In addition, Paul and Storm’s act took a good 20 minutes to set up, mostly because the BCEC’s unionized staff would have slapped Penny Arcade with a fine should they make the Enforcers do actual work instead of just yelling at people.
I'm going to note that Paul & Storm took almost no time to set up (the guys can do it in like, 40 seconds) - the issue was VGO took so damn long to tear down.
It was mentioned somewhere else that the bands were asked to aim for about a 45 minute set. Paul and Storm and JoCo both succeeded in this. VGO failed pretty hard; with their tear down it was almost 2 hours, and they took 45 minutes for each of the band and the chamber orchestra sections.
It was just excessive, and needs better control next year. I really do think that concert needs another pop rock act (Freezepop? LemonDemon? Bo Burnham? they're all local), and VGO should have their own concert.
Thes.
VGO was on the stage for 68 minutes.
Paul and Storm were on for 62 minutes.
I don't have Coulton's time on-hand but it was about 70 minutes.
Where's the problem? My only concerns were that the Omegathon round went longer than expected, and it took us longer to get everyone into the space than I would like.
Also, the assumptions above about the set change times and our relationships with the Unions are not based on any real knowledge of the situation and do not reflect the reality.
I don't have Coulton's time on-hand but it was about 70 minutes.
Where's the problem? My only concerns were that the Omegathon round went longer than expected, and it took us longer to get everyone into the space than I would like.
It was 11:30 by my watch when Paul & Storm went on stage. They were off at 12:25. JoCo went on just after 12:30, and was off at 1:45. So our times are close enough not to quibble on them.
However, I have the Omegathon ending around 9:45. VGO went on right away, and was onstage until about 11:10-11:15. At 10:57 I tweeted that they'd been on about 75 minutes. Other tweets of the 'yay! VGO is on!' type were all around 9:45-9:50, so my timing on that's probably close.
I was paying very close attention to the time because I needed to catch the last train, which meant leaving at 11:50 (last year I had no problem staying for the whole show and getting transit after; I was out waiting for the bus by 12:45 and was home by 1:30). I spent the intermission between VGO and P&S begging for drives or the loan of money for a cab ride. I know when JoCo ended because I had to whip out of there to hit coat check before it closed.
So like I said, there's where I think the issue lies. VGO takes way too much set up and tear down time, and they were on stage for longer than I think you have them at (and even your timing has about 90 minutes for them with the tear down time).
I asked a friend of mine, a marine, if he'd be going to PAX next year, since he's supposed to be back from a deployment in Iraq in March, so he'll be here for it. His comment was "I'm really interested in it, but I won't go if they haven't straightened out the booth babe issue."
He went on to talk a little about the problem. He doesn't have a problem with the booth babes as such (he has no use for them, either), but he's of the opinion that if PAX is going to have an explicitly mentioned rule, as 'No Booth babes' is pretty explicitly stated, then they should have the guts to stick by that. That when booth babes appear, the response shouldn't have been less than clear: 'This is not allowed.'
The issue for him was not 'hey, I'm ok with booth babes you're all oversensitive if they bother you', but 'Hey, you have this rule, you added it yourself, and you aren't enforcing it.'
No one is really arguing that the Sprint girls weren't booth babes. Most people, even who think they were ok as cosplay types are not really arguing that the DNF girls were booth babes; they were hired from a modelling agency that specializes in video game exhibitions (Charisma+2). The question on my friend's mind is 'If they have this rule, and they let exhibitors ignore it, what other rules can be ignored, too?' A 'booth babe free' experience was expected by PAX attendees (some might have looked forward to that, some might have been disappointed, but the promise of PAX was 'no booth babes'), and not delivered.
I told him (since he's not here, since he's not been to PAX) that I'd bring his opinions up.
I don't know why PAX didn't step in on the booth babe issue more actively but frankly, I think it's a topic that's been beaten to death. It certainly was less than what you might see at E3 and given the concerns I would guess they will do a better job next year. My guess would be that we're talking about 5 potential violations out of 75+ vendors and booths. I'd really love to see a final statement from Khoo or someone at PAX to end the discussion.
I think there are a ton of great suggestions here getting swamped in the booth babe issue - which isn't really even a suggestion. Can't a separate thread be made or the topic ended?
I don't have Coulton's time on-hand but it was about 70 minutes.
