runacc.costume-con.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree.  And very few people look great when photos show their nostrils so clearly.

 

Elaine

For larger Costume-Cons, and cons in general, I feel that the onstage photo run makes the most sense just due to space restrictions. The alternative of having no fan photos is not an option in my mind.

For smaller Costume-Cons a more traditional, well lit, floor level, fan-photo area(s)* are more to my personal taste.

* (a Toronto-Trek we use to have several areas all in a row that costumers costumers could rotate through stretched along a hallway so photographers could spread out and everyone could get nice photos of all the costumes).

 

 

 

 

 

We had to do the photo run on the stage. When we saw how big the convention was going to be, we realized there wouldn’t be space for anything else or a way to co-ordinate anything else with our limited staff numbers in proportion to the attendees and contestants.
We already knew that the west pre-function area would be curtained off for flex space between the greenroom and workmanship/photo spaces, (which ultimately became extra den room last minute when the con attendance and masquerade participation grew far beyond
our projections).

If we had known sooner than the Friday of the convention that the Kimono exhibit would have to pull out, we might have arranged to have photo backdrops put in the south pre function space of our hotel, but that space was allocated for what would have been the
amazing kimono display.
No harm, no foul on the Kimono team, there was no way that they could have anticipated finding their displays and barriers being destroyed when they went to pick them up from the storage company.

Would I have liked to have fan photo areas? Absolutely. It was merely not possible in this case. That said, many first time Costume-Con attendees were thrilled by being able to participate in the on stage photo run, and several cons have since adopted it
here. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Not everyone is going to attend a CC orientation panel.  So at the very least, there should be an
announcement made by the MC during the SF masquerade, asking that every new
attendee in the audience either raise their hands or stand up, and everyone
else should applaud them.   In the
meantime, Nora and I intend to continue to hand out “My First Costume-Con”
ribbons.  Efforts need to be made to make
the wearers feel welcome.  

 

Also, we’ll be changing the way we hand out the “Costume-Con
Veteran ” ribbons.   People misinterpreted
their original intention.   The
recipients will be reminded of their responsibility to talk to first-timers.

 

I seem to recall that the FAQ I wrote up a number of years
ago (which is mostly reposted on each CC website) says something about how many
con-goers are actually shy so they may not be very outgoing.   This is why we really need to work on other
ways for people not to appear stand-offish.
Maybe a voluntary game to match veterans to newbies for some sort of
information swap could be invented where there would be a prize involved.

 

Making sure newbies feel included should be a priority for
every convention (committee and con-goers) because we want them to return each
year and become part of the community. 

 

Any other thoughts?

 

  

 

 

 

Mentioning that “some sort of game should be invented” brought back some
memories to me; how about a “costumer Bingo” game at the Friday night
social. I personally have never cared for the Single pattern Contest
being “imposed” onto the Social, yes, I understand that it seems to get
more entries that way, but it makes the social into another “masquerade”
event, where the contestants are mostly “backstage” and the “audience”
then has to sit still with the lights out. The Social used to be really
Social! People danced! There was a lot more mingling. I don’t object to
raffles, much, but a costumer bingo card, maybe? with costume-related
small awards? Where people could check off on their card when they saw
certain props or colors, types of costumes, etc. Wouldn’t take much to
invent it. I also remember, (at CC10 maybe?) There was a “costumer
questionnaire” with funny questions on it that really sparked
conversations.

I feel that a good way to start the convention in a welcoming way would
be to put the Single Pattern away from Friday night and make it Social
again. Keep the lights on and let people see each other.

Yours in costuming, Lisa a

On 18 Dec 2016 19:04:13 -0800 “casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc]”
<runacc@yahoogroups.com> writes:
Not everyone is going to attend a CC orientation panel. So at the very
least, there should be an announcement made by the MC during the SF
masquerade, asking that every new attendee in the audience either raise
their hands or stand up, and everyone else should applaud them. In the
meantime, Nora and I intend to continue to hand out �My First
Costume-Con� ribbons. Efforts need to be made to make the wearers feel
welcome.
Also, we�ll be changing the way we hand out the �Costume-Con Veteran �
ribbons. People misinterpreted their original intention. The
recipients will be reminded of their responsibility to talk to
first-timers.

I seem to recall that the FAQ I wrote up a number of years ago (which is
mostly reposted on each CC website) says something about how many
con-goers are actually shy so they may not be very outgoing. This is
why we really need to work on other ways for people not to appear
stand-offish. Maybe a voluntary game to match veterans to newbies for
some sort of information swap could be invented where there would be a
prize involved.

Making sure newbies feel included should be a priority for every
convention (committee and con-goers) because we want them to return each
year and become part of the community.

Any other thoughts?

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Making the SIngle Pattern less formal again would help too.

Nora
——————————————–

On Mon, 12/19/16, lisa58@juno.com [runacc] <runacc@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: Re: [runacc] Welcoming newcomers – Traditions and Expectations
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, December 19, 2016, 5:49 AM

Mentioning that “some sort of game
should be invented” brought back some
memories  to me; how about  a “costumer Bingo”
game at the Friday night
social.  I personally have never cared for the Single
pattern Contest
being “imposed” onto the Social, yes, I understand that it
seems to get
more entries that way, but it makes the social into another
“masquerade”
event, where the contestants are mostly “backstage” and the
“audience”
then has to sit still with the lights out.  The Social
used to be really
Social!  People danced! There was a lot more
mingling.  I don’t object to
raffles, much, but a costumer bingo card, maybe? with
costume-related
small awards?  Where people could check off on their
card when they saw
certain props or colors, types of costumes, etc.
Wouldn’t take much to
invent it.  I also remember, (at CC10 maybe?) There was
a “costumer
questionnaire” with funny questions on it that really
sparked
conversations.

