ConFuzzled Forum

ConFuzzled Forums => Feedback => Topic started by: Feera Fox on May 28, 2012, 18:09:40

Title: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Feera Fox on May 28, 2012, 18:09:40
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.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Skie on May 28, 2012, 19:06:05
Let's see if I remember all of my points.

Dance competition set up was a complete fail. The dancers pretty much performed to the judges only. 90% of the crowd only saw mostly the dancers' backs. It would be pretty easy to solve that by placing the judges in the crowd's front row. I'm sure other solution are available too. What made this even more silly is that you had at least 5 official cameras recording it, yet on the projectors you showed input from the cameras that also filmed the dancers' back. That was a really WTF, and ruined that event for me (and many others).

Dance event fail: So you got those dancing panels for the dance competition. Cool. But why weren't they on the dance floor too? Was it a logistic issue? Carpet is really not a good dancing surface.
I like the intimate room we had for the dances, but can't say I'm surprised when I think the dances at CFz 2008 were more crowded than this.

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. I'm not going to argue this  here (I wanted to do that at EF forums, but EF staff simply placed their arguments and locked the topic like very mature people. Too bad since I would easily counter argument all of their silly reasoning), but it does lead me to positive feedback on the fact that we have the Standard + option. I think it's a great option to have.

Like the venue! The spread out corridors are great for a furry convention. Much less elevator mess for everyone. Rooms were great too. The included breakfast is awesome! I've been to many 4 star hotels at the UK and that has too be the best breakfast I was served. Surrounding area is great. Hope the con will manage to stay at Hinkley for a few more times.

There is one thing that was funny regarding the venue. I think the drinks/food prices were very reasonable for a 4 star hotels, but the dishes really lacked consistency. Me and two others ordered the same dish and each of us got something else. I.e., one got a big plate with it, one got a small plate with it, and one got the small plate + fries. Was weird.

The pawpet show was probably the best pawpet show I've seen since the epic Dreamcatchers. Very light, funny and entertaining, while not suffering from long intermissions. Keep it up. I hope that unlike EF, this will be on video/dvd one day.

Long auction is long. Can't say I have any ideas about that, but there's a feature that could be useful. Placing a list with the order of the items are going to be auditioned could be useful. In this case if someone is interested only in auctioned piece #107, he doesn't have to sit thought 100 auctions, and can just visit every now and then and check where the auction is. Having the number on the projector with the piece's information would work well for this.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: geo on May 28, 2012, 19:08:00
gota say man it was my first con and my first time volunteering  CODE WOLF man you made the con for could not ask for a nicer guy apart from the beer being on me  security con was bad ass all you nice people and security staff made my con

P.S and a bravo to all the staff man
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: djem on May 28, 2012, 21:07:13
First time for me at Cfz, and all I can say is I really enjoy it !

The hotel was nice, large and never gave the filling there was 700 people in here, lot's of small space you could hang out at with friends.
Breakfast was nice, but the rest of the food offer was on the limit sadly.

The event's themself where nice, just the art auction was way to long.

Has Dj, I would like to add that on the dancefloor the light show was sweet while the audio was, the total opposite, if you could something over that for next year ...

And, overall, I'll be back next year ! :)     
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Balto on May 28, 2012, 23:29:38
Was a good con, was fun to be there and I will defently look to come back again. my main critique is the shooting of the Fursuit Group photo after the walk. you guys should really do that outside next year
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Fionacat on May 29, 2012, 10:36:22
It would be super awesome to let surronding business know that confuzzled is coming to town, the poor peebs up at the harvester had no idea what had hit them!

Some stuff for 2013?

Bowling/Laser tag outing - it's about 15/20 minute down the motorway but could be awesome.

Fursuit floor - Book those with fursuit into the air conditioned rooms first, helps with keeping suits clean and non-stinky.

Party Suite - MAAAAAAAN those suites were pretty awesome, top marks there.

Ponies - Will have to fix that there is a pony panel next year.

ConOps - You lost the phone charger?!  Dudes, not cool, it wasn't an emergancy but it did really stress me out getting that voice mail.

That's all I can think of, super convention all in all, really very much looking forward to 2013.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: aurora on May 29, 2012, 12:08:31
This was the first-time at a con for me and also the first time I have been in a fursuit, it was lots of fun but got a little extremely hot at times. Other's always seemed pleased to see me in suit, and I enjoyed posing with and having my picture taken with so many people & fursuiters.  :D

There was a good variety of competitively priced food and the hotel staff were always helpful and friendly. The layout of the hotel was great with plenty of open spaces and areas where I could sit down and relax.

Some criticisms that I have are that there should have been drinking water, cups and straws provided outside and at certain locations for us fursuiters so we didn't have to trudge all the way back to the fursuit lounges for rehydration.

The hotel cleaning staff cleaned my room, and changed towels and bedding on a daily basis which I thought was unnecessary, and probably inconvenient for them as my fursuit and other items were all about my room. I don't know what the norm is for their usual business guests but I left my room in a presentable condition almost exactly as I found it.

Standing in the queues for the barbecue and PawPet show was tiresome but one of those things I suppose.  :(

Some future suggestions:

A daily timetable of events posted in prominent locations so we don't have to refer to the conbook, and signage of rooms such as was the case with the fursuit photoshoot room.

On the first morning, help and advice for first-time fursuiters, do's and dont's, hints and tips.

That's about if for now, I look forward to returning in 2013.

Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Lost Cause on May 29, 2012, 13:04:46
Actually Aurora, There was a little sign in the bathroom (at least my room's bathroom) that if you stuck your towels on the rack they would not be change but if you left them anywhere else they would be.
considering I had between two and three showers a day, the daily change of towels was good for me...

The food was great, the panels were fun, the staff were nice, the other guests were wonderful, the fursuits were fluffy (and sometimes damp) and the gentle breeze was most welcome!

I was interested to see what the Twitter incident was that the staff were instructed not to engage in any dialogue on over the radio XD

It was a great weekend all over and I hope to see you all again next year!

Ohhh, and was it just me or were the upper floors built to be saunas or something?
as you climbed up the stairs the temperature seemed to climb with you.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: James The Dog on May 29, 2012, 13:13:47
Long auction is long.

Maybe requiring items to need more bids before going to auction could be helpful. Maybe 6 or 7 rather than 4.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Lazerus101 on May 29, 2012, 14:45:09
Overall a fantastic con.

Minor Gripes:

Regardless of all that, both CF staff and the Hotel did amazing work to make everything run smoothly and I know some of the minor hiccups are already in hand so that they wont happen next year, I will say this was the best CF yet. I had a fabulous weekend I won't ever forget and I am already excited about next year.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: James The Dog on May 29, 2012, 15:12:33
I definately found the 0% thing a bit off myself, and even some of the others seemed to have cheekily low percentages, especially when some of them were getting 3 and 4 figure bids. I know it's down to the artist how much they want to give, but still... I didn't see as much of the auction as I liked, as we missed the beginning because we were doing osmething else (which was annoying because I found out a piece I wanted to get was the very first thing auctioned!) and the person I was with got fed up with how long it was dragging on and insisted we left (which I didn't really want to do, but didn't have much choice).
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Shay on May 29, 2012, 15:37:06
Quick reply to everyone that experienced the Dance contest in a less than desirable way.
We as organisers of the event, noticed too that the arrangement of seating and placement of judges was less than desirable and have already made sure that next year this issue will be resolved. It was too late to change it this year seeing the show was already underway.

