FanimeCon 2026 Forums

One of the biggest advantages of Group Registration is that someone could register you and pick up your badge for you. Thanks to some changes in registration, the pre-reg line is now moving a lot faster, so this advantage may not be as important.

Two disadvantages for group reg is some limited payment options and ONLY the group leader may register the group and pick up the badges. That means that if you arrive at con BEFORE your group leader, you may NOT register yourself individually.

Please include why you would like group reg back.

im so up for group. reason why is because im taking over 40 kids with me and my club and it would help to get them their badges so we can be more organized. (i mean 40 people not standing in the waiting line sounds good to me)

im just wondering why they took it off in the first place. is it because they can't check id to make sure that the right person recieves it?  ???

Mostly due to irresponsible group leaders losing other member's badges, members who arrive at con before the group leader, and the need to pull 300 badges out of a pile of 4000....we think we have solved the badge pulling process. The other issues are beyond our control.

I think it'd be pretty nice. I know in my high school has a Comicker's Club that wants to attend an anime con as a club together. And especially since we're already in the Bay Area, it's a much better choice over AX [since that's in the summer and so much farther south]. And they couldn't go to Fanime before since they didn't have group reg. :'D My art teacher (the supervisor) is really excited as well...

So I think it'd be a good option to have group reg this year, not just for the groups, but for the individuals as well. As for lack of responsibility, that's the leader's problem. And as the leader, shouldn't they be responsible enough to handle being the leader in the first place?

Quote from: chifunii on November 10, 2008, 07:16:49 PM
I think it'd be pretty nice. I know in my high school has a Comicker's Club that wants to attend an anime con as a club together. And especially since we're already in the Bay Area, it's a much better choice over AX [since that's in the summer and so much farther south]. And they couldn't go to Fanime before since they didn't have group reg. :'D My art teacher (the supervisor) is really excited as well...

So I think it'd be a good option to have group reg this year, not just for the groups, but for the individuals as well. As for lack of responsibility, that's the leader's problem. And as the leader, shouldn't they be responsible enough to handle being the leader in the first place?

I agree, as a group leader they should be more responsible, but unfortunately that is occasionally the case. We want to make our members happy, but somethings are beyond what we can do.

Fanime seems to regularly get questions from people without government picture IDs trying to pick up badges, and I get the impression that the procedure for badge pickup by minors is something that slides under the table because there's no good solution.  I think some form of group registration can help Fanime deal with minors who don't have government picture IDs.  To discourage people from using group registration when they don't need it, (a) advertise it as "family registration" but include "youth group with adult chaperone / sponsor" in the fine print or FAQ, (b) do not give a discount, and (c) require the group leader to have a government picture ID, accept only one payment from the whole group, and make it clear that nobody else can get a badge without the leader.  (This was not clear in previous years.)  Except for the case of minors without IDs, it sounds like group registration is more of a headache for Fanime than it's worth.

Quote from: Nyxyin on November 10, 2008, 09:22:58 PM
Fanime seems to regularly get questions from people without government picture IDs trying to pick up badges, and I get the impression that the procedure for badge pickup by minors is something that slides under the table because there's no good solution.  I think some form of group registration can help Fanime deal with minors who don't have government picture IDs.  To discourage people from using group registration when they don't need it, (a) advertise it as "family registration" but include "youth group with adult chaperone / sponsor" in the fine print or FAQ, (b) do not give a discount, and (c) require the group leader to have a government picture ID, accept only one payment from the whole group, and make it clear that nobody else can get a badge without the leader.  (This was not clear in previous years.)  Except for the case of minors without IDs, it sounds like group registration is more of a headache for Fanime than it's worth.

yea i can see what you mean. how many people would benefit from this group reg compared to the individual pickup? 

im still for group reg though but i just thought of another issue with group registration. errr... well for one... fanime has no way of figuring out who goes in that group. what if like... a bad person comes with that group? i dunno i mean, it seems a little bit more safer checking and giving out badges one by one and letting people in one by one... just on a safety side in general is what i mean.

Quote from: Hakaru_chan on November 10, 2008, 09:26:42 PM
what if like... a bad person comes with that group?

we have something in mind.....and honestly then the group leader takes on responsibility for the individual member too.

I say bring it back.  It doesn't make sense that an entire group should stand in line when 1 could suffice.  I won't ignore that there are unreliable group leaders but that's something the con goers themselves should be responsible for.

How should the shorter reg lines affect our decision?

Quote from: ewu on November 17, 2008, 08:30:44 PM
How should the shorter reg lines affect our decision?

I wasn't here for last fanime so I'm not sure how much longer the lines were due to the absence of group registration.  But it's not just that some of us would appreciate shorter lines., it's because some groups would like to pick up badges before the weekend of the con.  That's how it was in '07 for me.  My group leader drove up to San Jose to pick up the badges for us, instead of taking 3 loaded cars.  It saved us the gas money and the time since most of us probably were busy on that thursday.

