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Post by General Koibito Cross on Mar 30, 2009 21:35:53 GMT -5
w/ the rave i just find techno to sound all the same after so much of it
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Post by Zayane on Mar 30, 2009 21:57:38 GMT -5
Now here's where I'm going to ask the question, and it's not knocking you at all atticcat, you were just doing your job, it's not your fault. Why weren't the badges all made and in a box by Wednesday night? It occurs to me that if people prereg, they're coming to pick up a badge. And if they're coming to pick up a badge, it should, you know, be ready. Shoot, there really shouldn't be any badges being made at all, even the on-site registration should already be in plastic. Fix that and you probably remove half the work at registration. If you want to know why, Only because you asked, I don't make excuses, I got ditched. Many of the people who were to help me ran off to play some Gaylo and claimed "OH I DIDN'T know!" More than THREE times. I slaved and I labored to "roll with the punches" But it wasn't enough. People ditch you. Don't whine about it do something. And trust me--I'm FAAAR from whining. But also recall Registration had more than 4 people at it last year *HINT short handed HINT* A lot of Volunteers imho we're getting their cake and eatting it too rather than showing up to where they needed to be. BUT SINCE I'M WHINNING. Look what you started. Pre-reg bombed mostly due to the lack of people showing up on thursday for badge pick up. Last year, many people showed up so Pre-reg was a slow 3ppl per hour kind of thing. This year--only 30~35 people showed up ;__; I was very lonly on Thursday. It slowed down even more because people don't know the difference when being asked, "ONLINE or US Postal Service". People got confused on how they paid? That I don't understand. If anything could some one enlighten me to a better way to ask people how they paid? Is saying Online or US Postal Service too hard? Just let me know, I'm trying really hard to make AnimeSTL's registration the fastest in the midwest/west region--even begging for a computer terminal similar to McDonalds lol
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Post by tat on Mar 30, 2009 22:00:18 GMT -5
To those who couldn't find certain rooms like the Dealer's room.
Did you ask anyone where they were? If you can't find something it's always best to ask for help. I couldn't find some rooms but I asked and I was led in the right direction.
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atticcat
Hardcore Otaku
~the sleep of reason produces monsters~
Posts: 132
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Post by atticcat on Mar 30, 2009 22:00:26 GMT -5
oh, there were plenty of badges made before hand.. like the pre-reg ones.. a lot of those where made.. and mainly I was doing the for the reg at con people... but crap gets lost, and extras = YAY! It wasnt in the way or anything.. and they werent short of badges either... maybe it was for the volunteers to do something.. or maybe they over jumped the mount of tie they thought they had... idk... but that poor lady i volunteered for... she was so damned stressed...
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atticcat
Hardcore Otaku
~the sleep of reason produces monsters~
Posts: 132
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Post by atticcat on Mar 30, 2009 22:04:39 GMT -5
w/ the rave i just find techno to sound all the same after so much of it It was house music.. it's made to be very dancable... not too fast for spazzy epeleptic fit dancing and not too slow ... it's made for fluid dancing... A lot of techno isnt very danceable actully... like a lot of the popular stuff... and neither is a lot of other mainstream music...
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Rakuen
Hardcore Otaku
I survived ASTL '10!
Posts: 245
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Post by Rakuen on Mar 30, 2009 22:29:21 GMT -5
Zayane, don't get upset. C'mere, sit down, and I'm going to tell you how this all works.
For gophers, first of all, they should have a unique badge to identify them easily to staff and attendees. When they're on duty, they've got three strikes, on the third one a standing order is put out to yank their badge at the next available opportunity. They signed up for volunteer work, and if they were early they had the chance to choose their hours, they should be working them. And while it's quite a thankless task to be told to yank a badge, essentially they're stealing from the convention, and that's weak.
Now then, registration. At least 4 people need to be on it at all peak hours, that's Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. If for some reason there's not enough volunteers available (how!?), start grabbing available staff. The reg line is the most important thing to control, and if it gets out of hand it everything at the con is instantly going to go to hell. Obviously, the number of people working it scales up as your population increases.
On the topic of asking if they paid electronically or by snail mail, don't. If there's a difference, stop making it be a difference. The more information you ask for, the more the line is bogged down. It's extraneous information, you've got your money, and there's a paper trail out there somewhere, so just move on.
On checking for age, don't. Color coding the badges is nice in theory, but honestly, it's more trouble than it's worth. They're getting checked at the doors anyway, so their use has been superceded. We're talking about shaving simple seconds off of turnaround time, but when you consider registering 2000 people, shaving 4-5 seconds off for checking the birthdate rolls into 2 to 3 hours saved over the whole course of the convention, not to mention materials for color coded badges which saves a bit of money.
If they aren't already, the prereg line should have their IDs ready and held out, so you can just take it straight out of their hands.
Quit personalizing badges, or if you aren't, consider this a warning against ever doing it. I preregged for Otakon. My name is handwritten by myself on my badge. Acen does fancy stuff but Acen is stupid in some ways. It's far easier to have a stock of badges ready to go than it is to have to search through a stack or print off a label every time. If you want to reward them for preregging, give them a unique badge style. That's thanks enough.
