Any suggestions for FACTS?

[Stoney3K]

Nov 12, 2009 18:32:31 GMT 1 Rogue said:

It's something rather small and might sound stupid but...
There is no other forum on the internet yet I've seen that talks about "Cos'play" , all of the just write this together. I think personally it gives more a "'cos we like to play" sound than a "we play in costumes" feeling.
Yeah, I'm being a nitpicker ^^;

People writing "Cos'play" should get an update on their spell checker. ;D

I did find out a big improvement regarding the cosplay competition in retrospect:

The organisation of the cosplay was, say, somewhat, understaffed. That caused some of the FACTS volunteers to work their respective behinds off sorting out the order and category of the participants, and causing mix-ups in the middle of the competition.

A lot can be solved by making two competitions: People who register a period in advance can participate in the cosplay competition and are offered skit time, and can send in background tracks for that. If that's arranged in advance (like an online system), it's easier to get a hard-copy of the participant list and burn discs with the background music.

People who register on the day itself, get a time slot which is long enough for showing their costumes. Walk on stage, do a few poses and turns for photographers, and walk off. Background music is more general in that case, and the judging focus is on the costumes, rather than the act.

This system is commonplace on conventions like Minami, Abunai and even Worldcon, where the rules also say that backing tracks should include the character's speech (no microphones are provided) or the MC can be asked to read something out loud. No tangled wires, people who are just inaudible because of lack of mic technique, or nasty feedbacks.

[hadesgod1]

More suggestions are welcome since FACTS 2010 is coming our way , it's this year.
We can't say anymore :"oh, i stil have time til next year ."

Before you know it, the 20th edition of FACTS wil be held on saturday th and sunday th of octobre

And my little finger tells me, it wil be SUPERCOOL, GREAT, MAGNIFICENT, AWESOME, and OUTSTANDING

[dogsoldiersthingy]

I'm not one to complain very often and was very pleased with F.A.C.T.S. 2009, but perhaps a few suggestions:

- do something about the Cos'Play, I'm not that big and couldn't see a thing (which is a shame) and I think it was badly located. Seatings would be nice, but I can understand that this must be really difficult to do. You'd have to hire another room that you could fill with a lot of chairs and a stage, that's another huge cost.

- the autographs were a nightmare. I didn't mind it at the start (I expected that there'd be a lot of people for Sorbo and Judge) but later you placed those fences, which was a great idea! Only downside was that I already had all autographs exept for Jimmy Jean Louis' and had to stand in line for at least half an hour for him alone (and in that half hour, he pretty much didn't have anything to do since the line was mainly filled with Sorbo and Judge fans). Anyway, I'd suggest having the fences there from the start so you could get all autographs at the same time. And if the guest would be running late... (like Jimmy Jean-Louis) place them somewhere else, so that you don't have to get in line again.

[Stoney3K]

Jan 23, 2010 14:11:10 GMT 1 @dogsoldiersthingy said:

I'm not one to complain very often and was very pleased with F.A.C.T.S. 2009, but perhaps a few suggestions:

- do something about the Cos'Play, I'm not that big and couldn't see a thing (which is a shame) and I think it was badly located. Seatings would be nice, but I can understand that this must be really difficult to do. You'd have to hire another room that you could fill with a lot of chairs and a stage, that's another huge cost.

- the autographs were a nightmare. I didn't mind it at the start (I expected that there'd be a lot of people for Sorbo and Judge) but later you placed those fences, which was a great idea! Only downside was that I already had all autographs exept for Jimmy Jean Louis' and had to stand in line for at least half an hour for him alone (and in that half hour, he pretty much didn't have anything to do since the line was mainly filled with Sorbo and Judge fans). Anyway, I'd suggest having the fences there from the start so you could get all autographs at the same time. And if the guest would be running late... (like Jimmy Jean-Louis) place them somewhere else, so that you don't have to get in line again.

Time to drop in a few cents again

Since we're using 3 halls this year, there might be some more floor space to play with, and the cosplay and guests can get some additional attention. Don't forget FACTS is paying quite some money to get the guests to sign and do Q&A's, so it's only sensible that they can do their Q&A's in a decent area (with enough space for all audience) and do their signings in a comfortable spot.

