Item Check @ Fanime

Dajoo · March 31, 2014, 12:37:31 AM

This year Fanime is proud to announce that we will have an Item Check department.

This is to allow all of our attendees to store items, for a small fee, whether they will be staying in the hotels or not.

Why is Fanime starting a Check Department?

1) Hotel checks tend to fill up quickly and are unable to typically handle the load of bags, especially on Monday a.k.a. Move Out Day. They also tend to shy away from holding bags for general convention attendees and try to concentrate on their guests firsts.
2) Every last penny being earned is going to our Charity Partner. Make-A-Wish Foundation

Location

Check will be located in the San Carlos room of the Marriott. This is right in front of the stairs on the second floor of the Marriott leading down into the lobby. There will be signs in front of the room as well to help guide the way.

Check Hours Will Be
Friday 10am-9pm
Saturday 10am-8pm
Sunday 10am-8pm
Monday 10am-4pm

Costs To Hold Items

$2-A coat or similarly hangable item
$3-A small to medium bag (purse to backpack)
$5-A large bag/item (luggage,oversize props)

Fanime's Check Department will be on first come first served basis and if we get filled to capacity we will be unable to take in more items until some of the older ones are picked up.
There are no in & out privileges. If you request to get an item out of a bag there will be a charge to put it back in storage.

Admiral Donuts · March 31, 2014, 12:55:14 AM

This is probably my favourite Fanime 2014 announcement so far.

Is there a limit on how long you can store items? Like, overnight?

Dajoo · March 31, 2014, 01:07:29 AM

Quote from: Admiral Donuts on March 31, 2014, 12:55:14 AM
This is probably my favourite Fanime 2014 announcement so far.

Is there a limit on how long you can store items? Like, overnight?

There is no time limit, but the charge is per day of storage. We will offer an one hour grace period in the morning to pick up items forgotten / unable to be retrieved the night before without incurring additional charges.

keitoghostie · March 31, 2014, 02:57:58 PM

This is really convenient, thank you so much!

As someone who commutes to the con from about an hour-long bus ride away, I've frequently had to find friends who had booked rooms in order to hold on to things if I had to change cosplays midway through the day or something similar (and that includes making sure i have some way of getting into the room when i need to) so this really is appreciated! Thank you for adding this on!

melancholyfox · April 11, 2014, 09:37:13 AM

Is this going to end up on the website as well? I know a lot of people who don't think to view the forums for important information and they tend to open the website daily to check for new information.

Dajoo · April 11, 2014, 11:15:08 PM

As silly as it is I forgot to message our content department :P. Thanks for the reminder. Look to see it on the website soon. I had to hold off during the initial build because we were still finalizing details.

Dajoo · April 14, 2014, 11:50:21 PM

For those curious to see it on the website.
http://www.fanime.com/member-services/

Happy Fanime Everyone!

HaiChristie · April 20, 2014, 11:48:46 PM

Omg this makes me really happy.
Would it be ok to store bigger props and such? One of my cosplays has a big prop and I know it'd be a hassle simply walking around with it so it'd be nice to just leave it somewhere safe when I want to relax/don't want to be all sorts of in the wall in the dealers hall haha

Dajoo · April 22, 2014, 01:04:38 AM

Quote from: HaiChristie on April 20, 2014, 11:48:46 PM
Omg this makes me really happy.
Would it be ok to store bigger props and such? One of my cosplays has a big prop and I know it'd be a hassle simply walking around with it so it'd be nice to just leave it somewhere safe when I want to relax/don't want to be all sorts of in the wall in the dealers hall haha

That would not be a problem. As long as it can fit through a doorway, we can store it. It would still cost the normal $3-5 depending on size. I did train my staff with the examples of Yoko's Rifle, or the Unit 00 Eva plug that was roaming around last year as examples.

Dajoo · May 28, 2014, 10:08:39 AM

I'd like to thank everyone that made Item Check such a success this year. I'm pretty certain it will be coming back.

For those that experienced hiccups thanks for helping with the alpha test, and we are trying to make it smoother for next year.

