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If I recall correctly, those who signed up for the Swap Meet pick up their badges at the Swap Meet, instead of having to wait in line... Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Last year was the first year they did that. Too many people didnt know what was going on and waited in the wrong line. Doubtful they'll do it again.

Sorry but it will not be done again this year!

Prices were roughly as such.

Small deserts were roughly around 3.50. Larger deserts were around 4-5. Sandwiches were about 5.50. Drinks were 1.50 or so for coffee/tea 2.50 for sodas. 4$ for a can of monster.

So you're looking at avg fare for convention food.

As was previously noted, the cafe itself was on the concourse floor on the Hilton side way way way at the end of the concourse. Above the Starbucks on the first floor.

I was wondering, would the catering be able to do an afternoon tea set like at the tea shops? That would be so fun.

The servers are being hammered so your confirmation emails will take a while. Thanks for your patience!

I keep staring at my computer screen hoping that it'll just appear.

You're most likely going to have to refresh the page to see it happen.

We are VERY close now.

I'm good at basic programming but nothing I'm sure they're actually working on (C# maybe or sql?)... :/ maybe someday?

Neither one of those  ;)

Oh and did someone say nyan cat? http://registration.fanime.com/

[Chiri]

In summary,

The Good:
1) Pulling Swap Meet vendor badges.  Lessened the line and lessened the stress on vendors.

Actually it did little to help in comparison because there aren't that many swap meet sellers.

2) Group registration.  Also shortened wait times.  Non-group leaders didn't have to worry about waiting in line or having their IDs on them to pick up badges.  This was the only way I got my boyfriend to even purchase a badge (since he didn't want to wait in line for 3 hours, so I waited for him), so thank you! :)

Expressing my own opinion: Your boyfriend should be waiting in line with you!

3) Lines opened on time this year, as opposed to 30 minutes late in 2009.  Good job!

Thanks! Reg staff was really ready to go this time.

My Ideas for improvement:

1) I feel that mailing out badges can generate profit and ease the burden on the staff come Day 0.  I understand that badges were mailed out in the past, and as a convention that is for fans, by fans, I feel that it's only fair that staff members elaborate to those providing feedback as to why this is no longer done. 

This worked when we had less attendees. Now it is impractical. Plus with technology that people can easily obtain these days it increases the chance of counterfeiting.

2) Provide incentives for volunteering during Day 0.  In the past, Day 0 volunteers got double hours.  Allow volunteers to pick up their badges early as a reward for their time.   Specifically advertise these perks in the days leading up to the convention (i.e. fanime.com's front page, facebook, twitter).  If people know that they can get double volunteer hours and pick up their badges early on Day 0, you will get more than 5 volunteers.  How many non-staff volunteers helped during Day 0 pre-reg this year?

As far as I know Day Zero hours are double but I could be wrong.

More ideas I thought of now:
1) Resource allocation.  Knowing that several thousand people showed up to Day 0 this year, we should be aware that more people will likely show up next year.  Unfortunately, waiting in line for up to 3 hours is not fun for everyone.  Logistics should anticipate this and start recruiting Day 0 helpers as early as possible to ensure every registration booth is staffed (or even over staffed for that matter).  Just like in war, you send your resources to locations that need it most.  During the hours of 5-830pm on Day 0, pre-reg needs the most help.

Yea I agree it's not a lot of fun for people. It's tough on staff too. Unfortunately we have a lot of staff that are still in school so it's hard for them to get to Con early on Thursday. I know some people have said that there were only 5 booths open to check people in.  Each booth should have had 2 stations depending on the number of staff available. That is untrue. I saw at least 8 stations with at least 2 staff working each station. Additionally badges and member information are what we consider sensitive material so we only allow trustworthy staff to have access.

2) Dropping early registration Day 0 pick up will help the line congestion.  People who intend on going to Fanime for a whole weekend should be responsible enough to plan early and not miss the final deadline to buy a badge.  Currently, people who pre-register past certain deadlines have to pay a higher price.  We can expand on this by not allowing those who miss the pre-reg deadline to pick up their badge on Thursday night.

With that said, when does Fanime start planning for next year.  When can I sign up to help? I have lots of ideas. ;-D

Actually you'd be surprised to know that an overwhelming majority of the badges picked up were pre-registration! I was surprised myself. But figuring out a way to effectively reduce the wait time on Day Zero is definitely something we are looking in to.

