This year's convention is terrible... (Ideas to make it better in years to come?

[sabata]

i did see a lot of making out, and all of them had passes. i was thinking, soooo your paying 40 bucks to be sitting outside and anime convention making out wearing normal clothing............WHADEFUH?

[EveofAbyss]

I have to admit I had a bit issue with the sheer amount of out-of-control and just plain RUDE unaccompanied minors.  No offense to those in the under-18 crowd who know how to act like civil human beings,  but a lot of the younger crowd seemed to be doing absoutely EVERYTHING they could to give us all a bad name.  It got so frustrating that I found myself muttering "fricking Yellow Badges..." with disdain.

A few things witnessed:

- Young kids making out and exploring their sexuality on the sidewalks in front to the hotel.
- Young kids sprawled out on the sidewalk like beached whales.  My friend politely said, "excuse me, we're walking here..." and they rudely said "yeah, you DO that", did not care AT ALL that they were blocking the way on the already crowded sidewalks.
- Young kids screaming obscenities at other con-goers as well as people in public
- Young kids riding the elevators, pushing every button and snapping pictures of people whenever the doors opened on a floor.
- Young kids running around asking for hugs and dancing on people (when asked to stop, they did not)
- Young kids screaming about rape in public in front of non-convention goers.

Did anyone else feel like this year's con was over-run with out-of-control preteens with no consideration for others?  It was very frustrating.

Oh good lord, yes.. I saw some of this stuff.  Particularly the kids making out, which I saw in the line for the vendors area.  -_- honestly not appropriate.  There was also a lot of unnecessary shouting and screaming which sometimes disrupted the panels.  

Exactly this. The general age (or more importantly, the maturity level) of the Kumoricon attendee seemed to drop disgustingly this year. The constant public antics were so bad (just simple out-of-control inanities) that I, like many others, felt more comfortable in my hotel room (and that's where I ended up spending most of my time, sadly). I don't even know how this could be fixed, other than...as harsh as this may sound, you have to admit the truth...kicking attendees out upon first or second offenses.

You have to admit...it would really be the perfect comb to filter out the ticks on the dog that is Kumoricon.

It just shows, you can't grant independence to some people, because they just can't handle it. I think independence must be earned, and perhaps that should be considered.

[sabata]

Woof? i never really got in trouble. no one got mad, except for one guy because i was trying to cheer him up. i ended up giving him one of those delicous sodas. and he said that i was handsdown his favorite after that

[reppy]

I didn't have too many negative run-ins with hotel staff.  I did have a couple of male staffers joking with me about my crossplay (I had just walked out of the restrooms.)  "Which bathroom do you use?  Male or female?"  I laughed and didn't really answer.  Don't remember what, or if I said anything.  Most likely just joking around with them and such, but I did remember that when I was in the bathroom, I couldn't get any water (or soap) to come out of the automatic dispensers.  So I told them, they made a joke saying maybe the dispensers couldn't tell if I was in the right bathroom.  But, they did seem at least genuinely concerned and immediately sent out a message to get it fixed.  At the time, I didn't think they were being jerks, but reading a lot of comments makes me wonder if they were.  All I know is at the time I wasn't offended.

Any time I ended up stopping for whatever reason in a spot where apparently I wasn't supposed to be, I was always quick to get out of the way if a staffer said we weren't supposed to be blocking it.  I would usually follow that up with a "I'm sorry," and they'd say "It's no problem."

Certain behavior by staff is completely unacceptable.  But try to remember all the people at the con that may have annoyed you.  Those kids that were talking too loudly and smarting off to everyone?  What makes you think they were any nicer towards staff?  So don't feel too insulted if a hotel staff member raises their voice at you.  They kind of have to, since it's incredibly loud.

The homeless were irritating to me.  I don't want to seem insensitive and say "be homeless somewhere else" but there were a few times where I felt unsafe in my crossplay and being panhandled.  I'm 24; I can only imagine how the young kids felt.