Where's the problem? My only concerns were that the Omegathon round went longer than expected, and it took us longer to get everyone into the space than I would like.
It was 11:30 by my watch when Paul & Storm went on stage. They were off at 12:25. JoCo went on just after 12:30, and was off at 1:45. So our times are close enough not to quibble on them.
However, I have the Omegathon ending around 9:45. VGO went on right away, and was onstage until about 11:10-11:15. At 10:57 I tweeted that they'd been on about 75 minutes. Other tweets of the 'yay! VGO is on!' type were all around 9:45-9:50, so my timing on that's probably close.
I was paying very close attention to the time because I needed to catch the last train, which meant leaving at 11:50 (last year I had no problem staying for the whole show and getting transit after; I was out waiting for the bus by 12:45 and was home by 1:30). I spent the intermission between VGO and P&S begging for drives or the loan of money for a cab ride. I know when JoCo ended because I had to whip out of there to hit coat check before it closed.
So like I said, there's where I think the issue lies. VGO takes way too much set up and tear down time, and they were on stage for longer than I think you have them at (and even your timing has about 90 minutes for them with the tear down time).
Thes.
My timing is based on video recordings. It took us 8 minutes to get the VGO on-stage after the omegathon round (which went 40 minutes or so), they were on-stage at 52 minutes into the recording, and off at 2 hours on the dot. And they were awesome (which is the more important point).
They do take a long time to set up, yes, which is why they were on first - to try and put them on any other time would be 1+ hour for changeover. I scheduled 90 minutes per band, including changeover time, so to hit 90 minutes means we were right-on. Part of the changeover that you've missed was to get JoCo set up - his drummer was changing out the kit setup long after the VGO was back in the green room, and we could have started P+S 5-10 minutes earlier, but that would have meant 5-10 minutes longer in the P+S -> JoCo transition, with a net zero change in end time.
PAX Concerts run late - we were lucky to be able to finish early last year due to an unusually short Omegathon round. In the past, concerts have gone as late as 3am - though I work to wrap up by 2. I need to use every minute in that space, and will continue to do so to pack as much content in there for as many people as possible.
I asked a friend of mine, a marine, if he'd be going to PAX next year, since he's supposed to be back from a deployment in Iraq in March, so he'll be here for it. His comment was "I'm really interested in it, but I won't go if they haven't straightened out the booth babe issue."
He went on to talk a little about the problem. He doesn't have a problem with the booth babes as such (he has no use for them, either), but he's of the opinion that if PAX is going to have an explicitly mentioned rule, as 'No Booth babes' is pretty explicitly stated, then they should have the guts to stick by that. That when booth babes appear, the response shouldn't have been less than clear: 'This is not allowed.'
The issue for him was not 'hey, I'm ok with booth babes you're all oversensitive if they bother you', but 'Hey, you have this rule, you added it yourself, and you aren't enforcing it.'
No one is really arguing that the Sprint girls weren't booth babes. Most people, even who think they were ok as cosplay types are not really arguing that the DNF girls were booth babes; they were hired from a modelling agency that specializes in video game exhibitions (Charisma+2). The question on my friend's mind is 'If they have this rule, and they let exhibitors ignore it, what other rules can be ignored, too?' A 'booth babe free' experience was expected by PAX attendees (some might have looked forward to that, some might have been disappointed, but the promise of PAX was 'no booth babes'), and not delivered.
I told him (since he's not here, since he's not been to PAX) that I'd bring his opinions up.
Thes.
Probably because in the grand scheme of things going on at the con that they have to handle, less than 5 booths with booth babes is an incredibly minor issue and while people over react like crazy to it it really does not affect the overall running of the con unlike some other issues that can come up and they have to deal with immediately. What likely happens is they talk to the vendors when they get a chance, and from what the PAX twitter posted this did happen with the more egregious violators. They have all sorts of contracts I'm sure with vendors that we know nothing about and they enforce them in ways we will never know about. They likely deal with it on a case by case basis making the best call they can in the middle of the chaos.
But frankly, any other steps they take with their vendors are not any of our business. You can either trust PA to handle this or you can spend the next year complaining about 3 booths.
I agree with the food prices- way too high for the very poor quality. Overall PAX was amazing, and I'm glad I went. The enforcers really made everything a lot better, and the cookie brigade made sure that we didn't all starve. One suggestion I would make is spreading things out a lot more and maybe adding a few different kinds of games to some areas. I think a ping pong/ air hockey area would be pretty cool.
