Kumoricon 2012 Rants and Raves!

[veraca]

Speaking of that flyer, nevermind the actual images of the characters- I could hardly make out the text of their names. It was so blurred and contorted that I just didn't bother.

[yelloweyedowl]

Oh, I had totally spaced about this earlier, but I just now remembered: The cosplay scavenger hunt flyer this year was really poorly done, image quality-wise. I know that the info booth has full pictures of everyone on the list, but the flyer itself was nearly illegible. It looked like whoever made it didn't have access to professional-quality image editing software. Is there an official place to volunteer to do it next year? I'm a professional image editor and totally wouldn't mind helping out.

The publicity department handles most of the Kumoricon publications and graphic design and we would love to have you on our staff.  We are currently in the process of electing our Board of Directors, with elections being held on September 29th.  Kumoricon staff signups usually open up at the general staff meeting after elections, which should be in October or November.  The specific date and location of the staff meeting will be announced on the Meetings Board, as well as the www.Kumoricon.org home page, Facebook and Twitter.  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about staffing or signups.

[Tank]

Hey everyone, yoji 1 here

I know I took enough time off of con to cool off, and here are a couple of things people might not have known. 

1. We have enough yoji to keep con sane.  That's about it.  We're trying to keep 4800 people happy and not moving too much, and out of the sun, and organized, and from being confused, as well as handle some behind the scenes issues, as well as... Well the list continues.
2. I'm sorry we cant fix everything.  I know that you want to go to your panel, but here's our catch.  We can:
a. Tell the 50 people that have magically appeared to go away for 10 minutes. (they will mill about the line start area anyway)
b. Let them stay, because its close enough and there will be upset con goers, but we wont have to worry about 50 people who wont move anyway.
[addendum] We're stuck in a catch 22 here.  Tell them to move and be called rude and the people who would have shown up (on-time/late) wouldn't have noticed. Or get the rants we've heard here. Sorry, its like making the decision between shooting yourself in the left or right foot.
3. Training every yojimbo to be up to the standard of the multi-year veterans is really, REALLY hard.  There are a lot of lessons that are learned from experience, sometimes just blasting instructions on how to handle 100 different situations that can be each handled 10 different ways isn't going to stick.
4. We had about 15-20 (sorry I cant remember the exact number) yoji that actually stayed on.  That's 15-20 people who are doing the following:
a. watching your lines for the dealers hall
b. handling behind the scenes situations so they dont become the convention as a wholes problem
c. keeping hallways clear
d. watching the dances to keep them sane
e. watching the adult panels
f. so tired none of them can think (trust me, i've been there)
5. That number of yoji? Yea, that's not for the shift.  Thats for the con.  Try getting enough sleep into them. How about food? Water? Not the easiest task ever.


I'd now like to take the time to address the issue now commonly referred to as the "EMT situation"
 I apologize that your feelings may have been hurt, but a con-goers safety and health were on the line if the emt's couldnt get to her.  WHEN SOMEONE INJURES BONE OR JOINT ONLY EMTS CAN MOVE THEM.
Oh also? SHE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DANCE.  So yea, i/we yelled, but her permanent health may have been on the line and that was infinitely more important to me than that we were a little rude. 

So... Sorry.

We're always trying to make con a more positive experience to the vast majority of the con goers.  We're really trying to fix issues that have cropped up in the past as well as prepare for things that might happen in the future. 

Wanna rant-rave toward me or my yoji? Public or private i more than welcome it, it will help me to get my guys (and gals) better prepared for 2013.

BTW: YOJI ARE THE BEST DEPT AND THE BEST PEOPLE I COULD HAVE EVER ASKED FOR TO WORK FOR ME AND CON (not in that order). I LOVE ALL OF YOU AND HOPE VERY DEARLY TO SEE ALL OF YOU NEXT YEAR! KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT!

[Kimiski]

Arriving at 5:00pm for a panel that starts at 5:30pm and being the 110th person in line is more than a handful of ten people wanting to line up a bit early, 10 minutes, before the line up time.

