Picking up Pre-Registration

[PLUMPKIN]

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.

Thanks for the response!  Just one quick observation that you guys might want to keep in mind for next year regarding counterfeit badges(copy pasted from a previous post):

I noticed that this year's at-con registration badges lacked the holographic "original" sticker and shaped hole punch (mine was a flower in 2009) used in previous years.  Without the sticker and the shaped holepunch, the at-con badges could have been easily counterfeited if one found matching paper.

If we were to mail out badges, counterfeiting can be prevented by using safeguards like those custom holographic stickers and shaped hole punches.  Yes, there is always going to be concern about counterfeiting, but I think the revenue lost from the handful of people who actually attempt to counterfeit a badge/hole punch/custom holographic sticker can be recouped with the amount charged to mail out the badges to the exponentially greater number of non-counterfeiting people who won't bother.

I'll definitely e-mail hr about helping out next year.  Can't wait!

[pengy]

Ok... the holographic stickers+hole punches were the worst ideas ever according to previous staff members. The hole punchers would ALWAYS jam, and it is hard to get a clean cut. Also that was when each card was laminated one at a time.

[chifunii]

Ok... the holographic stickers+hole punches were the worst ideas ever according to previous staff members. The hole punchers would ALWAYS jam, and it is hard to get a clean cut. Also that was when each card was laminated one at a time.

It seems like such a fuss xD individual lamination is a pain compared the (super awesome) individual cards we had this year...

I don't know if it's been considered before, but if each stand were in charge of their own alpha group (A-D, E-H, etc by last name), then the people in charge of filtering through thousands of badges would only have a certain group of cards to look through? It's something we use at school to a fairly high efficiency, I just don't know if it would work out well at Fanime...Just an idea to consider...

[Kyra_Maverick]

Ok... the holographic stickers+hole punches were the worst ideas ever according to previous staff members. The hole punchers would ALWAYS jam, and it is hard to get a clean cut. Also that was when each card was laminated one at a time.

It seems like such a fuss xD individual lamination is a pain compared the (super awesome) individual cards we had this year...

I don't know if it's been considered before, but if each stand were in charge of their own alpha group (A-D, E-H, etc by last name), then the people in charge of filtering through thousands of badges would only have a certain group of cards to look through? It's something we use at school to a fairly high efficiency, I just don't know if it would work out well at Fanime...Just an idea to consider...

The problem I see with that would be too many people waiting for their booth while other booths were virtually empty.

[PLUMPKIN]

Ok... the holographic stickers+hole punches were the worst ideas ever according to previous staff members. The hole punchers would ALWAYS jam, and it is hard to get a clean cut. Also that was when each card was laminated one at a time.

Ah, I wasn't aware that they put holographic stickers on pre-reg badges in the past.  I was exclusively referring to the paper ones used for early reg and at-con purchases.  The reason I bring this up is because one of the reasons for not mailing out badges was due to fear of counterfeiting.  This year's paper badges (not the cards) seemed to be especially prone to counterfeiting due to the lack of counterfeit protections such as the holographic stickers and holepunching.  If you got matching paper, you could have made multiple copies of those badges that look like the real thing.

I don't have much of an opinion when it comes to the laminated PRE-REG badges vs cards.  I'm guessing the cards were a timesaver for staff.  I did like that I had a pocket to put my hotel room key, though. :)

[PLUMPKIN]

Ok... the holographic stickers+hole punches were the worst ideas ever according to previous staff members. The hole punchers would ALWAYS jam, and it is hard to get a clean cut. Also that was when each card was laminated one at a time.

It seems like such a fuss xD individual lamination is a pain compared the (super awesome) individual cards we had this year...

I don't know if it's been considered before, but if each stand were in charge of their own alpha group (A-D, E-H, etc by last name), then the people in charge of filtering through thousands of badges would only have a certain group of cards to look through? It's something we use at school to a fairly high efficiency, I just don't know if it would work out well at Fanime...Just an idea to consider...

The problem I see with that would be too many people waiting for their booth while other booths were virtually empty.

Perhaps it would be by badge number instead of last name.  What you could do is divide the number of badges by the number of booths that will be open.  That could be a more effective way to go about that idea.

[pengy]

Ok... the holographic stickers+hole punches were the worst ideas ever according to previous staff members. The hole punchers would ALWAYS jam, and it is hard to get a clean cut. Also that was when each card was laminated one at a time.

Ah, I wasn't aware that they put holographic stickers on pre-reg badges in the past.  I was exclusively referring to the paper ones used for early reg and at-con purchases.  The reason I bring this up is because one of the reasons for not mailing out badges was due to fear of counterfeiting.  This year's paper badges (not the cards) seemed to be especially prone to counterfeiting due to the lack of counterfeit protections such as the holographic stickers and holepunching.  If you got matching paper, you could have made multiple copies of those badges that look like the real thing.

I don't have much of an opinion when it comes to the laminated PRE-REG badges vs cards.  I'm guessing the cards were a timesaver for staff.  I did like that I had a pocket to put my hotel room key, though. :)

Ah, yes the early reg/at-con papers are a bit easy to copy especially if someone had the art. I believe there were plans to let everyone have the plastic cards like pre-reg, but then what would pre-reg get that others wouldn't other than the price? Also the printing machine is apparently huge, and would take a bit longer to actually make.