I feel that a good way to start the convention in a
welcoming way would
be to put the Single Pattern away from Friday night and make
it Social
again.  Keep the lights on and let people see each
other.

Yours in costuming, Lisa a

On 18 Dec 2016 19:04:13 -0800 “casamai@sbcglobal.net
[runacc]”
<runacc@yahoogroups.com>
writes:
Not everyone is going to attend a CC orientation
panel.  So at the very
least, there should be an announcement made by the MC during
the SF
masquerade, asking that every new attendee in the audience
either raise
their hands or stand up, and everyone else should applaud
them.   In the
meantime, Nora and I intend to continue to hand out �y
First
Costume-Con�ribbons.  Efforts need to be made to make
the wearers feel
welcome.
Also, we�l be changing the way we hand out the
�ostume-Con Veteran �ribbons.   People
misinterpreted their original
intention.   The
recipients will be reminded of their responsibility to talk
to
first-timers.

I seem to recall that the FAQ I wrote up a number of years
ago (which is
mostly reposted on each CC website) says something about how
many
con-goers are actually shy so they may not be very
outgoing.   This is
why we really need to work on other ways for people not to
appear
stand-offish.   Maybe a voluntary game to
match veterans to newbies for
some sort of information swap could be invented where there
would be a
prize involved.

Making sure newbies feel included should be a priority for
every
convention (committee and con-goers) because we want them to
return each
year and become part of the community.

Any other thoughts?

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

————————————
Posted by: <lisa58@juno.com>
————————————

View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
————————————

Yahoo Groups Links

runacc-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

I totally agree!  Also, another variation on the bingo would be to collect “autographs” from folks with the veteran ribbons.  Another thought is ribbons or stickers from the veterans, but that could be rather complicated.  (Person with the longest string
of ribbons gets ?)

 

If the Newbie ribbons were made to stand out, it might be easier for the rest of us to spot them and descend upo – uh, visit with them.

 

Elaine Mami

 

We had a couple fo games like that at the CC-32 social and there was at least one person who complained that it was annoying to the people who had been coming for years.

Just another case of you can’t please everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

I like the term Mentor. We could still use the CC veteran ribbons to indicate who is a capable mentor but maybe detail it better.

Nora

From: runacc@yahoogroups.com [mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 24, 2016 5:35 AM
To: List, Run a CC
Subject: RE: [runacc] Welcoming newcomers – Traditions and Expectations

Theoretically, a con committee has at least a handful of people who fall into the category of “experienced” CC attendee. If you ask one of those to coordinate recruitment of others who are willing to act as mentors (a term I like because of its implication as experienced guide without so many syllables), and the mentors are keyed to watch for the newbies, it doesn’t have to be a situation of intimidation at either the giving or receiving end.

Trouble is, folks (like me) who haven’t been able to attend because life has interfered are less available to act as mentors if we can’t get to the cons.

It’s a long-term problem that won’t likely get better, so establishing a mentor program gets more important every year.

Betsy

On Dec 23, 2016 11:17 PM, “‘Nora & Bruce Mai’ casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc]” <runacc@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

True enough. It needs to be more of a voluntary thing that maybe could be stretched over the weekend, not just one event.

Along the same lines as what Lisa was saying, I actually did create a Bingo game for CC34. I probably didn’t do the best job of getting the word out about it. They were available at Registration. A few people participated, but not many.

Re the My First CC ribbons: They’re white They stand out pretty well They also fit onto the rest of the horizontal ribbons people collect during the weekend.

Also, everything we’ve talked about so far has got the newbies having to do something. Some may not be comfortable approaching the vets. So beyond the responsibility of Veteran ribbon bearers are charged with, what else could they be encouraged to do?

I agree the Social needs to be social but if you put it back with the FFS, one or the other will suffer. Nora has stats to back that up, which I believe she’s posted previously. (Marg, you might want to make a note of that and add it to that Google doc).

Bruce

From: runacc@yahoogroups.com [mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2016 6:40 PM
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [runacc] Welcoming newcomers – Traditions and Expectations

We had a couple fo games like that at the CC-32 social and there was at least one person who complained that it was annoying to the people who had been coming for years.

Just another case of you can’t please everyone.

Dawn McKechnie – Director – Cosplay Events – Anime North

Anime North – Canada’s Premiere Fan-Run Anime Convention!
<http://www.animenorth.com/> www.animenorth.com

_____

From: runacc@yahoogroups.com <runacc@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of lisa58@juno.com [runacc] <runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: December 19, 2016 6:49 AM
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [runacc] Welcoming newcomers – Traditions and Expectations

Mentioning that “some sort of game should be invented” brought back some
memories to me; how about a “costumer Bingo” game at the Friday night
social. I personally have never cared for the Single pattern Contest
being “imposed” onto the Social, yes, I understand that it seems to get
more entries that way, but it makes the social into another “masquerade”
event, where the contestants are mostly “backstage” and the “audience”
then has to sit still with the lights out. The Social used to be really
Social! People danced! There was a lot more mingling. I don’t object to
raffles, much, but a costumer bingo card, maybe? with costume-related
small awards? Where people could check off on their card when they saw
certain props or colors, types of costumes, etc. Wouldn’t take much to
invent it. I also remember, (at CC10 maybe?) There was a “costumer
questionnaire” with funny questions on it that really sparked
conversations.

I feel that a good way to start the convention in a welcoming way would
be to put the Single Pattern away from Friday night and make it Social
again. Keep the lights on and let people see each other.

