I have to say, this experience was completely different for me than last year's PAX East. Last year was fun, but it was very last minute and not particularly planned well. Last year, we ended up staying about a mile away - the hotel was old, but nice. The walk was a b*tch though. We went to Wil's keynote and several of the panels, got our badges signed by Mike & Jerry, and played a crap-ton of D&D (last year we happened to walk into the D&D room first and were lucky enough to sign up for 2 or 3 sessions). We didn't really meet or game with other people, didn't try a lot of (any?) new games.
This year we planned everything way ahead of time. We got 3-day passes as soon as they became available. We booked a double-room at the Westin within 2 hours of the OnPeak block opening up. We were probably within the first 50 or so to register for BYOC. We bought tickets for the Sonic Line PAXTrain early. Etc etc etc.
The Good
The trip started off great. There were PAXers all over the train, and while I started out with my nose in my DS, I ended up playing a great game of Munchkin in the cafe car for several hours, next to a group playing Pandemic. The 7-8 hour trip flew by and we were in Boston before we knew it. We got to the Westin quite easily, and using Twitter ended up going to dinner at LTK (Legal Test Kitchen) with some new people. After dinner I found that my computer was "lost" at the hotel (I shipped it via Fedex so I wouldn't have to carry it on the train). After sorting that out, we played some more Munchkin in the lobby of the Westin until 1 or 2.
Friday morning, we got to the BCEC bright and early at 8am. This was one point that wasn't 100% clear for us BYOC people - this year, there were carts available at the front door for BYOC people to use while unloading their cars at the main overhang. The desired strategy for those of us staying in the Westin and coming over via the Skybridge were less clear - we tried to get a luggage cart from the Westin, but they informed us that some type of union rules prevented luggage carts or Westin employees from crossing the Skybridge. Thankfully, once again the professionalism and helpfulness of the Enforcers showed through. David Coffman himself came over and asked what he could do to help us. He ended up giving us two enforcers on loan to help move our equipment from the skybridge to the BYOC room. Sweet!
The Bad
Yes, the con food was really expensive. The only thing I refused to buy was a $3 bottle of water from the vending machines (I had a Nalgene though and there were free water coolers in the BYOC). As I said in another thread, the burgers and pulled pork were fairly tasty, but I steered clear of the pizza and cold foods.
I didn't go to any panels or concerts, so I never saw a single person in the queue room. Therefore I can't truly comment on it, but to me it seemed like far more space than necessary. I'm not sure it's as easy as some people are saying - "expand the expo hall 1.5 times" - since the expo hall needs to be easily locked down much earlier than the food court/table top areas. It would be nice if the table top area were maybe even a little bigger, and the food court definitely didn't need that much space, but again I'm not sure I can suggest a viable alternate use of the floorplan.
I didn't notice too much con funk. There were a few whiffs here and there, but the only lines I waited in for long were the DM challenge and the Portal 2 video.
- I was really, REALLY glad that for all the brouhaha ahead of time, I didn't see a single 'Team Rape' or Dickwolves shirt (there may have been some, but I didn't see any). I know it was a stressful thing for the community, and I appreciated the respectful behaviour of most everyone present.
I did see one Dickwolves shirt on Friday in the TableTop area, and I considered giving the guy some shit about it, but it wouldn't have been productive, and I was in the middle of a Munchkin game. The guy was alone though, and looked like the worst archetype of anti-social "neckbeard", so I tried to put him out of my mind and was quite happy that the Dickwolves didn't make another appearance that I saw. While I thought the original joke was fine, the resulting discussions/threats were way over the line on both sides, so I was hoping that PAX attendees would just put it behind them and get together to have fun.
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East 2014 Status: Badge [ Friend got it ] Hotel [Crappy] BYOC [YES] Transport [ ] Name on Forum Badge [ ] Challenge Coin [ ]
I'd love to attend a Q&A with Robert Khoo. He's just as much of a celebrity as Jerry & Mike are to me. I couldn't help taking a few fan photos of him when I saw him in the halls at PAX East! I think he'd have some fantastic insight into what it's like to manage Penny Arcade, as indicated by one of the questions at the Penny Arcade Q&A (somebody asked how much it cost to put on PAX, Jerry texted Khoo to get an answer: 8 figures). He's like the wizard behind the curtain.
Suggestion #2 Make PAX more accessible for parents with babies
As a lot of PAX attendees are in their 20s, they are getting married and having babies. We brought our four-month-old to PAX East in 2010, but we left him with his grandparents this year. In 2010, I had to go to the tiny and uncomfortable first aid clinic to nurse him, and we got kicked out of the expo hall because strollers weren't allowed (even though our stroller is much smaller than a wheelchair and those were allowed).
I was happy to see several babies and toddlers this year. I think most mothers would appreciate a dedicated room to take their babies for nursing, diaper changes, and just some quiet relaxation time. It'd also be a great place to for mothers to make friends!
I'd love to attend a Q&A with Robert Khoo ... He's like the wizard behind the curtain.
THIS! I'm totally +1 on this. Not that he has time while PAX is running, of course. ;-) But seriously, I would love to hear more on the business and management side of this behemoth ... compelling stuff for many of us geeky manager types, and I never fail to be impressed with Khoo's mad skills. Man behind the curtain, indeed.
*DUN DUN DUN* Booth Babes: Personally, I don't care much for the whole DNF franchise, so I would avoid it purposefully, but I'd like to ask the developers "Why?" Seriously, why did the females at their booth HAVE to dress up in a school-girl outfit? Would it have destroyed the feel of the booth? I don't think so. Now granted, I saw a cosplayer wearing an outfit that included a thong back that kinda bothered me, but at the same time, I know a little bit more about costuming than most guys should (competitive ballroom dance means I know about ladies and their dress needs).
~~SOLUTION: If you are a developer wanting to use the "female employees cosplaying" excuse to get around the booth babe label, plan out the costumes more so that it doesn't become a problem and you can be "above reproach".
Food/Water Prices: I echo every sentiment on this topic, but in some weird way, it comes down to the 123 rule (that someone told me about this year); ONE shower a day at least (BO comments covered by this), TWO meals a day, and at least THREE hours of sleep. So in some small way, you can deal with this problem on your own end. However, I do agree that $7 for a sandwich is a bit too steep, and other things should be brought down.
