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Sci-fi, fantasy, comics, games and all that stuff

Get involved

The easiest way to support us is by coming to OH!CON. This year, OH!CON is on Saturday 11 October.

You can also keep up to date with news about OH!CON by:

Help us plan and run OH!CON

If you want to get more involved, you can join the OH!CON Fellowship. We meet throughout the year to discuss OH!CON, plan the day and talk about all manner of nerdy stuff. It's a great way to help us organise OH!CON and to meet like-minded people. 

Join the OH!CON Fellowship

Got an idea for something that you think would fit right in at OH!CON? Get in touch and tell us about it!

Not sure that your idea would be right? Here is the sort of thing we’re looking for:

  • We’re interested in anything that is broadly sci-fi, fantasy, comics, games or nerd-related. 
  • Talks, workshops, displays, demonstrations and general nerdery all work well at OH!CON
  • Smaller ideas are usually easier to do, but if you are thinking bigger it still may be possible - it might just need more planning to pull off. In general, the grander your idea, the sooner you should get in touch with us.
  • The day is broadly aimed at a family audience, but we’re interested in ideas suitable for adults too.
  • It helps enormously if you have already thought about how your idea will work - who it is for, how many people would be needed to run it, how much space it’d take up, if it needs wifi, power sockets or any other equipment, and so on. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the details worked out - we’ll try to help.
  • Don’t be afraid to surprise us. If your idea doesn’t quite fit into the above, why not fly it by us anyway? We like surprises.

On the day

We need volunteers to help us run OH!CON on the day - take a look at the  roles beolw to see how you could help . If you’re over 16 and keen to be part of the event, please fill in your details on the volunteering form and we'll be in touch.

Day volunteer form

Day volunteer roles

You’ll be the welcoming face of OH!CON and available to direct people to the venues and different activities. You’ll know the programme and what’s happening where and be able to recommend different activities to all those attending.

You may spend some time on the door of one of the venues,  keeping track of numbers of attendees, and helping people collect their wristbands (needed for entry to the venue).

You’ll also help us make sure that everyone is safe and having a good time, and  contact the Organising Team if you see anything to be concerned about.

You'll need to be:

  • Friendly and enjoy meeting people
  • Familiar with the programme and all the events and activities on offer (we'll help you with this).
  • Okay with working standing up

Working in coordination with our stewards and An Lanntair staff, you will be a central part of the public face of OH!CON on the day. 

Not only will you be selling our fabulous merch and raffle tickets, but you will also help children take part in the D&D treasure hunt and register entrants for the cosplay masquerades.

The OH!CON reception will be the contact point for any emergencies or concerns raised by the stewards and you will contact the Organising Team should help be needed.

You'll need to be:

  • Friendly and enjoy meeting people
  • Patient and calm under pressure
  • Happy handling card and cash payments (we will show you how to do this, but some retail experience would be useful)
  • Comfortable with some light paperwork (filling in entrants details on the cosplay registration form, raffle ticket details etc).

The events team help run the day's events and activities.

Duties include looking after our guest artists and workshops leaders, making sure that they get to their scheduled sessions and have everything they need to run it successfully, and checking that booked attendees have arrived. The guest artist or workshop leader may ask you to assist with their session.

They also look after our creative drop-in sessions (ranging from LEGO, NERF to comic book-making), engaging and enthusing people to take part.

You'll need to be:

  • Confident enough to look after guest artists, participants and activities on your own
  • Reliable and able to keep things running to time
  • Keen to engage and enthuse people about your session 

The cosplay masquerades are the highlight of OH!CON. Your job will be to help manage and run the two masquerades – making sure that all entrants have registered, that no-one has any dangerous or offensive costumes, and all are ready to strut their stuff on the stage when it’s their turn. 

This year, there may also be a cosplay promenade through town, which you will help with as well.

You will need to be:

  • Good at organising things and keeping things running to time
  • Confident enough to get people to listen to you when they need to line up safely and be quiet
  • Able to work under pressure and adapt to circumstance as needed - the masquerades are usually busy and last-minute entries and drop-outs are not unusual.

The gaming area is a hugely popular destination for OH!CON and we aim to get as many new folk playing games of all kinds as we can. We want to encourage complete beginners to take part, as well as more experienced players. 

We are looking for people who are happy to work alongside the fabulous people from Gateway Nerds to lead a range of boardgames, for a range of ages and abilities (young and old, new and experienced players). We also offer VR sessions, TTRPGs, retro-gaming and wargaming.

You will need to be:

  • Enthusiastic about  games. Ideally you will be familiar with a variety of games or able to pick up new rules quickly.
  • Confident enough to lead a game and encourage people to take part.
  • Good at explaining games to newbies and getting people playing and having fun quickly, even if it is their first time playing.

You will be a calm techy person who loves trouble-shooting problems. You will be responsible for making sure the tech for the talks and workshops is working, help set up for each area and be on call if something doesn’t work as it should.

You will need to be:

  • Knowledgeable and comfortable with setting up laptops, monitors, mics, sound systems and various assorted cables and connections.
  • Flexible and able to troubleshoot or improvise if necessary (every year, something always breaks down at the last moment!)
  • Calm in a crisis

We always try to get lots of lovely video clips and photos to record what goes on at OH!CON. You will join our existing team of photographers and videographers to capture the fun and excitement of this year's event.

You will need to:

  • know how to use a camera/phone to take photos and video
  • have an eye for what ‘works’ when capturing a moment or scene
  • be aware of how to take photos and videos appropriately and respectfully (we will give you guidance on this)

Setting up all the various elements of OH!CON is critical to the day going well. It is always a race against time the morning of the con.

We need people who can follow the guidelines for each area, use their initiative and get stuff done quickly and efficiently before the doors open.  There will be some physical work (such lifting and moving boxes, props and equipment).

As well as on the day itself, we will also need some set up and break down help on the Friday before and the Monday following.

You will need to be:

  • Reasonably fit - there will be some carrying, lifting and assembling of equipment.
  • Able to understand and carry out instructions well, but also able to use your initiative if necessary (not everything always goes to plan!)
  • Unflappable and patient when all about you may be flapping