Comments, Compliments, and Concerns for NDK 2010

[allpowerfulbob]

We here at NDK are always looking to improve the convention, as such we would love to hear your comments on how to improve, or what you loved about the convention right here on the forums.

Good, bad, ugly we want to hear them all. Please note replies to comments will be civil, no one on staff will be upset with you for your comments, and as such no other attendee replies should be rude or otherwise offputting. Any and all overly argumentative replies will be deleted. Also all other topics regarding feedback will be merged with this thread.

Some more tips for this thread.

• Constructive criticism helps us to improve much more. If you didn't like something, please offer a suggestion to improve.
• If you have a specific issue with a staff member or a volunteer, remember that we are all wearing badges. Please feel free to ask for a badge if needs be.
• Any con specific hotel issues please feel free to bring up here in this thread; however, if you have very specific hotel issues, such as room issues, please address them with the hotel.
• For more information about the 2011 attendance cap, please wait for more information on the main page which is forth coming. Also you can get more general information in the forum thread here.

Thank you so much everyone for attending and for your feedback!

[Jellybean313]

I think everything went very well and I only have one complaint.  I found it to be very rude and disruptive for people to open doors into panel rooms just to look in and see what is going on.  There are screens outside of the door with the list of what events are going on in that room and I can understand the need to come in to a panel late or leave early or even peek in to find someone but I can't believe how many people would open the door and loudly ask me what was going on in the room and then a lot of them would shut the door loudly as well.  People, I beg of you, treat these panelists with some respect, they don't have to present these panels for you and without them there would be a lot less fun stuff to do!

[Dei-Dei kunn~]

I loved this ndk
But i have One concern for people.
If your at a photoshoot and its not ur anime. PLEASE DONT GET IN THE PICTURE.! it ruins thewhole thing.
Otherwise i had a blast

[mastergods]

Why was there only one open door to the dealers room?  That just made it harder to in and out. I understand due to some of the things in panels we do not want other people to hear so doors need to to be closed but You need signs that say "full" and "come on in". I almost missed some panels because I could not tell.
Always bring back SHOE. I have yet to go hit a panel of theirs with out leaving laughing! Plus they are nice, fun, cool people.

I think the staff already know about this one. If you bring Otaku subculture back next year move it to night and add 18+

[Ket]

I feel NDK ran so much better this year than last, yay! Go staff!

You need signs that say "full" and "come on in".

I second this. I was in a couple panels that were full, and people continued to walk in, and sit on each other (making it hard to see over them), or sit in the aisles. It was really annoying. Does each panel have a staff member that stays in the room to make sure stuff like this isn't happening?

As far as lines go, the tape and retractable barrier thingies worked nicely up at the autograph line, but please please please have a water station up there next year. I wound up resorting to eating ice when I was starting to overheat in the line (then found out there was water in the actual autograph room-but no one seemed to know about it).

Also, with having autograph sessions so close to each other, and having only one line....I would almost like to see one line for each time (I know, not really possible with being on the second floor), because you would run into people at the tail end going "Are you in line for Time A?" and they go "No, Time B", and they may or may not get to go in front of the person.

I also kinda like the two hour limit to lining up (was this around before?), but I did notice it wasn't heavily enforced.

I'm also not a big fan of having to pay for "extra" stuff once I pay my ticket....and by this I mean parking. It would be really really nice if it was rolled into the cost of a ticket. I know there's a lot of carpooling that goes on, but um....it's kinda annoying to be staying at the hotel and having to pay for parking.

Also, and I know this isn't necessarily something the staff can do, but if no photoshoots can be scheduled right before huge events (AMV, Costume Contest) that would be really really nice. I wound up losing my spot line that I spent 2 hours in (and not getting the wristband) to the AMV because of the Naruto photoshoot, by the time I got back in (15 minutes before AMV were supposed to start), everyone was already inside. Sad day!

For my personal edification-if we have another con attendee that we feel crossed the line from friendly into creepy stalker-like and won't leave us alone, is there anything staff can do about it?