~~SOLUTION: PAX can work towards getting cheaper options open in some ways, but also, we should plan a little bit better. Nalgenes, snack foods, and some forethought will help out in many ways.
Space Allotment: There were some issues on Level 0 with the layout, I agree. HOWEVER, I'd like to point out that the spaces were divided by LARGE WALL PANELS on fixed tracks. This complicates things quite a bit. But in the end, the macromanagement of the space is an easier fix, and will make micromanagement of the space easier once it's better worked.
~~SOLUTION: Not sure what PAX can do, because the larger level stuff is more on the BCEC people.
Staffing: I thoroughly agree with the "WTFMCCA" sentiments. It seems as though the mentality of the MCCA security and housekeeping staff is that they are not in the customer service industry, which is a COMPLETE FALLACY. The BCEC staff in red were always happy to be there, and more than once I greeted them with a smile and a thank you, but they KNOW they are in customer service.
~~SOLUTION: I don't care if you don't like your job, or if you have anything going on outside of the convention center that is making you act a certain way. Once you step into the BCEC in uniform, you are an representative of MCCA and BCEC, and as such you are REQUIRED to act in a manner that reflects positively on the Center and the Company. Either fake it, or go home. (Working in retail, I know what I have to do for positive customer service, and I would expect the same from anyone doing a similar job.)
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Moe FwackyRight Here, Right NowDrives a BuickModeratorMod Emeritus
Suggestion #2 Make PAX more accessible for parents with babies
As a lot of PAX attendees are in their 20s, they are getting married and having babies. We brought our four-month-old to PAX East in 2010, but we left him with his grandparents this year. In 2010, I had to go to the tiny and uncomfortable first aid clinic to nurse him, and we got kicked out of the expo hall because strollers weren't allowed (even though our stroller is much smaller than a wheelchair and those were allowed).
I was happy to see several babies and toddlers this year. I think most mothers would appreciate a dedicated room to take their babies for nursing, diaper changes, and just some quiet relaxation time. It'd also be a great place to for mothers to make friends!
I have been attending PAX since 2005, and have watched the community as a whole grow from a younger, more college-age oriented crowd to a more young family aged crowd. Obviously this doesn't account for everybody, but each year I see more and more people with younger children. I believe there is a strong value in this suggestion, and with the BCEC, I also believe there is the space to potentially make it happen.
PowerGLove needs to be in the concerts..I know they seem to be too heavy for some people, so thy can put them on last after metriod metal...if people think they are too heavy then they can leave and not have missed anything. The little show they put on in the Jamspace was one of their best shows I have seen because all the video game fans there that love metal..There was a mosh pit and that mosh pit was the kindest pit i have ever seen..when someone fell down, everyone stopped to help pick that person up, make sure they were ok and then went right back at it. That is Just how the PAX community is, AWESOME!
- I was really, REALLY glad that for all the brouhaha ahead of time, I didn't see a single 'Team Rape' or Dickwolves shirt (there may have been some, but I didn't see any). I know it was a stressful thing for the community, and I appreciated the respectful behaviour of most everyone present.
I did see one Dickwolves shirt on Friday in the TableTop area, and I considered giving the guy some shit about it, but it wouldn't have been productive, and I was in the middle of a Munchkin game. The guy was alone though, and looked like the worst archetype of anti-social "neckbeard", so I tried to put him out of my mind and was quite happy that the Dickwolves didn't make another appearance that I saw. While I thought the original joke was fine, the resulting discussions/threats were way over the line on both sides, so I was hoping that PAX attendees would just put it behind them and get together to have fun.
See and I was offended the other way around. I saw people wearing "Dickwolves Survivor" shirts that were clearly meant to just instigate an issue. People giving away "Team Respect" bracelets at various parts of the convention and trying to talk about the controversial issue with anyone who would listen. One girl basically accosted my girlfriend for being a girl and supporting PA through the entire Dickwolves issue. I saw a singular person in a Dickwolves shirt... I saw (and heard about) many people trying to spread their anti-Dickwolves message, which to some people has become just as offensive. I was deeply saddened that anyone felt the need to make an issue about it.
--For everyone complaining about price: What did you expect? Forget about eating at concerts and sporting events where they would charge double the inflated price. For those bitching about the Westin's food prices: Its a 5 star hotel, things are ALWAYS expensive at these types of hotels. I'm kind of embarassed that I have to inform people of this. In all honest, I had a $150-$200 food budget, and I am greatful that I stayed underneath that. For those who had problems with food prices, I would suggest that you budget better for next year or don't attend if you cannot afford it. I think any complaints about food prices are ridiculous, as you would pay the same price anywhere else.
My general view is to let everone commenting to have their say, but this is the most elitist BS I have ever read. I want every gamer who can to be able to enjoy PAX, regardless of economic status. Yes, convention center prices are expected to be higher, but that does not mean that variety and quality should suffer. The Walter Washington Center in Washington, DC has a Wolfgang Puck and other high end eateries and their prices are less! We as attendies deserved better and there is absolutly nothing wrong with letting the planners know that the food was an epic fail. Furthermore, the Westin is NOT a five star hotel. It is a 4 star. Guests tend to rate it a 3 1/2. The breakfast buffet was $23. At that price point, I expect eggs to order, thick cut uncurred bacon, higher quality sausage, a selection of freshly carved meats and a wider assortment of fresh fruit. Eggs Benidict would not be out of order. That is what I get at other 4 star hotels, and even 3 stars that charge that much.
One idea to make a great thing better - Scannable Badges!
How much time was wasted on the Expo Floor entering information into surveys or friending companies on Facebook? Those lines would move so much faster if there was a unified survey that we filled out when we registerd and the barcode scan shared that with the vendors. For those who wish to maintain their privacy, they can opt out and not get any of the swag.
starters comparing the last 2 east venues. BCEC was much larger. Hynes had more relaxing room and outlets. Both were confusing the first day although hynes less so.
Queus for each theatre at start of the day awesome idea, really cut down on overcrowding. However the main queue room was twice the size it needed to be and so was the food court merge them please.