But see what you're getting at, the ends don't justify the means.  Less people are in line but it's still taking the same amount of time to pull out those badges.  Maybe if there was a way to sort out group badges from the individual badges then it would make a difference but that could be more work than for what it's worth.

It's too bad this thread doesn't get more attention, it could use a little more input.

I'm a club president and group reg would be a lot easier to do. It's pretty hectic organizing everything one by one right now.

Quote from: RaddaX2 on November 17, 2008, 09:21:23 PM

Quote from: ewu on November 17, 2008, 08:30:44 PM
How should the shorter reg lines affect our decision?

I wasn't here for last fanime so I'm not sure how much longer the lines were due to the absence of group registration.  But it's not just that some of us would appreciate shorter lines., it's because some groups would like to pick up badges before the weekend of the con.  That's how it was in '07 for me.  My group leader drove up to San Jose to pick up the badges for us, instead of taking 3 loaded cars.  It saved us the gas money and the time since most of us probably were busy on that thursday.

But see what you're getting at, the ends don't justify the means.  Less people are in line but it's still taking the same amount of time to pull out those badges.  Maybe if there was a way to sort out group badges from the individual badges then it would make a difference but that could be more work than for what it's worth.

It's too bad this thread doesn't get more attention, it could use a little more input.

Really, it shouldn't take nearly as long to pull out group reg badges as opposed to single badges, especially if they're organized and grouped by leader. When a group registration comes in, you set it aside and say "Ok, this is a group registration under John Smith. He has until the end of March to tell us who all is in his group, and then we make the badges appropriately." Then, John smith walks in, show he's the leader of the group and gets the 6,8 or 15 badges...whatever the group size might be, and you're done.

Eric, I'm confused by what you meant when you said "Why should shorter reg lines affect our decision?" Was this a rhetorical question? It seems kind of obvious that shorter registration lines means people get into the convention faster and start spending more money or enjoying the con faster, thus improving their overall experience and the likelihood that they will recommend the event to a friend to attend the following year.

Granted, the lines were MUCH better last year, but people were still waiting for 2 to 3 hours.

Anyways, these are some of the reasons why I really want group registration to come back. To me it just makes sense to have a group registration/entry system.

Quote from: ewu on November 17, 2008, 08:30:44 PM
How should the shorter reg lines affect our decision?

I think that bringing back Group Reg is a great idea. In the past when I organized Fanime for my club it was very useful to have. For many it was the first time attending so they were not sure how to get their badges, this made sure I knew that they got their badges and was a great deal easier to register as well.

This year I have around 100 members in my club, compared to about 30 in 2006. I think it would be very useful to have group reg especially in regards to such a large group. The confusion caused by trying to take care of so many people is equally annoying when around 100 people have to wait and lines, several of whom aren't sure about the procedures.

Also if we do group reg i can head down Thursday and pick up the badges early.

If Reg is ready and has the sufficient capabilities to do Group Reg, then by all means go for it!

reg is not ready but the capability may be there...

I would so like group reg back right now, I need to register my sister and her bf but I don't want to create 2 additonal accounts.

even if group reg was set up, the minimum limit would be at least a group of 5 and you would need to create the new accounts anyways.

Quote from: ewu on December 09, 2008, 07:58:22 PM
even if group reg was set up, the minimum limit would be at least a group of 5 and you would need to create the new accounts anyways.

haha, I know I know, but I haven't included 4 others I know :p  (I'm actually going with about 10 people total but I was planning on registering my sister and her bf along with those other 4).  Welp, hopefully 2010 will have group reg out as I would love to just group them all in one bunch, already reg most of my group separately.

The way we are thinking of group reg would only simplify pick up and do nothing to ease registration as we do need all that information for each person registering.

I'm not sure how this works, correct me if I'm wrong.  I think if you register as a group you should make the badges together and attach them to each other so when the designated person comes to get the badges, they could simply look for the designated persons name and have the entire group's badges, instead of having 20 people line up at the same time, therefore putting more pressure on the registration staff to look for all those 20 badges individually...
Though I'm not sure how effective that is, it probably would be if there were a lot of groups that registered.

IMHO, group registration would be wonderful. It just seems easier to have the group registrations back on rather than having all of us individually sign up for it. But I see what you guys are saying about how it might just take the same amount of time passing it out, however I do believe that it'd be easier if we only have one person standing in line. It just helps out with avoiding some ruckus while waiting in line. (does that make sense? x.+)

Okay, I really apologize if I offend anyone, but from reading this thread, I seriously think that whoever is organizing the registration process can't or won't get their act(s) together. Unfortunately, I haven't actually been to Fanime before so I guess my arguments can't carry much weight. However, I'll give reasons for my opinion.

