A Manager’s Guide to Onboarding Teams at Major Events: Lessons from Charmy’s 2025 Rosemont/Chicago Great American Coin Show Report

Getting your team up to speed quickly isn’t just about checking boxes—it’s about setting them up to *thrive*. Drawing from real lessons at the 2025 Rosemont/Chicago Great American Coin Show, this guide shares practical steps to build an onboarding program that turns new hires into confident, productive members of your event team in record time.

Understanding the Onboarding Challenge

Events like the Great American Coin Show move fast. For new team members, the first days can feel overwhelming. Between product details, customer interactions, and logistics, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle.

Here’s what makes event-based onboarding different:

Key Challenges in Event-Based Onboarding

• Information overload: New hires juggle product specs, event schedules, and customer profiles—all at once.

<

• Unclear roles: Without clear direction, even experienced staff can hesitate when every minute counts.
• Pressure to perform: There’s no “waiting period”—your team needs to deliver from day one.
• Relationship building: Success depends on connecting with collectors, partners, and clients quickly and authentically.

Step 1: Conducting a Skill Gap Analysis

You wouldn’t plan a trip without checking your map. The same goes for onboarding. Start by mapping what your team *knows* versus what they *need to know* for this specific event.

Developing a Skill Matrix

Create a simple grid that matches roles with required skills. At a coin show, key areas include:

<
• Product knowledge: Identifying coin types, understanding grading like MS-65, knowing market trends
• Customer service: Handling questions, managing expectations, closing sales
• Event operations: Booth setup, inventory flow, shift scheduling
• Networking: Initiating conversations, following up with leads, connecting with experts
• Tech tools: Using POS systems, digital catalogs, authentication devices

Actionable tip: Here’s a quick way to find skill gaps using Python—adapt it to your team:


import pandas as pd

def analyze_skill_gaps(team_skills, required_skills):
skill_gaps = pd.DataFrame(required_skills).merge(
pd.DataFrame(team_skills),
on='skill',
how='left'
)
skill_gaps['gap'] = skill_gaps['required_level'] - skill_gaps['current_level']
return skill_gaps[skill_gaps['gap'] > 0]

# Example usage
team_skills = [
{'skill': 'Coin Grading', 'current_level': 3},
{'skill': 'Customer Service', 'current_level': 4}
]
required_skills = [
{'skill': 'Coin Grading', 'required_level': 5},
{'skill': 'Customer Service', 'required_level': 4},
{'skill': 'Authentication', 'required_level': 3}
]

print(analyze_skill_gaps(team_skills, required_skills))


Step 2: Creating Effective Documentation

Your documentation is your team’s trusted reference. I’ve seen too many events where new hires flip through outdated binders. Let’s fix that.

Structuring Your Documentation

• Event playbook: A clear timeline with daily checklists—pre-show setup, opening procedures, closing tasks, and post-event follow-up
• Product catalog: Visual guides with high-res images, descriptions, and pricing. For the coin show, include key items like the 1914-D Lincoln cent
• FAQs & resources: Answers to common questions, plus quick-reference tools—like a coin grading cheat sheet or authentication checklist
• Emergency protocols: Clear steps for medical issues, tech failures, or security concerns

Actionable tip: Use Notion or Confluence to keep documents updated and easy to find. Set permissions so everyone can access what they need, when they need it.

Step 3: Designing Internal Workshops

Workshops aren’t just presentations—they’re practice. They give your team a safe space to learn before the real event starts.

Workshop Structure

• Product training: Dive into coin types, grading systems, and market trends. Use real examples from the show—like how the 1856 Flying Eagle cent performed
• Customer interaction: Run role-playing scenarios. Practice handling tough questions, managing expectations, and closing sales
• Technical training: Hands-on time with POS systems, digital catalogs, or authentication tools
• Networking skills: Teach techniques for starting conversations, building rapport, and following up after meetings

Actionable tip: Keep these sessions focused and engaging:

• Define clear goals for each session
• Limit to 60-90 minutes—attention spans aren’t infinite
• Mix slides with real practice and group discussion
• Always gather feedback to improve next time