In 2013 I am sure everyone will have a much better view on the dancers and you won't see just their backs. The evolution of a dance contest :)
Thanks for the feedback,

Shay
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Kraken on May 29, 2012, 17:23:52
Dance competition set up was a complete fail. The dancers pretty much performed to the judges only. 90% of the crowd only saw mostly the dancers' backs. It would be pretty easy to solve that by placing the judges in the crowd's front row. I'm sure other solution are available too. What made this even more silly is that you had at least 5 official cameras recording it, yet on the projectors you showed input from the cameras that also filmed the dancers' back. That was a really WTF, and ruined that event for me (and many others).

As far as I was aware, the camera at the back (on the sound deck) was the only 'official' one which was being used, at least 3/4 cameras were BBF cameras and then there was my camera (my camera being one which was facing the audience on a tripod) and another one operated by someone else.

The problems with the screen was a pain and I'll agree that having the dances judge facing was a bad move as then all the audience would get is a view of dancing furry backside.

I agree with judges should be in a primer spot in the audience and thusly everyone gets a mostly equal view.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Skie on May 29, 2012, 18:16:33
Long auction is long.

Maybe requiring items to need more bids before going to auction could be helpful. Maybe 6 or 7 rather than 4.

I hear from people who work at EF auction that it might not help much. If two people want an item they can easily fill all the bid slots up if each of them use minor increments


Quick reply to everyone that...


Good to know :)
Thanks!.

Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: James The Dog on May 29, 2012, 18:22:30
I hear from people who work at EF auction that it might not help much. If two people want an item they can easily fill all the bid slots up if each of them use minor increments

I guess they can put a minimum limit on how much the next bid is over the previous one.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: LevLion on May 29, 2012, 19:28:34
Regarding the projection screens. I can only apologise to all our guests who suffered to see.
Unfortuantly someone damaged the cables during the pawpet show that connected the camera up and as a result the feed kept dropping. It diddnt effect any of the video of PC outputs just the camera feed which of course was the issue for some. Next year we already have planned a better distro for the video.

As for the positionning of the camera well yes we were only asked to provide a stage camera so it was really in the wrong place for this event, however as someone has suggested I think the judges should be in a front row facing the stage next time this would mean the dancers are facing the crowd and the cameras can catch them.

Although Im not incharge of events I think the reason the dance workshop was elsewhere was because the stage room was in use with another event at the time and there dance floor is designed to only fit in there. We might look to get it all under one location next year.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Lazerus101 on May 29, 2012, 23:11:41
Thanks Lev, I guessed that it must have been some technical issue that you were just unable to rectify right away. As I say, mostly minor gripes and I know you guys take every opportunity to improve things year on year.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Gandalf-The-Blue on May 30, 2012, 00:39:53
Okay, where to start....

First of all, FANTASTIC, FANTASTIC, PAWSOME, FURRIFFIC, GRRRRREAT convention! :D

Thanks to everyone for pulling that off. You switched locations just in time, I think one more year in that run-down shack that the Britannia was would've led to some people not returning. The new venue seems fantastic, the staff were nice and even when there were problems, very cooperative. The events I saw were great, I really enjoyed the pawpet show, the dances and the dance comp. :)

Now for the not so good things:

Free stickers after the Pawpet show:


Great idea gone terribly wrong. Doing this right at the exit led to two of the aisles being completely blocked, even for those who didn't even want a sticker. I had to wait roughly 15 minutes just to leave the room with no way of sneaking past the queue, it was too crammed - 15 minutes I didn't have at that time.

You may want to do that somewhere else in the future, at a place where people can gather and wait without blocking the exits. Consider the security risks, too. :)



Dances:

All in all I'm happy with the dances, but there was one thing that really ticked me off: You do not mess with the EQ settings while music is playing. PERIOD.

During my set, someone behind the main audio desk thought it was funny to repeatedly crank the bass up to the point where the music faded into an apocalyptic, distorted bass. No, it was NOT funny. It left me confused as to what was going on, what I should do, constantly re-tweak my EQs (which normally is not neccessary) and left the audience annoyed since it killed the mood and reduced the audio to a noise that obviously was painful to some.

Just don't do that.


That's pretty much all I have to say. I could comment on the video feeds on stage, but I already spoke to the people in charge, so that does not need to be repeated anymore. :)

Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Gandalf-The-Blue on May 30, 2012, 00:46:13
...you had at least 5 official cameras recording it, yet on the projectors you showed input from the cameras that also filmed the dancers' back....

Neither Mikepaws nor I am a part of CFz staff at this point, and our cameras were not official CF cameras. We're just filming for our own little projects.


I'm not going to argue this  here (I wanted to do that at EF forums, but EF staff simply placed their arguments and locked the topic like very mature people.


Well, thanks for dragging it out for more than a year. Now think again why nobody wanted to discuss things with you.


I hope that unlike EF, this will be on video/dvd one day.

EF 17 PPS has been released by Suran just 2 weeks after the con.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Bigwig on May 30, 2012, 01:51:38
Yes you shall not try to make videos with 100 pound automatic-mode digicam in movie mode - guilty. However the result from the dance-contest suffered additionally from the glaring white tablecloth on the judge's desk in the center of the image which did not allow the cam to raise contrast for darker suits. I learned from Colifox that the hotel personal was not allowed to take tipps. That was certainly not nice for them having to reject it everytime (and left me with the odd feeling my money or acknowledging of their great work/service had no value to them). Near the end of Wing C ground level the wifi-distribution-network was unstable or even temporarily unusable (3/4 packet-loss - however after finding a walk to the rotunda would fix that I did just that. case solved.)

I loved the carpet at the dance floor. Especially with fog in the air usually I fight a lot with slippery ground in suit which was no subject here. Having huge suiter feet however it did not cost me much extra energy ;)  and I loved the speed controlled big fan - fair compromise of air vs. noise. Begging every now and then with gestures for more air was always honored. The union jack in front of the fan looking wonderfull however cost quite some airflow. The Pawpet show had those minutes where you swallow deeply moved. Losing a dear beloved bunny...

Well and even if it may sounds silly but towards the end of the con with the certainty to have some money left I would have loved to spend a bit for charity but I never saw a box to put a note in (with paypal link I would still be willing to fix this). The Auction was too long especially running in parallel to the dances. When people leave due to that potential buyers leave as well.

