Other than that, Mrs Lincoln...

[drwex]

I had a good Arisia 2014. It was the 25th Arisia and I've been to 24 of them (started with #2).

More than ever, the con gives the impression of bursting at the seams. Memberships sold out; food trucks ran out of food; the dealer's room was huge and crowded enough I didn't get to everything; I didn't plan adequate time to see the Art Show given that my back was still acting up - there was just so much going on; I know at least three folk who wanted to do casual gaming but couldn't get a table because the game room was 100% booked.

None of these are bad things, but they can cause friction if not managed. I think next year's Chair is very smart and I hope they come up with a good set of solutions. The hotel dealt pretty well (with a couple of notable lapses in service by restaurant staff) and every Arisia staff person I interacted with was top-notch. Scaling up a con requires scaling up the staff by some factor, too. I saw fewer new faces on staff this year than last but that might just be sample bias.

My own con experience was generally good. Our kids were essentially free-range this year so much that we just bought them regular memberships for next year. They'll spend most of the con in the (e)gaming room no matter what. We did a lot of parties and enjoyed all of them. I still owe Helsinki a pre-reg (they weren't taking CC at party) and I really missed having a central party authority. The hit-or-miss of getting and remembering various slips of paper was... well, hit and miss. I know I didn't get to at least three events I would've attended if I'd been better organized.

I know - parties, alcohol, hotel issues, party organizers being stupid, issues, etc. Still. On the plus side I managed to have two or three really good conversations with people at parties this year, which is a rarity for me. Most of my good chats usually happen in the lobby or pre-/post-panel.

I liked that the con had a set of dances with lots of options. I liked some of them better than others, but was glad they were there. If only it had been easier to go between party spaces and dance spaces I would have danced more, but I don't see how to do that with the hotel's physical layout.

I was on four panels myself, all of which went tolerably well. I flatter myself to think that the one I moderated was the best. I did significant research for it and had a structure in mind. My panelists were great and their spontaneous discussion followed the outline I had in my head. I even went to panels I wasn't ON, a rarity for me.

I think that next year I will do more planning - I left several things at home that I could have used, not least of them the charger for my camera battery, which led to it dying near the end of the belly-dance show. I also would like to see if I can plan a proper block of time for the Art Show, can plan more meal options, can worry less about the kids, and since I have to spend less time on them maybe do more volunteering for the con or be on a couple more panels.

Comments

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

I am not surprised that the trucks ran out of food. It was the first time for all of them and it's hard to believe how much will sell, to believe what the market will be,especially when they are only doing lunch. I bet next year they will be much better prepared , assuming Boston allows the same ones to come back. Starbucks at that hotel the first year got slammed and had to call in supplies and staff from other locations because they didnt expect the business.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I don't know if we could get three food trucks per day instead of two, but that would be an improvement as well.

[drwex]

The original plan, as I understand it, had been to have four. However, adding more runs into space concerns (parking plus the traffic flow given the auto show) as well as requiring more line management. I agree it's a good step but I'm not sure what direction the con and hotel are able to take things.

[nchanter.livejournal.com]

Original plan was for 2/day for meal slot, but we thought we were going to be able to do dinner then. Then dinner got nixed when our placement got moved (they ended up not located where we originally planned anyways) because there wouldn't be sufficient lighting. To get 3 trucks at once next year, the city is gonna need to let us bag meters and put them out on D street. But with the support of the hotel (which I think we can get, given how many hotel associates were ALSO eating at the trucks) we can probably make it happen. I would, however, be hesitant to up it to 4. I'd rather have really happy trucks that sell out most their food, than trucks that don't make enough money.

[drwex]

I suspect that we'd clear out four trucks, but your point is well-taken.

[nchanter.livejournal.com]

Yea, we told them how many people attended our event, and told them we expected heavy use, but my coordinator had never actually been to Arisia before (but did an EXCELLENT job) and I had no idea what the demand would be like, other than "high and vocal", so couldn't come up with a good number to tell them to plan for. The week before the event they were freaking out to Joanne, my coordinator talking directly with the trucks, about being on the back side of the hotel and no one coming to them.

Yea, that wasn't the problem :) I'm going to see if we can get numbers from them on how well they did (like number of patrons during what time window) but it was really hard to try and tell them how many people before hand. But even if only 1/3 of the convention wanted to visit them (and I'd be surprised if it was under 1/2) that's still over 1000 people...

So while the city did have to be involved with this process, they thankfully, as long as the trucks were permitted for the City of Boston, had no actual say in which trucks, and ALL of them have said they want to come back next year.

I'll be working with the city and the hotel well ahead of time (you know, starting this spring, not starting in October) to try and get a more expansive plan approved for next year.

[persis.livejournal.com]

I was not surprised either. I was told that they did not believe us when we said they would run out of food. I sent an e-mail to the powers-that-be a week ago, that the food trucks should be prepared for lots of people, but OTOH, they do have limited space. But they could have had more food prepped and brought to the truck... We shall see what happens next year. (I was not involved with food this year.)

[ckd]

As I heard it, Boskone had a similar problem their first year in the Westin. The concom had told them "hey, people will need food options" and the hotel said "ok, yeah" and then called the Sheraton (a sister Starwood property) to ask how much food attendees had bought during the previous Boskone.

What they failed to ask the Sheraton was "is it true that you're in the Back Bay with lots of restaurants and are attached to a mall with a food court, while we're out in the mostly undeveloped Seaport?"

[aelf.livejournal.com]

Mostly free range kids! That's fantastic! :) It's sometimes the little things that make life ever so much easier.

[drwex]

Now if I can just stop compulsively checking on them...

[make-your-move.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't ….but that's me. :)

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

I agree with the bursting at the seams impression. One of the big gating factors to growing the con is needing to grow the volunteer staff. I'm hoping to help with that next year, as my elder is completely free-range, and the younger is requiring less, though definitely some, supervision/entertainment.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

What kind of memberships did the kids have this year? (Can't imagine you would have had them as kids-in-tow at this age.) But hey, elder can get student rate now! Though that also may mean it's time for him to start volunteering.. :)

[drwex]

Thing 1 had student; Thing 2 had Fast Track. Oh, and Thing 1 was going to volunteer until he found out that (a) it involved work and (b) would cut into his gaming time.