The expo hall: all that space at the front that had tables and chairs. wasted space! lose half of that or all of that space and give it all to the exhibitors. that would greatly increase the size of pathways!
exhibitors: more silent raffles please. maybe limit the big raffles ones to once or twice a day so it is not a clog every hour. keep your demos short. 10 minutes MAX it keeps stuff flowing much faster and everyone can see most everything.
boothbabes: this has been covered a lot, i didnt see every booth that had them. Sprint didnt seem that bad. like last year the major offendor for me was the Triton booth. They were wearing the skimpiest clothing of the con hands down. DNF was fine in the spirit of the game, and they could have made those skirts much shorter. the qualm i have with them is when they leave their alloted space and wander in the aisle. one of the girls was handing out bottle openers (i think) in the middle of the lane adjacent to the swtor booth and it stopped everything fo 5 minutes. and since the line was roped off for her booth she couldnt be pushed back into it by the restless throngs beside her. Triton exhibitted this behavior as well not sure about sprint.
convention food: breakfast sandwiches awesome and decently priced. The level 0 food court food and similar carts sucked ass and were to expensive. the level 1 food court a bit better quality though doubly as expensive. Also 3 dollars for a bottle of water/coke. FUCK THAT. small food carts going around lines good idea. price still bad.
panels: for the most part all i went to were great. though please have at least 4 microphones for all theatres at all time. The IGDA dev center was the most glaring issues. 5 people on stage with only 2 microphones for the panelists to include. It was also far to small a space for the panels I went there to (One of Us and 10 games you need to play [misleading but still good])
The lay out for the most part was pretty good. Except for when the expo hall closed and a 2 minute walk from one end of expo center turned to a 5-10 minute trek to get to Table Top and beyond. Also the long ends to the rectangles had absolutely nothing there and it made for a pretty boring walk, have some signs or something at least to occupy us on the journey. The table top area was a million billion times better then last years as well keep that or even make it a bit bigger!
Queues: Line games on the screens were gone. The only thing I saw on those while waiting was an endless loop of that Tribes trailer, that didn't get old fast.
Also the indie game alley was depressingly hidden. I felt super bad for them and made sure to spend tons of time talking to them because it seemed they got tossed in a corner. Use that recluse space as storage or a small rest center in the expo hall.
Thats all i have for now, ill update or post more later as i can recollect.
--For everyone complaining about price: What did you expect? Forget about eating at concerts and sporting events where they would charge double the inflated price. For those bitching about the Westin's food prices: Its a 5 star hotel, things are ALWAYS expensive at these types of hotels. I'm kind of embarassed that I have to inform people of this. In all honest, I had a $150-$200 food budget, and I am greatful that I stayed underneath that. For those who had problems with food prices, I would suggest that you budget better for next year or don't attend if you cannot afford it. I think any complaints about food prices are ridiculous, as you would pay the same price anywhere else.
The convention center was some of the cheaper meals I had while in Boston, but just because I can afford it doesn't make the food good value. If I'm over to PAX East 2012, I'll definitely be looking harder into alternatives outside the convention center.
Let me just say PAX East is by far my favorite con I have been to (and I have been to quite a few) so I only want to make these points to make it even better.
Table Top could used a LFG area to find other players. The twitter was cool but it would have been easier to find others in they were all in the same area.
On that note, the use of Twitter was awesome but it almost meant my (old) phone that uses sms was blowing up all day. There were a quite a few tweets while cute were not really necessary. So, maybe try to keep down the number of tweets a bit.
Food was a bit to pricey for my taste. Yes, I expected it to be expensive but not that expensive. I was fortunate that I brought a lot of food with me or I would have spent most of it on food.
Maybe and errata sheet with a list of local places (and phone numbers) for delivery in the con bag?
Where does this line start/end? I do think the Enforcers did a good job with line management, but there were a few times where the line for a room started in an area kind of off from the room and I almost missed getting into a few panels because of it.
Maybe some signs that are like "Line starts here" with an arrow pointing in the right direction?
"You are here" on the maps needed to be way more noticeable. It was such a tiny sticker I ended up having to point it out to people every time I stopped at the map.
On that same note the map needed to be better. Once I understood it, I was kind of okay but that took a full day to understand. Have the actual room numbers would have been a big help along with the mention you need to take the sky-walks on the second floor to get to the other side of the 3rd floor.
Also it would be more ideal if the map was on the center fold of the booklet to get access to it or maybe a separate pocket map. Holding a big book open while walking can be dangerous.
Maybe get some fan volunteers to run games in table top? I wanted to play some new games but didn't want to spend a half hour reading the booklet to figure it out first.
I just want to say again I had a great time and have to say everyone at PAX is so nice (like really nice, I've been to a ton of Anime cons and everyone at PAX is at least 10 times as nice). I talked to so many random people and everyone was cool and the Enforcers are always helpful. Thanks for having such and awesome event.
Here are things I've seen that I'd like to second or ideas of my own.
Move the table top area - I don't want it any smaller. I just much preferred last year where it was in more intimate rooms where you could hear each other. It was extremely CROWDED at the Hynes, so there does need to be a large amount of physical space. But the Expo hall was very loud and not the most idea location for tabletop. That said - I'd rather have it in the expo hall and loud than be cramped into significantly less space. Another idea is like with the Hynes you could have an area for checkout in a separate room that could also serve as a LFG space.
Parenting Area - This is needed, period. I'm not planning on bringing my son (15mo) for another 6 or 8 years, but even now it would be cool to meet other geek parents. I saw lots of them and wanted to applaud them for "keeping the faith" as it were.
Boothbabes revisited - What I'm about to say isn't going to make me friends. If you want to be my friend and you didn't like the booth babes and you can't take criticism please don't unclick. I would rather you were able to go on peacefully with me than pissed off, but I have to state this:
[rant] I am tired of hearing how demeaning the DNF booth was. (As to the other booths the only one I saw was Sprint and I've seen people going to every day events in less so, meh?) There have been several people here and in the twittersphere who have commented on how the booth babes didn't "belong". Get off the sanctimonious high horse you rode in on and examine what you just said. You are assuming that because they are "hot" that they aren't gamers and they aren't nerds. Did you bother talking with them? Several have claimed to be defending the booth babes or feminism but at the same time you assigning your own label to them. If I looked good in a skirt that short and could get a free ride to PAX and get paid I would have signed up to be a DNF booth babe.
