Fanime SOS 2008 feedback thread

[Varnado Barolius]

I think it would be very helpful next year if there was better communication between safety staff. Whenever an SoS person is unsure of what to do or doing something big (i.e. taking away badges, confiscating items) he or she should be able to confer with someone senior to make sure the right action is taken. If this doesn't happen already, there should be a report made promptly when an SoS staffer does something big. These steps should be major steps in eliminating issues with attendees. Hopefully no-one in the future will suffer the same fate as justkitteh.

As well, it would be extremely helpful if staff members who don't get much training and volunteers were given a more clear description of what their jobs entail, and attendees given an avenue of complaint at the convention itself. I had an issue with one SoS staffer Sunday evening in the line for the dance after the BBW where I was unable to press myself against the wall due to people being too dense on both sides. This staffer physically shoved me at the wall when she saw me, without even asking me to move first. Thankfully, people moved out of the way when they saw this, but probably only moved the congestion elsewhere. This situation would probably not have arisen if the staff member had known she was not supposed to use physical force, and would have been closed on the night of if I had had a place to complain about her (I was told there was none when I asked an information desk personnel, and if there was it was well-hidden.)

In terms of material ways to help smooth things, walkie-talkies would really, really help. Like I said above, better communication between staff could prevent a lot of problems. Also, hired security and/or San Jose police on-site would probably be helpful and eliminate the need for safety people to start confrontations, but I'm not sure exactly how possible it would be to get them.

Finally, I've heard complaints about theft and situations that invite potential theft, which is a bit frightening. However, there are no easy solutions for this, beyond enlisting more staff, and maybe a couple signs warning people that they should keep their eyes on their bags and valuable-looking items.

Don't think that I'm being rude with my criticisms, I've heard a lot of complaints from my friends and now on these forums about the SoS group as well as a hundred thousand other things, and hearing people's negative experiences from the con makes me want to help to prevent them from recurring.

[Nyxyin]

Don't think that I'm being rude with my criticisms

I didn't think you were rude, but they did already have the San Jose police around the convention center (I saw one in the dealer hall, for example).  I also saw many staff wearing walkie-talkies with earpieces, like FBI agents or something.

[Steve.Young]

Don't think that I'm being rude with my criticisms

I didn't think you were rude, but they did already have the San Jose police around the convention center (I saw one in the dealer hall, for example).  I also saw many staff wearing walkie-talkies with earpieces, like FBI agents or something.

*edit*

ALL concerns with SOS/Rovers please e-mail us at [email protected]

[Jerry]

*edit*

basically for ALL concerns with SOS/Rovers please e-mail us at

[email protected]

Thanks!