Our plan is to make sure we get all four ballrooms next year. It sounds like the plan is to open the airwall between Tamarack and Spruce, and have all of the artsy stuff going on in that room, with cordons where appropriate to make the separations. Of course, we'll have to see how that works out.

Upon reflection, the Den felt too long and narrow to me. Which kinda defeats the idea I have been mulling, to set the tables at a slight angle, so they'll still be in a line, but escapes will be possible between each table. A lot will depend on what space we have next year, and final decisions will be made then.

How did dealers feel about having the parade march through in the middle of things?

-=Kiyoshi


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ToraKiyoshi wrote:

How did dealers feel about having the parade march through in the middle of things?
-=Kiyoshi

I would have enjoyed it, had it been put off for just a few more minutes to account for staff getting back from a late start on the break.

ToraKiyoshi wrote:

How did dealers feel about having the parade march through in the middle of things?

One of the fun things about AFF is for as long as I remember the parade as always gone through the den. It's a chance for dealers to see all the wonderful fursuits and have the suiters interact with us, which most of us enjoy and appreciate. I think last year, a suiter actually bought something from ReDa during the parade, so that was fun. But, I think that is a tradition that should keep going as it does make the dealers feel a little closer to the con as a whole.

Downside, of course, is the dealers who also want to suit up. They have to make a choice to be in the parade or watch it from the sidelines.

Some general complaints I had, to balance out my compliments post:

Reg seemed disorganized, both for membership and artshow. Seems like there was an awful lot of waiting around. Sh*t happens, I know, but I am definately gonna chime in with, get prereg badges printed beforehand! It would make life much simpler, and (especially if theyre nicer) encourage more people to preregister in the first place. Also, have enough forms printed before the artshow opens! I waited 20 minutes for more forms, and they never showed up; I went back to my table, and a gopher brought them to me later.

The Den was indeed too long and narrow, and I think it would have been better to assign us tables in advance; that way, any empties can be staggered throughout, rather than leaving a giant mass of empty tables. Also, having to go all the way around to the ends to get in/out was a huge pain. I usually just went under/over, but next time I would prefer gaps every two or three tables (yeah, even if theres no table skirt... we dont care how it looks, we just need to get in/out!!)

Art Jam space would be a good idea, perhaps in the little room where the artshow was this year? Even though its out of the way, that might be good for art jamming, a bit quieter than by the main ballrooms. And that way it could be open 24 hours, unlike if it were part of the dealers room (which obviously needs to be locked down to keep stuff inside safe, thus would probably have to close early). The same space could be used for art media demos / art related panels, too.


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CurioDraco wrote:

ToraKiyoshi wrote:

How did dealers feel about having the parade march through in the middle of things?
-=Kiyoshi

I would have enjoyed it, had it been put off for just a few more minutes to account for staff getting back from a late start on the break.

I'll answer that with the same thing I told Moorcat: I was asked to delay the parade, and arrived late for that start time. I had no idea why the request, and only found out that it was because of other staff (read: chaircat and other on-staff fursuiters) getting back to the hotel late once we were in the dealer's den, ready to lead back up the hallway.

Next year, we'll make sure it's not right after lunch.

-=Kiyoshi


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I'd also like to voice my opinion on the artshow paperwork.

I had a number of pieces this year and having to write out the appropriate paperwork had made me miss the first hour of the dealers' den opening.

It'd be great to have this paperwork available to us online so we may print them and fill them out ahead of time. This way we can just come in, have someone review the paperwork just in case, and hang the pieces up.

Korinna_Feh wrote:

Based on the room size, I'm not sure if you could put the whole art show in the same room as the Den, since you really never know who/what will be showing up in the art show for next year (and the Den as well. I know ReDa and I are going to encourage some friends to come next year). But, I like the idea of having a separate partition for the Art Jam. We artists love art vibes, so knowing Dealers are working on commissions and right next door, Art Jammers are working on stuff they want to, I think it'd bring a nice creative vibe and maybe inspire all of us around (gosh, I'm sounding really New Age-y). Sounds like we got a lot of good ideas going for the art portion of our regularly scheduled AFF. Good job, guys!

Call it synergistic interaction. I could see having an 'Unofficial' Dealer's Den near the Art Jam area, both of which run 24/7, which would allow dealers to sell AND participate in the art vibes. The 'Official' Dealer's Den, perhaps along with the Art Show, would be an area that would be closed off, which would make it easier for those who have elaborate displays to secure them.

It could be quite photogenic...


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Dolphins and horses. Mermaids and centaurs.

ReDaDillio wrote:

I'd also like to voice my opinion on the artshow paperwork.

I had a number of pieces this year and having to write out the appropriate paperwork had made me miss the first hour of the dealers' den opening.

It'd be great to have this paperwork available to us online so we may print them and fill them out ahead of time. This way we can just come in, have someone review the paperwork just in case, and hang the pieces up.

It might be even better if the forms were online, with 'COPY' capabilities, so you could fill in the boiler plate information once and use that information for the rest of the forms. If the pieces don't make it in, you can always NOT print them out.


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Dolphins and horses. Mermaids and centaurs.

I generally enjoyed the con, but do have a complaint that wasn't resolved from last year regarding the schedule in the conbook. Could it be reformatted so that either a) the times correspond to the lines on the schedule and not the blocks or b) the blocks are labelled with timespans (e.g., 8:00-9:00) rather than just single times? It's really confusing the way it is - "hmm, I want to go to x, which is either at 3:00 or 4:00"...

Silvermink wrote:

I generally enjoyed the con, but do have a complaint that wasn't resolved from last year regarding the schedule in the conbook. Could it be reformatted so that either a) the times correspond to the lines on the schedule and not the blocks or b) the blocks are labelled with timespans (e.g., 8:00-9:00) rather than just single times? It's really confusing the way it is - "hmm, I want to go to x, which is either at 3:00 or 4:00"...

That's the first I've heard that issue, but it's an understandable one. I'll make note of it for whoever steps up to do next year's conbook.


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Jessie Tracer / Electric Keet
All Fur Fun 2009 Communications Lead

piping up with this wayyyyyyyy later.

only cuz i remembered it when people were talking about AFF and such.

the people watching the rooms didn't really seem to be looking if you had a badge or not when entering the room (like dealers den or main event room) at the dance there was several mundane people who got it and danced around and out of the room.

Badges that are a little more visable and asking people to wear them where visable might be a good idea to impliment. and perhaps looking at something like we had in 2008 the badge with the little program books. so people had a little carryable program AND the front can be used for thier badge.


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