Overall this was a wonderfull convention leaving not too much way for improvements. However the hotel was booked out and all other places are quite remote, which reminds me from lessons learned from EF. The only thing which could likely stop me (especially as a fursuiter) attending next year is loosing fight in a registration rush. Or noticing registration too late. A notification to CF2012 attendees by emails would be very much appreciated.

PS: the dance music - especially that of the dead dog dance was awesome.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Kivuli on May 30, 2012, 02:37:44
Yay feedback time!

First off would like to say it was an amazing time, loved it all but sadly it was never perfect and there were a few things I would like to give my opinion on

Thursday - The food issue. The Hotel staff apparently didn't know or didnt have the menu for the weekend till later on. It was sorted but the delay was a little annoying

Poor Ralicat - Me and my fiancee were in Furry Philosophy and Rali had to run out part way through as he was meant to help run and organise 4 events. It gave a bump in the pace to that specific event

Buffet - The sponsor buffet felt a little.... underwhelming the selection of food was not that great, alot of the sandwiches on offer had stuff like mustard and pickle inside. Personally I dont like that so my options were limited, but compared to last year it felt a little let down. Just a suggestion for next time maybe have a private sponsor BBQ where you get an exclusive ticket in your pack at registration. If a sponsor doesnt want to go he/she can give his ticket to someone else but the ticket MUST be shown before getting the tasty nom treats,. Just a suggestion

Art collection - Was insane TBH there was only 1 till running? what happened to the 2 or 3 in previous years? it really slowed down processing time. Not much else to say just hope it gets sorted next year

Art Auction - ban 1 pound bids its annoying. also its unfair that art going into the charity auction has no percent going to charity.... if your not going to give anything personally I dont think it deserves to make the auction regardless of how nice the art is

Disco - this is just a personal issue. I have asthma, and on most nights I couldnt get near the floor due to the thick cloud of smoke produced by the machine. Im  not going to ask that we no longer have it thats not fair but maybe better ventilation?

Monday - The food after about 12... the prices went up and the quality went waaaaaaay down. my burger dried my mouth out and my fiancee hot dog... the bun was split adn the sausages were limp and hardly any cheese or chips were on the plate. I understand that we dont exclusively have the hotel after that time, but people were being told 'yes the promotional food was still on by the staff of the hotel. we could just manage to get one meal from the hotel that day and eat some of the food we had with us later. my friend had to cut a meal of the day out simply cause he hadnt the money any more. A simple suggestion for con and hotel staff :- keep the cheap and good quality meals and drinks all the way till the end of monday and the only way to get served it, is to show your con badge that way no randomers can get the deals but we still benifit. after spending money at a con alot of people wont have the cash to buy the more pricey meals

ok thats done rant over. sorry if i have offended anyone this is my opinion and my suggestions for next time
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Cosmo on May 30, 2012, 03:05:26
Art collection - Was insane TBH there was only 1 till running? what happened to the 2 or 3 in previous years? it really slowed down processing time. Not much else to say just hope it gets sorted next year
We've always only had the one till as, for most of the con, a second one has been hard to justify. I am going to be looking at getting a second, but it depends on getting enough people to register so we can afford it (hint, hint)
Art Auction - ban 1 pound bids its annoying. also its unfair that art going into the charity auction has no percent going to charity.... if your not going to give anything personally I dont think it deserves to make the auction regardless of how nice the art is
Again, I'll be looking at both of these issues. We didn't actually get that much higher a percentage of items being submitted to the art show with 0%, it was just that there were more items in general and more of the 0% items got through to the live auction than normal creating a perception that a lot of submissions had nothing for charity. Both of these issues played a part in slowing the live auction down significantly, so I'll be looking to find a way of solving them that's fair to everyone, including the artists.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Nimbus Wolf on May 30, 2012, 05:31:16
TL;DR: My first ConFuzzled will most definitely not be my last. Brilliant convention!

Great stuff:
-Free breakfast, with pretty good food and plenty of espresso machines!
-The god-fan that was by the outside door of the dance. Could we have that thing running even when the dances aren't? (preferably outside at nighttime! Inside a meat locker if it's raining)
-Shuttle bus was an excellent idea. The driver found us confusing, but was happy nonetheless. :P
-Hotel staff was very friendly and positive whenever I spoke to them.
-The hotel's layout was great. The star pattern meant you never had to walk far to get anywhere, and I didn't once need to use an elevator, even when suiting!
-The stands offering food and drinks at seemingly the perfect time and place.
-The fact that said food and drink was decently priced (although drink prices and food amounts seemed to vary quite a bit, as Skie mentioned. I paid £4.50 or £3 for the same bottle of Crabby's, depending on moon phase)
-Something about the atmosphere of the convention made it so easy to socialize. More so than any other con I've been to.
-Dealers' den was excellently sized: no line to get in, piece of cake to walk through, but still *looked* packed and active every time I was in it.

Suggestions:
-More charity at the auction is always a good thing, but artists need to eat too. How about having some sort of "reserve" system to complement the percentage system, where the submitter can say "everything above X number of pounds goes to charity". It could be a secret if the reserve isn't met, if the submitter so wished. Also, artists: don't be afraid to change the charity percent if the bids go higher! If someone's on the fence about a piece, it can be just the right motivation for them to up their bid. You'll probably get more money, anyway: Tani increasing the charity percent on her husky piece from 5% to 10% was enough to push the top bid another 100 pounds, and a bit of math will show you that she actually gained 35 pounds because of it. ;)
-Only a minor niggle, but could we get a discount on the cold sandwiches next time? I had to leave at 6AM on Monday to catch my flight, making it too early for breakfast but too late for the "quick bites", so the only option was a £7-10 sandwich from the front desk. I don't expect hot food at that time of day (not enough people awake to justify keeping the kitchen going), but that kinda money for cold cuts on plain sliced bread left a bad taste in my mouth from a hotel that, for the entire rest of the con, had provided an excellent experience.

Comments:
-What's wrong with having long queues? It's a British Furry convention, after all! :P
-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. >_>
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Vector on May 30, 2012, 07:52:31
I didn't attend this year. But I have questions about 2013 events.

Can we expect to see these events back in 2013 ?

- Furrylimpics

- Cavalcade of Cack

- Fursuit performance workshop(s).

Free for all (fursuit fiasco) is fun but nothing can replace the Furrylimpics with teams on stage. Cavalcade of Cack is one of the best puppet shows I ever saw, I really HOPE that it'll be back next year ! And finally a fursuit performance workshop (maybe one for beginners & another for advanced performers) is a mandatory in convention with 50/60 % of fursuiters attending.

I see you managed to get a free shuttle this year. Could it be possible that the shuttle would be also in service for the people attending the day before the convention ?

Can't wait for 2013 ! :D
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Fairlight on May 30, 2012, 08:07:51
Free stickers after the Pawpet show:

Great idea gone terribly wrong. Doing this right at the exit led to two of the aisles being completely blocked, even for those who didn't even want a sticker. I had to wait roughly 15 minutes just to leave the room with no way of sneaking past the queue, it was too crammed - 15 minutes I didn't have at that time.

