FanimeCon 2011 Info Desk Feedback Thread

[beyourgravity]

Thanks for attending Fanime 2011

Did you miss the chance to give feedback at Closing Ceremonies?

The replies in this thread will be forwarded to our head. Responses from Staff and Attendees alike are welcome.

Keep in mind we do not print the schedules, that is with publications. Info desk only distributes what publications can provide to us.

Some starter questions:

Were you able to be helped properly at info desk?
Were info staff polite and friendly upon helping?
Did any questions go unanswered because of staff error or refusal to find out?
What worked and didn't work for you?
What can we improve on?
Did you use ConDroyd? (We had some flyers at our tables about it. It is a Third party app for Android phones containing the convention schedule on it) If so, was it useful?
Did you use the mini paper that had the list of restaurants that gave you a 10% discount? If so, was it useful?
Did you use the bi-daily newletters? (These were the colorful papers with the morning and afternoon editions with ongoings printed on them.) If so, was it useful?


Any other feedback pertaining to Info Desk is also welcome.

If you have any specific incidents to compliment or comment about, please list the time, day and location of the info desk. If you have a badge number or specific name, do not publicly post that please pm that to me instead.
Info desk 1: Info Main / Stage Zero
Info desk 2: Hilton side in between the Hilton / Maid Cafe and Dance (Ballroom J)
Info desk 3: Front of convention center on ground floor by the main entrance of the convention center in front of Registration
Info desk 4: Marriot side inbetween the Marriot where Panels were and the Video Rooms.

Technically we are part of Live Programming, but I think most people will find us better under General so I will post it here.

Thank you.

[Mango Bunny]

Some starter questions:
Were you able to be helped properly at info desk?
Most of the time, yes. Nobody seemed to know where the heck the blood drive was. I KNEW it was outside the con center, but it took some convincing oon my part for the desk folk to accept that. They did try to call someone else for the info though, which was appreciated. So I got as much info as they had about it I suppose.


Were info staff polite and friendly upon helping?
Yes, every time.


Did any questions go unanswered because of staff error or refusal to find out?
Naw, they tried.


What worked and didn't work for you?
Really, it was fine. I just wish they gave someone a blood drive map. It was a pretty important thing. I hope nobody decided 'forget it' because they couldn't be told where it was.


What can we improve on?
Well, it got crowded with the schedule drama this year, so it was hard to actually get through to ask things.


Did you use ConDroyd?
What?


Did you use the mini paper that had the list of restaurants that gave you a 10% discount?
I took one, but didn't end up using it. I'd keep that though. I wouldn't have known otherwise. Once the con starts I'm not really on the site.

Did you use the bi-daily newletters?
What?

If so, were they helpful or not really?
???


There was one girl working at the main info desk who was somewhat rude. I was over there what would have been Saturday late morning. She was fairly helpful to me, but someone else came up was was like "Still no schedules?" and she kind of got uppity about it "That's what the sign SAYS, people". Hard to put tone in here, but it came off very "God, stop asking me this you stupid as heck people" Even if you've heard a question 100 times you still need to remember that other people haven't asked it yet.

[beyourgravity]

Thanks for your feedback Mango Bunny!

Information about Condroyd: We had some flyers at our tables about it. It is a Third party app for Android phones containing the convention schedule on it.

Information about bi-daily newletters: These were the colorful papers with the morning and afternoon editions with ongoings printed on them.

[eHash]

I've been asked to provide my feedback as a staff person directly to the heads, however i will share my non staff person experience this year:

specifically desk #2:
Were you able to be helped properly at info desk?
no, they were unprepared, no program guide, no map, no schedule, no laptop, 1 radio not working right
Were info staff polite and friendly upon helping?
no, they seemed annoyed, perhaps frustrated that they couldn't even find out the answer
Did any questions go unanswered because of staff error or refusal to find out?
yes. perhaps it was inability to find out.
What worked and didn't work for you?
they were unable to provide any legit information, so it didn't work at all.
I didn't have a badge (or lanyard visible) when i went to the desk
(a) i reported the bathroom outside the j was overflowed with <stuff> on the floor, and they said they weren't the right people to tell.
(b) i asked where the blood drive was, they said "somewhere" in the crowne.
(c) i asked what were the hours of the maid cafe, they responded why don't i just walk over there and ask
(d) on sat. i asked what time the dealer hall closed and they said 5.
(e) while i was standing there they gave the wrong location of the b&w, the wrong start time for the dance, told some guy he didn't
     need to peacebond his prop, and said the hentai room was 16+.

What can we improve on?
even if the people at the desk aren't as prepared as they should, they should at least have (1) a radio (2) a computer (3) program guide (4) schedule and (5) map

Did you use ConDroyd? (We had some flyers at our tables about it. It is a Third party app for Android phones containing the convention schedule on it) If so, was it useful?
no i have an iphone

Did you use the mini paper that had the list of restaurants that gave you a 10% discount? If so, was it useful?
no, but i'm sure it would've been useful if i had time to go out

Did you use the bi-daily newletters? (These were the colorful papers with the morning and afternoon editions with ongoings printed on them.) If so, was it useful?
yes

[kookiekween99]

I know a lot of people who worked Info Desk, so I'm not really saying anything bad about them. I'm sure they did awesome, and I love them for it. <3 This is not about them.

