2012 Feedback

[Fionacat]

I didn't sponsor Confuzzled. In general, I think that early dealer den's access is unfair and stupid, and being an idealistic silly wolf, I can't support such a thing.

It's one of the few perks that most conventions I can think of give to those that sponsor and thus help make the convention happen.

It is up to you to decide if the extra money is worth the reduced time in queue for Registration and earlier Dealer's Den access.

[Skie]

-Was the sponsor comic meant to be picked up at the Dealers' den? I was having so much fun at the con that I didn't notice its absence until now. >_>

I was wondering about that too...
Didn't get it at reg, and I asked, there wasn't anything missing I was suppose to get. Thought they canceled it completely.
Does it exist?

[Skie]

I didn't sponsor Confuzzled. In general, I think that early dealer den's access is unfair and stupid, and being an idealistic silly wolf, I can't support such a thing.

It's one of the few perks that most conventions I can think of give to those that sponsor and thus help make the convention happen.

It is up to you to decide if the extra money is worth the reduced time in queue for Registration and earlier Dealer's Den access.

It's not about worth, and those other cons also won't get my money as much as I'd be happy to sponsor them (as I've been doing for any con I went to that doesn't have this feature). It's unfair in my opinion, therefore I won't put my money down.

[leinir]

Right, with Skie's comments in mind, let me make a suggestion: Given that a sponsor is someone who pays something and expects nothing in return, and the sponsors at the moment /are/ getting something in return, why not change that to "silver" and "gold" memberships, or something to that effect, and then add a sponsor option to the registration system where those who choose it get nothing in return, except for a mark on their badge which says sponsor? Surely that would make it fine for everybody - Skie would still be able to call shenanigans on people who pay for priviledge, but would still be able to sponsor the convention with extra monies without the moral squabbles

[sayh]

Wow you guys have really excelled yourselves this year, the food was great the venue was bigger and better than before, the events were excellent, well done each and every one of you. this year is for me by far the best confuzzled ever.

Confuzzled was a great con in so many ways! I do have to disagree with the food being great though, but that's not the fault of the Confuzzled staff. However, the BBQ could have been done differently. The line was just TOO DANG LONG and food was not very good. Chicken was so dry it could not be eaten. An idea could be to sell tickets for different times, so that not everyone had to line up at the same time. The indian food in the buffet was probably the worst indian food I have ever had.

The fursuit group photo did not go well, but I assume that is something that you are aware of already. Being in suit having NO clue where to go, and noone who could tell us really where we needed to be, sent up to 4th floor and down again to ground, I was about to faint, and had to go take my suit off when the pic was finally taken. Ohwell. One thing I also would like changed in regards to the parade; the room where we all meet up before the parade should be a HEADLESS ROOM. This means, NO PHOTOS there! We stand in suit for 30 mins waiting for parade to start, the warmest suits need their heads off for this moment, and we should be able to do that without worrying about being filmed or photographed.

Also, one thing that fortunately did not bother us, but I heard others complaining about, was loud room parties till early morning. People want to enjoy the stuff at the con, and some, like suiters and dealers, HAVE to get a good nights sleep. It should be QUIET in the rooms from 2am.

But, this was a lot of negativity, but in the larger picture it matters little. I want to clarify that this con was a REALLY great experience, we had so much fun, and I loved bouncing around in my panduck-griffin suit.

The hotel layout was PERFECT for suiting, so easy to find our way around even with bad vision. The hotel staff was (well, apart from the tweets) very friendly. I am almost hoping Confuzzled NEVER grows out of this hotel. Make it too big for this hotel, and the charm of the meet will go away. Once a con gets huge, it is not the same feel anymore. I hope Confuzzled NEVER grows over 1000 people. Is better to turn people down than to get that big. This was, in so many ways, the perfect con!

thx!

Sayh Panduck

[Shirik]

In regards to the auction I was one of those with a lot of items in with 0% on them - I honestly wasnt expecting them to go to auction and they all had rather low starting bids placed on them in the art show to reflect this. I did however, have one piece in that was 100% to the charity which sadly did  not make it to auction. Had I been up to my usual shouting and flailing like I usually am at the auction I would have added a percentage during bidding on my items, however a combination of being rather unwell and exhaustion made me leave early and not be up for being in the room. Next year I am planning on all my items having a percentage going as I did personally feel very rotten about the whole thing after seeing how much of mine went to auction

I do feel it may be an idea to possibly implement a minimum percentage to be put to the charity should the item go to auction (so it could be at 0% in art show but if it goes in auction artist agrees 5% to charity as an example) or as someone has suggested a "reserve" artists can place so once it hits a certain goal the percentage goes up (such as if it starts at £50 with 5% then it hits £100 the artist could say prior to put it up to 10%).

[Snackcat]

I really think this year was one of the best, So here's my pros and cons.

Pros

1. The venue itself was without a doubt the best we've had, the doorways and corridors were the perfect size for fursuiters and the layout was generally easy to naviagte even without consulting your venue map. I personally loved how much effort you put into the decoration this year, the giant oscars and clapper boards were one thing, but having a hollywood sign and flags hanging out front was above and beyond what I expected!

2. The included breakfast was varied and very well cooked. The small meals avalible daily were the right size to satisfy without being over kill and the small extras (such as ice creams) availible were nice option for those who didnt feel like a meal.

