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[Kazzador]

A very big thanks to a Team that wasn´t mentioned once
The Medics

Thank you for keeping an eye on us 24/7


Also thank you to a Team that was mentioned quite often, but which can´t get thanked enough: the security Team
No matter how hard you work, you always stay friendly and competent



Now the Events I liked most:
The Karaoke (please try to get a Karaoke-Slot for every night next year )
The Charity-Poker-Tournament
The 80s Party


Thanks for an awesome con, guys!

[Masada]

We are really sorry, this happened. I am not trying to come up with lame excuses, but to put things into perspective: I think the average sleeping-time for a seccie is around 3-4 hours a night. xD We try our best, despite a few people even being really upset toward us when we try to enforce the rules. But we are attendees like everyone else, just trying to make everyone of us enjoy the con to its full extend without ruining it for anyone else.

If you see something like this happening, please try to remember the person and immediately search for a seccie. We also try to take care of things in a polite and calm manner (as long as we do not get aggressions back, which rarely happens, but does :C ). In the rare case that you cannot find anyone, please go up to the person and ask him politely to stop immediately. You might even try to remember his name/number and note it down / bring it to conops or security(!), but please be friendly(!) and do _not_ argue. That is what we are there for. :-)

I do appreciate the effort you guys put into it! But like I said, the situation was so cliche, it was awkward. I'll remember next time to point someone in his direction.

It depends. If you remember his name, or someone who knows him, or the images pop up somewhere, we might still be able to investigate this. Please drop a PM or an eMail to security@eurofurence.org and we will see what we can do!

Sadly, I don't know his name. If I see a picture of him, I might recognize him again. I don't want to turn this into a witch hunt though.

Usually our press team offers the photographers a bunch of press material and (controlled) exclusive interviews etc., *if* they register with our press team. Then they have a press-badge. There was this one reporter which intentionally did not do this and took these pictures without the staff knowing. As far as I know, press team is already at it and I know from a few taking legal steps against it. If you happen to be one of the persons on one of the pictures violating your personal rights, the press team can offer you advice on what you can do! Please PM or write to press team (I think press@eurofurence.org, please check).

Tilikum already mentioned the pictures were taken during the Lacy Fursuit Photo Shoot, which was a private affair, and have already been removed from the website. However, if they appear somewhere else online I will use this information. I cannot confirm that it was indeed me being in the pictures as they were removed after someone pointed them out to me. Nevertheless, should I still take contact with the press team for safety sake?

In any case, thanks for answering! You've been a big help!

_Masada

[o'wolf]

I also heard about a photographer selling pics of people that were headless to a newssite, including me. I would love to know how that is possible, as he would have to have sneaked into the fursuit lounge. I didn't see the picture as it was removed, but I'm definitely not ok with this.

He didn't publish any photos from inside the fursuit lounge. (Unfortunately, he photographed one of our security members in front of the fursuit lounge without asking for permission. In fact, he didn't ask for permission to photograph anyone at all.)

I've provided more details about the incident and what you can do about it if you are affected at https://forum.eurofurence.org/index.php/topic,5704.msg55759.html#msg55759

[Flamian]

I would like to thank the EF team for organizing this year's EF ^^ I had a fun experience as a whole.

The big plus sides:
+ Hotel layout--I prefer to four different wings in contrast to the cathedral-lobby of Maritim. Some may disagree and are free to do so
+ Hotel Staff, especially bartenders were very kind to me
+ Hotel riverside terrace was good, (-Minus the swan-neon sign....not to my liking)
+ Close proximity to the Sonnenallee station

The only negative side
- The location of Estrel.....I kinda felt like I was walking on a shadow-covered neighbourhood, not to mention the sheer amount of low-quality small shops, low-quality bars and such. Sure, there were good establishments, like the Kebabhaus which probably made quite a bit of profit because of us. But I miss the chances of going out to an ACTUAL Bierhausen, having a large Berliner Kindl with currywurst and a steak and watch people come and go about their business....

---> I thought about a solution to this and I would like to make a suggestion: Gather some local volunteers who would be willing to take 10-15 people with the to more pleasant areas with more options for eating out. Likewise, this could also be used to guide fursuiters to more attractive locations, for example: Brandenburg Tor would be quite a pleasant location for a couple of photographs.

There were also small teething problems which are naturally occurring problems when a con of this size comes to the hotel for the first time. But they'll get solved eventually.

And finally, a big thank-you for all security members ^^ You took good care of us fursuiters especially ^^

[Masada]

He didn't publish any photos from inside the fursuit lounge. (Unfortunately, he photographed one of our security members in front of the fursuit lounge without asking for permission. In fact, he didn't ask for permission to photograph anyone at all.)