No group registration: I say having the option is far better than not having the option. A group can choose to have everyone register separately, but there's still the option of registering as a group.

Only group leader may pick up badges: I don't see why this limitation needs to exist. I think the group leader may assign a member or any member(s) of their choice to pick up badges. They can pick up only their own, for them and their buddy, or for the whole group. I don't see what's so difficult. The assignment should be done before the convention, otherwise, members will just start going, "But my leader told me to come get it."

Payment: I'm assuming that people have to pay in advance. So what's so difficult about separate payments? Is form with account names or numbers too much to ask for when people submit their payment? I mean, people can pay all at once if it makes it easier for them, but how is it that difficult if partial payments come?

Finding 300 badges in a pile of 4000: Why in the world is it a pile?! Sort the badges! Okay, maybe it's already solved since it's so simple.

Okay, maybe I'm misunderstanding something. Maybe the registration is done the old fashion way (paper and pencil). Now that makes life really difficult and I'll understand why everything is so difficult. But............ I think we're in the 2008/2009 and computers are everywhere. If you need the software to make the registration process run, I can probably write it for you guys. But out of 13,000+ people going, there's no way that I'm the only one capable of programming.

Please offer some constructive criticism (You can tell me that I'm stupid but you must say why). I'd also like someone to elaborate on what's so bad about group registration. What are the things beyond the staff's control?

Quote from: OGIGA on December 22, 2008, 06:00:34 PM
Only group leader may pick up badges: I don't see why this limitation needs to exist.

Single point of contact and distribution. There's no gain if a group registers as a unit, but picks up their badges individually.

QuotePayment: I'm assuming that people have to pay in advance. So what's so difficult about separate payments? Is form with account names or numbers too much to ask for when people submit their payment? I mean, people can pay all at once if it makes it easier for them, but how is it that difficult if partial payments come?

Basically, there are subtleties with our payment system that make handling partial payments non-trivial. If you've worked in a restaurant, the situation is similar with splitting a bill.

QuoteFinding 300 badges in a pile of 4000: Why in the world is it a pile?! Sort the badges! Okay, maybe it's already solved since it's so simple.

The badges are sorted. We're not THAT stupid!  ;D (But, during the fabrication, there IS a HUGE pile of badges to deal with.)

QuoteIf you need the software to make the registration process run, I can probably write it for you guys.

Very much appreciated! You should consider joining staff, if you're interested in solving large and complex problems. Email me, or [email protected]. It's a great experience, if you enjoy that kind of thing.

QuoteI'd also like someone to elaborate on what's so bad about group registration. What are the things beyond the staff's control?

The biggest problems are on the attendee side and keeping things straightforward and simple for them; even the simple one-person-one-registration system confuses people.

In short, there's two ways to handle groups: individuals loosely coupled, or as a single unit. Treated as individuals, the complexity skyrockets and the usefulness diminished; treated as a single unit, group registration raises difficult questions about ownership and distribution of the badges.

I can go into detail if you like - though I tend to disappear from the boards from long stretches...

I like "proprietary" here too....

although, "experience" is a good one too...

Quote from: OGIGA on December 22, 2008, 06:00:34 PM
Okay, I really apologize if I offend anyone, but from reading this thread, I seriously think that whoever is organizing the registration process can't or won't get their act(s) together. Unfortunately, I haven't actually been to Fanime before so I guess my arguments can't carry much weight. However, I'll give reasons for my opinion.

...

Quote
No group registration: I say having the option is far better than not having the option. A group can choose to have everyone register separately, but there's still the option of registering as a group.

Truth. It is better to have it as an option, keeping one's options open is always a good thing, but the problem is the attendees. Like tony said, if you register as a group but pick up as individuals, there is minimal gain for a lot of extra work.

Quote
Only group leader may pick up badges: I don't see why this limitation needs to exist. I think the group leader may assign a member or any member(s) of their choice to pick up badges. They can pick up only their own, for them and their buddy, or for the whole group. I don't see what's so difficult. The assignment should be done before the convention, otherwise, members will just start going, "But my leader told me to come get it."

There's variety of reasons. If you have been to Fanime, you know the biggest reason Group Reg is nice is because of the lines. This doesn't help the line congestion.

Quote
Payment: I'm assuming that people have to pay in advance. So what's so difficult about separate payments? Is form with account names or numbers too much to ask for when people submit their payment? I mean, people can pay all at once if it makes it easier for them, but how is it that difficult if partial payments come?

Partial payments being broken up logistically becomes harder to track as you might get some paypal payments, some checks, some money orders. It all adds up to extra work, for little extra benefit because you still have to sort through it all making sure the accounts in question gets credited the right amount, the payment amounts are all correct at the end, etc.

