Moving Panels to the Marriott

[dealerJason]

Hello Fanime Fans,
I wanted to know your opinion on moving panels to the OTHER side of the convention center.  We are toying with the idea of moving panels to the Salons in the Marriott.  Two reasons why:
1. Panel hallway space was just too cramped.  Big panels exiting then entering was a mess.
2. Panels can grow bigger.  We will have 3 rooms of ample size so we are not restricted on who we put where.

Your comments are appreciated on this possible change.

Sincerely,
Jason Ebner
Head of Live Programming, 2009

[Jerry]

a couple questions come into mind:

1) originally wasnt there video rooms in the Marriott side? Would that mean the video rooms there be moved as well?

2) if 'large' panels are moved into marriott side, how would that effect traffic and line control? would panels staff need line control people or would that be co-op between panels/logististics/rover(SoS) ?

[crazychichi]

I have a irking feeling that if the panels were moved over to the marriot side the traffic flow would be worse... just my opinion. Then again, maybe I'm wrong.

Also take into account the fire codes and posted occupancy maximums for that area. If its in the green then go for it, I guess.

[dealerJason]

Video rooms would be condensed into the convention center

Panels would be pretty much by themselves in the Marriott area as video left for the main center.

My main concern would be moving traffic again to the Marriott, but I am not certain there would be a traffic problem.  I think we would increase traffic for sure as video and panels were so close.  My issue would be very little to draw people to the Hilton side of things.

Ebner

[Gwydion]

The rooms on the Hilton side could take a couple video rooms. Like some of the Asian Videos maybe? That would free up a little space in Marriott for panels. Panels never seem to get more than three rooms or so anyways.

[mDuo13]

I'd be worried that the Hilton side would start to feel pretty lonely. I think some clever scheduling of panels - knowing which ones will be popular (i.e. any one with an official guest, especially a Japanese one) can be put in a big room. Also, I suppose it depends on how MusicFest is structured this coming year. I really liked 2007's room for MusicFest (since it was so personal and had more of a "club"-like atmosphere than a "big show"-like one) but obviously that wasn't feasible for a bigger act like An Cafe.

On the other hand, the GAINAX ROOM panels worked out very nicely this past year, so that's good reason to use that side for more panels.

[BSaphire]

I think the advantages to moving panels to the Marriott side would be:

expandable space for larger panels
quieter area inside and less noise outside
easier access for escorting guests (convenient area for guest green room)
better area for lines not to block elevator access
quicker response time for con ops & sos should a need ever arise

The disadvantages may be:
Live action and other video have to deal with noise issues, but I think that if you use signs to locate where the area is and don't place loud events (karaoke for example) on the back side of the rooms then it would be great to have all video in one central location.

Would autograph sessions with the guests also be located in the same area of the Marriott or would you have them in a different location? My preference would be to have them located near by.

If the B&W ball, Dealers room & Maid/Internet cafe are all still located down by the Hilton then ample traffic will be down there. If there isn't anything scheduled to replace the Hilton rooms when panels leave how about Tabletop gaming such as miniatures (Hero clicks etc), cards (WOW, etc) and board games in there since they are strategy games that the player could use a quieter area in.

Just my two cents and I wanted to say that the logistics were much better this year on the causeway. Better choices of food/drink, more activities were going on, things didn't seem as vacant as it was in 07.

Squidges
BSaphire

[Raymei]

I think it sounds like a good idea.  Seems like it'd make travel-to a lot easier as well.

My vote's for yes, but you guys are the experts (I've only got 1 year under my belt  :P  lol)

[heeroyuy135]

Everything BSaphire said

2nd

[otakuapprentice]

as long as it all works out fine, then i don't have a problem.

[Kava]

2) if 'large' panels are moved into marriott side, how would that effect traffic and line control? would panels staff need line control people or would that be co-op between panels/logististics/rover(SoS) ?

Large panels, or ones that require an 18+ audience, will likely still require some assistance with line control, as they have previously. However, I -would- like my panel staff to attend a couple of SoS meetings this year and get some line control training. Panel staff will be badge-checking at the panel room doors again this year, and most of the line snafus we had this last year would have been very minor if my staff had been trained in line control.

[Aya Brea X]

Didn't we just use one side of the function rooms at the Hilton?  I seem to recall that the there was and "A" and a "B" side to each of the rooms and we only used the side closest to the elevators.  Is there a reason we couldn't just get both halves of the rooms if size is an issue?

Some conventions use other function rooms to line up panels they expect to be bigger. 

I guess there are more winding spaces to line up people at the Marriott, but that's usually where you guys kept Con Ops, right?  Would it be a good idea to put Con Ops in the middle of all that traffic?  (Some conventions want less traffic since they often store/move items in and out of Con Ops, and that's where you send any problem members and/or work with law enforcement...  Can you imagine the rubbernecking?)

[Kava]

We weren't using half-size rooms, no. Those rooms had doors on the back side that led to another hallway on the back side of the rooms. Line issues actually probably wouldn't have developed quite so much if we had utilized that back hallway more rather than only the hallway on the side of the elevators.

If you noticed the schedule from this last year, we actually did hold several panels that we expected to be larger in Video Main rather than in any of the 3 panel rooms, just as a note.

If we move Panels to the Marriott side, they'd be in the rooms that have previously been used as video rooms, and are down a different hallway than ConOps.