I've provided more details about the incident and what you can do about it if you are affected at https://forum.eurofurence.org/index.php/topic,5704.msg55759.html#msg55759

I dont' see any pictures of me out of suit, so for me it's fine and no further action should be taken. Apparently, the headless pics were taken at the Lacy Fursuit Photo Shoot, which was a private affair. I see a picture of Tifou without head at that exact photoshoot, which I was an organisor of. I will contact him about this.

[meo]

here you find every picture from that guy: http://www.gettyimages.de/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=508585277

[Santa fox]

I loved it, even though it was a new venue, and I missed the old place and especially the staff there. Found a nice place serving Currywurst, and with the owners of it seeming to be quite welcoming. Though, area around the hotel did seem a bit.. desolete, especially with the construction site and what I kinda felt weren't perhaps the best of neighbours.

Though, con itself was nice as always, especially liked all the TVs pointing out where stuff was, made it very easy to navigate around. Kudos to the song and drinks during the PPS queue, as well, made it feel like it was far, far shorter than it actually was.

Dealers den was way bigger and easier to find and navigate this time around, didn't feel quite as cramped as last year, same goes for the artshow.

As for the swan sculpture outside, I did find it quite funny and got quite a laugh from it :p

As usual, I am definately looking forward to next year, I am sure it'll be even better now that hotel staff and, perhaps, the people around the hotel know what to expect.

[Twillight]

Für mich war die "Eurofurence 20" ein Meilenstein, da ich zum ersten Mal suiten konnte.  Es war einfach grandios!! Nächstes Jahr versuche ich mit allen Mitteln wieder dabei zu sein!!

For me, the "Eurofurence 20" was a milestone because I could suites for the first time. It was just terrific !! Next year I will try to be back by all means !!

[tanor]

Hi,

well...I cannot say that much...simply because it would be quite a book full of positive things! And I only have some hours left to write this...

So many really nice people. So much fun. Even it was partly a "queue-con"...I'have had so much fun even at the queues.

Even the staff was nice all the time and ready to make fun of themselves.

Well...to all the staff of the Eurofurence: *bow* you all have done a great job! Thank you for making my first Eurofurence a very special one.


I guess it could have been even better, if I just weren't be too shy to speak to people. But I'll improve there...and it helped me, that I knew some people from some of the regular tables.

[nobs]

- no more ears protection? If I remember correctly these were previously offered unofficially by one of the attendee, did this person not come this year or couldnt offer the service ?

anyone know anything about this?

IIRC that was Thygrrr. As far as I know it was a personal service he paid from his personal money. I guess he decided that people should learn to take care for themselves?

[Skie]

I think it's been years since I wrote feedback.

Main Good Points

• Con Ops and the security team did an awesome job.
• My panel room was ready and equipped with everything I needed in advance and I didn't have to run to con ops like I had to in the past. Gear was top notched.
• Dealer's Den and art show were smooth. I never had to queue up.
  
• Breakfast ran awesomely. For such a big amount of people, the hotel did a great job with it. Also, in general, it was nice to see most of the hotel staff get into the spirit of the convention.
• The dancefloor was freaking awesome this year. I don't think I've seen something like that since the Ringberg. Sound was perfect. The ability to use the stage and dancing pool was great, and the fact that the space was limited to the main area and floor was wonderful. It was only missing the ability the dance behind the screens

Main Concern: Hotel Space
The lobby is a cluttered clusterfuck basically. There's too many tables and chairs which belong to the bar, and basically no space at all. Especially at mornings when it's blocked for breakfast, and for fursuiters in general. I know it might be extra work for the hotel, but there's the whole second floor of tables and chairs that was always closed besides breakfast that might be used. Basically, socializing in this year was much more difficult.

Were there stairs to high floors? Why were connections between wings blocked? It just adds more elevator stress. There aren't walkways to every floor, but it could still help a little when you just want to visit another room.

Other Concerns
The dance contest ran very smoothly, but, I just don't get the placement of the judges. It's a failure Confuzzled done before and fixed. It basically makes the dancers dance to the judges since they are the front, and have their backs to the crowed. It would make more sense to sit the judges with the crowd (e.g. Confuzzled), or even just use the main stage for the dancing. I was also surprise there was no encore for the winner? I'm guessing time issue, but it's a big shame.

An Hinkley classic: The inconsistency of the bar food service. I'll avoid the complaint about tap water, which I never suffered from so badly in previous EF hotels, but I really hate the fact that you could order exactly the same thing twice, and get a completely different dish (e.g. amount of fries getting halved on the second day). That is not acceptable. I simply gave up on the bar food after a day. I'm guessing it's because the hotel didn't realize the amount of orders they would get, and struggled to supply.

General Recommendation
I think there should be an official dance on the middle day (Friday?), since there's always an impromptu dance anyway.

[Hendriksen]

This was my first eurofurence and im certain that i will return!!


Good stuff:


- hotel staff: Really nice and friendly, I only saw one of them who didnt seem happy and by the end she smiled.

- The theme of the con: liked the idea, posters, baners, panels, decorations. It simply just worked.