The most ideal setup you can have is a configuration which resembles a theatre: You have a stage in front, with wings left and right where cosplayers can get dressed, cleaned up and where artists and actors can get prepared for their Q&A's. Lighting is a plus for photo- and videographers.

The cosplay dressing rooms and artist signing areas can be in the same hall as the 'main' theatre, and depending on the setup size, there is enough space left for (parts of) the Fan Village. This has the added advantage of keeping everyone who attends the con for actors, cosplay and wandering about with other fans together, and split from the massive flow of people who attend FACTS for one day and only go shopping for collectibles.

Supplying people with extra information before-hand is quite useful. It might be a good idea to think of some video screens or digital signage that points visitors in the other halls to the right directions, and announce the schedule of projections, game competitions, cosplays and Q&A's.

If you want to do the autographs by the book, there's a model that works good at British conventions: People who buy tickets in advance get them numbered, and autograph sessions are called out for specific ticket number ranges. This will prevent any huge pile-ups of people wanting to get an autograph in the middle of something, and possibly reduce the delays to Q&A's.

The photo shoots themselves were done in a very professional fashion and delivered some good photographs (I've seen different results at other cons!), having the photo shoot area available for cosplayers afterwards (who can get digital copies of their shots) might be a good improvement.

[dogsoldiersthingy]

Feb 8, 2010 12:25:41 GMT 1 Stoney3K said:

Supplying people with extra information before-hand is quite useful. It might be a good idea to think of some video screens or digital signage that points visitors in the other halls to the right directions, and announce the schedule of projections, game competitions, cosplays and Q&A's.

If you want to do the autographs by the book, there's a model that works good at British conventions: People who buy tickets in advance get them numbered, and autograph sessions are called out for specific ticket number ranges. This will prevent any huge pile-ups of people wanting to get an autograph in the middle of something, and possibly reduce the delays to Q&A's.

your first point I quoted is definatly a very good one.

and the second point would be a dream IF you don't have to pay extra (like the early bird tickets) since some of us already spend a fortune on the autographs. But then again, it sure does have it's downsides since you gotta drop everything when your number's called out. Not to mention an awful "speaker" could ruin your whole day if the noisy crowd (off course a lot of people make a lot of noise) makes it impossible to hear.

Maybe they should just work with a ticket machine? You go to the autograph stand, take a number and the man there will tell you what time you should show up to collect your autograph. That could also prevent a huge pile of people.

[Stoney3K]

Feb 9, 2010 15:49:09 GMT 1 @dogsoldiersthingy said:

and the second point would be a dream IF you don't have to pay extra (like the early bird tickets) since some of us already spend a fortune on the autographs. But then again, it sure does have it's downsides since you gotta drop everything when your number's called out. Not to mention an awful "speaker" could ruin your whole day if the noisy crowd (off course a lot of people make a lot of noise) makes it impossible to hear.

Maybe they should just work with a ticket machine? You go to the autograph stand, take a number and the man there will tell you what time you should show up to collect your autograph. That could also prevent a huge pile of people.

That's why I mentioned buying tickets in advance. More and more people are attending FACTS over an entire weekend, and don't want to queue up at the entrance for two days to get a ticket every morning.

Plus, selling tickets in advance gives you an idea of how many people you can expect at least, and get a jump on visitor counts when it comes to scheduling and room planning.

True, timed (and called out) autograph sessions will need some care from the fan's point of view. But that's a normal thing at every con -- you can't do a Q&A and a photo shoot at the same time, or shop around if you want to see the cosplayers. Getting a good schedule up and trying to stick to that schedule as much as possible is imperative, though.

One thing I did notice last year is that the huge piles of people getting an autograph were delaying the Q&A's of some actors, which in turn was messing up the tech schedule, and the cosplay audience was even blocking the actor's path to the Q&A rooms.

Call me crazy, but since we're in the 20th edition of FACTS anyway, here's an enormous suggestion that might help:

Extend the FACTS programme on the Saturday to about 20:00 or 21:00 in the evening.

Why? It means the Q&A's can take place on the same stage as the cosplay competition on Saturday, and the cosplayers have more time to prepare themselves in the evening and put up a grand show. Plus, you have less influence from daylight falling in from the windows at the Expo's halls, which is beneficial during the day when you want the stands to be well lit and the actors to be seen during the Q&A's, but if the cosplay room is darkened, you can play a lot more tricks with lighting and theatrical magic.