While I completely understand the under-staffing and stressful position of the yoji, I still say that if there's going to be rules, they either need to be enforced, or demolished, or changed somehow (to maybe an hour wait limit) or it's not fair for people who follow the rules on their end, but then get well, "screwed over" by the one's who set the rules to begin with. You can't just set rules then not enforce them. It just adds to a lack of faith for people to follow the rules in the future. I know as an attended- it has for me in the past as well.

"Oh they SAY no one can line up 30 minutes before, but you know they will let people, so let's go do it."

I'm not putting this all on the yogi- some other things (like the time limit) may need to be changed around so these types of things can actually be upheld so attendees don't have to worry about it. We did so well with the 30 minute rule line one year, why the big difference this year?

[veraca]

I want to imagine the 30 min line rule was fine in that one year because of the staff size, attendee size and the hotel size, however it is one of those rules that needs to be addressed. It's fine if people want to chill against a wall and aren't in line, but when people are clearly forming a line for a panel that doesn't start for another hour or so, staff should be aware of this and ask them to move because of the 30 minute rule that is currently in place.
Having a rule in place and then not enforcing it is like a suggestion or a piece of advice. You can't make it a rule that people ask for hugs or photos before them- it's a well-suggested piece of courtesy given nowadays. But the 30-min line thing is a rule and can be realistically enforced, and has been at smaller locations.

Like Kimiski said, there are a lot of attendees who have the thought or mindset from past years/cons that "oh they say, but they'll let us" and will attempt to line up anyway. However, there are those who might not even be aware that there is a 30-minute rule in place, or even think that there could even be a possibility for a line rule.

[Jamiche]

We have had the 30-min lineup rule for a few years now (since the downtown Hilton, I believe), and it is something that we have not always enforced to the best of our ability.  It is something that we are trying to, however.  Better communication of it (to our staff, posting signs in the area, bigger font in con-book/pocket guide, perhaps) is something we will definitely work on for future con.

I know it's frustrating... I've experienced it myself as both staff as an attendee... but we are trying make it work, and we very much appreciate your patience with the process.

[Tank]

I totally agree with Jamiche, and we (yojimbo) are trying to do better year after year, but with how little manpower we have to the size of the con, we had to focus priority on other areas. Again, I'm sorry that we couldn't make it happen like we had hoped, and I'm sorry you may have missed your panel.

[angryginger00]

So yea, i/we yelled, but her permanent health may have been on the line and that was infinitely more important to me than that we were a little rude. 

Thank you for speaking my mind Tank. 

I would also like to point out that it is also a matter of priority for the Yoji.  At the same time that lines were forming would also be about the same time that Code Adam's would start coming over the radio.  Now if you are one of the few the proud the Yoji.  You have a decision to make, you can either go stop the line from forming so everyone feels like they were treated fairly.  Or you can go help find the missing child and have some feelings hurt because attendees underestimated how popular a panel was going to be. 

I really hope this isn't a hard decision to make in your head. 

Also massive kudos to the Yoji team this year 16 code adam's with a 100% success ratio.  For what the Yoji had this year they did a excellent job.

[DSaturn]

It think if the line up rule was changed to an hour as opposed to 30 min. more people would be more likely to follow it. As a con-veteran I've noticed that an hour seems to be the point that most people start lining up anyways. Especially first time con goers who don't know the "this is what they say, but this is what happens" and who try to follow the rules because that's all they know, get frustrated with it not being enforced. The rest of us know that people tend not to follow this rule and we know to at least check to see if the line is forming early. With an hour being the standard start time (that I noticed) anyways, and the shortness of staffing not being able to disperse lines that form to early, I don't see why moving line up from 30min to an hour would hurt.

[Jamiche]

I don't see why moving line up from 30min to an hour would hurt.

