Comments, Compliments, and Concerns for NDK 2010

[Aylegard]

The one thing my wife and I really wanted to say, because we know that the staff doesn't hear it enough:

THANK YOU!! Compared to last year, you did an incredible job managing people flow, lines, and the general congestion.  Awesome job, you guys worked your butts off.

While we may have missed a couple of panels because of it, emptying the rooms between each panel felt very fair and seemed to be done very smoothly.  It also seemed to make it easier for you guys to manage keeping the rooms at fire code levels. 

As far as lines snaking through the hotel and causing congestion, I don't think there's much you can do about it--it is a function of the space, though the ticketing idea might help that.

The only other suggestions we have are to have a tech type person assigned to Aspen at all times--EVERY panel we were in in that room had a problem with the projector or sound system.  That was the case last year, we think the room is cursed.
The other suggestion for large, highly popular events:  would it be possible to webcam or close circuit tv those events into an overflow room via the projectors?  That might give you a little more space for people and help the line sizes. . . .

[GimmeAnime]

Good job this year. Didn't see too many problems and the staff was good as usual.

-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.

I'll play the flip-side of this. Do you know how annoying it is to be trying to get somewhere and suddenly your way is blocked by someone(s) trying to take pictures in a hallway that you can't get around them without stepping between the photographer and the photographee? Please be mindful of the amount of traffic when taking pictures and realize people want to get to a panel, event, get food, go to the bathroom, etc.

SUGGESTION: Now that the restaurant at the end of the hotel is a private dining room, is there any chance it could be opened for attendees? I know that people will immediately start screaming "MAID CAFE!!", but that's up to the con and the hotel. At the very least, make the snack food in the atrium available in the dining room and give the attendees some extra gathering space so we might see less people sitting in the hallways.

[mastergods]

Now that I am more awake and can think. This year was handled and done really well. Thank you staff!
 The panels were never packed so badly I could not breathe but still full enough you there was no space for standing.

To my sign comment last night. Infront of every panel room is a little digital sign flashing different panels and times for different rooms. Can those be programed to show just the info they are with/if they are full or not?
The cosplay DVD is a great idea.
Saturday night panels were insane! namely the Blanca peak. I went from line, panel back to line all night.

Cosplay Chess. Please give up on the script. We will always lose that one person you picked as the final kill or lose your spot in the script though funny is also annoying. I had more fun during the speed round then the last year.

[Joeonewing]

The con this year was awesome. I have to say I love how you guys gave feedback on panels to the people running them. Also the new incentive should make even more panels next year. On that note though I do have some suggestions for area's to improve. First off is elevators. It was not nearly manned as well this year. I remember at one point having to ask attendees to let a handicapped person get on because other attendees kept cutting in front of her. I'm sure staff would not have allowed that if they were manned like last year. The 2nd issue is probably unrealistic with the current volunteer and staff number but with an attendance cap being put into place we need to find a way to enforce it for others who just go to the con and don't even buy a badge. Yes its nice to show up in cosplay but these people need to be supporting the con by buying a badge for their stay there or not take up hall space for those who have paid their dues to allow more room. I have heard from several people about how they just show up to cosplay and refuse to buy a badge. It may seem like a big screw you guys move but on the same note you guys need more support finical wise to help ensure con growth. My last suggestion would be to possible increase the con to a 4 day con. Its growing large enough that this could possible help alleviate some traffic and spread main events further apart so as to all attendees being able to go to what they would like. Such as AMVs on Friday and Cosplay on Saturday. If you open it up Thursday afternoon it gives just some breathing room. On that though I do know it would be tough to fill it up with panels and such so maybe with the current incentive this will be possible. Thanks though guys for continuing to run a great con every year and actually taking the time to review our feedback.

[colortheory]

This was my first NDK, so I went into it not knowing what to expect.   I've got to say, it's one of the best-run cons I've ever been to.   Well done.