[boomvavavoom]

Feb 9, 2010 16:51:44 GMT 1 Stoney3K said:

Call me crazy, but since we're in the 20th edition of FACTS anyway, here's an enormous suggestion that might help:

Extend the FACTS programme on the Saturday to about 20:00 or 21:00 in the evening.
.

you want us dead, right?

[latexstrawberry]

Would be pretty cool though, but I can easily understand why it wont happen :'D

[Stoney3K]

Feb 9, 2010 17:08:04 GMT 1 boomvavavoom said:

you want us dead, right?

On the contrary, I'd be happy to help.

The main point here is that there's only one stage, and the crew don't have to be at a dozen places at once. Once you're done with the Q&A's and the actors' PA's can go off duty, you can focus on throwing the cosplay. Put some projections in between to give everyone a break.

[hadesgod1]

I would be for that too, but in some way i can understand boom an the others.
Like myself i would be attenting and helping the built from the very first minute on friday.

And secondly i don't think i would be safe to let the other stands 'unattended' during the cosplay show, i guess some things might get stolen.

[Mr. Facts]

Stoney3K, thanks a lot for your suggestions. We'll look closer into these but I can can give you a quick answer on one of them.

Feb 9, 2010 16:51:44 GMT 1 Stoney3K said:

Extend the FACTS programme on the Saturday to about 20:00 or 21:00 in the evening.

Extending the show to 20:00 or later is quite impossible. You should be realistic.

On Saturday, we are already up at 5:00 in preparing the show. The dealers come in at around 7:00. Most guests show up at around 10 O'clock and stay the whole day (unlike other shows where artists & actors leave for about 2 hours for extensive lunch). Believe me, every one is deadbeat at 18hrs.

We have already extended the show on saturday until 18 hour which means the visitor has 8 hours guaranteed F.A.C.T.S.-fun.
And don't forget, when buying the Early Bird, one can add almost one hour extra and avoid that long line.

[grim]

and what about friday afternoon or evening? like you had the diner with Kevin Sorbo, but with all the artists and actors. a fancy diner for VIP's (or nurdz) ;D

[Stoney3K]

Feb 15, 2010 10:24:32 GMT 1 Mr. Facts said:

Stoney3K, thanks a lot for your suggestions. We'll look closer into these but I can can give you a quick answer on one of them.

Feb 9, 2010 16:51:44 GMT 1 Stoney3K said:

Extend the FACTS programme on the Saturday to about 20:00 or 21:00 in the evening.

Extending the show to 20:00 or later is quite impossible. You should be realistic.

On Saturday, we are already up at 5:00 in preparing the show. The dealers come in at around 7:00. Most guests show up at around 10 O'clock and stay the whole day (unlike other shows where artists & actors leave for about 2 hours for extensive lunch). Believe me, every one is deadbeat at 18hrs.

Easy answer: Make sure there are enough volunteers with their specific tasks.

I've been to dozens of conventions before, and often you'll notice two groups of people attending.

First there are the people who just get off the tram, buy a ticket at the door and stroll around the convention for a few hours, and subsequently leave if they find no stuff of interest. If you want to be a collector's fair, fine, but in that case, just drop the cosplay and the actors (or just let them sell autographs, no Q&A's), and let all of the stuff be the main attraction.

Secondly, there's the group of die-hard fans who get a hotel and want to be on the floor every minute, to experience the whole she-bang. They don't care about huge piles of comic, action figures or merchandise, they want to be entertained. If you want to focus on people like that, make sure there is a huge center stage which is jam-packed with programming, from 9AM up to 6PM when the doors close.

Getting a special activity going on Friday is a good way to get people motivated to do some extra work. Give volunteers (gophers, stewards) front row seats, or at least offer people who do some volunteer work that little bit of extra.

A mixed form of convention is possible (FedCon is a good example of a large-scale programme-oriented con) but it's one of the things that takes a lot of manpower. If you can't think of programming, either do nothing, or let the fans bring the programming to the convention (make a few smaller areas where fans can run workshops). Don't announce something like "Oh, and by the way, we have some Q&A's tucked back in some room where nobody seems to get, and the cosplay as well...", which might give people the impression that it's seriously under-organised.

