Thoughts on SpoCon 2011 (feedback thread)

Overall, I absolutely loved the con! A big thanks to all the people who were involved in making it happen!

Topic: Registration

I'm not sure how early the pre-reg con badges are printed up, but here are some of my ideas to help registration run smoother.

*Arrange with local businesses (Merlyn's, Uncles Games, Board Game Nation, etc...) to allow SpoCon volunteers to set up a pre-reg pick-up for a few hours each night of the week (or two) leading up to the con (one business per evening). This way, some of the badges can be gathered early and the businesses who volunteer receive some pre-con foot traffic into their stores.

*Open the registration table early. The ability to pick up your con badge hours before you have to worry about being at your first panel would be helpful. I lucked out and got my badge two minutes before I had to be at my author one-on-one. Others in line, though they arrived at least an hour earlier, were not so lucky.

*Have, at minimum, two people working the pre-reg line. When we arrived at the front of the line, there were four people helping people register for the con, but only one person handing out pre-reg badges - and in addition to the pre-reg line, she had to multi-task and help pros, volunteers, and security that needed their badges to get to where they were supposed to be in time.

*Give the vendors/guests/pros a separate location to pick up their badges. This could also work for security/volunteers and provides a location where they can be debriefed before their shift.

I'd be happy to help with pre-con registration next year.

Topic: Vendors

It would be nice to have all of the game vendors in the gaming room.

I loved it! This year's SpoCon was the best one I've ever been to. And 1,100 people? Hurray for you, that's just awesome.

I just saw a few areas I think could use some improvement. There needs to be more signage everywhere, especially for the panels, but also for information, the marmot store, pre-registration pickup, and registration. I was at the marmot store and overheard one person ask where to find a room for a panel and the answer was a very unhelpful "I don't know." The person asked to be directed to someone who could help, and the answer was again, "I don't know, this isn't the information desk." So the very frustrated person then asked, "Well, where is the information desk? Or do I have to find the information desk to get that information?" The person working the store didn't know that answer either. I think an incident like that could have been avoided with some better signage, and maybe giving volunteers who are going to be working these kinds of things a walkthrough of where everything is. A more detailed map might have helped as well.

Second, I remember hearing some gamers grumbling last year about their gaming being cut off for the masquerade. I think that's what created this next problem. I think you overcorrected this year by not only running gaming during the masquerade, but a bunch of other events too! I really wanted to go to the Scotch Tasting and stop by the Creating Interesting Characters panel, but I also wanted to go to the masquerade. This isn't the same as other kinds of programming, the masquerade is a major convention event and shouldn't have conflicts like that. I do think it was a good idea to have the childrens' programming continue through the masquerade so parents could attend without worrying about their kids, and it's fine for gaming to continue through it, but there shouldn't be anything else conflicting with the masquerade.

Third, and this is a very minor thing, I really missed the group room party this year. It was fun having all the conventions running their parties in the same room so everyone could mingle and no one party had noticeably more participation than others. This year it was painful to go to the room parties and see only one with a lot of people in it. Just because you moved to a hotel this year doesn't mean you have to do everything other hotel-based conventions do just because its traditional, does it? I really liked how unique SpoCon's room party used to be.

Finally, and this isn't really my own complaint, just an observation and something you might want to ask those who were actually affected about. is covering vendors wares with white sheets sufficient protection for their wares? I think it was a great idea to have vendors in the gaming room, but shouldn't there have been at least one security person there after the vendors left for the night in order to prevent someone from just lifting up a sheet and taking something?

Altogether I had an absolutely amazing time and think SpoCon really managed to go above and beyond their other years by SO much. There were just those few moments of abject frustration. I loved the convention, the panels, the dance, the masquerade, the opening ceremonies (awesome video! DIE, EDWARD, DIE!), everything was just wonderful. Thank-you!!!!!!!!!

We'll see you in 2013 then, Harry! Be safe over seas.

Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone. Keep it coming!

Thank you for a wonderful con! It was the first one that I attended in over 20 years, but I am now hooked. Due to work I was only able to attend during the mornings of Saturday and Sunday, but I met so many interesting and friendly people that I consider it well worth it. I am definitely going to schedule my vacation next year to correspond with the con so that my family and I can thoroughly enjoy it.

Ahh, thank-you Mr. Snell. That makes sense. Or at least I'm sure it sounded good to a bureaucrat somewhere: "Let's make a rule that you can serve alcohol in a large area of convention space at a school without a corkage fee, but require one at a hotel's convention area." hehehe

At any rate, thank-you for explaining why that happened there. I'm glad to see SpoCon obeys the rules, even when they're terribly inconvenient. I'll still miss the old way of doing it, but "rules is rules" and I definitely still had fun this year. I'm looking forward to next year!

Every year we look very closely at the possibility of a day rate. There are regulations and tax issues that make us anable to have one right now. If these issues can be settled we will most likely begin offering day rates but at the moment it is impossible. Please note that we are trying and will continue to work on this issue.

Thank you to everyone providing input on our convention. We try to be as proactive as possible but as you know... things happen.