I need to find my notebook with other suggestions I wrote down, but it's in my suitcase somewhere, and I'm too lazy to unpack it right now. But I thought everything went so much better this year, thanks so much!

[Rosie]

I'm also not a big fan of having to pay for "extra" stuff once I pay my ticket....and by this I mean parking. It would be really really nice if it was rolled into the cost of a ticket. I know there's a lot of carpooling that goes on, but um....it's kinda annoying to be staying at the hotel and having to pay for parking.

Actually, parking at the Marriott is free for NDK attendees. As for off-site parking, I doubt that they'll allow it for free. After all, they allowed a lot of people to use their lots without using their facilities. They're businesses, and they're going to find ways to make money.

Anyway, for my two cents: I cannot express enough how glad I am that pre-reg attendees were allowed to pick up their badges on Thursday night!! It was a wonderful time-saver the next day. Instead of waiting in line for an hour and a half, it took less than five minutes and I was all set. Great idea!!

And the one thing I was disappointed with was that the elevators were not manned like they were last year. I don't recall any major problems with the atrium side, but I heard that an elevator on the tower side broke. Last year, the elevators were always manned by staff and volunteers who made sure they weren't overfilled and that people didn't screw around in them. I think it would be helpful if they were better staffed next year.

[Terra]

NDK as generally really awesome this year. i felt most things were thoroughly communicated, and run well. The only issues I have are pretty minor:

Every time I passed pre-reg (And when I was in it) the line for G-L (or which ever section that was) was significantly bigger (we're talking 20-30 minutes versus 2) then any of the others, and this was true last year as well.

This could be true and the person I communicated with was wrong but I think at this point, especially with the fairly reasonable parking across the street, that the hotel lot should be reserved for the people who shell out $200+ for the hotel. I know this is more the hotel then NDKs issues, but we got there at noon and the "Full Lot" sign was out.

Also, there were times when the elevators were well run, and times they weren't. Unless you can control that the elevator ONLY go to levels X, Y, and Z, the system of having one elevator for certain levels just gets abused. I know it makes a longer line, but one line and the person counting off people when the elevator got there worked really well. Maybe just adding some ropes/tape lines to organized the line so it doubles back on it's self and organizes that area a bit? But I also wanted to say how impressed I was with how well the staff there any time I was there was loud without being rude, and kept things running briskly but smoothly.

The parking across the street was awesome however, and not that $30 was fun to shell out, but it's not all that bad a price either.

[YazooAirspace]

I thought the con was awesome this year, but I have some complaints:

-People using the elevators to go from the lobby to the second floor or mezzanine and vice-versa.  I understand some people can't take the stairs, but most of the time I got in the elevator, I'd get in with people who would only go one floor up or down and it was a bit annoying when I was pressed for time.

-Not so much an NDK concern as a general people concern, but if you're in transit, please pay attention to where you're going.  I've seen so many people stroll between a photographer and their subject without even paying attention where they're going, let alone an apology for ruining the picture.  Not so bad if you have a digital camera, but not everyone has a digital camera, so that's a shot wasted.

[nemisis47]

I for one had a blast at this years con. I now made several new friends thanks to the Hetalia community at NDK and they made me being America really special. As for the con itself here is a summary of pros and cons from this year. And I do got a share of good and bad this year.

-Thursday night registration was a smart move and a move that was never to late to do since other cons do Thursday reg and made regging on Friday go smoothly with less badges to hand and made coming Thursday very benneficial. I may go Thursday next year thanks to this. Plus pre regging opened real early Friday was surprising since it took me and my group 5-10 minutes to get our badges vs. Me 45 minutes last year.

-Echostream and Kazha kicked butt and were really great bands. Love to see more music guests come to NDK this year.