Honestly, what I wrote above was what I could come up with on the spot on a monday night after being sleep deprived for three days straight. I have re-thought a few of my stances on this.
1. The concerts were scheduled to end at 12:00. While I didn't expect them to end on time (just the opposite- I expected to get out late) the first two parts (Jenga and the VGO) went way too long. When Paul and Storm got on, there was 15 minutes until the concert was scheduled to end. How what was supposed to be a 45 minute act became over an hour and a half is beyond me. The problem, in this case, didn't lie in the staff setting up, but rather in the planning.
2. I stand by my argument on enclosed trailers. If you insist on showing a trailer in an enclosed space, try to make it as efficient as possible. This is where things like this can start getting creative, I think. Maybe give out wristbands to come back at a certain time. What about making it so that you have two theaters? Or you could use Closed Captioning, but that may get somewhat annoying.
3. The shuttles still need improvement. One of the main reasons I had to leave the concert early and miss Jonathan Coulton was because I was nervous about missing a shuttle. The remote location of the convention center didn't help much either. One day, I had to take the T back to the hotel because we missed a bus. Let's just say that it wasn't much fun.
Reading the thread, I have to agree with those complaining about the food and drink. WAAAAAY too expensive.
But all complaints aside I had fun and I can't wait to possibly come back next year.
Honestly, what I wrote above was what I could come up with on the spot on a monday night after being sleep deprived for three days straight. I have re-thought a few of my stances on this.
1. The concerts were scheduled to end at 12:00. While I didn't expect them to end on time (just the opposite- I expected to get out late) the first two parts (Jenga and the VGO) went way too long. When Paul and Storm got on, there was 15 minutes until the concert was scheduled to end. How what was supposed to be a 45 minute act became over an hour and a half is beyond me. The problem, in this case, didn't lie in the staff setting up, but rather in the planning.
Ah, now there's the problem. The concerts weren't scheduled until midnight, they were scheduled until 2am/convention close - but the online schedule, and presumably the printed one, say 12am. I'll find out from the folks who made/printed those why it mismatches with the internal schedule - my assumption is that their tools are not meant to work for cross-day events as most of their other cons end by 8pm or so.
I'm still not clear on why you say they were a 90 minute act? I ask performers to target 45 minutes, though did tell them that with only 3 acts per night they could stretch to an hour or so (and there is always run-over, but I try to keep it to a minimum) and allot 30 minutes for changeovers between acts. As planned, we hit things on the head except for Jenga and the audience loading time.
But as I say, the major problem is with the published schedule, and I will get that addressed. I do not intend to change the overall planning structure within which the concerts work.
I'm glad they went till 2am but I was starting to panic on the coat check situation - my bag was there and they were scheduled to close at 2am... I guess a suggestion I have is maybe trying to end at 1:45 or at least having coat check till 2:15
PAX Concerts run late - we were lucky to be able to finish early last year due to an unusually short Omegathon round. In the past, concerts have gone as late as 3am - though I work to wrap up by 2. I need to use every minute in that space, and will continue to do so to pack as much content in there for as many people as possible.
And I do thank you.
(one thing that occurs to me is that if they regularly go this late, could arrangements next year be made to have one coat check be open until '3 am or until all the items are picked up'? Once I'd figured out how to get home after, this was my far more pressing worry, that I wouldn't be able to get my coat back in a boston winter evening. I don't think all of them need to be open, but if one could be marked as the 'open till after the concert ends' that would have been reassuring ;-) ).
Note: As far as Easter being PAX weekend (or the other way around, depending on your personal choice), if you must go to church on Sunday or Friday (Good Friday), ask the hotel if they can give you the addresses to local churches. I'm sure there are masses and services all day on those days.
Note: As far as Easter being PAX weekend (or the other way around, depending on your personal choice), if you must go to church on Sunday or Friday (Good Friday), ask the hotel if they can give you the addresses to local churches. I'm sure there are masses and services all day on those days.
I'm sure for some people it is a religious thing, but for others it is far more just that Easter tends to be a time for family. And I know many of us abandon our families for PAX.
Note: As far as Easter being PAX weekend (or the other way around, depending on your personal choice), if you must go to church on Sunday or Friday (Good Friday), ask the hotel if they can give you the addresses to local churches. I'm sure there are masses and services all day on those days.
