WELL! what a blast this year! absolutely brilliant outstanding work yet again! thank you ALL both staff and attendees!
wow, where do i start! this was honestly one of my best years yet! almost topping my first 2013 Medevil Fayre!
Alright! let's kick this review into gear, ive got some stuff for the staff side and some for the rest of the con,
Conops!
This year was my first time volunteering as crew for ConOps, at first I thought to myself "oh my god what have I signed up for!? agreeing to giving up 6 hours holiday time each day! madness surely?!", so I rocked up a few minutes early on the first day (after opening ceremony), and I was immediately greeted with 5 smiles from the crew that was on that shift, they welcomed me with open arms (some literally!) and that first shift was the "initiation by fire" type haha!
As soon as the ceremony finished the front desk was SWAMPED! I lost count of how many people wanted to register and ask questions! rushing back and fourth with the documents and finding the correct con packs/hoodies/badges, I absolutely loved it! It was so wonderful to meet each person and help them get all setup for the convention, offering them advice and learning very quickly about just how popular second stage is! A big thank you to Hyper and Graafen for that first wonderful shift!
My second shift was with Tryst and GreyWolf, I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard and for such a long period of time, six hours of fun! I almost fell over and had to drink some water I was having so much fun, GreyWulfs quips are just relentless! Thank you tryst and Graafen for your wonderful support as team leaders each night, your quick decisions and hard work made everything run really smoothly!
A few things that stuck with me; Graafen: " Thank you for your hard work tonight on front desk, I'd also like to introduce you to our radio systems and get you trained on those" , It probably doesn't seem like much, but for me that means a lot, It makes me so incredibly happy to hear that our staff are invested in the new crew/volunteers, It's a wonderful thing to see and I haven't seen that in my professional life since 2012, I cannot thank you enough for that, it truly made me feel happy and welcome, I will definitely volunteer next year for crew because I know that we have a brilliant team at all levels, seriously thank you all so much for making this holiday so wonderful and revitalizing my energy for life!
Suggestions for next year?
A large (A3/A2 size) Map of the hotel inside ConOps for quick reference when using radios to direct staff? It wasn't immediately obvious where some rooms were with the original hotel names and our event names
Would it be possible to have a quick reference guide made up with telephone numbers for departments (landline), for example if you call someone on the radio and wish to discuss something sensitive privately by the landlines in the hotel, and perhaps the Conops telephone number taped to the ConOps phone so you can provide the number to the other staff member?
Two people who are authorized to use the registration computer to look up information when helping to register attendees, Unfortunately Graafen and Tryst had a huge work load in regards to registration looking up the information so we know what badge number/ sponsor bag level to find/ pack and when someone comes into ConOps to ask questions it somewhat slowed the process, So would it be possible to have at least two people per shift able to use the registration computer to help ease the work load of senior staff if they are otherwise occupied?
Staff
Working as crew this year I met so many wonderful people who care and want to offer their support and happiness, I initially wanted to volunteer to see the other side of the convention, this is my third year and I was wanting to see a new angle and gain even more appreciation for the whole event, seeing some of the work first hand that goes into creating such a wonderful event helped me appreciate it a whole lot more, I couldn't be happier!
Beshon
It was wonderful to see him work really hard alongside ConOps he is an absolute pleasure to work with and his gentle demeanor along with his kindness makes him such a pleasure to be around! Thank you for helping us out numerous times, you are a brilliant chap and I look forward to working with you next year!
Graafen
It was brilliant working with Graafen, from signing up to working in the con it's been a great experience! Joining the crew was a nice easy process and I recieved a swift reply to my application, I was helped through each stage of the process and recieved regular update emails about the rota's, SOP's and various other information to get setup with, He works incredibly hard and supports the team and every other member of staff, always willing to help and a great source of advice and information, Thank you very much!
Shaman
Once again Shaman its been an absolute pleasure hanging out with you! I love our talks and working with you has been brilliant!
Tryst
Thank you for working with me and GreyWolf it was an absolute pleasure! thank you for checking up on us both seeing how we are getting along, for your tireless work and investing time in our development as crew, helping with radio operations and offering us soft drinks!
GreyWolf
Thank you for making ConOps so incredibly fun! i haven't laughed so much in years! It was truly a wonderful experience working along side you, making each attendee smile and resolving any issues that arose, it's been such a great year! Thank you!
Hyper
Thank you for a great first shift! it was lovely to work with you and you helped me learn the ropes quickly! It was brilliant working as a team with you sorting out registration packs as a team and being on front desk!