-Making a separate area for shoots was a great idea and would love to see it again next year. Only now with it there, I love to see more organization with it now being implemented with the shoots. My TWEWY group were gonna use it for our shoot on Saturday, but the street fighter group and other people gathered there instead so we had to use the nearby stools for ours. I say try to figure how to implement it in between being a hang out area for folks not doing shoots and people who are gonna use the area for their shoots.

-Ops people did a good job with the weapons rule and was smart to be more clearer on the weapons policy and changing around to do so made it work, but a BIG negative was ops went a bit overboard on bonding. I can see weapons, that has a "blade" (for folks using wood or otherwise for their bladed melee weapons), bonking and ones with a trigger being bonded. But bonding towels, Parasols, flag poles etc. was not cool and heard a lot complaints from other goers on this. Next year should be weapons only not harmless props. I can see checking to see if they're ok and not too big, but bonding a small flag, that's a bit overboard.

-I do agree with the previous statement that elevators need to be better assissted since it took me a while to get to my room when I was in a really long line just to get to my room to put something away or get sonething. Staff should find a better way to handle that then how it was handled.

-Another thing I agree is implementing signs on doors if a panel has filled up or is still open. One thing that indicated panels were full was closed doors. Try to find a way to implement that to fix this along with using signs or something.

-Love SHOE for the mass variety of panels including the "Late SHOE" one which I found really hillarious and I second them doing this next year.

Overall, with these aside I enjoyed NDK this year and am really excited for NDK NYE and next years NDK. I am gonna try hard to get pre regged sooner.

[Osias]

This was definitely the best NDK weekend I have ever had ! 

I only have one suggestion … Idea.

I like how their was white tape on the floor to outline the line into the dealers room; but I noticed a lot of issues with people standing in doorways / main walkways.

My idea is to use a bright orange tape and frame out areas in front of doorways , were it is not ok for people to stand in.

The bright orange might be helpful to remind people not to stand in front of the door; it might also make it easer for a staff person to point out where the door needs to be clear; They could simple point out the orange tape and say “ please keep the doorways clear by standing outside of the orange taped off area.”

Maybe also put a 6 inch or 12 inch orange tape frame in front of the stairs to the lift; as a visual key and reminder for people not to stand, in line for an event, on the lift stairs.

… Just an idea.

[merri berri]

I had a wonderful time overall. :] Echostream is probably one of my favorite bands now, they played wonderfully. I'm looking forward to more music guests at NDK, I'll know from this year that they shouldn't disappoint.

I don't know if there's anything that can be done about it but there were a a LOT of technical difficulties during the Cosplay Contest and it was a little irritating to me and I'm sure to the cosplayers competing. XDDX's skit couldn't even be finished because the audio was acting up and I was really disappointed. I also felt really bad for them because their skit had such a sweet idea to it and so much thought was put into it and they weren't even able to finish it.

[Katie]

I had a wonderful time overall. :] Echostream is probably one of my favorite bands now, they played wonderfully. I'm looking forward to more music guests at NDK, I'll know from this year that they shouldn't disappoint.

I don't know if there's anything that can be done about it but there were a a LOT of technical difficulties during the Cosplay Contest and it was a little irritating to me and I'm sure to the cosplayers competing. XDDX's skit couldn't even be finished because the audio was acting up and I was really disappointed. I also felt really bad for them because their skit had such a sweet idea to it and so much thought was put into it and they weren't even able to finish it.

Actually there is something we can do about this. I've disscussed it with Mark, we found the problem, so we will be having multiple backups for next year in multiple different forms. To the contestants who's audio got messed up I am so sorry. All of you took it in stride and that really really impressed the judges, myself and countless other people. To those who went on with messed up, wrong or no audio, you still got up there and did what you planned to do like that was what was suppose to happen. To XDDX, you gracefully waited to see if your audio would start back up and when it did not you finished your skit with grace and style and for that words cannot describe how incredible you are the closest we can get is you are the definition of 'Grace Under Pressure'. Truely amazing!