You may want to do that somewhere else in the future, at a place where people can gather and wait without blocking the exits. Consider the security risks, too. :)

Apologies for that. It was a very last minute decision.. The doors on the side of the room were actually not locked, so could have been used to escape, but we failed to see the issue as such, so didn't let people know about the alternative escape routes :) Sawwry...
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Swolf on May 30, 2012, 08:47:16
Dances:

All in all I'm happy with the dances, but there was one thing that really ticked me off: You do not mess with the EQ settings while music is playing. PERIOD.

During my set, someone behind the main audio desk thought it was funny to repeatedly crank the bass up to the point where the music faded into an apocalyptic, distorted bass. No, it was NOT funny. It left me confused as to what was going on, what I should do, constantly re-tweak my EQs (which normally is not neccessary) and left the audience annoyed since it killed the mood and reduced the audio to a noise that obviously was painful to some.

Just don't do that.


Hi BBF,
I will see that the audio crew in charge doesn't do this in future, the only reason the volume was adjusted now and again (as in overall db volume) was to counteract the noise of the industrial cooling fan system in place, this generally was kept to "build ups" in the music so that the suiters / dancers didn't swelter in the heat, all 3 aircon units in the room were running full tilt as well but due to the high number of people in a small space and the uncharacteristic warm weather (for Britain ha ;) the temperature was still fairly high.

I'm sorry to say I didn't witness this as I was unfortunately unwell during the later parts of your set so had to retire early so I apologise for this.
Thanks for the feedback
Swolf
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Swolf on May 30, 2012, 09:11:15
Disco - this is just a personal issue. I have asthma, and on most nights I couldnt get near the floor due to the thick cloud of smoke produced by the machine. Im  not going to ask that we no longer have it thats not fair but maybe better ventilation?

Hi Kivuli,
Thanks for the feedback, we did increase the ventilation in the room and found that most of the smoke was evacuated fairly quickly during the 1st couple of nights, there were two large industrial fans on either side of the room to circulate the warm air out through the fire escape.
The smoke used shoudn't cause any breathing issues but as all people react differently to the fluid we did place warnings over the use of smoke just in case and a medic was on hand also.

In regards to the smoke itself is of the finer type so it looks to linger in the air a little more than the thicker stuff so its a case of it looks worse than it is.
I hope that next year there is more of a breeze and not so "still" humid air which should help keep the air flowing through.
Kind Regards
Swolf
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Swolf on May 30, 2012, 09:23:02
Dance event fail: So you got those dancing panels for the dance competition. Cool. But why weren't they on the dance floor too? Was it a logistic issue? Carpet is really not a good dancing surface.
I like the intimate room we had for the dances, but can't say I'm surprised when I think the dances at CFz 2008 were more crowded than this.

Hi Skie
Thanks for the Feedback, I think both Lev and Shay have covered the issues over the dance comp sufficiently, in regards to the dance flooring this is the hotels and we did have the option of using it, however the issue with a glossy dance floor is that if there is drink spillages or excess moisture this can cause the flooring to become unsafe. We've had feedback from another attendee who's fursuiting was helped by not having a glossy floor. So at this stage we will consider both views for next year.
Overall the dances were well attended and based on the door count numbers I suspect the numbers were similar if not more than the earlier YHA dances.
Kind Regards
Swolf
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: gargath on May 30, 2012, 10:00:23
Hi,

First of all I'd like to say that Confuzzled this year was amazing. Staff did an impressive job at getting everything to work out as well as it did.
The venue was great and the people there really pulled out all the stops to make it an awesome Con.

The one gripe I had was with the auction (again).
It was long and there was no way of coming back for an item. Maybe number them next time?

Also, I think with this many items on auction, you could afford banning "0% to charity". Many items only fetched the prices they did because of the auction. They would not have sold for that much in the dealers' den. I don't think it's the job of con staff to help sell individual artists' work.
The reason that there's an auction at all is because this way more money can be made for the charity than from just selling their merchandise. I think it would be great to return to those roots and have at least some mandatory contribution of someone wants an item to go up for auction.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: James The Dog on May 30, 2012, 10:08:10
I personally think maybe there should be a minimum 20% to charity for items in the auction myself- It is a charity auction after all. I haven't spoken to a single person who didn't find the amount of 0% items suprising, and even 5 and 10% feels like no more than a token genture.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Fionacat on May 30, 2012, 10:54:26

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.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Skie on May 30, 2012, 11:02:47

-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?
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Skie on May 30, 2012, 11:07:23

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.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: leinir on May 30, 2012, 11:14:50
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 :)
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: sayh on May 30, 2012, 12:28:03
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
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Shirik on May 30, 2012, 12:29:05
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%).
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Snackcat on May 30, 2012, 14:38:08
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.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: sayh on May 30, 2012, 15:23:56
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.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: aurora on May 30, 2012, 18:09:37
Quote
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.

Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: SFW on May 30, 2012, 18:28:39
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.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Rinthedragon on May 30, 2012, 19:04:44
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
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: SFW on May 30, 2012, 19:10:57
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.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: SparkytheWolf on May 30, 2012, 19:30:14
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  8)
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: mut on May 30, 2012, 20:12:22
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:


 -- Mut.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Lost Cause on May 30, 2012, 22:06:31
<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.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Ragear on May 30, 2012, 22:11:22
ok, here we go:

THIS WAS THE MOST AWESOME CON I'VE BEEN TO. -period-

man, most of the +/- points have been adressed in previous posts. I haven't been at previous UK cons, Uncle Kage commented on the Britannia Hotel in his ususal punny way so I did get an impression. The Barcelo Hinckley Hotel was an excellent choice, it's layout very accommodating, I felt right from the start on. And the breakfast ... I just ate too much. There were enough function rooms to do panels. And flying in GoH's by chopper, wow, kudos to that idea. Overall I say I got my bang out of the bucks I spent. With interest. Especially fun was after a day that all those truck-drivers were expecting something to see and started calling out for suiters by blowing the horn when going by! crazy!! I've been at the EF last year, and frankly, leaving the size out, the Barcelo was a way better place for such a con. The Maritim does not feel so guest-friendly. Especially I found the selection of food&drink with a hearty con price deduction excellent!!
One special detail: All electric used in the dealers den required a testing. Whose idea was that? Some stuff took until the next day, it hampered setup, and I'm rather sure no electrical gear used by attendees in their rooms had to be tested, so I wonder what this was for and wether this couldn't be handled different next time. Short visual inspection for damaged cables and evident problems should suffice and if anyone starts saying electrical safety & fire hazard issue, I'll take the black photo shoot backdrop with the electrical bulbs stuck right into the fabric and start whacking it on him :-)
in detail:
i) breakfast: good, enough, coffee
ii) BBQ: I only attended the first, food was ok, but i waited too long. Dessert was gone...
iii) The Donutsh was cool music, but the sound level was way too high. I was deafened. And besides: a bar is for chatting...
4i) could you close down the A5 during convention?

