View source for Executive Committee

The '''Executive Committee''' is the group of people directly responsible to see that the functions of the [[convention]] are successful and handled well.  They may act individually or together, and they may have a staff to assist with the detailed work.  However, these people are the prime decision makers at the highest convention organization level.  A lot of conventions run with "an executive committe of one", and call that position the Chair.

The chair or executive committee is responsible for managing the rest of the convention staff, including choosing (and removing if necessary) department, division, or area heads (whatever the people at the next management level down from the top are called). 

Many conventions are organized as [[incorporation|corporations]].  As such, they typically have corporate officers such as a President or Chief Executive Officer, a [[Treasurer]] or Chief Financial Officer, a Secretary or Archivist, and so on, like any Board of Directors.

Alternatively, for instance if a convention is run by a club, there may be a [[Parent Organization|parent corporation]] that provides legal shelter for the convention but does not get involved in the detailed organization or implementation of the convention other than to approve the Chair, or the budget, or the theme/[[Convention Committee]], etc.  Some groups have bid cycles to determine who is running a convention for a particular year, where proposals are brought to the Board.  Other groups have popular elections to determine the [[ConChair]] and/or [[Guests of Honor]].

Even if there is a separate parent corporation with a President and Treasurer, every convention must have its own [[Treasurer]] as well. It is also advisable for every convention to have an [[Vice Chair]], so that there is a clear path of [[Delegation of Authority|authority]] should the [[ConChair]] be unavailable or have to step down (Real Life Happens, you know).  The [[Vice Chair]] can also have other convention responsibilities, but they should be light enough at-con to allow the [[Vice Chair]] to relieve the [[ConChair]] and give them a break at some point. 


[[Category:Executive Committee]]
[[Category:Glossary]]