3. The dealers den, well what can I say? it was bigger and had much more on offer, I only got a few chances to go in but always walked out with plenty. The artists I personally feel were of high skill and the variaty of items ensured every furry base was coverd.

cons

1. This is more of problem with congoers then staff, but I noticed a fair amount of people walking around the con space with their fursuit heads off. I understand this year was particulerly warm, but I've never liked seeing headless furs (ruins the magic and such) I wonder if perhaps the reason for doing this was the distance of the fursuit lounge? either way if people could take into consideration those of us that get distressed by missing heads more, I think some people would be happier.

2. I know a lot has been said about the charity auction, so I wont repeat the same things, but I would suggest that perhaps there is a required base amount to go into charity for each picture? or that perhaps only those with high bids make it into the auction?

3. I noticed there was a stomach bug traveling around the convention, I talked with several friends and we believe we traced it to the source, apparently many furs say the fish at the BBQ tasted undercooked, and those that ate it complained of stomach pains. Here's hoping next year we have better luck.

[sayh]

1. This is more of problem with congoers then staff, but I noticed a fair amount of people walking around the con space with their fursuit heads off. I understand this year was particulerly warm, but I've never liked seeing headless furs (ruins the magic and such) I wonder if perhaps the reason for doing this was the distance of the fursuit lounge? either way if people could take into consideration those of us that get distressed by missing heads more, I think some people would be happier.

I think this is more up to the fursuiter than any other. I for one, do not want to be seen without my head, therefor my comment about the fursuit parade start-room being a "headless, no photo area". I do, however, do LOTS of workout to enable me to deal with the heat in the suit. I can very well understand some suiters needing to take their head off more frequently, and some really do not care if they are seen without the head on. It would be rather hard to set this as a rule or guideline. One can give the general advice "fursuit magic is best kept with head on!", but I think that at a furry con, you will have to expect to see headless suits.

[aurora]

1. This is more of problem with congoers then staff, but I noticed a fair amount of people walking around the con space with their fursuit heads off. I understand this year was particulerly warm, but I've never liked seeing headless furs (ruins the magic and such) I wonder if perhaps the reason for doing this was the distance of the fursuit lounge? either way if people could take into consideration those of us that get distressed by missing heads more, I think some people would be happier.

Not guilty!

I took my head off only in my room or the fursuit lounge.

It got rather hot just walking around in my fursuit so I should imagine for anything strenuous such as dancing the heat would become almost unbearable at times.

[SFW]

Just a quick one from me before I get around to writing up some more detailed feedback. The Union flag was placed in front of the fan on one night only and not for the entire night. It woul dhave made no difference to the air flow as it was on the output side of the fan and those motors were several HP each so could easily push the air past.

[Rinthedragon]

The only sad part of running the Artist Alley is that the hotel staff couldn't be bothered to empty the trashcans and change/fill the water dispencer.
Next year I'll be bringing my own trashbags and check where the water is being kept. This is totally not the con-ops fault who did an awesome job with even providing me a radio for emergencies.

Awesome work, guys <3

[SFW]

If anything like that needs doing Rin, just let conops know or any member of staff with a radio. There were hotel staff with radios we could contact to get things like that done. Or failing the radio just asking at reception with the problem can get it done as the hotel staff can access the stored bottled water.

[SparkytheWolf]

1. This is more of problem with congoers then staff, but I noticed a fair amount of people walking around the con space with their fursuit heads off. I understand this year was particulerly warm, but I've never liked seeing headless furs (ruins the magic and such) I wonder if perhaps the reason for doing this was the distance of the fursuit lounge? either way if people could take into consideration those of us that get distressed by missing heads more, I think some people would be happier.

If I take my suithead off I most certainly needed a break so I searched for the closest (mostly) unnoticeable spot where I could do that.
Also this is a convention... not a public outing. It happens and it always will. The only thing I can say in this one is: Deal with it 

[mut]

Hello,

Awesome con! Both the venue and the con staff did a great job. Most of the suggestions I had were covered in the feedback session, but there are one or two other things:

• Small thing, but could you add a note to the printed rules + conbook saying that credit cards are accepted for the art auction please? (This was announced at the start of the live bidding -- much appreciated -- and I realized later that the information was there on the website.)
• The auction will be even bigger next year -- I'm sure you're already thinking of ways to speed the collection/payment after the art auction. From the outside I don't see any easy solutions, but perhaps some parts could run in parallel? For example, separating payment from pickup, or having a window on Sunday evening for items won at the silent auction to reduce the load. (Perhaps even during the live auction itself? Heresy, I know...)

 -- Mut.

[Lost Cause]

<snips the quotes down>

...I noticed a fair amount of people walking around the con space with their fursuit heads off.

I think this is more up to the fursuiter than any other. I for one, do not want to be seen without my head,

<finishes snipping>

Hey! Some of us are still relatively new to the whole fursuit thing. (Has now finally spent over 24 /non consecutive/ hours in suit)
Not everyone has the constitution to stick through things until they have an opportunity to slip out unnoticed. I had to run in the middle of one event, getting out before I passed out >.<
Hay fever also ment I was deathly afraid of sneezing in my head (again) and ended up taking it off several times while hiding away somewhere in order to be sure that didn't happen.
It's meant to be fun for everyone no? Even those of us that can barely stand after ninety minutes.