[identity profile] siredgar.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] dragoncon_lj_archive
I'd like to thank the Dragon*Con and hotel staff for the badge/card-key checking this year. I didn't see any problems like we had last year, and the staff checking the badges was for the most part polite but firm. I really appreciated it and fully enjoyed the vibe of the con this year.

Also props for the bar code scanning system for badge pickup. I waited in line for about an hour which was tons better than the last 7 or so years :)

Please do it again next year!

Date: 2011-09-17 03:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] werewulf.livejournal.com
Seconded! Security made a BIG difference in my con experience this year. That or everyone just chose to be a lot more polite.

As for registration, although I did get caught in the crash on Thursday afternoon. Still, psychologically, it REALLY made a difference to be in a line that kept moving and once you made it to the front it was your turn rather than seeing big lines under some names and no lines under others. The baffled system is a win and I assume will only get better with time and familiarity.

Thanks to all who implemented both systems.

Date: 2011-09-17 03:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] werewulf.livejournal.com
Damn you autocorrect!

The BARCODE not BAFFLED system...
Edited Date: 2011-09-17 03:43 am (UTC)

Date: 2011-09-17 06:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jellibean.livejournal.com
I mentioned it in my review post, but I'd like to thank them here, too, for thoroughly checking badges at the Sunday night dance in the Atrium. I had my badge mysteriously fall off there last year (we luckily recovered it), and this year, security caught a kid trying to sneak in with a stolen or borrowed badge (he had taped over the name label.)

Date: 2011-09-17 03:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] joyeuse13.livejournal.com
That's so funny...if he had just left it alone, no one would have noticed. It's not like security would know his name!

Date: 2011-09-17 03:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jellibean.livejournal.com
I know! It didn't help that he used black tape, which made it stand out even more. I figured it had a name on it that was really, really gender-specific.

Date: 2011-09-17 01:20 pm (UTC)
deborak: (tribe)
From: [personal profile] deborak
The badge checking made the evenings so much better! Completely worth whatever was spent on that.

Date: 2011-09-17 04:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] glasscannon.livejournal.com
Seconding this as well. The badge checkers were a wonder -- polite, thorough, and firm. I saw a couple of guys in their 20s get turned away at one of the hamster tubes because they had neither badges nor roomkeys, and the woman checking for badges wouldn't budge on not letting them in. And yet she managed to keep the hamster tube traffic flowing while reiterating to them that they wouldn't be getting in. I would have liked to see them checking badges/keys earlier in the day as well, but I thought they handled a difficult job admirably.

Registration was also amazing. In and out in 24 minutes, including a trip to the Solutions Desk because my badge wouldn't print. And it sounds like there was only one major crash during the weekend, which I think is quite impressive.

Really, my only complaint this year (besides my chronic illness kicking my butt, but nothing to be done about that, heh) was how late the dealers rooms opened on Friday. None of the three opened until 1pm Friday, and each of them had at least one person outside telling the crowd who wanted to get in that they'd have to come back later. Have they always opened that late? With the con starting earlier and earlier -- there were official panels Thursday night this year! -- I'd love to see the dealers halls open earlier. Maybe set up on Thursday and then regular open time on Friday? There were definitely a lot of people wanting to get their shopping on Friday morning. The downstairs hall had a line that stretched outside and down the street!

I also wouldn't mind seeing the halls split up a little, or larger ballrooms used. They got so crowded at times that no one was moving at all, which can get quite claustrophobic. With the aisles and tables and all the merchandise as well as all the people, I'm not sure those rooms were always meeting fire codes. Definitely got scary a couple of times I ventured in on Friday and Saturday, though much better on Sunday.

Date: 2011-09-17 11:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] orcapotter.livejournal.com
I second the idea of doing something about crowding in the dealer rooms. Crowds have always been crazy, particularly at specific times, but even on Monday, which is normally dead in there, had some crazy crowds! Honestly, I'm getting more and more resistant to go in there, because regardless of claustrophobic or not, it just gets impossible to shop! I can imagine the shop lifting is bad, too. Particularly in the first isle of the basement dealers room, there are times when you literally cannot move through there and it's a chore to simply keep from being stepped on--much more so to even look at things.

