Messages

I had camera issues that night, and about 2/3 didn't turn out. Grrr.

The ones I did get are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhf-org/sets/72157619331600679/detail/

[Mixers]

Assistant Darren here (Tuxedo, White Armband, Huge Camera, Raving Lunatic: Pick any 3)

I had an absolute blast at the dance! And judging from the smiling faces on the floor, I'm guessing that most of the people there did as well.

We should remember as we read the feedback that people are much more open to providing criticism than to praise.

And now, some of my thoughts, which have zero authority, credibility, and may go against the grain:

Mixers

Great! I had several people ask me "are there going to be more mixers?" We could probably do more than 2. And how about doing a snowball as well? ;)

Music

Some ups, some downs. I heard a few awesome songs I'd never heard before, and a few that made me go "huh?"

I agree that some of the songs were, er, "off" , but in all honesty, I've gone to ballroom dances where I've left after an hour because I didn't like the music the DJ was playing. Music is an intensely personal thing.

And to be fair, every email that we white-armband-ful-people received from the staff in the months leading up to the con included a line like "do you have any music we can use?" I know I didn't step up on this, even though I could have. I'll do better next year.

Volume

In the audio booth, we weren't in any speaker paths. Remember that in a room with hard walls, low frequency reflections are attenuated twice as much as high frequencies: Beware setting the volume based on the lows!  I'm not sure if the audio equipment was rented, scavenged, borrowed, or belongs to Fanime, but we really should have a compressor in the mix; just on the off-chance someone forgets the previous rule. :)

Hazards to Navigation and Line of Dance

I broke up or moved a few hazards in the first half of the evening with a few polite words like "Excuse me; could you please move off the floor / over to the corner / edge / center so you're not in the way?" Worked like a charm.

I mostly turned a blind eye in the second half unless the problem was egregious, because personally, I love it when things become more organic / raw / random later in the night.

Lessons

Well organized, well presented. Congrats to everyone who taught and assisted on doing a great job! Except me, of course - I suxx0r3d.  ;D

And as for the comment that "we should have a clock in the room;" let me tell you about this incredible invention called a watch. ;)

Dances

I said this last year, and I'm going to say it again this year: In my opinion, we should be teaching less dances, not more.

Those of us who have been dancing for a while tend to forget what our first few classes were like - having trouble remembering the steps for one dance, let alone eight; confusing the different dances with each other;  the sheer anxiety of asking someone to dance whilst worrying we're going to make a fool of ourselves.

Waltz and Swing: They'll get you through 90% of all the music you'll encounter as a casual dancer in the real world.

I'd suggest the mornings be "basics" (slow moving; basic steps 75%; one pattern) and the afternoon be "less basics" (a bit faster class pace; 40% basics review; three patterns.)  Do different self-contained patterns on each of the afternoons. Make the open floor an actual "practice floor" with review groups rather than new patterns or dances.

Admission / Age Limits / Dance Test

No. No. No. And, did I mention "No?"

In my opinion, this is not a ballroom dance - it's a dance at a convention where people may have taken some of the kindly provided ballroom dance lessons. Earlier in the evening, before we got totally jammed, there was enough room for people to try their new steps safely. Once the floor got packed, there's not much you can do: Beginners' don't have the floorcraft to move in those crowds; even very experienced dancers have difficulties.

And if we ever consider saying to someone "sorry, but your dance skills are not good enough - please leave the floor," then we've totally failed our mandate, because, in my opinion, the goal is to make it fun for the vast majority of the people while not making it too un-fun for the minority.

And if you read the above line and are thinking "Grrr, but when I was trying to transition from shadow telespin through promenade into pivots some n00b jerk blocked me," my response to you is the following: You could have gone to Starlight instead.

Cheers
Darren

Mine are going up on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhf-org/sets/72157618658088056/

Some of today's will have to be re-done because their color is off - that'll teach me to photoshop under fluorescent lights.

At Fanime 08, I got in line for the dance about 45 minutes before the doors opened and was already the 100th person in line (or so it seemed...) I stayed for half the dance, then left so that someone else still waiting in line could have my spot. If there hadn't been a line, I would have stayed until closing.

My comments, undoubtedly biased:

1. In my opinion, the "Ball" is more about the formality of the event than the music and dances done. It's somewhat unlikely that many of the attendees will know the Viennese Waltz anyways.

2. Another vote for dress code. Of course, since I own two tuxedos, you can guess that I will always vote for formal dress. ;) For many of the attendees, I would guess this was/will be the only formal event they went to/go to this year.

3. And speaking of dress code, how about consistent enforcement? Other posters have mentioned people being turned away for wearing sneakers or short skirts, yet there were people inside in flip-flops or tee-shirts.

4. Don't bother trying to schedule "intermediate" or "advanced" dance lessons. Anyone who's already at that level isn't coming to Fanime to take a dance class. Recruit them to teach beginner classes instead.

5. Please try to schedule at least two beginner lessons for each dance, to accommodate people's schedules. Plus, there's nothing wrong with people taking the same class twice

6. Swing is King; it's easy to learn and easy to do. Waltz is the most useful dance to know, but is harder to learn at first because you also have to move.

The way I see it, Fanime (or any convention) is about like-minded people coming together to have fun. But even amongst like-minded people, there are lots of subgroups: The Naruto people. The Pokemon People. The Bleach People. The weepy Key people. The Card players. The Cosplayers. &c. The Black & White Ball is, IMHO, for the subgroup of people who want to dress up in formal clothing and dance for a few hours. It's doesn't have to be for everyone.

Saying "you should have less dress code and play more 80's hair-metal so I could have fun" is kind of like saying "Yaoi would be good if only it had a point. And less homosexuality."

Just my two cents before taxes...

Finally got all my photos done. Dang real life for interfering with the important stuff  ;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhf-org/sets/72157605219779326/detail/

Photos from Friday, and the first few from Saturday (ran out of time in photoshop, needed sleep)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhf-org/sets/72157605219779326/detail/

Cheers from Darren, the two-flash guy.