@ Alk: As for the brushing off, I don't mean one "this is just the way XYZ is, sorry dudes". If you look at pretty much the last 5-odd years of gripes, the same big issues having frustrated here and in the Guests thread are /still/ a problem --off the top of my head, reg lines, guest announcements, wanton destruction, rogue IRT-- and yet the response is always more to the effect "this isn't a problem, these are isolated incidents / we're on it, totes gonna fixes this bros / *changes topic* / "XYZ is not a problem"
(eg "rave" issues/"we don't have a rave"; DrunkenpartyCentral/underagers; generalized organization; et al) / etc" and that-is-that,-end-of-story. The best I can suggest is read through those threads with staff/volunteer glasses off, with the eyes of those who
only know what they see at con, hear from friends, and what they read on forum (** "staff glasses" know how things work, who/what's needed for what, XYZ 123 -- the average con goer doesn't). While yes, there are a few posts that explain some whys hows and whats, the majority.... well, it's easier to read than rehash a decade (unless linlin et al want to toss up some examples for my exhausted brain's sake). Soon enough you'll see the same-old same-old we're talking about. Sorry I can't/didn't link a specific case here. :/
(*This is also the place I get on my stump and advocate to folks that if your name looks liek this, if you're going to comment as an individual, as an attendee, or anything other than as Staff, at least make a note you're talking with your Staff Hat off. Otherwise, how are we to know this is just /your/ opinion, that we're /not/ actually getting a proper answer, that we're not being brushed off? This isn't at anyone in particular, but overall, in general. Bigger problem in the past than now, but I figure it's worth mentioning nonetheless.*)
Alkaren Hyralt, on 05 March 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:
And that's a fair point to bring up, though I do not personally know what the big delay has been with announcing guests. But know we will have guests.
As to the DJs, that's really all Allen's thing - we're not involved in that.
A) Even honest answers of "I really don't know" are appreciated. Even if it's not the reply we hope for, honest answers are what we need.
B) *reading the air* ......is that acknowledging there are actually guests we have to announce, without actually announcing that we have guests to announce yet since they have yet to be announced? :o
C) ......can we ask this Allen to share his acquisitional mojo in the future - maybe bottle it and sell it Austin Powers style (Yeaaah, baby, rawwwr~)? @___@
(IIRC soap bubble/synergy have had DJs to posterize since fall/early winter? We need this guy's secretttt :O)
@ linlin & FELF's growth topic -- frankly, if we could find a way to utilize more of the DESC Center, we'd have a tone more viable space. The downside, and hinderance, is that they're kind of prohibitively expensive and close around 7PM -ish I want to say. I'd argue that IF it were feasible in terms of not just finances but scheduling, manpower, and planning, look into utilizing the Ballrooms there, or even some of the panel rooms (like have been done in the past). If we want those areas to stay open past the ~7PM cutoff, yes, we will have to pay good ton more (though as a union worker's daughter, I can understand this). To do that would either mean A) raising prices or B) charging admission after X time to Y event held in there, though compared to museums, clubs, and pretty much everything in downtown Chicago, that wouldn't be all that irrational, and would directly cover the extra costs for those who utilize them (and possibly prevent sticker shock raging). Now, the acoustics could never manage a dance in there (case in point: every prom that's ever been held in there), though if the dance needed to be specifically expanded to a venue larger than the Hyatt main, the No Longer Known As The Rosemont Theatre across the street might just serve that well (last i was there the ground floor is open floor, and the DJs could take a legit stage; plus, the fact that the toilets are right next to the seating area's doors, combined with their velvet ropes means that a roped off access path to the closest el bano could finally resolve the "had to pee, now have to wait 6 hours to get back in" issue).