Quote
Finding 300 badges in a pile of 4000: Why in the world is it a pile?! Sort the badges! Okay, maybe it's already solved since it's so simple.

The staff spends a lot of time organizing the badges after they are made to ensure they can be found on the days of con registration pick ups.

Quote
Okay, maybe I'm misunderstanding something. Maybe the registration is done the old fashion way (paper and pencil). Now that makes life really difficult and I'll understand why everything is so difficult. But............ I think we're in the 2008/2009 and computers are everywhere. If you need the software to make the registration process run, I can probably write it for you guys. But out of 13,000+ people going, there's no way that I'm the only one capable of programming.

You aren't and we encourage you to join staff, however much of our staff is volunteers. They have lives in addition to their normal Fanime responsibilities, which doesn't allow them too much time to dabble unless the system is broke. I put it to you in this way. If your already working 50 hours a week at a paid job and a organization you volunteer for asks you to commit 20-30 hours a week on a project, you'd go shoot yourself. We try to improve the system year by year which, according to feedback, seems to have been working pretty well as time progresses. We've cut registration wait times significantly and the lines are much more manageable than previous years. We try to improve year by year, but overhauling the entire system to make group reg a little better = not worth the ridiculous amounts of time it would take.

Quote
Please offer some constructive criticism (You can tell me that I'm stupid but you must say why). I'd also like someone to elaborate on what's so bad about group registration. What are the things beyond the staff's control?

To be blunt...people. There's always going to be something that goes wrong beyond our control, but usually it's always our fault.
It's like working at a store doing customer service, even though the product isn't made by you or anything, through no fault of your own it's your fault the product is broken.

Them: "Help, I picked up my group of 50 people's badges (I'm not the group leader and won't take responsibility) but I lost them, I need you guys to replace them now (Cause somehow this is our fault)."           Staff: ..... @**&#&@*&*!(!(@(*@

Problem here: Irresponsibility. Group reg always has problems like this. Easier to have a single GROUP LEADER (AUTHORIZED BY THE WHOLE GROUP) be RESPONSIBLE for picking up the badges. If you have them pick up badges individually, it wastes people's time because

A) You still have to wait in line
B) Everyone has to wait in line rather than just one person
C) Minimal gain on time/energy spent.

Them:    "What do you mean the group didn't pay in full, everyone sent in their payments individually!!! Everyone SHOULD HAVE PAID!..."       Staff: Well, we added up all the payments we got and credited your account accordingly. Someone in your group fails.   Them: "WELL I YOU TO FIX THIS, WE WANT OUR BADGES"    Staff: ...huh?

Problem here: People sending in their payments separately become a nightmare to sort, but it is even more difficult come Con time when people are trying to figure out who out of the group didn't pay so that the group can force them to pay. Trying to find all the sources of a group reg's = time consuming and not worth the effort. Everyone pool the money upfront, give it all to one person, and pay it all at once. How much HARDER is this? Honestly, I think that just makes it easier for everyone.

My 2cents.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm starting to get the feel of this. I'll be back to post something. Yeah, gotta go to sleep because yes, I do work full time. Fortunately, it's 40 hours rather than 50 per week.

Quote from: ewu on December 09, 2008, 07:58:22 PM
even if group reg was set up, the minimum limit would be at least a group of 5 and you would need to create the new accounts anyways.

That would be fine with me.

Steve pointed out the issue with group registration, but his 2 cents at the end is exactly what I think should happen with the group registration, and has been my experience in the past: The group leader pays for his group up-front, of course. Whether they all pay him beforehand or whatever, that's for the group leader to take care of. If you made it so that you couldn't file the registration completely until you had enough money for everyone on the group ticket, that would make it easier as well. For example, with a group of 5, they wouldn't be entered into the database until the $250 for their registrations was paid.

I can understand registration's hesitation about bringing back group registration, but with a few modifications you could bring it back for this year just to give it a shot couldn't you? I mean yeah, I'm biased because of course i want to register myself and my sisters as a group so that I can just come on Thursday myself and grab their badges...same goes for club leaders and pretty much anyone else posting in this thread.

So here is my final plea, almighty registration Lords: Please bring back group registration.

I'm back. It looks like the main problem is that we're dealing with irresponsible people (aka. kids). They lose/break things, complain, and need people to bail them out all the time. We can deal with this several different ways:

1. Treat everybody like kids. Put limits and safeguards on everything.
- Pros: Things don't go wrong. Punishes the responsible people in general.
- Cons: Longer lines. Responsible adults have to suffer along. Rewards the irresponsible people in general.

2. Treat everybody like adults. Everybody needs to be responsible. Lost badge? Pay to get it replaced.
- Pros: Things move along a lot smoother and faster. More time to enjoy the convention. Rewards the responsible people in general.
- Cons: Lots of kids crying, unhappy customers. Seriously need a customer service desk for the people who did something stupid so they don't hold up the normal line. Punishes the irresponsible people in general.

