Pocket Program
First comments on Pocket Program (Pocket Programme/ReadMe)
As there doesn't appear to be a sensible guide out there on the web, I've thrown this together and hopefully the combined brains of Fandom will be able to knock it into shape.
The following information has been extracted from far too few online sources plus personal experience
Convention Details; Name, Dates, Location (including address suitable for showing to cab driver when trying to get back from restaurant after too many cocktails!), Phone number (for emergencies, so Ops/Comms/Hotel Front Desk)
Daily Schedules: Grid: Almost always a grid (unless this is being provided separately) organised either as Room Across, Time Down, or vice versa. Experience shows that it is easier to lay out in Room Across, but some people find it easier to read in Time Across. One idea is to leave an extra blank "room" so people can write in parties, meal reservations, gopher shift times etc. For the grid, consider how easy it will be to reprint with changes at the convention, and whether people will pull out the grid pages to carry around with them if the Pocket Program is too big, and design accordingly.
Text Lists : Program events by day, time, room, title, participants. It is possible to do a Pocket Program without any of these, but consider each one. It may be that the program event descriptions are in the main Program Book and so don't need to be repeated here.
Hotel Map With matching room names to the grid/lists.
Video Schedule
Gaming Schedule
Any other schedules not listed under programme Autograph Schedule Local fan-run sightseeing tours KaffeeKlatches etc.
Hours that the various departments and activities are open. Art Show Dealers/Hucksters Room Creche/Childcare Con Suite Gopher Hole/Staff Lounge Gaming Chaos Costuming/Chaos Robotics Green Room
Hotel Check-in and Check-out times, plus contact details for the Hotel
Policies: Weapons Smoking Child supervision etc.
Other information: External Map (with walking times to major landmarks) Taxi company phone number Restaurant and services guide: Include zip/postal codes if you think people will be using SatNav. And phone numbers for booking. Restaurants should be divided up by cuisine/culture (e.g. Japanese, Italian etc.) and (if possible) quick review and pricing. Also distance/time from convention venue is a good thing to add. Make sure to note if they are closed on any days of the convention (yes, it does happen). Cross reference with local area map (e.g. put in reference numbers on the map and match them up on the restaurant list) Bank machines, book shops, dentists etc. Decide on what's important to have with you, the rest they can get from the venue, the Yellow Pages, off the internet or by asking locals.
Adverts: Paid for commercial advertising Exchange ads for other conventions (or next year's con) Ads for program items ("Come see the Juggling Bishop at 2pm in the Main Hall!")
Thank Yous: Anyone you want to acknowledge (commercial sponsors, Heroes of the Convention, the print shop etc.)
Illos: It's always nice if it looks good!