Technology is not your friend. You'll have to adopt it eventually, but it's just not going to be fun, make absolutely sure you're ready to make the switch and that you know whatever you're using backwards and forwards before implementing it. And keep in mind the more technology you use, the more it FUBARs when just one piece goes out of commission.
If I come up with other points, I'll let you know.
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Post by Zayane on Mar 30, 2009 22:36:39 GMT -5
Zayane, I don't mind the venting at all. For gophers, first of all, they should have a unique badge to identify them easily to staff and attendees. When they're on duty, they've got three strikes, on the third one a standing order is put out to yank their badge at the next available opportunity. They signed up for volunteer work, and if they were early they had the chance to choose their hours, they should be working them. And while it's quite a thankless task to be told to yank a badge, essentially they're stealing from the convention, and that's weak. Now then, registration. At least 4 people need to be on it at all peak hours, that's Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. If for some reason there's not enough volunteers available (how!?), start grabbing available staff. The reg line is the most important thing to control, and if it gets out of hand it everything at the con is instantly going to go to hell. Obviously, the number of people working it scales up as your population increases. On the topic of asking if they paid electronically or by snail mail, don't. If there's a difference, stop making it be a difference. It's extraneous information, you've got your money, and there's a paper trail out there somewhere, so just move on. On checking for age. Stop it. Color coding the badges is nice in theory, but honestly, it's more trouble than it's worth. They're getting checked at the doors anyway, so their use has been superceded. We're talking about shaving simple seconds off of turnaround time, but when you consider registering 2000 people, shaving 4-5 seconds off for checking the birthdate rolls into 2 to 3 hours saved over the whole course of the convention. If they aren't already, the prereg line should have their IDs ready and held out, so you can just take it straight out of their hands. Quit personalizing badges, or if you aren't, consider this a warning against ever doing it. I preregged for Otakon. My name is handwritten by myself on my badge. Acen does fancy stuff but Acen is stupid in some ways. It's far easier to have a stock of badges ready to go than it is to have to search through a stack or print off a label every time. If you want to reward them for preregging, give them a unique badge style. That's thanks enough. Technology is not your friend. You'll have to adopt it eventually, but it's just not going to be fun, make absolutely sure you're ready to make the switch and that you know whatever you're using backwards and forwards before implementing it. And keep in mind the more technology you use, the more it FUBARs when just one piece goes out of commission. If I come up with other points, I'll let you know. WELL DAAAYYUUM~ I think *some one* should be my vice. Then we wouldn't have crazy things like this happen at pre-reg *Hint Hint Nudge nudge* These are all valid points. Very educated, as I can see you're with AP--which the year went was the BOOOOMB~ But, seriously-Are you a STL native? Because we need to get together.
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Rakuen
Hardcore Otaku
I survived ASTL '10!
Posts: 245
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Post by Rakuen on Mar 30, 2009 22:51:28 GMT -5
Unfortunately, no, I live in Indianapolis. ^_^;
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Post by biodomino on Mar 30, 2009 23:01:49 GMT -5
I'm going to echo a couple of things Rakuen said and I have some suggestions as well.
First of all, asking how the person paid. I don't know why this is an issue either, but assuming there's some reason for it, you could expedite the process by simply including -whatever- information you need on the confirmation forms, and then requiring a form at preregistration. In other words, you're already sending out confirmations for every preregister, just have that info on the form and tell them to bring it with them. In other words, tickets. If they don't have their "ticket" THEN you can go on to whatever process you were doing for every single person.
But if there's no really good reason (like you were just looking for a way to sort the badges), then just don't do it. Sort the badges by last name.
And this is where I echo Rakuen on the badge names. Don't do it. It's a waste of ink and effort. Honestly, the print this year was too small that you couldn't even read it unless you were close enough to ask someone their name. Personally I didn't even want to use the name that I had given during preregistration by the time the con rolled around anyway. Put out a table and some markers and let people do it themselves if they even want to.
And yes, by all means get people through the lines first and foremost. I stood around and just watched the line for the first couple of hours, and I saw so many people get in line and then get out purely out of frustration.
On that note, better signs. People didn't know which line was which. Really, by the time the line was backing up past the ropes significantly, someone should have been coming out with a megaphone or a loud voice every once in a while to give directions.
Otherwise, I think a simple setup for this kind of thing would work fine. Have lines clearly marked Preregistered (A-H), (I-P), (Q-Z) and Unregistered. Something along those lines. Pun not intended.
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Post by rinoaheartilly32 on Mar 30, 2009 23:09:02 GMT -5
I think my complaints/suggestions may overlap with other people's but here it goes. Overall, I thought the convention was great and all of the sudden did a good job putting it together. I would suggest if it is at all possible doing something to make it easier to move around in the dealer's room, it was often times quite crowded and hard to see everything that the dealer's were offering. Other than that, I would say if it is possible to have a few more panels going on although this may be hard considering it depends on how many people want to run them and trying to get more skits integrated in the Masquerade somehow I have nothing else to add. Again, great job to all the staff and I can't wait till next year!