I'm happy to see that you're interested in staffing. Chiri is right. Planning for the next Fanime has already started. I anticipate that general staff recruiting will take place in the beginning of fall. You can always e-mail hrATfanimeDOTcom and they can direct you to the department(s) that you are interested in.

[Rovers]

Rovers I felt Rovers did an excellent job with the Registration line on Day Zero. It was not an easy task at all.

Artist Alley, Art Gallery, Swap Meet, Dealers, Registration, Arcade, Charity Auction, Prizes Thank you all for making Fan Services division what it is. I would not be able to do what I do without you!

Musicfest Thanks for another great year with awesome musical guests. I had tons of fun at the concert. Waiting in the cold in line to get in was worth it!

Ewu, Ska_kitti Thanks you two for being my seconds this year. It's hard to be in more than one place at once and you two covered places I couldn't be at. And also for reminding me to do things as I became more forgetful once Con approached. Hahahaha. <3

I missed Maid Cafe this year!!! D:

As far as I know it's only open Sat and Sun right? What is the reason behind the limited number of hours?

Just a note, although the Marketing Team led the hotel key project, keep in mind that many other departments and divisions participated. I don't think any of us were more excited than the other.

It'll be hard to top the hotel key cards. Maybe have a staffer cosplaying as one of the five mascots to welcome you guys and gals into your hotel rooms? :P

Moar FanimeCon donuts.

I was there so I figured I could make myself useful...

#1 $1,200
#2 $450
#3 $800
#4 $400
#5 $850
#6 $1,500
#7 $3,000
#8 $1,500
#9 $2,500
#10 $700
#11 $15,000
#12 $3,000
#13 $600
#14 $700
#15 $700
#16 $800
#17 $600
#18 $3,000

Total: $38,800

[reaver]

I also have a complaint about announcing that there would be no updates via e-mail when the AA was more or less closed and a # of artists were already gone from the alley. I don't really understand why updates will not be given via e-mail and would like to know why this is. Saying "we just can't" doesn't really make sense.

We realized that this year there were too many ways to get the word out to Artist about Artist Alley updates. We had Facebook, the website, the forums, the mailing list, and the FanimeCon twitter if necessary. As a result, something can be forgotten. Some of you may have noticed that key updates were posted on the website or forums before the mailing list which pretty much defeats the purpose of it. We still have plenty of other ways to get the word out about updates.


Concerning being able to pay for a badge and table all at once...Artist Alley tables can be refunded up to a certain date. Member badges cannot. Hence even if we were to combine the two, you would still lose the money from the cost of the badge. At least with them being separate there is a chance that you can save the badge cost.

reaver: You're right they are separate. Combining the two databases has been a dream for me. The badge number check was a step in that direction.   :)

If anyone's looking at this for next year, picking up on Thursday is pretty much a nightmare. There's nothing like starting off the first real day of the convention with sore feet due to standing in line for 2.5 hours! I really regretted that ... Just go early Friday morning. (Though I guess if everyone does that, then it'll be just like Thursday. sigh. I love Fanime, but I do wish some things were done differently.)

There is one reason that the lines have been such a nightmare on Thursdays this year and last: letting Early Reg pick up the same night as pre reg. I'm hoping that Registration might re-consider this policy after having two years of pretty intense Thursday night lines.

The only reason the lines were a 'nightmare' on Thursday is due to ineffective management of human resources, further complicated by the design of the badges.

Would you like to explain your observations?

alright so basically

i pre-registered this year

but i still got like a paper/"non pre-reg" badge

and im just curious why i did :c

Although you created your account early enough to have it count as Pre-Reg, you paid for it during the Early-Reg period. The Early-Registration members do not get a laminated memberships, unfortunately.

Not that they were laminated this year. (Yes we need to work on the FAQ)

[stairs]

My group and I had one negative experience with a staff member. We arrived early Friday, got our badges, and were just heading up the large stairs just inside the entrance of the convention center. It was still pretty early, so there was no one else on the stairs. We stopped on one of the stair landings to look down at a group below us, and some moments later, we felt ourselves being shoved as someone started pushing through our group. My friends and I automatically started saying, "sorry, sorry!" as we had no idea what was going on. We turned to see that it was a staff member who was pushing through us saying, "Oops, oops" in a very sarcastic manner. She then turned around sternly and said, "No stopping on the stairs."

