This issue always comes up--people suggest mailing out badges, and in the past Fanime has always shot them down.
I realize that there are concerns about badges getting lost in the mail or people may duplicate them once they have the design. Are these concerns justified? Yes. But are they justified enough to make THOUSANDS of people wait in like over 6 hours? NO.
These are real people that have paid money well ahead of time to attend Fanime, and this year our first impression was a 7 hour wait with the names on a sticker tackily placed on the badge. (Seriously, the pre-reg badges were the exact same quality as the at con-reg badges this year, but that issue was minor compared to the wait time.) Some of these people had jobs or school the next day, and while some wait time is expected...getting there right when preregistration opens (7) and having to wait until 1 AM is not.
I think it's time for Fanime to start mailing out badges because the wait for lines has only gotten longer, and I don't think they'll be able to do anything at con that will make it go faster next time. They've had plenty of chances.
Kudos to the volunteers for staying up until everyone in line got a badge...but this really could have been prevented and saved both the volunteers and attendees a lot of trouble. I've been a loyal supporter of Fanime for four years, but unless this issue is solved (meaning solved, not simply saying "we're working on it") it will be my last. Too bad, because the convention is a couple of blocks from me.
I realize that there are concerns about badges getting lost in the mail or people may duplicate them once they have the design. Are these concerns justified? Yes. But are they justified enough to make THOUSANDS of people wait in like over 6 hours? NO.
These are real people that have paid money well ahead of time to attend Fanime, and this year our first impression was a 7 hour wait with the names on a sticker tackily placed on the badge. (Seriously, the pre-reg badges were the exact same quality as the at con-reg badges this year, but that issue was minor compared to the wait time.) Some of these people had jobs or school the next day, and while some wait time is expected...getting there right when preregistration opens (7) and having to wait until 1 AM is not.
I think it's time for Fanime to start mailing out badges because the wait for lines has only gotten longer, and I don't think they'll be able to do anything at con that will make it go faster next time. They've had plenty of chances.
Kudos to the volunteers for staying up until everyone in line got a badge...but this really could have been prevented and saved both the volunteers and attendees a lot of trouble. I've been a loyal supporter of Fanime for four years, but unless this issue is solved (meaning solved, not simply saying "we're working on it") it will be my last. Too bad, because the convention is a couple of blocks from me.