Yours in costuming, Lisa a

On 18 Dec 2016 19:04:13 -0800 “casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc] <mailto:casamai@sbcglobal.net%20[runacc]> ”
<runacc@yahoogroups.com> writes:
Not everyone is going to attend a CC orientation panel. So at the very
least, there should be an announcement made by the MC during the SF
masquerade, asking that every new attendee in the audience either raise
their hands or stand up, and everyone else should applaud them. In the
meantime, Nora and I intend to continue to hand out �My First
Costume-Con� ribbons. Efforts need to be made to make the wearers feel
welcome.
Also, we�ll be changing the way we hand out the �Costume-Con Veteran �
ribbons. People misinterpreted their original intention. The
recipients will be reminded of their responsibility to talk to
first-timers.

I seem to recall that the FAQ I wrote up a number of years ago (which is
mostly reposted on each CC website) says something about how many
con-goers are actually shy so they may not be very outgoing. This is
why we really need to work on other ways for people not to appear
stand-offish. Maybe a voluntary game to match veterans to newbies for
some sort of information swap could be invented where there would be a
prize involved.

Making sure newbies feel included should be a priority for every
convention (committee and con-goers) because we want them to return each
year and become part of the community.

Any other thoughts?

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

 

 

What about putting a blurb in pre-con literature/website/pr, etc,
explaining the “mentor” program and asking people who will be attending
for the first time, to sign up to be matched with a mentor before the
convention, if they would like to. That way, mentors and new people
don’t have to approach total strangers at the convention.

Michael

On 2016-12-23 20:17, ‘Nora & Bruce Mai’ casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc]
wrote:

> True enough. It needs to be more of a voluntary thing that maybe
> could be stretched over the weekend, not just one event.
>
> Along the same lines as what Lisa was saying, I actually did create a
> Bingo game for CC34. I probably didn’t do the best job of getting
> the word out about it. They were available at Registration. A few
> people participated, but not many.
>
> Re the My First CC ribbons: They’re white They stand out pretty well
> They also fit onto the rest of the horizontal ribbons people
> collect during the weekend.
>
> Also, everything we’ve talked about so far has got the newbies having
> to do something. Some may not be comfortable approaching the vets.
> So beyond the responsibility of Veteran ribbon bearers are charged
> with, what else could they be encouraged to do?
>

Mike suggested a blurb in the program book. It could be announced at the Social and at the FSF (Historical too I guess). Also obviously mentioned at CC101 panel.
As for mentors volunteering – how about this: if you request a CC veteran ribbon you’re volunteering.

Still think we might need activities, games perhaps, that create interaction between the two groups (and everyone in between). Like a scavenger hunt?

Nora

From: runacc@yahoogroups.com [mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 24, 2016 5:24 PM
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [runacc] Welcoming newcomers – Traditions and Expectations

How do we inform newbies about mentors, and vice versa, in a way that will catch their attention without frightening the newbies or offending experienced CC hands not chosen to be mentors?

Byron

On Dec 24, 2016, at 12:56 PM, ‘Nora & Bruce Mai’ casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc] <runacc@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I like the term Mentor. We could still use the CC veteran ribbons to indicate who is a capable mentor but maybe detail it better.

Nora

From: <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com [ <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 24, 2016 5:35 AM
To: List, Run a CC
Subject: RE: [runacc] Welcoming newcomers – Traditions and Expectations

Theoretically, a con committee has at least a handful of people who fall into the category of “experienced” CC attendee. If you ask one of those to coordinate recruitment of others who are willing to act as mentors (a term I like because of its implication as experienced guide without so many syllables), and the mentors are keyed to watch for the newbies, it doesn’t have to be a situation of intimidation at either the giving or receiving end.

Trouble is, folks (like me) who haven’t been able to attend because life has interfered are less available to act as mentors if we can’t get to the cons.

It’s a long-term problem that won’t likely get better, so establishing a mentor program gets more important every year.

Betsy

On Dec 23, 2016 11:17 PM, “‘Nora & Bruce Mai’ <mailto:casamai@sbcglobal.net> casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc]” < <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

True enough. It needs to be more of a voluntary thing that maybe could be stretched over the weekend, not just one event.

Along the same lines as what Lisa was saying, I actually did create a Bingo game for CC34. I probably didn’t do the best job of getting the word out about it. They were available at Registration. A few people participated, but not many.

Re the My First CC ribbons: They’re white They stand out pretty well They also fit onto the rest of the horizontal ribbons people collect during the weekend.

Also, everything we’ve talked about so far has got the newbies having to do something. Some may not be comfortable approaching the vets. So beyond the responsibility of Veteran ribbon bearers are charged with, what else could they be encouraged to do?

I agree the Social needs to be social but if you put it back with the FFS, one or the other will suffer. Nora has stats to back that up, which I believe she’s posted previously. (Marg, you might want to make a note of that and add it to that Google doc).

Bruce

From: <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com [ <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2016 6:40 PM
To: <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [runacc] Welcoming newcomers – Traditions and Expectations

We had a couple fo games like that at the CC-32 social and there was at least one person who complained that it was annoying to the people who had been coming for years.

Just another case of you can’t please everyone.

Dawn McKechnie – Director – Cosplay Events – Anime North

Anime North – Canada’s Premiere Fan-Run Anime Convention!
< <http://www.animenorth.com/> http://www.animenorth.com/> <http://www.animenorth.com/> www.animenorth.com

_____

From: <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com < <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of <mailto:lisa58@juno.com> lisa58@juno.com [runacc] < <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: December 19, 2016 6:49 AM
To: <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [runacc] Welcoming newcomers – Traditions and Expectations

Mentioning that “some sort of game should be invented” brought back some
memories to me; how about a “costumer Bingo” game at the Friday night
social. I personally have never cared for the Single pattern Contest
being “imposed” onto the Social, yes, I understand that it seems to get
more entries that way, but it makes the social into another “masquerade”
event, where the contestants are mostly “backstage” and the “audience”
then has to sit still with the lights out. The Social used to be really
Social! People danced! There was a lot more mingling. I don’t object to
raffles, much, but a costumer bingo card, maybe? with costume-related
small awards? Where people could check off on their card when they saw
certain props or colors, types of costumes, etc. Wouldn’t take much to
invent it. I also remember, (at CC10 maybe?) There was a “costumer
questionnaire” with funny questions on it that really sparked
conversations.