3. Treat kids like kids and adults like adults. Adults can do group registration, have other adults pick up badges for them, etc. Kids have to be in the slow kids' line where the whole group has to get in line.
- Pros: Adults get in faster. Rewards the adults and punishes the kids.
- Cons: Kids get in slower. Coordination among staff needs to be really good. Adults aren't necessarily responsible and kids aren't necessarily irresponsible.


Personally, I would opt for #2 or #3 because I consider myself a responsible adult. However, I think that most attendees are going to be irresponsible kids so #1 actually makes more sense. :(

QuotePartial payments being broken up logistically becomes harder to track as you might get some paypal payments, some checks, some money orders. It all adds up to extra work, for little extra benefit because you still have to sort through it all making sure the accounts in question gets credited the right amount, the payment amounts are all correct at the end, etc.

Honestly, I don't know how the organizers tracks the payments. It all just boils down to data-entry. (I can already imagine what the database tables would look like.) Yes, there would be more items to enter and more checks to deposit. But beyond that, I really don't see what the other difficulties are. Yes, I'm assuming that the software to track this is (or will be) all in order.

What I wrote in the above paragraph would be the cost. The benefit is that it'll be more convenient for some people. Does benefit > cost? The organizers can decide. Either way, I think a bill/email should be sent out anyway in case something went wrong or someone didn't pay. Stop accepting payments a month (or whatever) before the convention and only take payments at the convention from then on. You know, things get lost in the mail, checks bounce, etc.

QuoteThere's variety of reasons. If you have been to Fanime, you know the biggest reason Group Reg is nice is because of the lines. This doesn't help the line congestion.

I will offer my suggestion. Feel free to critique it. Have two lines. One line for groups and the other line for individuals. (You guys probably do it already.) The leader may authorize group members to pick up the group's badges. The assignment/authorization must be done beforehand so people/kids don't spontaneously go, "My leader told me to come pick them up." It's the leader's responsibility to allow only responsible group members to pick up badges. If desired, only offer this option to leaders aged whatever (18? 21? 25?) and up. Have a "customer service" desk for the unlucky groups who chose someone irresponsible to pick up badges so they can wait. Don't know who picked them up? That's why customer service desks are useful. That might actually help some people "grow up".

Benefits: Group pick-up will be faster than if only leaders are allowed to pick up badges.
Costs: A tiny bit more programming.

By the way, I really suggest charging a fee to replace lost badges.

Quote...we encourage you to join staff, however much of our staff is volunteers. They have lives in addition to their normal Fanime responsibilities...

I'm honored to receive such an offer. Because of the reasons you stated, I won't be able to volunteer. :( Not to mention, I'm about 3 hours away from San Jose. Seriously though, I started doing programming when I was in high school and this convention is in San Jose, where most of California's geeks are. A lot of programmers are now unemployed too so I'm sure you can find a good deal nearby. I'm willing to help, but I can't help as much as I want to... unless I get laid off.  :P That would be bad news.

Working off option #1:

Quote from: OGIGA on December 23, 2008, 07:42:36 PM
Honestly, I don't know how the organizers tracks the payments. It all just boils down to data-entry.

QuoteHave two lines.

That is conceivable, but it will be difficult. We will consider it. Unfortunately, we already have two LONG lines. I was there for the fire marshal inspection. They initially only allowed ONE line. Concessions were made for two, but three would make for more logistical issues. We shall see with this one.

QuoteI won't be able to volunteer. :(

You know, we could always use help. My second is in Davis and one of the chairs are in Citrus Heights. Not a slight distance, but most work is done on the intarweb and only occasional meetings are needed until the weeks before con.

I encourage it.

I see your point about the single payment thing. Keeping people from doing anything other than simple will keep things from getting confusing and/or complicated. Again, it ends up rewarding the irresponsible (in general), but most attendees are probably in that category anyway.

Quote from: ewu on December 23, 2008, 08:12:31 PM

QuoteHave two lines.

That is conceivable, but it will be difficult. We will consider it. Unfortunately, we already have two LONG lines. I was there for the fire marshal inspection. They initially only allowed ONE line. Concessions were made for two, but three would make for more logistical issues. We shall see with this one.

Wow, odd. I can't figure out why 2 lines would be more hazardous than 1. Can you elaborate more on this?

QuoteYou know, we could always use help. My second is in Davis and one of the chairs are in Citrus Heights. Not a slight distance, but most work is done on the intarweb and only occasional meetings are needed until the weeks before con.

I encourage it.

Hmm, I'll think about it some more. What can I possibly do to help though? Keep in mind that I still have never been to Fanime or any other anime convention.

Quote from: OGIGA on December 23, 2008, 11:04:10 PM
Wow, odd. I can't figure out why 2 lines would be more hazardous than 1. Can you elaborate more on this?