If time&money allowing you can't keep me from coming the next time again!
hugs

Ragear
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Matt the Lion on May 30, 2012, 22:15:58
One special detail: All electric used in the dealers den required a testing. Whose idea was that?

You can blame that on the UK Health and Safety Executive. Because the items are being used in a public area for business purposes, they have to be tested to their specifications which requires the full test rather than just a visual inspection. It's a pain, but unfortunately a legal requirement which we can't avoid. We do plan to have more people able to do the testing next year though.
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: SlyCat on May 30, 2012, 22:46:22
Much of this has been covered already but here's my feedback so far:


That's just the negative stuff and it's only minor stuff to be honest.  Otherwise I absolutely loved the convention.  The hotel, staff and con staff were all brilliant and the convention was really well put together.  I just hope we don't outgrow the hotel any time soon, it's perfect for socialising, etc :)
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Bezel on May 30, 2012, 22:52:32
CF2012 was a blast - so much went right - the location, the staff, the attendees, the atmosphere, the hotel staff (apart from you-know-what) that I can't list them all, so in the great British tradition, I'll just say thanks to all the staff, volunteers, attendees and hotel staff who made it so awesome, and move onto a couple of niggles - some of which have already been mentioned, and which, in fact, mostly revolve around one thing that had been hyped up - the food - and are therefore mainly out of the control of the CF staff.

The queues for events in the main stage area - yes, we're used to queueing in the UK, but the heat and humidity was way over the top. Working Security, I could always dive into the stage area for a breather and cool off, but I felt sorry for those stuck out in that long corridor. I don't know if placing a large fan is feasible due to H&S / space considerations - maybe the queue could be run the other way down the main hallway towards the entrance ?

Breakfast - great unless you're vegetarian. The Britannia, despite its faults, did have vegetarian sausages as a breakfast option - couldn't these be provided in future ?

Likewise the Indian buffet on Saturday - again, almost no vegetarian options. The menu mentioned "Stir-fried chilli-garlic prawns" - which either didn't appear at all, or were what had metamorposed into some kind of chicken curry with a few mini-prawns (i.e. not vegetarian). The hotel staff didn't even know what the dishes were, so it was a bit of a fiasco. The menu was limited for veggies, but you would at least expect what was on the menu to be available. The "Bombay Potato Sangallo" turned out to be unlike any other Sag Aloo I've ever encountered, more resembling boiled new potatoes than anything vaguely Indian.

The BBQ on the Friday - do I really need to mention the silly length of the queue ? (and the veggie sausages there seemed to be about 90% mashed potato)

Oh, and if someone orders an egg and cress sandwich, don't be surprised if they're a bit put out if they're given something with no cress in it because the hotel had apparently run out....

The aircon in the room was 75% non-operational. Mildly cooler air could be obtained by continually resetting the system (according to one of the hotel staff, it's an *old* system) and we eventually found we could get cooler air just by opening the window - which says volumes about the aircon system ;)

The nightclub and fursuit lounges being at opposite ends of the hotel.

But anyway, enough moaning, well done to the team, and roll on ConFuzzled 2013 :)
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: SlyCat on May 30, 2012, 22:59:15
Breakfast - great unless you're vegetarian. The Britannia, despite its faults, did have vegetarian sausages as a breakfast option - couldn't these be provided in future ?
I saw someone order a vegetable sausage and get it served to them at their table during breakfast. I guess you had to ask but then you had to know you could ask!
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: SlyCat on May 30, 2012, 23:17:18
Some more feedback! (bit more positive this time)

Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Jaryic on May 30, 2012, 23:40:11
Because the items are being used in a public area for business purposes, they have to be tested to their specifications which requires the full test rather than just a visual inspection.
Hm, just out of curiosity.
How are "business purposes" defined? As by actual function or by "in a room that is used for business"?
My cellphone charger is normal not used to do business. :)
On the other hand does that mean that i.e. private owned stage equipment does not need that test because it is not used to generate money (in this particular case?)

just a curious fox
thanks
-Jar
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: James The Dog on May 30, 2012, 23:45:17
  • Loved the location of the cafe/bar area.  It really encouraged socialising as it was where people filtered through.  It did feel like the rotunda area was under utilised however.  Dunno if more drinks could be on offer there perhaps.

There was a bar in the rotunda, but I only sawe it open once, briefly on Saturday, most of the time it was shuttered. Maybe it it was open more then people would have used it more![/list]
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Noodles_Husky on May 30, 2012, 23:47:28
This was my first con (like many) and was the greatest weekend ever. Just a few things I would change.
Regardless, It was a cataclysmic blast! Me and Noodles love the con staff for making it all possible. Please claim your free drink anytime!
Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: Ceil Fox on May 30, 2012, 23:47:58
Dances:

All in all I'm happy with the dances, but there was one thing that really ticked me off: You do not mess with the EQ settings while music is playing. PERIOD.

During my set, someone behind the main audio desk thought it was funny to repeatedly crank the bass up to the point where the music faded into an apocalyptic, distorted bass. No, it was NOT funny. It left me confused as to what was going on, what I should do, constantly re-tweak my EQs (which normally is not neccessary) and left the audience annoyed since it killed the mood and reduced the audio to a noise that obviously was painful to some.

Just don't do that.




Hi BBF,
I will see that the audio crew in charge doesn't do this in future, the only reason the volume was adjusted now and again (as in overall db volume) was to counteract the noise of the industrial cooling fan system in place, this generally was kept to "build ups" in the music so that the suiters / dancers didn't swelter in the heat, all 3 aircon units in the room were running full tilt as well but due to the high number of people in a small space and the uncharacteristic warm weather (for Britain ha ;) the temperature was still fairly high.

I'm sorry to say I didn't witness this as I was unfortunately unwell during the later parts of your set so had to retire early so I apologise for this.
Thanks for the feedback
Swolf

Another quick note on this, im not 100% sure who was sat by the sound desk - i was filming around the con. someone was controlling sound, fans and smoke.
Due to the nature of how horn loaded bass cabinets couple to air it was creating a low frequency hot spot under the ledge where the DJ stand was so its also possible that the person operating would have heard a more accurate representation of what was being played than the DJ stand  which was out of the dispersion angle of the mid/high cabinets, its common practice in big venues (although this was not a big venue) for the DJ to just hear a monitor and the crew to do the rest.

Its possible that every time the EQ was adjusted the person on desk noticed that the overall had gone flat again and added more bottom end as unless you are above a distance of roughly 2.5 metres away from the rig (in front and less than 44o) you don't hear everything mixed, all persons on sound / lighting crew were also there to have fun and we all played around from time to time especially when egged on by people that wanted to feel it, it is a venue staffed by volunteers, DJ'd by volunteers and attended free, although i appreciate it would be annoying i also would like to make the point that the venue isn't ministry of sound and between all DJs and the die hard technical crew everyone had a blast and that is what counts.

From a technical point i plan to position the DJ stand somewhere were they can hear the main system next year after a huge phasing problem presented itself after setup causing impromptu alteration of layout.

Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
Post by: SlyCat on May 30, 2012, 23:54:37
    • Loved the location of the cafe/bar area.  It really encouraged socialising as it was where people filtered through.  It did feel like the rotunda area was under utilised however.  Dunno if more drinks could be on offer there perhaps.

    There was a bar in the rotunda, but I only sawe it open once, briefly on Saturday, most of the time it was shuttered. Maybe it it was open more then people would have used it more![/list]

    Wow, I must have missed that!
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Sieg on May 31, 2012, 00:09:00
    The con is improving alot! 3rd time going and its going to be a 4th when the Registration opens!

    The Hotel was amazing, the Staff were just as amazing too.
    The Con staff were very helpful and delightful to talk to!

    The only bad things at the con were minor, nothing that next time would happen, i.e Events running late, huge queues, and so on.

    the only MAJOR thing is the weather 8V you should make it less hot next year! pay your weather wizards more money this time!
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Misty Crom on May 31, 2012, 00:35:49
    Okay, mostly gonna mention what others have, either in response to them, or adding to them, or to echo them.  Apologies for length and any rambling. I can tend to more or less just type as things  think sometimes.

    Auction/charity%
    Agreed, and I’ll note I saw the comment on why it seemed so high a ratio this year. I’d echo the suggestion of possibly a minimal percentage, even if it’s just 5% (I recognise that some of the artists’ artwork is their living, so I understand why certainly low percentages may be necessary)  or maybe a minimum amount for something to qualify for the auction? The numbering idea I agree could be an idea too.

    Regarding bidding amounts, maybe set incriments kind of on-the-fly? For something that’s got maybe 15-20 on it, I can kind of understand the £1 bidding, but on things of over or even remotely around £100, it is a bit silly, just setting a minimum increment scale as and when should fix that. Also, maybe something on the chairs for people to hold up to bid for those who aren’t comfortable shouting? Maybe arrows facing down on sticks? (though just spit-balling at this point).

    Actually, one thought… would perhaps an intermission in the auction be a nice idea? (for both those attending, even if to just enjoy the shenanigans, but also for the two hosting it, you had mics, but still, your throats must’ve been sore after... I imagine a rest in the middle might’ve been nice).

    Also, I for one think mut’s idea for the Sunday evening collection option for non-auctioned items might be a good idea.

    Dances
    On the smoke at the dances. Might one idea be to simply have the smoke machine in a position away from the beginning area of the floor? (maybe by the tables/decks on the left of the room?) that way, those concerned by it can stay out of it without having to turn it down for those who enjoy it.


    The Food.
    I did somewhat notice that; I ordered the sausage and mash on 2 days (didn’t fancy the Indian and not keen on Chinese). First it had onions and plenty of gravy and was amazing, but on Monday, there were no onions and hardly any gravy. Was still nice, but was slightly disappointed.

    Also, SlyCat, you could get free water at the bars and 98.7% of the people around would be happy to assist you with a straw if you’d need such (heck, most wouldn’t mind going and getting a glass for you. I know I wouldn’t have). Agree on the extra day thought too.

    And now otherwise stuff

    Could maybe better signage for things like the gaming area be made? They were easy enough to get to and I’ve no qualms with their location (though the fursuit kinekt in a dark room upstairs where there was no lift was maybe an oversight), but it was kind of easy to forget about them and for those who didn’t have the day before to explore, might have been awkward to find. (heck, I didn’t know where the hansom suite was until Tuesday – though that’s largely my own fault). But I do agree, the layout is fantastic. The entire venue was, and I agree fully with the great plaudits for the staff, they were really supportive. Noticed one of the girls at the piazza on I think Monday even had paws painted on her nails.

    The food was really very good. I had the Mexican on Thursday and whilst any hotter and it’d have been getting to too hot for me, it was gorgeous. I’ll admit, last year kind of put me off of the BBQ, so I cant comment there, but generally anything I put in my mouth was delicious.

    The event scheduling, I must say was better spread than it looked on the web page (which btw, didn’t seem to be linked on the main site. No idea if that was intentional or not, or if I was being blind not being able to find it without going to the posted link on UKFur) so well done indeed for that.

    The location was really nice too, out of the way enough to be fairly quiet, but easily accessible. And closer for me :P.   

    One thing that would be really, really handy if such a thing could be set up would be a few screens showing current or upcoming events and where they are – maybe include the cfzlive twitterfeed even on there?

    The Rotunda seemed quite underutilised… On the one hand, I can appreciate it for the sake of noise levels and those in rooms close to it, but at the same time, it was such a nice space, and the seating on the different floors etc… just struck me as being slightly wasted potential; though not sure what could be done there, and I guess just is up to people to make use of.

    Oh, one thing for breakfast… no idea if con-staff have any say or sway here, but any chance of porridge being available? (oh, and on the food note, I do apologise again for my intrusion into the staff conservatory on Monday evening, if it was specifically noticed anyplace, I missed it and I hadn’t wanted to go in there on Thursday ‘cause it was hot and the main restaurant area was empty anyways . I Just saw furries in there and non-furries in most of the rest of the restaurant, so yeah, sorry. :P)

    Pawpets show was epic. Funny, moved at a good pace, well voiced/acted and quite moving and touching. Was my first one and I still felt sad for the poor bunny.

    Pub Quiz was also pretty awesome. Was so close on a lot of the questions that had been garnered from the documentary about David Croft that was on a few days before the con (I watched it too. Suffice, I knew all the theme tunes and the last question, even down to that David Croft had created the others). Could’ve been a bit more theme based, but no biggie, just I would’ve more likely known more answers :P

    Fursuit Fiasco was epic fun. It nigh on killed my camera’s battery, but then that’s why I took the cable along, so I could charge it again :P I missed the balloon stomp, but I do appreciate the logistical issue of blowing up and tying that many balloons to that many fursuiters, so not a complaint really that (though I do wish youtube’d upload this blasted video of the great escape round. 3 failed attempts so far today)

    Was the fursuit parade a bit short maybe due to the heat, or was it just that there were so many suiters that it felt shorter? I video’d from the main doors and they were going to the rotunda before they’d all gone past me.

