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Post by Rogue on Oct 18, 2009 19:14:25 GMT 1
Maybe it's a good idea to have a topic like this one here?
EVeryone can point out what they liked and didn't like about this weekend, might come in handy for the organisators
Positive points:
+ I really liked how you tried to give your best at this convention! there was an apart dressing room for cosplayers (though there were a LOT of boys in the girls room! <.< ) there were several food stand, everyone was eager to help, the contest started on time and there weren't any incidents I heard of (on saturday at least)
+ a lot, but really a lot of stands! Sooooo much to buy! *______*
+ the traditional beautiful weather was present again! So weird, every year, this weekend is always blessed with such nice weather (rainbows! <3 )
+ Lockers! NURD-stuff!
+ I'm too tired to find more things now XD sorry!
Negative points:
- some things could have gotten a better place, like some fanclubs got cornered and the cosplaystage was hard to see for many people
- guys, how do you get it so HOT in there every year? XD
- I felt cramped sometimes... The stands were really close to each other and it was very crowded in there
- I didn't like the location that much ^^; It felt a little like everything was dropped in a hangar and it didn't feel so cozy in there :s
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Post by Finn on Oct 18, 2009 22:14:57 GMT 1
My feedback: First off I want to say that I had a blast this weekend. And I only had to drive around the Expo halls twice before I was told to go to the parkinglot for the dealers and that I could park my car there. Truthfully I was glad I could park there, or otherwise I'd still be driving around probably.  Yes, I can be that stupid. Fellow NURDs, I didn't get you all but there's always next year. I want you all on my poster. My pen gave out on Saturday (of all days - when I saw the most NURDs of course). I love this thing we've got going.  Then onto the next point: +++++ Leah Cairns was awesome and we had a lovely chat, and then her telling the guy who we had taking our picture to make sure our outfit was completely on it (we went in our BSG outfit). Total sweetheart. +++++ Chris Judge, a worthy replacement of Robert Picardo. He's a cool dude. +++ parking space +++ easy to find (well, the GPS told me where to go for the most part but it the Expo is beyond a doubt easier to locate than the ICC) +++ pictures with the guests (didn't get any, took them when I got my autograph) - although maybe next time a more private location so that the hallway stays free of people lining up for their shoot. --- Q&A - please let them start on time. If I had known I'd be waiting an hour for CJ to show up, I wouldn't have come so early and spend more time going through all the dealers. I was especially annoyed with the fact I had been waiting an hour for 15 minutes of Q&A - 15 minutes - WTF?!? This you need to change. --- Q&A - not all people are interested in the all of the guests and thus do no wish to stay for their Q&A's. As was the case today (Sunday) with Jimmy Jean-Louis coming up right behind Chris Judge. He was announced right after, stepping up to the plate... but there were people leaving the room as they announced him. I can imagine that's no fun for the next guy. You wait and give people a chance to leave, so that others can take their place, and fill up the chairs. Actors love full chairs - they love an audience that stays, and not leaves. So, in short: one Q&A ends, you inform the people of what is up next (or hand out programs at the entrance), give them a chance to leave or stay, and then announce the next guest --- Q&A - I forgot about Leah's Q&A but it was around 4, when most visitors had already left. Maybe an idea for next time: Put the Q&A's either in the morning hours, or in the early afternoon. |
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Post by Mr. Facts on Oct 18, 2009 22:32:33 GMT 1
My feedback: First off I want to say that I had a blast this weekend. And I only had to drive around the Expo halls twice before I was told to go to the parkinglot for the dealers and that I could park my car there. Truthfully I was glad I could park there, or otherwise I'd still be driving around probably. Yes, I can be that stupid. Fellow NURDs, I didn't get you all but there's always next year. I want you all on my poster. My pen gave out on Saturday (of all days - when I saw the most NURDs of course). I love this thing we've got going. Then onto the next point: +++++ Leah Cairns was awesome and we had a lovely chat, and then her telling the guy who we had taking our picture to make sure our outfit was completely on it (we went in our BSG outfit). Total sweetheart. +++++ Chris Judge, a worthy replacement of Robert Picardo. He's a cool dude. +++ parking space +++ easy to find (well, the GPS told me where to go for the most part but it the Expo is beyond a doubt easier to locate than the ICC) +++ pictures with the guests (didn't get any, took them when I got my autograph) - although maybe next time a more private location so that the hallway stays free of people lining up for their shoot. --- Q&A - please let them start on time. If I had known I'd be waiting an hour for CJ to show up, I wouldn't have come so early and spend more time going through all the dealers. I was especially annoyed with the fact I had been waiting an hour for 15 minutes of Q&A - 15 minutes - WTF?!? This you need to change. --- Q&A - not all people are interested in the all of the guests and thus do no wish to stay for their Q&A's. As was the case today (Sunday) with Jimmy Jean-Louis coming up right behind Chris Judge. He was announced right after, stepping up to the plate... but there were people leaving the room as they announced him. I can imagine that's no fun for the next guy. You wait and give people a chance to leave, so that others can take their place, and fill up the chairs. Actors love full chairs - they love an audience that stays, and not leaves. So, in short: one Q&A ends, you inform the people of what is up next (or hand out programs at the entrance), give them a chance to leave or stay, and then announce the next guest --- Q&A - I forgot about Leah's Q&A but it was around 4, when most visitors had already left. Maybe an idea for next time: Put the Q&A's either in the morning hours, or in the early afternoon. Thx for the report. We'll always need to imporve ourselves, so next year hopefully a better organised Q&A session. |
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Post by reaperunique on Oct 18, 2009 23:24:51 GMT 1
it was pretty good for the first time in flanders expo but the location of somethings weren't all that good, like the fanvillage and especially the gameroom. those rooms need some kind of wall or seperation like in the ICC.
