Author Topic: 2012 Feedback  (Read 54588 times)

Offline RizzoRattie

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #75 on: June 01, 2012, 18:32:47 »
I feel I need to address some items here regarding the food, as it very much came under my responsibility during the negotiation period with the hotel.

First and foremost, I want to try and get people to understand that the hotel did a fantastic job on the food.  Given the demographics of our group they tried to facilitiate us in every best way possible, which included considerablly knocked down prices.  When I ate there and had a 3 course meal (similiar to the buffets we had on offer) this was coming in at £27 per head, and the food was cooked to order.  Trying to cater for 700+ people whilst not being sure of the up take was an incredibly calculated risk to the hotel, and as such, they tried the buffet approaching hoping that people would be interested.

It seems that the main focus was on the lite bite menu, which the hotel have already considered going forward for next year, and made several proposals already.  This is something we will discuss and as always, try to ensure that what is on offer for everyone is suitable both price wise but in keeping with peoples tastes.

Regretably, year on year, we will never suit everyones tastes.  It is not pracitical from an operational perpsective to have hundreds of dishes on offer, and financially, if the mark up is not correct on the food, the cost of operation i.e. having numerous chefs preparing food that is only making break even margin, is not cost effective to the hotel.  At the end of the day, they are a business and want to try and capitalise on our captive audience.  They acknowledge some things did not go to plan and will address this for next year.  This is indeed why they encourage people to give them feedback.

With regards to breakfast, this was included in the price of the hotel room and the offering was superb.  I will take feedback to the hotel regarding consistency, but for the significantly marked down price we got on the rooms to have breakfast included, I felt the offering was more than adequate.  I think unfortunately there will always be a problem of cultural differences.  A continental breakfast might be a nicer idea going forward, and also help the hotel keep their costs down however, I felt the offering was fair and infact is more than most conventions would offer.  Again however, I will not stand firm that my decision is in any way final.  I honestly and truely listen to what people have to say, and I will feed it back, but I do not see there being much of a substantial change to what they offered year on year.  Our rates were incredibly competative and breakfast was almost a loss leader for the hotel.

Discussions have been had already regarding the possibility of an all inclusive package.  Whilst this is in no way set in stone, nor is it something we have yet managed to discuss in detail, it is certainly an option we can consider.  This would mean that for your con price, you would get ALL your meal times, including access to the BBQ, included. This would also eleviate the unfair advantage non vegitarians have as it would remain direct responsibility of the hotel to ensure they have plenty on offer for those wiht special dietry requirements.

The last important announcement I wish to make regarding one of the buffets, is that of the Chinese.  Yes, we are aware there were several complaints raised about this one.  Consistency was awful and the offering was poor.  There is a genuine reason for this, to which the hotel is extrmely apologetic for.  UNfortunately, the head chef actualyl collapsed in the kitchen and urgent medical treatment was required.  There was no ambulance available due to a major event being declared in Leicester, so the decision was made that priority is given to the chef over the guests.  One of our own team drove him to hospital where he was treated.  The hotel as ever were incredibly reactive and brought another chef in at very short notice, but of course if you were impacted during this time frame, you would have seen a substantial dip in quality.

I still put my name on stake and defend the overall quality of the hotels food.  I felt it was extremely good value for money and very tasty.  IN comparison to years gone by at CF, it was a major jump in quality.  I will be taking wiht me to my first meeting with the hotel (next week... argh!!!) details about the consistency and presentation, that I agree with did seem to vary, but on the whole, I will thank them for a job very well done.  If you do have any feedback or suggestions however, please continue to populate them here.  We do read everything.

Many thanks to all that came, and all that have and do leave constructive feedback.  It is much appreciated!!!

Kind Regards,

Rizzorat
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Venue Liaison
Forgive me for not jumping for joy, bad back you know ~ Scar; The Lion King

Offline Dhary Montecore

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #76 on: June 01, 2012, 18:52:17 »
With regard to Rizzos post I want to say again, that the food of the hotel was outstanding, regardless of the little inconveniences! Codewolf and I were actually impacted by the chiefs medical problem and the hotel even gave us a refund! When we were informed about the chefs condition I felt terribly sorry for even complaining.

