Official 2011 Fanimaid Cafe thread

PyronIkari · February 07, 2011, 08:36:40 PM

MMm... for the most part it's an introduction, an overview of how the cafe works and what we expect of people, then like a quick 1 on 1 with one of the staff members to get a feel of your personality and just to measure how much you know. You get your picture taken and asked some questions and stuff.

Jun-Watarase · February 08, 2011, 01:12:15 PM

Quote from: reinmystica on February 07, 2011, 08:30:08 PM
Hi, I have one question, what are the tryouts going to be like? I didn't see any information on what the actual tryouts are going to consist of, and if it was already said somewhere, I'm very sorry ><

Hi! Please refer to "What to expect" on the first update on try-outs. It's about half a page above you~ Hope that helps.

LordKefka · February 08, 2011, 03:19:31 PM

Hoping for another good year~ :3

reinmystica · February 08, 2011, 10:10:56 PM

Thank you, I must have missed the "What to Expect" part when I read it ><

I can't wait till the try-outs this weekend :)

.::midnight.maiden::. · February 10, 2011, 03:21:53 PM

....

LordKefka · February 10, 2011, 04:17:13 PM

I think some of your questions are answered in both Mikey's and Jun's posts (like first post and etc. ) on the first page...

PyronIkari · February 10, 2011, 11:28:55 PM

Quote from: .::midnight.maiden::. on February 10, 2011, 03:21:53 PM
I heard that Maid Cafe is not part of staff...meaning that you have to buy your badge in advance...is this true? Also, how much commitment is there for a maid? Is there an hourly quota by the end of the con, like staff needs to have completed 24 hrs by the end of the con?
Do we just show up to the try-out session, or were we supposed to practice before hand (if there were practice sessions beforehand)?
I'm pretty sure I'm in the proper age, but is there an age limit? What can we expect at Maid Cafe, and what do you you expect from a maid working at Maid Cafe? Suggestions on where to get maid outfits? What happens if there is a dispute with an uncooperative customer?

Sorry, I'm flooding everyone with questions...^^; I'm pretty sure if I went to a try-out I'll probably get my questions answered haha. If anyone can answer my questions before hand, then I will be oh-so-grateful to you!! <3

Most of these were already answered if you read the posts in this thread but just because...

There is a quota. Shifts are made and you have to work a certain about of time. As of right now we're aiming for 4 hours for the con with the times spans of when the cafe hours are open. Practice if you want. I don't know how you would seeing that you probably don't know what's expected of you, which is probably for the better for us to judge. What can you expect as a maid? Lots of people talking to you, simple service, and conversationing/communicating/serving patrons. You're a maid. You serve customers. Maid outfits will be discussed AFTER you are accepted and there will be conversations and discussion about this if/when/after you get accepted. If there's problems, then staff/rovers and others will be there to handle it.

Please read the other posts in this thread.

vanillashakes · February 12, 2011, 08:04:13 PM

I'll be going to the maid tryouts tomorrow, looking forward to seeing all who are attending it!

PyronIkari · February 13, 2011, 03:05:12 PM

Good luck to everyone that attended today's try-outs, and unfortunately I couldn't be there. But I'll be discussing things with staff out tonight probably. Hope you had fun.

sakura.summers · February 13, 2011, 10:45:42 PM

I've heard people say this is volunteer work, but if you sign up to be staff at the FanimeCon website Maid Cafe is one of your options. So, I was wondering, do you have to buy your own badge? and do you get a Staff Badge? Also, if it is volunteering, can you be Fanime Staff (say, for karaoke or something) and be a maid at the Maid Cafe? If so, how would payment for the Maid Cafe work?

PyronIkari · February 14, 2011, 01:36:37 AM

Quote from: sakura.summers on February 13, 2011, 10:45:42 PM
I've heard people say this is volunteer work, but if you sign up to be staff at the FanimeCon website Maid Cafe is one of your options. So, I was wondering, do you have to buy your own badge? and do you get a Staff Badge? Also, if it is volunteering, can you be Fanime Staff (say, for karaoke or something) and be a maid at the Maid Cafe? If so, how would payment for the Maid Cafe work?

Maid Cafe also has an official staff, but general maids are not part of this staff. Staff for maid cafe are the members that do like the logistics, budgeting, coordination, scheduling, etc. etc. etc. Maids themselves are volunteers. Currently Maid Cafe is not looking for staff.

You would have to pay for your own badge, but you do get volunteer hours towards getting your badge reimbursed.(not maid cafe doesn't give enough volunteer hours to qualify completely for volunteer badge). Yes you can still be a maid at the cafe and staff some where else. This however is up to your staff to allow you time to work at the cafe during open hours, attend meetings, etc. etc. and still do your staffing job.

Payment for the cafe? What do you mean by payment? It's volunteer work.

sakura.summers · February 14, 2011, 02:11:03 AM

Well, like you said, volunteering can get your badge reimbursed, if your a staff member and get a free badge, then you nothing from the maid cafe? Correct? Also, how much do you get back if you just work for the Maid Cafe?

vanillashakes · February 14, 2011, 12:16:48 PM

Quote from: sakura.summers on February 14, 2011, 02:11:03 AM
Well, like you said, volunteering can get your badge reimbursed, if your a staff member and get a free badge, then you nothing from the maid cafe? Correct? Also, how much do you get back if you just work for the Maid Cafe?

How many hours you get to go towards reimbursing your badge depends on how many hours you volunteer to work at the maid cafe, or any volunteer service at any department in general.

sakura.summers · February 14, 2011, 03:33:16 PM

Yes, but he said Maid Cafe doesn't give enough hours to fully reimburse your badge. So how much do you get?