Overlap of panel times.  If we have two or three popular panels starting at the same time, in the same area, then that is a lot of people waiting in line.  For example:  Panel A starts at 1pm, Panel B starts at 1:30pm, and they are right next to each other.  If we allow people to line up 1hr ahead of time, then there is a half an hour when both panels have people waiting in them.  And that's in addition to people just moving through the space to get somewhere else: think of the second floor of the Hilton.  In some areas, we just don't have the room for it.

Sometimes it happens that panels start at the same time, but we try and schedule things so the start times are a little spread out, which in turn allows us to stagger the lines.

There is no perfect solution, but we will keep trying our best to improve the situation.

[Washougal_Otaku]

I totally agree with Jamiche, and we (yojimbo) are trying to do better year after year, but with how little manpower we have to the size of the con, we had to focus priority on other areas. Again, I'm sorry that we couldn't make it happen like we had hoped, and I'm sorry you may have missed your panel.

With that being said, there are cases in which Yojimbo could ask other staff for assistance, instead of dismissing them. I've also heard of a couple of cases where some Yojimbo would have 12+ hour shifts with no breaks, and had been denied a conclusion to their shifts because they had to watch one more panel room. I understand that Yojimbo is one of the most busiest positions our con has; I was Yojimbo once before. I do think that many of the problemsduring the past few years have been a case of (no offense intended) poor management. Some of these problems could be avoided with proper scheduling, and better training. Obviously, there's going to be countless situations that can't be trained for, but many can, including recognizing fellow staff and asking them for some help.

[hieis_girl1]

I totally agree with Jamiche, and we (yojimbo) are trying to do better year after year, but with how little manpower we have to the size of the con, we had to focus priority on other areas. Again, I'm sorry that we couldn't make it happen like we had hoped, and I'm sorry you may have missed your panel.

With that being said, there are cases in which Yojimbo could ask other staff for assistance, instead of dismissing them. I've also heard of a couple of cases where some Yojimbo would have 12+ hour shifts with no breaks, and had been denied a conclusion to their shifts because they had to watch one more panel room. I understand that Yojimbo is one of the most busiest positions our con has; I was Yojimbo once before. I do think that many of the problemsduring the past few years have been a case of (no offense intended) poor management. Some of these problems could be avoided with proper scheduling, and better training. Obviously, there's going to be countless situations that can't be trained for, but many can, including recognizing fellow staff and asking them for some help.

The main problems that Yoji has are 1. not all the people who sign up for Yoji actually SHOW UP to con, and 2. There are consistently new Yoji staffers, and with such a small number of Yoji to begin with, especially multi-year vets, it's difficult to even find the time to give a proper training session to all the new Yoji. If there were more staffers that signed up to be Yoji, and all of them committed to showing up to con, then it would be a different story.

[Chef McM]

I have been curious if there are any specific intentions that the organizers have regarding the overall size of K-con.  It does certainly seem that the number of Yoji and other staff, as well as the venue, are not quite sufficient to keep things from getting chaotic at times given the number of people.  I personally don't find that going to programming at Kumori is usually worth the current level of hassle and wait times, so I've been more focused on enjoying other parts of the con instead, such as gaming.  Has there ever been consideration of trying to limit the size of the con until there is more staff or a bigger venue in place (not that there necessarily is a way to do this that won't upset at least some people) or would the organizers prefer to see the con attendance continue to grow regardless?

As a matter of personal taste, I love smaller, more laid-back conventions, but obviously bigger attendance has advantages in terms of revenue, which can be used to further improve the con.  K-con seems to be stuck in the middle right now. On one hand there are more than enough attendees that events are often uncomfortably crowed, things like lines and elevators are rather problematic, and the yoji are spread too thin and often have to be uptight to get their job done as a result.  However, Kumori is not big enough to get any of the nice big-con perks such as the high-profile/Japanese guests, big facilities, and professional security that you get with an event like Sakura-con.