Please stop assuming that because you didn't want them there that they didn't want to be there. Stop assuming that because some of them were obviously models who were hired for their amazing bodies that they also weren't smart intelligent gamers who enjoyed the con and working there. Please stop unloading your personal world view and emotional baggage onto them. [/rant]
Lines and woes - There has to be a better way, perhaps allowing for limited panel pre-reg would help. Perhaps even allowing for limited "day of" sign up could work. This would be ideal for some of the demos. Everyday make 1/2 your demo machines appointment only and 1/2 wait in line. If someone misses their appointment then the "wait in line" line moves faster. The downside to this is casual people will make appointments, hardcore fans will wait hours in line. So if you think that demos/panels should be reserved for the hardcore fans then this system will inspire nerdrage.
Map Design - I liked the idea about splitting the map into two colored sides, but I think each Theater should get it's own color. Then for your tape lines you invest in many different colored tapes. That way at a glance you can tell whether this is the line for Naga or Wyvern. Bonus - add marker arrows to the tape and you can instantly get a general bearing as to where you are in the complex.
More offsetting of panels - Maybe? I don't know if this will help. I notice the staggered scheduling this year, and I liked it in many ways. Perhaps even a more direct 50/50 offset would help. The problem I had year 1 (I didn't hit as many panels this year) is that if Panel A was full by the time I got to Panel B's line it was also full, etc.
Panel reservations - Even if the above idea of making half the slots for a panel RSVP doesn't work could you perhaps hand out tickets? Something could be done. I'm not sure if the reserving X number of panels would work. I know some people who would attempt to game the system by buying multiple badges so they could get twice the reserved slots. Not only does this mean that disposable income now affects your ability to enjoy panels, but that would be a lesser concern to the number of people who wouldn't be able to attend because some silly goose bought up 3 badges instead of 1.
Awesome Charity Idea - Now, while I just said above I would HATE for the people with a little extra income to be able to game the system I would have NO PROBLEM letting a few people with massive amounts of disposable income game the system completely. So how about 3 or 4 GOLDEN BADGES that are auctioned off for Child's Play and allow purchasers a first crack at every demo and panel. Perhaps some type of card that they have to get hole punched so they can't just dominate lines again an again. I'm sure the genius that is Khoo could come up with a REALLY enticing VIP fan package for a price like this. And 3 to 4 would make them pseudo VIPs.
Greater use of empty space - This may be due to BCEC policies and rules regarding hallway clearance so perhaps it isn't solvable. But there was a great number of dead spaces in the center. This has been commented on before. Would it be possible to move some things out into the halls? I liked the idea of an artist alley. Perhaps some of the table top vendors? Especially if tabletop games could be moved upstairs into some of those halls.
Use of closed circuit TV - I would be amazed to find out that the BCEC isn't at least somewhat wired for closed circuit TV in the hallways. At the very least some booths set up that had Tweetdeck loaded and were hardwired to the internet displaying @Official_Pax@Lines_pax and the rest would be a blessing for those who either don't tweet or had poor service. (Personally my service was great, but I also had two friends who don't tweet.) Heck, want to get ultra fancy? Add at search collumn for #paxeastshout and then people can throw up messages like "Looking for Bob and Frank! I'm at the foodcourt!" (Last one has problems with people being dicks - would be an interesting test of the force of Wheaton's Law.)
Apologies (kinda) for the wall of text.
tl:dr version - Awesome job, very specific and focused tweaking is needed, but amazing work for a con in it's East Coast infancy still.
This was my first PAX and my wife and I had a great time. The tabletop areas were great to see, and all the enforcers were very friendly and always helpful.
The good and the bad:
Trolleys:
The courtesy orange trolleys that went to the local restaurants were life savers. As vegans, my wife and I found almost nothing to eat at the BCEC, but the Chinatown trolley let us off only a couple blocks from an all vegan restaurant. The only bad thing was the trolley timing. Since it takes a good 2 hours to trolley out somewhere, eat, and come back, having a trolley that only runs until 3 pretty much dictates your lunch time for you. This meant missing out on some panels we would have liked to see, as well as missing out on some expo hall time. The couple hours between the floor closing time and the concerts would have been an ideal time for the service to run to allow for getting some dinner. For next year, please announce ahead of time whether or not this service will be running again. If we had known in advance, we actually would have made a more convenient hotel choice this year. For those with special dietary needs (not just vegans), advance planning on where to eat and how to get off site to get there is a critical issue.
Bands:
The band merch alley and the bands in general were all very accessible and terrific. All the merch was reasonably priced and the bands made time to be at their booths at various times during the con to sign stuff. Fantastic.
The concerts were all especially great as well, but it would have been nice to see a few rows of chairs on the sides of the hall, in addition to the rows in the back.
Timing:
DST should be avoided at all costs. If anything the con should be longer (especially expo hall hours). I didn't feel like I got to see everything I wanted to, and wouldn't mind a fourth day. I think that would be appropriate for a convention of this size. Also, there was conflicting information given out about what time the expo hall closed on Saturday. Some things said 6PM, some said 7PM. Confusing.
Maps:
The maps were not clear at all, and equating the maps to the actual convention center was rough. Enforcers were all very helpful, but getting correct directions from BCEC staff was hit or miss. I can't entirely blame them. I'm sure if we said how do you get to (insert actual room number here) they would have known. But ask how to get to the Manticore room or whatever, and they have no clue. We found ourselves constantly on the wrong side of the floor, or going up to the second floor on the wrong side by accident.
Panels:
All the panels we went to were great, and we got into everything we wanted by arriving about 30 minutes in advance. The one exception was the Females on Female Characters panel. The line for this panel was at least three times the maximum capacity of the Wyvern room, and rivaled the lines for the Main Theatre. We arrived at least 30 minutes early, weren't even close to getting in, and the line was so long that it actually got to the end of the entire floor and wrapped back around on itself along the other wall. As the only dedicated panel to a very interesting topic for female gamers, this was a panel that had massive audience appeal and no alternatives. A lot of people were very disappointed to be turned away. In the future, any events like this should be in the Main Theatre.
