Hey!
I don't post on this forum much but I thought I'd give some honest feedback as well. I didn't really read the rest of the thread so sorry if I echo what has already been said.
Hotel/LocationErr, yes, ofcourse the hotel is not the Ringberg. It's the Maritim. While the environment and atmosphere at the Ringberg were simply fantastic, I really loved the Maritim as well! The giant lobby looked AWESOME, I took a lot of photos of just the hotel already. Props to whoever came up with the idea of hanging up the (beautiful!) banners and especially the DISCO BALL. Genius! I had a room on the 4th floor and I loved looking down and watching the people down in the lobby, the hotel literally feels very open.
As much as I loved the view from the Ringberg (and I do kind of miss having a large outside area that belongs to the hotel only), I do think the location itself is a big improvement. Getting food is just so much easier right now! I don't have a car myself so instead of having to drive all the way down to the supermarket, I could simply cross the street and there's a whole mall! That, plus the fact that there's loads of restaurants at walking distance, makes the location perfect for me. Not to mention Magdeburg is a beatiful city!
Hotel staffThe staff seemed fine to me, I even got to interact with quite a few of them while in suit.
Hey, imagine you work at a four star hotel, normally only filled with boring business men, and then you get THIS over your floor! I'd be pretty shocked frankly! I didn't have any troubles with room service, even though there were fursuit props spread all over the room. Apparantly some people got complaints, maybe they should consider cleaning up their room at least a BIT? These people try to do their work... and I think next year, when they know what to expect, it'll go a lot better. Though I honestly never had a single problem myself.
Fursuit loungeThis was the third big con I suited at and the so-manieth event, and I have to say this was the BEST fursuit lounge I've ever seen. I already thought the one from last year was fantastic but no, we get a GIANT BALLROOM! The fursuit lounge at FC was tiny compared to this. Enough fans, awesome suitracks and fursuit-head dryers, boards in front of the entrance giving you some privacy (for those who don't like taking their head off in public) chairs, snacks, different types of drinks, long and short straws; really, it was perfect. If I HAVE to think of any suggestions, then maybe placing a mirror somewhere would be nice, so you can see if you put your suit on right (and practise your doublebounce walk
). Then again there were always plenty of people around who could check for me if everything looked okay, so it all worked out just fine.
Artist's loungeNot too much to say about this. It was nice and large, and I enjoyed sitting there! I don't drink coffee myself but the free coffee was really appreciated by a lot of artists, especially at night
Dealer's DenHaving a big dealer's den is something I kinda missed at the Ringberg, so that has been solved! It was a bit cramped, but this is understandable considering the tables were free. However, several tables were empty a lot of the time (because of this I was able to take a table for half a day myself, even though I did not register for one). Because of that it felt more like an artist's alley than a dealer's den, and though it was nice for myself, maybe it's a bit unfair for the artists that registered early? Maybe it'd be nice to have one row of tables less, or to be more strict with the registering of tables and/or have an artist's alley elsewhere. These are just suggestions though, I can't really complain since at any other con you'd have to pay for your table and there are giant waiting lists or raffles for spaces at the artist's alley.
Art ShowThe art show location was great!! Very large and very light. Hanging up my art was no problem and two friends who did have problems with their frames got plenty of help from the staff, and everything worked out.
I'm sure people mentioned it before but both the art pickup for bidders and money pickup for artists took very long. I was at both, for the art pickup I stood in line for 1,5 hour or so, and with the money pickup I even saw a poor artist who fell asleep in front of the door
I don't know exactly what caused this, but I hope it'll work out better next year. I can imagine why it takes very long, maybe it's possible to think of some way so people don't have to stand for so long. In any case, and I think a lot of people do not realise this; the art show at EF is completely FREE. At any other con you'd have to pay for both the panel, and a percentage of your art sales! (actually, I believe buyers also have to pay extra tax on top of their bid). Also since many cons pay out with checks you have to wait for your money even longer, and send in your forms via snailmail which also costs money. So keeping in mind the EF art show is free and done by volunteers, I'll gladly stand in line
Another thing I should mention is that the addition of the charity sheets was great. The charity panels have always been there, but donating a whole piece when I only have two or three paintings is just too much. This is a great solution and I hope many artists made use of it!
EventsI was so busy having fun that I didn't get to see a single panel, but I did get to see the pawpetshow and another stage act. The new main stage literally is a HUGE improvement. Both times I was at the Ringberg I had to sit on benches at all events which seriously hurt my back, and I could hardly see anything. The new stage is great! Comfy chaiiiirrrrrs!
There were some delays, but I'd be seriously disappointed if a furry con did NOT have delays, and keep in mind that this is still the first time for everything at the new hotel, so ofcourse things go wrong! It'll go more smoothly each year to come.
Fursuit gamesI never did a event like this before, but I was told the games at EF were not harmful for your suit so I joined the pre-selections in a team with Titash. Those of you who know his and my suit can imagine we didn't join to win. The games were spread over the hotel which was a bit confusing at first (especially since I cannot wear glasses in suit, I couldn't read what was on the paper... I need Arial 40 B or something XD), but it gave everything a nice touch, since wandering through the hotel in search of the games felt pretty adventurous XD
The games were really fun, they were not hazardous for the suits but very challenging, and ofcourse in a padded suit with bad vision they're a lot harder to do than in a five-fingered partial. I couldn't even manage to hold the ball guns or shoe laces with my giant foam hands, so we just made a big game out of the games and it was hilarious! We won last place, hurray!
The best part was the bonus game, where you had to collect money from charity. Since we were pretty much the last team to do it pretty much everyone had already been robbed from their money by other suits, but Titash still managed to rid people of their euros by threatening them with his plunger
In total the fursuit games brought up 670 euro this way, should do that again next year!
Fursuit paradeThe fursuit parade inside was very slow but that was definitely because of the staircases. I didn't hear in advance where the route would be going, I also didn't know we would go outside afterwards, but thankfully people directed us the right way. The outside part was tons of fun, so many people watching! (Because of the article in Bild, I guess?) The outside part felt very well organized, all the suits could safely cross the street without a problem.
Con Book / EF newspaperThe conbook gets better every year! The newspaper is a great touch and was also better than before! I know plenty of people who worked hard on either of these, props to all of you! These are conbooks and newspapers I can take home and show off to my friends and family
Dead Dog Party/Piano barWow, this was great
I didn't sit in the piano bar before the dead dog party, and at other cons so far I was always kind of bored during these parties because it was just a dance (or smelled like swiss cheese). There was enough place to sit and I especially appreciated that there was music, but no REALLY LOUD music. I sat at the piano bar the whole evening talking to people (this was actually possible thanks to the not-super-loud music!) and having a massive art jam. I personally loved the cheesy music too. The fan on the small dancefloor was a nice touch for fursuiters. Later in the night the music got louder and more hardcore, but by that time I went to bed anyway. It was a great end of a great con