Rizzorat: If you'd be so kind to get information about the chefs current condition and wish him all the best!

Additional I want to point out, that on Sunday noon, there was a very friendly lady accommodating Codewolf, Kage and me at the lunch buffet. I don't know if that is standard in the UK, but this lady treated us nicer than I ever experienced in any other venue before! I seriously regret that I couldn't thank her personally with a tip or at least verbally.

So, all in all, forget about my spoiled German stomach and be assured that I enjoyed the hotels accommodation very much!

-Dhary

Offline SeanC

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #77 on: June 01, 2012, 18:58:44 »
This was my first Confuzzled ( although I've been to many other cons in the past ) and to be honest, I have to seriously struggle to think of anything negative to say. All in all it was a fantastic experience and I pretty much loved every minute of it. One of my best con experiences ever, in fact. Job well done to all staff!

The hotel location was fantastic. Absolutely lovely setting that made for some superb photo opportunities. It was like a trip to the country... with furries. Brilliant!
At the same time, it was pretty easy to get to. I arrived Thursday, so was too early for the shuttle, but the taxi fare from Nuneaton was fairly reasonable.

Yes, the BBQ line was a bit too long but I guess given the huge uptake on it there was little that could be done about that. The food was great IMO, both from the bar and the various buffets, and while there was limited choice on the Chinese buffet, given the circumstances regarding the chef then that can be very quickly forgiven.  
I found the sausage & mash with onion gravy from the bar to be particularly good and I had that a couple of times.
Someone on the hotel staff must have been psychic because on Friday I was lamenting that you couldn't get any ice cream in the hotel, only for ice cream to suddenly be on sale from the main desk the next day.

Someone mentioned fursuiters being seen in public without their heads. This pretty much happens at every con ( I saw it lots of times at Further Confusion ) and given the hot weather last weekend I can understand fully why some people might have needed to get some air pretty quickly. I'm guilty of popping my head twice - once when I was seriously hungry and decided to buy a bacon roll late at night ( which I brought to the Headless Lounge and ate there ) and again the following evening when I sat outside for a while drinking a bottle of Fanta. In both cases I didn't fully remove my head - just raised it so my mouth was exposed. But yeah, in contrast to the aforementioned Further Confusion, I actually saw very little 'magic killing' at CF.

Some people have had issues with the group photo at the end of the parade. I did get remarkably hot during this ( I was on the top floor very close to the skylight ) but ultimately I think it was handled quite well considering the fact that it seemed there was a lot more suits than the staff had expected.
Do we have a tally on fursuits,btw? Someone said about 300, which is a remarkably large amount if accurate.

Anyhow, CF was a blast for me. Big thumbs up to everyone involved in bringing it together. :)

Offline Rinthedragon

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #78 on: June 01, 2012, 19:28:05 »
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

Ah Rin, if you called through to the PUMA team via the radio or the team in Operations we could of had the bins changed out rapidly and had water delivered.

An oversight for this year.

Sorry, that was my fault. I forgot to give instructions when I handed out the radio.

Next year remind me, Rin ;) And it would've been so easy to do it in Moonspeak (tm)!

Guys! Stop appologising D: you all did an awesome job! Am I still allowed to run the Artist Alley next year? :D Because I've been having a blast running it <3

Offline baccala30

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #79 on: June 03, 2012, 15:28:20 »
Just wanted to say I enjoyed myself fully and you guys did a great job setting up and tearing down. I can't really think of anything negative but hope it will be even better next year, this is one of my new favorite cons to come to. Cheers! ;D

Offline Athesis

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #80 on: June 04, 2012, 10:10:56 »
Hi there,

I like to give my feedback, also:
I was verry suprised, It was a much greater con then I expected! It was a well organized and high-quality convention.