I feel that a good way to start the convention in a welcoming way would
be to put the Single Pattern away from Friday night and make it Social
again. Keep the lights on and let people see each other.

Yours in costuming, Lisa a

On 18 Dec 2016 19:04:13 -0800 ” <mailto:casamai@sbcglobal.net> casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc] < <mailto:casamai@sbcglobal.net> mailto:casamai@sbcglobal.net%20[runacc]> ”
< <mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com> runacc@yahoogroups.com> writes:
Not everyone is going to attend a CC orientation panel. So at the very
least, there should be an announcement made by the MC during the SF
masquerade, asking that every new attendee in the audience either raise
their hands or stand up, and everyone else should applaud them. In the
meantime, Nora and I intend to continue to hand out �My First
Costume-Con� ribbons. Efforts need to be made to make the wearers feel
welcome.
Also, we�ll be changing the way we hand out the �Costume-Con Veteran �
ribbons. People misinterpreted their original intention. The
recipients will be reminded of their responsibility to talk to
first-timers.

I seem to recall that the FAQ I wrote up a number of years ago (which is
mostly reposted on each CC website) says something about how many
con-goers are actually shy so they may not be very outgoing. This is
why we really need to work on other ways for people not to appear
stand-offish. Maybe a voluntary game to match veterans to newbies for
some sort of information swap could be invented where there would be a
prize involved.

Making sure newbies feel included should be a priority for every
convention (committee and con-goers) because we want them to return each
year and become part of the community.

Any other thoughts?

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

“Re the My First CC ribbons:  They’re white
They stand out pretty well     They also fit onto the rest of the horizontal ribbons people collect during the weekend.  ”

I really love, appreciate, and value the “My First CC” ribbons. I find them so useful for identifying new members and in the past many years Maral and I have made a point of trying to connect and be welcoming to new CC members so they don’t feel overwhelmed
or left out. The ribbons have been invaluable in this regard. I also find them to be a subtle reminder that not everyone has the same experience and that we can all be a little more patient and kind.

I remember how delighted first time Costume-Con attendees were when receiving them at the CC32 registration desk, (Thank you to Nora, Bruce, and the SLCG for donating them!), and what a truly welcoming note they started the weekend off on for many of new attendees.

I can’t stress their value enough.
~Dawn

 

 

 

 

 

CC36 is definitely interested!

 

Thanks,

 

Elaine

 

Is there anyone on the list who would be willing to take over my Single Pattern contest for CC36?  My girl said she’s got some family problems that she’ll be dealing with for a long while so she resigned.  Her second isn’t sure she could handle the masquerade portion. So, if anyone could help out, I’d appreciate it.

Author Walter Hunt posted on FB, about an hour ago, that

“h/t Deb Geisler, who reported that our friend and long time vendor of books, Larry Smith, has died of a heart attack.

I am so saddened by this I can hardly write this post.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time once
again for the report from the SLCG on how this year’s Costume-Con went.  Some of you may say, “who
cares?”.   Well, depends on who you
are.   These have been useful for future
con committees for things to be aware of when they are organizing their own
event.    Others just like to use
them to compare to their own past efforts.
In any case, each of these reports have been archived in the Yahoo Group for review.  I’d like to think they can be helpful in avoiding repeated mistakes.

 

 

There were 9
members attending CC35 this year.  As
usual, I wrote the overview from Nora and my perspective and published it on
our Yahoo group, then invited the others to chime in.   These are just the opinions of 9 people – they are representative of mostly regulars who have been attending since at least – some before that.   So take that under advisement.   And, of course, this is only our perception – the con committee should absolutely correct the record where it’s called for.

 

 

I’m going to preface this by saying up
front that CC35 was a pretty good con.  Most of the criticisms here are
nitpicks, so keep that in mind as we go through the review. 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s start in the usual place – before
the con.  The Future Fashion Folio came out in a fairly timely fashion
this time.  There were lots of designs –over 300.   One hundred
fifty designs made it into the publication, with 39 designers, making it the 3^rd
biggest number of designers for the Folio.

 

 

 

 

 

There were some criticisms of the PRs and
the website.   I can’t say much about
them, but this is what some people said:

 

 

 

 

 

The progress
reports (such as they were) were pretty much useless. As was the website. There
was very little information on it and if was hard to find anything. It was also
completely non-functional on my phone.

 

 

When
asked what were they looking for, this was the response: 

I was looking for the program schedule, just days before the
con. Also tried to get details about several things, I don’t remember what now,
but most menu items led to a blank page. 

 

 

 The only other criticism involved the slow
response for inquiries regarding sponsoring the Hospitality Suite.   The
website said details would be forthcoming, but it never was announced.   In our case, we didn’t get the answer we
needed until the Tuesday before the con, but only after I made another inquiry.
I understand the CC37 committee had a similar experience..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Re pre con, consuite lack of info

” I understand the CC37 committee had a similar experience..”