Accessory vendors:
I would have liked to see more variety in accessory vendors out on the expo hall floor, if possible. For example, at Major Nelson's panel they brought up the Choixx power fort (an ultra portable backup battery unit for charging your portable USB devices) and I thought, great, I'm sold. That would be the type of thing I'd love to see for sale as an example.
Lines:
I see some people calling for the expo hall to be more spread out, but that wasn't really the issue. The walkways were more than sufficient if kept clear, and poorly managed lines and raffles were the real problems. For example, in some instances two major booths were next to each other with lines going around them on the opposite sides of the same walkway. Add onlookers to the mix and you're just asking for a log jam.
As an example of line management done right, look at Nintendo's exceptionally well-run booth. It was open for everyone to see what was going on, which cuts down on some traffic as people can see what's in there before they queue. They had a lot of stations (with incredibly knowledgeable and helpful staff I might add), a very efficient way of processing people in and out, and ran their relatively short line behind the booth so it didn't interfere with the interior walkways.
Also a couple booths like Portal 2 managed their lines in an organized way almost entirely on their own booth space. This should be required in the future for major booths in the center areas. They know how fast they can process people and how big their line will likely be, so there's no reason why they can't plan for it instead of deliberately pushing it out into the public spaces. The Gears booth was middle of the pack on this. While they had some spillage into walkways, they broke up their play areas into three separate lines and had them all run through the center of their own space. The Kinect booth also did this well.
Some booths like the Darkness II dumped 100% of their line in the walkways and had long waits, which was not very cool (though I enjoyed their demo tremendously).
Raffles:
Raffle management was bad, especially on the small outer ring booths. When a raffle is held for tickets handed out over 3 days you get a lot of people having to congregate in the walkway in front of a very small area. It's nearly impossible to not block the walkway, even with enforcers constantly pushing people back. This blocks all the nearby booths, creates an unpleasant situation for attendees, and is a fire hazard. It gets even more dangerous when they start tossing things out into the crowd. In the future this should be prohibited. There should be a dedicated raffle area established for this purpose, with the raffle times scheduled and posted. The generally wasted queue area in the expo hall comes to mind as a great place to use for this purpose. Everyone would know where to go whenever there was a raffle, and it could be conducted in a safe and non-disruptive way.
Cosplay:
It would be nice to see an official cosplay judging event. It would reward people for their hard work and provide a great time for people to see all the costumes and take pictures. One of the expo hall booths did a very brief one on Sunday and it was very popular.
Booth Babes:
From reading all the comments thus far, I'm very surprised that some people took issue with the Bioshock girl. If anything she was the perfect example of the right way to do it. She was not acting overtly sexual in any way or using sexuality specifically to sell a product. Not only was she dressed as a game character, but she was dressed modestly. There was only one of her there (not 10 dressed as the same character). She was knowledgeable about the game, and was posing and acting as her character for the photos in an appropriate setting.
Some booths (Turtle Beach/Sprint) come to mind were using the girls in a bad way. They were scantily clad for no legitimate reason, not dressed as characters, present in excessive number, not significantly knowledgeable about product (at least that I saw), and served no purpose aside from to attract people to the booth with sexuality. In general I found the entire Sprint booth to be in poor taste. While the charging stations were nice, it was the only booth that had an announcer that literally every time I walked by the booth made me think "man is that guy annoying". Also, if a booth is offering photo ops with models with no game context or other legitimate reason (Turtle Beach), it's crossing the line. The Coolermaster booth with the calendar was also inappropriate. I think there was one other booth I would add to this list, but it escapes me at this moment.
As for the DNF booth, I think with the photo op throne there, having two girls in character is arguably reasonable for a staged photo op, as long as they are also product knowledgeable. Maybe even a third to walk around and assist people would be ok. Think on this though. If they also had an actor playing the Duke, how many would have taken issue with the girls? In that scenario it would have been an ensemble cosplay related to the game - something that makes sense and is appropriate. When you have scantily clad girls dressed as minor characters while the main character of the game is conspicuously absent though, it's obvious what their intentions are and it becomes harder to justify.
Again I have to call out the Nintendo booth for perfection on this issue. They had both male and female booth attendants in abundance, dressed appropriately, (though dressed as game characters would have also been fine) who were also exceptionally knowledgeable on product. I must have asked dozens of questions in that booth and spoken to at least one attendant at each station and I was able to get a thorough answer every time. That's what's most important.
- Didn't like the main theatre as much as last year. It seemed a lot smaller. Was thinking why not use where the "food court" was this year (which was mostly empty space) to put the big shows???? Put the stage down there! That space was so large it could have accomodated 10x the people, anyone who wanted to go to the main panels would for sure get seats.
Having not talked to Robert about this yet, here's my take on changing rooms ...
Moving Main Theatre into one of the halls would be a disaster. While we'd be able to accommodate more people there are two huge drawbacks:
1) There is pretty much no way to do light control in there to a degree that would allow the sort of video reinforcement we need without a stratospheric budget. That pretty much eliminates being able to do major industry panels (and maybe even the make-a-strip panel). Not awesome. At the end of the day, video is the #1 thing we offer in there during the day, and to remove that kills MT.
2) Much worse (though I am an audio guy at heart so take this with a grain of salt) the acoustics in there would easily make it the worst sounding Main Theatre in PAX history by a huge margin. Even walking through during strike when the place is mostly empty, it is LOUD - every noise hangs in the air like the smell of old socks.
Finally, there were only a couple of times when Main Theatre had to stop admitting new audience members, and when we did have to turn away people the number was fairly small in the grand scheme of things (not meaning to be heartless - but it's a factor that needs to go into planning). Moving to a huge space would accommodate more people but if it isn't driving that much demand what's the driving reason that overcomes the above drawbacks?
Make a solid argument and sell me on it and I'll do what I can to make the full argument up the chain - but keep in mind that I've given it a lot of thought and so have a number of other people, and I think we're currently using the optimal setup given the available constraints and factors.
