Assorted comments...

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

I wrote in my own journal about the fun I had at Arisia this year but I wanted to drop a shortish note here about my impressions of how the convention ran for me.

The last few years I've commuted into Arisia but I made plans with a friend to stay the weekend this year because I wanted the break, the GOHs were intruiging and I was also trying to recruit more LARPers for Intercon D and I had friends running LARPs and working the convention to be social with.

I was manning our table for quite a bit of prime time, so I got to do a lot of people watching and listening instead of attending panels. I got the impression from the staff I saw walking around that things were running smoothly which I always find a good sign. When I was able to get away, I went to a few panels and hit the dealers. Everything seemed to be happy.

The staff members that I had encounters with were great. I'm not going to be able to remember names but the ones with whom I got my meeting scheduled and our table got us set up before hand and followed up to make sure I was happy. (I was.) Our table got set up opposite the gaming room which was not only a great position for our purposes but also probably saved my sanity since I could at least watch people gaming instead of a dark wall. Thanks. I also think the crew that set up the gaming and LARPing did a great job but I'm obviously biased.

I should mention that my hotel room reservation was messed up but eventually all the problems were resolved. Skip delivered on his promises to fix the mistakes and that was no small part of my happiness with the convention. I don't think it should have taken as long as it did and that I was ready to punt the convention at one point over it. I can't compare this year to the last three but I don't remember being uncertain about my reservation for so long in the past.

Of course, the Park Plaza is it's old creaky self. I was stuck on the "cold side" of the hotel in a room with the door that nearly took out my shoulder to open at one point. And I forgot how bloody hot it gets if you're just sitting on the Mezzanine. But there was hot water in the room. Many sins can be forgiven if there is at least a (non-smoking) room with a bed and hot water. I read that there is an active search for a new site. I can't say I'll be sad if it moves to another venue but the Park Plaza has its charms, not the least of which is knowing how and when to use the staircases.

I did get out to see the art show (Gannon's stuff was amazing and the show looked really full) and visit the dealers (lots of familiar faces but it seemed like there were more on Dealers Row this year). The Con Suite looked stocked whenever I was there, too.

But to pick one nit, the badges were awful! Black on dark brownish grey? Please! Have pity on forgetful geeks with failing eyes. (I know who this is. Damn. I met her last year. Wait, wait, what does her badge say? Casual glance. Casual glance. NO! I can't read it!) Terrible loss of face occurred. More than once. Someone had to point out to me that my real name actually was on the badge somewhere.

Comments

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

I couldn't read the badges either, and it was a bit embarrassing to have to stare at people's crotches or wherever they had the badges hanging, and move within a FOOT to read them. Sheesh. And the real names on the front - WTF FOR?!!!!

[gsh]

Several people I know of mentioned that with the "old" badges, they could carry their room key in the plastic jacket, and now they had no place for their room key. They tended to wear clothing without pockets, and I personally would be loath to see them stop wearing the clothing they wore. :)

Agree (mostly)

[hawkegirl.livejournal.com]

I think the badges themselvs are fine, but I did not like the color scheme either. It was very difficult to read, the colors were lame in and of themselvs too, and it was confusing to even figure out what it was.

badges badges badges

[cthulhia]

I thought they were especially cool looking. I didn't use them much beyond checking to make sure someone had one. Then again, I try for verbal introductions with new people, rather than being a stranger who is calling them by name. (As well, no one agrees how to properly pronounce "Cthulhia" anyway, so it's easier just to make sure they know how I pronounce it, or give them an easier name to use.)

However, the text was poor. A number of badges had illegible ID numbers, which interfered with any registration that obliged collecting badge numbers. (Art Auction would be my guess, although I didn't sign up for it this year.)

This is the second year they weren't great as hotel key holders. I did see someone who had punched out a non-essential part of their hotel key in order to wear it with the badge. I'm not sure whether the hotel plans on key reuse, so this might not be a solution for the masses.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I loved the idea of using a photo of the "Wishbone" sculpture as the background for the badge.

I hated the fact that, as a Staff member, I had to put my badge number on my volunteer time sheet, and never found out what my badge number WAS. I think it had a four in it. But it might have been a nine. Or a six. Or maybe a small reptile of some sort.

A+ for badge concept, C for badge execution.

badge numbers

[bryttan.livejournal.com]

Well, actually, as the person who's "not doing it next year",

0) thanks for the comments! I'm sure they'll be useful next year (though perhaps we could have fixed some stuff ASAP if you'd come down to chat during the con)

1) as has been explained elsewhere, the pre-reg badge printrun managed to suck-up 4 more hours on Thursday than it really should have & the badge printer should have had its head cleaned before we did it; the vendor providing the badging services has been made aware of numerous amounts of displeasure. :(

2) you didn't _need_ to write your badge number on your timesheet as long as your name was legible - there should be a panel on teaching fen legible handwriting. :) Again, as the person "not doing it next year", I hope someone else designs the timesheets for A05. I'm pretty sure that I designed the current forms X years ago & they haven't been updated in a long long while.

3) we were telling people their badge numbers as fast as they asked down in Reg; didn't see you there, nor hear your call. Also, we were re-printing badges upon request; again, didn't see you there.

As a volunteer, I'm sure you're aware of the need for feedback to fix things, please consider bringing up issues immediately in the future (instead of post-con) to see if 'something can't be done' right away to help you out.

Thanks,
Bryt

Hi there! That was me with the badges!

[penk.livejournal.com]

Well hello there. Talk about direct feedback, eh?

I'm Shayde, the guy who does the badges for Arisia.

To give some background, the badging system is the same as was used last year, to much ballyhoo and excitement. For those who missed it, they looked like this (http://www.stonekeep.com/badgepics/small/P1050085.JPG). (this one being a misprint, so I have a spare :)

I have to apologize for the poor quality of the printing this year. I have 2 badge printers, and this one is supposed to be the 'heavier duty' one. Unfortunately, it really didn't cut the mustard, and the printing was fainter than it should have been.

Also, the proof we got from the printshop who did the badge background made the printing area look lighter than it really was. Once we get the badges from them, we really can't change anything, so we had to run with what we had.

Our subject material was tough to draw from. Last year we had a colorful painting, which was easy. This year we had the metal sculptures, which really don't lend themselves well to colorful pretty badges :)

At any rate, I do offer my apologies for the hard to read badges - we'll do better next year!

-dbs, Stonekeep Consulting - www.stonekeep.com

[kirkcudbright.livejournal.com]

So what was the magnified sublimated sepia-toned background supposed to be? I can understand the desire to have a dynamic background, but it really should have been a lot lighter. (In my day... (puts on the geezer voice) in my day, it was single-color ink on white paper stock, in a plastic sleeve, and that was good enough for our members. Shrug.)

All that aside, the size and placement of the badge number and real name were...problematical, especially since the ink tended to wear off. And yes, they do need to be legible, for Art Show, Gophers, Security, and no doubt others.

Re: Hi there! That was me with the badges!

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

The picture you linked to was last years badge. I finally found my badge from last year last night and confirmed that it did have much better contrast in the printing area. I'm not surprised that the printer gave you a darker result than your proof...