HAHA, yeah, well so did the CC 35 committee 😉

Gravely MacCabre http://www.castleblood.com http://facebook.com/gravelymaccabre http://www.etsy.com/shop/gravelymaccabre tv show clip samples at http://www.veoh.com/channels/castleblood

——————————————–

On Sun, 5/21/17, casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc] <runacc@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: [runacc] SLCG CC35 Report: Before the Con
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, May 21, 2017, 10:37 PM

Time once
again for the report from the SLCG on how this year’s
Costume-Con went.  Some of you may say,
“who
cares?”.   Well, depends on who you
are.   These have been useful for future
con committees for things to be aware of when they are
organizing their own
event.    Others just like to use
them to compare to their own past efforts.
In any case, each of these reports have been
archived in the Yahoo Group for review.  I’d like to
think they can be helpful in avoiding repeated
mistakes.

There were 9
members attending CC35 this year.  As
usual, I wrote the overview from Nora and my perspective and
published it on
our Yahoo group, then invited the others to chime
in.   These are just the opinions of 9 people – they
are representative of mostly regulars who have been
attending since at least – some before that.   So take
that under advisement.   And, of course, this is only our
perception – the con committee should absolutely correct the
record where it’s called
for.

I’m going to preface this by
saying up
front that CC35 was a pretty good con.  Most of the
criticisms here are
nitpicks, so keep that in mind as we go through the
review.

Let’s start in the usual place –
before
the con.  The Future Fashion Folio came out in a fairly
timely fashion
this time.  There were lots of designs –over 300.   One
hundred
fifty designs made it into the publication, with 39
designers, making it the 3rd
biggest number of designers for the
Folio.

There were some criticisms of the
PRs and
the website.   I can’t say much about
them, but this is what some people said:

The progress
reports (such as they were) were pretty much useless. As was
the website. There
was very little information on it and if was hard to find
anything. It was also
completely non-functional on my phone.

When
asked what were they looking for, this was the
response:  I was looking for the program
schedule, just days before the
con. Also tried to get details about several things, I
don’t remember what now,
but most menu items led to a blank
page.

The only other criticism involved
the slow
response for inquiries regarding sponsoring the Hospitality
Suite.   The
website said details would be forthcoming, but it never was
announced.   In our case, we didn’t get the
answer we
needed until the Tuesday before the con, but only after I
made another inquiry.
I understand the CC37 committee had a similar
experience..

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Hi Bruce,
I’m always interested in reading the SLCG review of the con, but after
the first 3 paragraphs (about the website and pre-con info) it came over
as gibberish, i.e. some sort of computer code that was unreadable.
Could you re=post?

Lisa a

On Sun, 21 May 2017 22:19:03 -0500 “‘Nora & Bruce Mai’
casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc]” <runacc@yahoogroups.com> writes:

Before I forget, I want to add that some of our members are on this list.
It is their choice whether to self-identify opinions, if there are
questions or corrections to those opinions.

Also, please be sure to respond to the appropriate subject heading so
that we can keep track of comments.

Bruce

From: runacc@yahoogroups.com [mailto:runacc@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2017 9:37 PM
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [runacc] SLCG CC35 Report: Before the Con

Time once again for the report from the SLCG on how this year’s
Costume-Con went. Some of you may say, “who cares?”. Well, depends on
who you are. These have been useful for future con committees for
things to be aware of when they are organizing their own event. Others
just like to use them to compare to their own past efforts. In any case,
each of these reports have been archived in the Yahoo Group for review.
I’d like to think they can be helpful in avoiding repeated mistakes.
There were 9 members attending CC35 this year. As usual, I wrote the
overview from Nora and my perspective and published it on our Yahoo
group, then invited the others to chime in. These are just the opinions
of 9 people – they are representative of mostly regulars who have been
attending since at least – some before that. So take that under
advisement. And, of course, this is only our perception – the con
committee should absolutely correct the record where it’s called for.
I�m going to preface this by saying up front that CC35 was a pretty good
con. Most of the criticisms here are nitpicks, so keep that in mind as
we go through the review.

Let�s start in the usual place � before the con. The Future Fashion
Folio came out in a fairly timely fashion this time. There were lots of
designs �over 300. One hundred fifty designs made it into the
publication, with 39 designers, making it the 3rd biggest number of
designers for the Folio.

There were some criticisms of the PRs and the website. I can’t say much
about them, but this is what some people said:

The progress reports (such as they were) were pretty much useless. As was
the website. There was very little information on it and if was hard to
find anything. It was also completely non-functional on my phone.
When asked what were they looking for, this was the response:
I was looking for the program schedule, just days before the con. Also
tried to get details about several things, I don’t remember what now, but
most menu items led to a blank page.
The only other criticism involved the slow response for inquiries
regarding sponsoring the Hospitality Suite. The website said details
would be forthcoming, but it never was announced. In our case, we
didn�t get the answer we needed until the Tuesday before the con, but
only after I made another inquiry. I understand the CC37 committee had
a similar experience..

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

 

 

 

 

I think I had this problem last year.  It may be browser specific.   I’m copying and pasting from a Word Doc, so something may being lost in translation because of the quotes in italics.   I will repost and try formatting within Yahoo.

 

Bruce

Hello folks:

 

Time once again for the report from the SLCG on how this year’s Costume-Con went. Some of you may say, “who cares?”. Well, depends on who you are. These have been useful for future con committees for things to be aware of when they are organizing their own conference. Others just like to use them to compare to their own past efforts. In any case, each has been archived in the Yahoo Group for review.

 

There were 9 members attending CC35 this year. As usual, I wrote the overview from Nora and my perspective and published it on our Yahoo group, then invited the others to chime in.

 

I’m going to preface this by saying up front that CC35 was a pretty good con. Most of the criticisms here are nitpicks. So keep that in mind as we go through the review. I should also say that these were only our perceptions, without knowing the story on the “inside”. The committee should feel free to correct the record.