Happy to answer questions in PM - I am terrible about checking these forums, so it is better to reach me at pax_theatre@penny-arcade.com if you have feedback or questions. This is a hobby for me, and PAX is my vacation from a pretty demanding job, so replies may take a while but I will get to them.
Tech issues in overflow - Omegathon final involved Ikaruga. The crowd in the ballroom got the gamescreens projected, but we didn't downstairs - we just got to watch the back of four contestants. Don't know how the ball got dropped on this, but please make sure the overflow area gets the gamescreen feed as well as the camera feed next time!
Who wants to talk video tech?
The ball wasn't dropped - the technical setup for the final round was more complex than we were able to broadcast out of the room, something that hadn't been in the initial plans and was added to try and enhance the experience for attendees. With more lead-time for setting up the streams next year this sort of situation can be avoided, but I think having it at all far outweighs the inconvenience of not getting a perfect experience for that event.
To describe the setup, we had two video switchers, each driving one of our two video screens, with one as the master that fed the secondary for the other events as well as providing the broadcast feed. For the final round, each switcher had a console attached and it routed that console's output to it's own screen. Because of the way our gear was set up/the gear on-hand, the options were to either not broadcast the final round (that would suck the most), broadcast only one console's feed (that would just be bizarre), or hope that a single camera shot would capture things well enough to convey the action to a reasonable level.
The secondary effect of the switcher setup was that once we put the consoles on the screens we didn't have a way to monitor the broadcast send and had to hope the camera guy was able to get a good shot. In the future, I hope to have a different video switching solution in place (for a variety of reasons) that would allow us to do an inset side-by-side of the two consoles on the broadcast send (assuming that we do another dual-console round like this one day) - and the venue is upgrading its in-building video distribution to support HD resolutions so you _may_ even be able to make out what is happening
During the Q&A panels the lines for the microphones blocked a view of the stage for non-trivial portion of the audience. This could be improved by putting the mics right up to the stage and having the lines go out to the side.
The stage was too low for me (and I am 5 11) to see the lower half of people during the concerts and presentations. I think the stage should be higher if possible. Wouldn't say no to stadium seating either ;-)
Unrelated to photography, but I also noticed several attendees in wheelchairs at the concerts. Seems like they should get advance seating up front. They can't look over the crowd and they don't impede visibility of those who are standing. Right now their only option for the up close and personal concert experience is to wait in line for several hours (AFAIK).
Holy crap, I'm back in Seattle and going through this at 1:30am after getting off my flight. Work tomorrow will be lols, but this needs a reply
1) Mic placement is something that we can reconsider, but there are other problems that come up with lines out to the side. I don't expect we'll change this, but I'll consider options.
2) We don't have much say on stage height - we use what is available, and in general I am happy with this height. Video reinforcement should be filling in where sight lines fail. Seating layout is up to the venue - unless you want to pay for them to refit the room
3) There was a large protected wheelchair/medical area at the downstage-left edge of the stage at the concerts. Attendees with medical badges were made aware of this, and we accommodated as many people as we could. People who got there after it was full or who declined sitting there were out in the audience-at-large.
- Need more chairs in the concerts! I felt like the sitting/standing balance was much better last year. I have arthritis, and can't stand for long periods of time, and even though I was in line nearly 2 hours before the Friday night concert, I couldn't get a chair. I ended up leaving because there wasn't a place to sit besides on the floor among the people standing, which was awkward.
- The "squeeze the line as tight as you can, no sitting down" was also a deal-breaker for my arthritic hip. I can't stand for hours straight. I gave up on panels and the Saturday concert because I couldn't deal with the tight lines. It was really sad to skip things I really wanted to see, but I was already in pain and had to do something that would allow me to sit. I remember being able to sit a lot more in the 2010 lines, which was a life-saver.
I'd love to have more chairs, but it's not really possible given the number of people we put in that space. I wanted to up the remaining chairs to 10 rows after the first night, but knew that it would cause a massive space problem and sadly shelved the idea.
The best suggestion I can make is to get a medical badge if it is appropriate - we have some accommodations for folks for whom standing for hours is not viable.
- Jonathan and Paul and Storm need to get more time to play. Paul and Storm were still pretty sprightly by the end of the weekend, but JoCo seemed really overtaxed by the end of it. I don't think some of his end of con comments were as jovial as they were taken.
- make the availability of handicapped access seating during the concerts better known to people. Limit the number of people that can go into the seating area with the person who needs access to one, though (there were a couple groups with one person who needed the seating bringing in 3 and 4 people with them)
- and now (as I complained on twitter...). VGO took *far too much time* for an opening band. it was 75 minutes of concert, and 90 minutes with their teardown. Paul and Storm didn't take the stage until 11:30, and it was 12:40 by the time JoCo got on. with the building closing at 2am (so he had to be finished around 1:50), the headliner couldn't take as much time as VGO took. I spoke to many local people who were not able to stay for the main part of the concert, because with the encouragement to take public transit, they had to leave at 11:45 or so to catch the last trains.
In addition, VGO is *wildly* different from JoCo/Paul & Storm. I don't think they were an appropriate addition to the concert. They're totally appropriate for PAX, and should have their own show as they did last year.
Quick replies as I am fading fast (but still reading!)
There are 6 bands that were chosen for PAX East and I had to arrange them into two concerts and coordinate tech time for them with the other events in that space, time to get people in, and out, and a lot of assorted technical needs. You (and others) should dissuade yourselves of the idea that there is such a thing as "opening band" or "headliner" for PAX concerts. All of the acts are excellent and each are effectively headliners. The timing is arranged to maximize our ability to set up the acts, have a quick set of changeovers between them, and try and divide along loose thematic lines. For example, the Friday concert was arranged as it was because The Protomen are a very complex setup and we needed to tech them right before we opened the doors, then MC Frontalot has the biggest draw, and Metroid Metal can close out to their (significant) fan base. The concerts will always be in the evenings for many reasons, and in order to allow 45-60+ minutes per act they will run late. I ask acts to target a 45 minute set, but many factors play into the actual length of their sets. In the past, concerts have run to 3am or later, an option that I am not a fan of, and which has not been possible in our recent venues.
