Re: FanimeCon 2012 Feedback

[Wiccat]

Pros:
-Artist alley was amazing this year.  Thank you for all your hard work and making things run smoothly!  As a Fanime artist since 2001, it's this type of successful alley that keeps me coming back.  Also, the art show folks were wonderful too.  This was my first time doing the art show and I will most certainly do it again after the great experience.

-The volunteers at the swap meet were very polite and helpful!  Even though the head of the swap meet was rude, the volunteers still tried their best to remain helpful and pleasant, allowing my friend to skip the long line in order to bring me food.  I had been in the artist alley since 10am and went straight to swap meet, so thank you for not giving my dinner delivery a hard time!

-Even though the pre-reg line was ridiculous, the rovers/volunteers were helpful in getting me information.  The same goes for the people at con ops.  Thank you for your great attitudes!


Cons:
-The information those rover/volunteers gave me was incorrect!  This unfortunately happens every year for me.  I keep getting told that artists pick up their badges at the artist alley, and it's never true.  I asked the rover/volunteers three times if they were sure this year I'm supposed to get my badge at the artist alley, and was told yes.

-I do both the artist alley AND the swap meet, and it would be helpful if badges were mailed out or if artists were able to pick up their badges at the artist alley.  Since I live 30 minutes from the convention, it saves money to just drive to the con instead of getting a hotel room.  If pre-reg takes hours to get through (I heard it finally got started at 5:30pm) and I have to be at swap meet at 6pm or they give away my spot, I can't get my badge on Thursday.  And I have to wake up, drive, and be at artist alley to set up Friday at 10am.  Some other way to handle artist badges would be VERY helpful.

-Speaking of driving to the con and doing both artist alley and swap meet... I had to park in the convention parking garage and haul heavy boxes of product up to the artist alley.  Parking in the garage is $20 a day.  When the swap meet began, I had to drive over to the Fairmont because even though it was close, it was still way too far to drag all my swap meet items there.  I had a lot of books and manga for the swap meet, so it was really heavy.  Parking for the Fairmont was $10 a day.  PLEASE next year can we have both the artist alley and the swap meet in the convention center, and save the Fairmont space for other events?  It would make things a lot easier for sellers.

-And now speaking of the swap meet.  Thursday went off without a hitch, it was perfect.  But Friday was a disaster.  The information desk told me that swap meet check in was at 6pm.  It was at 5pm.  Luckily, I was still able to get a spot.  The head of the swap meet was incredibly rude, when I brought up the change in time, she snapped at me that the information was in the program guide.  I read through the whole program, as did my friend.  It wasn't.  I was also told on Thursday that they were taking time to measure out the swap meet spots in accordance to the fire code.  But then on Friday, they started adding more spots.  I was unhappy with this, since I wanted the spot next to the door, and they squeezed another spot between me and the door.  When I tried to speak with the head of the swap meet about this, I was told "I don't care, if you don't want your spot, you can leave" and "you have two options, go back to your spot or I'll have you escorted out".  That is just unacceptable and no way to talk to someone, especially if you're the head of something... and ESPECIALLY if you're contradicting your own rules/the fire code without giving an explanation.  I was told later on during the swap meet that she disappeared and could not be found in order to relieve volunteers, which apparently only she had the power to do, and that there had been several other complaints made about her attitude and behavior.  On one hand, I'm glad to hear that I'm not just overreacting and other people felt the same way.  On the other hand, it's terrible that other people had to experience this level of rudeness as well.

-Lastly, why aren't anyone following the arrows on the floor in the main convention lobby?  It's not that hard.  The mass chaos of crowds going on was overwhelming and it happens every year.  Maybe a few volunteers in that area for traffic control would help!

[angeljibrille]

-And now speaking of the swap meet.  Thursday went off without a hitch, it was perfect.  But Friday was a disaster.  The information desk told me that swap meet check in was at 6pm.  It was at 5pm.  Luckily, I was still able to get a spot.  The head of the swap meet was incredibly rude, when I brought up the change in time, she snapped at me that the information was in the program guide.  I read through the whole program, as did my friend.  It wasn't.  I was also told on Thursday that they were taking time to measure out the swap meet spots in accordance to the fire code.  But then on Friday, they started adding more spots.  I was unhappy with this, since I wanted the spot next to the door, and they squeezed another spot between me and the door.  When I tried to speak with the head of the swap meet about this, I was told "I don't care, if you don't want your spot, you can leave" and "you have two options, go back to your spot or I'll have you escorted out".  That is just unacceptable and no way to talk to someone, especially if you're the head of something... and ESPECIALLY if you're contradicting your own rules/the fire code without giving an explanation.  I was told later on during the swap meet that she disappeared and could not be found in order to relieve volunteers, which apparently only she had the power to do, and that there had been several other complaints made about her attitude and behavior.  On one hand, I'm glad to hear that I'm not just overreacting and other people felt the same way.  On the other hand, it's terrible that other people had to experience this level of rudeness as well.

YOU were incredibly rude.

You came in and YELLED at me about something that was a. on the web site, b. I e-mailed you (and everyone else in the Swap Meet) about no less than 2 times, and c. It was also on the forums. You also pushed yourself to the front of the line, and demanded to be seated with your friends. This was also something *clearly* stated in the rules was not going to happen.

Just FYI here is the FanimeCon web site:
http://2012.fanime.com/events/swap-meet/

Convention Check-in
Sellers please line up no earlier than 6:00pm (Thursday, May 24, 2012) or 5:00pm (Friday, May 25, 2012) in the marked space matching your number range in The Fairmont San Jose Regency Ballroom.


The fourms:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,16971.0.html

That includes the e-mail I sent out.