    Anyways, overall it was an absolutely awesome con in a great hotel with very friendly staff and so thank you very, very much to everyone, con-staff and fellow attendees alike for an awesome time. Already started saving to register for next year’s CF.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: James The Dog on May 31, 2012, 00:51:05
    I want to comment on the pub quiz acutally, as my answer about The Vicar of Dibley (that it was an indie production, rather than made by the BBC itself) was technically correct, even if it wasn't the answer you were looking for. The same could be said about me answering that Hi-De-Hi started in 1981 (as that's when the series proper started- the pilot was in 1980) XD Not that I'm really bothered, I just like pointing these things out!
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: sayh on May 31, 2012, 04:30:51
    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 >.<

    I agree. You need your head off, you need it off. I nearly had to take mine off during the photoshoot, but managed to get to headless, since it was so close...
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Matt the Lion on May 31, 2012, 07:49:28
    Because the items are being used in a public area for business purposes, they have to be tested to their specifications which requires the full test rather than just a visual inspection.
    Hm, just out of curiosity.
    How are "business purposes" defined? As by actual function or by "in a room that is used for business"?
    My cellphone charger is normal not used to do business. :)
    On the other hand does that mean that i.e. private owned stage equipment does not need that test because it is not used to generate money (in this particular case?)
    UK law is weird... you don't have to be making money for it to qualify as being used for business purposes. If the item us being used in one of the function rooms for any purpose, then it must be tested.  The same applies if I take my phone charger with me to work - if I want to use it I have to have maintenance come test it first!
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Noodles_Husky on May 31, 2012, 08:55:32
    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 >.<

    I agree. You need your head off, you need it off. I nearly had to take mine off during the photoshoot, but managed to get to headless, since it was so close...
    If this is about the thingy in the conbook, do not worry about it. I de-headed in public twice to break my mute-ness in suit (yeah, I hyper ultimate rarely speak in suit) and the con staff didn't bat an eyelid to it. They can't force you to shoehorn you back into the head. If they get a complaint from someone, they will probably say to you to move out of sight
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Bezel on May 31, 2012, 09:44:17
    If this is about the thingy in the conbook, do not worry about it. I de-headed in public twice to break my mute-ness in suit (yeah, I hyper ultimate rarely speak in suit) and the con staff didn't bat an eyelid to it. They can't force you to shoehorn you back into the head. If they get a complaint from someone, they will probably say to you to move out of sight
    The thing about deheading being often frowned upon as "destroying the magic" mainly only applies to activities in public. At a furcon where 99.9% of the people around you are also furs, there is generally less of an issue, though you may get a few curious looks if you're doing it in the main corridor, rather than discreetly out of sight.

    Apart from that, I'm going to repeat this again - PLEASE dehead immediately if you're feeling faint, light headed or generally unwell.

    However, I sense I'm drifting off topic :)
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: doco on May 31, 2012, 11:27:18
    Okay, I must say that after a few years of lowered expectations *cough* Britannia *cough* the current venue has been up to considerably better standards (well, as far as you get them in the UK anyways  :P).

    The con staff's been doing a fair job (I hardly saw any of them until the last day, which is normally a good sign) and there's hardly anything to add that hasn't already been mentioned.
    Since I work Con Ops for That Other Con[tm], I've got Con Ops Eyes even when it's Not My Con, Not My Fault, Not My Problem[tm], and whenever I saw a potential issue in the public spaces (creases in the red carpet, anyone?) I found it to be resolved soon afterwards. That, and I guess your ConOps team now knows why you don't use Gaffa tape on carpet... :D

    There's two minor grumbles I have with the con though; first, setting up the queues for the stage shows in the main corridor led to unneccessarily narrow passageways at times, especially since people had a tendency to just stand around in doorways and chat at the junction between the two corridors in the function space.

    Secondly, for those members of staff who communicate with attendees it'd be nice to tone down the level of sophistication in con communication a bit. Con communication has been written in such a formal style that it's been hard to read if you're not a native speaker of English - heck,  I've seen things that made me scratch my head and re-read them twice, and I've got a Grade A Cambridge certificate mounted on my wall.

    So, please don't write stuff like "The Convention is proud to announce that after long and exhausting talks with the Hotel it has been prospected that on the premises of the Hotel whilst conducting business a venue has been set aside in the Brasserie meeting room where the Hotel in conjunction with the Convention will be holding an all-you-can-eat buffet of a great variety of choice that will be prepared by the Hotel's master Chef each day of the week to be enjoyed by you from the hours of 6.30 am to 11.00 am as the Convention has secured a special deal with the Hotel ensuring maximum breakfast enjoyability to improve your Convention experience by having luxurious foods such as undercooked sausage, shavings of bacon, and inclusive toast, whilst the Convention would like to remind you that thermonuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, or any other items of similarity are not permitted anywhere near the designated breakfast venue, as per the Agreement with the Hotel", but rather write "Breakfast will be from 6.30 to 11.00, don't bring nukes" as it will make your messages easier to decipher for us poor foreigners.  ::)


    Speaking of The Hotel (which, for some reason, is capitalised... British English is odd at times.):
    Two more things.

    a) my room got overly and awfully hot during daytime. I do realise there was a "hot" spell (if you can call 23 degrees hot, which it really isn't, unless it also is humid) - but the fact that the windows did open just a mere 3 centimetres did very little to ventilate the room, so it was fucking sweltering in there by lunchtime. Apparently there was a way to bypass these stupid safety clips (as I could see on the other wing), but I didn't find out how. Had this happened in my native country and at paying a full rate, I would've been down to reception moaning about it... but I really couldn't be arsed to deal with that in Health & Safety-insane UK. Should've booked an airconditioned room, maybe, but then I heard from a friend the aircon in their room wasn't all that well either. Can you bring multitools into the UK without getting arrested for having a knife? :P

    b) The breakfast buffet. Admittedly the cooked buffet was rather nice for UK standards (I've seen far worse, like the Manchester YHA), but the Continental buffet just.... disappeared when the con was running, and magically reappeared on Late Departure day. All you could get during the con was toast with... erm, sixty different flavours of jam. I don't really like jam.

    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: aurora on May 31, 2012, 11:53:24
    Quote
    the only MAJOR thing is the weather 8V you should make it less hot next year! pay your weather wizards more money this time!

    Only a few weeks before the con the weather was cold with heavy rain at times, I'm thankful that we had good weather during the con.

    Walking into the slight breeze helped cool me in my fursuit and the thick fur helped insulate me from the sun's radiant heat.

    It actually felt cooler in suit outdoors than inside the hotel.

    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Dhary Montecore on May 31, 2012, 13:58:23
    b) The breakfast buffet. Admittedly the cooked buffet was rather nice for UK standards (I've seen far worse, like the Manchester YHA), but the Continental buffet just.... disappeared when the con was running, and magically reappeared on Late Departure day. All you could get during the con was toast with... erm, sixty different flavours of jam. I don't really like jam.

    Oh yes! Seconded! After a very long and exhausting night of work I just wanted some decent breakfast, and all I got was heavy beans, poor toast that was drowned brutally in butter, jam and slices of ham, that was twice my daily dosage of calories. :3

    Don't get me wrong, the breakfast was grand for British standards and as the good token German I am I not only DO integrate into the culture I'm visiting but even enjoy tasting something new. But after two hours of sleep all I want is dark bread and good slices of cheese and meat. (You know... Grey bread... that kind of bread that has a taste itself? With grains in it? ;3) No, I do not complain about the breakfast buffet which was great, especially since it was free for the residents. All I wanna suggest is, having a tiny corner with dark bread, meat and cheese for the species-appropriate feeding of us poor Germans. :3
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: leinir on May 31, 2012, 14:07:17
    b) The breakfast buffet. Admittedly the cooked buffet was rather nice for UK standards (I've seen far worse, like the Manchester YHA), but the Continental buffet just.... disappeared when the con was running, and magically reappeared on Late Departure day. All you could get during the con was toast with... erm, sixty different flavours of jam. I don't really like jam.

