Con feedback (Feedback will not effectively reach staff if you do not use form)

Started by Bromopar, May 26, 2013, 01:31:38 PM

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otakuya

^ even if it doesn't run smoothly, it takes guts to even try to plan an event as big as Fanimecon is now,  especially with an estimate of 22,000 people.  With that, I commend thee

PinkHairSasuke

Glad to see I'm not the only one who questioned why the Storm Trooper was allowed in yet others with very beautiful and classy attire were turned away due to a mere quarter of an inch or something ridiculous like that. Maybe I should pull together a sick Darth Vader costume like the Storm Trooper and go to the BW Ball, no reason why I shouldn't get in, right?  ??? I hope you sense the sarcasm in that last line.

Sanity

Definitely the per-registration line. Why did I stand in a line out side of a room, to then stand in a line IN a room, just to get moved to another room with two more lines in it? and why where the lines mixed together? The organization was HORRIBLE this year. is all I have to say.

besides that the construction was a complete hassle but not much can be done about that really, at least not until they finish the building.

but that's it for me really. I finally got my costume to do what I wanted it to do this year so nothing can really bring me down too much.

also to the person complaining about the cosplays/panles I understand the homestuck one but beyond that for the panels please remember that anime is short for ANIMATION so MLP is perfectly in their rights to have a panel at an anime convention. no matter how much the show annoys me >.>

the homestuck one I don't really think it should have but hey I do like it in general so i personally am not complaining.

PinkHairSasuke

I have nothing against Homestuck considering all I know is that it's a webcomic involving vampires or something(it was explained to me at the BW Ball by a Homestuck cosplayer). Anyway, after reading all of this arguing, I truly believe it to be frivolous. Why single out a certain group because there are more of them or because their costume is simple? It isn't fair to them since, just like you, they paid to get into the convention and meet people who share similar interests with them. All this hate on Homestuck makes cosplayers of that series assume that all of us hate them. One cosplayer I met, I didn't know what her cosplay was so I asked. She responded and said it was from Homestuck. I simply replied, "Oh" and she responds, "I assumed you'd react like that." I asked why and she says because everyone reacts in a fashion like that yet in a more extreme way since they hate Homestuck. Seriously, all the hate is getting all of us the label of being a hater of Homestuck along with anything that isn't anime related such as My Little Pony, Adventure Time, etc. Now, onto simplicity. For those of you who are familiar with the video game, "Catherine," Vincent Brooks, the main character, wears nothing but horns and pink polka dot boxer shorts in the nightmares. I see that cosplay and no one complains, I even cosplayed him this year(didn't have the horns but I did have his Rave shirt). Now, if I added the horns and painted my skin grey, I'd be assumed to Homestuck yet I'd still be Vincent. How is it fair that a simple cosplay that isn't Homestuck doesn't get ridiculed and hated on while a Homestuck one is? Basically, like most things, it comes down to double standards.

PinkHairSasuke

The long wait times for people who want just a day pass is horrible. They should have a separate thing for them so they don't waste all day in line.

Quote from: Dracil on May 27, 2013, 10:40:47 PM
Yes, I would like to see that.  In fact, there should probably be a line for single-day registrations.

On Friday, there was someone with us in line from 12PM to about 5-6PM, at which point she gave up because she had to leave by 8PM.  So you basically wasted a person's entire day for no reason being unwilling to try suggestions given every year that other cons have implemented in order to improve the situation.

That person wasted their entire day.

black7hearts

Not sure what happened on Friday about registration. The process didn't start up til 9 am, even though it was suppose to open up at 8 am.

I agree that there should be a separate line for those who want one day badges and a weekend badge for at least Friday and Saturday. 2013's wait line for a badge was about a five hour wait if you got there around 7:30. My boyfriend was in line until 12:00. Thank goodness he got a weekend badge but for those who were getting a one day pass, half the day is already gone. Especially if you get there around noon and it's still a five hour wait, it's not even worth coming to Fanime. So essentially there would be a line for pre-reg, a line for at-con registration for full weekend, a line for one day pass, and a line for special badges like dealers or artists.

I also remembered that there were only five computers being used and eventually it went down to four. The tables were huge as well and maybe up to 10 laptops could have been used.

People can say that they could get it at alchemy but that's a good four miles away from fanime. I wouldn't want to walk that and who knows when the shuttle will come to pick us up. Maybe if there was an online shuttle schedule, like how they have an app for buses/subways. That or have your own car to get to clockwork alchemy. But if the lines are as long as they were this past year, I'm going to get a car and pick up at clockwork.

black7hearts

I totally agree with this. I was denied since my heels were too thin and I had a red Chinese dress on. So I had to change into some ugly boots just to get in. The people behind me were denied as well because her heels were too thin but they were dance shoes. We had a conversation about how she was wearing a corset and she was dressed in a lovely long black dress with a slit to the side (very beautiful, wish I got a picture) and in the end, she got denied which was a waste of time of standing in line. My sister had a dress that was apparently "too short", which was barely above her knees and when I got in, I saw girls who had dress that where mid-thigh high. There were also girls who had way thinner heels than myself or the woman behind me had on. It's probably safe to say that I won't be attending the ball next year if there is no consistency to the rules. The first and last Black and White Ball I will see.

