Auto Assembly 2012 Suggestion Box

[Tenko]

Handcuffs!! Problem solved! LoL!!

Or shackles that give them a small electric shock when they leave the perimeter...

Hmm, maybe there could be a way of letting the attendees know when certain programme items will be running late or being swapped around. A dry erase board at the main desk or something? Most times, we weren't sure what was going on at all (or couldn't actually hear the announcements over the mic) and we didn't really want to seek out and ask the staff, because you've all got enough work to get done. At the end of the day, though, I can totally understand and empathize with how stressful things are during the convention. I still can't wait for 2012.

[Specimen-17]

All the prices on the table were set by the attendees who put the items on there for sale so they were beyond our control. If someone wanted to try to charge £100 for a loose Armada Laserbeak then it's up to them, but it won't sell! We certainly don't have the time to sort out prices as well as oversee the table!

We do want to look again at the table however as a lot of people tried to send us lists of things to add by email on the eve of the convention and it gave us far more work that we really needed. Next time we may insist on only selling pre-listed items to control the stock better.

If anything the pre-listed items were more hassle, because of trying to find stuff on a long, ill-ordered list, not having a complete list of what'd been e-mailed in anyway, reserved items not turning up and people not collecting reserved items. Need to speak to you at some point in the not-too-distant future about tweaking the new system to make it smoother and more organised. And less work! Should be able to address the ludicrous price issue - as much as is possible - as well.

[Duh_Prez]

Re: the sales table, I would agree that Simes and Spec should liase more closely, possible with WaR too. That's one of those areas where too many cooks will spoil things - Simes is the dude who organises everything and Colin (with WaR) the one who pretty much runs it on the day, so just makes sense you two get together without the noise from the rest of us

Re: the programme items I would highlight two points Simes raised - guest unpredictability and the AV failing on us.

The AV should natuarlly sort itself out with the venue switch - I'm sorry to those who couldn't hear us on the mics, this wasn't a case of us having them too low, unfortuantely they too wouldn't work properly. I do kinda feel like the AV people let us down a bit this year, even though their guys stayed late to try and fix their equipment.

RE: guests wandering off - we trialed a new system this year which basically saw the guests given an "assisstant". This is something which has fantastic potential and I'm going to chat with Simes about this when we next have a proper AA meeting because if you place the right staff member with the right guest things go incredibly smoothly. (For instance, one staff member pretty much stayed with Gregg this year and I didn't have to go looking for him once. He was already ready to go and kept informed of his schedule). So from my point of view, that is a fantastic addition to AA and one that I'm very excited about for future cons. As I say, need to speak with Simes to work the details out though.

[Casperuk]

having never been to a convention, i can't say too much, but i have heard of a system that is like an internal GPS, using the wifi network and an app which would be able to guide people around.

not sure on the whole technical side of it and tbf i don't even know if it would fit what you guys need and if it can even be done at the minute. just suggesting it as i am a tech head

[Simon Plumbe]

With the Sales Table, there were two main problems I had with the list... first, I had a partial system failure that trashed the list about a week before the convention so I had to reconstruct the whole thing a few days before leaving for the convention. Secondly, a notable number of attendees decided to send me their lists during the last 2-3 days prior to the convention and it was physically impossible for me to add these items in. Next time, I think if we do stick to pre-listed items only, then perhaps re-ordering the entire list by seller number so everything is easier to find but I'll definitely work more closely with Colin on that one.

However, as many of you will know, we didn't even know if he was going to be back from his travels in time for the convention this year so we didn't really get the chance to chat about it this year! lol

The programme announcements... we have a little trick up our sleeves on this one to help keep you all updated on changes as they happen...!

[Wreck and Rule]

If there were less forms, it would be much easier to take items on the day. Its crucial to make more use of the Friday to accept fan sales submissions too.

[Simon Plumbe]

While I know the paperwork side of things is annoying, we need to keep an accurate record of what comes in, what is sold and what commission is paid out to people especially if there are issues that arise over the weekend. There have been problems in the past when people have either claimed not to have been paid properly or in one case this year, someone has made a claim that they were told that they would be paid by paypal as the money wasn't available to pay them.

Also, every year unsold items are left unclaimed at the end of each convention and as per our selling conditions which we have made clear on the website these are forfeit and become the property of the convention, so I think that accepting pre-listed items only does have advantages.

It was my intention to take items on the Friday this year, but there were some issues with simply not having enough time for a lot of the last minute work being ready in time so some things had to be put aside as I prioritised other things instead and I had to make a judgement call - getting the rest of the convention ready had to come first. 2012 is having a lot more preparatory work done far more in advance and a lot has been done already and that will be the case throughout the year and people will see a very different convention in terms of the organisational side of things!

A lot does need to be done with several areas of the convention and the Sales Table is still a learning curve for us. It was thrown together for 2010 and is still finding it's feet at the moment. By next year, we should have the format and structure pretty much nailed!

[Specimen-17]

or in one case this year, someone has made a claim that they were told that they would be paid by paypal as the money wasn't available to pay them.

Wait, when did this supposedly happen? I said nothing of the sort, and it doesn't sound like something anyone else who manned the table would've said.

Also, hit me up on MSN or somesuch to go over FST ideas, I'm gonna put some thoughts on paper now as life has settled down a bit now. Last few weeks have been all over the place.

[Simon Plumbe]

That's what I thought to be honest... and looking at the paperwork I have here, appararently the item wasn't sold either so it is looking rather suspicious to me.

[Robbiesboy]

I've never been due to the cost and, partly, the location. If I have to pay to travel there, pay to get in AND pay to stay over there's no way I would have enough left to buy toys (which would be my primary reason for going).
Not really sure how that could be solved.