    Oh yes! Seconded! After a very long and exhausting night of work I just wanted some decent breakfast, and all I got was heavy beans, poor toast that was drowned brutally in butter, jam and slices of ham, that was twice my daily dosage of calories. :3

    Don't get me wrong, the breakfast was grand for British standards and as the good token German I am I not only DO integrate into the culture I'm visiting but even enjoy tasting something new. But after two hours of sleep all I want is dark bread and good slices of cheese and meat. (You know... Grey bread... that kind of bread that has a taste itself? With grains in it? ;3) No, I do not complain about the breakfast buffet which was great, especially since it was free for the residents. All I wanna suggest is, having a tiny corner with dark bread, meat and cheese for the species-appropriate feeding of us poor Germans. :3

    As a Dane who has lived in the UK for some time, i can tell you that if one thing is near enough to impossible to find at anything even remotely approaching reasonable price here in the UK it's dark rye bread like you and i know it. You /can/ find it... In the super-expensive-and-special isle in the supermarket. At around ten times the price of a loaf of the boring stuff the British call bread, for a total of around five slices... i'm afraid that makes it somewhat unlikely that they'll be able to sort it out without actually baking their own ;) i would greatly appreciate it if they did, but yeah... something which we consider truly basic like that turns out to be incredible delicacy-type stuff over here - funny how the world is both tiny and big at the same time ;)
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: yagfox on May 31, 2012, 14:42:41
    I think there is a culture clash over what constitutes a good breakfast! ;)

    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Feera Fox on May 31, 2012, 18:40:38
    The fursuit lounge was nice and quite and, yes it is prohibited to take photos in the lounge. and no good fur myself included would break this rule, see code of conduct. Regarding the dealers den, i would have liked to have seen, items to help fursuiters keep cooler, sold at the den, i went to the furry hypnotism, i really found that rather relaxing, in the wikifur quiz our team was 3rd the card and board games was very informative, and challenging the pawpet show it was great again this year, with the film festival it took me a while to find it. The fursuit round table was very useful, it has given  me answers, the only drawback was on one day is that i missed a lot of colson and fox amoores concert, the one thing that was bad thing was the hot weather, it made, me feel a bit wiped out, so i only suited when i felt up to strength. Having said all that
    CF2012 has turned out to be the best time i have had in many year.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Washu on May 31, 2012, 20:15:57
    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.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Tsanawo on May 31, 2012, 20:17:49
    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)!
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: SouthPaw on May 31, 2012, 21:56:29
    Oh yes! Seconded! After a very long and exhausting night of work I just wanted some decent breakfast, and all I got was heavy beans, poor toast that was drowned brutally in butter, jam and slices of ham, that was twice my daily dosage of calories. :3

    If you're referring to the bread that was with the bacon, sausages, etc that was actually fried bread. If you wanted toast, that was where the muffins, jam and marmalade was, and utilised the conveyor toasters, of which the left-hand one produced the most evenly browned toast, whereas the right hand one produced warm bread.

    Cheers,

    Southie
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Fionacat on June 01, 2012, 09:17:40
    Oh yes.

    Volunteering, I said I wanted to help and didn't hear anything back.

    I turned up at the orientation meeting and wasn't given any advice.

    I felt kinda bad as I wanted to help out and it probably would have made my friday a better day.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: yagfox on June 01, 2012, 11:08:01
    Oh yes! Seconded! After a very long and exhausting night of work I just wanted some decent breakfast, and all I got was heavy beans, poor toast that was drowned brutally in butter, jam and slices of ham, that was twice my daily dosage of calories. :3

    If you're referring to the bread that was with the bacon, sausages, etc that was actually fried bread. If you wanted toast, that was where the muffins, jam and marmalade was, and utilised the conveyor toasters, of which the left-hand one produced the most evenly browned toast, whereas the right hand one produced warm bread.

    Cheers,

    Southie



    Fried bread, food of the gods, though not gods who live to a ripe old age! :)
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Lazerus101 on June 01, 2012, 16:11:57
    I will admit I was a little disheartened when the continental meats disappeared after the first day. Bacon and Sausage is all well and good but awfully greasy though not as bad as the Britannia thank goodness, I also noticed that veggie sausages had to be special ordered and black pudding disappeared as well.
    Also the chinese buffet was a HUGE disappointment. Next to 0 choice in the meal and items disappeared as fast as they arrived meaning you had to snap up what you could while you could. I understand that the chef fell ill but that doesnt help us that paid our not-insubstantial £15 for a rather lackluster buffet which we also discovered drinks were extra and came in even SMALLER glasses than at the bar. Really wish I had saved my money on that night and gone with the light bite menu, would have cost less and been more satisfying.
    I was lucky enough to join the queue early for the BBQ but it was hardly "all-you-can-eat" as after I got my initial choices it wasnt worth queueing 45mins to get a second helping, though what I had was nice and well cooked.

    I think the cooking staff were a little overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of hungry furs. Hopefully most of these things will be remedied for next year.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: RizzoRattie 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
    ------------
    Venue Liaison
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Dhary Montecore 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
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: SeanC 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. :)
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Rinthedragon 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
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: baccala30 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
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Athesis 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!

    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: SFW 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.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Athesis 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?
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: SFW 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.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: James The Dog on June 04, 2012, 20:39:30
    I have one rather major complaint about the con, and that's the fact it finished :(
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Ragear 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 ...
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: yagfox 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! :)
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: aurora 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.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: aurora 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.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Athesis 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 :).
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Nidonocu on June 06, 2012, 00:38:31
    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

    Send an e-mail in the official recruitment@confuzzled.org.uk address! :) We're keen to get people on board for this sort of thing on a confirmed basis!
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Feera Fox on June 11, 2012, 14:34:33
    RIZZO WROTE:
    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. RIZZO RATTIE QUOTE END.

    Sod the food as long as the poor guy was ok, good that he was gotten to hospital,
    and i hope he gets well soon.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Res on June 17, 2012, 10:44:47
    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

    I don't see any reason why not at this moment in time.
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Rwylin on June 17, 2012, 16:04:16
    the only complaint i have is there was no air con in the rooms...........

    apart from that it was a great con and i will def be there next year.............   con opps were amazing and helpfull.........
    everyone was friendly and the price was good.... if there is an all inclusive option next year im def taking them up on that..........      and plz make it a day longer if you can as many events were missed as some clashed with others.......
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: Balto on June 21, 2012, 20:33:06
    A little detail I wanted to ask here, would it be possible to get some mirrors in the Fursuit-Lounches next year? that was the only thing I missed there a little
    Title: Re: 2012 Feedback
    Post by: SFW on June 22, 2012, 12:06:18
    I forgot to bring my mirrors to the con this year, will make myself a list for next year.