 

So, let’s start in the usual place – before the con. The Future Fashion Folio came out in a fairly timely fashion this time. There were lots of designs –over 300. One hundred fifty designs made it into the publication, with 39 designers, making it the 3rd biggest number of designers for the Folio.

 

There were some criticisms of the PRs and the website. I can’t say much about them, but this is what some people said:

 

The progress reports (such as they were) were pretty much useless. As was the website. There was very little information on it and if was hard to find anything. It was also completely non-functional on my phone.

 

When asked what were they looking for, this was the response:

 

I was looking for the program schedule, just days before the con. Also tried to get details about several things, I don’t remember what now, but most menu items led to a blank page.

 

The only other criticism involved the slow response for inquiries regarding sponsoring the Hospitality. The website said details would be forthcoming, but it never was announced. In our case, we didn’t get the answer we needed until the Tuesday before the con. I understand the CC37 committee had a similar experience.

We heard from several people, not just ours, about the problems with hotel reservations. Some problems are probably beyond the control of the con committees, but those in the future need to constantly be on the alert when things get squirrely and act quickly. Speaking of which, it has some real squirrely issues with reservations. A lot of the problems seemed to center around the hotel claiming the reservation block was “full”. It wasn’t really the case, but for Nora’s and my part, we had to jump through several hoops and make three different reservations in order to hold our room for the 5 days. That’s ridiculous. As of result of our multiple reservations our room keys stopped working a couple of times due to the three different reservations. They replaced them readily but it was annoying to us to do so..

 

As for the hotel facilities. It was a very nice hotel. Nicely sized rooms, although they were oddly laid out from the standpoint of storage: there was more shelving than dresser drawers. The hotel had two towers, and the function space was split between the two. That meant that conference attendees had to keep travelling from one tower to the other. Fortunately, the walks weren’t too long and the meeting rooms were on split between two floors. The restaurant service was slow, but the food was fairly decent. On the plus side, the con negotiated free parking(!) and there was a goodly sized hot tub – yay!

 

 

I had drawers in my room and a towel bar in my bathroom but I had to go outside the room block to get my room. When I tried to make my reservation, it said there were no more rooms. So, I got on the hotel’s website and found a nice king room.

 

 

Unlike the staffs at the CC 32 and 34 hotels, the staff at this hotel were very friendly and welcoming, especially those in he dining room. I was very pleased.

 

In response to that opinion:

I will agree with that. We only ate there a couple of times. Service wasn’t quick, but the staff was friendly and the manager on Thursday morning was taking notes and implemented them on Friday.

 

There were a couple of things about how the function space was utilized, but that will be covered under their respective topics.

Some of the same staffers from CC32’s Con Suite ran this year’s room. While they were efficient at their work, there were some occasional awkward interactions between them that made things slightly uncomfortable for people. They were also a little controlling at times because they were trying to make sure enough people had a chance to get what was laid out.

 

 

While we didn’t run into the bad side of the staffers, we did hear them referred to as “food Nazis”.

 

Here’s one experience:

 

I was accosted by one of them while making a sandwich. “Only one piece of meat and only one slice of cheese per person”, I was admonished; keeping in mind that neither the meat nor cheese had been cut large enough to cover the slice of bread they were supplying.

 

They went on:
I also noted that the table was rarely refilled until it was entirely empty.

 

(I’ll break in here and say it didn’t happen every time, but the fact is it happened at least one and was witnessed by more than one of our folks.)

 

Continuing their narrative:

I can certainly understand if there was a budget issue to cover food.Seeing similar sparseness in the green rooms and social would likely lead to that conclusion. However, trying to stretch the budget to cover everything was the wrong move.

 

Points go to them for having some form of protein (even if it was just cut up pieces of hot dogs) most times when the room was open.

 

However:

We were disappointed in the lack of drinkables. Things needed to be labeled – not necessarily in detail, but what they were (sour cream vs. plain vs. vinegar chips, for example).

 

(For my part, I was fine with the selection, but I happened to like the diet Mango soda. But that was just me.)

I will say they did a good job of provisioning the suite for the SLCG Sunday morning sponsorship. If anything, not enough people swung by to take advantage of spread. I assume the leftovers got eaten later on.

 

And last:

 

Every time I tried to get into the <con suite> after CC 37’s Friday-night sponsorship, it was closed. If you’re going to open for breakfast, you need to be open well before 9:00 AM at a con at which programming began at 9. I rate it a failure.

The staff was efficient, seemingly comprised mostly of CC newbies (who experience at other conventions)? While there was a Program Book and a separate schedule, we were a little disappointed that there were no “goodie bags” with freebies. We would have liked to have had the map in the Program Book be detachable so that we didn’t have to carry it around. We don’t remember if there was a free-standing map somewhere in the hotel hallways.

 

 

I ripped my map out of the program book. I will give the registration folks kudos. I had an unusual request for them regarding <an> unused membership. They were able to accomodate me after asking me to write up my request and sign it.

 

Make a note, future concoms: People like signage.

 

 

I did not see any overall map in the lobby or halls — like the one at 34 — however, there were a lot of signs pointing you to various rooms. What was missing was the usual list of events scheduled for each room, normally posted on or next to a room’s door.

There were lots of good entries this year, with an adequate number of recognitions for awards (unlike my show last year). The show was very well organized and ran very smoothly. The director even allowed the flexibility for people to come early to be judged, leave, then come back in time before the show. There was no tech rehearsal, but the show went off without a hitch. It got high marks from Kevin.

 

As for the Social, there was cabaret-style seating, which made things easy to move around. However there were reports that there was not enough food on hand earl. Supposedly more was brought out later. So the food supply got mixed reviews:

 

 

Not nearly enough food to begin with. It seemed like the hotel staff didn’t want to restock the food during the Single Pattern. They did eventually restock, but I thought it was too long after the contest ended. They should have had plenty of food ready to go and hauled it out just as the show ended.