TC X0 Lt 0X

I was a little disappointed.
The PreReg line was terrible, and all the Pre-Reggers got was a plastic badge with a sticker pasted on. In former years your name would be printed on the badge. My buddies Badge got all smeared from his long hair rubbing against the sticker. And most of all those that did not prereg got basically a slightly less detailed badge then us Pre-Reggers.

The Artist Alley being in south Hall was pretty bad, and I almost did not visit it at all. Same with the 4th panel room being in the Gold Room at the Fairmont, I just did not have the willpower to make that trek.

Elsewhere, Exhibit Hall 1 was basically just a waste of space. In only got used for two nights for the swap meet, and not much more.

Some other things that bothered me but can't be helped was the lack of many diverse cosplays and the vast amount of Homestuck.


Really though I was just drained of energy that entire weekend because of being forced to work 6 days in a row at a terrible place like Jack in the Box.
Ill definitely return next year if time/money permits, but I will have my reservations.


"Never beg. You earn. By Winning.
Or else you won't get anything..."

Pro-Pocky Movement

GOT HYPE.

Dracil

So here's the thing, the rover told us somewhere around 2PM we were only about 45 minutes from the door, and about 60 minutes after that inside to get the badge.  And we weren't sure we could actually get on the shuttle if we waited there, and the rovers themselves weren't actually sure what the situation was for registration at doubletree except for rumors that it *may* be faster.  So we calculated it'd probably take us 60-90 minutes going the doubletree route if our fairly big group could actually get on the shuttle, for which there was a line already, and that's why we decided to wait it out since we'd already been there for so long.  Well it turns out the rover was wrong as it probably took us another 1.5 hours to get to the door, only to be greeted with basically 3 more lines after we got in.

Had the rover properly informed us of the inside situation, we'd probably have just made the trip to doubletree, or the person could have stopped trying to line up for a badge right then.

amused_

This was my first time going to the convention so if I seem ignorant about a couple of things, please forgive me.

We decided to stay at the Airport Garden Hotel because of price and location.  One member of our group was there primarily for Clockwork Alchemy and two members of our group are huge poker players, so we would be in walking distance to both the Doubletree and M8trix.  This worked out for us because on Friday, we went over to the Doubletree to pick up one badge.

While in line for the shuttle we were advised by someone that we should avoid the Fanime registration and just pick up our badges at the Doubletree.  We had to confirm that we could do that because we were under the impression, from our e-mails, that we had to pick them up at the Fairmont. 

So our group and a few other people went back to the Clockwork Alchemy registration line and they printed our badges out no problem.  15 minutes tops on Friday, 5PM.

Advice for transportation to the Doubletree:  Peak hours the shuttles will come by more often, but you may not get on the first one that comes by while you're in line.  I'd say the most you'll wait is an hour, though.  Another way to get to the Doubletree would be to use public transportation if you really don't want to wait for shuttles twice.  VTA is cheap for single riders.  Cabs are still affordable especially if you're in a group of 4.

Of course this is all valid advice only if things don't change for 2014.

(Also, Dracil from RBJ?)

Dracil


thedoctorinblue

Quote from: Naiagu on May 27, 2013, 06:44:21 PM
This year was alright, there was not a lot I was hyped up for but my one gathering really. I was the leader for my pre-reg group and I got there around 4:30pm. I was in line for 6 hours in front of a really huge group of loud high school kids to kept bumping into me and bringing friends into the line.

Honestly, I miss when Pre-reg and early-reg were separate lines. I waited faar too long to get my badge. I was tired and having loud high school kids behind me for 6 hours did not help. When I got into the second to last room I also noticed there were a dozen new people behind the guy I was told to remember who was originally in front of me from the outside lines. The lady in front of me said she'd just followed the line, somehow she managed to get into the 2nd to last room without having to wait in the whole line.

One more thing about the lines, having to pick up badges in different lines when picking up for a group is the worst idea. I had to go into 5 different lines for the badges I was picking up. I saw another girl next to me picking up for 8 people. I wish they would put all the badges who are under a group with the group leaders name. It was quite ridiculous having to go into 5 separate lines when I was already exhausted.

