packed "just so" and then they would fit into three boxes. The boxed-up minis fit into the back of the mini display rack.
That pretty "tablecloth" turned out to be sheets! While Steve Cole went looking for someone (we'd accidentally missed a bag of stands that were supposed to go home with that person), I folded those sheets and the ones we'd used to cover the stock each evening. (Yes, the person was found and the stands sent to the correct destination.)
The big display stand behind the booth folded down into a very compact bundle and went into its zippered bag. The triangular shelves went into their flat box. Miscellaneous "stuff" went into a couple of boxes.
The two tables folded down and each actually folded in half with a handle for easy carrying. Then Steve Cole gave me a hug and headed out to supervise the loading of the minivan. I folded up the two chairs that belonged to ADB, Inc. and watched our boxes while Steve Petrick made a next-to-last trip. When he came back, he loaded the final boxes on the hand cart, gave me a firm handshake, and headed off to load up and head out.
I got my cooler (Steve Cole had already made sure that I felt safe about going off to my car by myself), my cat bag that holds the working copy of edits for Prime Directive d20 Modern, and my purse and set off on my lonely trip back home.
Ever gone to a con and wondered about how the booths are set up? Today I got a practical lesson in how to do that in reverse. Steve Cole was my instructor.
The rules of Origins are that you may not break down the booth until after the last customer leaves. We didn't break down anything, but we also didn't feel compelled to add more copies of things we sold as long as there were copies already out there.
At 4:01 p.m., the fun began. We had some boxes already packed by having consolidated our stock. We quickly packed all of our books and the unsold minis. The shirts were already in boxes and all we had to do was to add the lids.
Then Steve Petrick came back with the bad news: no big carts were to be had. That meant he would have to make multiple trips with the hand cart. That change in procedure meant packing the vehicle would be much slower and also meant that he couldn't help Steve Cole pack things up. Boy, was I glad I stayed to help them!
The tall magazine rack broke down into three parts, each with its own box. The clear magazine racks were actually six parts that had to be packed "just so" and then they would fit into three boxes. The boxed-up minis fit into the back of the mini display rack.
That pretty "tablecloth" turned out to be sheets! While Steve Cole went looking for someone (we'd accidentally missed a bag of stands that were supposed to go home with that person), I folded those sheets and the ones we'd used to cover the stock each evening. (Yes, the person was found and the stands sent to the correct destination.)
The big display stand behind the booth folded down into a very compact bundle and went into its zippered bag. The triangular shelves went into their flat box. Miscellaneous "stuff" went into a couple of boxes.
The two tables folded down and each actually folded in half with a handle for easy carrying. Then Steve Cole gave me a hug and headed out to supervise the loading of the minivan. I folded up the two chairs that belonged to ADB, Inc. and watched our boxes while Steve Petrick made a next-to-last trip. When he came back, he loaded the final boxes on the hand cart, gave me a firm handshake, and headed off to load up and head out.
I got my cooler (Steve Cole had already made sure that I felt safe about going off to my car by myself), my cat bag that holds the working copy of edits for Prime Directive d20 Modern, and my purse and set off on my lonely trip back home.
posted by Federation Commander at 11:46 PM
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