Recruiting Table, Ship Sales and Charity Raffles

Recruiting Table Rules
Raffles and Items for Sale

Recruiting Table Rules

At many conventions, the USS Athena is only one of several different organizations recruiting members. When someone approaches the table, it is best to casually engage the person in conversation by asking questions such as,

Are you enjoying the convention?
So, you really like Star Trek?
Any other science fiction you like? Dr Who, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, etc.
Do you have a favorite character?

or something similar. This will minimize the chances that the person will be scared away.

Then, you can get into more pertinent questions such as

Where are you from?

The answer to this question will tell you whether or not they are in our area. Feel free to direct them to other organizations that are more in their local area that we may know about, or direct them to one of the umbrella organizations such as STARFLEET, Maquis Force International, The Federation, etc.

People who say that they cannot make it to meetings are prime candidates for correspondence chapters. They can join ANY correspondence chapter since these groups are independent of geographical boundaries. There are many of those online and in some of the umbrella organizations mentioned above.

Whatever you do, follow the following ground rules:

Try to get to know some of the other people at the table. Find out which chapters they are from and what their chapters are like. It will help you answer questions later.
Do NOT strong-arm people into joining a chapter..
If you see someone else at the recruiting table strong-arming people, politely tell that person off-line (when there isn't a prospective member at the table) that the behavior is not positive. Also be sure to let your commanding officer know about the incident. Get the person's name and chapter. Remember, don't start a major confrontation over the problem. Leave that for the commanding officers of the involved chapters to handle.
Our main recruiting area is the Dulles corridor/Northern Virginia area. If the person is from outside this area, make sure he or she knows what options exist (other organizations including correspondence chapters). Although, since we are no longer part of an umbrella organization, we are not required to recuit only in those boundaries.
Always be polite.
Never speak negatively of another organization while working the recruiting table (especially while there are prospectives around). Bickering in public gives a negative impression.
Always be on time for your shift at the table.
Whenever selling an item other than a raffle ticket, always write out a receipt.
Never leave the cash box or other containers of money unattended. Usually the tables are staffed with two people at a time so that one can leave for restroom breaks without leaving anything unattended. If you are alone and need a break, call another member to take over. Most of us carry mobile phones.

[ Recruit Table | Selling | Raffle Items | Donated Items ]

Raffles and Items for Sale

Selling Items

Recruiting tables are unique at a convention. They are the only tables that are free of charge. We have to avoid looking like a dealer; otherwise, the convention may make us pay for a table next time (typically $100-$150). The following general rules are to be followed when we do sell items at a recruiting table:

Absolutely NO items are to be sold for personal profit.
Only keep a few items on the table with the rest of the stock under the table.
Always write out a receipt for the items. Remember, we frequently share a table with other groups and, in the end, we need to figure out how much money goes to each chapter.
Avoid selling things that are also sold in the dealers' room.

Typically, we limit items for sale to bookmarks, stuffed animals, coasters, armchair caddys, and other hand-crafted items. We sometimes will sell ship T-shirts. These items are generally not in conflict with the merchandise sold in the dealers' room. Under no circumstances are we to put the recruiting table in competition with the dealers' room. If that happens, the dealers may complain to the convention coordinator, and we will not be allowed to have a free table in the future. It is unfair to the USS Athena and fan norganizations in general to put us in that position.

[ Recruit Table | Selling | Raffle Items | Donated Items ]

Raffle Items

When we share a recruiting table with other chapters, we split the proceeds from the raffle. Raffle items can be things that are sold in the dealers' room because the circumstances are different. Only one person will be able to walk away with the item at the end of the convention. The following rules need to be followed when we participate in a raffle at the recruiting table:

ALL proceeds from the raffle are split among the participating chapters.
ALL proceeds received by the USS Athena go to the charities that we support.
Do not leave the raffle item(s) unattended at any time (see the section on recruiting table rules).
Receipts are unnecessary for raffle tickets. The ticket stub is the receipt.
In general, the person does not have to be there to win.
The person purchasing the ticket MUST fill in their name and address on the back of the ticket. Otherwise, if the person is not there when their number is drawn, we will have no way of sending the person the prize.
Give the purchaser the "KEEP THIS TICKET" half of the ticket. The other half (the one with the person's name and address) goes into the raffle stub container.

[ Recruit Table | Selling | Raffle Items | Donated Items ]

Donations of Raffle and Sale Items

When a person donates items to Athena for future raffles or auctions, they are donations. From the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word "donation" is defined as follows:

do·na·tion: Pronunciation: dO-'nA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English donatyowne, from Latin donation-, donatio, from donare to present, from donum gift;
akin to Latin dare to give -- more at DATE
Date: 15th century: the act or an instance of donating: as a : the making of a gift especially to a charity or public institution b : a free contribution : GIFT

Unless prior arrangements have been made, there are no reimbursements for donated items.

Items for sale are treated a little differently. Most items are hand-made, which requires members to purchase materials and work to create the final product. Athena will reimburse the cost of materials. The selling price of these items is set based on the average cost of the materials used for the item. In other words, if one makes 10 armchair caddys out of different types of material, consider the cost of the materials used for all the caddys, divide by 10 and that is the average cost. The selling price and reimbursement will be based on the average cost.

[ Recruit Table | Selling | Raffle Items | Donated Items ]

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