Interested in helping out at Arisia? Attending a ConCom ("convention committee") meeting is a great place to start. These monthly planning meetings are where we check in about the progress we've made towards this year's Arisia. ConCom meetings are always open to the public, and many Arisia staffers started out by attending one. Whether this is your first Arisia, or you've been coming for twenty years, we'd love to have you follow in our footsteps.

Arisia ConCom meetings are hosted in the Boston area, often at the Westin Boston Waterfront or at MIT. People usually start arriving 10 minutes before the meeting, and the meeting typically is called to order 5 to 10 minutes after the listed start time. These are fairly informal meetings, but usually have an agenda set by the moderator. These meetings often run for 1.5 to 2 hours, but we recommend planning to stay after they end so that you can meet Arisia staff and expand your fandom network.

New this year, we will be streaming all ConCom meetings via GoToMeeting (software install may be required). Check out the appropriate meeting link at the specified time to follow along, and use chat to ask questions and have them relayed to the rest of the meeting. You can contact comms@arisia.org if you have any difficulty accessing the stream.

Finally, you can check out our full meeting schedule on the Arisia Corporate site. But if you're new to Arisia, we recommend starting with a ConCom, which is focused on the content and logistics of the upcoming Arisia convention (currently, Arisia 2017).

Upcoming meetings

• Debrief Meeting

  Sat, Feb 4, 2017 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST
  Dilboy VFW Hall, 371 Summer St, Somerville, MA 02144 (in Davis Square) (map)
  https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/458667965

  The yearly Arisia Debrief meeting will be held at the Dilboy VFW Hall in Somerville. This is a great chance to talk about what went right/wrong at this year's Arisia, and what to change for next year. It's also a great place to talk to next year's leadership team and find a staff position that suits your interests.

  Parking and transportation: The Dilboy VFW Post is right outside Davis Sq, approximately 2 blocks from the Davis Sq T stop. This is the recommended way to get there. There is limited on-site parking at the Dilboy and there is the usual metered on-street parking in the area. Non-metered spots are likely to be resident permit parking only.

  Food: As last year, we'll serve coffee, tea and snacks to start off, TACOS!!! at a mid-afternoon break around 2:30, and celebrate at the end with cake. All cold drinks, including water, soda, and alcoholic drinks, will be served by the bartender provided by the VFW. Arisia will cover soft drinks, you can purchase alcohol if you like. Please do NOT bring water or soda to the VFW hall.

  Inclement weather: In the event of a snow emergency in the city of Somerville, the debrief will be rescheduled.

  Agenda: Our format is likely to be similar to previous years. See details on the wiki: http://staff.arisia.org/index.php?title=Debrief_Meeting_Format_-_A%2715

Past meetings

• ConCom Meeting

  Sun, Jan 8, 2017 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM EST
  Otis Room, The Westin Boston Waterfront, 425 Summer St, Boston, MA 02210, USA (map)
  https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/267244397

  The last concom meeting before Arisia! :)

• Concom

  Sun, Dec 18, 2016 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
  Stone Room, The Westin Boston Waterfront, 425 Summer St, Boston, MA 02210, USA (map) https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/964288685

  The agenda for this concom is a welcome and intro, divhead reports, Q&A, overview of everything before before con, and announcements.

• Con-Com at MIT

  Thu, Oct 13, 2016 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM EDT
  IMPORTANT NOTE: This meeting has been RELOCATED to E25-117! Sorry for the inconvenience.
  MIT E25-117, Cambridge, MA 02142 (Google map, MIT campus map)
  MIT 56-154, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 (Google map, MIT campus map)
  https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/986709805

  This month we will be talking about recruiting and retaining volunteers. Come armed with examples of awesome and less awesome things that help (or do not help) so we can all discuss.

• Concom for Arisia 2017 / Arisia Corp Annual Meeting and Elections

  Sun, Sep 18, 2016 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
  Stone Room, The Westin Boston Waterfront, 425 Summer St, Boston, MA 02210, USA (map) https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/877817773

  This is the first ConCom of the year, starting at noon at the Westin Boston Waterfront (in the Stone Room) and expected to run for one and a half hours. It's a great first meeting to attend if you haven't previously volunteered for Arisia! We'll go over the org chart for this year's Arisia, describing how the convention is structured and what divisions exist. Each Division Head will introduce themselves and describe any big news, upcoming deadlines, or major accomplishments within their division.

  NOTE: The ConCom portion of this meeting ends shortly before 2 PM. After a short break, it will be followed by the Annual Meeting of the Arisia Corporation, which is where elections are held.

• Arisia Goes Bowling!

  Sun, Oct 16, 2016 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM EDT
  Lanes & Games, 195 Concord Turnpike, Cambridge, MA 02140, United States (map)
  

  All Arisia staff, interested parties, and families are invited to join us for bowling On Sunday October 16th starting at 12:30 to 3 pm at Games and Lanes in Cambridge. Please RSVP to staffservices@arisia.org so we can order enough food & drink. Let us know if you plan to bowl or just hang out!

• Concom @ Westin

  Sun, Nov 13, 2016 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST
  Stone Room, The Westin Boston Waterfront, 425 Summer St, Boston, MA 02210, USA (map) https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/351028893

  Come to this ConCom to get an update from our Division Heads, to hear a little more detail about some of our job openings (and have the opportunity to ask questions and talk to people about how you can help), and to join us in a LARP! We want our Registration staff to be ready to go on January 13th, so come prepared to play a frazzled parent juggling 2 kids, a confused college student, or a surly Arisia attendee (based on your character card, to be provided at the meeting) and help us make sure that we've got all of our bases covered. Want to see the senior staff going through a trial run at our last all-day meeting? Click here!
  
  After the ConCom, at 5 PM in the same location, we will be hosting a BARCC (http://www.barcc.org/) Sexual Harassment Awareness & Bystander Training session. We encourage as many people as possible to attend this approximately 90 min session, even if you've been to one in the past.