[Lady In Red]

I can understand the idea behind limiting the size of the con, but how freaking bad would that be?
I know if I was one of the people who didn't get in I'd be really upset and super mad.
People who sign up to be staff need to be kind and keep that promise, not limit the con size!
Thank you to the staff who stuck through with it and work so hard for us! If I wasn't so far away, I'd love to staff, but alas 300-somthing miles is pretty far.

[TanisNikana]

We've limited the con in size before, but we've had such a terrible venue those years that people were okay with it, and didn't want to show up! But yeah, in attempts to look away from caps, we're starting to dwell on occupying the OCC, maybe. In a few years. Perhaps. Maybe. Not for certain. And not the whole thing, if we do.

[Bresslol]

I have been curious if there are any specific intentions that the organizers have regarding the overall size of K-con.  It does certainly seem that the number of Yoji and other staff, as well as the venue, are not quite sufficient to keep things from getting chaotic at times given the number of people.  I personally don't find that going to programming at Kumori is usually worth the current level of hassle and wait times, so I've been more focused on enjoying other parts of the con instead, such as gaming.  Has there ever been consideration of trying to limit the size of the con until there is more staff or a bigger venue in place (not that there necessarily is a way to do this that won't upset at least some people) or would the organizers prefer to see the con attendance continue to grow regardless?

As a matter of personal taste, I love smaller, more laid-back conventions, but obviously bigger attendance has advantages in terms of revenue, which can be used to further improve the con.  K-con seems to be stuck in the middle right now. On one hand there are more than enough attendees that events are often uncomfortably crowed, things like lines and elevators are rather problematic, and the yoji are spread too thin and often have to be uptight to get their job done as a result.  However, Kumori is not big enough to get any of the nice big-con perks such as the high-profile/Japanese guests, big facilities, and professional security that you get with an event like Sakura-con.

I would suggest you post this as a question to candidates in the elections forum.

[Dealrith]

This is some great feedback folks. Keep it coming.


Towards line control and folks lining up before the 30 minute time. At this point its kind of been beaten to the ground and the team knows its a thorn in folks side. I've started a thread for folks to start posting some suggestions for fixing the issue so lets move that topic to there.
https://www.kumoricon.org/forums/index.php?topic=17430.0


Another topic I think was touched on was Yoji asking other departments for help to alleviation the amount of work on them.
Its a nice idea but it requires taking into account the fact that some departments have their staff requirements fulfilled before con to the point of actually dwarfing the amount of time the Yoji team puts in within the 3-5 days that Yoji are asked to work during con.
Because of this, except for emergencies, its not right to ask/require them to do more at con. They've worked hard to.
Now anyone who wants to help the Yoji team is always welcome to check in and ask if their is anything they can do or, if they're itching for even more, sign up to be Yoji before con so they can be added into the tally. I wouldn't recommend the latter of the two options though for those of the feint of heart or just unsure because it becomes a problem if you want to stop being Yoji mid con cause we have to change our staffing requirements.

So truthfully its a nice idea but it isn't something that can be asked on top of what they do but instead needs be something that person wants to do.


Towards loosing Yoji because they don't show up. Coming from someone who staffs other volunteer events there is actually an expectation that only about 1/2 to 2/3rds of your signed up volunteers will show. There are exceptions and some of our other departments are great examples of that. When you're pulling from just regular walk-ins though its what is there. We could change this around by instilling a better screen of those who volunteer but that brings its own problems. Considering most of the newer Yojis I saw this year were part of that walk-in crowed I would hate to get rid of that.
Another possibility though of helping with this though would be to instead plan for only 50% of the ones who sign up and add in the extras when they get there.




Towards the last topic I'll hit on for now. Limiting the size of the con.
As Tanis said in years past this has been something that has come up.
Never because we didn't have enough staff though to handle the size of the con but instead because the con space couldn't handle more than the limit.

To elaborate on why here are two points:

1) With every year of growth our staff as increased. This is because with new attendees we get more, for lack of a better term right now, stock to increase the team's size. If we capped we would be missing out on this increase.
Now there is the argument that there are attendees who have been coming for years who would become staff. Being one of those people myself its a valid point.
So maybe gearing ourselves to improve our recruiting methods instead to try and bring more veteran attendees in would be a better plan.

