The Eurofurence Forum
Eurofurence Information => Feedback => Topic started by: Foxdie on 08.09.2010, 11:35:02
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Hi all, just a quick bullet-point list of feedback and suggestions from myself;
Feedback
- The effort that the con-staff, hotel staff and volunteers put into the event was awesome, thankyou for making it my best con yet :)
- The prices in the bar and hotel restaurants were too expensive though, I blew 150€ in the bar in one night :o
- However the deals arranged with local restaurants were great :)
- The fursuiter lounge was massive, possibly too much so
- The dealers den however was way too small, had to brush up against too many furs who don't know the meaning of "personal hygiene"
- The audio volume on EFTV (the hotel TV broadcast) was too low, we had to turn the volume up to maximum to be able to hear anything, at which point we had an unpleasant "grounding buzz"
- Christian (one of the piano bars bartenders) was awesome, there was several times where he went above and beyond the call of duty to help us, like giving us recipes for drinks or leaving the piano bar to get us a pencil sharpener when our pencils broke whilst doing sketches at the bar
- Klaus ripping his shirt open and flying into action ::) (blame Rallicat and his fantasies haha)
Suggestions for a better EF17 (including a reason why)
- Schedule pool parties for certain times1
- Don't unplug the EF Public Wifi until the last minute2
- Move the dealers den to the space in front of the fursuiter lounge3
- Allocate more time between main-stage events to avoid "EF time" scenarios4
- Erect some flat panel TV's or a projector in the lobby areas with EFTV5
1 Although everyone was welcome to the pool, a pool party was planned whilst we were swimming, this pool party included oversized inflatable toys which left the whole pool feeling way too cramped, me and a couple of others felt "bullied" out of the pool. It would have been nice if these parties were scheduled so some of us could plan to avoid it.
2 For those of us who had late departure, it would have been nice for the public WiFi to be still there until the last minute, just as a courtesy.
3 There was a lot of unused space in front of the Fursuiter Lounge which would have been ideal for the Dealers Den
4 I noticed that there were many times where allocation of time between main stage events was too little, leading to events over-running and causing a "domino effect". Those who plan these schedules should possibly double the anticipated time between events so as to give people time to prepare for the next one (and subsequently prevent keeping people waiting for hours).
5 Some of us didn't want to go into the main stage because the seats were too uncomfortable, what would have been nice was if there were either a projector or some flat panel TVs showing the main stage events on EFTV so we could relax in a more comfortable atmosphere whilst watching performances. The rooms are often too small / compact when you've got 6 or more friends watching it together.
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- Erect some flat panel TV's or a projector in the lobby areas with EFTV
Are you volunteering to purchase, store, and transport the TV's for them?
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Are you volunteering to purchase, store, and transport the TV's for them?
I volunteer to store and transport them :)
Same for the new Jaguar EF shuttle Car.
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Having had some time now to regain consciousness and read other persons feedback, here is mine. Parts have already been said (though I'm repeating from my PoV), parts I've surely forgotten. In summary I've got quite mixed feeling about this year's Eurofurence, with the downsides mainly being too much time spent backstage / not participating in the con, and even when I had time not having that cozy 'full of fluff' feeling aka big social meets most of the time, and the overall impression still being on the positive side :)
- excellent press work, really awesome. we're not only not hiding anymore, but getting really cool headlines
- own room keys for everyone, very appreciated. Room key equals conbadge, nice addition
- in general very pleasant experiences with EF security and hotel staff (I didn't order at the bar, though :)
- ConOps/DailyEF worked really well from my outside view
- own DJ in Piano Bar on DeadDogParty (as opposed to strange, too loud lady from the hotel the previous days) was a great thing
- dances and DeadDogParty as late as we're used to it (not cut off at 4am like the hotel thought it would be)
- room service honored the red "go away" card, I think they might even have come several times looking, and one day we forgot to remove it and got a card notifying us that room service was not done due to the card (which tells me that this is their usual behaviour)
- mirrorball in Atrium was great (in main stage outside of dances not so much), other decoration was also really cool (EF banners, Jeep, Wegweiser) - though it partly felt like a drop in the ocean compared to the shiny hotel ambience (which is quite un-furry)
- the discounts on local restaurants was a great idea. Perhaps remind us that we might need to show our badge early (as The Palazzo refused to give us discount when we showed it the moment we wanted to pay). I'd recommend to also include ALEX on the map, as they are worth to be found.
- I was lucky - the lifts worked quite well for me. Didn't have to queue or wait long times, didn't go to wrong floors too many times, had the overweigth alarm only twice...
- Having Daily EF, EF-Prime, and perfect external press was great
- Fursuit lounge seemed to work really well, also was very reachable
- Conbook was very nice, again
- useful all-black plastic bag. I'll store it directly next to the ConFuzzled one... ;)
Ok, some things which me might be able to improve
- I thought the BigBlueDance to be quite loud. I though I'm used to loud music and enjoying it (so not the usual "get some earplugs" guy - actually, I didn't see any, did we provide them again like last year?), so either I'm just getting older or it was louder than usual. I know there are regulations and db-meters for that. Did actually anyone keep an eye on it? If yes, then I'll accept being old and get earplugs next year, if not, this should perhaps be added (I know at RuhrCon2010 they were constantly checking)
- Due to several reasons - partly rooms not being available earlier - we lost quite some preparation days. Apart from the staff-internal stress I noticed quite some things (like Riffuchs' announcement system, sign posts, descriptive art (like smokers lounge description), etc) to be present only mid-con. Not sure what can be done about this, as I assume everyone was working as quickly as they could anyway. Perhaps getting a few more helpers, so that key staff is less of a bottleneck here?
