[Dark Spellmaster]

Suggestions:

Regestration: Since the time is open from 4 to 10pm, maybe there could be a set time give to differnt letters of the alphabet. People with this last name come this time on thursday. For friday, maybe split the room? Or ask to use space in the Haytt for Pre reg people?

Bag Check in: Again there is the room next to the game room. I know it might cause some to be annoyed but to have a space would be nice. Since you have three people sitting outside, one can man this?

signage: Bold...bright...these are things that will be noticed. Hand written signs tend to be blah.

Lines: Might I suggest Electric tape on the ground to create where the line is so that people know where to go on the ouside and inside buildings? Or inside have poles set up with rope, this way people can make a nice neat line.

[KnitChick]

LeeOnami, on 24 May 2011 - 10:47 AM, said:

I suggest if you want no bags in the events/game room to have a bag check. It's more tan inconvenient especially for women to not have at least a purse. Imagine one of us may be on our period and can't carry anything for it because of the no bag policy. Not all of the con goers are staying right at the con. Inconvenience central! That's the only thing this year that really miffed me though.


Also I would suggest possibly having reasonably priced water bottles for purchase at the info desk at the Hyatt, just incase someone is dehydrated but not rich. Just an idea really.

The bag check is something we have looked at but the liability issues make it difficult.

As far as water bottles, I believe we should have had some in Merch. I know I have a nice spiffy blue aluminum Acen water bottle I picked up at a road show a couple of years ago that I absolutely love. Though now I'll be using my shiny silver staff one I got this year If you're looking for a cheap water bottle though, right now Walgreens has some reasonably priced ones in their seasonal aisle. IMO you can never have too many water bottles!

ccaccus, on 26 May 2011 - 02:28 PM, said:

This is a double-edged sword, though. Since Acen doesn't have many food services (other than the $5 hot dogs and $4 nachos), is it possible to call local food venues and notify them that Rosemont's population is going to suddenly increase five-fold for the weekend?

Great minds think alike I was already planning to suggest that. We're getting bigger and bigger, plus next year we will be at a different time than our usual.



Keep the constructive comments coming!

[bucktick]

Quote

As far as water bottles, I believe we should have had some in Merch. I know I have a nice spiffy blue aluminum Acen water bottle I picked up at a road show a couple of years ago that I absolutely love. Though now I'll be using my shiny silver staff one I got this year If you're looking for a cheap water bottle though, right now Walgreens has some reasonably priced ones in their seasonal aisle. IMO you can never have too many water bottles!

I think she's talking about bottled water in general. I admonished my table member for leaving her water bottle in the hotel room. A tactical mistake since I knew bottled water at the "snack bar" was 3.50 a bottle. I think LeeOnami was referring to the fact that buying a bottle of water at Acen is like buying bottled unicorn tears.

[animedancer87]

This is a general question for any staff member: Realistically-speaking, what sort of increase in volunteers is necessary to make things easier for this event?

I ask this because from reading through the different threads on here it seems either there aren't enough people willing to do so or the issues occur after the fact (this is a presumption, nothing more). I know how hectic things can be in a volunteer-based setting and what sort of turnover rates can occur. So since there don't seem to be enough of us volunteering to keep up with the numbers of attendees, what needs to be done in terms of recruitment?

[Zerox20]

animedancer87, on 27 May 2011 - 03:53 PM, said:

This is a general question for any staff member: Realistically-speaking, what sort of increase in volunteers is necessary to make things easier for this event?

I ask this because from reading through the different threads on here it seems either there aren't enough people willing to do so or the issues occur after the fact (this is a presumption, nothing more). I know how hectic things can be in a volunteer-based setting and what sort of turnover rates can occur. So since there don't seem to be enough of us volunteering to keep up with the numbers of attendees, what needs to be done in terms of recruitment?

We at Panel Programming are always looking for capable people. With us expanding programming between multiple Hotels now + 200 some panels we are very short staffed for 2012 we will need to add quite a bit of staff!

[AlphaKnight]

Alright. I have one major suggestion that may be, for the most part, out of our hands, but I must try nonetheless.
"ACEN 2012 is April 27th through the 29th". The first time I read that, I thought I misread it. April? Yup. April.
This is not based off of any recorded scientific facts or surveys or anything, but it stands to be noted that one of ACEN's major source of income, possibly even the highest source of income and revenue is through college and high school students.

Late April is a huge, massive, important time of the year for these people.
They are getting very close to the end of their year of school, and finals are looming in their faces. It's a very stressful and busy time of the year.
I'm a lucky college student, personally. I get out of my college classes and finals right on the day before this new ACEN date, but I'm not pointing this stuff out for my own sake. I know a lot of people who would not be able to go to ACEN 2012 due to their finals being around the newly appointed date.
I can already safely predict that this ACEN will be lacking in a LOT of people. I might even bargain that we will be missing a easily noticeable amount of people.
Planning an event like this within that window of time is not only bad for business, but it also makes the event that much less fun for those who CAN make it.