2) Limiting a con size also kills expansion of the con in the sense of what we have to offer. Remember, Kumoricon is a Japanese cultural convention that is powered by the attendees. With each new attendee we get we have that one extra possibility of adding another event/panel to the list of things to do. So capping the attendance for the convention can actually take away from the experience of not just those who couldn't register but also those at the convention.

[Tsukinya]

Now there is the argument that there are attendees who have been coming for years who would become staff. Being one of those people myself its a valid point.
So maybe gearing ourselves to improve our recruiting methods instead to try and bring more veteran attendees in would be a better plan.

As far as recruiting more staff goes, I know for myself, there were several reasons I hesitated to become staff (as a veteran attendee):

• At Opening/Closing ceremonies, there was a brief announcement stating "we need more staff, so please come volunteer if you're interested."  This addresses the need for volunteers during con, when people likely have their schedules planned out already and their con time booked.  Though, granted, we get many volunteers in, so this still certainly helps.  However, it does not help our staff count much, as I don't see many efforts toward staff recruitment for the subsequent year.  It's a passing mention, if spoken of at all.
• When mention of staffing was forthcoming, it was always in the form of "we need more people in this department, so come speak to me if you'd be interested."  I was already interested in becoming staff, so I dug deeper to see which jobs this actually entailed, but it still took me an extra year to sign up as staff.  I believe if some of the jobs were more clearly outlined (something verbal at con - not everyone is on the forums/website), something specific would spark someone's interest enough to get him/her to sign up as staff.  For me, I had the interest; I simply didn't know what to sign up for.
• Staff perks.  Coming in, I had no idea the benefits that actually came along with being staff, eg: you get fed, you don't have to wait in any lines, reduced/free admission to con, the summer BBQ and party after clean-up.  Knowing these things ahead of time would entice more people to volunteer their time.
• The biggest deterrent was giving up my con time.  I love attending con, and I didn't want to be stuck staffing it the entire time.  However, I found with enough staff, schedules can be flexible, and I was able to attend the panels I wanted to anyway.  If more people are aware of this, the position of staff would be more attractive.

I think overall, if the position of staff was better advertised, we would have many more sign-ups

[TanisNikana]

The biggest deterrent was giving up my con time.  I love attending con, and I didn't want to be stuck staffing it the entire time.  However, I found with enough staff, schedules can be flexible, and I was able to attend the panels I wanted to anyway.  If more people are aware of this, the position of staff would be more attractive.[/li][/list]

Ha, attending stuff. I got to see ten minutes of closing ceremonies, and that was it! Nothing more than that!

Maybe we do need more staff.

[@random]

^/^^ If it helps explain the discrepancy between Tsukinya's and TanisNikana's experiences, staff are always welcome (but absolutely not required) to work more hours than the minimum. One of these days, though, we hope to have enough staff that (like TanisNikana said) no one needs* to work an insane number of hours.

_{* - But I'm pretty sure there will always be people who want to work an insane number of hours anyway. That's just how some folks are wired.** (^_~)}

** - says the guy who stayed glued to the info booths most of the con, despite having an awesome staff who kept them running just fine.

[Naitron]

The biggest deterrent was giving up my con time.  I love attending con, and I didn't want to be stuck staffing it the entire time.  However, I found with enough staff, schedules can be flexible, and I was able to attend the panels I wanted to anyway.  If more people are aware of this, the position of staff would be more attractive.[/li][/list]

Ha, attending stuff. I got to see ten minutes of closing ceremonies, and that was it! Nothing more than that!

Maybe we do need more staff.

Hahaha please!  I was at the Red Lion ops room when closing ceremonies was happening.  Didn't even know con was over until someone told me at 6pm haha.  But it's all good cause I knew what I signed up for when I became a staff member.  