I have a very bad feeling that it was myself and my friends that were the loud obnoxious group of teenagers that were behind you. I apologize for any of the conduct that you found irratating by either myself or my friends. I know for a fact that when I get around my friends, we tend to get pretty loud which usually pisses off people in our nearby vacinity. I hope we didn't completely ruin your con.

best regards,

Alex

amused_

Hey it's me, Clouded!  (I think that's the name I used then.  We D&D'd a little bit, along with a couple of others on RBJ!)

Anyway won't derail this thread much further.  Hope you had a good time at the con (aside from the lines).

Okach

Hi!  I'm a little groggy from running around for four days and I'm not completely all the way back yet, but I wanted to let you know that we are reading your comments.

First of all, thank you for your feedback - it is part of the process by which we improve the Ball.  A word of warning:  if you claim dance experience in your comment, we will be requesting credentials (video or otherwise) in a PM to you before we weigh what you have to say.  Your real name will not be released in any public way.  We have had issues with people misrepresenting themselves in comments and emails to us over the years.  And since I know someone's going to do it, feel free to PM me for mine with the same consideration for privacy.  For the record, I was the West Coast Swing instructor/demo/Prop Challenge emcee this year.     

Secondly, if you were denied entry or taken out of the Ball due to dress code violations or if the dress code somehow ruined your life even if you were in compliance, our sincerest apologies.  While we cannot expect you to come back to the Ball if this year ruined your experience, we nonetheless extend to you the invitation for next year.  We work through a considerable chunk of the year, some of us throughout the year, some of us despite work or personal tragedy, to bring the Ball to you.  If, however, you decided to act out your frustrations upon being denied entry by taking it out on fellow congoers or Ball staff, that invitation is NOT extended.

Now, the mea culpa part:

We identified several issues in the post-ball review held immediately after. 

First and foremost, enforcement.  One of the people at the door decided to wave in a bunch of noncompliant folks through for an unspecified period of time.  That was negligent, not to mention that some of us apparently did not follow the dress code *grits teeth*.  All of this will be addressed for next year.  Very thoroughly.  As for the dress code itself, please feed back as much as you can.  We are establishing a more thorough review and critique process that will include more public opportunities to comment. 

Second of all, dress code distribution.  Apparently, some folks did not know that there was a dress code despite it being posted on Facebook, here in the forums, in the program guide, and in Parkside.  If any of you have any suggestions as to how to get the word out, please respond here or in the official FanimeCon feedback thread or email [email protected] 

Thirdly, staffing issues.  We ended up with close to 1400 attendees this year (we did not count those we turned away at the door or caught inside)  for which we had under 50 to manage with.  Yikes - we could have used some more eyes.  We will let you know if you have the option to help us even more for next year.


Those were the major ones.  If you have any others, please feel free to post in the feedback threads, email [email protected], etc.

Now, the commentary section:

As previously described in posts here in the forums, the dress code exists for several reasons. I will address health and safety of congoers as well as floor damage, since these are the ones that motivate the heel of the shoe section of the dress code, which this year wins the Most Controversial award. 

While we would like to think that everyone on the floor looks where they're going and are watching out for each other, the truth of the matter is that for a beginner level dance event like the Ball, accidents do happen at a greater than zero rate.  One of the most common accidents is getting your foot stepped on.  While getting your foot trod on by a normal flat may have some initial pain, it generally goes away after a while unless it's a really heavy step (platform boots, cough, which is why it's in the code) or is accompanied by a kick in the shins (which hurts MUCH more).  However, if the shoe is a heel, you have the chance of either a puncture or a scratch which is not fun if it breaks the skin, even more if it punches through and severs the tendon (which does happen).   One of us got scratched by a compliant shoe while dancing and we have documented her injury for future dress code posts.   

Our contract with the floor vendor stipulates that any damage over and above normal wear and tear is FanimeCon's responsibility.  This translates to "FanimeCon pays for it."  The floor vendor commented to us that the conventions that he has the most issues of additional damage with are salsa conventions, mainly due to the use of long, thin heels on a lot of people dancing for many hours. 

After much discussion over the years (and much hair pulling) the four inch heel/diameter of a nickel was decided upon as a compromise between fashion and potential cost (injury/floor).  Apparently, a decision was made to relax the nickel rule by using duct tape at the Ball.  I probably would have favored applying the banhammer a LOT more had I been consulted.  Full disclosure:  I'm the direct liaison to the floor vendor - do NOT expect any sympathy from me on this topic if it turns out one of the consequences of this feedback is that I man the door for a time next year.