I only had to visit Info Desk once, and the guy there gave me vague/incorrect information. It was Saturday around 3 and then again around 5 (I'm pretty sure it was the same guy) at Info Desk 2. Both times I asked about the location of the Hilton Market Room. The first time he vaguely pointed toward the Hilton and told me that the Dance didn't start until 7. I knew he was wrong, but I figured there was no need to get into an argument. The second time I cam back because I was horribly lost and I had already missed half of my favorite DJ's set, so I asked if he could give me clearer directions. He again tried to tell me it was at 7, so I picked up the schedule right in front of him, flipped to the right page, and pointed at the event I was talking about. He finally realized what I meant and told me it was down in the Hilton Lobby. I thanked him, and went on my merry way.

He wasn't really rude or anything. He just seemed kind of confused and didn't seem to have any idea what he was talking about.

From what I've heard, Info Desk people weren't really trained beforehand, causing them to be confused and clueless and possibly lacking customer service skills. Maybe make sure to have a day to familiarize them with all the events and give them a crash course in customer service? I dunno. I'm not staff, but I hope I'm helpful in some way.

[PLUMPKIN]

Were you able to be helped properly at info desk?
Yep.

Were info staff polite and friendly upon helping?
The staff members I encountered were pretty friendly and had a good sense of humor.

Did any questions go unanswered because of staff error or refusal to find out?
Nope.  I asked a question about which dances were played at Black and White Ball, and the person tried his best to answer it.  I appreciated the effort.

Did you use ConDroyd? (We had some flyers at our tables about it. It is a Third party app for Android phones containing the convention schedule on it) If so, was it useful?
This app was very useful and was my best friend during the convention.  I liked how it was easy to use, didn't seem to slow down my crummy phone, and had an option where you could star events you wanted to attend.  The only criticism I have of the app is that you couldn't open links in a new browser.  Bring it back next year, please!

Did you use the mini paper that had the list of restaurants that gave you a 10% discount? If so, was it useful?
Of course!  Any discount is a great thing!  It's awesome that you guys were able to negotiate deals with so many places.

Did you use the bi-daily newletters? (These were the colorful papers with the morning and afternoon editions with ongoings printed on them.) If so, was it useful?
Yes, they made for great reads while waiting for panels to start and also sparked my interest in attending other events.  The B&W Ball lessons list was also very useful as it was sometimes a pain searching ConDryod to see which dances were being taught (ConDroyd also didn't specify if a dance class was level I or level II).  Please bring these all back next year!

[Nina Star 9]

I only talked to infodesk staff once, to get a location for a panel, but I walked past multiple times and checked for newsletters and such periodically. I used the one on the far Mariott side near the entrance to the hallway with video rooms and karaoke pretty much exclusively.


Were you able to be helped properly at info desk?
Yes. It took the staffer a minute to find the information I needed, but he was able to find it. I asked where the _____ panel at _:00 that night was being held, just to double check.

Were info staff polite and friendly upon helping?
He was a bit slow in finding the answer (and even after taking a while to look up the info, he just told me exactly what I already told him [that it was at _:00] until I asked my question again), but was polite enough.

What worked and didn't work for you?
A fairly minor gripe, but is there any way to keep the area around the desk somewhat clear? While I didn't use the infodesks often, I often saw crowds of people standing rather close to the desk who obviously weren't using it, they were just standing there. If I had needed information at that time, I'm not sure how I would have gotten it, since I'm not the type to push my way through a crowd like that. Maybe ask bystanders to keep a certain distance from the desk when they are not using it?

What can we improve on?
Keep flyers, newslatters, etc. restocked! Also, maybe keep a laminated schedule or three at the desks (maybe somehow attatched, like taped to the desk itself) for quick reference? I didn't see anything like that, and while it would be helpful even without a printed schedule snafu, it would have been even more helpful this year that schedules for attendees weren't printed.

Did you use ConDroyd? (We had some flyers at our tables about it. It is a Third party app for Android phones containing the convention schedule on it) If so, was it useful?
I do not own a smartphone.

Did you use the mini paper that had the list of restaurants that gave you a 10% discount? If so, was it useful?
No. Every time I went to an infodesk, there were no papers on the desk. I didn't even know about these until right now.

Did you use the bi-daily newletters? (These were the colorful papers with the morning and afternoon editions with ongoings printed on them.) If so, was it useful?
This is what I came in here to talk about. I always read these, but I couldn't find them this year. I got two, and only one of them was from an infordesk, the other I picked up off of an empty dealer's table. I never saw any others the whole con. There were probably more released, but I never saw any others, even though I checked a few times a day. By the end of the con, I finally found a couple of stacks on an infodesk, but they were the two I already had.

Overall, I think there should be more info on the desks themselves. More newsletters, more permanant schedules (as opposed to ones handed out), etc. I'd rather be able to find the info myself than have to ask someone.