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[Henrieke]

@Nightfox

Ok, I take it back what I said about the restaurant then I do know some people use it but I honestly never saw anyone in there! Last year I saw the cook waiting in front of an empty restaurant... he looked so sad, haha. I guess I just have bad timing, then! And yes, I do eat some food from the hotel, but I meant that nobody HAS to buy food there if they find it too expensive.
I thought the veggie lasagna at the hotel BBQ was very tasty, btw! And the bretzels are literally great, too!


I definitely want to help out with making the charity tables more visible next year. If printing costs are an issue, I might even just hand-paint something, much like the pawpet background panels (just not as giant!) Having suiters direct people towards the table also helps a lot! (a certain bat was guilty of that this year)

[SouthPaw]

Overall, apart from inconsistency with when Housekeeping serviced the room (latest was 6pm, and on Sunday they didn't empty the bin or provide new towels), I'd say it was a great con. Yes there were hiccups, but that's only to be expected for an event of this size.

Now for a little bit of history (or "Why the schedule is how it is")...When I first started going to EF back in 2001 (EF7), it was held in Youth Hostels (which remained the case up to EF13 in 2007, when they moved to the Ringberg). This effectively enforced Lunch and Dinner breaks, because that's how the Hostels were set up for catering. In addition, there were SIGs held before lunch, but those were discontinued due to poor attendance (certainly by EF11, though I can't remember exactly when). Hence why there are now effectively three main blocks of SIGs, starting at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00, with Stage events generally being scheduled independently.

The other issue affecting stage events is the need for rehearsal and setup, which you don't see in the public schedule, but which has been touched on earlier. I'm sure the Pawpet Show crew, for example, would like nothing more than to be able to have rehearsals that don't finish at 7am, but they're constrained by the need to finish building and rigging the stage and program the lighting desk, and having the stage room for an extra day would cost more and probably not be possible anyway because of other events taking place at the hotel.

My one criticism with the scheduling this year would be that Friday was rather "fursuit heavy" with the Dance Contest, Parade and Games all taking place on the same day, and two fursuit track SIGs scheduled for the 12:00 slot (How to be a Demon and Animatronics for Fursuits), but I'm not sure that anything could have been done to avoid that.

So all in all, I thought it was a great con as usual and I'm looking forward to next year.

[Cheetah]

Throwing in information that I was not aware of does not help really to make an observation after it has already been made.

Then wouldn't it be far more constructive to first make sure you have all the information before jumping to conclusions?

[Gero]

My one criticism with the scheduling this year would be that Friday was rather "fursuit heavy" with the Dance Contest, Parade and Games all taking place on the same day, and two fursuit track SIGs scheduled for the 12:00 slot (How to be a Demon and Animatronics for Fursuits), but I'm not sure that anything could have been done to avoid that.

So all in all, I thought it was a great con as usual and I'm looking forward to next year.

This.

[Indigo Icetalons]

The idea about the charity desk is very very good, i think we will make them one of our official roll ups to.
First to make the table more visible and second to show guests that this is a official Eurofurence thing and not something else.

I already noticed this and chatted with Henrieke on site about it. I really felt tucked away over there as I did my best to pull people in. I wanted to make a wishing well, but stuff arrived late and I could not finish it on time. Even so, I don't think it would've made that much a difference.

It would be better indeed to have a more themed table, easily recognised as EF CHARITY.  I'll have to look into the available options. I don't think it's nessecary, but if you'd like I can keep you updated.

[Thygrrr]

+ overall, the best Furry con I have been to in 3 or 4 years
+ events were very timely;counting on the pawpet show being late cost me my club sandwich  
+ food at the snack point was good (especially the burgers, the donuts etc.), pricing was very fair
+ big blue dance was pure gold
+ volume level in the piano bar was usually quite pleasant
+ drinks were good
+ BBQ was quite decent, but cannot compete with places like the La Piazza or the Qilin
+ room service was flawless and friendly, tips were collected once clearly marked as such
+ A/C in the room (257) worked like a charm
+ the charity people and their dogs were so nice
+ decoration, standees and banners were breathtakingly awesome
+ con ops made Hercules look like a slacker
+ security was always friendly, always present. I counted over 16 Gyroplasts one day, great job on the cloning.

~ drink pricing ... beer and cocktails were quite fair, cola and water overpriced
~ bar tenders being slow / uncoordinated, seeming jaded. The Ringberg crew spoiled us beyond recovery, I guess

- dealers den imbalances, I'm sure Alpha_Ki will pick the best suggestions and bolster them with this year's experience
- that one cursed auction piece: were you guys really considering to re-auction the first piece? That'd have opened a big can of worms, both ethically and maybe legally.


Some suggestions:
* why not outright ban cameras, bags, and everything beyond a smart phone in the art show room? just turn people away. No bag check, no table. It's not like this is anthrocon where you have to walk two city blocks to get to your hotel room.
* spread out panels further (it's been tough to get from one panel to the next on time), maybe offer noon or evening slots etc. at the panelist discretion

[Fafnir Kristensen]

mmm, bags and camera are already forbiden in the artshow room

* why not outright ban cameras, bags, and everything beyond a smart phone in the art show room? just turn people away. No bag check, no table. It's not like this is anthrocon where you have to walk two city blocks to get to your hotel room.

this:

- that one cursed auction piece: were you guys really considering to re-auction the first piece? That'd have opened a big can of worms, both ethically and maybe legally.

thats why I said to Kage I disagree with what he wanted to do

[silverfoxwolf]

Throwing in information that I was not aware of does not help really to make an observation after it has already been made.