I'm sure for some people it is a religious thing, but for others it is far more just that Easter tends to be a time for family. And I know many of us abandon our families for PAX.
I am pretty religious (I go to church on holidays, believe in god and that's about it, I also believe in evolution to) and I am not going to miss PAX for anything. Yeah my family will be pissed but they will get over it.
How about a VG career fair room, that way the colleges don't take up space on the exhibit floor and they would be a lot easier to find.
I think that would be a really good idea. It would be quieter and in a more professional atmosphere. I think it would be better for the colleges/companies too, so they wouldn't just get people walking up for swag (*cough* not that I would ever do that *cough*).
How about a VG career fair room, that way the colleges don't take up space on the exhibit floor and they would be a lot easier to find.
I think that would be a really good idea. It would be quieter and in a more professional atmosphere. I think it would be better for the colleges/companies too, so they wouldn't just get people walking up for swag (*cough* not that I would ever do that *cough*).
You could do that, or for stuff like MIT was doing, with presenting their "video game psychology experiment" projects, you could have them show their goods and wares on the Expo floor, but have a career fair/college fair space for them to do more networking/informal presentation/college tour sort of things. I mean you had the IGDA "developers' lounge", so why not a headhunters' room?
Note: As far as Easter being PAX weekend (or the other way around, depending on your personal choice), if you must go to church on Sunday or Friday (Good Friday), ask the hotel if they can give you the addresses to local churches. I'm sure there are masses and services all day on those days.
I'm sure for some people it is a religious thing, but for others it is far more just that Easter tends to be a time for family. And I know many of us abandon our families for PAX.
My retail store policy is that if the mall is open, we are open, and that includes Easter, when we're open from noon to 6, and all stores get the choice to open or not. I think I understand the "abandon family on Easter" thing. :P If it's really a major issue, celebrate Palm Sunday.
- Food. I don't mind amusment park prices if I get a decent meal, but I am not paying $8 for a slice of Pizza reserved for prison inmates. Don't even get me started on the chicken fingers or the totally tasteless fries. $3 for a 1.25oz bag of chips in the vending machines?!!! Not to mention the $23 at the Westin for a plate of scambled eggs and sausage. OK, I know you guys do not controll this, it is the convention center, but Boston needs to step up their game. They had twice as many cops as was needed to keep us all safe so there was room in the budget to serve us something besides Bantha Fodder or set prices accordingly. If Boston won't or can't step up, I know of 6 other facilities on the east coast that would love a taste of 50,000 nerds decending.
Well Played!
And...
I second the comment on all the cops: Why so much police presence? Is being a nerd suddenly a crime? Prime doesn't have any cops on the floor; I found it a bit oppressively creepy in Boston.
- Food. I don't mind amusment park prices if I get a decent meal, but I am not paying $8 for a slice of Pizza reserved for prison inmates. Don't even get me started on the chicken fingers or the totally tasteless fries. $3 for a 1.25oz bag of chips in the vending machines?!!! Not to mention the $23 at the Westin for a plate of scambled eggs and sausage. OK, I know you guys do not controll this, it is the convention center, but Boston needs to step up their game. They had twice as many cops as was needed to keep us all safe so there was room in the budget to serve us something besides Bantha Fodder or set prices accordingly. If Boston won't or can't step up, I know of 6 other facilities on the east coast that would love a taste of 50,000 nerds decending.
Well Played!
And...
I second the comment on all the cops: Why so much police presence? Is being a nerd suddenly a crime? Prime doesn't have any cops on the floor; I found it a bit oppressively creepy in Boston.
Most of those weren't police, they were convention center security staff.
Shayde wrote:
Having pre-registrations for some D&D games and not having to stand in line. They should at least split it half & half for reservations, and if you miss it someone can get in on standby.
I suggested this to the Wizards guys. We had a large group that gave up on D&D games because the only way to play was to wait for multiple hours. I understand some wait will happen with that many people, but I don't come to conferences to wait in multi-hour lines. If that's my option, I'll do something else.
They had a lack of DMs too, which could have contributed.
Prime 2010 had signup D&D only and it worked really well. Delves started every hour, on the hour, and there were signup binders for each table. If someone didn't show up, there were always folks hanging around looking for empty seats at the beginning of the hour.