My only major issue with the convention was the elevator situation.  I understand that one of the elevators to the tower broke halfway through the con, but I think that as a whole things could've probably gone better.  Taking two people from each line instead of just creating two lines seemed a little counter-intuitive.  The only thing it managed to do was create twenty minute-plus waits to get to hotel rooms (which made for cranky con-goers and con staff).  

[theshadow]

Now that I am more awake and can think. This year was handled and done really well. Thank you staff!
 The panels were never packed so badly I could not breathe but still full enough you there was no space for standing.

Thanks!

To my sign comment last night. Infront of every panel room is a little digital sign flashing different panels and times for different rooms. Can those be programed to show just the info they are with/if they are full or not?

This is a great idea, but I don't think it's possible. The hotel is in complete control of these signs and we have to make requests for them to be updated. They show the schedules because we provide them to the hotel ahead of time. We can double check though.

The cosplay DVD is a great idea.

This is an interesting idea, we'll look into it.

My only major issue with the convention was the elevator situation.  I understand that one of the elevators to the tower broke halfway through the con, but I think that as a whole things could've probably gone better.  Taking two people from each line instead of just creating two lines seemed a little counter-intuitive.  The only thing it managed to do was create twenty minute-plus waits to get to hotel rooms (which made for cranky con-goers and con staff).  

We completely agree with you and we'll be looking into it more closely. There is something all of you can do to help us manage this though. If you see anyone overloading and/or jumping, dancing, otherwise being obnoxious in the elevators bring it to the attention of a staff member or better yet, Operations. We took this very seriously this year and a couple of attendees did get their badge punched for breaking the rules.

[bakanekokun]

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.

Now that I am a bit awake- I quite agree to that suggestion. I got there as soon as I could after class which I got there roughly around noon and the hotel lot was full.  Then not to mention, I took four days off of work to come to the con so I kept budget limit on my mind throughout the con.  This year, just the hotel room(s) themselves- I spent roughly ~$575 US of my own money.  This doesn't include buying artists' stuff, dealers' items, pre-reg (for this year's con and next year), travel costs, food, and etc. even when I tried to keep those at the min. and not spurge crazy.  But that is what the con is all about- supporting the thing we love the most: anime.  In the cliche quote "Anime: crack is cheaper" is quite true.  Don't get me wrong- the extended parking lot which gave the con an extra 900 spaces was awesome plus at fair price of $10. But then I got mixed messages like whether it is $10/ day or $10/day/trip (meaning if you leave the lot during you will need to re-pay to park again) and shelling out another $30 for the whole weekend did make me squirm and re-think about my priorities.

[MagRowan]

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.”

This was the first year, but the area behind the registrations desk, when not in use for cosplay contest check in, was meant to be an open photoshoot area.  Several staff did their best to direct people in the hallway to use this area for taking photos of people instead of stopping in the hallways.

Unfortunately, since it was so new, I believe many people missed out that this area was for photo use, and hopefully, we will be able to advertise this open space better for next year.

[JazzyJailer]

I thought the con was great this year but I have a few comments.
A) The elevators/stairs.  I know it broke but maybe a little more organization would be nice?  I understand the lines and didn't mind waiting too much but...it was still a little hectic.  And also--the outside stairs!  There was a poster up that they were open aaaand they weren't.  I don't mind climbing a few flights to my room but maybe if we could keep it unlocked?
B) Hall crowding--if you're in a hurry, like I often was, could people pay a little more attention to their surroundings so that traffic can get through?  Don't sit in places people need to go.
C) Cosplay chess - be a notch more organized?  You got my piece mixed up and then the whole script thing...

And those are PRETTY much my only complaints bahaha.  I thought it was very fun and I enjoyed it.

[allpowerfulbob]

Hello everyone, thank you for all the feed back we have received thus far. Sorry for my late reply, but sleep took over last night

Why was there only one open door to the dealers room?  That just made it harder to in and out.