Then wouldn't it be far more constructive to first make sure you have all the information before jumping to conclusions?

Somehow I doubt that EF or any other organisation is going to make all information public pertaining to every detail of every event.

[o'wolf]

Throwing in information that I was not aware of does not help really to make an observation after it has already been made.

Then wouldn't it be far more constructive to first make sure you have all the information before jumping to conclusions?

Somehow I doubt that EF or any other organisation is going to make all information public pertaining to every detail of every event.

Moderator note: Please keep the discussion on topic of constructive EF 18 feedback, otherwise I have to move your postings to a more appropriate place.

[FurbleFawks]

This year's EF has been the best ever for me.
There was so much to do, so many things to see and lots of awesome fun with friends.

I'm not really a fox of many words, so here's my extremely brief feedback.

Awesome Points:

• Well done on mostly sticking to the timetable. I know how hard it can be to do!
• Your awesome staff do the best for every single attendee and made people feel very welcome.
• My registration was speedy and quick with a smile!
• The security team were incredibly proactive and quick to react when things went wrong for some people.
• The pawpet show was absolutely hilarious and about the right length.
• BBF's dance Rocked!

Oops, forgot to say the charity was a good choice and the people from it were really neat!


Negatives:

• The WiFi needs some more address blocking adding to it to stop people gaming and quicker IP renewal, as it frequently refused to give any addresses out because people forgot to turn their devices off when they'd stopped using it.
• I appreciate how hard it is to schedule a convention (having done one myself) but the timetabling seemed a bit off at times, with lots of SIGs at one single time, not spread out and it seemed surprising there was no dance on one of the nights.
• Pawpet show audio was a bit painful at times with screeching, etc.

Otherwise, fantastic convention guys. Keep up the awesome work. I know it is definitely worth all the hard work and effort you put in when you see the smiles on everyone's faces because of what you've done.

On another happy note, I have a really neat idea for an event next year and I'm quite curious about running it too.
Who would I be best to poke, when you're getting around to this?

[karpour]

Feedback part 1 (because I probably will think of more stuff later)

• The Disco Ball keeps getting more and more awesome.
• Security team did a great job!
• Open staircases really made things easier!
• Even more discounts in restaurants, yay!
• Loved the beginning of the fursuit friendly dance, also doing it right after the photoshoot was a great idea!
• The fursuit parade was really fun! Going through the mall was swell.
• The fursuit lounge was perfect again!
• Best conbook ever!
• Decoration was amazing!
• Steamroom is always great for people with allergies

Suggestions

• As Henrieke pointed out, better visible charity lottery table
• Putting a note in the conbook that the roomphones work everywhere in the hotel (very useful!)
• Blackboard at the entrance like at the Ringberg, I miss it so much!
• International snack exchance could maybe take place in a part of the lobby?
• I'm sure it got pointed out already, one Dealers Den was much more populated than the other, I'd suggest spreading popular artists more over the two Dens.

[BigBlueFox]

• Blackboard at the entrance like at the Ringberg, I miss it so much!

The blackboard actually was at the back entrance, probably due to the fact that the front entrance had this huge and awesome piece of decoration set up.

I do have to admit, tho, it wasn't the best or most obvious place to put a blackboard. At the same time, I lack ideas for a better place.

[davuu]

 Just thought I would add something,

Music- I have never found the music to be particularily loud, if you go to a club or dance the volume is about the same... It doesnt bother me.

 Drink Prices - you are paying hotel/bar prices.  The bar can be used by other guests and visitors not just in the hotel, If you go to the shopping centre and get some drinks, you can have a drink in your room before coming down to the bar.

Art show - it does say in the conbook and on a sign on the door that cameras arent allowed, its the same thing every year, yet it seems to catch people out.

Schedule- normally if something is behind, its not because the staff are sat there having a coffee break its because generally something has happened.

you're on holiday/ ot have a good time, go with the flow.

As for Blackboard placement, I think.. as long as you put it in say the con book somewhere where it is, then people will know to look for it.  Maybe somewhere by conops, then people can get all their info in one place. 

For the amount of people that attend, increasing in numbers every year, I think the con is great and relatively problem free.  I think a big thanks to all the staff for all their hard work behind the scenes is in order, as they give up alot of their free time before, during and after the con to make sure it works every year.  Thankyou. 

 

[Drachetto]

The blackboard actually was at the back entrance, probably due to the fact that the front entrance had this huge and awesome piece of decoration set up.

I do have to admit, tho, it wasn't the best or most obvious place to put a blackboard. At the same time, I lack ideas for a better place.

In front of the other doors of the Fursuit Lounge? I remember it was always closed.

[BigBlueFox]

The blackboard actually was at the back entrance, probably due to the fact that the front entrance had this huge and awesome piece of decoration set up.

I do have to admit, tho, it wasn't the best or most obvious place to put a blackboard. At the same time, I lack ideas for a better place.

In front of the other doors of the Fursuit Lounge? I remember it was always closed.

No, it was at the back of the lobby, where the two elevators are. Pretty close to the con ops office.