I'm not sure what you mean about VGO having their own concert last year - the Saturday concert last year was identical to the lineup this year.
Edit!
Folks who register for medical badges are informed of the accommodations for them in Main Theatre. Those resources are not infinite, but we do everything we can to work with them. I am not aware of folks bringing in more than their +1 (who also is given a medical badge - only folks with those should be in the area) but I'll see if the House Manager is aware and if we need to update our policy/training.
Seating: We attended with a friend who has chronic back problems...not enough for him to feel like he needs a medical badge, but enough where pain medication can be a necessity. While he can generally handle walking, etc., the standing in line nearly killed him. He'd be okay if he had a wall to lean on while sitting, but being forced to stand to condense the line pretty much did him in. There were several lines he skipped or had to bow out of because the wait time was all stand time, and he couldn't do it. For the final round of the Omegathon, he was disappointed to learn that there was NO seating whatsoever available, and ending up leaning against the wall in the very back. Would it be possible to have a few rows of chairs in the back, like there were for the concerts?
We were concerned about the demand for the event and believed it would be fairly quick, and so opted to remove all chairs. Next year, I'll plan to match the concert setup (5 rows of chairs).
- I really like the main stage room a lot more this year. While the two floor thing at the Hines was nice in some ways, it also meant there were then two floors of people cluttering up the place waiting to get in versus just one.
In addition, VGO is *wildly* different from JoCo/Paul & Storm. I don't think they were an appropriate addition to the concert. They're totally appropriate for PAX, and should have their own show as they did last year.
Last year's PAX East Saturday concert was the same thing: VGO, Paul & Storm, Coulton. I don't think they threw the Omegathon in last year, though. There was still a long wait after VGO but last year it felt like P&S and Coulton had a lot more time.
Paul&Storm and JoCo had as much or more time scheduled this year than last. There was an Omegathon round (Rock Band of some sort). The difference is that the Omegathon was really fast last year and fairly long this year, so it made things feel more rushed. I'd like to start it even earlier, but the other demands of the schedule (most of which are not apparent if you just look at the content that is in the space) dictate a lot of what is possible.
- Not clearing the theatres on Sunday until after the Q&A, while it ended up working out well Bill Amend was great and the X-Play taping was fine, but I would have liked to be able to check other things out and know I would be able to get into the PA Q&A
For what it's worth, I don't think I've seen a Sunday Q&A hit capacity (except maybe at Prime 2010 in the smaller venue we had) - I know it doesn't take all of the worry away, but 99.999% chance is that if you wander in at the tail end of the preceding panel you'll find a seat without trouble. Though the secret is out now....
PowerGLove needs to be in the concerts..I know they seem to be too heavy for some people, so thy can put them on last after metriod metal...if people think they are too heavy then they can leave and not have missed anything. The little show they put on in the Jamspace was one of their best shows I have seen because all the video game fans there that love metal..There was a mosh pit and that mosh pit was the kindest pit i have ever seen..when someone fell down, everyone stopped to help pick that person up, make sure they were ok and then went right back at it. That is Just how the PAX community is, AWESOME!
I like this plan!
I don't get to book the acts!
Sadface!
Aleks/Cheebus
(Been up for 20 hours or so including a long flight after 6 days of not sleeping and super high stress - hopefully I am still coherent!)
Bands:
The band merch alley and the bands in general were all very accessible and terrific. All the merch was reasonably priced and the bands made time to be at their booths at various times during the con to sign stuff. Fantastic.
The concerts were all especially great as well, but it would have been nice to see a few rows of chairs on the sides of the hall, in addition to the rows in the back.
I do like this idea and will look into it for future Paxii, but the tradeoff will be that I will have to strictly enforcer (hah, a pun!) a "No Sitting on the Floor" rule.
Hopefully, these replies were useful, and gave you some insight into the factors that have to get balanced that may not be readily apparent. Main Theatre is a crazily-complex ballet with a thousand moving parts and I strive to make it as smooth as possible so you all never notice any of the clockwork grinding away in the background. I'll happily dig into things (probably in PM or email rather than cluttering up this thread any more) if folks would like to further the discussion.
But now, I sleep.
Then tomorrow I get to go make video games. Which is sweet, because while I was at PAX from almost the initial moments until at one point on Monday when I was the only person on the 3rd floor of the entire building, I didn't get to play or see any games other than the really crappy one on my cell phone that lets my brain get distracted for a moment.
On second thought, I don't really get to play the game at work either.
Seriously though; good to hear the video distribution equipment is going to be upgraded. Assuming that video to the hotels is impractical (the Seaport has a cabled LAN, but unless there's some practical way of running a fibre cable across the bridge I can't see that helping, and I haven't a clue if any of the other hotels have anything similar), any chance of providing streamable recordings of events later on (e.g. upload to Amazon EC2 and use a Wowza streaming instance - http://www.wowzamedia.com/ec2.html )?
Seriously though; good to hear the video distribution equipment is going to be upgraded. Assuming that video to the hotels is impractical (the Seaport has a cabled LAN, but unless there's some practical way of running a fibre cable across the bridge I can't see that helping, and I haven't a clue if any of the other hotels have anything similar), any chance of providing streamable recordings of events later on (e.g. upload to Amazon EC2 and use a Wowza streaming instance - http://www.wowzamedia.com/ec2.html )?
Streaming outside of the building presents a world of problem. Seriously. Not just from a technical point of view, which we have a pretty good grasp on - it is like taking the lid off of a witch's cauldron and she's been watching Food Network but substituting liberally from her pantry. This goes for Prime as well.
It is a common topic of conversation. When it is viable it will be done, when it is not it will not be. We recognize the interest and value, but as with everything else, many factors have influence.
Aleks/Cheebus
Did I say I was going to bed? I didn't say _when_ did I?
Seriously though; good to hear the video distribution equipment is going to be upgraded. Assuming that video to the hotels is impractical (the Seaport has a cabled LAN, but unless there's some practical way of running a fibre cable across the bridge I can't see that helping, and I haven't a clue if any of the other hotels have anything similar), any chance of providing streamable recordings of events later on (e.g. upload to Amazon EC2 and use a Wowza streaming instance - http://www.wowzamedia.com/ec2.html )?
