With an annual attendance of more than 50,000 people from all over the world, Dragon*Con is America's largest, multi-media, popular arts convention. We are Dragon*Con Technical Operations, the official technical (A/V) support staff for Dragon*Con.

Potential new TechOps staffers should view the information at the bottom of our main page or go to our “Join Us” page.

Reminder to staffers: If you know someone who wants to be on staff, the SOONER they send in an email to the help address, the better. They’ll need to send something like “my name is XYZ and I’m friends with ABC and I want to volunteer”. Those of us on the helpdesk will send them a response with the waitlist info (note that EVERYONE has to fill out the waitlist so we can see what skills they have).

We’re reviewing the waitlist regularly, looking for those people who have a skillset that meets our needs. We’re going to be HOPPING this year so we need folks who can help us out.

25 January @ 8:45 pm · no comments  

What does TechOps do at DragonCon?

TechOps is responsible for setting up, breaking down, repairing, moving, and running sound, lights, and general A/V equipment for the entire convention. We work HARD - a minimum of 25 hours during the convention - and many of us work extra hours to make sure things run smoothly during the convention. When we do our job right the crowds barely notice there’ve been any glitches.

Please note that we do not generally work with computer software, hardware, or networking at the Convention. Many of our volunteers do so for a living.

Things you must have to work on TechOps:

• Good work ethic
• Ability to work well with others
• A can-do attitude
• Common Sense
• An intense burning geekiness
• Drive to go above and beyond
• Capability to lift and carry a max of 20 lbs of equipment from time to time
• Be able to follow verbal directions
• Be willing to ask for help or clarifications
• Ability to work 25 hours during the convention

Specific skills we are looking for on TechOps:

• Previous stage crew experience
• Previous A/V skill
• Crowd management skills
• Logistics
• Audio (soundboards)
• Stage lighting
• Small A/V (Televisions, projectors, DVD players, VCRs, Betamax, etc.)

Things you can expect from TechOps:

• Meet new people & make new friends
• Share in the satisfaction of helping run Dragon*Con
• An astounding amount of fun

When we work
TechOps starts loading in equipment on Wednesday and Thursday before the convention and we breakdown equipment on Monday as the final panels complete in any given room (Main Programming or Track Room). As a volunteer, you would not be required to work both load-in and load-out, but it is a major task and we need as many people as possible to help out with both of these.

When you apply to work on TechOps, please list your experience. We do not always have open positions, but we can sometimes make exceptions for those with special qualifications.

You can apply to join TechOps via the "help" link at the top of the page - that will take you to our helpdesk system where you can create a ticket that contacts our staffers. Some more information is on our "join us" page.

• Newbies for 2011 26 May @ 5:20 am
• April 2011 Tornadoes 30 Apr @ 7:45 pm
• Staffer All Call for 2011 8 Mar @ 12:14 am
• Mastacool hospitalized 6 Dec @ 5:55 pm

we're drinking without you! get thee to 'con!

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