And, sorry to break the bad news here, but the evening is where a convention really comes to life. Most of the time the daytime hours are more serious, with people buying collectibles, doing Q&A's and workshops and the like, and after dinner, the focus is on the 'fun' factor, with the cosplay, possibly some ad-lib entertaiment and a party. Granted, this is a lot easier for venues with an on-site accomodation, but for quite a few convention visitors, it IS what they go to a con for. You don't get t a lot of parties where they actually play the music WE like, and respect each others (physical and mental) personal space in the process.

Yes, getting stuff on the road up to 20:00, 21:00 or even beyond is challenging, and security of stuff (and gear) is an issue. You might be beat from all of the work you've done during the day, but nobody said you're all alone here. People can take over for the evening programming, so you can drop yourself on a chair in the theatre and enjoy the masquerade. It's been done countless times before, and there are people here (and elsewhere on the Web) with the expertise to give a serious hand.

Remember, this is the 20th edition of FACTS, which is something that happens only once in a lifetime. And I'd be willing to go to great lengths to get something really cool on the road here, as long as there are people supporting this plan.

Pardon my serious preaching for a programmed con here, but I've seen conventions collapse on lack of programming (where it wás advertised) or people getting seriously bored because there is nothing to do. And remember, not all of the programing has to be completely centralized -- if you give fans the opportunity to throw something together, they will. Conventions are also a place for fans to get together, not just to meet actors.

[boomvavavoom]

It might be a great idea (with the extra hall) to extend the cosplay-program indeed...

we will see about that!

Maybe indeed we will call upon you!

[grim]

Feb 17, 2010 11:56:23 GMT 1 boomvavavoom said:

It might be a great idea (with the extra hall) to extend the cosplay-program indeed...

I thought the third hall was only for comics and artists ;D

[boomvavavoom]

hahahahaahaaaa

everything can change at every turn of events, but in my mind it would be to make the cosplayers and the fanvillages and the Q&A's more accessible

but hey...who am I to even THINK?

[latexstrawberry]

Yeah well, last year we got alot of comments of people who said "It's a shame we can't SIT DOWN at the cosplay stage because I couldn't see anything because of the tall people standing before me" which was actually also one of my worries and it's not fun, if people are leaning over on the stage and you have to perform and they're barely in your pants if i can say it like that.
Alot of people also said it was annoying that some comic and/or game stand or stuff were "blocking" the flow of people next to the stage.
I'm just saying :'D

[Stoney3K]

Feb 17, 2010 11:56:23 GMT 1 boomvavavoom said:

It might be a great idea (with the extra hall) to extend the cosplay-program indeed...

we will see about that!

Maybe indeed we will call upon you!

Disclaimer: I am not pledging for a large stage out of my own (commercial) interest as AV techie, as I'd be happy to let anyone else do the tech if they make a better offer (I still would like to assist FACTS in that case), but more because of feedback received so far and to make the fans have a good time at the con.

The 'perfect' situation in my opinion, would be:

Hall 1: Front doors / visitor vestiaire / cosplay registration, dealer room #1

Hall 2: Cantina, dealer's room #2, possibly guest signings.

Hall 3: Guest green room, cosplay dressing rooms, seated main stage (Q&A, projections & cosplay), Fan Village.

Note that the hall numbers are not Expo hall numbers, but halls 1, 2 and 3 would be the halls used last year (where #3 is the hall which was only used for the cosplay dressing room).

Enforcing security for dealers would be a lot easier in this case, for example, only people who have specific tickets (wrist bands or badges) are allowed access to hall #3 in the evening, if there is any programme, and halls 1 and 2 can be closed. Downside: Security of the Fan Village would be on the booth members' risk there.

The cosplay dressing rooms would be a lot more secured against theft, as they could be near the guest green room (behind the stage) and are only accessible by registered cosplayers and FACTS volunteers.

Halls 1 and 2 would have some way of providing actual schedule information, either through video screens or pieces of paper on walls (or whatever you want it to be).