Personally, I think the crowds are simply getting out of control. Either some strict management of people (i.e. only allowing X amount in at a time and only admitting more when X amount leave) or just a cap on con attendance overall (how many people will it take?) has to happen. It's getting to the point where you have to show up an hour or earlier to some of the bigger panels (not even the most popular ones)... and even to some of the smaller ones! I went to Tom Felton's panel on Sunday .. the third of the same panel for the con ... and couldn't get in an hour ahead of time because the line was wrapped inside and around the building. I got turned away from the Doctor Who preview after the room hit 1,000 after waiting 45 minutes. I know waiting in lines is part of D*Con culture, but with the price increases and stuff, I don't want to be spending my con waiting all the time.
Edited Date: 2011-09-17 11:22 pm (UTC)

Date: 2011-09-17 11:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kyndig.livejournal.com
+1 to this. Something needs to be done about the crowding and the lines.

Dealer Hours

Date: 2011-09-18 03:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] boomergoodheart.livejournal.com
Speaking as a dealer, I can assure you that the 1pm start time on Friday has always been that way, and the dealers need every minute of the morning to finish setting up.

We can start on Thursday, usually around 9am. For us (Southeastern Browncoats), it takes us the majority of the day, and usually Friday morning as well, to get things ready to go. I can't even imagine the logistics of the bigger dealers. In addition, some of them don't even get into town until Thursday afternoon/evening, and really need the extra time on Friday morning.

If you could see the mass chaos in the rooms on Friday morning, you'd understand. ;-)

Re: Dealer Hours

Date: 2011-09-18 06:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] glasscannon.livejournal.com
Wouldn't starting set up on Wednesday accomplish the same thing, and allow the halls to open with the rest of the con at 10am? The customer demand for opening at 10am Friday is clearly there, just based on the lines that formed outside. When the rest of the con didn't start until Friday afternoon, the 1pm open made sense. But the con has grown, and I think a lot of us would like to see the dealers halls grow, both in hours and square footage.

Re: Dealer Hours

Date: 2011-09-19 03:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] boomergoodheart.livejournal.com
In theory, yes. However, you have to balance out what dealers can afford. I'm sure that some of the smaller ones just could not add another hotel night (or two). Plus you add in how much more it would cost the Con to have the space available an extra day, and how much that would raise dealer rates (which are sky-high as it is).

Date: 2011-09-18 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] myras-girls.livejournal.com
Agreed! Thanks, D*C!

Date: 2011-09-18 09:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thedooz.livejournal.com
definitely appreciated the security and badge checking!!

Date: 2011-09-19 12:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] richardlt.livejournal.com
The badge checking was awesome! Even though the attendance was up, it didn't feel as crowded. The really bad mojo that permeated the air last year was not present. Many thanks for the security folks, and thanks to DC for implementing it.

On a side note, I was expecting this to happen at the Marriott and Hyatt, but was totally surprised that it occurred at the Westin too. I'm glad it did though, as that's my hotel. The Westin also seemed to have a larger percentage of footballer to DC guests that the other hotels, but that's probably just my totally unprofessional bias.

On another side note, by Saturday I was even wielding my badge to fend off the security, like a cross fends off a vampire. Still loved their addition though.

Date: 2011-09-20 02:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] livvylove.livejournal.com
I agree, this year was so much better.

The only people I saw complain where people too cheap to get a badge and wanted to come anyways. It felt much better but I also think the few people I met part of the football crowd were much nicer and actually interested in what was going on. I really think last year had to do with LSU which had a bad rap for being overall horrible because looking back years before I don't remember the football people ever being THAT bad. Either way D*Con felt much safer and was a blast.

Date: 2011-09-23 05:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cyberdragon56.livejournal.com
I guess I just timed it wrong, but took me about 2 hours to get my badge, I must of been in line the times the system crashed. Still it's a much better system.

The new security was great! No moronic football college kids seen this year at any of the hotels. Fantastic!

The one bad point was the total lack of crowd control during the parade. I arrived early near 2 disabled folks who got there early so they could be right on the curb so they could see. Well parade starts and dozens of folks push their way through everyone standing on the sidewalks and rush into the first 2 lanes of traffic to see the parade, they ran right into the middle of the parade participants to take pictures, it was madness! I felt so bad for the 2 handicapped folks, they couldn't see anything at all. I did notice that all of the rude folks that ran into the street were without badges, so just free loaders there to watch the parade. The Atlanta police did nothing for crowd control during the parade.. I was very disappointed and will probably skip the parade next year do to the total ma-ham it was this year.

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