I was told by an ACEN worker that ACEN 2011 saw the largest amount of members ever. After having such a large group this year, to plan a date that will surely cut down members dramatically is ridiculously sad.
I realize that there are other forces at work here, and that the normal time frame may have been already taken by some other group, but why push it BACKWARDS, invading on a time that for many is already busy and overwhelming? Why not move it to June or even July?
I also realize that It's probably impossible to change the 2012 date by now, but please bear this in mind for 2013.
I bet moving it into the summer months, rather than away from them, would even INCREASE the amount of members. People of all ages will be on vacation, looking to relax and enjoy themselves.

You can't seriously tell me that every weekend from May 20th through the end of July is booked.
May 20th, in my opinion was like THE perfect date for this event, too. It was right after finals for most if not everyone, and it brought a chance to relax and unwind for all of those people. Now they will have to choose between studying or going to a convention, and they won't enjoy themselves either way. They will either stay home and stress and study, or go to the convention and be preoccupied and worried the whole time.
There seriously must be another date for future events.

[JediNight]

AlphaKnight, on 28 May 2011 - 12:58 AM, said:

Alright. I have one major suggestion that may be, for the most part, out of our hands, but I must try nonetheless.
"ACEN 2012 is April 27th through the 29th". The first time I read that, I thought I misread it. April? Yup. April.
This is not based off of any recorded scientific facts or surveys or anything, but it stands to be noted that one of ACEN's major source of income, possibly even the highest source of income and revenue is through college and high school students.

Late April is a huge, massive, important time of the year for these people.
They are getting very close to the end of their year of school, and finals are looming in their faces. It's a very stressful and busy time of the year.

You can't seriously tell me that every weekend from May 20th through the end of July is booked.

This is always the proverbial monkey on Acens back though. This is actually probably the 2nd best weekend next to the 3rd weekend of May that we had this year. The 1st and 2nd weeks of May tend to be finals weeks for Midwest colleges. This at least puts Acen 2-3 weeks before finals. A lot of years Acen has been 1st or 2nd weekend of May, putting it literally in the middle of finals or adjacent for most students.

I don't have first hand knowledge, but the DESC is fairly busy, and the issue for Acen is we want to keep the convention in a narrow 3 week window. And we need very specific, adjacent halls in the DESC. The real kicker is we need that convention space AND all of the Hyatt. Like everything. Plus now most of the conference rooms in 3-4 adjacent hotels as well. It's really hard to line all of that up on the same weekend without booking it all 3+ years in advance. (Which may also explain why space can be cramped if you consider that attendance was at like 14k when most of this space was probably being reserved...)

You also have to be mindful of what other conventions in the US are around those same times. Vendors generally travel between the different cons, so putting Acen on the same weekend as another major con the same vendors would like to be at would probably adversely affect dealer signups. Not to mention attendance.

This post has been edited by JediNight: 28 May 2011 - 03:24 AM

[KnitChick]

animedancer87, on 27 May 2011 - 03:53 PM, said:

This is a general question for any staff member: Realistically-speaking, what sort of increase in volunteers is necessary to make things easier for this event?

I ask this because from reading through the different threads on here it seems either there aren't enough people willing to do so or the issues occur after the fact (this is a presumption, nothing more). I know how hectic things can be in a volunteer-based setting and what sort of turnover rates can occur. So since there don't seem to be enough of us volunteering to keep up with the numbers of attendees, what needs to be done in terms of recruitment?

I don't think it's so much a lack of volunteers as a lack of *dedicated* volunteers. Some of the problems this year stemmed from people signing up to be on staff and then never showing up for their shift! But we are always happy to have people on staff who actually show up and work hard to make this event happen!

AlphaKnight, on 28 May 2011 - 12:58 AM, said:

You can't seriously tell me that every weekend from May 20th through the end of July is booked.
May 20th, in my opinion was like THE perfect date for this event, too. It was right after finals for most if not everyone, and it brought a chance to relax and unwind for all of those people. Now they will have to choose between studying or going to a convention, and they won't enjoy themselves either way. They will either stay home and stress and study, or go to the convention and be preoccupied and worried the whole time.
There seriously must be another date for future events.

Unfortunately, yes, I'm told there was not a weekend in May where both the Hyatt & the Stevens were available. And the dates were booked a couple of years ago. I've noticed that many of these professional conferences book anywhere from 2-10 years in advance! It's mind boggling how far in advance these big convention centers tend to be booked.

[Kokoro]

I find it interesting that so many people are claiming April is the worst time for college students. Certainly students who don't go to a local college will be unable to attend Acen unless they drive a long way back, but for me, mid/late May was the absolute worst time possible. Acen almost always fell on the weekend before final exams. The weekend that any decent student devotes to hardcore studying. Thats why I could never attend until I graduated. April would have been fine for me, really. No time will work for everyone...

