Atrium Balcony Decorating Contest 2010 - Feedback Thread

[MagRowan]

Thank you again to everyone who participated this year in our first ever Atrium Balcony Decorating Contest!

We would like to hear from everyone, those who participated, those who voted, and even just those who saw the balconies, to please give us feedback on what you thought went well and what you thought didn't go so well, and what you think could be done to make this contest better.  It was a trial year, so feedback of any variety is welcome and appreciated.

Please remember to keep criticism constructive.  Also, please keep feedback to the contest in general, do not attack or put down contestants personally.

[Mahou Shoujo Michi]

The only thing I can think of is next year, announce the contest earlier in the year. ^_^ Gives people more time to prepare.

[Rosie]

I was wondering if someone could post pictures of the winners. I don't remember all of them and I'd love to see which ones won!

[Zakon]

Overall, I know my friends and I had a blast working on our submission.  I only have one observation!

-Vote stuffing.  From our balcony, we saw a lot of people stuffing votes.  Is there anyway that we can record badge numbers with their vote?  Or have the voting box be at a table that is monitored?

Other than that, I loved all the entries, and it was a fun project to work on during the slower hours of the evenings!

In the end, though, it was fun.  I'm looking forward to next years contest!

[darkshardsyuki]

The voting was monitored, while we had groups hanging out there all weekend and there was a couple big rushes for voting we did not catch anyone comong back again and again to vote, or putting in a bunch at once, we would have stopped them if we had.

[Alitain]

I didn't see where to vote though, but I didn't go to opening ceremonies so not sure if it was announced there.  But I like some of the decors.  The Totoro cat bus was amusing, as well as Charlie the Unicorn.  There were a couple others that were uniquely decorated which was cool.  I do hope this is something NDK continues to do in the future.

[Xenarat]

I didn't see where to vote though, but I didn't go to opening ceremonies so not sure if it was announced there.  But I like some of the decors.  The Totoro cat bus was amusing, as well as Charlie the Unicorn.  There were a couple others that were uniquely decorated which was cool.  I do hope this is something NDK continues to do in the future.

Seconded. I really wanted to vote but I never actually saw where to do it

[Kerochan no Miko]

I never found out where to vote, and when my group tried to find out where we signed up our balcony for the contest we were sent from desk to desk and finally told "um, we don't know, come back later."

It's a great idea, but more organization and publicity would make it even better.

[darkshardsyuki]

There were signs out on either side of Artist Alley telling people where and when to vote for the balcony contest, I made them myself for both the Atrium and the artist table contests. They were at either entrance where they could be seen and the box was wrapped in bright paper so it was visible on the wall across from the live gaming room, special paper was also used to prevent duplication.

Please remember that this is the first year of the contest, it takes time to find out what works best and ways to improve it. Next year more people will know where to find the box and vote. Also if you took pictures of the balconies feel free to post a link here so more people can see the entries. Thanks.

[vitalogy]

I was wondering if someone could post pictures of the winners. I don't remember all of them and I'd love to see which ones won!

This is the NekoBus. (#7, Third Place)



As for the others, I have a picture of #4, The Ramen Shop, but it was not in it's final state, so I don't think it would be fair to share it.

Here is the Facebook Album documenting the creation of the NekoBus. It took us about six days off and on after the kids went to bed to complete.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66388&id=1619601471&l=a9da944670

[Ninevrise]

The main flaw that I noticed was having atrium balcony contest ballots available in bulk at the voting box. That makes it easy for dishonorable people to stuff the ballot box with several votes for their favorite balcony rather than just one like they are allowed. Ballots could be printed on red paper with grayscale (just one example) to make duplication hard, and then only one should be included with each registration packet. Anyone asking for a new ballot because they lost theirs could either be turned away or have their name written down and allowed only one replacement ballot.

Also, there should be a rule against "buying votes" by giving out bribes or incentives or personalized ballots.

I have to agree. I think the Balcony decorating contest was a total joke. People were buying votes by giving out treats as incentives. My son brought back Ramen cups from one of the contestants. If they give out "bribes" of any sort, it should be an automatic disqualify. I also think that the unattended ballot box was a very bad call. I think you should continue the contest, but it should be better thought out. The staff should have the ballot box and each attendee get one vote only. You should also consider having two catagories for the contest. One could be general attendees voting for their favorite. Second could be what display most represents the con itself, and is voted on by the staff. Also if staff is participating with their own display, they should have separate prizes from the regular attendees participating. It creates a conflict of interest.

The voting was monitored, while we had groups hanging out there all weekend and there was a couple big rushes for voting we did not catch anyone comong back again and again to vote, or putting in a bunch at once, we would have stopped them if we had.

When we went to vote we never saw anyone near the ballot box keeping tabs on the voting, and the paper was just day of the week notepaper, on which anyone could have easily cast multiple votes.