You said you have not been to con, so its a bit hard, but here's the gist. On one side there is plenty of space, but on the other there were office doors that needed to be clear, emergency exits clear, no obstacles like stanchions, and an ATM that needed access. The entire lower concourse needed to be clear for an evacuation, so lines could not be on the window side. We were later allowed to enter 3' into the concourse for the line if we absolutely needed it, but we didn't. The stanchions needed to use caution tape so that in the case of an evacuation, it could be ripped and would not be a tripping hazard as rope would be. The lines needed to be metered such that the passageways and emergency exits were not blocked by people in a line at anytime. Essentially it looks nice, clear and open, but the fire marshal looks at what would happen in the case of emergency and people were not thinking but on instinct mode.

Oh the joys of planing a con:) This is just for 2 lines. We had a third for musicfest and meet the guests tickets. We may consider adding another line, but you understand our hesitations.....

And as someone who has to do line control for all of these things, I will say that Lines = the Root of all evil/hate/ill-will towards humanity @ con.

OGIGA: I would suggest that you attend our Con and give us more feedback afterwards. It seems like you'd have some good things to say and it would be better if you have seen how we work. You're always welcome to join staff. We're actually more short on man power at con than programming power.  ;D

FanFicGuru: The Reg Lords are churning.  ;D

Quote from: Sen on December 24, 2008, 12:22:52 AM
OGIGA: I would suggest that you attend our Con and give us more feedback afterwards. It seems like you'd have some good things to say and it would be better if you have seen how we work. You're always welcome to join staff. We're actually more short on man power at con than programming power.  ;D

FanFicGuru: The Reg Lords are churning.  ;D

*prepares a tribute to appease the registration Gods*

Quote from: Steve.Young on December 24, 2008, 12:04:19 AM
And as someone who has to do line control for all of these things, I will say that Lines = the Root of all evil/hate/ill-will towards humanity @ con.

I have to do lines too!  It's ok we suffer together :D

unless i missed a part reading all this, if group registration happens, will there be a discount? or is it still the same price for everyone? this is only my 2nd fanime [if i even go] so i don't know much about past group registrations.
ex: PMX had a group reg of 5+ ppl and 20% discount off total price. ALA had a group reg of 15+ ppl and the price goes down to $25 per person.

no, it will be the same rate.

Quote from: ewu on January 05, 2009, 11:23:34 AM
no, it will be the same rate.

oh ok. has it always been the same? if yes, why not give a group discount? if not, did it not work out?

Quote from: gackt_2003 on January 05, 2009, 01:46:32 PM
oh ok. has it always been the same? if yes, why not give a group discount? if not, did it not work out?

Ahh... the history of this now unfolds.  The group registration used to have a discount, but it was to benefit Anime Clubs and limited to Pre-Registration (a few times it extended to Early Registration, but it caused problems with the ever famous "why don't I have a laminated badge?" question).  FanimeCon supports Anime Clubs and extended this as a group discount for the clubs.

Once attendees that were not part of a club realized that they could become a "group" and register to obtain the discount, the purpose of the discount was negated.  There was no easy way to verify that a group was a legitimate Anime Club without delaying the pickup of their badges or the process becoming too bureaucratic for the groups with finding a common way to identify Anime Clubs.  At that point, the group registration remained, but without the discount.  In the end, group discounts were too costly to give away so easily without a way to ensure that the discount went to the Anime Clubs that they were for.

imho, if you want a discount, Pre-Register before the price goes up.  Prices are significantly lower for each membership during Pre-Registration than At-con Registration.

I would like to see group registration because a simpler way for group leaders (I'm thinking anime club presidents here lol) to register and pick up the badges at once. I personally don't have this problem, but my friend who is the president of our local high school anime club has vented how group registration would be convenient.

So, if group registration is re-introduced, when would it be online? I have 7 people to buy badges for, but I"m holding my breath for group reg.

Thanks.

go ahead and purchase, if and when we put up grp reg it will only affect pick up and will requre you to only make some small changes to the accounts.

Quote from: ewu on January 26, 2009, 11:02:11 AM
go ahead and purchase, if and when we put up grp reg it will only affect pick up and will requre you to only make some small changes to the accounts.

Ok so it's more of a retro-active thing. Gotcha.

terribly sorry if this has been asked. [i also didnt want to make a new thread]
does group registration affect who registers who and who picks up the badges?

ex: if i pre-reg myself and my friend pre-regs himself, can i pick up his badge along with mine if i have a copy of his ID? or does each individual person need to pick up their own badge?

another question: can i pre-reg myself and another person [under the same creditcard] and pick up both badges? or does my friend still need to pick up his badge himself?

thanks! =]

Quote from: ewu on November 09, 2008, 06:36:33 PM
One of the biggest advantages of Group Registration is that someone could register you and pick up your badge for you. Thanks to some changes in registration, the pre-reg line is now moving a lot faster, so this advantage may not be as important.