 

Also:

 

 

Yeah, I’d like to see an announcement about food at the social. There have been some where I went out to eat before, only to discover they were practically serving a meal.

 

And:

 

Second the not enough food. It started at 7, we got there about 7:25, and there was nothing left. While they did bring out a little more, it was still not enough. Bigger problem: while they had coffee and hot water, and a cash bar (all of which are OK), there was NO water service. If you wanted water, you had to buy bottled water from the bar for $5. NOT OK.

 

And this advice:

 

 

As to the social and green rooms; if there isn’t sufficient budget to supply both, then the proper move is to announce that there will be no food service at the social and simply supply the cash bar. It is, after all, just a party.

 

From backstage:

 

 

I  was able to get food, both pizza and veggies. Later they brought out some more pizza. The problem I noted was that there were no drinks.

food
came out in stages all night, and when the party was over I was one of the last people out, and there was still some food and some pizza left uneaten

Gravely MacCabre http://www.castleblood.com http://facebook.com/gravelymaccabre http://www.etsy.com/shop/gravelymaccabre tv show clip samples at http://www.veoh.com/channels/castleblood

——————————————–

On Tue, 5/23/17, casamai@sbcglobal.net [runacc] <runacc@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: [runacc] SLCG CC35 Report – Single Pattern Show and Social
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2017, 8:56 PM

There were lots of good entries this year,
with an adequate number of recognitions for awards (unlike
my show last year). The show was very well organized and
ran very smoothly. The director even allowed the
flexibility for people to come early to be judged, leave,
then come back in time before the show. There was no tech
rehearsal, but the show went off without a hitch. It got
high marks from Kevin.

As for the Social, there was cabaret-style seating, which
made things easy to move around. However there were reports
that there was not enough food on hand earl. Supposedly
more was brought out later. So the food supply got mixed
reviews:

Not nearly enough food to begin with. It seemed like the
hotel staff didn’t want to restock the food during the
Single Pattern. They did eventually restock, but I thought
it was too long after the contest ended. They should have
had plenty of food ready to go and hauled it out just as the
show ended.

Also:

Yeah, I’d like to see an announcement about food at the
social. There have been some where I went out to eat
before, only to discover they were practically serving a
meal.

And:

Second the not enough food. It
started at 7, we got there about 7:25, and there was nothing
left. While they did bring out a little more, it was still
not enough. Bigger problem: while they had coffee and hot
water, and a cash bar (all of which are OK), there was NO
water service. If you wanted water, you had to buy bottled
water from the bar for $5. NOT OK.

And this advice:

As to the social and green rooms; if there isn’t
sufficient budget to supply both, then the proper move is to
announce that there will be no food service
at the social and simply supply the cash bar. It is, after
all, just a party.

From backstage:

I  was able to get food, both pizza and veggies. Later
they brought out some more pizza. The problem I noted was
that there were no drinks.

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There were 4 programming tracks, which seemed to be the right number, as all of the panels appeared to have good-sized audiences. There were several workshops and demos, which seems to be the way to go these days. We are aware of only 3 cancellations and one where there was a last minute schedule shift. We also hear the hotel kept shifting rooms on the staff, requiring to them to scramble to make other last minute schedule changes.

 

 

I got to more program items than I usually do, and all were quite good. I attended the Worbla workshop and was very happy with it. However, the program folks neglected to include it in the sign up sheets. Luckily one of the other attendees was aggressive enough to get a sheet added and I happened to be standing there at the time. Since it was the workshop I most wanted to attend, my name was second on the list. Only 20 slots were available and I think the listed ended up with close to 30 names.

 

Unfortunately the other panels I wanted to attend most, the local Carnivale groups, all fell through. Two separate groups were supposed to give panels and neither showed. The first group was contacted after they didn’t make their Saturday panel (after, apparently, they had called and said they would be jut a little late), and agreed to come in on Sunday. And then they didn’t show up then as well.

 

 

…we did hold a meet up for masquerade runners. Even though it was at 9:00 AM on Sunday(!), about a dozen of us participated. Some…. showed up at 9 and stayed till 11. Others left earlier or arrived at a more civilized hour. We actually discussed how we do things for two hours. As a group, we were both knowledgable an opinionated. I’d like to see a little more of this kind of programming included at future CCs.

 

Originally, we’d heard that there was to be no Monday programming, which is why our group made the decision to go shopping that day. Then, shortly before we left for Toronto, an announcement was made (via the PR and social media) that there WOULD be programming. It was way past time for the Archives to do any Road Show stuff.

 

I’d be interested to hear how successful Monday programming was.

All three evening shows appeared to be on the schedule for 7 PM, but we weren’t aware that was the time for opening the doors. But starting earlier was probably a good idea, since both the SF and the Historical ran later than expected.

There were almost as many masquerade entrants this year as there were for CC32 (79 vs. 87). Considering CC35 was half the size of CC32, this was an unusually large masquerade, and the second largest in CC history. The overall quality of workmanship was higher than 3 years ago.

 

The Green Room, unlike at CC32, was better-sized. However, it was not connected to the Main Hall, necessitating people having to walk down the outer hall along the back of the Hall, down the side and wait in line to enter the stage area.

 

Tech Rehearsals ran about 30 minutes behind, supposedly due to the crew running late. Mandatory tech rehearsals were probably a good idea. But they had to cram all the entries into roughly a 4 ½ hour time period. This had an impact on the run order being late.

 

 

Running orders are ALWAYS late. That means that the green room staff’s hands are tied in terms of even organizing the dens let alone assigning entrants to them. MDs seem to feel they have to wait until after the tech rehearsal to set the running order.

