Check-in

[OGIGA]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but how about a place where people can check in or out their personal belongings? For example, if I'm carrying five costumes and some props, I can take some to the check-in desk and have it stored for me until I need to get it again. I'm kind of assuming that there aren't lockers for us to use there. Yes, and some people aren't doing the hotel deal.  ;)

[Kazuko]

well wouldnt it just be easier to get a hotel room? there is a suggestion for a cosplay changing room. A general check in for stuff can be an issue since people can lie to say this item is theirs. I dont know how it can work besides the changing room and leaving it in your room

[ewu]

we entertained the idea extensively and were tempted to do a "coat check" for the dance. Unfortunately the liability for FanimeCon is too much. If we were to do this we would need to hire a coat check service.


I will look into it.....

How much would you pay per costume? (remember you still gotta tip)
$1? $2? $5? $10?

Double price for bulky items and costumes?

[Jerry]

I think as Fanime, we might be found liable for lost/missing/ damaged items.

Kazuko is right tho, even if you DONT have a hotel room...

I 'think' the hotels might have a coat check like service, but if that was the case, why not just get your own room.  :P

[OGIGA]

Oops, almost forgot that I started a thread.

well wouldnt it just be easier to get a hotel room?

Yes, it would be way easier to get a hotel room. Yes, it would also be way easier to hire a taxi driver and body guards and a personal physician to follow you around. The thing is, hotels are expensive. I'd have no problem if Marriott let me stay at their hotel for $40, but that's not the case. I'm sure non-Marriott and non-Hilton attendees would highly appreciate a check-in service.

A general check in for stuff can be an issue since people can lie to say this item is theirs. I dont know how it can work besides the changing room and leaving it in your room

I haven't seen a badge before, but I'm assuming that badges have a serial number or registration of some sort. That number would be the "ticket" to checking items in and out. We're all familiar with check-in, aren't we?

I think as Fanime, we might be found liable for lost/missing/ damaged items.

Have people sign a waiver? Make it known that check-in is "at your own risk"?

How much would you pay per costume? (remember you still gotta tip)
$1? $2? $5? $10?

In my opinion, putting a price tag on check-in service is a good idea. Typically speaking, responsible people are the ones with money (gee, I wonder why). Kids, the ones without [much] money, are probably the ones who whine and complain that the staff lost something. The fee would keep a good number of kids away. I guess it won't keep the really spoiled ones away, but if they don't create a problem here, they'll just create a problem elsewhere.


The only real issue that I see is space requirement and labor.

[M]

Yes, it would be way easier to get a hotel room. Yes, it would also be way easier to hire a taxi driver and body guards and a personal physician to follow you around. The thing is, hotels are expensive. I'd have no problem if Marriott let me stay at their hotel for $40, but that's not the case. I'm sure non-Marriott and non-Hilton attendees would highly appreciate a check-in service.

The number of people that don't stay in a hotel nearby FanimeCon or live nearby is extremely small. "Easy" is too general of a word to use in this situation. I think that Kazuko meant that it would be more "practical" to get a hotel room. Factoring four people into a hotel room, having them all check in on Friday and checking out on Monday would be a sub total of 205. Lets say that city and hotel tax is a total of 20% (41 dollars) and the total amount of tips for the weekend  (lets say 20 for the bag boy + daily cleaning), the total would only be 66.50 per person. It's completely more practical to get a hotel room than to get anything else that you mentioned.

Yes, it would be way easier to get a hotel room. Yes, it would also be way easier to hire a taxi driver and body guards and a personal physician to follow you around. The thing is, hotels are expensive. I'd have no problem if Marriott let me stay at their hotel for $40, but that's not the case. I'm sure non-Marriott and non-Hilton attendees would highly appreciate a check-in service.

This is true that we can gather your membership ("badge") number/information, but what happens if someone steals your badge and claims your items? Stolen badges unfortunately happen more than I'd like to discuss. We could check picture ID, but there are still cases where people aren't carrying their ID around. This would be the member's fault, but still a hassle.

Have people sign a waiver? Make it known that check-in is "at your own risk"?

We would most likely do this, but keep in mind the number of people that would be checking their items in. Since there would be a line for people to check their stuff in *and* for people to enter the dance, we would have to keep the line as speedy as possible to be the most efficient. Things such as signing waivers would slow this process down.

In my opinion, putting a price tag on check-in service is a good idea. Typically speaking, responsible people are the ones with money (gee, I wonder why). Kids, the ones without [much] money, are probably the ones who whine and complain that the staff lost something. The fee would keep a good number of kids away. I guess it won't keep the really spoiled ones away, but if they don't create a problem here, they'll just create a problem elsewhere.

The only real issue that I see is space requirement and labor.

The issue of charging for extra services is always a hard thing to swallow. On one hand, it makes sense since this would cost money and time in order for FanimeCon to do, but if it makes it so that no one would use it, this would be pointless to do (and would make us lose money).

I also disagree with your "kids without much money are the ones who whine and complain" as I know many people (including myself, at one point) that would go to FanimeCon on an extremely tight/small budget.

There are many issues that would prevent us from having this (including what you said -- space and labor) and this isn't an issue that we haven't tried to tackle before.

[Yunri-Chan]

I understand that some measures have to be taken to prevent stealing etc, but I've also seen simple number tag check-in's work successfully & efficiently. It's popular for people who've checked out their room but still need a place for their luggage; a lot of hotels reserve a room near the lobby and one or two staff people sit at the doorway, and when you check in, they put a numerical tag on your bag & give you another tag with the same number on it. Doesn't that work as ID?

It's really efficient as well since you just need a few organized people + a spacey room... and then just have some requirements, like everything checked in must be in a bag etc for extra efficiency.

Whenever I use one of those systems I don't tip, it literally takes like two minutes. I've never had to sign a waiver or anything. (._.) But if you want to make profit/make up for the cost of the extra room, I guess a dollar fee or something works if you have people pay when they check in. Plus, since it's a sealed-off room, it's not like random people would come poking around and stealing.

[ewu]

At this point we will probably not do any check in. We explored the idea and it fizzled out internally. The hotels did at one point offer a check service, but I don't know about now. Please contact the hotels to see if they can offer this service for you.