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[Jake R]

It wasn't directed against you. It's just that furries tend to jump to conclusions. I just want to clarify what the show is about to avoid that from happening. Heck, I just had to say "BNN" to have some people almost freak out when I talked about it before EF. Anyway, as usual I'll write up a report about the media coverage and work and why I allowed some things I normally wouldn't as soon as I have my wits back.

I'm glad it wasn't, but I'm still sorry for discussing things that are not really my area. I just thought I'd add a cent or two right after seeing the show, and having very high hopes.

Anyway! Back to other topics. For instance, as already discussed at the con, I'd like to see this next year so I'll put it here as a reminder:

- Coupons with contact information for non-physical (charity) auction items, such as the photoshoot by NewEinstein (?). Explanation: he was supposed to be at the auction to instantly discuss details with the winner, but (due to unfortunate circumstances) was delayed and arrived right after it had been auctioned off. This meant that the winner got to the Art Show to claim his prize, and the people at the Art Show had nothing to give this person. I'd say it was handled quite well, especially considering the initial confusion, but coupons as a plan B would be nice for next year. =)


I'd also like to add some general feedback on the convention staff (including amongst others board, conops, security, and even volunteers without a staff badge). I've been to conventions that had a 'volunteer of the year'. I feel like I've been working as hard as I could, and I still am certain that, if EF had this award, I wouldn't be the one to get it. I've seen some staffmembers going way past their own limits, working harder than I can hope to achieve, doing whatever they could to make the visitors happy. I am, as last year, very impressed with the average level of dedication and effort the staff puts into this convention - and it shows, both in the happy visitors and the mostly positive feedback here. Thanks, all =)

[Vinaru]

The problem I saw with the Dealer's Den rooms, was that all of the popular artists were placed in the same room. The room with the less known artists never had a entry cue.
So please mix the artists next year, it would enhance the flow rate of customers and ease the bottleneck problem.

Won't work that well. The artist in the Dealers Den want to sit near the people they like. And that's 100% understandable if you sit mostly 6 hours in a row there a work at stuff. Then at least you want people you know around you. If you start to mix people and force them to be placed somewhere else, imagine the mood.
And there are allready some more known artists in the second Den.

[Fafnir Kristensen]

about the charity auction items, was there a list of the items which would be auctioned? if yes I missed it, where was it? if no, that would be a very very interesting things to have, as some people would be interested to attend the auction just for that. this year it was a bit of a surprise to see what would be auctioned (some were expected, other werent, and some where simply not explained clearly (the custom balloon for example))

[RufusWolf]

- The issue with the Dens where that Tani, Darknatasha, AlectorFencer, BlackPaw Productions and some of the "bigger" ones where all in the same group. So of course people would cue for that.
- Some ran out of hot water again this year. But I guess that was because everyone was doing it at the same time?
- The bar ran out of booze again! xD


+ Did we get chairs for the round tables in the lobby/foyer? Either way.. it was awesome!
+ The inflatable panel/event/thingy was cool!
+ The hotel staff keeps getting better and better!

+/- The music in the Piano bar was the exact same (sorry but..) crap as it was at the Main stage. I liked it when FoxAmoore was playing the piano and I actually liked the lass from the first year (who was hired by the hotel). Not everyone likes the "Unf unf unf" music, so why have it at two different places?
+/- The hotel made food till Midnight! Much appreciated, but we all get the munchies when we are drunk and not everyone goes to bed after midnight. ;3
+/- Do I need to mention the elevators again? They where Better, but not optimal. We got sent to level 7 and then the buttons would get reset.