We have heard many requests for us to stay open past the dance/24 hours, having a bulk rate, and possibly having an unlimited time rate (i.e. Charging a flat rate for an item stored Fri.-Mon. Rather than a daily rate). We are working on logistics/feasibility of these requests and will have to see what we can do.

If you have any suggestion/comments please let me know. :D

JCS · July 03, 2014, 06:40:51 PM

Items check is great concept. I didn't get to find it though. Though good thing I did not need to find it. Particularly for those who carpooled or ridden transit in or stay at a offsite hotel which requires a bus or light rail ride.
Though I had an experience that would like to bring to concern. I had to volunteer at dance halls to fulfill my volunteer hours on the night before the last day, I had difficultly getting to where I was supposed to be as I had a bag of necessities which included gum and liquids which is barred from the no outside food or drink rule to keep the floors clean and hazardous spill free. "Japanese dance floor hygiene standards" ha ha So I could not get to where I was supposed to go to volunteer therefore I waited outside to see what can I do since I did not have a car and even if I know items check exists it's already shut down for the night and won't do me any good. Thankfully a staff member let me in saying it's ok to the TSA style bag checkers and clocked me in for volunteer hours so I was able to volunteer for my hours.
I see on another post about how a formal items check inside convention center would rely on unionized staff. Though I wonder since there are already a number of staff and volunteers sitting at tables outside the dance hall it couldn't hurt to have a informal name tag box/cobby system to leave props, jackets, bags, backpacks, food, etc temporarily in boxes or cubbies until one leaves the dance floor giving the tag back to claim their items it would make things much better for those who don't have the luxury of an onsite hotel room, or car parked in the onsite garage. Some people cannot just throw away food or liquids because they would need it afterwards as they would be hungry and thirsty after dance and they would not be able to buy as everything is closed at such a late hour. So if the formal items check cannot be moved to Hilton or open as late as dance closing this idea should be offered as an alternative. That's my two cents.

Dajoo · July 03, 2014, 11:25:10 PM

Quote from: JCS on July 03, 2014, 06:40:51 PM
Items check is great concept. I didn't get to find it though. Though good thing I did not need to find it. Particularly for those who carpooled or ridden transit in or stay at a offsite hotel which requires a bus or light rail ride.
Though I had an experience that would like to bring to concern. I had to volunteer at dance halls to fulfill my volunteer hours on the night before the last day, I had difficultly getting to where I was supposed to be as I had a bag of necessities which included gum and liquids which is barred from the no outside food or drink rule to keep the floors clean. "Japanese dance floor hygiene standards" ha ha So I could not get to where I was supposed to go to volunteer therefore I waited outside to see what can I do since I did not have a car and even if I know items check exists it's already shut down for the night and won't do me any good. Thankfully a staff member let me in saying it's ok to the TSA style bag checkers and clocked me in for volunteer hours so I was able to volunteer for my hours.
I see on another post about how a formal items check inside convention center would rely on unionized staff. Though I wonder since there are already a number of staff and volunteers sitting at tables outside the dance hall it couldn't hurt to have a informal name tag box/cobby system to leave props, jackets, bags, backpacks, food, etc temporarily in boxes or cubbies until one leaves the dance floor giving the tag back to claim their items it would make things much better for those who don't have the luxury of an onsite hotel room, or car parked in the onsite garage. Some people cannot just throw away food or liquids because they would need it afterwards as they would be hungry and thirsty after dance and they would not be able to buy as everything is closed at such a late hour. So if the formal items check cannot be moved to Hilton or open as late as dance closing this idea should be offered as an alternative. That's my two cents.

Last year was Checks' first year so we were running it on a bare bones system to see if it was even worth continuing. As I said previously it did do well and we will be bringing it back.

Our first goal will be to make it 24/5. That is mostly a matter of getting enough bodies to cover the shifts, which should be doable. The Hilton is jam packed with vital con operations, so it is likely we will be in the Marriott again.

The other post was correct in the convention center we would have to pay for union staff to run it. At which point we won't make much if anything for Charity, and that is what Check was intended for was to be a Charity booster. Due to liability and our contract with the convention center there is no way of running it even as boxes or cubbys.