I'm not sure why Wizards didn't do that for East this time, but the D&D area was really frustrating. Compounded by the empty tables/lack of DMs. If it ain't broke, don't fix it? (Note for next year: the Magic tables were completely empty 80% of the time. How about a larger D&D to Magic ratio?)
I had a fantastic time at PAX East. The only downside to it is the long drive to Boston. What if PAX East was at a more southern city, like New York City or Philadelphia? It would be closer to the center of the east coast, and probably make it easier for more people to travel there.
I had a fantastic time at PAX East. The only downside to it is the long drive to Boston. What if PAX East was at a more southern city, like New York City or Philadelphia? It would be closer to the center of the east coast, and probably make it easier for more people to travel there.
I wouldn't count on PAX East moving to accommodate you or others seeing as it still manages to sell out. Sorry!
SmallLady on
"we're just doing what smalllady told us to do" - @Heels
I had a fantastic time at PAX East. The only downside to it is the long drive to Boston. What if PAX East was at a more southern city, like New York City or Philadelphia? It would be closer to the center of the east coast, and probably make it easier for more people to travel there.
I think the average gamer that went to PAX that bitched about Food Price would cry nerd foul if it were in NYC.
Philly would be nice, but still an expensive city, and I don't know if they have the venue to support the crowd.
I had a fantastic time at PAX East. The only downside to it is the long drive to Boston. What if PAX East was at a more southern city, like New York City or Philadelphia? It would be closer to the center of the east coast, and probably make it easier for more people to travel there.
I wouldn't count on PAX East moving to accommodate you or others seeing as it still manages to sell out. Sorry!
In addition, PA weighed the pros/cons of various East coast cities *before* deciding on Boston. They didn't just throw darts at a map and pick a spot. There are many reasons ranging from travel to overall cost, etc, that have been factored in. As SmallLady said, they have zero issue selling out, so there's little reason to move.
zerzhul on
0
Moe FwackyRight Here, Right NowDrives a BuickModeratorMod Emeritus
edited March 2011
Plus they are locked in on a contract with the MCCA to hold PAX East in Boston through 2013
In addition, PA weighed the pros/cons of various East coast cities *before* deciding on Boston. They didn't just throw darts at a map and pick a spot. There are many reasons ranging from travel to overall cost, etc, that have been factored in. As SmallLady said, they have zero issue selling out, so there's little reason to move.
Actually this is exactly how Gabe and Tycho went about picking cities. But after the first three locations they ended up with were East Lempster, Block Island, and Plattsburg Khoo came into the room smacked them both on the heads and said "Listen, we are doing it in Boston."
I'm not sure why Wizards didn't do that for East this time, but the D&D area was really frustrating.
They didn't do it that way this year because too many people complained about the sign-in method last year. There's absolutely no way to make everyone happy.
slamonella on
Some people are like Slinkies. They have no practical use whatsoever,
but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.
I had a fantastic time at PAX East. The only downside to it is the long drive to Boston. What if PAX East was at a more southern city, like New York City or Philadelphia? It would be closer to the center of the east coast, and probably make it easier for more people to travel there.
I think the average gamer that went to PAX that bitched about Food Price would cry nerd foul if it were in NYC.
Considering the only large convention center in NYC has no connecting hotel, one hotel across the street and the rest need a cab or inconvenient public transportation, I'm sure it would have made Paxers quite upset.
Was it the date, or was it just me? Or did the crowds this year seem... less energetic? Maybe they were depressed that Boston was raping their wallets? Idk... But I was working MT and it seemed there was less energy than Boston 2010; and the overall con just walking around. This is not really a suggestion, but more of a point...
Maybe it's because people had to walk long distances to get food?
Maybe it's because people had to walk long distances ANY WHERE, including within PAX itself?... Again, not really fixable.
IDK, but maaaaan people were out of it after VGO for Sat. I was outside of the theatre for Friday, not sure what the status on that was.
Was it the date, or was it just me? Or did the crowds this year seem... less energetic? Maybe they were depressed that Boston was raping their wallets? Idk... But I was working MT and it seemed there was less energy than Boston 2010; and the overall con just walking around. This is not really a suggestion, but more of a point...
Maybe it's because people had to walk long distances to get food?
Maybe it's because people had to walk long distances ANY WHERE, including within PAX itself?... Again, not really fixable.