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Post by Stoney3K on Oct 19, 2009 0:23:39 GMT 1
Truthfully I was glad I could park there, or otherwise I'd still be driving around probably. Yes, I can be that stupid. The Expo was a lot easier to find from everywhere in Europe, but the parking junctions there were like spaghetti. Nothing the FACTS crew can do about that of course, but maybe putting up a few more signs or a map (PDF information package) wouldn't hurt. Second that, she's absolutely lovely and she was kind enough to give me a dedicated photo shoot session because I was working my behind off all weekend. I got the photo signed for free at the end... (BTW: We went in our BSG outfits... you mean she was in costume as well or you refer to yourself in plural form? ;D) Second time I saw him at a convention (first time up close) and he's a total comedian. I don't think you can ever go wrong with people from Stargate, as Chris said, the atmosphere on the set there was absolutely hilarious, they had a lot of fun and that's the same atmosphere they take with them to conventions. Same for the Battlestar actors. I got the photo shoots, I have to say: Absolutely AMAZING! You are the first convention EVER that manages to get good photo shoots with actors, on a decent (not fake, smudgy or cluttered up) background, well lit, and get them printed WITHIN the hour! Even the price is on the 'seriously cheap' side -- A+++++ Nobody knew that in advance, I was waiting at the mixing desk for a Q&A to start (Any minute now...) and I ended up waiting an hour for nothing. As it turned out, the cosplay room was so jam-packed people (and actors) couldn't get through to go to the Q&A sessions, so eventually all Q&A's were moved around the cosplay. True, but that was also because of the fact that Chris' Q&A was already late and he was cut short, and the schedule was pretty much thrown out the window by Sunday afternoon, making it up as we go, so change-over times were kind of missed out on a bit. Usually on conventions I expect 45 minutes (or 60, when time and actors permit) of Q&A and 15 minutes of change-over time. It works on universities, folks.  We had an added problem with the Expo's PA system (the big disembodied voice in the sky) not reaching the Q&A hall since that was only (in the Expo's design) a passageway between halls 5 and 7 and there were no speakers there. As Kevin Sorbo already said: "I've never done a Q&A in a garage before...". So if I got any info on delayed Q&A's, I had to repeat it for everybody inside. Here's a hint: Leah's Q&A on Sunday was during the closing ceremony of the cosplay competition. I even forgot about it and found out she was doing the Q&A with about 20 people inside without the sound, just winging it camp-fire style. IMO, I think the audience (and number of entries) of the cosplay was widely underestimated, and that's what caused a lot of delays in the entire process and schedule. Ultimately the cosplay ended up to be the main attraction at the con, which isn't bad but the entire audience was jamming all of the routes to other places. If people wanted to shop around or go to a Q&A, especially on Saturday, it was nearly impossible. The atmosphere at the ICC was definitely better than at the Expo. But, the ICC was pretty much at its max (without major changes to the convention), and the Expo gives a lot of room for scaling up in the future. I've never been to the Expo before this weekend, someone called it an aircraft hangar above and that's what it looks like. But they've done big conferences in the Expo before, even with celebrity and high-profile guests, so improvements there are possible. Regarding the Q&A and projections, schedule changes weren't communicated back to the visitors. A *very* useful tool for that is to put up video screens near the entrance and at main attraction points (cosplay stage, Q&A hall) which can display important messages and schedule changes. For example, the projections were scheduled, and the equipment was standing there waiting on Saturday morning, but nobody showed up to start the film. Ultimately nothing was played, why that happened, beats me. If the cosplay is such a main attraction and tends to block the Q&A sessions in the future, why not do the cosplay and Q&A on the same stage? Sure, it would mean a tighter schedule, but it also means that the 'main' stage is always full of action and people who want to just sit down and watch can do just that. If everything gobbles up too much time, extending the Saturday programming to about 1900-2000 in the evening wouldn't be a bad thing in my book. |
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Myka
FACTS Sensei
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Post by Myka on Oct 19, 2009 10:42:40 GMT 1
Amazing. F.A.C.T.S crew did a great job. ^^ Especially since the location changed.