This really is a security issue for the dealers room, there have been multiple openings in the past and unfortunately prudence has forced a single doorway. Thank you for the suggestion though.

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.

This is a great idea, as we have an events staff person attending every panel I think that this should be a very easy thing to implement. As the shadow mentioned earlier, the digital screens are controlled by the hotel at a central computer. Unfortunately it's not plausible to update the screens live with a status of the attendance of the room.

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

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?

Thank you very much. If another attendee is making you feel uncomfortable please contact any staff member you see. We do have an  unwanted affection policy that is very strictly enforced. The staff will always do their best to make sure everyone feels safe and comfortable during the whole weekend.

-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.

Thank you, we think it helped out a great deal as well. However, I do want to clarify that this was not a registration line, it was a pre-registered badge pick up line. On site registration was available on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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.

This is a good idea that I will bring up to the hotel, unfortunately with the large number of attendees it was difficult to deliver food to the restaurant at times.

I thought the con was great this year but I have a few comments.
A) The elevators/stairs.  I know it broke but maybe a little more organization would be nice?  I understand the lines and didn't mind waiting too much but...it was still a little hectic.  And also--the outside stairs!  There was a poster up that they were open aaaand they weren't.  I don't mind climbing a few flights to my room but maybe if we could keep it unlocked?

I wasn't aware of any poster saying that the outside stairwells were open and/or unlocked. There is a very good reason that the stairs operate the way they do. You are always able to get out from a floor into the stairwells so that you can get outside in an emergency. However the doors are locked to get out on to the floors to prevent unwanted folks from gaining access to floors where they should not be. This is for the security of you and your valuables as much as anything else.

[Jinnie]

Elevators were staffed throughout the weekend, though we opted to let staff enjoy the convention during lighter traffic times. We limited certain elevators to certain floors (often with staff members riding inside them) to try to alleviate the wait.

The reality is, having additional strain of attendees ignoring elevator rules such as jumping (and then breaking elevators) doesn't help. And of course, with the number of attendees that we have, there is simply not an easy solution. I think making friends with others in line can also be a part of the convention that turns out to be fun. Still, thanks for your patience as we continue experimenting with ideas.

The 2nd issue is probably unrealistic with the current volunteer and staff number but with an attendance cap being put into place we need to find a way to enforce it for others who just go to the con and don't even buy a badge. Yes its nice to show up in cosplay but these people need to be supporting the con by buying a badge for their stay there or not take up hall space for those who have paid their dues to allow more room. I have heard from several people about how they just show up to cosplay and refuse to buy a badge.

Next year, we will be strictly enforcing a badge required policy for the entire hotel. We simply don't have the room anymore. If people are caught without a badge, they will be asked to leave the hotel.

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.

We're very proud that our Events schedule was so strong this year. While it is unfortunate that you were unable to see every panel you wanted to see because some occurred at the same time, we consider it a compliment that you thought so highly of what we offered. Thank you!

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.

We apologize for not having one up there in a more obvious spot. Thank you so much for pointing that out.

[Katie]

C) Cosplay chess - be a notch more organized?  You got my piece mixed up and then the whole script thing...

We are definately going to work on this for next year. We originally had a script so that we made sure everyone moved. But with what happened this year we're going to do away with it entirely. Seeing as most of you had more fun with the speed chess. I have Brian my MC for the game to thank for that idea! I'll be putting up a Cosplay Chess feedback thread here in a little bit.

[Pker Sora]

NDK 2010 as a whole I felt it was an improvement from 09. It has restored my faith in the con all together.

*Strong points
-Able to get into panels
I don't know how yall did it but when I got to the panels this year I didn't have to wait in line, with the exceptions of the main events. It might have been the way the schedule was made. I really hope you keep it up.
-Better staff
Unlike last year, the staff were much more kinder and able to answer my questions this year, but it did have some problems and that will come later.
-More Artist this year
Yea, it seemed like it to me.