@STVO, linlin, FELF, everyone else talking McCormick -- McCormick Place would be the death of this con. Is it nice? Yes. Is it pretty? Yes. Is it stupidly big with a ton of space? Also yes. However, their food court was completely eaten out of house and home, and the walk to the on-site very very very VERY tiny McDonald's is long, and they have very very very small menu, and can seat, at best, maybe 100 people in there. The parking lot navigation makes you want to kill yourself. From what I saw, all the panel rooms are the same or similar size, seating about 80-150ish -- not bad for the average panel, though smaller ones might feel abandoned, and larger ones might be standing room only (unless those walls are partition-able, in which case ignore this comment alltogether). The hotels are not directly plunked kiddy korner to the convention center, so you'd have to walk a Downtown City Block or so (comparably about the Intercontinental to the Hyatt), not to mention the rate they charge for a single night is what an entire weekend at ACen would be, not even including all the City of Chicago fees and taxes lumped into the bill (and you thought Rosemont was bad - ha!). Lack of functional hotel would kill a lot of the "close knit" feeling of a totally connected con we've gotten used to, just "running things up to your room a sec", availability of a dedicated video game room (unless McCormick allows gaming to take over several panel rooms?), as the the 72-hour con atmosphere, because McCormick closes at 6 or 7. There is not an ice bat's chance in hell of us ever being able to afford keeping McCormick running nonstop for 72 hours. Unless we know some secret millionaire who wants to foot the bill, not the slightest chance in hell. Which also means no more Midnight Madness/Anime Hell, no more late night hentai, no more all-night dances, no more evening concerts, no more Masquerade unless it's done on the main floor early in the day, no more night panels, no more hanging out at night period. {Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass.}
@YoungBirdcall -- Well that was a rather large, angry sweeping generalization of a post there. As I recall, bar a few heated moments that were resolved civilly, politely, and without attacks, the only one throwing a tantrum here is you. We have been civil, we have been polite, we have respected others' opinions, we have worked up constructive criticism and suggestions to all issues mentioned, and overall, despite differences of opinion, despite not agreeing on every matter, every statement, we have acted maturely and befitting adults. We are not playing martyr. We are not throwing things and crying we have not gotten our way. We are not playing some twisted self-serving game you seem to think we are. As many of us have said straightforward from the get-go, and as the poll at the top of the pages shows, many here are CONSIDERING this being our last.
(Here's the definition of that word for you in case you missed it. If you refuse to click this link, protip: "considering" means "seriously thinking about & weighing all options".)
Also, a correction. This thread was not started as, or with, a "Waaah Waaah, I'm angry and butthurt and I quits forever. Who else is with me?!" -- it was started with
Suigetsu, on 29 February 2012 - 11:23 PM, said:
With the way guest announcements and all have been handled among other things, I am just wondering how many people are considering 2012 being their last year at this con. I personally don't see why the prices keep going up but the things we get are going down.
, which is a legitimate question and request for opinions and reasons. (If the OP only wanted a survey, they would have just said to answer the poll; they didn't.) To assume we're all just spoiled little children screaming and throwing toys, as I described before, is insulting (though perhaps that was your point). Again, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NOT LIKING ACEN. I repeat: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NOT LIKING ACEN. This has EVERYTHING to do with CARING about ACen. We have stated, time and time again, we are upset because we care about ACen, because we like it, because we want it to live to its potential, because we'd like to not have to beg fro scraps and hope we're not shafted in the end. If we didn't give a sh*t, do you think we'd honestly be posting here for 7-odd pages, with constructive posts that aren't devolved to an "LOL INTERRNUTTS HURRRRRRR" level? Your argument of basically "quite being butthurt babies and just shut the f**k up and leave already" shows you really do not grasp the point of this thread's conversation at all. If you really want to understand that, I'm willing to explain simply over PM. If all you want to do is insult and call us names, get back on XBL already, gg.
If any of my paragraphs or cases seem frazzly or break off at odd points/mid-sentece/case, let me know. I'm bouncing topics like a case of superballs falling off a plane, and i need to post this before my brain explodes from overload. (8Z)
(*note to self: don't wait to post at an "early" night's bedtime and say "eh I'll do it in the morning" ... holy mother of crabsus this thread blew up over night x__X*)
Would that be snooty? Maybe, but far less snooty than what they've been doing for years now, and infinitely less greedy.
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