[Dark Spellmaster]

KnitChick, on 28 May 2011 - 12:23 PM, said:

I don't think it's so much a lack of volunteers as a lack of *dedicated* volunteers. Some of the problems this year stemmed from people signing up to be on staff and then never showing up for their shift! But we are always happy to have people on staff who actually show up and work hard to make this event happen!





Unfortunately, yes, I'm told there was not a weekend in May where both the Hyatt & the Stevens were available. And the dates were booked a couple of years ago. I've noticed that many of these professional conferences book anywhere from 2-10 years in advance! It's mind boggling how far in advance these big convention centers tend to be booked.

I've heard of convention centers being booked as far back as 15 years for some major events. It all depends on the size of the conference.

[JediNight]

I think it would be a good idea to look into ways to move the dance line away from the sidewalk in front of the Hyatt. Would it be possible to lay down covering on the woodchips and send the line out the last set of auxillary doors and put it into the staging lot? With how we are now using the Doubletree, Embassy, and Hilton for panels, foot traffic outside has multiplied considerably, and there is not enough space on that sidewalk for 2-way traffic + the dance line.

Also to consider: Temps last week of April will be colder. Googling says avg night low is 37 for April as taken at Ohare (which happens to be just down the road). Not exactly amiable line weather, especially when there is no bag check and no baggage allowed in the dance. Where would people store their jackets if they have to wait outside?

[envyhehhehheh]

ya know.. this is Exactly what I wanted to comment on...tho I am sooo glad to read what everyone else had to post regarding the flaws of this last con. 2011 was my 7th straight Acen... and now I'm sad we won't be able to attend next year due to this date change. My daughter and I have always loved this con...and next year is her first year in college. She had recruited another 6 people to join up with us next year... but now..with this early date.. none of them will be able to attend. ok I'm just one person...but if every group (and my group always numbered at least 4) were..A) unable to attend and wouldn't be recruiting more attendees.... well...I guess the staffers and powers that be are attempting to downsize this con considerably (?)... because this stupid planning will accomplish exactly that. the college crowd won't be here...that's the time for finals for most... Please Please Please...rethink this decision....

AlphaKnight, on 28 May 2011 - 12:58 AM, said:

Alright. I have one major suggestion that may be, for the most part, out of our hands, but I must try nonetheless.
"ACEN 2012 is April 27th through the 29th". The first time I read that, I thought I misread it. April? Yup. April.
This is not based off of any recorded scientific facts or surveys or anything, but it stands to be noted that one of ACEN's major source of income, possibly even the highest source of income and revenue is through college and high school students.

Late April is a huge, massive, important time of the year for these people.
They are getting very close to the end of their year of school, and finals are looming in their faces. It's a very stressful and busy time of the year.
I'm a lucky college student, personally. I get out of my college classes and finals right on the day before this new ACEN date, but I'm not pointing this stuff out for my own sake. I know a lot of people who would not be able to go to ACEN 2012 due to their finals being around the newly appointed date.
I can already safely predict that this ACEN will be lacking in a LOT of people. I might even bargain that we will be missing a easily noticeable amount of people.
Planning an event like this within that window of time is not only bad for business, but it also makes the event that much less fun for those who CAN make it.

I was told by an ACEN worker that ACEN 2011 saw the largest amount of members ever. After having such a large group this year, to plan a date that will surely cut down members dramatically is ridiculously sad.
I realize that there are other forces at work here, and that the normal time frame may have been already taken by some other group, but why push it BACKWARDS, invading on a time that for many is already busy and overwhelming? Why not move it to June or even July?
I also realize that It's probably impossible to change the 2012 date by now, but please bear this in mind for 2013.
I bet moving it into the summer months, rather than away from them, would even INCREASE the amount of members. People of all ages will be on vacation, looking to relax and enjoy themselves.

You can't seriously tell me that every weekend from May 20th through the end of July is booked.
May 20th, in my opinion was like THE perfect date for this event, too. It was right after finals for most if not everyone, and it brought a chance to relax and unwind for all of those people. Now they will have to choose between studying or going to a convention, and they won't enjoy themselves either way. They will either stay home and stress and study, or go to the convention and be preoccupied and worried the whole time.
There seriously must be another date for future events.

[Rakuen]

What is there to rethink? They can either do it that weekend in April, or they can pretty likely not do it at all. That's especially true if they've already negotiated the contract, in which case there can be very hefty penalties for renegotiation or backing out.

[Valkyrie]

envyhehhehheh, on 29 May 2011 - 07:06 AM, said:

well...I guess the staffers and powers that be are attempting to downsize this con considerably (?)... because this stupid planning will accomplish exactly that. the college crowd won't be here...that's the time for finals for most... Please Please Please...rethink this decision....