*Weak points
-Elevator
it wasn't the people running it, but its the way yall ran it. In the elevator a sign reads, "Max of 18 people." Having only 6 people go in at a time seems like the rest of us are waiting along time to get anywhere. On the second night, I waited more than 30 mins to get to a friends room in the north tower. To make it worst, I ask a staff member who was running it where some stairs are. He replied  any con member caught going up or down the stairs will have their badge taken away. I felt that was unprofessional.
-Staff members
Like I said above yall were much better this year, but only one problem did occur. While heading into the dealers room a staff member grab and twist the shoulder of my  shirt to get a better look at my badge. I really, really don't like it when people grab me. I view it as a threat and I ask you make it clear to staff not to grab or touch con goers unless in a bad situation.
-Rave
I wasn't able to go to this years rave, but I will address older cons that have felt lacking in this area. I would like to see a professional DJ at the rave. Simply because they know what they are doing and have a much better music selection. Also, they get involve with the people, it's so enjoying when you have a very good DJ.

That's really it for me. I have read older posts about this subject and it seems that main concern was people getting in the way of photo shoots and going places. In a very tight place, yall cant do much about it. I know I would be walking down the hall getting somewhere and all of the sudden I would be in the way of a picture. I really didn't mean it but what can you do when you have so many people in such a small area?

I really look forward to what yall have plan for next year!

[allpowerfulbob]

NDK 2010 as a whole I felt it was an improvement from 09. It has restored my faith in the con all together.

*Strong points
-Able to get into panels
I don't know how yall did it but when I got to the panels this year I didn't have to wait in line, with the exceptions of the main events. It might have been the way the schedule was made. I really hope you keep it up.

Thank you very much for your comments and your praise. Greg worked very hard on the schedule and he came up with an amazingly well organized and fair schedule that everyone could enjoy.

*Weak points
-Elevator
it wasn't the people running it, but its the way yall ran it. In the elevator a sign reads, "Max of 18 people." Having only 6 people go in at a time seems like the rest of us are waiting along time to get anywhere. On the second night, I waited more than 30 mins to get to a friends room in the north tower. To make it worst, I ask a staff member who was running it where some stairs are. He replied  any con member caught going up or down the stairs will have their badge taken away. I felt that was unprofessional.

The numbers posted in the elevators are a maximum capacity. They are not listed as continuous usage, this is the reason why in the past the elevators have broken down. Far too many people were riding them and exceeding the weight limit.

Hopefully the staff member was not being rude to you, however it seems to me that they were informing you of the rules more to be of assistance to you.

-Staff members
Like I said above yall were much better this year, but only one problem did occur. While heading into the dealers room a staff member grab and twist the shoulder of my  shirt to get a better look at my badge. I really, really don't like it when people grab me. I view it as a threat and I ask you make it clear to staff not to grab or touch con goers unless in a bad situation.

Staff members should not be grabbing attendees, were you able to get the name of the staffer who did this to you? We would require this information to attempt to resolve issues.

Thank you for the feed back we always appreciate it!

[Ms. B. Lo]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE NDK! I have attended NDK for the past three years and 2010 was my fourth year. However, the ONLY problem I had was dealing with staff members and volunteers. Many of them were rude, and didn't know what was going on. As a result, their mistakes caused many others, including myself to suffer. (Such as waiting in the wrong pre-reg line because a volunteer told me specifically to wait in this line. Or allowing people to cut into the elevators when obviously I had been waiting for five minutes, and even a STAFF member was cut in line when he was getting food in the cafe lounge by rude NDK guests!) I believe that the staff needs to be more understanding, assertive and KNOW what they're doing to recognize their environment.

Two more complaints I have; the Marriott is incredibly understaffed during NDK. 3 tellers for an NDK convention is unreasonable, room service and needs are SLOW. (Which can probably be determined by being understaffed.) And finally, I would have liked the outdoor stairs to have been unlocked. It's a waste of electricity and money to be using the elevators every single time when you're only on the second or third floor.