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GaoSalad
Hardcore Otaku
Yaoi Catboy
Posts: 160
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Post by GaoSalad on Mar 30, 2009 23:10:24 GMT -5
Hmm complaints...
I think most people here would agree that a dimly lit room is not a rave environment. The lights should have been off from the start and there should have been strobe/black lights or something. It just didn't feel... ravey, ya know?
Another thing that kind of threw me off guard was the gun show. I know and accept that the convention center can put more than one event in their location if they chose to do so, but the set up, with the registration right next to the gun show, and the gaming room being in the actual gun show area. I talked to the guys running the dealer table down there and they said they hadn't gotten much business at all because people were either too afraid to waltz into the gun show area, or they were just slipping through the parkinglot door.
And speaking of the gun show... Some people told me that the dealers didnt bring/sell any ramune or pocky because the convention center said that they couldnt sell food... but the gun show had a buffet type line? What was up with that?
My only other complaint is sort of a private manner... but I was pretty vocal about it at the con so I figure some of you out there know. xD
Thats all I can really think of at the moment. Im not big on panels or voice actors (usually) so no complaints there.
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Post by Zayane on Mar 30, 2009 23:11:24 GMT -5
I'm going to echo a couple of things Rakuen said and I have some suggestions as well. First of all, asking how the person paid. I don't know why this is an issue either, but assuming there's some reason for it, you could expedite the process by simply including -whatever- information you need on the confirmation forms, and then requiring a form at preregistration. In other words, you're already sending out confirmations for every preregister, just have that info on the form and tell them to bring it with them. In other words, tickets. If they don't have their "ticket" THEN you can go on to whatever process you were doing for every single person. But if there's no really good reason (like you were just looking for a way to sort the badges), then just don't do it. Sort the badges by last name. And this is where I echo Rakuen on the badge names. Don't do it. It's a waste of ink and effort. Honestly, the print this year was too small that you couldn't even read it unless you were close enough to ask someone their name. Personally I didn't even want to use the name that I had given during preregistration by the time the con rolled around anyway. Put out a table and some markers and let people do it themselves if they even want to. And yes, by all means get people through the lines first and foremost. I stood around and just watched the line for the first couple of hours, and I saw so many people get in line and then get out purely out of frustration. On that note, better signs. People didn't know which line was which. Really, by the time the line was backing up past the ropes significantly, someone should have been coming out with a megaphone or a loud voice every once in a while to give directions. Otherwise, I think a simple setup for this kind of thing would work fine. Have lines clearly marked Preregistered (A-H), (I-P), (Q-Z) and Unregistered. Something along those lines. Pun not intended. PUN INTENDED~lol! Thank you for the input. I always like to improve--Trying to get Registration super special awesome. But having tickets goes to what Rakuen suggested that technology could possibly be a down fall rather than helpful. But I REALLY like the idea of water marking, stamping, sending a special seal to pre-regs. But I also worry about the seal just being duplicated. Copy pasta kind of thing. I'm sure I or WE could work that out. If you can think of ANYTHING else though, please tell me. I want to CHANGE this. It was the same system from last year (excluding the fawked up online) but it didn't work. NEED FIXIN' I MUST FIX~ D: I seldom get mad, anything works, anything you can think of :3
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Post by hyuugakoneko on Mar 30, 2009 23:35:54 GMT -5
Oh, and also, maybe I'm just that thickskinned, but it didn't seem to me that there was much reason for any of the panels to be 16/18+ (excepting maybe the yuri/yaoi panels, for which I plead ignorance). Some were clearly PG-13, but I didn't hear anything in them that I don't hear in your average high schools, or for that matter, that you can't hear on cable TV after 10PM. I'm assuming you're just covering yourself for liability, but if that's the case, checking IDs at the door is going a little beyond. The 16+ or 18+ panels are listed as such specifically at the request of the guests who ran them. IDs still must be checked because it would be all too easy for an Green Badge attendee to slip their badge to an underage attendee just so they could get into the panel.
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Rakuen
Hardcore Otaku
I survived ASTL '10!
Posts: 245
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Post by Rakuen on Mar 30, 2009 23:39:48 GMT -5
The 16+ or 18+ panels are listed as such specifically at the request of the guests who ran them. IDs still must be checked because it would be all too easy for an Green Badge attendee to slip their badge to an underage attendee just so they could get into the panel. Hey, whoa, no reason to shout. And as I'm going to point out for the third time now, the fact that you're checking the badges at the door means there's no reason for the color coded badges. Yes, it bears repeating as much as possible.
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Post by hyuugakoneko on Mar 30, 2009 23:42:14 GMT -5
And speaking of the gun show... Some people told me that the dealers didnt bring/sell any ramune or pocky because the convention center said that they couldnt sell food... but the gun show had a buffet type line? What was up with that? We obtained special permission from the Convention Center for the vendors to sell snack items like Pocky and Ramune. The Gun Show would have to had their buffet catered by the Convention Center.
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