Pros:

1. Hotel - I think there can't be a better location for a Furry-Convention then this Hotel. Many places to sit with other furs, not soo loud thanks to many carpets - AND Great Hotel Staff - I really had the feeling most of them Instant-Like us ;)!

2. Fursuit-Lounge: Great cooling, good air refreshing! I really Like the yellow fans - where did you get them from?

3. Hotel Pricing: I think the Prices for anything was great! I didn't expect the free breakfast and such nice priced food directly at the con!

4. Pawpet Show: Really great Story. Just one thing; It was really hard to understand at the beginning due noises and dialect.

5. Cine: Nice place to chill out a bit. Great Idea, shoud be held up defently - And maybe for a longer time.

Cons:

1. BBQ: For first, I felt like they sell more tickets then they could handle. I got also fish, and I think it wasn't good anymore due my expirience and many people I heard who also had fish got some serious gastro-intestinal problems.

2. Auction: Do it faster. 1-2-3 SOLD, not 1 *crickets* .... 2 *more crickets* .... 3 Sold.

3. Rooms: I hat a very nice and well placed room - But other rooms was really - uuh. Really hot rooms on southside had no aircoditioner and also couldn't open windows more then some inches.



All in one: Great Convention, I had a really great time and I will defently come back to Confuzzled 6! Thank you for this great time :3!


Offline SFW

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #81 on: June 04, 2012, 13:28:55 »
The yellow blower fans are commonly sold as bouncy castle or inflatable blowers and are designed to move a lot of air for a long period of time. They are widely sold on the internet and come in a large range of power outputs and designs.
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Offline Athesis

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #82 on: June 04, 2012, 17:42:49 »
Well, thank you~! I found some. Do you also know what model it was or how much W the device was?

Offline SFW

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #83 on: June 04, 2012, 19:50:32 »
To be honest there's lots, but they vary from 300w to 2Kw depending on the design and airflow rate.
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Offline James The Dog

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #84 on: June 04, 2012, 20:39:30 »
I have one rather major complaint about the con, and that's the fact it finished :(

Offline Ragear

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #85 on: June 04, 2012, 23:34:09 »
I have one rather major complaint about the con, and that's the fact it finished :(

Iam resting assured that the comittee ist working as hard as possible to solve this problem within one year ...
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Offline yagfox

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #86 on: June 04, 2012, 23:58:03 »
The two loose yellow fans in the lounge (not attached to head trees) were mine, they are both 500 watt units, ex-bouncy castle blowers purchased on ebay. Don't pay more than about £15 to £20 each for them, there are always many available at the end of summer from damaged small domestic bouncy castles! :)

Offline aurora

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #87 on: June 05, 2012, 00:30:05 »
Quote
The two loose yellow fans in the lounge (not attached to head trees) were mine, they are both 500 watt units, ex-bouncy castle blowers purchased on ebay. Don't pay more than about £15 to £20 each for them, there are always many available at the end of summer from damaged small domestic bouncy castles! Smiley

I must say they were really effective at drying out the inside of my fursuit head within only tens of minutes.

Offline aurora

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #88 on: June 05, 2012, 00:35:55 »
Quote
I have one rather major complaint about the con, and that's the fact it finished Sad

Yeah it was really great fun, only three days but to me it seemed like a week.

Shame it wasn't biannual with a con close to Christmas.

Offline Athesis

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Re: 2012 Feedback
« Reply #89 on: June 05, 2012, 14:26:23 »
The two loose yellow fans in the lounge (not attached to head trees) were mine, they are both 500 watt units, ex-bouncy castle blowers purchased on ebay. Don't pay more than about £15 to £20 each for them, there are always many available at the end of summer from damaged small domestic bouncy castles! :)

Thank you for that nice tip and that you lent us that great device :)!!

Edit: If someone is interested and don't like to get an used one, I found an reseller in germany - Just PM me for link :).
« Last Edit: June 05, 2012, 14:40:56 by Athesis »