I also didn't much care for all the kids hanging out on the sidewalks, with their legs stretched out and stuff.  I was walking down them with a friend I met a the con and one of them dropped a plastic pop bottle. Well, it either dropped or fell.  Anyways, she picked it up and kind of made a little bit of an issue about it and one of them (reluctantly?) took it back.  (Personal note: I hate it when people litter.)  Then there was the kids making out.  OK, I understand you're young and in love and whatever.. personally, I don't want to see it.  I don't want to see 2 girls kissing, either.  Kiss in private.  Hold hands in public. XD

I might be in the minority but I actually preferred when the escalators were off.  I was always so paranoid that a part of my dress would get stuck and torn. ;___; This despite the fact that my feet were killing me and walking around on stairs didn't help things.  My feet aren't as important as my dress. xD

The hotel did seem really crowded.  And I wasn't even aware that panels were occuring in the other building. Which is probably my fault: I never bothered to look too much at the con pamphlet and wasn't there for opening ceremonies.

But for me, going to a convention is about making new friends and taking pictures of people in their cosplay.  The panels and all that is just the icing on the cake.

[DooFeRthePanda]

it was really horrible too because more homeless were hanging around us, barely anywhere to hang out, very unorganized(couldnt find my way through the hotel T___T) and we couldnt even rave...

[kit2kit]

well even though it was crowded and junk I still had a fun time : D

[catboy-trades]

I honestly had no problems whatsoever with Yojimbo. They were all very courteous and complimentary, and understood what was going on.

I don't know if this guy was Yojimbo or Staff but he kept coming into the panels I had in Panel 1 and 2 in the Executive tower.  He would ask if I needed anything.  I would say no because I didn't but wanted to make sure that at my adult panel I would have someone checking the doors.  The first time I asked he said he didn't know.  Second time I asked he said probably but he doesn't deal with that.

At my adult panel in the workshop room in the executive tower at 12:30 sunday night ( Catboys and Catgirls after dark) he came in... was rude and told me I couldn't let anyone in.  Then when I asked him if I could let someone in he looked at me like I was asking for him to do a somersault.  After the con goers came in he then proceeded to leave via the partition of workshop and panel 2 and said as he left, " F**king have fun you freaks!" then left.

Honestly I was shocked.  Granted I shouldn't have been.  Earlier that day I had been yelled at by staff several times... when I complained to the hotel staff about their security people I was told they would have the manager call me right back.  I waited an hour then called again.  They acted like there was no problem... I tried to get everything out to the manager and let them know how I felt and how I thought that as paying customers we should be treated better than cattle.

The manager then proceeded to blow me off.

As I left today I asked for a cart to come up and help with my groups stuff.  They said they would send one right up.
30 min later I called down to ask what was going on.  They said they were busy and I said that was alright I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get charged for another day if I couldn't get out of the room.  The hotel staff said no it was fine I wouldn't be charged.  The cart did show up... but it took nearly 2 hours for it to show up.  

That is fine... they were busy.

But when my group made it downstairs ( another 20 min of waiting for an elevator and being basically mocked by the yojimbo that were in the elevators going up and down.) we found that our cart wasn't there.  We asked front desk where it was... they didn't know they said to ask the concierge, we did and they said they didn't know and to ask front desk.

I then began to get angry.  I began to rant and rave about the entire weekend... how we were being treated and that I wanted a call in line to complain.  THE FRONT DESK REFUSED TO GIVE ME A NUMBER.  
After we searched the lobby we found it waiting for us on the street... no one around it except for 1 hotel staff for all the bags around him... and all the people waiting outside... I kept wondering how our stuff didn't get stolen.

So yeah.  I hated the hotel.  If I ever have to go back into the area again I will never stay there again.  I would rather stay in a hotel with roaches on the walls then at least I know what I am getting.  Not a hotel that charges you out the butt for stuff and then treats you like garbage.

Kumoricon... try to get the hell out of that hotel... please...

[Kaiware]

I felt a lot of sympathy for k-con staff this year.  I think you all did a fabulous job of dealing with a difficult situation & environment.  I didn't have any terrible interactions with hotel staff but there was definitely a negative and/or patronizing vibe coming from most of them (granted, the only time I've felt a hotel really was happy to have us was in vancouver!).  I hate to say it because I love k-con but I also questioned this year whether I would be back next year if we are in the same hotel as planned -- we are just too big for hotels that size now and without a good outdoor area to spill into, the crowding is even worse. 

I also hope we go back, when we can, to one of the previous hotels or the convention center (just how big do we need to be to do that, anyway?) Can't we share the space with someone?  Every event I've ever been to there hasn't been that big!

[LtCommanderRichie]

I also hope we go back, when we can, to one of the previous hotels or the convention center (just how big do we need to be to do that, anyway?)

We have to have an event size of at least 8,000 before Kumoricon can book the convention center.