IDK, but maaaaan people were out of it after VGO for Sat. I was outside of the theatre for Friday, not sure what the status on that was.
I think that largely it was due to the massive size of the BCEC, and that was likely unanticipated by most attendees.
I had a fantastic time at PAX East. The only downside to it is the long drive to Boston. What if PAX East was at a more southern city, like New York City or Philadelphia? It would be closer to the center of the east coast, and probably make it easier for more people to travel there.
I think the average gamer that went to PAX that bitched about Food Price would cry nerd foul if it were in NYC.
Philly would be nice, but still an expensive city, and I don't know if they have the venue to support the crowd.
Well, there is the Philadelphia Convention Center, which is actually pretty big, and it's really close to both The Galleria and Reading Terminal Market, both having HUGE varieties of food places. My only concern is that getting around Philly can be pretty confusing, and it can get really shady at night. Also, that part of Philly is crowded in the BEST of times.
Here's the thing - everyone wants PAX in their backyard. Boston is further north than some might like - but PAX Prime isn't exactly a central location for many folks on that coast either. There are a ton of factors in planning things like this, and putting in the suggestions thread that you'd like to see it moved isn't going to happen for next year or the year after that.
There are a lot of good, obtainable suggestions in this thread - but location and booth babes seem to be pushing those aside.
Lindsay Lohan on
0
Moe FwackyRight Here, Right NowDrives a BuickModeratorMod Emeritus
Here's the thing - everyone wants PAX in their backyard. Boston is further north than some might like - but PAX Prime isn't exactly a central location for many folks on that coast either. There are a ton of factors in planning things like this, and putting in the suggestions thread that you'd like to see it moved isn't going to happen for next year or the year after that.
There are a lot of good, obtainable suggestions in this thread - but location and booth babes seem to be pushing those aside.
You make solid points here.
How about we avoid discussing those points in this thread in favor of suggestions that are actually implementable.
I had a fantastic time at PAX East. The only downside to it is the long drive to Boston. What if PAX East was at a more southern city, like New York City or Philadelphia? It would be closer to the center of the east coast, and probably make it easier for more people to travel there.
Also this makes an assumption that PAX is only for Americans; there were a lot of people from Montreal and Toronto at PAX. Boston became a shipping centre because it actually is close to the centre of the east coast. Placement in Boston makes it a long but doable day trip for people in Ontario, and a 5 hour drive for much of Quebec.
I hosted Canadians last year who did the drive down from Toronto on Thursday, who already asked about space next year.
Posts
VGO was on the stage for 68 minutes.
Paul and Storm were on for 62 minutes.
I don't have Coulton's time on-hand but it was about 70 minutes.
Where's the problem? My only concerns were that the Omegathon round went longer than expected, and it took us longer to get everyone into the space than I would like.
Also, the assumptions above about the set change times and our relationships with the Unions are not based on any real knowledge of the situation and do not reflect the reality.
It was 11:30 by my watch when Paul & Storm went on stage. They were off at 12:25. JoCo went on just after 12:30, and was off at 1:45. So our times are close enough not to quibble on them.
However, I have the Omegathon ending around 9:45. VGO went on right away, and was onstage until about 11:10-11:15. At 10:57 I tweeted that they'd been on about 75 minutes. Other tweets of the 'yay! VGO is on!' type were all around 9:45-9:50, so my timing on that's probably close.
I was paying very close attention to the time because I needed to catch the last train, which meant leaving at 11:50 (last year I had no problem staying for the whole show and getting transit after; I was out waiting for the bus by 12:45 and was home by 1:30). I spent the intermission between VGO and P&S begging for drives or the loan of money for a cab ride. I know when JoCo ended because I had to whip out of there to hit coat check before it closed.
So like I said, there's where I think the issue lies. VGO takes way too much set up and tear down time, and they were on stage for longer than I think you have them at (and even your timing has about 90 minutes for them with the tear down time).
Thes.
He went on to talk a little about the problem. He doesn't have a problem with the booth babes as such (he has no use for them, either), but he's of the opinion that if PAX is going to have an explicitly mentioned rule, as 'No Booth babes' is pretty explicitly stated, then they should have the guts to stick by that. That when booth babes appear, the response shouldn't have been less than clear: 'This is not allowed.'
The issue for him was not 'hey, I'm ok with booth babes you're all oversensitive if they bother you', but 'Hey, you have this rule, you added it yourself, and you aren't enforcing it.'