While I can feel your pain, I also feel the need to clarify this issue.

If you've read the other posts, you will notice that it was not a deliberate decision on on our part in order to downsize the con. In point of fact, we have been repeatedly explaining the reasons why it's in April. The reason why we could not get a later 2012 date (i.e., in May) was because those dates had already been reserved by other events. That's all there is to it.

There are many organizations and businesses that use the hotel and convention center - sometimes using both venues at the same time, sometimes not. But because of our convention's large size, we require more space in each venue in order to accomodate all of our people. If one venue's space is full up for one set of dates, or the spaces we need within said venue aren't available (for instance, Main Programming in the Hyatt), that set is a no-go. And since some events are reserved anywhere from 2 to 10 years in advance, maybe more, that means that we ultimately have to hope that no one has seized those desirable dates in May before us. For that matter, we can't just call the hotel and convention center and hotel and rebook for different dates like one can reschedule a dentist appointment. Planning a convention of our size is more like planning a very intricate wedding, with a whole town on the guest list. (We had over 20,000 attendees alone, not including vendors, staff, guests, etc.) Because we have to reserve dates a couple of years in advance, we can't hope to get any May dates for 2012, since those were already taken to begin with. It's not a decision that was made with the intent to downsize, or a decision that was made under the assumption that it can be changed. We can't hope to change it and get a later date this late in the game. Plus, conventions are held everywhere year-round, even the bigger ones, and they still get excellent attendance. We can rigjtly hope (since this is not the first time ACen has been in April, though it has been a while) that despite the earlier timeframe, we will still see plenty of faces, new and old - maybe even yours!

Also, speaking as someone who graduated college several years ago - it is still possible for students to come. It may be more difficult, particularly for those out of state/country, but it's possible. (I have friends who ventured all the way from Minnesota, Texas, and Canada for ACen this year.) Besides, I know of no school that has finals in April; May and June are the months during which most exams and graduations take place. And there are some professors who are flexible enpugh to allow students time off for a vacation.

[animedancer87]

Thanks for answering the question, Zero and Knit!

[Jguy]

For those that are asking about staffing, stick around and keep an eye out on the forums. Registration is always looking for more people, as is a lot of other departments. In a few months, almost every department will be looking for help, I'm sure. More staff is always a plus! (and there's great incentives for staffing too!)

[Mystline]

I feel like I'm the only person who likes having the con in April. May is a really important month for me and when I missed May 20th to head up to ACen; I missed a loooot at school. After all it's the end of the year and teachers are trying to stuff as much information in our heads as they possibly can.
The end of April is perfect for me. I have a fun weekend to hang out with friends; and then May rolls in,I work my butt off, and then I get a two month break. Besides, I hate hot weather and the end of April probably won't be very hot.
Just wanted to share my opinion. Not everyone here is against having the con in April.

[Kiezer]

Mystline, on 29 May 2011 - 11:07 AM, said:

I feel like I'm the only person who likes having the con in April. May is a really important month for me and when I missed May 20th to head up to ACen; I missed a loooot at school. After all it's the end of the year and teachers are trying to stuff as much information in our heads as they possibly can.
The end of April is perfect for me. I have a fun weekend to hang out with friends; and then May rolls in,I work my butt off, and then I get a two month break. Besides, I hate hot weather and the end of April probably won't be very hot.
Just wanted to share my opinion. Not everyone here is against having the con in April.

I have to agree with Mystline....April works perfectly for me this year and because it is a week before finals this year(and not the week of,before, or after) I will actually be able to potentially help staff the con for my first time!!!

[TwilightDucky]

KnitChick, on 27 May 2011 - 02:04 AM, said:

The bag check is something we have looked at but the liability issues make it difficult.

Bag check is still an issue tho i've been to way to many events with bag checks of all types and varieties from big to small and long running events to just getting started ones to believe its THAT difficult? sorry but why doesnt Acen have this capability yet?? ...i'm sure other events hosted in the same spot, same rooms, as Acen's events have bag checks so the facilities are there i would think? i've even run a bag check at an event before, It was extremely in expensive and VERY much appreciated. If you tell guests they cant have bags with them you kinda need to provide SOMETHING to make it a compromise, especially for those guest who are new or didnt realize you weren't allowing bags. i remember my first Acen getting all excited and ready for the concert that year and getting their only to be told no bags allowed...well i was not about to just leave my purse with my money and drivers license and everything in it lying on the floor and was completely confused, and honestly more than a bit pissed, to find that there was no bag check even tho i was being told to get rid of my bag...we had to leave and go back to the hotel very unhappy ;-; as for liability its as simple as putting up signs stating that the bag check is a courtesy and Acen/staff is not liable for bags lost or stolen, basically check at your own risk. i've seen this at many events, people will still check bags, its a lesser risk than the alternative which i've seen outside soap bubble, concerts, and events. You know, that mass of peoples stuff thrown against the wall in hopes it will still be their when they come out of the event? all because they either didnt think to or know to leave their bag back in their room....

This post has been edited by TwilightDucky: 29 May 2011 - 04:31 PM

[Kokoro]

TwilightDucky, on 29 May 2011 - 04:29 PM, said:

Bag check is still an issue tho i've been to way to many events with bag checks of all types and varieties from big to small and long running events to just getting started ones to believe its THAT difficult? sorry but why doesnt Acen have this capability yet?? ...i'm sure other events hosted in the same spot, same rooms, as Acen's events have bag checks so the facilities are there i would think? i've even run a bag check at an event before, It was extremely in expensive and VERY much appreciated. If you tell guests they cant have bags with them you kinda need to provide SOMETHING to make it a compromise, especially for those guest who are new or didnt realize you weren't allowing bags. i remember my first Acen getting all excited and ready for the concert that year and getting their only to be told no bags allowed...well i was not about to just leave my purse with my money and drivers license and everything in it lying on the floor and was completely confused, and honestly more than a bit pissed, to find that there was no bag check even tho i was being told to get rid of my bag...we had to leave and go back to the hotel very unhappy ;-; as for liability its as simple as putting up signs stating that the bag check is a courtesy and Acen/staff is not liable for bags lost or stolen, basically check at your own risk. i've seen this at many events, people will still check bags, its a lesser risk than the alternative which i've seen outside soap bubble, concerts, and events. You know, that mass of peoples stuff thrown against the wall in hopes it will still be their when they come out of the event? all because they either didnt think to or know to leave their bag back in their room....

Anime Milwaukee has a bag check. How can a smaller con with less available funds have one, but not Acen?

[Valkyrie]

Kokoro, on 29 May 2011 - 04:57 PM, said:

Anime Milwaukee has a bag check. How can a smaller con with less available funds have one, but not Acen?

The answer is more or less within your question - they're smaller. AM lacks one big event that we have, which would probably fill their con with its population alone - the Soap Bubble. And that event takes place over several hours in one night. What's more, is that some of those folks who go to the Soap Bubble, only go for the Soap Bubble.

I'll try going over some of the logistics in a hypothetical sense, using the Soap Bubble as our test subject (and Hardcore Synergy notwithstanding). The Soap Bubble is our headline event, and because of that, it draws in a population of its very own - hence the line that stretches for hours. So, with this in mind, let's take a look at the line:

1) Math time! Okay, so it's about fifteen minutes before we open those doors, and people are lining up. So let's check out this line. Pretty long already, right? Yup! And it'll get longer! We're gonna try our best to get alllll these awesome people in to enjoy the dance in one night. Won't be easy, but by gods we're gonna try to make it happen, hell or high water. But first, let's see how many people have bags or parcels on them. Depending on when these awesome folks got here, whether they commuted, whether they came just for this dance, whether they have a room/car to stow their stuff in temporarily, and of course, depending on the weather, there will likely be a healthy chunk of folks within this line that still have their bags. And we haven't even opened the doors yet, so there will be even more coming our way.

2) Location, location, location! So, given where Main Programming is, if we set up a bag check, it'll need to be close by. Problem is, where would we put it? If people know there's a bag check, they'll want to use it, so it'll need to be big enough to accommodate. Customer Service seems like a likely option...except that with the number of bags that would be brought in, their booth would be overflowing in no time. And since their booth also houses Lost and Found, we don't want those getting mixed up. We can't simply set aside a clear area on the floor for the bags, either - that might cause a fire hazard, and the fire marshal wouldn't like that. Putting them in a corner of MP is out of the question; it's way too dark, and every bit of space within that room counts, particularly where the fire code and Fire Marshal are concerned. So therein lies one issue - space. (This is one reason why lockers haven't been implemented, either - there's no room to put them.)

3) Manpower. Alright, so let's say we found a space to put all these bags. Who's going to watch them? First thing that might come to mind is IRT. But, there's no guarantee that they'll have any teams available to watch the room and check in bags. Plus, they will eventually have to change shifts at some point, and/or take a break. Who'll cover them? And is there a guarantee that these new folks will know how things are organized, what to watch out for, etc.? In addition, because it's Saturday night, there simply may not be any teams who can take on this responsibility. With all the incidents we have to respond to during the course of Saturday night alone, there may not be any IRT teams in the area besides the ones working the lines and within the dance itself, as well as those patrolling the area. Customer Service staff may be an option, but again, they'll have to rotate as well. The Hyatt staff will be stretched enough as it is, we'd be hard-pressed to ask this of them. And consistency and organization will go hand in hand with the number of bags at any given time.