Apologies for the long and rambling post.  If you have any further feedback, please use the channels provided.  If you need a little more discretion, feel free to PM me.  Thanks!   
Staff Instructor since 2010. 
Staff Marketing Lead since 2018
Staff Marketing Second

https://www.facebook.com/FanimeConBWBall/
https://twitter.com/FanimeConBWBall/

phr34kish

FYI: Thursday was badge-less this year. Nothing actually required a badge until Friday Morning. :)

irawratyou

I hate to be that guy but I'm going to call out the Registration heads and chair/board on this. Whoever headed the Reg department and made crucial decisions (or lack of) this year needs to admit their mistakes and may need to reconsider doing their position next year. I know Fanime is a volunteer on-basis position and it takes up your own personal time, but with power comes big responsibilities and it's extremely unacceptable to run registration for a convention like this. From opening up online registration late in January (compared to other years, taking reg in January I would assume less time to prepare for the year and does show us fans you guys are not prepared) to waiting 6-7 hours in line for badges, the way everything have been running has gone down in quality and there should be no excuse this year as no power line went down. XD

Please spend whatever you guys need to improve the wait time and lines. Have a analyst or whatever carefully take a look at your process (cause there's some extreme bottleneck somewhere). Clockwork alternative is great if you guys plan to keep the sticker method. Less time in line = reassurance of great service. Plus if there aren't any lingering issues in the con-goers mind, higher chance of people returning to the con. I can feel Fanime can be more awesome with the new part of the convention center opening up next year and expanding to be an even greater con, but I feel like Reg is holding the con back in becoming better.

I know this is not an overnight process, but please make the improvement of the registration process the highest priority for next year. Fan relations should be #1 and Fanime has to reassure everyone again that they'll have a fun time, not play the waiting game. I love this con too much to see registration suffering and con-goers not coming back next year because of this.

Everything else about the con is great, despite construction. Hopefully reg gets fixed next year, cause I believe in the Fanime staff that they won't disappoint us next year. :D

princesskitty18

I will also add onto what Alfred posted.

i was one of the staff at the door for a period of time at the very beginning when people were JUST starting to come in (between 7pm-8pm)

- in relation to the difference between ballroom heels and regular heels, i do personally understand the difference. i know that 'ballroom shoes' were on the allowed list, but any heel with a circumference less than a nickel was not allowed as they are considered stiletto 'heels'. they're not stilettos per-say but they are still stiletto heels

- we try and post the dress-code wherever possible. be it facebook, the forums, on signs outside parkside hall, on the actual website and within the big program guide. if you know of anywhere else that we could post signs, please let us know. we want to make our event as fun as possible for everyone and that can only happen if ppl know how to properly dress for it

- for the stormtrooper thing, i am so sorry. i personally wasn't at the door and i dont think i actually saw the stormtrooper but that would have definitely not been allowed. for next year, if someone sees something like that, please let a staff or a rover know and we can handle it accordingly

- in regards to the 'some girls had mid-thigh length dresses', please believe that i actually did go up to many ladies inside the ball and ask them to either lower their skirts/dresses/whatever or they would have to leave. the communication between staffers and rovers have gotten A LOT better for this year, but obviously there is still some miscommunication. i apologize for that

any other comments, you can PM me or any of the other staffers or u can leave comments in here.
thank you for your patience and time.
Fanime attendee since 2006
2012 Black & White Ball volunteer
2013-now Black & White Ball Staff

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lonemeditater

Quote from: irawratyou on May 28, 2013, 10:02:07 AM
I know Fanime is a volunteer on-basis position and it takes up your own personal time, but with power comes big responsibilities and it's extremely unacceptable to run registration for a convention like this.

Translation: I know that a lot of people put their personal time and energy into running the convention, but that doesn't really matter...


Quote from: irawratyou on May 28, 2013, 10:02:07 AM

Please spend whatever you guys need to improve the wait time and lines. Have a analyst or whatever carefully take a look at your process (cause there's some extreme bottleneck somewhere).

Spend whatever is needed? If you're talking about improvement, the implication is to spend as much as it takes to ensure that the convention is the best it is every going to be. Since there is always room for improvement that amount could essentially divulge to infinity.

Quote from: irawratyou on May 28, 2013, 10:02:07 AM
Fan relations should be #1

What exactly do you think is #1?
I'm me and I exist...

Okach

As for Toms and VANS, both brands are used by swing dancers.  Both do not mark the floor and both have lineups that fulfill the heel requirement.  That's the reason for inclusion.
Staff Instructor since 2010. 
Staff Marketing Lead since 2018
Staff Marketing Second

https://www.facebook.com/FanimeConBWBall/
https://twitter.com/FanimeConBWBall/

irawratyou

Quote from: lonemeditater on May 28, 2013, 10:17:35 AM

Translation: I know that a lot of people put their personal time and energy into running the convention, but that doesn't really matter...

Please don't put words in other people's mouths, but interpret it as you will as it is your mind. Everyone who has staffed this year is great. I care for all the staffers for their time and efforts, but if you're going to run a convention, please don't run it at the expense of ~15-20,000 people staying in line for half of the day and missing out on some of the fun events. That's neglecting con-goers time to actually spend their days at Fanime.