PyronIkari · February 14, 2011, 04:48:22 PM

Quote from: sakura.summers on February 14, 2011, 03:33:16 PM
Yes, but he said Maid Cafe doesn't give enough hours to fully reimburse your badge. So how much do you get?

... However many you work?

QuoteWell, like you said, volunteering can get your badge reimbursed, if your a staff member and get a free badge, then you nothing from the maid cafe? Correct? Also, how much do you get back if you just work for the Maid Cafe?

I'm not fully understanding what you mean. I assume what you mean is how many hours do you get towards your reimbursement? Everything you say sounds like you're equating it to money not hours.

If you are staff and have a staff badge, you don't need volunteer hours to get reimbursed for your badge. You already have a staff badge, why would you need reimbursement? If you're looking to volunteer to get something out of it, I suggest you don't. Staffing for the maid cafe isn't exactly an easy job. it requires a lot of dedication and work. It also takes quite a bit of commitment and will to be doing what you're doing.

It's incredibly fun and a lot comes out of it, but you're still doing work.

.::midnight.maiden::. · February 14, 2011, 07:44:14 PM

So if you are chosen to be a maid, you still have to buy your entrance badge beforehand. Am I correct?

What happens if a maid has an emergency and suddenly needs to drop out? Penalties to the maid or the staff will somehow figure it out?

Does Maid Cafe ever get under/overstaffed? I don't even know if this is important to me. It's more concerning to the staff :-/

sakura.summers · February 14, 2011, 10:04:16 PM

I'm not really sure what I was asking, it made sense to me before, lol. Is it possible to work enough at the maid cafe to get fully reimbursed for your badge? Or do you have too many maids for one to work that much?

jemz · February 14, 2011, 10:49:34 PM

Quote from: sakura.summers on February 14, 2011, 10:04:16 PM
I'm not really sure what I was asking, it made sense to me before, lol. Is it possible to work enough at the maid cafe to get fully reimbursed for your badge? Or do you have too many maids for one to work that much?

The fanimaid cafe does not have enough hours to qualify for reimbursement. You would have to do additional hours elsewhere to reach the volunteer requirement to get reimbursed.

PyronIkari · February 14, 2011, 11:15:26 PM

Quote from: .::midnight.maiden::. on February 14, 2011, 07:44:14 PM
So if you are chosen to be a maid, you still have to buy your entrance badge beforehand. Am I correct?

What happens if a maid has an emergency and suddenly needs to drop out? Penalties to the maid or the staff will somehow figure it out?

Does Maid Cafe ever get under/overstaffed? I don't even know if this is important to me. It's more concerning to the staff :-/

Yes, you would have to buy your badge on your own.

If you have to drop out, you have to drop out. We're not so mean as to penalize you for dropping out, but in all cases, please let us know? I hope she doesn't mind telling this story but one of our maids came 4 1/2 hours late to the convention because her graduation was on the same day. It took longer than was scheduled and there was bad traffic on the way there. To be honest though she was heart broken that she let us down and showed up late (this is the kind of relationship a lot of us have in this group. We've become really close friends for the most part) and felt that she had let us down. Silly girl, it was one of the biggest days of her life, and she was sorry for letting us down? Please, your life is more important than this volunteer job. However dedication, hard work, and effort are all requested and required of you. We're not monsters and we understand circumstances.

Overstaffed is better than understaffed. There's really no such thing as overstaffed for the cafe. Understaffed is difficult. It just means a lot more work for the people that are there. This shouldn't be a problem, and really hasn't been a problem, but i'm speaking generally.

Quote
I'm not really sure what I was asking, it made sense to me before, lol. Is it possible to work enough at the maid cafe to get fully reimbursed for your badge? Or do you have too many maids for one to work that much?

It's not about how many maids... it's about the hours the cafe is open. Although I know you're inquiring out of curiosity but please try to not flood this thread. I've answered all your questions already in posts and you're still asking the same questions even though I just answered them in the post before. This is the official thread, so I'd rather it not filled with posts that are already answered.

Jun-Watarase · February 14, 2011, 11:52:32 PM

Hi, regarding the volunteer hours, hopefully I can offer a simple explanation that will answer your questions thusfar.

You do need to purchase your own badge. It is one of the requirements that you are able to provide your own registration. When you pick up your badge, you sign up to be a volunteer at the con itself to receive a volunteer badge.

You need a general total of 20 hours to fully reimburse a weekend-badge, and 5 hours for a day badge. There are no partial reimbursements. You can fulfill this depending on how many hours you offer to the cafe, this includes in and out of the convention.

However, as the maid cafe is only open from 11AM-6PM for two days, and shifts are typically 2-4 hours (depending on how you are scheduled) you generally do not get enough hours for a reimbursement. What other volunteers do is sign up for another department seeking volunteers to fulfill the total hour requirements. Most maids that I've recruited in the past generally don't bother becoming volunteers, however.

A maid can receive up to approximately 8-17 hours. 4 hours for try-outs (this only applies if you pass), 2 hours for the at-con meeting, 2 hours for 2-hr shifts, 4 hours for 4-hr shifts, 1 hour for each performance, and etc. It adds up, but sometimes maids stick around and contribute more than we ask for.

To most, it isn't really so much about "what we are getting back", but from my experience, most girls come for the experience of being a maid and being a part of Fanimaid Cafe. I don't mean to say that we're just people looking for free labor, because that isn't it at all. We do this because it's fun, provides joy and a sense of accomplishment for staff, our maid volunteers, and our customers. We all just simply work hard every year, and ultimately, have lots and lots of fun.

We do discuss volunteer hours at try-outs, and feel free to ask us any questions. Be sure to read back into past updates and information posted to make sure your question wasn't already answered.

Hope that helps!

- Jun