I have to say the costume contest contestants where all amazing this year before, during and after the show! You all made this show one of the best, even with the sound difficulties that were experienced. I cannot say enough how awesome you all are and how you inspired not just me but the judges as well! It was an honor to get to see all of your lovely work and have you in our contest. Thank you so much for making this year so great!!!!!!!!!

[Lunara]

Best. NDK. Ever.

[bakanekokun]

Couple rants and couple suggestions
I am glad there was the offer of the extend parking lot and I had no hesitation in paying to park on Friday when I rolled in around noon.  However, the fact that the hotel staff roped off the hotel parking lot all through the rest of the con, it bothered me greatly.
1) Those who parked in it couldn’t use their car to drive out during the day. 2) We notice considerable openings late Friday night and couldn’t relocate since it was still roped off, so we ended up waking up early to pay to keep our cars in the extended lot.

What happened to manning and supervising the elevators?  Ã¢â‚¬ËœCause there were indeed some ****** using them.  I even heard that the towers’ elevator broke down during the con.

1 suggestion:  Can we have drawstring totes next year?  You know when you check in for the con we get (this year) a black bag that contains the program book and other lovely goodies.  Well, the tote doesn’t need to have a fancy design on the front and it can be made of those cheap fabric (like the ones Walmart used for the re-usable bags)- an idea when I worked conferences at my university.  The reasons are  1) it is much more durable 2) we can stuff more stuff like our camera, phone, wallet, programs, items brought from dealers or artists, autograph items, food, and water 3) this allow the attendees to carry it like a backpack which free us to carry props, take pics, and etc.

2 suggestions: Can we have the two biggest main events a bit further apart?  I don’t know if it was plausible, but all I did mostly on Saturday was standing in line ‘cause the minute we got out of the AMV line, we went straight to the Cosplay line ,and then to the Chris Patton panel line with occasional swappage for food and bathroom run.  And in the words of a friend, “I don’t want to go to the Sunday AMV review ‘cause I want to VOTE for them.” It didn’t help when there were some awesome panels and photo shoot during then- a friend almost missed out ‘cause she went to a Naruto photo shoot.

3 suggestions: With the above problem, I know there is a tech booth at the back of the main event center where it broadcast the event to the side screens. Is it possible that the tech can record the events into a DVD and sell it to the attendees?  I got this idea when I play at a music competition where the staff recorded my event as well as the whole competition and I bought a DVD of it for review and critique.  I know those who missed Cosplay and those who participated it would love to have a recording of to watch or just to have it for memory sake.  I know I would pay for one.

4 suggestions: I love Stephanie Kao’s works and was stoked that her work was used again for the con this year.  As a faithful attendee of NDK, I collect all the con badges and place them on display as a plaque of honor.  When I moved this summer, some of them got jostled and I noticed that none of them except for 2004 had the year on the badge.  It would be nice to have it on the badge themselves next year.

5 suggestions: I know the back of the registration booth is where you sign-up for Cosplay, etc. on Friday.  But afterwards, I think it would clear some traffic and help the volunteers in clearing the aisle and hallway if that place is clear for random cosplay photo shoots so cosplayer actually have a location throughout the con to display their work and for die-hard photographer to take pictures of awesome cosplayers.  So the staff can say, “Please re-locate for pictures of cosplayers to the photoshoot location.”


Can't think more to say other than...can't wait for next year..already registered for 2011!!!

[violet]

NDK was awesome this year. Overall, I was really impressed, and thought it was definitely one of the con's best years I only really have a couple of complaints.

The AMV Iron Chef panel was cool, but much too long. If you do it again next year (and that would be awesome), it might be a good idea to cut the time the panel actually runs by at least thirty minutes or so. It would also be nice to have some running Iron Chef-style commentary on what each editor is doing throughout the panel.

