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Guide Library

GUIDES

Invite. Attend. Connect. Organise. Nurture.

IACON.uk teaches three tiers of gathering, each with its own organiser and attendee guides. Built one rung at a time, starting with the smallest.

Our guides for hosting a gathering are aimed at people aged 18 and over. Venues, contracts, money and licensed premises all expect an adult to be responsible, so the hosting guides are written with that in mind. The attendee guides are relevant at any age. One-to-one mentorship is also for over 18s only.

Not 18 yet? The attendee guides are for you. Check each event's age policy with its organiser before you go, as some events are 18+.

00 Find Your Level

The Ladder

Every tier of gathering IACON.uk tracks, from your first pub meet to a Transformers convention abroad. Click a rung to jump to it, guides for rungs 4 and up are still being written, so those jump to what's planned for them.

01
Pub Meet
A couple of hours, a few drinks, people who get it. No agenda beyond showing up.
Attendees: Up to 30
02
Community Meet
A bit more planning, a bit more going on. Still local, still easy to find your feet.
Attendees: Up to 50
03
Micro-Con
A day under one roof. Small enough to meet almost everyone, big enough to feel like something.
Attendees: Up to 100
04
TFN: Swindon
A one-day TFNation convention, more traders, more panels, more faces you don't know yet.
Attendees: ~350
05
TFN: Manchester
A full weekend away, guests, panels, and a dealer room worth the train fare.
Attendees: ~500
06
TFNation
The UK's biggest. Three days, thousands of fans, every corner of the fandom under one roof.
Attendees: ~2,000
07
TF Conventions Abroad A Different Step
A different kind of challenge: travel, a new community feel, and unfamiliar ground, but the same fandom waiting on the other side.
Attendees: Varies
// Click a rung to jump to that part of the guide

Guide 00: So You Want to Host an Assembly

Before you pick a venue or set a date, it helps to know what kind of thing you're building. Read this before anything else in the series, it explains the ladder, the pace, and how to find your own starting point.

↓ Download PDF
01
Pub Meet
Up to ~30 people
Organiser Guides
Guide 01: First Signal
Turning your decision to host into a real, dated, findable thing, the groundwork before you ever think about a venue.
↓ Download PDF
Guide 02: Finding Your Base
Choosing a venue that fits an unproven first event, not just a nice room.
↓ Download PDF
Guide 03: Spreading the Word
Getting the right people to hear about it, and keeping them in the loop for next time.
↓ Download PDF
Attendee Guides
Going To Your First Pub Meet
What to expect, and how to make the first hour easier.
Coming Soon
02
Community Meet
Up to ~50 people
Organiser Guides
Planning a Community Meet
More moving parts, still built on the same instincts.
Coming Soon
Attendee Guides
Attending a Community Meet
A bit bigger, a few more new faces.
Coming Soon
03
Micro-Con
Up to ~100 people
Organiser Guides
Running a Micro-Con
Guests, traders and a proper running order.
Coming Soon
Attendee Guides
Attending a Micro-Con
A convention-shaped day, without the overwhelm.
Coming Soon

Beyond Micro-Con, and the IACON.uk Event Pack

IACON.uk can't fully teach hosting a TFN-scale event or a convention abroad yet, that's not lived experience. But attendee guides are planned for every rung of the ladder, right up to travelling abroad.

And toward the end of 2026: a look at what an event run entirely under the IACON.uk name might have looked like. After TFUKCon, people asked if Moff would host a convention of his own again. For a while the answer was yes: a full blueprint for a two hundred person event, venue booked, layout mapped, theme set, guests lined up. All of it will be shared around Christmas, where it would have been, how the floor was going to work, the theme, and who was hoped for as guests, in case it's useful to anyone thinking at that scale.

Got An Idea Taking Shape?

If you're reading our guides and already have something forming in your head, that's one of the stages Moff loves most. Get in touch for a virtual coffee and a chat.

Hosting guides and one-to-one mentorship are for over 18s. The attendee guides are for everyone.