+ Dressingroom was nice. Even though i had to ask someone for directions since i thought i was just wandering of into an emtpy hall.
+ Nice food, a lot of space to sit.
+ Flanders Expo is such a lovely location, good parking, easy to find location.
- Ubisoft people were a bit loud at times. You had to move away from their stand if you wanted to talk to someone you bumped into.
- Food was a bit expensive o.o
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idromy
Nurdz
woman with giant immagination
Posts: 518
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Post by idromy on Oct 19, 2009 11:23:19 GMT 1
+ easy acces from the r4 or highway
+ good to reach from train station
+ parking space, for us the parking space was full but there was plenty left at ikea, and to get a free parking space at ikea we had to buy something. we got a one of those pillows for your neck ( verry comfy i nthe car for a long drive)
+the space, i found it alot easier to navigate trug the convention i did not bump into everyone and everyone did not bump into me
+ seating place, nice to rest weary feet
+ enough food stands with variation ( it's not facts fault that the food is expensive, do the one's selling the food not make up the prices?)
+ i don't smoke but i think smokers did apreciate the smokers area
+ big dressing rooms
+ and overall nice people
- there was a dressing room for women and men, but when i had to undress and get out of my costume the women's room was full of MEN.
I asked them several time's to leave wich they did not.
So a few friends helped me by shielding me by a giant flag.
Ya'll know who you are and everyone of you i owe a giant power hug.
- it was indeed warm but there's no real helping that with that manny people.
overall i had a fun time and it's probally only going to get better
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Post by anthr4x on Oct 19, 2009 13:32:24 GMT 1
+ Lots of stands and stuff to buy + Lots of space between stands + Good location / easy to find - The food keeps getting more and more expensive every year (also the drinks...) - There was no FACTS atmosphere in the new location  - The cosplay stage was very crappy positioned (why didn't you put it in the last hall next to the dressing rooms?). I also disliked the number of tall people near the stage, I'm a small guy, I can't look over everyone's head, so I barely saw wtf was going on, leave alone taking pictures :s - The announcers of the cosplay contest (especially the dude who did the Dutch part) need a serious boost in their anime / movie knowledge or they should be replaced. I heard so many mistakes in names and stuff like announcing only the anime name and not the character... or that time when the Night Elf came on stage and he said W.O.W. and then "corrected" himself saying World of Witchcraft. Seriously, if you want some professional announcers, ask one of the visitors or create some kind of job-interview for it, so you atleast have some people on stage who know wtf they're talking about. And also, announcing in English for our non-Belgian / Dutch visitors would be a good step forward. |
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Post by Finn on Oct 19, 2009 19:44:49 GMT 1
[(BTW: We went in our BSG outfits... you mean she was in costume as well or you refer to yourself in plural form? ;D) My sister and I - and Leah was completely over the moon with our outfits. Loved how we just went all the way. |
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Post by reaperunique on Oct 20, 2009 13:57:24 GMT 1
- There was no FACTS atmosphere in the new location - The cosplay stage was very crappy positioned (why didn't you put it in the last hall next to the dressing rooms?). I also disliked the number of tall people near the stage, I'm a small guy, I can't look over everyone's head, so I barely saw wtf was going on, leave alone taking pictures :s - The announcers of the cosplay contest (especially the dude who did the Dutch part) need a serious boost in their anime / movie knowledge or they should be replaced. I heard so many mistakes in names and stuff like announcing only the anime name and not the character... or that time when the Night Elf came on stage and he said W.O.W. and then "corrected" himself saying World of Witchcraft. Seriously, if you want some professional announcers, ask one of the visitors or create some kind of job-interview for it, so you atleast have some people on stage who know wtf they're talking about. And also, announcing in English for our non-Belgian / Dutch visitors would be a good step forward. Have to agree with this, why didn't you put the fanvillage and the cosplay stage in that last hall ? I don't think you can rent the expo per m². And I didn't really mind the annoucers that much but please ditch the french >_> I think everyone who goes there understands english. |
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Post by Stoney3K on Oct 20, 2009 14:42:28 GMT 1
Have to agree with this, why didn't you put the fanvillage and the cosplay stage in that last hall ? I don't think you can rent the expo per m². You can, otherwise the entire hall 7 would have been FACTS floor (presumably Cosplay/Panel stage and Fan Village) as well. They only rented the part of Hall 7 where the dressing room was this year because the entire hall was too expensive, but it might be an idea worth looking into for the future. |
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absum
FACTS Padawan
Posts: 97
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Post by absum on Oct 20, 2009 18:13:00 GMT 1
+ more stands
+ awesome facts t-shirt
+ much more people than last year
+ awesome cosplayers
+ smokers area for the smokers (i don't smoke though)
+ more space
- expensive food and drinks
- too much of a hangar feeling
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Post by Mr. Facts on Oct 20, 2009 18:19:57 GMT 1
- expensive food and drinks - too much of a hangar feeling Thanks for all the feedback. Keep on mentioning the things where we can make improvements. Only the less charming location and hangar feeling of Flanders Expo as well as all the services provided by Flanders Expo such as the coatrooms, catering and parking are beyond our control. |
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Post by Finn on Oct 20, 2009 23:24:47 GMT 1
Actually, the hangar-feel could play in FACTS' advantage by decorating it a bit more. I know that could be considered a lot of work, but give it a sort of space-fantasy look and who knows the hangar-feel might give people the idea of experiencing a whole new level of FACTS.