Step 4: Measuring Team Performance

You can’t improve what you don’t track. Use a mix of numbers and observations to see how your team is doing.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Sales metrics: Track total sales, average transaction size, and conversion rates. Watch key items like rare coins
• Customer feedback: Use quick surveys to rate knowledge, responsiveness, and professionalism
• Team engagement: Note workshop attendance, participation, and training completion
• Time to productivity: Measure how long it takes new hires to handle tasks like booth setup or processing sales

Actionable tip: Here’s a simple Python function to calculate basic metrics:


import pandas as pd

def calculate_kpis(sales_data, customer_feedback):
kpis = {}
kpis['total_sales'] = sales_data['amount'].sum()
kpis['avg_transaction_value'] = sales_data['amount'].mean()
kpis['conversion_rate'] = (sales_data['converted'].sum() / len(sales_data))
kpis['customer_satisfaction'] = customer_feedback['satisfaction_score'].mean()
return kpis

# Example usage
sales_data = pd.DataFrame({
'amount': [100, 200, 150],
'converted': [1, 1, 0]
})
customer_feedback = pd.DataFrame({
'satisfaction_score': [4, 5, 3]
})

print(calculate_kpis(sales_data, customer_feedback))


Step 5: Tracking Developer Productivity Metrics

Even at a coin show, your tech team plays a vital role. Their work—managing apps, databases, or authentication tools—needs the same attention to detail.

Key Developer Metrics

• Code quality: Use tools like SonarQube to catch issues early
• Commit frequency: Regular contributions often mean better engagement
• Review time: Shorter review cycles mean faster progress
• Bug tracking: Monitor issues reported and resolved during the event

Actionable tip: Use this Python snippet to track basic developer metrics:


import pandas as pd

def track_developer_metrics(commits, pull_requests, bugs):
metrics = {}
metrics['commit_frequency'] = len(commits) / 30 # per day
metrics['avg_review_time'] = pull_requests['review_time'].mean()
metrics['bug_rate'] = len(bugs) / len(commits)
return metrics

# Example usage
commits = pd.DataFrame({
'date': ['2025-03-01', '2025-03-02', '2025-03-03']
})
pull_requests = pd.DataFrame({
'review_time': [2, 3, 1] # in hours
})
bugs = pd.DataFrame({
'bug_id': [1, 2]
})

print(track_developer_metrics(commits, pull_requests, bugs))


Step 6: Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Great onboarding doesn’t end after the event. The real work starts when you look back and ask: what can we do better next time?

Strategies for Continuous Improvement

• Gather feedback: Talk to team members and customers after each event
• Post-event reviews: Hold honest meetings—what worked, what didn’t, what needs to change
• Share knowledge: Create a central place for lessons, tips, and success stories
• Update training: Keep materials current with new products, tools, or market trends

Actionable tip: Use the PDCA cycle to keep improving:

• Plan: Set clear goals for your next event
• Do: Run the event, collecting data and observations
• Check: Review the results—what met expectations, what fell short
• Act: Make changes to your onboarding and processes

Final Thoughts

Onboarding for major events like the Great American Coin Show isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress. A structured approach helps your team start strong and keep getting better.

Use the data you collect to refine your program. Listen to your team. Adapt as you go. The best onboarding programs are living documents, not static manuals.

Invest in your team’s growth, and you’ll see returns in performance, morale, and results—at this show, and every event that follows.

Related Resources

You might also find these related articles helpful:

• 6 Months After My 2025 Rosemont Chicago Great American Coin Show Experience: What I Learned About Scaling a Niche Business – Let me tell you something: six months ago, I was exhausted. The rare coin trade had me running in circles—buying, sellin…
• Advanced Numismatic Show Tactics from the 2025 Rosemont Chicago Great American Coin Show That Only Pros Know – Ready to go beyond the basics? These advanced techniques will set you apart from the crowd. As a seasoned numismatist wh…
• 7 Critical Mistakes to Avoid When Navigating the 2025 Rosemont Chicago Great American Coin Show – A Veteran’s Guide – I’ve watched the same mistakes play out at the Rosemont Chicago Great American Coin Show year after year. Some cost coll…