So unfortunately, yes, at this time, it is difficult for ACen to arrange. As much as I'd like to say it's as easy as 1-2-3, it's not. And unfortunately, it's nowhere near as simple as simply putting up a "we're not responsible/cannot be held liable for lost/stolen items" sign. (Besides, imagine what might happen in that case - because it's within the hotel, people would go immediately to the Hyatt. And believe me, our wonderful Hyatt staff do quite a bit to help accommodate us, but I doubt they'd appreciate having complaints about lost bags/purses/etc. coming to them from our event, when that timeframe is already a chaos pool in itself.)

[Grabbin' Peelz]

Miyu-chan, on 26 May 2011 - 10:35 AM, said:

The only gripe I have this year is Guests and Guest lines. Even though I liked the thought of having it in the exhibit hall, the line was held in between two vendors, and it was very bad placement. Also, I think the times for the lines to start needs to be listed, instead of the actual autograph time. Either that, or start the line at the actual listed time. Saturday I went to see J. Micheal Tatum about 30 minutes before the signing, and they said the line was closed off. I was lucky enough to make it to the Colleen and Cristina autograph line in time. But, Sunday I was almost denied of the J. Micheal Tatum line again. I was there almost an hour before it started! I know that there can only be a certain amount of time for the guests to sign, but maybe that time could be extended? There were a lot of attendees that weren't able to see any of the guests they wanted to.

Other than that, I have no complaints. Pumped for 2012 already!

I completely agree, it was messed up this year, I didn't get anything signed and I made sure to make it at least 20 to 30 minutes before the session was to start (also the location was horrendous, it took forever to get from the artists alley to where they kept the autograph area). Previous years yeah the lines were long, but they went by fast! The thing that rubbed me the wrong way and really boiled my blood was seeing this poor girl on the verge of tears after being denied entry into the line. I do not know who is in charge of the autographs but honestly; you really dropped the ball this year.

[Kokoro]

Grabbin, on 30 May 2011 - 04:16 PM, said:

I completely agree, it was messed up this year, I didn't get anything signed and I made sure to make it at least 20 to 30 minutes before the session was to start (also the location was horrendous, it took forever to get from the artists alley to where they kept the autograph area). Previous years yeah the lines were long, but they went by fast! The thing that rubbed me the wrong way and really boiled my blood was seeing this poor girl on the verge of tears after being denied entry into the line. I do not know who is in charge of the autographs but honestly; you really dropped the ball this year.

You had to get there at least one full hour in advance, sometimes earlier. I spent most of my weekend in lines for autographs/panels. Thankfully I did get everything I wanted signed. If you can, always get things signed on Friday. It amazed me how bad the lines were on Sunday (also Saturday, but particularly Sunday) compared to Friday's lines. I knew Friday would be a LITTLE quieter because some people can't get off of work/school, but dang. It was a huuuge difference.

[sentinel28a]

My thoughts and suggestions:

1) Timing for Next Year: I won't be coming to ACen 2012, because it falls squarely during finals week, and as a teacher I can't leave. Nothing can be done about that apparently for next year--these things happen--but I hope this won't become a permanent thing.

2) Registration: Two years ago, I was in and out of the pre-reg line in five minutes. Last year, it was 30 minutes. This year, 90 minutes. A friend of mine was in the reg line two yeara go for five minutes. Last year, 30 minutes. This year, four hours. Go back to whatever ACen was doing in 2009 and 2010 and do it that way. It's not hard.

3) IRT: Train your people. 1/3 of IRT this year were hard-working, polite, courteous pros. Another 1/3 were well-meaning but poorly trained--when asked about Anime Hell, the answer I got twice was "I don't know." Not "I don't know but will find out," but simply "I don't know." That's unacceptable and easily fixed. And the final 1/3 were badge-heavy, I've-got-a-flak-jacket-and-I-am-now-Chuck-Norris jerks. I know IRT has the most thankless job of ACen, next to Registration. But the sort of "I have a little authority and that means I MUST YELL AT EVERYONE" attitude needs to end. Thankfully, the majority of IRT were good people, which has generally been my experience at ACen. This was the first year since 2008 that I had a problem.

4) Soap Bubble/Rave: I've been reading in other threads about this, and my solution is simple: it needs to be gone. Not permanently, but for awhile. It's gotten out of hand. We've got too many teenagers whose sole thoughts at ACen are to get drunk, get laid, and act like buttholes in the process. This needs to stop. Anime Central is Anime Central, not a really large frat party. If no dance/rave/whatever is held for a year or two, maybe the morons who have been using ACen as an excuse for property damage will stop coming, or mature enough to start coming for the right reasons. If that cuts down on attendance, so what? ACen will save just as much money from the lack of hotel destruction.

