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Eastercon - Additional
Apr. 12th, 2010 10:52 amOne thing I'm sorry to have missed at Eastercon was the bid session. I'm not complaining, as I learned a lot as Ops manager, but it would have been nice to see and cast my vote.
Next year's bid, Illustrious in Birmingham sounds like it will be excellent, and was unaminously approved. I think it will be good to try out a new hotel, so I'm really looking forward to it.
The bid for 2012 was slightly less clearcut, and there were various questions raised, and when the vote came there were quite a few votes against and abstentions.
This may come as something of a surprise, since Olympus is in the same hotel, and has quite a few of the same committee as Orbital and Odyssey. Given that Orbital and Odyssey both got a lot of very positive feedback, on has to wonder what tyhe problem is.
It would be easy to dismiss the people who cast negative votes as begrudgers, people who just don't like this committee, and wouldn't be happy no matter what they did. I sincerely hope this doesn't happen.
I think most people really enjoyed Odyssey, but there were a number of minor concerns, and the committee really need to find out what they are and address them, and show people through progress reports that these have been addressed and won't be a problem next time.
I don't know what all of these all are, but there are a few things I noticed, so I'll mention them here.
The hotel staff, I have to say, seemed a lot lkess helpful than last time around. While individuals were fantastic, there did seem to be an attitude of "not my problem" from some of them. The convention bars in particular kept running out of things - like wine - and telling people they'd have to go to the main bar. This might not be a big issue if the main bar didn't keep pulling stunts like demanding people pay service charges. There were other things like basic cleanliness that need to be address.
One minor issue that I think could easily be addressed is room 41, which confused a lot of people. Having to use one stairs for rooms 40/42 and a different one for 41 is less than ideal. I think the ideal solution would be to turn the chairs around. Would a layout that put the panel in the middle of the room, with the chairs in a big arc around them work? This would be ideal as it would allow both sets of doors to be left open. Failing that, putting the panel at the other end of the room would be the second best solution. But if neither of these are possible, really clear signs from the 3rd floor area are a must. Putting signs for "40 and 42 only" and "41" pointing the other way would make a world of difference.
There were a few small programming issues. I know this is an area that's never going to make everyone happy, but I heard the same comments from quite a few people, so I'm just suggesting that the committee listen to the broadest spectrum of opinion and take their views on board. One area was the "get up and go" items in the mornings, which were a great idea, but not everyone surfaces at the same time, and even the early risers found it hard to choose between them. I think it would be preferable to have a programme stream dedicated to that sort of activity running through the day. I've no doubt that would raise complaints of its own, though.
I'm sure I'm getting too much into specifics, though. There may be perfectly good responses to the points I've raised here, but I don't think my observations are the real issue. The important thing is for the committee to find out what peoples' concerns are, and to ensure those concerns are properly addressed.
I'm sure Olympus will be another fantastic convention, and I'll certainly be there helping out, but I hope that these minor issues can be addressed to everyone's satisfaction to make it the best convention it can be.
Next year's bid, Illustrious in Birmingham sounds like it will be excellent, and was unaminously approved. I think it will be good to try out a new hotel, so I'm really looking forward to it.
The bid for 2012 was slightly less clearcut, and there were various questions raised, and when the vote came there were quite a few votes against and abstentions.
This may come as something of a surprise, since Olympus is in the same hotel, and has quite a few of the same committee as Orbital and Odyssey. Given that Orbital and Odyssey both got a lot of very positive feedback, on has to wonder what tyhe problem is.
It would be easy to dismiss the people who cast negative votes as begrudgers, people who just don't like this committee, and wouldn't be happy no matter what they did. I sincerely hope this doesn't happen.
I think most people really enjoyed Odyssey, but there were a number of minor concerns, and the committee really need to find out what they are and address them, and show people through progress reports that these have been addressed and won't be a problem next time.
I don't know what all of these all are, but there are a few things I noticed, so I'll mention them here.
The hotel staff, I have to say, seemed a lot lkess helpful than last time around. While individuals were fantastic, there did seem to be an attitude of "not my problem" from some of them. The convention bars in particular kept running out of things - like wine - and telling people they'd have to go to the main bar. This might not be a big issue if the main bar didn't keep pulling stunts like demanding people pay service charges. There were other things like basic cleanliness that need to be address.
One minor issue that I think could easily be addressed is room 41, which confused a lot of people. Having to use one stairs for rooms 40/42 and a different one for 41 is less than ideal. I think the ideal solution would be to turn the chairs around. Would a layout that put the panel in the middle of the room, with the chairs in a big arc around them work? This would be ideal as it would allow both sets of doors to be left open. Failing that, putting the panel at the other end of the room would be the second best solution. But if neither of these are possible, really clear signs from the 3rd floor area are a must. Putting signs for "40 and 42 only" and "41" pointing the other way would make a world of difference.
There were a few small programming issues. I know this is an area that's never going to make everyone happy, but I heard the same comments from quite a few people, so I'm just suggesting that the committee listen to the broadest spectrum of opinion and take their views on board. One area was the "get up and go" items in the mornings, which were a great idea, but not everyone surfaces at the same time, and even the early risers found it hard to choose between them. I think it would be preferable to have a programme stream dedicated to that sort of activity running through the day. I've no doubt that would raise complaints of its own, though.
I'm sure I'm getting too much into specifics, though. There may be perfectly good responses to the points I've raised here, but I don't think my observations are the real issue. The important thing is for the committee to find out what peoples' concerns are, and to ensure those concerns are properly addressed.
I'm sure Olympus will be another fantastic convention, and I'll certainly be there helping out, but I hope that these minor issues can be addressed to everyone's satisfaction to make it the best convention it can be.