Two disadvantages for group reg is some limited payment options and ONLY the group leader may register the group and pick up the badges. That means that if you arrive at con BEFORE your group leader, you may NOT register yourself individually.

Please include why you would like group reg back.

I say bring it back.

Even with the pre-reg line moving faster, this could help even more by allowing 1-2 people to pick up a chunk of badges instead of 5,10,15, etc, all standing around in line clogging them up.

Limited payment options is something people will just have to deal with. It's really not going to make or break someone going or not. Something like that can be planned around very easily and way ahead of time.

However, I don't see why you can only have one person from the group picking up the badges. Two would work and with some small changes (that you may have already done since the possibility of group reg. being back is there) you could easily keep track of and separate those coming for group badges and those who aren't, which is what I'd imagine is a problem at this point for trying to have more than one authorized person to pick up badges. That eliminates most of the possible problems with people arriving before their group leader and picking up badges. If half of a group gets there and has authorized person 1 with them or the other half with authorized person 2, everything works out..

No more than 2 since it would pretty much start to go back to "why do we have group reg in the first place?" but could work easily.

As for irresponsible group leaders, to be quite blunt, it's not your problem. They agreed within their group that Person 1 and (possibly) Person 2 will be those responsible for the badges once they leave Fanime Staff's hands. Ultimately people will be bugging you if they lose badges or can't find them, but adding a simple line in your agreement for going to Fanime at all fixes that and absolves you of having to deal with it. Which isn't to say you wouldn't want to help those who lost their badges, but it puts the whole thing in a different light when people agree to the terms for registering as a group.

We won't even deal with that. With one person of responsibility, the payment comes from that person (or the payer authorizes custodian to that person) and the badges leave with that person. If the leader looses a badge, the person goes to the leader and not Fanime. The key reason we stopped group reg was angry people yelling at us about a missing badge when it was clearly checked out and confirmed by the person picking up the badge. If a badge is missing or lost, you must pay for a new one. Don't matter if it comes for the leader or the person them self, it is not the responsibility of Fanime to resolve that.

Quote from: ewu on March 04, 2009, 06:28:36 PM
We won't even deal with that.

Which part? More than one person or the latter of Fanime not being responsible or both?

both

Ah, ok.

Just throwing it out there.

Anyway, people know what they are getting into when they decide to group reg. having the choice will ultimately make it easier for someone, somewhere methinks.

except when it makes it proportionally less easy for Fanime staff....

Never mind.

I think you misunderstand......group reg we are considering. Allowing more than one person to pick up, we are not.

Ah, I thought you were implying that group reg on the whole would be harder. Gotcha.

Sorry. Been a long day.

Before I have to forcefully remove Eric (who has also had a long day) from the forums...

We brought up the issue of group reg again because people have been asking for it. So we created this thread to let people voice their opinions. Ideally we want a group reg that will be beneficial to attendees and easy to implement for the limited number of staff we have.

It's all good. I wasn't trying to come off as malicious as I did in that last post. I was only half reading. Eric is pretty darn helpful for having his name spelled wrong.

=P

was my post overlooked?

Quote from: gackt_2003 on March 04, 2009, 05:46:21 PM
terribly sorry if this has been asked. [i also didnt want to make a new thread]
does group registration affect who registers who and who picks up the badges?

ex: if i pre-reg myself and my friend pre-regs himself, can i pick up his badge along with mine if i have a copy of his ID? or does each individual person need to pick up their own badge?

another question: can i pre-reg myself and another person [under the same creditcard] and pick up both badges? or does my friend still need to pick up his badge himself?

thanks! =]

sorry, been a busy day:)

Group reg has yet to be implemented. There are possibilities for the things you cite, but we must test and implement before we can answer these questions.

Quote from: ewu on March 04, 2009, 10:50:32 PM
sorry, been a busy day:)

Group reg has yet to be implemented. There are possibilities for the things you cite, but we must test and implement before we can answer these questions.

ah, so that falls under 'group reg' category.
thanks! =]

it does very much so. As my esteemed colleague, Liz, pointed out, individually, the person registering must have corresponding ID to the name on our records.

I actually liked the old system of group pre-registrations quite a bit. The only problem I had was that they used to organize the badges by names--not id. Last year though, they sorted it out by id, so it should be pretty easy to pull badges out now. I also liked the fact that there was a 10% discount from what I remember.

Maybe something that might solve these problems would be a very clear and short FAQ or disclaimer as to how to run a successful and happy group registration process between Fanime and the group. Make it clear that after the badges are released to the group leader, the responsibility for the distribution of these badges are on the group leader--not Fanime. In high school, I was in charge of picking up some 100 badges for the anime club and I made sure that I contacted everyone as to how they were to obtain their badge...