[Indigo Icetalons]

- Coupons with contact information for non-physical (charity) auction items, such as the photoshoot by NewEinstein (?). Explanation: he was supposed to be at the auction to instantly discuss details with the winner, but (due to unfortunate circumstances) was delayed and arrived right after it had been auctioned off. This meant that the winner got to the Art Show to claim his prize, and the people at the Art Show had nothing to give this person. I'd say it was handled quite well, especially considering the initial confusion, but coupons as a plan B would be nice for next year. =) [quote\]

This was an unfortunate turn of events. He only left an email adress. I am sorry for the mistake made by making sure there is indeed a voucher next year. Thank you for your input![b\]

about the charity auction items, was there a list of the items which would be auctioned? if yes I missed it, where was it? if no, that would be a very very interesting things to have, as some people would be interested to attend the auction just for that. this year it was a bit of a surprise to see what would be auctioned (some were expected, other werent, and some where simply not explained clearly (the custom balloon for example))[quote\]

It was deliberately decided to keep the list of charity auction items a secret this year so more people would come and see the show. Well discuss wether this has merit for next year or wether it would be better to have a list. Yes I budged up on quite a few of the art auction items and I feel bad about it. It was my first time and had no bloody idea what to expect and what to think about. Now I know and will make sure to ace it next year![b\]

[Thygrrr]

The problem I saw with the Dealer's Den rooms, was that all of the popular artists were placed in the same room. The room with the less known artists never had a entry cue.
So please mix the artists next year, it would enhance the flow rate of customers and ease the bottleneck problem.

This. Seriously, spread the prestigious dealers across the rooms. Tell them to suck it up - you cannot seat everyone next to everyone they want to be seated near. Make tuples of three or so and move them en bloc.

Just because some people didn't have a seating preference that doesn't mean they wanted to end up in as what in the eyes of many, many guests felt like an overflow / 2nd class dealer's den.

From the sheer difference of people in Den 1 vs. Den 2, I am pretty sure revenues in Den 2 were at least an order of magnitude lower than they could have been.

Ironically, by having Den 1 at full capacity with a huge queue, revenues for dealers in that den were probably diminished as well as the Den 1 denizens were basically competing in an ecosystem limited by the room's people throughput.

[Cheetah]

The charity was a really good one, it felt great to contribute to their cause. How much did they finally get in the end?

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[Shiro]

I probably should have mentioned this in my first post, but I flat out forgot.

The wifi.. It was horrible to work with.

I can understand that the bandwidth wouldn't be able to handle games being played on it.

But sitting in the middle of the lobby with 3 bars, and still not being able to log in to either email, or checking new comments on FA.
That's a cruel tease at best.

I hope that next year there might be a place where people can be directly hooked up via cable, or stronger bandwidth is used.

And I know this comes of as harsh, and there will probably be comments like. "Be glad that you had it in the first place"
But that would be my entire point, give something stable or don't give it at all.

[Klepsydra]

A suggestion for the art show: might it be possible to do what some US cons do, and post up a list of winning bids for each item, or failing that, a list of members who have winning bids? It's a real buzz-killer to line up for nearly an hour in the queue to pay for your art, only to be told when you get to the front "Sorry, you haven't won anything".

[Fafnir Kristensen]

there is a paying T-mobile wifi network in the hotel, you can buy 1h, 10h or 1month of usage.
it works very well even in rooms away from the lobby
I never had any problem with it

I probably should have mentioned this in my first post, but I flat out forgot.

The wifi.. It was horrible to work with.

I can understand that the bandwidth wouldn't be able to handle games being played on it.

But sitting in the middle of the lobby with 3 bars, and still not being able to log in to either email, or checking new comments on FA.
That's a cruel tease at best.

I hope that next year there might be a place where people can be directly hooked up via cable, or stronger bandwidth is used.

And I know this comes of as harsh, and there will probably be comments like. "Be glad that you had it in the first place"
But that would be my entire point, give something stable or don't give it at all.

[Cheetah]

A suggestion for the art show: might it be possible to do what some US cons do, and post up a list of winning bids for each item, or failing that, a list of members who have winning bids? It's a real buzz-killer to line up for nearly an hour in the queue to pay for your art, only to be told when you get to the front "Sorry, you haven't won anything".

