Everette has been attending conventions for more than 2 decades and working on convention staffs for nearly as long. Another of those people with the affliction of not being able to have as much fun at cons unless he is working, Everette has been involved with many different aspects of cons including guest operations, transportation, masquerades, and auctions. He is probably most recognizable for his many on stage appearances as auctioneer for charity auctions at conventions throughout the Southeast, including Dragon*Con where he is Director of Charity Events. In an alternate reality, Everette is Vice President of Information Technologies for a financial processing company based in South Carolina.

Donal has been in volunteering at conventions since 1989 and in the late 90s was chosen to be Assistant Volunteer Coordinator for DASFA’s Mile High Con. His professional career includes working with many game developers and special effects designers as part of the Games Quarterly Catalog team, DreamPark LLC and the Ghost Town Productions haunted houses. After almost a decade absent from conventions, Donal has recently returned to donate his time to RavenCon. Outside of conventions he enjoys restoring and modifying older cars, racing them locally and investigating emergent technologies for reduced-impact living.

After many years working behind the scenes for another science-fiction and fantasy convention, I promised myself I was going to take a break from doing anything more than being a regular con-goer. As you can see, that promise didn’t last very long because here I am as RavenCon’s Webmistress and have now added the title of Registration Coordinator.  If you have any suggestions for or problems with this site, email me.

webmaster@ravencon.com

“Starfleet utilized a little known reactivation clause.  In other words, Admiral, they drafted me!”  (Dr. McCoy to Admiral Kirk, Star Trek: The Motion Picture)  Yes, this is how it all began. I, a past commander of the USS CHESAPEAKE, was drafted by the current captain to join RavenCon.

I am Cheryl Lynn “Chessie” Jones, and I am the swag mistress for RavenCon.  What does that entail?  It means that I do advertising.  Mostly, I acquire the items (pens, pencils, notepads, bookmarks, comics, etc) that go into our ‘goodie bags’ for the convention.  I also handle the advertising sales for the con handbook.  Plus, I maintain the swag tables at the convention.  Email me if you want to advertise or send me goodies for our bags or the tables!

promotions@ravencon.com

I have volunteered at conventions for over 15 years. I was president of the USS Chesapeake (a chapter of Starfleet International) in Richmond for 8 years, now I’m 2nd in command. The Chesapeake is a non-profit charity organization that supports Ronald McDonald House, the Battered Women’s Shelter and other charities in the Richmond area.

It is my job to make sure that the friendly and helpful hotel staff has everything they need to make this year’s RavenCon as hugely successful as last year’s RavenCon. If you have any problems with making reservations or special requests that the hotel staff has been thus far unable to help you with, please email me, and I shall try to solve the problems.

hotel@ravencon.com

Crystal L Ritchie is a convention veteran. She is constantly networking and mixing with con-goers all across the South. Her mission is to find out who they are reading, what topics they are interested in, and who they would like to see as Guests of Honor at their “dream convention”. When she isn’t in con-mode, she can often be found acting as hostess at the Baen Barfly’s Hospitality suite.

guests@ravencon.com

I was the person who sat in the consuite and other places around Ravencon 2007 with a dremel and carved images on beer glasses for the Guests of Honor. I helped Lee Gilliland man the consuite for the first two Ravencons and took over as Coordinator in 2008. I am back this year to once again provide a nice ambiance for food, chatting, and maybe another power tool. Well, at least another craft. In any case, I hope to provide a welcoming consuite for taking a break between activities and enhancing your convention experience. If you have any thoughts and suggestions, please email me.

consuite@ravencon.com

Hi, I’m Bill Truesdale and for years I’ve attended conventions as a fan and I’ve also been working them too, mainly con security, from San Diego Comic-con to Shore Leave, Dragoncon, and Imaginecon 2000. I hope to make our panels run smoothly so that our con-goers can have a great time going to them. Any questions on the convention, or Con-Ops, please e-mail me.

conops@ravencon.com

Paul Blotkamp & Vanora Hagan

Art Show Co-Directors

Paul attended (and staffed!) his first convention his freshman year in college at Virginia Tech (that was Technicon 1 – if you know the con, you do the math). Over the years he has run Operations, Security, Dealers, and Art Show for several cons (but not at the same time). He has also twice been Chairman for Katsucon. RavenCon marks his sixth convention as Art Show Director. Of all con departments, Art Show is his favorite – it gives him plenty of time to keep an eye on the pieces he intends to buy for himself!

Vanora is a veteran of too many artshows to count. She earned her BFA from the Corcoran College of Art in Washington, DC (and still works retail when not attending cons). Her art has been published in the 2006 and 2007 editions of “Imagine”. Her work has even garnered a celebrity endorsement from Aaron Douglas of “Battlestar Galactica”. As well as submitting her work to around 10 cons per year, she also represents several other artists at many cons. She was first “volunteered” into running Art Shows when the artists at one convention staged a coup to take over a show that apparently had no staff. And she has not been able to escape it since!

The art show team is rounded out by Matt and Moria Trent, longtime friends and great helpers.

artshow@ravencon.com

My name is John Jones, the Vice Con-chair for Ravencon. I attended my first science fiction convention a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I was a con volunteer for Vulkon’s Maryland shows many years ago. I have been the assistant to the Operations Coordinator (2007) and assistant Hotel Coordinator (2008) at past RavenCons. I ran Operations for Wrath of Con in Panama City, FL in 2008. I aim to build on the work started by Tony and Tee to help make Ravencon one of the best conventions in Virginia.

vice-chair@ravencon.com