No one is really arguing that the Sprint girls weren't booth babes. Most people, even who think they were ok as cosplay types are not really arguing that the DNF girls were booth babes; they were hired from a modelling agency that specializes in video game exhibitions (Charisma+2). The question on my friend's mind is 'If they have this rule, and they let exhibitors ignore it, what other rules can be ignored, too?' A 'booth babe free' experience was expected by PAX attendees (some might have looked forward to that, some might have been disappointed, but the promise of PAX was 'no booth babes'), and not delivered.
I told him (since he's not here, since he's not been to PAX) that I'd bring his opinions up.
Thes.
I think there are a ton of great suggestions here getting swamped in the booth babe issue - which isn't really even a suggestion. Can't a separate thread be made or the topic ended?
My timing is based on video recordings. It took us 8 minutes to get the VGO on-stage after the omegathon round (which went 40 minutes or so), they were on-stage at 52 minutes into the recording, and off at 2 hours on the dot. And they were awesome (which is the more important point).
They do take a long time to set up, yes, which is why they were on first - to try and put them on any other time would be 1+ hour for changeover. I scheduled 90 minutes per band, including changeover time, so to hit 90 minutes means we were right-on. Part of the changeover that you've missed was to get JoCo set up - his drummer was changing out the kit setup long after the VGO was back in the green room, and we could have started P+S 5-10 minutes earlier, but that would have meant 5-10 minutes longer in the P+S -> JoCo transition, with a net zero change in end time.
PAX Concerts run late - we were lucky to be able to finish early last year due to an unusually short Omegathon round. In the past, concerts have gone as late as 3am - though I work to wrap up by 2. I need to use every minute in that space, and will continue to do so to pack as much content in there for as many people as possible.
Aleks/Cheebus
Probably because in the grand scheme of things going on at the con that they have to handle, less than 5 booths with booth babes is an incredibly minor issue and while people over react like crazy to it it really does not affect the overall running of the con unlike some other issues that can come up and they have to deal with immediately. What likely happens is they talk to the vendors when they get a chance, and from what the PAX twitter posted this did happen with the more egregious violators. They have all sorts of contracts I'm sure with vendors that we know nothing about and they enforce them in ways we will never know about. They likely deal with it on a case by case basis making the best call they can in the middle of the chaos.
But frankly, any other steps they take with their vendors are not any of our business. You can either trust PA to handle this or you can spend the next year complaining about 3 booths.
1. The concerts were scheduled to end at 12:00. While I didn't expect them to end on time (just the opposite- I expected to get out late) the first two parts (Jenga and the VGO) went way too long. When Paul and Storm got on, there was 15 minutes until the concert was scheduled to end. How what was supposed to be a 45 minute act became over an hour and a half is beyond me. The problem, in this case, didn't lie in the staff setting up, but rather in the planning.
2. I stand by my argument on enclosed trailers. If you insist on showing a trailer in an enclosed space, try to make it as efficient as possible. This is where things like this can start getting creative, I think. Maybe give out wristbands to come back at a certain time. What about making it so that you have two theaters? Or you could use Closed Captioning, but that may get somewhat annoying.
3. The shuttles still need improvement. One of the main reasons I had to leave the concert early and miss Jonathan Coulton was because I was nervous about missing a shuttle. The remote location of the convention center didn't help much either. One day, I had to take the T back to the hotel because we missed a bus. Let's just say that it wasn't much fun.
Reading the thread, I have to agree with those complaining about the food and drink. WAAAAAY too expensive.
But all complaints aside I had fun and I can't wait to possibly come back next year.
Ah, now there's the problem. The concerts weren't scheduled until midnight, they were scheduled until 2am/convention close - but the online schedule, and presumably the printed one, say 12am. I'll find out from the folks who made/printed those why it mismatches with the internal schedule - my assumption is that their tools are not meant to work for cross-day events as most of their other cons end by 8pm or so.
I'm still not clear on why you say they were a 90 minute act? I ask performers to target 45 minutes, though did tell them that with only 3 acts per night they could stretch to an hour or so (and there is always run-over, but I try to keep it to a minimum) and allot 30 minutes for changeovers between acts. As planned, we hit things on the head except for Jenga and the audience loading time.