It's great to hear how much people enjoyed the Con but it's also equally imporant in my mind that we hear where we can make things better.

We've already been looking at some of these ideas, especially in the area of registration. We've got some plans being floated and I think next year's reg will go much smoother and faster, especially for our pre-reg folks.

Regarding the opening ceremonies, we're going to look at a better way of arranging the room to increase seating. We had some special considerations this year with our backstage area and we can hopefully do a better job of meeting these challenges for 2012.

One of those considerations was our dance. The space has emergency lighting that CANNOT be turned off according to the hotel and this required a lot of pipe and drape pre-placed in order to darken the room enough for the laser show. Balancing the OC and dance floor spaces will be a top priority for next year.

Hospitality's loss of the hot dog roller and crock pots was a real surprise to us. It was disappointing to see a Con staple being removed from the menu. We hope to either resolve this issue with the hotel or seek alternatives. This may require a more microwave friendly menu.

We were very limited on space this year at the hotel as we were an unknown to them. It's understandable that they wanted to hedge their bets and keep some of their convention space open to such things as weddings (which I believe there were two this last weekend.)

Now that we have shown them what we can do, we will try to work out a deal to enlarge the amount of hotel available to us. This will help alleviate some of our problems such as only having two vendors in gaming. And we did have security in the gaming room overnight although it seems their presence could have been made more clear.

Signage - I think we would all agree we fell down here. The hotel has a strick policy against using tape on their walls. However, we've come up with some ideas that we're going to run by the hotel and hopefully we'll make our signage crystal clear for 2012.

Programming - We tried to avoid conflicts where possible but some last minute challenges required some juggling. We will work hard next year to reduce those conflicts but unfortunately we have to take full advantage of our limited space and won't be able to remove all potential conflicts. We're looking at which panels had standing room only and will look at bringing those panels back to SpoCon for 2012. So if anyone has requests for things they'd like to see again, or panels they missed and want us to bring back such as the 'Creating and Portraying Interesting Characters' panel (mine, lol) please let us know.

Greg - I will make sure to pass your ideas on to our gaming department head for next year. Our current gaming head will not be continuing in that position for 2012 although he's looking at staying on as our Nerf coordinator. It sounds like you've got some great advice and I would invite you not only to post here, but if you, or anyone else, would like to become involved in ConCom to help us plan for next year we would dearly appreciate the help. In addition to our main convention, we're planning a number of SpoCon events throughout the year and would love to take advantage of your experience.

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts. Please keep these great ideas coming. While it's not possible to please everyone all the time (as much as we'd like to,) it's important to know what is important to you - the membership of SpoCon - so we can at least try.

The ability to create daily badges is not an issue (though for registration and security it is a logistical nightmare), we are more than capable of creating badges for each day, as I understand it, there are tax issues that present a problem for the Convention. Right now, when you register for SpoCon, you're actually purchasing a yearly membership that lasts until the convention is over, so if you pre-registered tomorrow for SpoCon 2011, you'd have a membership that last all year until the convention date.

Also, all of those colors mentioned are already reserved for Guest/Pro (Gold), Dealers (Green), ConCom (Blue) and Security (Red), which means if it were to ever come to day rates, we'd likely have to bust out more obscure colors like chartreuse and plum

- dvd.lnds

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Our goal at SpoCon is to create an environment that is open, friendly and fun for everyone at the Con.

We will take a hard look at this situation to see what needs to be done to improve things for next year.

I apologize for the delay in feedback. We took off for Worldcon in Reno the Monday following SpoCon and have not had the opportunity. Now that I'm safely back from Worldcon, I would like to share my thoughts, feedback, things I heard, and comments given directly to me.

First off, kudos on executing SpoCon at a new facility. The fans seemed quite happy and were enjoying themselves. Those of us that are part of the WesterCon 2012 and Spokane in 2015 Worldcon bid bragged you all up for this year's event. SpoCon started off with a bang, breaking records for first year attendance of any con in the history of NW conventions, and has steadily grown. I saw staff and volunteers with a welcoming attitude towards all the Fen running around - even when they were obviously dead tired and in not such a great mood themselves.

In the past, any Con that changes location drops in membership that first year. Also, any Con that changes dates drops in membership that year. This did not happen - - Fandom in the Northwest, in the Inland Northwest is growing. The Fans at Worldcon were very impressed by this bit of information. They also are impressed on how fandom is supportive of fandom in the Inland Northwest. In other regions, Cons do not have the level of support that we see here. Keep it up!

As I've told Many of you - I may no longer be part of the engine of SpoCon, but I've never stopped supporting it and never will as long as there is a SpoCon. Fen in the NW need as many outlets to be Fen as they can.

Okay, now on with feedback:

Signage:
Biggest negative comments I heard was "where is this... where is that". From what I understand, the hotel did not want signs on walls. Understandable with the recent remodel. In a facility as large as the Double Tree, and as you expand and move into the Convention center - signage is important. If you plan on staying at the DT for a while, perhaps investing in some easels - or seeing what the hotel has available. A number of Fans came up to me to voice their opinions on the matter - I did explain that I'm not on the ConCom anymore but would make sure I passed along their concerns. Lost and confused Fans is not a good thing. Signage and good clear maps are important.