[angryginger00]

The biggest deterrent was giving up my con time.  I love attending con, and I didn't want to be stuck staffing it the entire time.  However, I found with enough staff, schedules can be flexible, and I was able to attend the panels I wanted to anyway.  If more people are aware of this, the position of staff would be more attractive.[/li][/list]

Ha, attending stuff. I got to see ten minutes of closing ceremonies, and that was it! Nothing more than that!

Maybe we do need more staff.

Careful Nai talk like that will get you promoted in my department lol.

Hahaha please!  I was at the Red Lion ops room when closing ceremonies was happening.  Didn't even know con was over until someone told me at 6pm haha.  But it's all good cause I knew what I signed up for when I became a staff member.  

Careful Nai, comments like that will just get you promoted under me lol.

[veraca]

I know one thing that deters me from staffing is how many hours are required and how flexible the schedule to work can be since I am never at the hotel and have to drive in. Staffing's fun, but if I'm not there during the normal hours I would be for attending (usually 9am-1am) then I can't help with staffing at all since I'm either limited with rides in cars, as either the driver or the passenger.

[yelloweyedowl]

I know one thing that deters me from staffing is how many hours are required and how flexible the schedule to work can be since I am never at the hotel and have to drive in. Staffing's fun, but if I'm not there during the normal hours I would be for attending (usually 9am-1am) then I can't help with staffing at all since I'm either limited with rides in cars, as either the driver or the passenger.

There is always the option of having a position that entails primarily before-con work.  Publicity has a lot of these positions, and even some that can be done remotely (though it's still nice to attend meetings if you can). I'm not as familiar with the other departments, but I know Relations has a few as well. There is usually a small time commitment at-con, but there is a fair amount of flexibility as to when as long as you make your time restrictions known early on.

[Kimiski]

It also depends on which department and what job you are doing-

If you are interested in something, some help is better than none, so even volunteering is good, I'd talk to the director of the department you may be interested in staffing during one of our meetings, and see what they can do with how much you can put into staffing/volunteering hour wise.

[Tank]

We did expect to lose yoji between sign up and con.  However, the rate of loss was higher than we've been used to. Normally its about 2/3 will show and work at least 1 shift.  Pretty sure this year it was even lower and we had a higher dropout rate even after that.

That said, i love my vets to death.  Gluttons for punishment, each and every one of ya!


-Tank

[Naitron]

The biggest deterrent was giving up my con time.  I love attending con, and I didn't want to be stuck staffing it the entire time.  However, I found with enough staff, schedules can be flexible, and I was able to attend the panels I wanted to anyway.  If more people are aware of this, the position of staff would be more attractive.[/li][/list]

Ha, attending stuff. I got to see ten minutes of closing ceremonies, and that was it! Nothing more than that!

Maybe we do need more staff.

Careful Nai talk like that will get you promoted in my department lol.

Hahaha please!  I was at the Red Lion ops room when closing ceremonies was happening.  Didn't even know con was over until someone told me at 6pm haha.  But it's all good cause I knew what I signed up for when I became a staff member.  

Careful Nai, comments like that will just get you promoted under me lol.

Ginger please!  I'm taking over if anything and you'll be my grunt

[angryginger00]

The biggest deterrent was giving up my con time.  I love attending con, and I didn't want to be stuck staffing it the entire time.  However, I found with enough staff, schedules can be flexible, and I was able to attend the panels I wanted to anyway.  If more people are aware of this, the position of staff would be more attractive.[/li][/list]

Ha, attending stuff. I got to see ten minutes of closing ceremonies, and that was it! Nothing more than that!

Maybe we do need more staff.

Careful Nai talk like that will get you promoted in my department lol.

Hahaha please!  I was at the Red Lion ops room when closing ceremonies was happening.  Didn't even know con was over until someone told me at 6pm haha.  But it's all good cause I knew what I signed up for when I became a staff member.  

Careful Nai, comments like that will just get you promoted under me lol.

Ginger please!  I'm taking over if anything and you'll be my grunt

FINALLY!!!!!! I am free from the managment side of things