- The stairs. I haven't seen the elevators actually work they way Kage described them (and how normal ones do), they seemed to act rather randomly at times. But even then access to all floors through stairs would be appreciated. Recommondation: make all stairs visible (put signs there, not only the emergency-exit lights, and floor numbers from the inside) and open all doors. They had little turn-knobs which could be used to hold them open, or tape the latch open, etc.
- Ask the hotel to not put "afraid of heights" persons on 6th floor next, front-side - thus either being forced to use the glass elevator, walk alongside the atrium or use the stairs each and every time. (the minimum what could have been done for those would have been to allow them to use the hotel staff elevators, better to give them a room at either lower level or backside of the hotel). Since we explicitely asked our guests to only choose this option when they really, really mean it, please also ask the hotel to take this seriously.
- do not use the hotel announcement system. At all. Or at least when you expect it to be understood at all. I heard it twice while being in the bathroom (6th floor, in the atrium) and beside the jingle I understood less than in the usual train station - exactly nothing. Going outside of my room didn't make it any better.
- (from the feedback session) Create a "How things work on EF (and in Germany)" page, to be linked from the homepage directly. I created a new thread here (https://forum.eurofurence.org/index.php/topic,2646.0.html) to collect some input for it, and if noone else want to take it, I'd volunteer to maintain such a page.
- Using the conbadges as room keys is a really great thing, both because it reduces the number of badges and because it's plain cool. I don't see a reason, though, to ONLY allow this. Having it combined is a convenience, but shouldn't be mandatory - thus, getting a second/replacement card from the hotel registration should not be prevented. Especially during rush hour checkin, as furs with lots luggage could thus queue directly at the hotel registration and do EF registration afterwards, thus spreading the total queueing time. Since this was mentioned as being disallowed on purpose I'd ask to reconsider this decision.
- Bulletin board. I didn't really notice them. Actually I think they were missing initially.
- EF announcement system. This is an area which, I think, has great potential for improval (although I'm very aware of the limiting factor mostly being manpower / preparation time). Events were delayed (stage fever), moved (Akeelas Gameshow), perhaps cancelled, and though we all strive to minimize this, reality is that it will occur again. Possible ways to announce would include: Riffuchs' LED Display (above the hotel reception), printed sheets on a central location / on event room doors, public announcement monitor (like EF15), EF-Prime, online (Twitter, Webpage, iphone/android apps). Basically this would require a) someone who maintains this information (conops?, but only in ONE system) b) internal system to distribute it everywhere else c) if possible, someone to print it out and hang it for the paper-based stuff. We've got one year to create such a system, and I'm sure we could get some volunteers for the parts of it. I think we should at least try to build such a system.
- social areas. Maybe it's the bigger size, but the times I went through the hotel it felt quite... empty. There were always some people in the chairs near the front and in the piano bar, but besides cramped dealers den and full stage events, it felt not particularly crowded. Which made me wonder where all those people went. I enjoyed the busy atmosphere at the Ringberg, where it was quite easy to socialize also with strangers, or find your friends, because most of them are around in public areas. My impression might be wrong, but it felt more like only small groups here and there, and the rest missing. Possible suggestion: try to make the Atrium more comfortable for more people. The chairs were quite nice, but did only allow 4 persons per table. If a group of, say, 5 furs come along, they either decide to have one standing, or move on to somewhere else (thus leaving some chairs empty, but NOT as a sign that there is enough space)
So in summary, the "one giant party" feeling was completely missing, which is really sad. - Supersponsors. I think the benefits given this year were acceptable for all sides (ssponsors and normal participants), though I do see the risk of having a two-class-system. Even though that's reality (if you're richer you can pay more, if you pay more, you'll get more or better things), when striving for "one big family or party" we should be careful to not let people feel like second-class furs.
Sadly, I heard more voices questioning their return next year than I heard the previous years. Though I don't fear we'll be shrinking, it's sad to see people turning away.
*purrrr*
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I pretty much agree with most things Zefiro listed here.
I did not find the dance to be too loud, the previous dance was much too loud. This time I found it quite acceptable, even without earplugs.
- The stairs. I haven't seen the elevators actually work they way Kage described them (and how normal ones do), they seemed to act rather randomly at times. But even then access to all floors through stairs would be appreciated. Recommondation: make all stairs visible (put signs there, not only the emergency-exit lights, and floor numbers from the inside) and open all doors. They had little turn-knobs which could be used to hold them open, or tape the latch open, etc.
There was one staircase - the one right next to the reception desk - which allowed access to all floors. That was the only staircase that did that.
- Ask the hotel to not put "afraid of heights" persons on 6th floor next, front-side - thus either being forced to use the glass elevator, walk alongside the atrium or use the stairs each and every time. (the minimum what could have been done for those would have been to allow them to use the hotel staff elevators, better to give them a room at either lower level or backside of the hotel). Since we explicitely asked our guests to only choose this option when they really, really mean it, please also ask the hotel to take this seriously.
Oh hell yes. I was very annoyed and frightened. Thanks to the hotel staff for putting me on the 6th floor, shrugging and telling me, that it was my problem - not theirs.
Also thanks to the britfur who jumped in the elevator that was already close to not working and slowly crawling from the 3rd to the 4th floor while I was in it. Now I know that I'm not only terribly afraid of heights but also somewhat claustrophobic.
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Also thanks to the britfur who jumped in the elevator that was already close to not working and slowly crawling from the 3rd to the 4th floor while I was in it. Now I know that I'm not only terribly afraid of heights but also somewhat claustrophobic.
Omg that stuff was annoying the piss out of me too, to the extent where I told someone to "Seriously, stop fuckin' doing that!"
So yeah, for all those jumpers: Please consider what consequences your jolly bouncing can have on the elevators themselves -and- those who travel in it.
Thanks ^^