Ok... the holographic stickers+hole punches were the worst ideas ever according to previous staff members. The hole punchers would ALWAYS jam, and it is hard to get a clean cut. Also that was when each card was laminated one at a time.

It seems like such a fuss xD individual lamination is a pain compared the (super awesome) individual cards we had this year...

I don't know if it's been considered before, but if each stand were in charge of their own alpha group (A-D, E-H, etc by last name), then the people in charge of filtering through thousands of badges would only have a certain group of cards to look through? It's something we use at school to a fairly high efficiency, I just don't know if it would work out well at Fanime...Just an idea to consider...

The problem I see with that would be too many people waiting for their booth while other booths were virtually empty.

Perhaps it would be by badge number instead of last name.  What you could do is divide the number of badges by the number of booths that will be open.  That could be a more effective way to go about that idea.

Most people don't know/remember their badge number unless they had the email/paper with them, and the badges are already ordered by badge number on the pickup tables. Also I'm pretty sure that alot of people don't know the difference between early reg and pre-reg and it would suck to stay in the pre-reg line when you're actually an early reg for 2 hours.

[PLUMPKIN]

Most people don't know/remember their badge number unless they had the email/paper with them, and the badges are already ordered by badge number on the pickup tables. Also I'm pretty sure that alot of people don't know the difference between early reg and pre-reg and it would suck to stay in the pre-reg line when you're actually an early reg for 2 hours.

From my understanding, people are supposed to print out the e-mail and bring it with them to pick up their badges anyway.  Also, I thought that pre-reg and early reg had to wait in the same line.  It should be the person's responsibility to know what line they're in, anyway, or at least ask if they're not sure.  Fanime staff can't be responsible for people who can't follow directions when they are explicitly spelled out on signs, websites, and e-mails.

Can't think of any other ideas on how to improve the line situation.  I'll continue to back up the ideas I've already posted, and maybe think of new ideas as others post on this forum.  Hopefully this situation can be improved next year, especially since we know what to expect on Day 0.

[PLUMPKIN]

Ah, yes the early reg/at-con papers are a bit easy to copy especially if someone had the art. I believe there were plans to let everyone have the plastic cards like pre-reg, but then what would pre-reg get that others wouldn't other than the price? Also the printing machine is apparently huge, and would take a bit longer to actually make.

Plastic cards aren't a  bad idea, at least pre-reg would still get the discount and the Thursday pickup (which is a pretty big incentive for me).  Maybe using paper with a watermark might help if you guys stick with paper badges, though that can be hard to see through the plastic sleeve.  Hmmm... *thinks*

[chifunii]

Ah, yes the early reg/at-con papers are a bit easy to copy especially if someone had the art. I believe there were plans to let everyone have the plastic cards like pre-reg, but then what would pre-reg get that others wouldn't other than the price? Also the printing machine is apparently huge, and would take a bit longer to actually make.

Plastic cards aren't a  bad idea, at least pre-reg would still get the discount and the Thursday pickup (which is a pretty big incentive for me).  Maybe using paper with a watermark might help if you guys stick with paper badges, though that can be hard to see through the plastic sleeve.  Hmmm... *thinks*

Every possible solution leads to new things to be considered. It's probably impossible to come up with a foolproof way, but at least we know efficiency and counterfeiting are key points to address...
/brainhurt from thinking

[yoHmok]

Ah, yes the early reg/at-con papers are a bit easy to copy especially if someone had the art. I believe there were plans to let everyone have the plastic cards like pre-reg, but then what would pre-reg get that others wouldn't other than the price? Also the printing machine is apparently huge, and would take a bit longer to actually make.

Plastic cards aren't a  bad idea, at least pre-reg would still get the discount and the Thursday pickup (which is a pretty big incentive for me).  Maybe using paper with a watermark might help if you guys stick with paper badges, though that can be hard to see through the plastic sleeve.  Hmmm... *thinks*

I've got it!

You know how the new California ID's have the bear dotted out on it?  You could implement something like that on the paper badges, then counterfeiting wouldn't be as easy.

[Tony]

I don't know if it's been considered before, but if each stand were in charge of their own alpha group (A-D, E-H, etc by last name), then the people in charge of filtering through thousands of badges would only have a certain group of cards to look through? It's something we use at school to a fairly high efficiency, I just don't know if it would work out well at Fanime...Just an idea to consider...

I'm not totally familiar with registration anymore, but we used to do things by last name years ago. More recently, I believe registration started storing and picking badges by their numeric ID. That way, you're just looking for a simple set of numbers, instead of all those crazy letters.

Also, there's confusion with names like Tony De Guzman... is that under D or G? And there's always a ton of people under N for Nguyen. Numbers are pretty simple, comparatively.

As for anti-counterfeiting measures, this is a very interesting topic - but of course, don't expect us to talk much about what methods we choose...

[M]

As for anti-counterfeiting measures, this is a very interesting topic - but of course, don't expect us to talk much about what methods we choose...

To add to Tony's point, keep in mind that we also have to figure out what is a "good" point for anti-counterfeit badges (cost vs effectiveness). Some folks have suggested that we implement some super high security features, which would end up costing us a lot of money. We've been trying to find a happy medium and not have to go broke or pass that costs onto you, the members.