[darkshardsyuki]

Ninevrise, we have already mentioned that we have made new rules for next year to prevent this from happening again. Many people were unhappy about what happened, we have already taken steps to make sure it never happens again.

The vote box was next to our table in artist alley, we were there the entire time.

[Opinionated Fish]

Ninevrise, we have already mentioned that we have made new rules for next year to prevent this from happening again. Many people were unhappy about what happened, we have already taken steps to make sure it never happens again.

The vote box was next to our table in artist alley, we were there the entire time.

I was a bit worried about the balcony hanging bottles off of it. Back a few years ago, at A-Kon, there was a problem with the ceiling decorations at one of the concerts. A plastic part of the lights got knocked over by a beach ball during the concert and it fell smack down on an attendee sending them to the hospital. I don't want something like that to happen at NDK, so I think the rules should include a list of what kinds of materials may be used. Nothing heavy, and nothing actually sharp. Just in case. I heard that there was a bit of one of the displays that fell off and attacked the food court on the first night. Thank goodness it was only paper!

[Zarabadoo]

I was a bit worried about the balcony hanging bottles off of it. Back a few years ago, at A-Kon, there was a problem with the ceiling decorations at one of the concerts. A plastic part of the lights got knocked over by a beach ball during the concert and it fell smack down on an attendee sending them to the hospital. I don't want something like that to happen at NDK, so I think the rules should include a list of what kinds of materials may be used. Nothing heavy, and nothing actually sharp. Just in case. I heard that there was a bit of one of the displays that fell off and attacked the food court on the first night. Thank goodness it was only paper!

One of the rules was that if absolutely anything fell off of your balcony, you would be instantly disqualified. This was an attempt to prevent this sort of thing from happening. It isn't fully effective, obviously, but it is one of the better options that still allows the most creativity.

Now, this is not to say this part of the rules will not be amended. It is a pilot year and we certainly learned a lot from it. Safety is a concern for all of us at the convention and we take every experience and use it to make things better next time. We just don't want our rules to become more draconian than they need to be, thus ruining the fun aspects of it. It is certainly a delicate balance at times.

For these new types of events all the feedback is certainly welcome and wanted. We have had all sorts of chats where we attempt to compensate for as many situations as possible. Due to our human nature we will miss things and that is why we really do rely on your eyes and ears to help us. In your own way, you are all making this convention better and better.

[Zakon]

I have to agree. I think the Balcony decorating contest was a total joke. People were buying votes by giving out treats as incentives. My son brought back Ramen cups from one of the contestants. If they give out "bribes" of any sort, it should be an automatic disqualify.

Just to argue from our point of view (I was with the Ramen shop team)  We weren't handing out Ramen only to those who promised to vote for us.  We were trying to bring attention to the contest as a whole.  With every cup handed out, they were reminded to vote for their favorites at the voting box.  We got the ok from OPs, so in my view, what ideas we had for our theme was completely fair and viable.  I believe our idea was outside of the box and new.  Hopefully, next year, this will increase the ante as more people start to think of exciting, new ways to help promote their submission.

Sorry, if you didn't like what we did, but it fit our theme.  We definitely did not try to buy our votes, we just helped remind people of the contest in general.

[Amanime]

I have to agree. I think the Balcony decorating contest was a total joke. People were buying votes by giving out treats as incentives. My son brought back Ramen cups from one of the contestants. If they give out "bribes" of any sort, it should be an automatic disqualify. I also think that the unattended ballot box was a very bad call. I think you should continue the contest, but it should be better thought out. The staff should have the ballot box and each attendee get one vote only. You should also consider having two catagories for the contest. One could be general attendees voting for their favorite. Second could be what display most represents the con itself, and is voted on by the staff. Also if staff is participating with their own display, they should have separate prizes from the regular attendees participating. It creates a conflict of interest.

When we went to vote we never saw anyone near the ballot box keeping tabs on the voting, and the paper was just day of the week notepaper, on which anyone could have easily cast multiple votes.

I was part of the ramen shop and I'm sorry you feel that way about what we did with the ramen. I came up with it as part of our theme as a ramen shop and handing out ramen, we ran the idea by ops and got approval. When I handed them out I told people have the ramen for free but please remember to vote and pointed them to the vote box. It was never meant to be, You Have To Vote For Us Or No Ramen For You.
I felt that it helped people know that there was a contest, most of the people I talked to had no idea there was a contest going on. I don't think it was wrong to promote the contest.
I hope that clears up why we handed out ramen.
Thank you to everyone who voted I had a blast decorating the balcony. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with next year!!