Again, a guy can dream here, but thinking a few times about the con layout can be quite interesting. Scaling the whole thing up or down is possible, for example, if the main 'theatre' would encompass the entire hall, it can probably seat a few thousand, but a decent cosplay-sized stage would probably be around 300-500 seats. Bigger is better (but also more challenging), and if more visitors show up, they can stand too. :mrgreen:

Having the Fan Village and the cosplay/guest/Q&A areas near each other is a good thing because that would separate the large crowd flows from the 'shopping' crowd in halls 1 and 2 with the fan crowd (who will want to chat and entertain amongst themselves) in hall 3. I did notice the large traffic jams near booths last year.

As far as projections go: I prepared the gear last time, but did not receive any media from anyone. Projections are a good way of keeping people in the building when there's nothing happening on stage, even if they are just simple movie trailers.

[Mr. Facts]

Feb 17, 2010 17:16:51 GMT 1 latexstrawberry said:

Yeah well, last year we got alot of comments of people who said "It's a shame we can't SIT DOWN at the cosplay stage

Well, the 100 chairs were ordered but were not used when we saw the huge amount of people (way more than 100) watching the cosplay-contest. We expected a huge success for the cosplay contest but not a MEGA huge success which it was last year. Hence, hall 3 with much more possibilities.

[Stoney3K]

Feb 17, 2010 20:13:42 GMT 1 Mr. Facts said:

Feb 17, 2010 17:16:51 GMT 1 latexstrawberry said:

Yeah well, last year we got alot of comments of people who said "It's a shame we can't SIT DOWN at the cosplay stage

Well, the 100 chairs were ordered but were not used when we saw the huge amount of people (way more than 100) watching the cosplay-contest. We expected a huge success for the cosplay contest but not a MEGA huge success which it was last year. Hence, hall 3 with much more possibilities.

LOL, I was ordered to get the PA system for the cosplay running for 200 people as well, so I had to run some serious overload on the audio. Much to the nuisance of the people on the front of the stage and the booth members nearby, unfortunately. (The best way to cover distance like that, is to get the sound high up in the air.)

Latexstrawberry: You are absolutely right about the lines of sight on the cosplay stage, that may also be why a lot of people avoided the catwalk area. Nobody wants to get their up-skirts peered at by 200+ people and the people who were a bit shorter had serious problems seeing the people on stage.

The easy way out of those three problems (lot of noise on the stage edge, involuntary upskirts, bad visibility for small people) is to get some more distance between the audience and the stage. This makes the viewing angles more shallow (so no upskirts, and no having-to-look-up) and allows the sound to travel a lot better (so no more thumping noise).

Seating arrangements might work, but you need to be careful of placement. Last year, the audience area for the cosplay stage was right in the middle of the walkway from the other hall, cantina and Q&A room, putting up chairs there was next to impossible anyway. (they would have been run over, and caused serious chaos and injury)

Oh, and the obvious improvement on the cosplay, which has been on mention for quite a few years now: How about those ramps? ;D

[grim]

what about a new ticket system:

• a ticket for Saterday or Sunday
  
• a weekend ticket
  
• a special (weekend) ticket with earlybird and free autograph
  

[latexstrawberry]

Oh yes, that would be nice, a double ticket with early bird on saturday. (and autograph is not needed for me) It would be nice

[grievous444]

Mar 14, 2010 14:05:15 GMT 1 grim said:

what about a new ticket system:

• a ticket for Saterday or Sunday
  
• a weekend ticket
  
• a special (weekend) ticket with earlybird and free autograph
  

They did in the past a weekend ticket and it wasn't much of a succes. But I would buy a special weekend ticket if they would sell them. But it will never happen.

[grim]

Mar 14, 2010 16:08:54 GMT 1 grievous444 said:

Mar 14, 2010 14:05:15 GMT 1 grim said:

what about a new ticket system:

• a ticket for Saterday or Sunday
  
• a weekend ticket
  
• a special (weekend) ticket with earlybird and free autograph
  

They did in the past a weekend ticket and it wasn't much of a succes. But I would buy a special weekend ticket if they would sell them. But it will never happen.

when did they to that? I never heard of that? but i think you can't compare facts ten years ago and facts 2010
a other suggestion is a presale, but i think that's difficult.

[boomvavavoom]

every year we are trying to see if this will be a possibility.
We do try and do it, but it depends om more then youmight think!