But as I say, the major problem is with the published schedule, and I will get that addressed. I do not intend to change the overall planning structure within which the concerts work.
Aleks/Cheebus
And I do thank you.
(one thing that occurs to me is that if they regularly go this late, could arrangements next year be made to have one coat check be open until '3 am or until all the items are picked up'? Once I'd figured out how to get home after, this was my far more pressing worry, that I wouldn't be able to get my coat back in a boston winter evening. I don't think all of them need to be open, but if one could be marked as the 'open till after the concert ends' that would have been reassuring ;-) ).
Thes.
:^:
I'm sure for some people it is a religious thing, but for others it is far more just that Easter tends to be a time for family. And I know many of us abandon our families for PAX.
I am pretty religious (I go to church on holidays, believe in god and that's about it, I also believe in evolution to) and I am not going to miss PAX for anything. Yeah my family will be pissed but they will get over it.
I think that would be a really good idea. It would be quieter and in a more professional atmosphere. I think it would be better for the colleges/companies too, so they wouldn't just get people walking up for swag (*cough* not that I would ever do that *cough*).
You could do that, or for stuff like MIT was doing, with presenting their "video game psychology experiment" projects, you could have them show their goods and wares on the Expo floor, but have a career fair/college fair space for them to do more networking/informal presentation/college tour sort of things. I mean you had the IGDA "developers' lounge", so why not a headhunters' room?
My retail store policy is that if the mall is open, we are open, and that includes Easter, when we're open from noon to 6, and all stores get the choice to open or not. I think I understand the "abandon family on Easter" thing. :P If it's really a major issue, celebrate Palm Sunday.
And...
I second the comment on all the cops: Why so much police presence? Is being a nerd suddenly a crime? Prime doesn't have any cops on the floor; I found it a bit oppressively creepy in Boston.
Most of those weren't police, they were convention center security staff.
I'm not sure why Wizards didn't do that for East this time, but the D&D area was really frustrating. Compounded by the empty tables/lack of DMs. If it ain't broke, don't fix it? (Note for next year: the Magic tables were completely empty 80% of the time. How about a larger D&D to Magic ratio?)
I wouldn't count on PAX East moving to accommodate you or others seeing as it still manages to sell out. Sorry!
I never finish anyth
I think the average gamer that went to PAX that bitched about Food Price would cry nerd foul if it were in NYC.
Philly would be nice, but still an expensive city, and I don't know if they have the venue to support the crowd.
In addition, PA weighed the pros/cons of various East coast cities *before* deciding on Boston. They didn't just throw darts at a map and pick a spot. There are many reasons ranging from travel to overall cost, etc, that have been factored in. As SmallLady said, they have zero issue selling out, so there's little reason to move.
Actually this is exactly how Gabe and Tycho went about picking cities. But after the first three locations they ended up with were East Lempster, Block Island, and Plattsburg Khoo came into the room smacked them both on the heads and said "Listen, we are doing it in Boston."
True story.
but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.
Considering the only large convention center in NYC has no connecting hotel, one hotel across the street and the rest need a cab or inconvenient public transportation, I'm sure it would have made Paxers quite upset.
Maybe it's because people had to walk long distances to get food?
Maybe it's because people had to walk long distances ANY WHERE, including within PAX itself?... Again, not really fixable.
IDK, but maaaaan people were out of it after VGO for Sat. I was outside of the theatre for Friday, not sure what the status on that was.
I think that largely it was due to the massive size of the BCEC, and that was likely unanticipated by most attendees.
Well, there is the Philadelphia Convention Center, which is actually pretty big, and it's really close to both The Galleria and Reading Terminal Market, both having HUGE varieties of food places. My only concern is that getting around Philly can be pretty confusing, and it can get really shady at night. Also, that part of Philly is crowded in the BEST of times.
There are a lot of good, obtainable suggestions in this thread - but location and booth babes seem to be pushing those aside.
You make solid points here.
How about we avoid discussing those points in this thread in favor of suggestions that are actually implementable.
Also this makes an assumption that PAX is only for Americans; there were a lot of people from Montreal and Toronto at PAX. Boston became a shipping centre because it actually is close to the centre of the east coast. Placement in Boston makes it a long but doable day trip for people in Ontario, and a 5 hour drive for much of Quebec.
I hosted Canadians last year who did the drive down from Toronto on Thursday, who already asked about space next year.
Thes.