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Post by boomvavavoom on Oct 21, 2009 10:35:55 GMT 1
Have to agree with this, why didn't you put the fanvillage and the cosplay stage in that last hall ? I don't think you can rent the expo per m². actually...every extra m² costs extra. And I would LOVE to have a fanvillage and cosplay in a separate area but well....at the end of the trip we also have our finances' need for balance  I hope you understand! And I didn't really mind the annoucers that much but please ditch the french >_> I think everyone who goes there understands english. I think you will be surprised!! A lot of fans (and especially cos-fans) came from France and most of them have a terribly hard time understanding English (for some strange reason! ). Those fans do not even go on our forum because well...it is in English!! |
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absum
FACTS Padawan
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Post by absum on Oct 21, 2009 11:48:28 GMT 1
Actually, the hangar-feel could play in FACTS' advantage by decorating it a bit more. I know that could be considered a lot of work, but give it a sort of space-fantasy look and who knows the hangar-feel might give people the idea of experiencing a whole new level of FACTS. I remember a few years ago there was like a big death star near the star wars stuff in the ICC, what if we could get more of things like that and hang 'm around? |
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Post by harlock on Oct 21, 2009 16:05:25 GMT 1
And I didn't really mind the annoucers that much but please ditch the french >_> I think everyone who goes there understands english. I think you will be surprised!! A lot of fans (and especially cos-fans) came from France and most of them have a terribly hard time understanding English (for some strange reason! ). Those fans do not even go on our forum because well...it is in English!! Well given how bad the sound system was, I have doubts even the dutch speaking ones could make out WTF was said That appart : I am french, but I am fluent in english (at least I hope ) and as such I did drop by on those forums to mention the few (many) problems I heard from my friends. Language was a big issue, and while I understand not everybody can understand french, I still think it's one of the two main languages in belgium. As such you can't really say "ditch the french" But, worst case scenario : everything should be fully translated in english, that's the least we can expect from FACTS. People do come from all other europe, only make sense to use the most "international" language available. |
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Post by reaperunique on Oct 22, 2009 17:33:37 GMT 1
Have to agree with this, why didn't you put the fanvillage and the cosplay stage in that last hall ? I don't think you can rent the expo per m². actually...every extra m² costs extra. And I would LOVE to have a fanvillage and cosplay in a separate area but well....at the end of the trip we also have our finances' need for balance I hope you understand! And I didn't really mind the annoucers that much but please ditch the french >_> I think everyone who goes there understands english. I think you will be surprised!! A lot of fans (and especially cos-fans) came from France and most of them have a terribly hard time understanding English (for some strange reason! ). Those fans do not even go on our forum because well...it is in English!! ow lol I guess that was to be expected, but hey, since you broke all the records again this year why not again next year, starting with renting all of the third or maybe rent half and put the village and cosplay things there, that way you have more room for the stars, merchandising and gamesroom. Ofcourse I can't look into your finances so if you can't do that so be it. frenchies >_> Ow well can't be helped then, but what about the english visitors? |
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Post by windstormdragon on Oct 22, 2009 19:15:54 GMT 1
-Cosplay stage...
Next time pleas find a spot so everyone can sit down and enjoy the cosplay contest, my legs are tired of just standing there the whole time
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absum
FACTS Padawan
Posts: 97
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Post by absum on Oct 22, 2009 22:35:23 GMT 1
I forgot something! + FREE KITKATS! |
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latexstrawberry
Nurdz
I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts ~[F4:754608089]
Posts: 780
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Post by latexstrawberry on Oct 22, 2009 23:16:44 GMT 1
ZOMG YES, they were like... PIECES OF HEAVEN. i found them in my bag when i was hungry So original as a welcome gift xD |
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Yes, I can be that stupid.
I hope you understand!