I love Anime Central; this was my 7th time at the con. My train was three hours late in both directions, I caught a sinus infection, and I had come to this con with low expectations (given other events that happened this spring)--but I had a great time. I want those great times to continue, but if something's not done about registration and the sheer idiocy I saw this year, ACen may not be on my annual itinerary for much longer. The convention has lost something, and I worry it may never get it back.

Ben Da Mad Irishman

[wrexness]

:/ I'm with Ben, the kind of crowd that ACen is attracting, especially at night, is starting to get out of hand. Call it old man rambling if you will, but it's becoming less of a con and more of a party. While there is definitely room in the middle, I think the scales have shifted towards the undesirable end. I know several of my friends are questioning whether or not they want to come back based on how bad things are getting.

[pepperbots]

I know this has been suggested before, and I know that this was tried once, but I think you guys should seriously consider having tickets to major events again. I'm just posting these ideas, but I'm sure they would need more polishing and refinement, but I also think that this may be the way to cut back on lines for these events.

Make tickets to major events available during pre-registration to the convention. Have one ticket per major event, and each would have a separate cost. (Not sure how much each ticket for an event would be worth, but that could be worked out.) A person could select as little or as many as they would like. They could select all events, just one event, however many there are, or however many they know they want to go to. The cost of a regular badge could be lowered to make up for the cost of these tickets. This would give more people the incentive to pre-register so that they can be sure they have a ticket to an event that they want to see. This may also cut back on the number of people who only buy a Saturday badge just so that they can go to the dance on Saturday and absolutely nothing else. (Which, honestly, I believe is not the point of ACen or any anime convention.)

The tickets could be a physical ticket, or since it would be done through pre-registration, you could either have a sticker placed on the badge or have a symbol actually printed on their badge to represent that they paid for a particular event. As far as stickers or printing symbols, I believe a symbol instead of a color will work much better just because it's harder to remember that "blue" stands for Masquerade and "red" stands for Saturday dance rather than, say, a "mask" for Masquerade and maybe a "bubble" for Saturday's dance. Depending on the number of events, you could just have them printed/placed in the corners of a badge. (I'm just going off of previous years, and there's always been about four events, Friday concert, Friday dance, Masquerade, and Saturday dance, but there could be more.) Printing directly on a badge or placing a sticker on there would prevent people from trading or selling their "tickets" and prevent the loss or theft of a "ticket".

If a person didn't have a "ticket" or if for whatever reason they couldn't pre-register, they'd still be able to go to an event, but they'd wouldn't have "first dibs" to an event. They'd have to wait for people who did pre-register/pre-purchase to go ahead of them. This would also encourage people to think about pre-registering so that they can get ahead of the line next time.

If the amount of people buying tickets is still too large, you could try the "tier" system again. You could even set the tiers to the same pre-registration tiers. The earlier you pre-register then the better your chance at getting into an event earlier. You could also tie in the tiers to certain "line up times". For example, if a person had a first tier ticket (maybe "tier 1" or "tier a"), they can start lining up at a certain time, like 5:30, or maybe an hour beforehand for an event. Then second tier at another time, like 6:00, or a half hour before hand, etc.

A problem I could see with this would be anybody who did not pre-register or only purchases a day badge may have a hard time getting into an event because of the ticket holders getting in ahead of them. But, if you think about the wait times you'd already have without a system, I'd almost think that this would be less wait time. We wouldn't know until we tried though.

Another problem is logistics. You guys would certainly need to make this system very, very clear well in advance to the convention and have a nice big page on the website, not just the forums, that explained exactly how it worked. I also know you guys also have a lot of trouble with retaining volunteers and lines are already such a big problem with the small number of IRT you have, but the people running the lines would need to know exactly what's going on and be able to direct people, especially if you went with a tiered system. Having a ticket system with IRT (or whoever you have controlling the lines) not knowing what's going on will just end up in a lot of frustration and most certainly have you guys dropping the ticket system all together just like last time.

Like I said, this would definitely need some polish, and if you cannot handle the logistics problems, then it's probably not even worth attempting. But, I'm hoping you guys will consider this again even with some tweaks or major changes to the idea. (Also, I'd love to hear anybody else's ideas or suggestions on the subject. I know that there's got to be more problems/flaws with this system that I haven't thought of yet.)

(Edited: Grammar... How does work?)

This post has been edited by shell: 02 June 2011 - 08:21 AM

[spcake]

Christy, on 26 May 2011 - 11:35 AM, said:

Actually, they tried this one year and it blew. The main path to the dealer's room led right through the Artist Alley. We got great foot traffic but people who really didn't want to shop at the alley and intended to avoid us at all costs were racing through like maniacs and were essentially dragging the more casual shoppers with them and creating issues for those who really did want to stop and browse.

I disagree.

The year that my table was in the 'path to the dealers room' through the alley was my most sucessful year. If you have great art it will catch the eye of someone who wasn't planning on checking out the alley in the first place and lead to people stopping at your table, which leads to more people stopping at your table because they want to see what all the fuss/crowd is about.

