Hello!
I should probably let Mystifur post about this instead as he's the boss and all, but I've got a case of concrud so I can't sleep and I'm bored now. I'm sure he'll forgive me. If not, I'll just bribe him with stroopwafels or something. <3
Anyway! We already had some great feedback from visitors, so let me repeat this here for everyone to comment on:
- Full-sized mirror on the floor instead of on the table, so fursuiters can use it to check their footpaws / hooves / etc. as well.
- Water with and without ice. This was already implemented on the spot, but I was asked why afterwards, so I'll explain for clarity. Some people, coming from the hot suit then right after drinking water with new ice (and this is several hundred cubes we're talking about here) had trouble with the big change in temperature. Some got headaches, some even became nauseous. So, to accomodate those people we decided to make one water dispenser without ice. Thanks to those who suggested it - you helped a lot of furs!
For those who don't know: I was the little guy constantly in the way of the big drink dispensers filling hundreds of cups. Very sorry about that. As apparently people didn't realize until I told them (some as late as Sunday), I was curious if you noticed:
- The filled cups on the tables aligned in neat rows, spaced so they could be grabbed by furpaws, were free to take?
- The cups on the left side of the dispensers were only half-filled the last 2 days, so they wouldn't spill on furpaws if gripped too tightly?
- The cups upside-down on the table bunched together (placed on just-cleaned areas to keep the rims clean) were also free to take, so furs who preferred pouring their own drinks could do so without having to fumble with the stacks of cups with furpaws on?
If you didn't notice (which is nothing to be ashamed of, as it wasn't announced or written down anywhere), any good tips on how to improve this? Keep in mind, we don't want heads to roll during the opening ceremonies again next year, and it's not of big importance, so announcing it there is not really an option. And I am also not sure if making a sign would work: if you walk straight past 30 cups filled with bright green, would you read some text? =3
Next, here's what I hope will improve next year:
- No more glass in the fursuit lounge. No, seriously, I don't care where it comes from, what's in it, how tightly you'll hold on to it or how careful you are - the fursuit lounge is NOT the place to take your glass. Official word from more senior staff on people taking glass into the fursuit lounge: "they will be drawn and quartered". And I agree.
- People taking their (mostly) dry fursuits off the big pipe monsters, so others can use it, instead of using the fursuit lounge as their personal fursuit storage. For reference - the big bodysuit one had room for 56 suits, not counting the coatracks not connected to the blower. That's only about 1/10 of all the suiters at the con, and some have multiple suits. So please, try to remember and share the limited space we have with others.
- Even less used cups / paper on the floor, on the tables, between the fursuit heads / paws or stuck on the backs of fans blocking the airflow and making them less effective, because people didn't throw them in the bins. I even put up the lids on some of them so you wouldn't have to touch anything dirty with furpaws on, and yet people put the cups on the table literally 30 centimeters next to it and walked away. It's actually harder to focus on putting it on the table, than it is to stretch your arm above the bin, and relax your paw enough to let the cup drop into it. So I have only one question: why? ;_;
Last but not least, I would love to thank all the other people helping others in the fursuit lounge, pouring drinks and keeping it clean. And that includes everyone who threw away their own cups - far more this year than last year!
If you have any more suggestions, or things you particularly liked or disliked, please share!