[Rainfeather]

This is just ridiculous. I have to agree at the hotel's staff, they were yelling at everyone. Even if the line wasn't moving, they'd say "KEEP IT MOVING!" which was, to be honest, rude as eff. I do want to attend next year, the hotel rooms were nice, but the hotel staff just looked uptight as eff and security just looked angry all the time.

[Chibiorochimaru]

Agreed, things went better last year : / The staff gave some super rude looks too. Maybe it will atleast go better next year in '10 sense were stuck at the Hilton another year.

[Mitsukai Mizu Amaya]

Well, my biggest hope for next year is better weather. Wearing Trance Garnet will cover even less *sort of* then Wedding Yuna. xD

That and hopefully the Hilton will be better equiped for us.

[murder_of_raven]

would you rather have the police enforcing this or the con staff?

Umm... actually I'm pretty sure this isn't an either/or situation. I noticed an extreme amount of police officers whose job seemed to be solely enforcing hotel rules and controlling cosplayers (which brings me to my second comment:)

"Some of the costumes us ladies wear while fine within the con could cause some uncomfortable leering or comments outside the con"
YES! Thank you for noting this. Whenever I was outside the convention for any amount of time at all I was cajoled by strange older men, often with a police officer nearby who would literally do nothing at all. And I was not someone wearing borderline lingerie, I was simply wearing a fairly modest cat-maid costume. But this made downtown, especially on or near the max or pioneer square, EXTREMELY uncomfortable. Sunday's gothic maid costume was just as bad if not worse. I would go as far as to say downtown is /not safe/ for female cosplayers, especially at night. Even without considering all the other downsides of the Hilton, I think this alone should force us to consider a new venue because I'll be honest: no matter how much I want to support K-con if me or one of my friends got raped at 1AM waiting for the MAX I would feel more than justified never attending Kcon again. And I think this is a very real possibility considering a huge portion of Kcon attendees are underage female cosplayers. Everybody should feel guilty if something like that happens simply because we didn't do anything to prevent it.

And I find it ironic that this is the first time I've heard so many complaints about sexual misconduct at Kcon when by far I felt more threatened and disturbed outside the convention than in it.

[makichan]

I also hope we go back, when we can, to one of the previous hotels or the convention center (just how big do we need to be to do that, anyway?)

We have to have an event size of at least 8,000 before Kumoricon can book the convention center.

Does anyone know what the full attendee count was for all three days?

[Blackstar]

I'm sorry.. I've loved the past 3 years of kumoricon, even last years disaster of crowding. But this 4th year for me takes the cake on the worst convention I've ever attended. It's 10x as crowded as last year, and last year people complained about crowding, so why is it WORSE this year? Do the people in charge even pay attention? This thing is all over the place, there are lines galore, people shoving and shouting so much that we're being rushed to god knows where (I was rushed into a line with no explanation when I was simply trying to get back to the lobby) and I've only been able to take five.. FIVE pictures without being shoved, shouted at to move, or even just in general because picture taking is nearly impossible in the cramped crowd. And it's raining, to boot, so no one wants to be outside. It would be a little less cramped if the weather was nice but.. Nope. We got 3 full days of rain coming up. Isn't that just great?

This convention was the first kumoricon for my boyfriend, and he hates it. We planned this out for so long to go together because he's not from around here, and we were so excited to go together for the first time.. and this is what I get to introduce him to. I'm ashamed. I really am. Newcomers will probably never come back, that's for sure.

I'm home right now and changing costumes so I can at least move around there better, but at the end of the con I'm, going to write up a nice long review of the whole thing.

Count your blessing at least you got to go. I would of loved to been in a cramp place with all my friends

[TanisNikana]

You had a really good wedding Yuna. ^^

[LtCommanderRichie]

I also hope we go back, when we can, to one of the previous hotels or the convention center (just how big do we need to be to do that, anyway?)

We have to have an event size of at least 8,000 before Kumoricon can book the convention center.

Does anyone know what the full attendee count was for all three days?

Apparently a little over 6,000. Or something like that.

[xxxchihiroxxx]

I also hope we go back, when we can, to one of the previous hotels or the convention center (just how big do we need to be to do that, anyway?)

We have to have an event size of at least 8,000 before Kumoricon can book the convention center.

Does anyone know what the full attendee count was for all three days?

Apparently a little over 6,000. Or something like that.

thats also granted we turned away a lot of people

if we stay at the hilton 6.00 is going to be our capacity as we cant allow more people than that in the hotel.