[Kokoro]

shell, on 31 May 2011 - 10:35 PM, said:

Like I said, this would definitely need some polish, and if you cannot handle the logistics problems, then it's probably not even worth attempting. But, I'm hoping you guys will consider this again even with some tweaks or major changes to the idea. (Also, I'd love to hear anybody else's ideas or suggestions on the subject. I know that there's got to be more problems/flaws with this system that I haven't thought of yet.)

I'm gonna be very blunt. They couldn't even handle the logistics of lining up this year (multiple lines for one event, IRT not knowing which was the "right" line etc), in addition to other organizational problems/confusion about rules, so frankly, I just don't see how they could pull this off. I'm not trying to be a poopy pants. But the organization was nonexistent at times, so all I see in store for something more complicated is utter chaos.

[JawdyBawdy]

Valkyrie, on 29 May 2011 - 05:59 PM, said:

2) Location, location, location! So, given where Main Programming is, if we set up a bag check, it'll need to be close by. Problem is, where would we put it? If people know there's a bag check, they'll want to use it, so it'll need to be big enough to accommodate. Customer Service seems like a likely option...except that with the number of bags that would be brought in, their booth would be overflowing in no time. And since their booth also houses Lost and Found, we don't want those getting mixed up. We can't simply set aside a clear area on the floor for the bags, either - that might cause a fire hazard, and the fire marshal wouldn't like that. Putting them in a corner of MP is out of the question; it's way too dark, and every bit of space within that room counts, particularly where the fire code and Fire Marshal are concerned. So therein lies one issue - space. (This is one reason why lockers haven't been implemented, either - there's no room to put them.)

3) Manpower. Alright, so let's say we found a space to put all these bags. Who's going to watch them? First thing that might come to mind is IRT. But, there's no guarantee that they'll have any teams available to watch the room and check in bags. Plus, they will eventually have to change shifts at some point, and/or take a break. Who'll cover them? And is there a guarantee that these new folks will know how things are organized, what to watch out for, etc.? In addition, because it's Saturday night, there simply may not be any teams who can take on this responsibility. With all the incidents we have to respond to during the course of Saturday night alone, there may not be any IRT teams in the area besides the ones working the lines and within the dance itself, as well as those patrolling the area. Customer Service staff may be an option, but again, they'll have to rotate as well. The Hyatt staff will be stretched enough as it is, we'd be hard-pressed to ask this of them. And consistency and organization will go hand in hand with the number of bags at any given time.

i'm a bit confused by the acen staff's answers on the bag check. the reason i'm confused: there was a thing similar to a bag check in 2008.

2008 was my first year at the con. 2008 was also the year of the yaoi paddles, as some have been calling it. i, like many girls, bought a yaoi paddle that year. i also had this yaoi paddle signed by voice actors and was the one thing i wanted to get in the dealer's room. my yaoi paddle (bought on the saturday of 2008) was taken into the masquerade line with me. the wait in this line was a long one and i eventually got inside and to the doors where i was told my yaoi paddle couldn't go in with me. this was a shock to me and i panicked, not wanting to just leave something i'd spent my dealer's room money on and spent so much effort getting signed.

(this is where i'm confused as to why the bag check won't work)

i then asked the IRT man at the doors if he could watch my yaoi paddle, since my hotel was 15 minutes away and i didn't know what else to do. he agreed to watch it. i scribbled my name on the bottom of the handle with his permanent marker and gave it to him, then i continued on my way into the masquerade. once the masquerade was over, i found this IRT man. he directed me to a room where my yaoi paddle was (by the IRT's station in the dome). i told the other IRT member my name and described my paddle. he showed it to me, i confirmed it, i thanked him, and left happily with my paddle.

my yaoi paddle was not the only paddle in that room and there was a line of people picking up bags and other props and things from this room. so, technically, you had a bag check once... an emergency bag check, but a bag check.

why can't this be done again, then? if you could do it in a panic, why can't you have an organized one that's planned?

granted, acen has grown a bit since 2008.. but, location and man power didn't seem like a problem back then.

[TwilightDucky]

JawdyBawdy, on 01 June 2011 - 07:07 PM, said:

why can't this be done again, then? if you could do it in a panic, why can't you have an organized one that's planned?

granted, acen has grown a bit since 2008.. but, location and man power didn't seem like a problem back then.

i second this notion <3 why is a bag check being made into such an impossibility...as i've said before please dont tell me its legality, cause i know its not...does acen just not want to deal with the extra planning or staffing? cause lots of cons and events bigger, smaller, and same size have bag checks or something close...theey all found away to deal with the legal stuff and found ways to do it...why cant Acen? isnt Acen as good as them? sorry i just dont think the excuses already given for why this cant happen are valid enough...and you did ask us what we wanted to see changed for next year, please try having bag checks.