First of all, I emailed the members of my pre-registration group weekly reminding them that I was going to distribute the badges on the Friday of fanime at the anime club. If people wanted their badge earlier, they would have to contact me. It was my responsibility as group leader to see that they got their badges.

Secondly, I made sure that everyone had my phone number since I was the group leader. I constantly checked my email as well because I wanted to make sure that I could reply to any of the questions club members had.

Thirdly, I contacted the registration staff before I picked up the group badges. I actually had 3 different groups of badges to pick up. Antonio suggested that I forward my cell phone so that they can make a note that it was picked up by me on their database. In otherwords, if my members somehow did not contact me to arrange a pick up of their badge, then the Fanime registration staff has my information so they could contact me at on site.

I also REALLY liked the idea that only the group leader could pick up the badges. The reason why I liked this idea was because many of the people who pre-registered didn't finish fund raising or didn't finish paying for the badge. I would not like the idea of me pre-registering a whole lot of people who decided just not to pay for the badge and have the privilege to pick it up.


Anyways, group pre-registration is irrelevant to me now since I'm wayy out of high school. I just wanted to say that I really did like the experience of group registration system at Fanime. Seriously, a good faq/disclaimer might solve the problem. As for the group leaders that do lose some 300+ badges--all I can say is that they were very irresponsible and that Fanime is not liable for the actions of a irresponsible non-affiliated with Fanime group leader. They will just have to man it up and pay for the losses.

Group registration would be a big help to people like me who bring minors to Fanime. I've got three separate registrations going to three emails, and that is just for my family, not including the kids I am supervising. They can't check in until I am there, anyway, so it would be a lot easier if I could just have everything together.

Fanime 09 is over and I would like to request early on that Group Registration be brought back for 2010. I think the reasons for bringing it back have been laid out multiple times now so I won't beat a dead horse, but please consider it.

Thank you.

I think eric said back a few pages or so that we would consider it but couldn't implement this year cos it was too close to Fanime (granted, it was a while, but we would have needed that feedback much in advance.)

this will be one of the things we discuss as we review and evaluate this year's con and plan into the next

I would so like group reg back right now also :3 and I haven't lost badges either

I am so fore group reg. i am a under 18 ( i'm 15 :O ) and i don't have a government ID or anything. but my other friends do. since i didn't have this ID i couldn't pre-reg/early reg. if the group reg were up again it would have been so much easier for me and would have saved much time.
my friends could have been the leader and gotten my badge for me. Group reg really is much better and easier. i don't understand how hard it is to "pick out" the badges. i remember another member saying something like all they need to do is separate the badges by leader.
for example the leader is bob and bob is bringing 10 people . so the 10 badges could be under his name in a stack. well thats what i have to say. i really hope that group reg. will be available in 2010 .

I think that if group registration is brought back there should be some changes made. For instance group badges can be picked up on Thursday alongside those that pre-registered. (kind of like "cheating the system" ... if you miss the pre-registration date you can sign up for the group registration in order to pick up badges on thursday).

^ however, i see some disadvantages in that too.

i also believe that group registration shouldn't be brought back unless there's is some group discount.

group reg will ONLY be available for pre-reg. Your group must be established before pre-reg closes. no system cheating here.....

It is also VERY likely that a group discount will NOT be offered.

Fanime 2010 website and registration are now up on our website. Also, I'm happy to say that group reg is back! The current price is $45 until 11/6/09.  ;D

Quote from: Sen on October 30, 2009, 10:57:38 PM
Fanime 2010 website and registration are now up on our website. Also, I'm happy to say that group reg is back! The current price is $45 until 11/6/09.  ;D

As I understand from my group leader, there is a slight discount available if you have a promotional code handed out during YaoiCon.

There is currently no discount for a promo code or group reg.

group reg is for your convenience.

promo codes enable us to hold certain drawings and giveaways. None have been announced yet.

Quote from: ewu on November 02, 2009, 08:48:23 PM
There is currently no discount for a promo code or group reg.

group reg is for your convenience.

promo codes enable us to hold certain drawings and giveaways. None have been announced yet.

Oh, ok. We weren't sure. We just saw that the Fanime cards had promo codes on them.

Quote from: Jelly Soup on November 02, 2009, 08:57:48 PM

Quote from: ewu on November 02, 2009, 08:48:23 PM
There is currently no discount for a promo code or group reg.

group reg is for your convenience.

promo codes enable us to hold certain drawings and giveaways. None have been announced yet.

Oh, ok. We weren't sure. We just saw that the Fanime cards had promo codes on them.

The promo code from Yaoi-con is for a raffle and will not apply any discount on registration. The details of the raffle will come at a later date.

Thank you for bringing back group registration.  It certainly made things easier for me.