Sellers please line up no earlier than 6:00pm (Thursday, May 24, 2012) or 5:00pm (Friday, May 25, 2012) in the marked space matching your number range in The Fairmont San Jose Regency Ballroom. Do not line up before the stated times; we start processing the line at exactly these times. The line will be set up "airline style". There will be pieces of paper on the floor indicating sections, for example 1 – 20, 21 – 40, 41 – 50, etc. If your number is 19 you will stand in the 1-20 area. If you are not sure, ask one of the Swap Meet staff who will be assisting.

After your rudeness and demands, I was nice enough to get you a very nice wall spot, despite the fact that you were late.

All you did at that point was complain that you were not with your friends.

I'll guide you to the rules here:
You will be assigned a 5 feet wide x 10 feet deep space when you check in, you will not be able to choose a space.

Finally, when I had to put someone in the space next to you, you came and made a huge show of harassing me about wanting to not be in the space we actually put you in (you had moved towards the door), AND you demanded that no one be put in the space next to you because "you had to be by the door" (which was not the space you were given). The spaces assigned were all within the fire code.

At that point, you were *UNIQUE* as to how you were behaving, and everyone in the line behind you was shocked by your unreasonable demands. I sincerely wish at that point I *had* kicked you out, because I was trying to deal with the 75 people in line waiting for their space while you were asking for special favors.

Instead I gave you a choice of staying where you were, or being escorted out.

If that makes me an evil jerk, that's perfectly fine with me. There was a huge list of people who wanted to get into that room, and you, who *had* a space couldn't be happy with it.

[ewu]

Feedback peeled off from main thread. This has moved from constructive feedback to a complaint to be resolved internally. A con ops incident report was made and will be addressed internally.

[Wiccat]

YOU were incredibly rude.

You came in and YELLED at me about something that was a. on the web site, b. I e-mailed you (and everyone else in the Swap Meet) about no less than 2 times, and c. It was also on the forums. You also pushed yourself to the front of the line, and demanded to be seated with your friends. This was also something *clearly* stated in the rules was not going to happen.

I did not come in and YELL at you or push to the front of the line. There WAS no line.  Everyone was milling about waiting for their number to be called, since we all had a number order when we signed up for the swap meet. I had a volunteer walk with me into the registration room, and he told me they were up to #85 by now.  I stated that I was #2 and I hope the spot I had on Thursday was still free.  He said he would assist in bringing all my stuff inside if I wanted to go up and get my spot.  I thanked him and that's when I went up to you.  Go ahead and check with that volunteer.  Because if order doesn't mean anything to you, why even bother having a number order at all?  And again read my initial reply.  The INFORMATION DESK told me AT THE CON that the time was 6pm.  There had been MANY CHANGES being made AT THE CON, so why would I go with emails sent out before the con if I was told BY THE INFORMATION DESK AT THE CON of a different time?  And I didn't realize saying "Is spot #4 already taken, I was in that spot yesterday and my friends are over there" is DEMANDING.

After your rudeness and demands, I was nice enough to get you a very nice wall spot, despite the fact that you were late.

All you did at that point was complain that you were not with your friends.

I'll guide you to the rules here:
You will be assigned a 5 feet wide x 10 feet deep space when you check in, you will not be able to choose a space.

Excuse me, the wall spot was free.  I didn't know you had to bend over backwards to get me a spot that was still unassigned.  Because if I remember correctly, you and the other people at the desk were handing us the map and asking everyone who checked in "which spot would you like" both Thursday and Friday.  I'm sure plenty of swap meet sellers would remember this.

Finally, when I had to put someone in the space next to you, you came and made a huge show of harassing me about wanting to not be in the space we actually put you in (you had moved towards the door), AND you demanded that no one be put in the space next to you because "you had to be by the door" (which was not the space you were given). The spaces assigned were all within the fire code.

I had not moved from the space WE HAD BOTH AGREED ON.  The volunteer who led me to the space knows this, the volunteers inside the swap meet knows this, and the other sellers in the area know this.  Because I had not moved since I sat down and started setting up within the confines of the taped off area.  And if the spaces assigned were within the fire code, how come a volunteer came in to tape off more spaces that were not on the map AFTER we were told that all the existing spaces were as much as they could fit in without violating the fire code?  It was because someone came in and started taping up new spaces without an explanation why I went to speak to you.  I had asked the other volunteers and the sellers who had connections with the swap meet and con, and they said to me "they shouldn't be doing that" and offered to watch my things for me while I go inform you about what was going on.  If you remember, I came up to you and asked why someone was taping off the area next to me when that wasn't a spot.  And you told me "if you don't like it, you can leave".  No explanation or anything.  So when suddenly something like that changes and I get snapped at to deal with it or leave without even being given and explanation to what's going on, I'm not allowed to be upset?  

At that point, you were *UNIQUE* as to how you were behaving, and everyone in the line behind you was shocked by your unreasonable demands. I sincerely wish at that point I *had* kicked you out, because I was trying to deal with the 75 people in line waiting for their space while you were asking for special favors.

Instead I gave you a choice of staying where you were, or being escorted out.

If that makes me an evil jerk, that's perfectly fine with me. There was a huge list of people who wanted to get into that room, and you, who *had* a space couldn't be happy with it.

I think people were more shocked at you snapping at me to get out when all I did was come in to find out what was going on.  If you had just remained cordial and given me a quick explanation (I still don't have one) then all that could have been avoided.  And again, I was informed by several different parties that I'm not the only one who had complaints about you when I finally did go about reporting you, so I really don't think it's ME who is the rude one, as you are trying to portray.  I've given my side of the story, and I hope my feedback will be heard.