Registration:
This is the first thing that any member (fan / pro / dealer / etc ) will encounter. The folks behind the table were (are?) most excellent. I am biased in this regard since they are all my friends... . It was very strange that the pre-reg line took longer than the reg at the door line. Location of the reg table was really bad. I was asked to see my badge upon entering the foyer area. Rather hard to do when I hadn't even found the reg table yet. Based on the layout of the hotel, I can see where they may have put some restrictions on having "in the hall". Not much hallway space. Perhaps move it to the other side of the room. Most people will come in the front door of the facilities, not the side / back door where the desk was situated. I heard many grumblings about the set up and time it took. Several Fans really gave me the what for regarding this issue - several were not very nice about. Again, explaining my involvement level, I ensured them I would pass on the comments. Knowing the team behind SpoCon I don't think anyone has anything to worry about in future years.

Room Parties:
Thanks to Chris's explanation about the MMSC as SpoCon has had in the past and working with the hotel and WSLCB many of the comments and grumblings I heard and was given have been addressed. The MMSC was a huge hit in 2008 when SpoCon started and was something looked forward to by Fen in proceeding years. Having all the parties in the same place was good. I would continue to work with the Hotel and WSLCB on what can be done about this. Another thing would be to put the "rules" in the guide where things are clearly listed and as to why they are this way - playing by the rules is quite common among gamers There was a good deal of confusion as to how things worked and why nothing could be "given away".

I would be glad to participate again in 2012 with hosting the Filking and any other panels that you feel I can fit in on (Filk, Worldcon bid, anything food related). It was an honor being invited to participate as a "pro" - thank you. A scheduling conflict kept me away from most of the Con - should not be an issue in 2012. I will ALWAYS to the Sunday morning Sacrament with Patrick - second year has made it tradition, third year will make it Cannon. Just don't put the late night Filking a "concert" like on Friday night.. that really confused people. If you would like a Filk concert, INFilk would most likely be able to arrange something either from within our group, or from the Filk community in general.

OKay, I am going to continue my recovery from last week. Back to back Cons, with one of them being 5 days at Worldcon takes it's mental and physical toll.

Joe -

I would love to help out (I ran a small game convention for four years) but I came over Montana for the event and distance is a. . .the. . .problem. (I haven't even managed to get onto Miscon's ConCom, and their only 1.4 hours away. . .) All indications are that I'll be back next year to run some more games, so I'll keep an eye out for that new gaming head.

Greg

Greg,
That works for me. We look forward to seeing you again next year.

Tim,
It's great to hear from you. We were glad you were able to help out as a pro this year and look forward to working with you again this upcoming year.

As for the feedback - sadly you guys have hit it on the head on several fronts.

We failed to overcome the challenges of signage, a mistake we WON'T be making again. In addition to main floor signage improvements I have a plan for the third floor I hope the hotel will go for.

Regarding registration, we have top men working on it. Top men. Seriously though, George and Carol have discussed some options for next year and George has laid out a plan that should resolve the situation. Among other ideas in the works, we're going to make every effort seperate the pre-reg members and the pre-reg pros, volunteers etc. Department heads will have pre-reg badges for their own people in order reduce competition for that line.

As for the room parties, I was honestly caught off guard on this front. I didn't realize how much people enjoyed the combination of the parties. Having moved to the hotel, it presents a challenge to putting them together but we will certainly be looking at some options to try to bring back the feel of the previous MMSCs.

Good luck on recovering from the two cons. I know it's taken me more than a week just to get back from the one.

This being my first SpoCon and my first time as a ConCom member I had a blast. People were generally positive and the overall atmosphere had a great vibe. As mentioned above, I also agree that volunteers should receive their badges early. I know that registration is working hard on changing up some things and I look forward to that next year.

The guests and pros were awesome by the way, my favorite part of the con =)

Amber DiSimone
SpoCon Green Room Coordinator 2011
Director, FAN Foundation

One idea regarding third floor signs:
Almost everyone entered the floor from the main elevators. One volunteer stationed at the landing with a program and knowledge of the room locations could be the "director to panels." Signs can help, but there were, what, three directions you could go from the elevator? I got turned around a couple of times when I did know where I was going.

Communication is also something that I personally had a little trouble with. I was added to two panels and I found out the week of the con. I only found the other one by looking at my name on the programming site (which is totally awesome, btw.) The first panel I was on, one of the panelists did not know he was on it until he arrived at the con, and the third was not planning on arriving to the con until hours after the panel. This may be isolated, but if not, communication will need either more assistance or an overhaul. No one on the first panel I was on was prepared (except for my friend Bevan who I begged to bring a bunch of props to so the panel didn't bomb.) The people attending the panel deserved a better experience that we could not provide due to lack of communication and planning.

Otherwise, I loved every minute of it.