I'm sorry we had stopped, I really am, but pushing us on the stairs? Just to make a point? We would have immediately moved if she had asked us, or even told us to. Heck, yelling at us would have gotten our attention just as well. I just don't think that her behavior was necessary, especially when safety is concerned.

Would you happen to know if this was a Registration staff person or a volunteer? (Staff have red colored badges)

This is the first year Fanime did the souvenir hotel keys. I believe there were 5 images. All of this is courtesy of the Marketing Division.  :)

If anyone's looking at this for next year, picking up on Thursday is pretty much a nightmare. There's nothing like starting off the first real day of the convention with sore feet due to standing in line for 2.5 hours! I really regretted that ... Just go early Friday morning. (Though I guess if everyone does that, then it'll be just like Thursday. sigh. I love Fanime, but I do wish some things were done differently.)

There is one reason that the lines have been such a nightmare on Thursdays this year and last: letting Early Reg pick up the same night as pre reg. I'm hoping that Registration might re-consider this policy after having two years of pretty intense Thursday night lines.

Actually the pre+early pick up was decided upon because groups registrations are mixed with pre and early registration types. It would have been nearly impossible and unfair to separate groups out like that. We could get rid of group registrations!! I kid.  ;D

Yes Day Zero has become quite popular. It's tough on the attendees and the staff involved. We're thinking hard about trying to alleviate it.

[the line wasn't cut at 8pm.. and the lines finished at 9:30pm]

pre-reg on Thursday.. the lines were capped off at 8pm... which means anyone who came after 8pm.. could not get in line.. of course Registration still needed to be open until much later to finish off everyone else.. and i believe you heard wrong.. the line wasn't cut at 8pm.. and the lines finished at 9:30pm

No. The lines were cut at 8pm. Registration staff informed the Rovers that were present that they had not choice but to cut the lines. The reason the lines finished around 9:30pm was because the line was cut off at 8pm (Reg hours were 5-8pm that day). The decision to cut off the line was made because it the line was never going to end unless they did so. Plus I personally did not want to see Reg staff work themselves into the ground on Day Zero.

sorry.. i should've made myself clear.. with regards to lines.. i used the term "cap" and "cut" as two different definitions in my response.. cutting the line what i meant.. was at 8pm.. they stopped accepting anyone else completely (meaning shutting down registration.. so no one got in after 8pm)... thus when i said capping at 8pm.. it was what you mentioned as what you defined as cut.... and i called it capping off the line.

i was there helping to manage the lines.. so yes.. we turned away people (cut/cap.. however we want to call it) that showed up after 8pm... which then we finished that remaining line at 9:30pm... which i thought i did well enough in expressing if you read through the rest of that paragraph.

the complaint i was addressing was the person thought we were accepting people to get into lines until 9:30pm.. which was entirely incorrect.
yea.. bunch of odd definitions i guess at that point.. but yea.. sorry for the incorrect wording.

No worries.  :)
BTW, I felt Rovers did an excellent job with the line on Day Zero. Shifting such a large number of people around as the line grew out the door while fielding questions is not easy.

[the line wasn't cut at 8pm.. and the lines finished at 9:30pm]

pre-reg on Thursday.. the lines were capped off at 8pm... which means anyone who came after 8pm.. could not get in line.. of course Registration still needed to be open until much later to finish off everyone else.. and i believe you heard wrong.. the line wasn't cut at 8pm.. and the lines finished at 9:30pm

No. The lines were cut at 8pm. Registration staff informed the Rovers that were present that they had not choice but to cut the lines. The reason the lines finished around 9:30pm was because the line was cut off at 8pm (Reg hours were 5-8pm that day). The decision to cut off the line was made because it the line was never going to end unless they did so. Plus I personally did not want to see Reg staff work themselves into the ground on Day Zero.

I'm going put on a limb and being stupid by asking this, but is there no badge pickup Friday after 8pm?

You can still pick up your badge at the hours that Registration is open (see the first post in this thread).

^It's really difficult to say because it depends on when people will arrive. I don't think it will be too bad on Friday at that time though. But don't take my word for it.