Apart from the staff, NDK guests do need to act the way they would like to be treated. Being rude creates unhappiness, and I'm pretty sure, EVERYONE wants to be happy at NDK!

[theshadow]

-Elevator
it wasn't the people running it, but its the way yall ran it. In the elevator a sign reads, "Max of 18 people." Having only 6 people go in at a time seems like the rest of us are waiting along time to get anywhere. On the second night, I waited more than 30 mins to get to a friends room in the north tower. To make it worst, I ask a staff member who was running it where some stairs are. He replied  any con member caught going up or down the stairs will have their badge taken away. I felt that was unprofessional.

Yes the elevator cars have "Max of 18 people" in them but you have to understand that for the average elevator the wear and tear isn't expecting several car loads of 18 people. Adding to many people to the elevators increases the chance of elevator malfunctions. Six was a number we felt would best preserve the elevators throughout the weekend. Unfortunately due to some issues and some attendees who made poor choices the elevators did have issues. I hope this clarifies some things and why it is very important for all of us (attendees and staff included) to do our due diligence in preventing others from ruining it for everyone.

[JoadJoVae]

-Staff members
Like I said above yall were much better this year, but only one problem did occur. While heading into the dealers room a staff member grab and twist the shoulder of my  shirt to get a better look at my badge. I really, really don't like it when people grab me. I view it as a threat and I ask you make it clear to staff not to grab or touch con goers unless in a bad situation.

I apologize that you had this experience. We do have a policy in which we as staff are not allowed to touch or grab attendees, unfortunately we had a brand new set of staff running the dealers room this year and we may not have imprinted that in the particular staffer's head. The other thing is it could have been a volunteer, either way this was not fair to you and I am sorry. I do hope you know that we are checking for badges in order to keep things fair and safe at the convention and it does get a little difficult to quickly see badges when they are turned around or on the opposite side of your body (it is helpful when attendees hold their badges up so we can see them quickly and having more attendees do this may also help us in the future). We will be sure to bring this up at our next meeting and make 100% sure that each of our staffers know this rule as well as any volunteers we expect to have.  Again I am sorry you had a bad experience and we will do our best to see that it never happens again!

[darkshardsyuki]

-More Artist this year
Yea, it seemed like it to me.

We actually had 10 more artists groups then we did last year for a grand total of 44. We had a great group of artists this year and they did an amazing job, and deserve recognition for taking the time to create such amazing things. The attendees’ did an amazing job of keeping the traffic flowing and not blocking others from viewing the tables when they weren't looking themselves. So to everyone I want to say thanks for doing such a great job.

[Zakon]

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!!

Aw, I didn't know this!  That's such a good idea!  I'll be hoping for this for next year!  >:O

[Radical_Yue]

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.

Iron Chefs run about 3 hours long at any con. Making a video in 2 hours is quite a feat and cutting down on the time wouldn't be fair to the editors who are already working their butts off

Normally they show the editor's screen up on the main projector to show what they're working on. This normally just ticks off the editor >_>;; They like their videos to be a surprise but we can definitely consider it for next year. Of course, this would also require a bit more equipment...and basically...

The computers the editors were using? They were mine and Kisanzi's...The laptop to play "Who Want to Win Stuff?" belonged to our friend David (along with the camera to video tape the contestants) and the laptop we used to play AMVs was on loan from the amazing Scottanime x_X

All the equipment (with the exception of Scott's lappy) was bought, carried through the con and set up by non-staffers who wanted to put on a kick ass event

We would love to do it again next year, and while we wouldn't really be able to shave off anytime because...in the end, (mainly due to tech problems in the room -_-) every second was needed >_> However, we can no doubt find better ways to make it feel not as long =p

Thanks for the feedback! This was our first go at an Iron Chef that wasn't professionally organized (like they normally are) along with my first time running a panel and we really appreciate any comments you guys have