[Mitsukai Mizu Amaya]

@ Tanis: Thank you so much! I used a whole case of needles on the thing(about ten I think)

@ Blackstar: There's always next year?

I had some problems with the homeless around the con and didn't even try going to the Square after pre-reg day. Granted, it was probably the PJ Garnet, but I was so so glad Nikki, Sam, and the others were there with me. Religion!Guy, this creepy old man asking how much I cost, the leering and cheers =/= good. Downtown Portland scares the crap out of me, especially at night.

Still had a fantastic time, all things considered. I got to hang out with so many amazing people <3

[LtCommanderRichie]

You know, if the con is continually held in downtown Portland, you never know. We might just become the next Otakon to our Portland's Baltimore. If that made sense.

[flash15]

I personally had no problems with staff or security at the con.  And no run ins with the hotel people either.

Also, I feel that on the whole the attendees were generally well behaved.  When I walked through the lobby late at night there was not a huge amount of trash like last year, I never saw an attendee jay-walk )unlike last year when I saw them hanging out in the middle of the street even though there was a nice lovely park 15 feet away, and they were not really stopping/sitting in the middle of the walkways.

But really, do they need to talk at the top of their lungs all the time?  I was in the bathroom once and there was a girl who was reading a manga as loud as she could without actually screaming.  I mean really?  In the quite bathroom???  Once I left I could still hear her through the thick door.  Or when I was sitting in a chair in a quite hall and a group of high school students came and sat down on the sofa near me- they were really loud and I was just thinking "you are three feet from the people you are talking to, it is not necessary to project your voice so it not only reaches across the room, but across the next one as well."  Being loud just for the sake of being loud, especially when there are others around just bothers me, a lot.  

For people complaining, I would recommend you try staffing a con and see what it is like.  It gives you a whole new perspective on the con experience.  Like how frustrating it is to tell attendees something that is clearly written on the sign you are standing right next too.  Or saying the same thing over and over when they can find the answer in the program guide they are holding in their hands.  Or being told "Staff was so mean, they were yelling at us" while also admitting that it was really loud at the con.  If people were not talking so loud, staff would not have to yell, but as it is, yelling is the only way they can be heard.

I thought it was over all pretty decent, I just wish some of the panel rooms were bigger but I know there is nothing to be done for that.    

[Blackstar]

I also hope we go back, when we can, to one of the previous hotels or the convention center (just how big do we need to be to do that, anyway?)

We have to have an event size of at least 8,000 before Kumoricon can book the convention center.

Does anyone know what the full attendee count was for all three days?

Apparently a little over 6,000. Or something like that.

I say there was OVER 9,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mykath]

And I find it ironic that this is the first time I've heard so many complaints about sexual misconduct at Kcon when by far I felt more threatened and disturbed outside the convention than in it.

Part of the problem with a con getting larger means there are more people to possibly be creepers. When you have a con of 2000, you might have 3 or 4 creepers while only a handful of people noticing. 6,000 and you possibly have twice or three times as many, and more people to notice and mention the creepiness.

I felt like the Yojimbo were rather ill prepared for the con as well. Some of them didn't know where things were and I received a lot of miscommunicated information. One Yojimbo would tell me one thing while another would tell me the opposite or not know at all. There was really a lack of communication and knowing how to handle situations and crowds. Also my friend cosplaying Yoko kept getting comments about covering up (not sure if it was by hotel staff or yojimbo) as she was violating dresscode because she had "underboob cleavage" while in the rules it states nothing except needed covering of the nipple and side of the breast. She was properly fashion taped so she wouldn't have a slip either. She has never had a problem with her Yoko before at a con.

I'm not sure exactly what training for Yojimbo happens but I think that maybe there should be more preparation before the con. D:

I expect next year to be much better than this though. First year at a new hotel can always go haywire. Especially when no one was expecting 6000 attendees. D:

[CharlotteElbourne]

Well, I will say that this year did have its ups and downs. I enjoyed myself for the most part, and will gladly be faithful and attend next year, just because I love kumoricon so much <3

There were thinks that made me upset, for sure. The hotel staff members, I think were overwhelmed and may have not experienced such a large group of people before. This leads to a few fuses being lit and some angry tempers. It's understandable, but they should know that sometimes things can't be helped and getting mad at convention attendies for being lost, confused, or just trying to rest/get settled/fixing cosplay is not cool and could be handled better. As with any convention I have ever attended, there are usually barely any places to sit down. And even if there are, people still have to resort to sitting on the ground, carpets, etc. If the hotel/convention staff do not like this, then they need to come up with a plan to make an area where people can sit down, or provide at least a little more seating if at all possible. Walking around all day is quite tiring, and I myself wore heels all three days. Talk about ouchies x_x

