On the whole, a pretty damned good convention. The CFz and hotel staff seem to be meshing together more effectively - hopefully next year will be even better
The food was excellent - had the pizza, the tagliatelle and the korma (not all at once !) - tasty, large portions, and they even let us take the plates away with foil over the top when we wanted to eat at a panel event.
Anyway a few comments from me...
The takeaway food stand was a great idea - we had a lovely Thai Green curry from there, but having the same menu options every night was disappointing. I've read in the UKFur forum that this was because this was a new brand trial, so I have hopes for more varied choices next year
Could they also be asked to show opening/closing times for the stand ? They may have been on display, but I didn't see them.
Rubbish bins. I appreciate that the hotel doesn't want its nice shiny reception area and corridors populated with nasty rubbish bins, but honestly, I shouldn't have to walk from one end of the hotel to the other to dispose of rubbish at ConOps or in the Fursuit Lounge. Can we get a few at appropriate places - maybe outside the Dealers Den/Art Show/NightClub and ConOps ? Surely the hotel would agree that it's better to have rubbish in the bins than left on the floors and tables ?
Could some of the "all attendee" type events - such as the opening and closing ceremonies and the attendee photoshoot be advertised better ? The attendee photoshoot seemed to be down on people because many didn't know (or had forgotten) it was happening. Could we have some large stands dotted around to show the time for these events ? Not all on one sheet - just one sheet per event so it stands out.
EF has a newsletter. Now, I don't expect CFz to have one - it'd mean a whole new department, plus a budget etc., but perhaps a single sheet of A4 with upcoming events, changes to times and locations, major news etc. be printed off last thing each night ? (I can hear ConOps screaming from here !
I'd love to slip a copy under every attendees door so everyone knew about things, but that might be logistically problematic, so a couple of stands with a holder on them would do, allowing people to take them if they wanted.
Include volunteers in the con credits if possible - their work helps make CFz work, and it'd be nice to give them some recognition as well.
Sponsors get a preview of the art show. I was asked if it was possible for dealers to get something similar ? They're basically in the den all the time the art show is open, so don't get a chance to see the art without leaving their tables.
Add more bins to the fursuit lounge, and mark them clearly.
Can we get some mirrors in the fursuit lounge ? I know glass is a hazard, so could Engineering whip up something with perspex, mylar/silvered film and hardboard ? They don't have to be particularly high-quality, just enough to check your head is on straight and your tail isn't leaving an unfortunate gap
As regards placement, how about one on the end of each arm of the suit dryers - perhaps on a bracket to allow removal and transportation ?
Have a plentiful supply of paper towels in the fursuit lounge.
Issues with the bar - documented well enough elsewhere, so the only thing I'll ask is why there seemed to be a need for four servers to use the same till. Making a drink, walking round to the till to check the price, walking back to get the money, back to the till, back to give the change all seemed very excessive.
CFz TV - a great idea for those unwilling/unable to attend. The issues with quality have already been addressed elsewhere, so all I'd suggest is that the events that will be covered be clearly marked in the conbook (or a separate flyer), and that maybe the static image displayed between shows be modified to show what the next event shown will be, and when.
Great work everyone, everyone who contributed should feel proud