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Booking system proposals.

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Nathalias:
My suggestion would be to use the same system but with a booking provider who can handle it ;-)

Sam T. Housecat:
Thanks for starting this topic! I firmly agree that we have to try to come up with some suggestions that can improve the reservation experience.

Putting people in batches is one way to deal with it; I launched some suggestions in that direction in a few threats. I came up with just an idea to start a debate: what about giving fursuiters a priority? There was some discussion and good arguments for and against were given.
Let me just make clear, to avoid any misunderstanding, that I'm concerned with keeping equipment at a safe place and reducing the requirement to carry heavy stuff around. I don't even have a fursuit myself. I believe that fursuiting is a nice way to express your furriness, just as there are a lot of other nice ways to do so that count as equal IMHO.

Giving the staff early access to rooms and secondly giving people with disabilities a special chance has hardly been criticized and seems fair to most.

I think we need 'meta-criteria' for making criteria to put furs in batches. Meta-criteria could be:

* Simple; yes/ no questions or 'how much' questions; complex queries will put a burden on either the con org or the hotel.
* Reasonable, adequate and fair: the criterion needs to be widely accepted and people need to agree that it serves a good cause in a good way.
* Controllable, so fraud can be prevented to some extent.The sponsor criterion meets the requirement of simplicity and controllability. To the requirement of fairness, there can be some debate. I think that it's reasonable if the sponsor fee is fairly low, so that even poor furs can save money for it.
There may be a hard to predict but generally positive effect that people will massively sponsor. In that case, the standard con fee for non-sponsors can be reduced in the future to compensate for excess funding.

I'm not sure about giving priority to regular guests. I believe that influx of new people is vital for any community. I would prefer a system that mixes groups and encourages new relations. Therefore, I would regard recurrence as a somewhat inadequate criterion.

I concluded the fursuiting debate with an alternative criterion that seems to require simplicity and fairness, especially from a logistical point of view: make an estimate of the weight of your stuff and how much carrying around is needed. This will give an advantage to dealers and people who work with heavy stuff. I think it makes sense to put them close to the con site, even close to their place of performance. Possibly some fursuiters do meet this criterion.
I admit that controllability is less obvious on this one. Either we trust each other, or we could check people's estimates by having some random checks to discourage fraud.

Hai λ:
So much work for so little gain. Such an investment of resources is unrealistic considering how much work already has to be done for the convention's content itself.

Sam T. Housecat:

--- Quote from: Hai on 19.01.2017, 15:53:27 ---So much work for so little gain. Such an investment of resources is unrealistic considering how much work already has to be done for the convention's content itself.

--- End quote ---
Then I would like to ask you: what is your opinion about the booking process as it happened last week? Do you consider this to be the standard as it should be maintained for the next conventions? Do you think it's good as it is and should be accepted in this way by the con goers?
If you think that it can be improved, what kind of improvements would you suggest? What should be done differently next time? I would appreciate it if you would describe concrete options.

Hai λ:
I would personally like to see it happen like this in future:
- the booking system capacity having been upgraded appropriately so that the portal radiates a responsiveness that makes everyone feel safe about it for a reason, and hence stops people from refreshing and using multiple windows to get their stuff done; then it is as close to a lottery as we can practically get
- people staying at alternative locations actively teaming up and organizing to travel back and forth together - while we can't pull off negotiating with other hotels at this point, a bit of unity like that could bring some calm, and forums like this are a good platform to meet and form such groups
- people posting about their ways to deal with fursuit storage and the like when they stay at alternative locations; in the German furbase forum, there's discussion about active cooperation of on-site hotel guests providing storage space and means to wind down during the day for their peers staying at alternative locations

That's as far as the room arbitration goes. What comes after, the convention content itself, is a weight we must all lift together... and that works way better without vocal people being rude to EF and hotel staff. :)

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