First Aid/ Security
These folks were AMAZING to work with! as soon as a first aid issue arose I called them on the radio and literally as soon as i could walk out the office door to the desk, five first aid personnel were standing there with their fancy bags helping to duct tape the victim back together x3
Security were equally as fast and useful! I'm sure they have races downstairs and across the hotel with rollerblades or something, that or they're ninjas who drop from the rafters when i'm not looking!
Brilliant response time, excellent quick decisive problem solving, and incredibly friendly! Thank you folks!
Night Club
WELL WELL WELL! what can i say!? what a BRILLIANT dead dog this year!!!
the best dead dog yet! an absolutely wonderful stage, excellent lighting and a truly brilliant set this year!
I started off dancing in fullsuit and went for a cool down if i didn't know the song or perhaps wasn't feeling the beat, unfortunately this year the set was SO GOOD that I didn't get many chances for that haha! I ended up coming back without my suit so I could dance longer, I ended up partying for the whole set, It was a wonderful chance to really let go of everything and just enjoy the moment, I'm sure I looked like a complete dork with my horrendous dancing! but I'm more than happy, truly at peace with how wonderful it was!
Brilliance song choices, incredible lighting, a packed dance floor and a dance that ill never forget!
Thank you to the whole night club team!! (and the security chaps outside!, who checked up on me, opened doors,offered water and helped with my fursuit!)
Events
What a brilliant selection of events this year! a full con book timetable!!
Who's Improv Was It Anyway?
Each year I go to Shamans improv event, and each year it gets more and more fun! I love this event!
there were so many wonderful games to play and it was so much fun interacting with people I didn't know in randomly silly ways!
I've made numerous new friends from this event and it was such a blast this year!
The only "improv-ment" i could suggest or ask for is that we could have a dedicated video camera to record the event and games because it would be such a wonderful event to share with more people/ record for our memories! C:
Thank you again Shaman for a wonderful time!
(p.s your shoes are awesome!)
Theming
What an excellent job theming this year folks! the poolside banners looked AMAZING, the NEC entrance posters, banners, timetable at ConOps saved us half a billion questions! Thank you and really well done! the whole convention looked exquisite!
Photo Shoot
A lovely shoot this year! a loved the confetti cannon! and you folks were very friendly and helpful! helping us get into position, sorting out those pesky con badges from flapping about! and you were very kind helping the somewhat blind and wobbley x3! Thank you for pose suggestions too and working with me to get some really nice photos! C:
the room was lovely this year, roomy and cool! it was a pleasure! C: Thank you for your tireless work!
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Hotel
I love this hotel, specially after making use of the spa/pool this year, its nice and spacious for events.
It does feel as though it's due a renovation decoration wise, and a few touch ups around the building and is starting to show its age, but for me I don't mind that too much, its the space and staff that count, I'm more than happy to overlook a few bits here and there as the whole event and experience was just what i needed to rejuvenate myself for "real life :O"
Staff
The hotel staff were as always lovely this year, very helpful getting our room sorted, they were very lovely welcoming us to breakfast this year as we dragged ourselves across the floor at 8am after a late night x3. The bar tenders were a barrel of laughs as well having lovely chats with the two chaps at 1am after the dead dog party.
The Room
Lovely as always, this year we had room 4229 which was literally next to the lift and between a cleaning cupboard/ end of the building, so it was super quiet this year with quick access to the lift which was very convenient!
Check In/out
This was pretty good, nice and easy as usual each year with friendly staff, unfortunately our room wasn't ready until 16:00 (we arrived at 8:00) but we checked every two hours just in case as they suggested, eventually they upgraded our room to the one we had previous years which was lovely! we like that room x3!
Food
I sampled quite a few parts of the food this year! the pizza/ice cream/drink deal was GREAT! loved that!
I tried various parts of the street food market especially the wedges/hot dogs and burgers, the wedges were lovely and not too bad pricing wise, unfortunately both the burgers i tried form there were rather cold, i get the feeling the overhead heat lamp might not have been working or wasn't powerful enough :C! But I'm prepared to forgive for that! My friend was staying in the hotel for a whole week before the convention and he said there was a noticeable change in food quality in the restaurants which was most likely caused by the huge influx of attendees, as its a lot more difficult to uphold high standards by taking more time over food when there are so many to feed! So I don't feel any negativity towards the chef's as they definitely have their work cut out!
Pool / Spa
This was the first year I went to the pool/spa, and WOW its worth it! it was wonderful being able to hang out with friends in the pool, have a chat in the sauna and just chill out and recover our strength for more partying! the staff there are lovely, and its great to see regular use of a HAKO to hoover up the water from slippery floor areas!
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Thank you EVERYONE for making this an unforgettable experience that was just what i needed to recharge myself! I look forward to next year and hopefully ConOps Crewing again! C:
