Just for reference, I captured notes on the live feedback session held at the end
of the closing ceremonies; here is the list of (Q)uestions raised, and where applicable,
the (A)nswers given to those questions, so that people here in the forums are
aware of the issues that have already been called forth to the FanimeCon management
team:
(pulled from my full transcript of the closing ceremonies...)
Former con chairs are called to the front
for the fan feedback/constructive criticism
section.
We do welcome your comments on how we can
improve.
If you're staying for the constructive
criticism, form a line up front, and we'll
make a note of your feedback.
========= begin fan feedback panel notes =============
Q: First up: last year, there were lots of easy
places to sit down and do things; there's a
lot more food, which was good, but all the
tables were taken up by food stuffs; no easy
place to sit down and just plan schedules and stuff.
Q: The games could be cheaper for the amount of time
you have for the games in the arcade.
Q: Are we planning to put the black and white ball
into a bigger room next year? Or a faster way
to get people in and out.
A:We'll make it bigger and longer next year, yes.
Q: Would like to see a better improvement in the
schedule; wanted to go to panels but had to
go to masquerade practice instead.
A: We try to make things work for everyone; there's
always going to be counter-programming; there's
so much to do here, it does require making some
tough decisions.
Q: Can we get an improvement on training for volunteer
and some staff, there's some staff that go on power
trips when it comes to weapons and the like.
A: It's tough, we're a volunteer organization, we'll
do our best to train them, but it's hard to force
people who are just volunteering their time; it's
not an easy task.
Making mistakes is part of learning; let the staff
know when they've made a mistake, help them learn
as well.
Q: Whose line is it anime was great, but would have
been nice to rotate through more people.
A: Jonathan was looking for more actors at the same
time; Dan and Reuben were supposed to be a
part of it, which would have also helped. We'll see
what he can do about it next year.
Q: The arcade games need to be cheaper!
A: (from the line: "they're standard arcade prices.")
Q: We have a huge area, could we get more machines
to help fill the area?
A: We went out on a limb with the number of machines,
and were suprised at how they were full.
Q: Can we put a permanent schedule at the info
desks that can't be stolen easily out of the
pockets?
Q: ld we have a public microwave for people
who bring ramen?
A: Someone must have requested a microwave, it
showed up in Casey's room. Those are controlled
by the hotels, so it's not something we can easily
do.
Q: One complaint about the starbucks here not
taking starbucks cards; not something we have
control over, unfortunately, so the person will
address their complaint to starbucks directly.
Q: Is there a way to show who the winners of
the FMVs are? Maybe at Stage Zero?
We'll hit Sean Barber up about that.
Q: At Fanime2005, we showed the winning
AMVs, that was a good way to end the con; can we
bring that back?
Q: This year's e-gaming, sad there were no
PC games. Can we get PC games back?
A: Consoles are relatively cheap; but to get a
beefy PC to run games, and asking people to
donate it for a time, is tough. So we're
limited on how much we can do for PC gaming.
Q: What was up with the lack of group
registration?
A: It's a wonderful thing for the
members when it works. we ran into a lot of
problems with it; it took more work than it
was worth for the staff, but we can look into
it again in the future to see if there's a way
we can do it that will be less labour intensive
on the staff side to make it happen.
Q: People are on a budget for food; could we maybe
get a breakfast buffet for early morning, 7-10
or 7-11 for cheaper (as a buffet?)
Q: Jesus suggests we get a bit tougher set of badge
holders; his badge holder broke while he was at
dance; can we have more on hand and have
replacements, if it's going to be considered a
mandatory item for being considered a paid member?
Q: The no-camera policy at MusicFest was a problem
with people who waited in line and then were
rejected at the door and had to go put it away
and then get back in line.
A: The city got freaked when they saw the an cafe
videos from Europe, with mobs and near-riots at
concerts; so when Sony said no videos, the city
enforced it *very* strongly.
Random hater comes up in line...we can't really
figure out what he's upset about.
Q: Neil had a pretty good con, thanks for the good
work. There was a bit of confusion on the badge
holder policy; needed better communication about
the need for cheap plastic badge holder and the
lanyard.
And the AMV winner announcements could have been
handled better.
A: We'll work on better badging in the future.
Q: 3 questions from next person. Why do we need an
ID to rent the gamecube controllers in the arcade
hall?
A: That way they know how to contact you if
you don't return it.
Q: Can we get a freezer and/or microwave in public?
A: The hotel reserves fridges for those who need to
keep their insulin cool, as medical needs trump fan
snack cooling.
Jason has to duck out; if you have additional
complaints/feedback for him, send email to
[email protected]
Q: Could they get more space around the people playing
brawl so it's not so tight around the area?
Q: Game room, checking out consoles, he had to wait
for the previous person to return it before he
could check it out.
He liked the speed runs at Stage Zero, bring
that back for 2009.
Q: We need to be able to figure out how to control
drugs and alcohol coming into the con--what can
we do to control the substances going into the
official dance (rave).
A: We had over 13,000 people, it's definitely a
challenge; right now, we're short on staff for
covering issues like that. With SJPD on site,
if you see stuff that's illegal, definitely get
word to the Safety on Site staff members, and they
will make sure it is passed along to the authorities
for enforcement.
Q: Is there a way we can get the online signups a
bit more streamlined (for staff and volunteers?)
A: We had too many people drop out when we made it
too easy, but yes, staff and volunteer recruitment
is very high on our list of priorities.
Q: No synopis about the anime being shown? The live
action ones have synopsis? It was in the program
guide; some panels didn't have entries in the
program guide; look to the newsletters for late
updates.
Q: Web site was much more confusing this year; had
to go to the forums to get info.
A: We've started using twitter for real-time updates
on scheduling, which helps!
There are also other websites that do updates, you
can email [email protected] for more info on
changes you'd like to see implemented.
Q: First, on the website, it said you weren't allowed
to sleep at the con, but there would be a dedicated
sleeping area?
A: Uh, no, there's no loitering allowed
by law, so that wouldn't be true.
Q: A few times when he was at the end of line, staff
people were harrassing him about having a weapon, even
though it was just part of his costume, and not actually
a weapon at all.
A: We can look into options, but we do have to be
strict about our weapons policy and peace bonding.
Q: Next up, asks about the online hotel registration,
it looked good having it on the website but it seemed
to have failed a month before, and never seemed to come
back. It provided a phone number to call, so you weren't
totally out of luck, but would be nice to have a way
to report issues more easily.
A: We weren't aware of the webite having issues, as we
still had hotel registrations coming through; if you see
issues, feel free to report them, don't just assume we
know when there's an issue on our own.
Q: He worked for nvidia, apparently there was
supposedly some type of cross marketing
arrangement with nvidia and that we had the
name on the lanyards and bags; concerns that
there were rumours that nVidia dropped the ball in
a joint marketing effort?
A: They sponsored the books, bags, and lanyards
to market the nvision conference, and that joint
effort was carried out successfully, and was limited
to the sponsorship of the lanyards, bags, and program
guide as noted.
Q: Good job with the water, and good job having
a photo booth there this year!
Q: Only people who brought their own controllers
seemed to be playing in gaming area; could that
be clarified better ahead of time so people would
know to bring their own controllers?
Q: At con reg for 2009, she went to go reg at around
12:00, wasn't sure what happened, but she wasn't
able to finish checking out of her hotel room
at noon and still make it down to prereg in time
for 2009 prereg; can we have longer hours for that
on Monday next year that extend past room checkout
time?
Q: Sean was running the speedrun panels at stage
zero in the wee hours, sounds like it went well,
and he'd like to come back next year and do it
again.
A: Yes, definitely!
Q: they liked the layout of the printed schedule sheets this
year, easy to read, panels on one side, video on the
other, split by day, easy to print at home, thanks!
Q: tabletop gaming, tournaments kept having people
move their games out of the way; could we get tables
that would be non-tournament only to keep people from
having to move?
Q: If we can make it clearer online how to volunteer and
how to staff, that would be cool.
Q: The video schedules were very clear, very easy to
read, thanks!
Q: The numbering of the video rooms was pretty
arbitrary; video main was also video 5; could we
put more of a sequence to the numbering?
Try to keep them more orderly next time, rather
than having video 1, video 5, etc.
Q: Thanks the asian film crew for not showing battle
royale! Feels that fanime is becoming a younger
convention; with the programming in place, it's
good for where we are now, but as we get to a
younger audience, we're running out of things
to show these tweeners at night even though
they should be sleeping.
Q: Food is too expensive, make it cheaper!
A: All the food vendors were non-fanime; some were
convention center, others were outside, but the
convention center gateways all the food items
coming in.
Q: But the food is really expensive in the con!
A: Matt notes the Hilton food was cheaper than
the convention food, and an update was put in the
newsletter pointing people to the Hilton food line
on the first floor if you wanted more filling fare
for a more reasonable price.
Q: Could next year we put the same name in the
program guide as in the schedule?
A: We'll see what we can do within the space limitations
of the printed schedule.
Q: Also, could we mark which rooms have age
appropriate material at different times;
possibly a symbol on the video sheets for
age of material, or a 14-and-under safe
room?
A: Good idea, we'll see if we can get that information
included.
Q: Could we maybe have video rooms in the
hotels again like we did a few years
ago?
Q: Kudos on splitting the schedule from the
program guide; easier to get the updated
version when we get here.
Q: Could we have a back sheet to show new
items that weren't in the program guide?
Q: This place is very wheelchair friendly;
could we get a free or half-price entry
for the mandatory attendant she has with
her?
Q: Also, could there be more tables for her
to set her computer on to do work in the
concourse area?
Q: Splitting video on one side, programs on
the other was cool. Running out of schedules
at the info desk was rough. If we can list
what's going on at the info desks, that would
help too.
Q: Could we get more dub showings? He doesn't
feel like reading the screen all the time.
A: He can email [email protected] to let them
know his preference for dubs.
Q: It's really loud at the Hilton panel rooms when
people are using the elevators; can we just keep the
doors closed, and mark them as 'come on in' so the
panels can still be heard inside?
Thanks everyone for coming! See you next year!
Feedback session wraps up at 1754 hours Pacific Time.