[Zakon]

I was part of the ramen shop and I'm sorry you feel that way about what we did with the ramen. I came up with it as part of our theme as a ramen shop and handing out ramen, we ran the idea by ops and got approval. When I handed them out I told people have the ramen for free but please remember to vote and pointed them to the vote box. It was never meant to be, You Have To Vote For Us Or No Ramen For You.
I felt that it helped people know that there was a contest, most of the people I talked to had no idea there was a contest going on. I don't think it was wrong to promote the contest.
I hope that clears up why we handed out ramen.
Thank you to everyone who voted I had a blast decorating the balcony. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with next year!!

Way to say exactly what I just said...XD

[Kerochan no Miko]

There were signs out on either side of Artist Alley telling people where and when to vote for the balcony contest, I made them myself for both the Atrium and the artist table contests. They were at either entrance where they could be seen and the box was wrapped in bright paper so it was visible on the wall across from the live gaming room, special paper was also used to prevent duplication.

There were? I walked through Artist Alley many, many times and saw neither signs nor a voting box. If it was sitting by a table I probably assumed the box was part of that artist's table or something.

I also saw people handing out ramen but never realized it was an ad for the ramen-shop balcony.

[vitalogy]

Full disclosure:  I am part of Team NekoBus. I agree with comments that the other half of my team made in another thread.

The main flaw that I noticed was having atrium balcony contest ballots available in bulk at the voting box. That makes it easy for dishonorable people to stuff the ballot box with several votes for their favorite balcony rather than just one like they are allowed. Ballots could be printed on red paper with grayscale (just one example) to make duplication hard, and then only one should be included with each registration packet. Anyone asking for a new ballot because they lost theirs could either be turned away or have their name written down and allowed only one replacement ballot.

Also, there should be a rule against "buying votes" by giving out bribes or incentives or personalized ballots.

Most of my other concerns are already going to be addressed, but here they are for the record.

My comment on “Promotion” – While it is appreciated that the Ramen Shop was trying to generate interest in the contest, it was not perceived that way by a number of people in or out of the contest. When the second place entry received less than thirty total votes and the total number of votes was about one hundred and fifty – unfortunately the fact that they promoted in this way, it looks and sounds bad. On a side note, I don’t believe that Ops should have approved this promotion without discussing the matter with the Press/Public Relations groups that wrote the rules and “sponsored” the contest. However, what is done is done.

“Voting Window” – Many people that did not see the signs at the end of Artist’s Alley and even I (and I like to think I am semi intelligent) found them confusing.  The voting window should have been for all day Saturday and not cut off in time to be announced during halftime at Cosplay. I do not enjoy Cosplay but still found myself there because I had the vested interest. Not to mention that I have had more than a few people tell me that they didn’t know where and when to vote.

“Artist’s Choice” – Akin to Best in Show, I think that the Artists in AA should get to pick a favorite. Heck, they have to stare at them all weekend. I’m sure they formed an opinion.

Thank you for the contest and the opportunity to use our artistic expression. Congratulations to the other winners and hope to see you and your works again next year at NDK!

 

[Zakon]

My comment on “Promotion” – While it is appreciated that the Ramen Shop was trying to generate interest in the contest, it was not perceived that way by a number of people in or out of the contest. When the second place entry received less than thirty total votes and the total number of votes was about one hundred and fifty – unfortunately the fact that they promoted in this way, it looks and sounds bad. On a side note, I don’t believe that Ops should have approved this promotion without discussing the matter with the Press/Public Relations groups that wrote the rules and “sponsored” the contest. However, what is done is done.

Well, I apologize that it seems to be in that light.  We had no idea that no one else would chose to promote their idea.  Even if you were to go down to the floor and point people in your direction.  We felt it was very appropriate for our theme, and was still inside the rulings.  Again, to make it known, as it seems we're being painted as "the bad guys" here.  We WERE NOT buying votes.  We were handing Ramen to anyone and everyone who wanted some.  I'd say we saw a good 4th of our handouts walk away without even voting, and we were OK with that.  We were doing it for the fun of it.  And as I said in an earlier post:  While we were expressing what group we were from, we WERE NOT pressuring people for votes.  Anyone who wanted Ramen, took some, regardless of what vote, if any, that they cast.

It makes me sad to see that so many people are upset by this.  We had a good idea that gave us an edge, and suddenly it's wrong to do?  My question is that if we had not won, would everyone still have had this problem?  That's just poor sportsmanship.  But it has been noted for next year.  We'll be more careful in our choices to bring attention to our submission and/or the contest as a whole next year, and the years after.

“Artist’s Choice” – Akin to Best in Show, I think that the Artists in AA should get to pick a favorite. Heck, they have to stare at them all weekend. I’m sure they formed an opinion.

I think this is a fantastic idea!  I'd also like to see a staff favorite vote, even if there are staff submissions.  I think this would be a fun twist.

All in all, thank you, everyone, who took part in setting this contest up, and apologies to everyone who thought we bought votes.  It was all done in good spirit and with the rules in mind.  It was really fun, even with all this stress  , and I look forward to next years submissions!