Crowding this year was actually not too bad. I would like people that thought this was bad to go to a convention like Anime Expo where there are over 47,000 attendies and THEN complain when they can't move around -.- Yes, the hotel was a little confusing and cramped, but it couldn't be helped. Most people would go outside to get away from the convention congestion, but since it IS Oregon and it rains a LOT, there was not really much we could do. Who knew it would be predicted that it would rain ONLY on the convention days? Things happen... Hopefully next year will be nice and sunny ^^

Having ramps/hallways blocked off was an inconvenience, and I didn't particularly mind the escalators being locked down, since I was in big dresses and do not want the pleasure of having my trains get sucked into the openings and ripped, or possibly injuring me >>; The only thing that was annoying was even at 9am in the morning, I never got a elevator until 2am. Omg I even waiting to get down to the photo shoot I was heading for. The first elevator was full, and the second one was too so I finally said "Screw this I am taking the stairs!" People in the elevator laughed ^^;

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I found some of the convention attendies to be rude to me. There were a lot of people that would run into me or my cosplay and not say excuse me, or I am sorry. It was quite rude of them, and I don't know if they were having a problem and were just storming around, or were just inconsiderate, but I do not like having my costume's bent or ripped because of people's lack of courtesy. If someone has wings on their costume, MOVE AROUND them, don't run into them D< Thank goodness I could reposition my wings if necessary to make them look better >> One thing about this is, why were people stomping in the stairwells? Seriously? Its 11 fricken pm and all I hear is THUMP THUMP THUMP GIGGLE THUMP from the walls, since I was right by the stairwell... Come on, I want to sleep x___x (not intended as an innuendo)

Just a little more planning, signs, helpful staffies and maybe having no change to the schedule once its the day of the convention... That would be nice for next year. I hope Kumoricon will be even more fun for me next year. <3

[TanisNikana]

THIS CONVENTION WAS BETTER THAN 2006

AT LEAST GIVE IT THAT MUCH

[Mitsukai Mizu Amaya]

... what happened 06? My first con was 07.

[TanisNikana]

Double-booked drunken wedding reception kicked the entire con to the basement on the third day, and the staff was hostile the entire event.

[Mitsukai Mizu Amaya]

... your kidding... that's horrible! I'm glad that wasn't my first con.

[TanisNikana]

It was my first, and I thought it was excellent! But that's cause I didn't know any better. Yeah, on the third day we had drunken weirdoes giving us a hard time along with the hotel staff. Oh, and if I recall correctly, and I may not, but I remember the hotel staff trying to keep us off the main floor and away from the reception on the last day.

[Negima]

THIS CONVENTION WAS BETTER THAN 2006

AT LEAST GIVE IT THAT MUCH

YES

[Rainfeather]

I feel bad for the people who say "OMG I AM NEVER RETURNING AGAIN."

You can't judge a con by one year. :/ Seriously. There's volunteers, and they may change every year. Don't judge it on one year, please please please.

This was my FOURTH con. My first con I didn't really get to attend ANYTHING, I just mainly waited around in the hall and got very little pictures, and I still thought it was awesome, because I didn't know what the frag to do.

I thought it was a good con overall, just a few minor things that need to be fixed. I mean, you can't be perfect the first time - to IMPROVE, you have to make MISTAKES. We're all human. :<

[pepito]

Hey Folks

This thread is pretty cumbersome

I commend you all on keeping this thread positive and constructive and refraining from turing it in to one big con bash. Hopefully by voicing our concerns now staff will have ample time to work on and hopefully rectify the issues before K-Com 2010. I myself am currently drawing up the plans for a new elevator bay 

I ugre you all to stay active on the forums and to keep attending K-Con. Those that have input and issues they would like solved I suggest you join staff and help to make our next con truely awesome

-P

[TanisNikana]

Hey Folks

This thread is pretty cumbersome

I commend you all on keeping this thread positive and constructive and refraining from turing it in to one big con bash. Hopefully by voicing our concerns now staff will have ample time to work on and hopefully rectify the issues before K-Com 2010. I myself am currently drawing up the plans for a new elevator bay 

I ugre you all to stay active on the forums and to keep attending K-Con. Those that have input and issues they would like solved I suggest you join staff and help to make our next con truely awesome

-P

I wish I could join.