 

The Green Room doors opened a little earlier than usual – 3 PM – and a lot of people took advantage of it. Problem was, the Green Room crew was not prepared to organize people into dens because of the lack of a run order. Nora and I got down there around 5:00 PM, and it still hadn’t shown up for at least another half an hour. In addition, there appeared to be a shortage of den moms – there were only 5- 6 that we know of – maybe there were more. And, probably because everyone had gotten to the Green Room so early, the snacks disappeared early on and were never replenished. It was probably the usual “locust” syndrome with that many people in the room with nothing to do.

 

 

The green room food is intended for a specific purpose; giving the contestants sufficient salt, sugar, fluids and protein to maintain them during a long and arduous event.  ….wherever you are supplying food, make sure it is resupplied frequently through the event so late comers have access as well.

 

Don’t know when Workmanship judging started, but it took a while.

The seeming shortage of den moms also impacted the smoothness of the organization for getting people to the Workmanship judges, official photo and for judges’ reference photos. So what wound up happening was a huge long line of people waiting for Workmanship. Right next to the judging area was Official Photography, which was a bit of a traffic headache at times. Ordinarily, the den moms would be helping to direct contestants to these stations, thus preventing some of these problems. Since there were no dens yet, people were told to sit anywhere until such time as they had the run order. And since there wasn’t anything else to do, that’s why everyone got in line to get judged.

 

One of our members was told, “… it is difficult to recruit den moms at Toronto-area cons because den moms do not share the prestige of ninjas. I don’t understand why ninjas enjoy prestige; however, it may be related to the way they interact with entrants on stage during as show (which I find objectionable). I suspect that the den moms were few in number and lacking in experience for this reason. I also suspect they had not been given a thorough briefing by the green room manager, since they didn’t seem to be doing much of anything.

 

The running order didn’t show up until less than an hour before the start of the masquerade, and it seemed to be the order in which people must have signed up for tech rehearsals. This was a problem for us because we had wanted to be later in the lineup and we were #6. Fortunately, the backstage crew and ninjas were very attentive and accommodating. We learned of a couple of gals who were #19 who were more than willing to swap with them.

 

 

Green room: very disorganized. Check in should have been by the door, instead it was across the room and not marked, we had to search around to find it. Our den person was nice but very inexperienced, so didn’t do much. We were pretty self-contained, so we got downtown to the green room toward the end of the reporting time. There was NO food left. It was a good thing I brought my own water bottle, as the water ran out before we got on stage. Then there was the line for photos and workmanship. We stood there until it was time to go on stage (about 2 hours). We ended up having photos and judging after our presentation.

There should have been either a list to put your name on when ready, or taken by dens to photos and judging.

 

As for the F & SF show itself, it appeared to run efficiently and was well-paced. It was nice to see Gordon Rose as MC again. There were no real tech glitches – the crew was the same as the one that runs Anime North, so they’re very experienced.

 

As I said earlier, the quality of the costume entries was higher than the previous Toronto CC. There was really no drek – just differences in level of experience. If there’s any way to describe it, there were fewer people who were just getting up on stage to cosplay their favorite characters. They were there were making serious attempts at expressing the costuming art. Not surprisingly, given the demographics and geographics, the masq was still heavily recreation-filled.

 

Because of all the entries everything took longer, including the photo run. For future CCs, especially Montreal, we recommend following the Archon model for photo runs . Basically, each entry hits three points across the stage, Stage Left to Stage Right. Once that first entry moves to the second position, the following entry goes to Position 1. When the first entry moves to Position 3, the second entry moves to Position 2 and the third entry takes position 1. And they rotate off the stage. This might make it harder for Steward Hartman to direct, though.

 

That all said, even with the photo run proceeding one at a time, the Archives video segment and announcements, the judges still hadn’t come back, so the tech crew ran video from last year’s Anime North. By the time all the awards were announced we didn’t get to bed until 1:30 AM. A looooooong night. Many people bailed long before that – it was pretty much the diehards and the contestants left – and even some of them went to bed.

 

Regarding the awards, they appeared to be balanced and appropriate for the number of contestants and quality. Given the amount of time it took for judging, Philip Gust suggested that perhaps Workmanship judging should be done earlier in the day or even on Friday, just like the Historical pre-judging

Hi everyone,

 

Wanted to let you all know that the hotel rooms for Costume-Con 36 is open and available for reservations.  You can go to cc36sandiego.org to book your rooms.

” the Green Room had to be on the lower floor or the Dealers Room had to be.  They opted (rightly, under the circumstance) to put the Green Room upstairs.  But this meant there was no elevator for the
vendors to bring down their wares in.”

 

 

Yes that is largely correct. Although there  was a side entrance at ground level on the west side of the hotel, under the parking canopy. I’m not sure if this was badly communicated or what transpired as vendors wasn’t my area.

 

With the space the hotel initially rented the con, the original plan by the chair was to have the greenroom in the basement where the vendors where and the dealers up in the room where the greenroom ended up being, (next to the main room).

 

A few of us regulars were strident in our insistance that it be changed. I was also concerned about the mobility issues especially being aware that many of the CC regulars use scooters, etc. (My power was limited however, since I had only volunteered to
help with panels, so I’m glad that the chair and dealers room coordinator eventually acquiesed to the change.)

 

 

 

 

 

** Another note about a former aspect of the review. The hotel did change the function space on CC35 repeatedly, including the number of rooms, the amount of space, the towers, the floors, (inconviencing the workshop panelists that wanted to use the patios), often
weekly, and even daily. There were several changes the week of the con, including a room change Thursday night. >_> The hotel also changed owners and operators during their rennovation. I imagine this accounts for much of the booking issues that people were
reporting as well.