- Work from all the volounteers and helpers: Did a good job and always there if you needed help and from what i could see did a really good job.

- Good variaty in different panels: a lot of good panels, with great hosts.

- The hotel wings: I liked that people were split to ease the stress on the elevators, at least they tried.

- The lobbies atmosphere: liked how it was built up like a market and it was central of everything.

- event locations: in general, the events were placed perfect, some areas were a bit small though.

- Dealers den: Great place, with a lot of Space and light. A lot of nice and friendly dealers who seemed to have more than enough Space for themself and their wares. Though it would be great to have more dealers, i liked it.

- Art auction/ charity auction: It just worked like a well oiled machine.

- The wardrobe NeXT to the dealers den.




Bad stuff:

- The lobby was to crowded: To many tables and chairs, it needed more room for suiters and non suiters. to walk around a socialise.

- Some of the panels were late and still setting up while half way through

- No stairs: I lived on 11 floor and what i remember most is waiting for the pawpet show and the elevators. Even though i lived almost on the top floor i would have liked to be able to walk up the stairs.

- Small panel rooms for some of the events: yeah some events were very crowded, would have been nice to have more room.

- Bottle necks in dealers den: Near the art auction it more than once ended in a huge mess of people going to and from. Could be changed by moving one of the rooms to another area so you dont have to go through another room to get to the other. Its not a huge problem though.

- Place of the hotel: The area around the hotel seemed a bit rough, though people were friendly enough.




And Skie, yes there were stairs all the way up, but you could only go Down...

[Ralesk]

Random collection of things without actually even reading the thread:
+ Thank you and fokken finally for the storage corner at the dealer's den! Coupled with the lifts being a total arse this was a life-saver feature. Thank you for listening to our (my) complaints about the lack of storage
+ Nice and pleasant hotel, absolutely wonderful breakfast, a good amount of lounge space
− Utterly shite lifts and not much of a way around them. I hope the stairs get opened next year (somehow) — must be totally annoying for people on the first floor to wait 30 minutes for something that can be done in one.
± Not entirely sure the location of the two artist lounges were the best. I guess it would be better if they could be closer to each other somehow, next year?
− Dead Dog Party doesn't really feel the same anymore — but I see it's a technical reason at least in part (no bar and lounging area in the designated dance room). But it also felt different because it was just a smaller continuation of the previous night's party: same kind of music for example.
+ The Pawpet Show was great. Loved the theme, loved the performance, understand the frustration of those in the queue (I guess we got lucky: came back too late from the Italians, had a bottle of wine in the Biergarten, and all of a sudden people were gone) but it was handled quite well by AJA and Kage from what I've seen of it.  They seem to work really well together, as seen on DDP day too.
± Location. Bit far from the lively parts of town, but not too far from civilisation. Can't really make my mind up about it — food sources and shopping places are within perfectly walkable distances.
− Location. Getting the city involved in our Fursuit Parade is one of the greatest — and imo most important — aspects of a fursuit walk. It is a real shame we don't have an opportunity to turn the town on its head like we had in Nürnberg and Magdeburg.
+ Totally loved Sardyuon's performance, he was a great choice for GoH for sure!

[Alpha_Ki]

Thank you for your feedback so far. New year, new hotel, new problems and less time.
I am very happy that the Dealers' Den was wide and bright. Plus the option for storing the luggage was great - thanks so much for the Security offering this service due to the limited time and people you had.

I'm wondering if the fact that you have to go through the Dealer's Den to get to the Art Show might have influenced the visitor's decision about where to spend the money. Are there any statistics about that?

This is a question only the atendees can answer. I doubt that we can offer proper statistics on this one; both went well from what I heared so far.

For the Dealers Den: Someone could earn a fortune by selling punched pockets. Many artists offer unframed prints, postcards and similar stuff that would be easier to take home in a protecting pocket.

Proper plastic bags are quite expensive for someone selling prints and sketches. You could have gotten one at the tables selling books. Most artists do put their prints in these protecting pockets but not every one. I will put this feedback on my list to the artists/dealers. Thanks for the advise.

the less good:
- not really bad, but friends who were dealing in the first isle block near the entry where quite cramped and told me it would have been better with a bit more inner space, and when I see all the free space behind the larger tables near the window where almost nobody was, that should be easily possible without causing any flow problem.

They never talked to me! When you mean the tables on the left wall when you entered the room - they had the chance to seperate, I had an extra table for at least two of the dealers but they prefered to arrange the way they did. So don't blame me for that.

[SouthPaw]

General Recommendation
I think there should be an official dance on the middle day (Friday?), since there's always an impromptu dance anyway.

DISCLAIMER: I am not EF staff. This is solely based on personal observations.

The trouble is that EF doesn't have a dedicated room to use for dances like ConFuzzled does, and this year there was a concert on Friday night, followed by 2's Rant, which would have meant such a dance starting at around midnight...which is far from ideal.