[emmyriceball]

I seem to be one of the lucky ones. I didn't have any trouble with the staff, whether hotel or con, in the least bit. I found a lot of the people staying at the hotel rude, but not the staff, and there's really nothing anyone can do about that.

In fact, I went out of my way to talk with the staff/security to see if what everyone was doing was true, and no one was anything but polite and nice to me. I even high-five'd a security guard and told him to hang in there when he was keeping track of the rave line. And I was never denied a passage to the bathroom through that one place in the hallway.
Maybe I was just lucky? :/

Anyways, I'll definitely be coming back, even if it's held here again. I didn't find anything to be THAT much of a problem. The food nearby was quite nice.

However... It is true that the hobos could be rather scary.

[@random]

There was a lot of important debate and arguement that went on after everyone left the con. The rant and rave was actually very eye opening to me. I was about to leave the con with downed hopes and dislike towards the hotel and such but as time progressed and more information was revealed about the hotel and con situation, I left with a much better feeling and a sense of guilt towards being angry at the hotel people.

To be honest, I don't think I could be all that happy either with having myself going to be laid off from work due to lack of guests.

Getting laid off despite doing everything possible to make guests feel welcome? Those people, and I'm sure there are a lot of them, would have my sympathies.

Getting laid off because the hotel normally tries to charge exorbitant rates that people can't afford? Same; the employees don't set the prices.

Getting laid off because you're treating convention attendees like something you scraped off your shoe, or because you're a manager who looks the other way when some of your staff do? No sympathy whatsoever. True, we're not paying the normal exorbitant rates. But conventions are how hotels stay in business, and they're not all the Rich-Executives-Who-Pay-$200-A-Night convention.

Personally, I didn't experience any worse than token condescension or rudeness from the hotel staff. But then again, I had little interaction with them because I learned a long time ago that con staff are the ones you can depend on. And I don't have a hard time believing others had bad experiences, because the sign segregating the elevators said it all: "Hotel Guests | Kumoricon Attendees". Excuse me? We're not also hotel guests? And is it our fault you don't have enough elevators to accommodate the convention you contracted to serve?

[murder_of_raven]

I'd sort of like an official response to our complaints, not necessarily from the hotel but from the Kcon staff. I would honestly feel a lot more comfortable investing my pre-reg money if I knew the staff was considering things like the hotel staff's ridiculous behavior, the creepy/dangerous surrounding neighborhood (depending on your clothes, size, and the time of day), and the extremely inconvenient hotel layout. That isn't intended as a challenge or anything; could someone over the level of Yojimbo give an official response to those things? I would love that. <3

[DooFeRthePanda]

well its not really goin to change next year considering that its going to be held at the same area.

[oslapedo]

I feel bad for the people who say "OMG I AM NEVER RETURNING AGAIN."

Good thing that's not what we're saying, it's more like, "I'm not going if it's held in the same crappy place."

[TanisNikana]

I took a vacation in a spot where I go four times a week.

[Tygati]

The location was sheer awful, but I didn't really have a problem with anything else. It was simply so hard to move around or get anywhere at all that it really took a lot of the fun out of it.

It sounds like next year we're stuck at the Hilton again, but it would really be nice if the venue changed to something a little more horizontal and less vertical. The elevator situation was ridiculous, and walking up and down X flights of stairs in some of those costumes must have been a nightmare. I was so glad for my boots.

[IchigoBunny]

would you rather have the police enforcing this or the con staff?

Umm... actually I'm pretty sure this isn't an either/or situation. I noticed an extreme amount of police officers whose job seemed to be solely enforcing hotel rules and controlling cosplayers (which brings me to my second comment:)

"Some of the costumes us ladies wear while fine within the con could cause some uncomfortable leering or comments outside the con"
YES! Thank you for noting this. Whenever I was outside the convention for any amount of time at all I was cajoled by strange older men, often with a police officer nearby who would literally do nothing at all. And I was not someone wearing borderline lingerie, I was simply wearing a fairly modest cat-maid costume. But this made downtown, especially on or near the max or pioneer square, EXTREMELY uncomfortable. Sunday's gothic maid costume was just as bad if not worse. I would go as far as to say downtown is /not safe/ for female cosplayers, especially at night. Even without considering all the other downsides of the Hilton, I think this alone should force us to consider a new venue because I'll be honest: no matter how much I want to support K-con if me or one of my friends got raped at 1AM waiting for the MAX I would feel more than justified never attending Kcon again. And I think this is a very real possibility considering a huge portion of Kcon attendees are underage female cosplayers. Everybody should feel guilty if something like that happens simply because we didn't do anything to prevent it.