An explanation for that has already been posted a few posts before this one

https://forum.eurofurence.org/index.php/topic,4029.msg39629.html#msg39629

[Ralesk]

I probably should have mentioned this in my first post, but I flat out forgot.

The wifi.. It was horrible to work with.

I can understand that the bandwidth wouldn't be able to handle games being played on it.

But sitting in the middle of the lobby with 3 bars, and still not being able to log in to either email, or checking new comments on FA.
That's a cruel tease at best.

I hope that next year there might be a place where people can be directly hooked up via cable, or stronger bandwidth is used.

And I know this comes of as harsh, and there will probably be comments like. "Be glad that you had it in the first place"
But that would be my entire point, give something stable or don't give it at all.

I noticed that the issue was mostly with the DNS, so I ended up changing the DNS given by the Eurofurence DHCP to the Google Public Nameservers, ie. 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 — Everything worked like a charm from then on

[BHO]

The problem I saw with the Dealer's Den rooms, was that all of the popular artists were placed in the same room. The room with the less known artists never had a entry cue.
So please mix the artists next year, it would enhance the flow rate of customers and ease the bottleneck problem.

There was a similar problem when EF was still at Suhl. It was solved by introducing the "Artist Alley" in a big spacial area infront of the Dealers Dens, but the location in Magdeburg sadly doesn't offer such an option (not a complaint, just a remark). Mixing the artists/ sellers might even out the viewer numbers, but will most likely end up disappointing the sellers. Many artists seek to spend the "worktime" in the Den with friends or people they know and get along well. That way time flies by faster and the mood is better in general. If they are forced to sit next to somebody they don't know I assure you that this will have a negative influence on the overall atmosphere...

I do not envy the DD staff for their task. They have to please both, sellers and buyers. If it is of any worth (since I wasn't there) as far as I know the sellers were rather pleased. I mean you fit in everybody who applied and the seating system was satisfactory, too.

[Quincy the Raccoon]

Well, this was my second EF that I attended and I must say honestly and truthfully - even better than last year! lemme sum this up:

+ Elevators were actually working! (YAY!) Only a few glitches but hey... who cares?

+ Check-in: fast and easy, couldn't be better. (last year they could not find my fursuit badge)

+ Too much money paid for my reservation... the conops gave it back without a hitch!

+ Ops were very friendly! Even behind the scenes of the dance competition, even asked if I was nervous haha! (yes I was)

+ I got photographed many many times! (I got popufur!)

+ The inflatable thingy was awesome! Please again, next year!

+ My roomie Vustex, he was very friendly!

+ Had a laugh with Uncle Kage... he's so fun!

Now for the bit negative part:

- WIFI SUCKED! (yes, it did...)
- Drink prices went up AGAIN! (small soda for €3,- ... seriously?)
- Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong queues at the Dealers Den... OMG!  
- Ever seeking for a spot to put your head to dry in the lounge... *sigh*
- Fursuit dance was TOO LOUD! (ran away from it)

[Santa fox]

I can't really complain about much, to be honest; If anything, the schedule was a bit packed, though, I heard there was no other real way of doing it, so that is fine. Only thing beyond that was that there was a few brief moments when I, personally, couldn't hear what was being said during the opening ceremonies and pawpet show, it was only one or two words, though, and I have no idea if it has to do with my own bad hearing in occasions, or anything else.

Beyond that, everything was quite an blast; Check-in was fast, room was nice, hotel personnel were nice, bartenders were nice, prices in the bar were slightly below the average of what we have over here, so, no complaints there. While I can only assume Gyro and Dhary; And the rest of the ConSec people I hung around with quite a big were indeed quite busy, they still found the time to actually have a talk with me, drinks and to actually have some fun, as the "Feuerwehr" Dhary showed :v

I am quite glad to have had my first con experience be Eurofurence, even if things did start off a wee bit rocky, I do hope it is not something that will follow me until the end of times.. And once again, as I do not believe I had the time or such for it while making my run during the DDP; Thank you all who signed the drink menu I was running around with.