The lines for panels were fine—I think the worst wait I had was about thirty minutes, which is pretty reasonable. And then there were the big events—AMVs and Cosplay. Oh holy god. It seems like those lines flowed really fast after they started moving, but the simple fact that the line stretches through the whole con space makes it enormously intimidating. I don't really have a good solution, alas. One option would be to ticket the largest events with assigned seating that expires 30 minutes or something before the event starts—just like an airplane . This would sharply reduce the lines while guaranteeing that every seat is filled. Another option would be to have several entry time windows (12:30, 12:45, 1:00, etc.), and to give out tickets naming an entry time—this is almost exactly like having a line, without physically having to queue. Both of these approaches require more complex logistics, though, so it's pretty understandable if the staff doesn't want to mess with them. Long lines, while annoying, are simple and predictable.

[bakanekokun]

The idea of giving out tickets for the large events is great idea too!!  The ticket themselves don't need to be something fancy- it can be just a small piece of paper with a stamp that a volunteer had just put on and gave out to the person that state the event (which can be changeable), the time of stamp, the number of ticket (help to keep track of number of attendees for the event, too!), and maybe a seating number? This can solve the horrible wait in line (3hours), allow attendees to go to other panels and such, and the huge wrap around the hotel of people trying to get in.

[akiba16]

This was my first NDK, and first event to attend in the US... I will say that I was very impressed with everything. 

It was clear to me that the event was planned by "true fans" and not the corporate machines.  In Japan there are events by "fans" (such as Tokyo Dream Party) and by the corporates (Tokyo International Anime Fair).  As such, it was a great event to attend, worth the $s spent and I would recommend it to everyone.

The only suggestion I could think of is to have a Maid Cafe' (or Cosplay Cafe') like those in Akihabara.  They had that at Anime Festival Asia in Singapore and it was very popular there.  Maybe the Starbucks could adopt a Maid Cafe theme next time?

[zeekaran]

This was the first con I've ever been to and I loved it. I've already registered for 2011.

1. Please force everyone to sign a waiver that says we won't sue you if we get hurt on the stairs. I probably lost two hours of con time because my room was on the ninth floor and I had to wait in line so much when I would have gladly gone up the stairs.

2. I only had this problem once, and it was with the Basics of Steampunk panel on Friday. Having people walk in through the back door, disrupting the panel when we already could barely hear way in the back, was bad enough. But then every person that hopped in through the back door also had to leave a minute later. I was annoyed to the point that I left just to stand in front of the back door from the outside to prevent more people from being disruptive.

3. Panel overlap was disappointing. All Saturday night was crazy and I was lucky to get into the two panels I waited in line for. Sadly, I missed three others I found really interesting. The first panel I was interested in on Saturday started at 9pm, and it was nonstop paneling or line-waiting from that time on.

[toadstoolssecretluvchild]

yeah it was too short, fix it 

nah! it was a fun time I enjoyed myself ^^


my only gripe was with the video rooms. while I was in there on Sunday it was a little annoying having to hear some of the staff barking out orders about the dealers room over and over again every 15 seconds. Also,  some people like to have conversation right outside the doors for some reason when they can tell there's a viewing in progress, then you have the people who like to yell of that balcony all day  :/  gets a little aggravating when it's drowning out the the sound of your show for 2 hours. I remember the video rooms use to be on the first floor in the back hallway near the Mall Events, that was find because it was more quiet back there then anywhere else.

[LouEthelip]

Its 9 a.m. monday morning. I'm back from the hotel. My thoughts about the convention could be summed up with "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

The Good: AMV (as always), Art & Charity Auction, Panel "From Fanfiction to Fiction", The Charity Poker Tournament (and finishing 5th in it)

The Bad: Missing out on Panels like "Anime Girl Fight", "How to pick up girls" (the later because I was still in the poker tournament)

The Ugly: Became extremely sick in the late afternoon on the 2nd day. As a result I had to leave the AMV overload early, and missed the karoke because I couldn't open my mouth without throwing up. Felt like I threw up everything I had eaten in the last week. I was within an hour of leaving the convention when I improved enough to do things and feel competant to do them.

Still I loved the convention and hope I'll feel better all three days so I can fully enjoy and exhaust myself.