And I find it ironic that this is the first time I've heard so many complaints about sexual misconduct at Kcon when by far I felt more threatened and disturbed outside the convention than in it.

god i know how you feel. i was wearing a my little pony costume and people were looking at me and one was asking me if "is that a natural blue" in a super creepy tone. it was outright uncomfortable. and my boyfriend was right there with me!!

[pyronine]

I'd sort of like an official response to our complaints, not necessarily from the hotel but from the Kcon staff. I would honestly feel a lot more comfortable investing my pre-reg money if I knew the staff was considering things like the hotel staff's ridiculous behavior, the creepy/dangerous surrounding neighborhood (depending on your clothes, size, and the time of day), and the extremely inconvenient hotel layout. That isn't intended as a challenge or anything; could someone over the level of Yojimbo give an official response to those things? I would love that. <3

Actually If you had attended the Rant and rave after the closing ceremonies, you would have gotten your official response. Yojimbo's are basically crowd control, the director of the con and his subordinates were all at the rant and rave giving responses to everyones issues. The hotel staff's behavior was a major subject there, not just their security detail but all staff together. The lobby staff and security was talked to on sat after all the issues arose on friday, and there was a major difference in the way they handled issues. they approached it in a more pleasant manner. The neighborhood was actually better and worse than the previous year. In the daytime it was worse as there was not a place to go to hang out that was out of the rain. But at night it was far better, the lloyd center dbl tree has a homeless camp right next to it, and had far more homeless people around it. I walked the streets around the hotels on friday night and it was actually nice. As for the hotel layout, that was addressed to. but there is a reason why things were closed like the elevators to the lower levels or some stairways. most of these were due to fire hazards (i.e. max people, escape routes, etc), some of the closures were due to security issues.

The location was sheer awful, but I didn't really have a problem with anything else. It was simply so hard to move around or get anywhere at all that it really took a lot of the fun out of it.

It sounds like next year we're stuck at the Hilton again, but it would really be nice if the venue changed to something a little more horizontal and less vertical. The elevator situation was ridiculous, and walking up and down X flights of stairs in some of those costumes must have been a nightmare. I was so glad for my boots.

well its not really goin to change next year considering that its going to be held at the same area.

Yes it is going to be there again, however, you learn from your mistakes. correct? so now everyone (hotel and k-con staff) know what to do to improve it. The Location was actually ok, you had lots of restaurants around, 2 hotels instead of just one so there were plenty of rooms, and the park blocks just a block away. As for the vertical issue, yes i agree it was bad but next year there is talk of not using the 23rd floor. During the rant and rave it was asked why we cant use a convention center, the reason for that is a couple of things, a major one is, having a decent sized hotel nearby to hold all the con goers. would you want to walk 20 blocks in a giant costume? or take the max in it amongst non con-goers who want to touch it, or crowd you in. I agree with the stair complaint ( i got blisters ) but no matter where you go you are going to have that issue, last year it wason a single level but was crowded and we exceeded the max capacity of the hotel, and if it keeps growing, it is going to have to have a decent sized place.    The larger the venue is, the more levels it is going to have, at least in portland.


If you want to have a better convention you can do a few things, VOICE YOUR OPINION AT THE RANT AND RAVE, and/or VOLUNTEER NEXT YEAR.  

[IchigoBunny]

The location was sheer awful, but I didn't really have a problem with anything else. It was simply so hard to move around or get anywhere at all that it really took a lot of the fun out of it.

It sounds like next year we're stuck at the Hilton again, but it would really be nice if the venue changed to something a little more horizontal and less vertical. The elevator situation was ridiculous, and walking up and down X flights of stairs in some of those costumes must have been a nightmare. I was so glad for my boots.

i know by the last day i was figuring things out so easily because we had made so many wrong choices all weekend. it was so retarded i couldnt believe where the anime was being shown we found that late the second day and the rooms for those were so small.
I really want either the double tree back or something that worked better for us last year!

[pyronine]

would you rather have the police enforcing this or the con staff?

Umm... actually I'm pretty sure this isn't an either/or situation. I noticed an extreme amount of police officers whose job seemed to be solely enforcing hotel rules and controlling cosplayers (which brings me to my second comment:)

"Some of the costumes us ladies wear while fine within the con could cause some uncomfortable leering or comments outside the con"
YES! Thank you for noting this. Whenever I was outside the convention for any amount of time at all I was cajoled by strange older men, often with a police officer nearby who would literally do nothing at all. And I was not someone wearing borderline lingerie, I was simply wearing a fairly modest cat-maid costume. But this made downtown, especially on or near the max or pioneer square, EXTREMELY uncomfortable. Sunday's gothic maid costume was just as bad if not worse. I would go as far as to say downtown is /not safe/ for female cosplayers, especially at night. Even without considering all the other downsides of the Hilton, I think this alone should force us to consider a new venue because I'll be honest: no matter how much I want to support K-con if me or one of my friends got raped at 1AM waiting for the MAX I would feel more than justified never attending Kcon again. And I think this is a very real possibility considering a huge portion of Kcon attendees are underage female cosplayers. Everybody should feel guilty if something like that happens simply because we didn't do anything to prevent it.

And I find it ironic that this is the first time I've heard so many complaints about sexual misconduct at Kcon when by far I felt more threatened and disturbed outside the convention than in it.

god i know how you feel. i was wearing a my little pony costume and people were looking at me and one was asking me if "is that a natural blue" in a super creepy tone. it was outright uncomfortable. and my boyfriend was right there with me!!

Those were not Police officers, that was hotel security. As for the leering go read the 10 CON-mandments http://www.kumoricon.org/forums/index.php?topic=11105.0  

5 ) Thou shalt not be offended when locals whistle at the Felicia outfit. Thou chose to walk down Main Street (err SW Taylor st) in it.

[Lynx]

Rant and Rave. They answered all questions. Even went over their scheduled time because of how many issues there were. That was with a very small amount of people in it too. Think what it would have been like should that room have been filled to the brim with all 750 max occupants.

[lilithfire]

I think the only difficulty I had during this con was the lack of wayfinding signs. I understand that maps were provided for us in the program book but stand up signs in different high traffic locations would be a great help in navigating around the con. It took me half a day to figure out that there was ANOTHER tower across the street. lol. That, and I am slightly a bit of a Ryoga. lol.

The con staff did the best that they could, given the situation. I could only imagine having to operate a huge event in a location that they are not used to. With new location typically comes with unexpected issues. I think next year will be better now that these issues were brought up and they can get past their growing pains.

[pyronine]

I think the only difficulty I had during this con was the lack of wayfinding signs. I understand that maps were provided for us in the program book but stand up signs in different high traffic locations would be a great help in navigating around the con. It took me half a day to figure out that there was ANOTHER tower across the street. lol. That, and I am slightly a bit of a Ryoga. lol.

The con staff did the best that they could, given the situation. I could only imagine having to operate a huge event in a location that they are not used to. With new location typically comes with unexpected issues. I think next year will be better now that these issues were brought up and they can get past their growing pains.

I brought the sign issue up to a few of the higher ups in the con, I fully agree with you, signs would have helped a lot.

[ThiefKingsHier]

  I didnt so much mind the crowding. It happens but I could NOT get to my room because of line-con for the elevators. I eventually packed a bag with my essentials and moved down to the car. That is inexcusable.
In any case th staff knows it was a problem. No sense beating a dead horse.  

The only thing I can imagine is that someone screwed up and forgot to book any of the better hotels and was stuck with that hellhole. Whatever. Its over now. Just learn form your mistake.

[leonmasteries]

I expected a huge crowd to appear for this, because of what I herd about last year, that I don't mind... The staff was a bit mean tho, like yelling at a bunch of people and stuff... I'm just glad the cleaning lady's didn't do bad things to our hotel room, and for being able to take all the stuff my friends did to the room, we left a good 20 dollar tip for them.

[Shingami_lover]

1. The Hilton is know for being there for the rich and the proper... I know the one in Vancouver was really sweet but most Hiltons do not like kids, BECAUSE they get the rich and proper...

2. The hotel staff was the ones making the con staff look bad... or so I noticed!

3. Con staff did not tell everyone on staff what was going on there were to many Alphas... I was a volunteer and I would be asked to go somewhere and I would go but when I got down there, the person where I went did not know where or what I was suppose to do...

....