Streaming outside of the building presents a world of problem. Seriously. Not just from a technical point of view, which we have a pretty good grasp on - it is like taking the lid off of a witch's cauldron and she's been watching Food Network but substituting liberally from her pantry. This goes for Prime as well.
It is a common topic of conversation. When it is viable it will be done, when it is not it will not be. We recognize the interest and value, but as with everything else, many factors have influence.
Aleks/Cheebus
Did I say I was going to bed? I didn't say _when_ did I?
How about now?
Oh!
As for recordings being available at a later date, I have no say in that. I think it would be neat, but then you get into a world of factors outside of my horizons of awareness.
Streaming outside of the building presents a world of problem. Seriously. Not just from a technical point of view, which we have a pretty good grasp on - it is like taking the lid off of a witch's cauldron and she's been watching Food Network but substituting liberally from her pantry. This goes for Prime as well.
It is a common topic of conversation. When it is viable it will be done, when it is not it will not be. We recognize the interest and value, but as with everything else, many factors have influence.
I like the metaphor... kinda...
I figured it was probably impractical, but it doesn't stop me hoping
If you want to mention the making recordings later thing to people who would have a say in it, see if the idea sticks, would be awesome. If there's no-one in specific, maybe just try mentioning it to random people you meet
I didn't see if anyone mentioned this, but the BCEC security guards at the Westin entrance weren't letting people in on Saturday morning until 8:20, despite a number of enforcers talking to them. Something about a union rep and flow control *shrug*. It would be nice to get this sorted out. Maybe having an enforcer on duty next to the Westin entrance to "assist" the guard might help this problem.
I know the Westin Waterfront overbook issue has been beaten to death with hammers.
The satellite food court was huge, and probably not the best use of space.
Enforcers rock my world, and I object to not getting to hug each and every one of them (except BigRed, he scares the shizz out of me).
Mad props to the guys from Battleground games who stuck around till closing every night in the tabletop area. Those guys rocked.
The "How to get the most out of your GM" panel was poorly done. I would think hard before giving those guys another panel.
The "D&D Edition Wars" panel was great, but there were sound issues with the mics. Can you triple-check sound function before panels please?
The Sprint booth babes outfits and the Duke Nukem girls were inappropriate. I know this has been talked about a lot, but I have to add it in here. It's just not PAX-kosher (or PAX-halal).
I loved the configuration of indie alley, but it would be great if you could concentrate software/games people. As it was, they were interspersed with some hardware and vendors. Not the end of the world, but as media it's really nice to just be able to go booth to booth to booth one next to the other.
The mini merch booth out front was a great idea, but it would be helpful if it was clear when it was going to open (we found ourselves waiting for a cash box when we went there friday morning).
There were no penguins walking around PAX. I don't see why you gotta be hating on the penguins.
The tabletop area was fantastic, and I loved being able to look into it from the skybridges.
Cell phone coverage was bad (as usual). Any chance of getting Sprint to send out a mobile booster for the event?
Media room was very helpful, though the lockers ran out quickly. If you could stack a few more in there, we'd love you lots. Also a couple of quiet room for podcasting would be superb (though that's wishful thinking, probably).
The BCEC is big, and people were often asking "where is X". More maps with "You are here" signs would definitely help!
I paid $10 for two of the sh*ttiest slices of peperoni pizza I have ever had. I only paid it cause I was starving and didnt bring snacks.... NEVER AGAIN
Accessory vendors:
I would have liked to see more variety in accessory vendors out on the expo hall floor, if possible. For example, at Major Nelson's panel they brought up the Choixx power fort (an ultra portable backup battery unit for charging your portable USB devices) and I thought, great, I'm sold. That would be the type of thing I'd love to see for sale as an example.
I saw Major Neslon and crew at the Pod Cast taping and they showed off the Zagg charger there I believe. BUt either way yeah more vendors for the PC and stuff would be nice. There where plenty there for the Card and Board games though.
Raffles:
Raffle management was bad, especially on the small outer ring booths. When a raffle is held for tickets handed out over 3 days you get a lot of people having to congregate in the walkway in front of a very small area. It's nearly impossible to not block the walkway, even with enforcers constantly pushing people back. This blocks all the nearby booths, creates an unpleasant situation for attendees, and is a fire hazard. It gets even more dangerous when they start tossing things out into the crowd. In the future this should be prohibited. There should be a dedicated raffle area established for this purpose, with the raffle times scheduled and posted. The generally wasted queue area in the expo hall comes to mind as a great place to use for this purpose. Everyone would know where to go whenever there was a raffle, and it could be conducted in a safe and non-disruptive way.
100% agree.
Booth Babes:
As for the DNF booth, I think with the photo op throne there, having two girls in character is arguably reasonable for a staged photo op, as long as they are also product knowledgeable. Maybe even a third to walk around and assist people would be ok. Think on this though. If they also had an actor playing the Duke, how many would have taken issue with the girls? In that scenario it would have been an ensemble cosplay related to the game - something that makes sense and is appropriate. When you have scantily clad girls dressed as minor characters while the main character of the game is conspicuously absent though, it's obvious what their intentions are and it becomes harder to justify.
Actually they did have a Duke there. He just was not always out. Maybe because of crowd issues cause every time he was out the area got conjested. OR contract agreements .. either way he wes there.
And games like Duke are geared and marketed torwards the 16-25 (or so) MALE age group. SO of course it's gonna have girls like that not to mention it is kinda what Duke is about
Since the argument is still going I guess ill give my quick $0.02
I dont mind booth babes if they are done appropriately and respectfully for the games they are selling. The Bioshock girl was awesome, loved the game and knew what she was talking about. She was excited to be there, but when you have random girls in skimpy clothes to try and sell a game like Lord Of The Rings (not saying they were there just an example) or some NVidia Computer parts, thats when it crosses into distasteful territory. It also just feeds into the stereotype that gamers are only single, obese men that watch porn all day and would only be interested in the booth because they beautiful women which they could never have are nice to them and try to sell them the game.
Oh and the Duke Nukem forever Booth Babes were perfect IMO cause it fit with the theme of the game.
I saw Major Neslon and crew at the Pod Cast taping and they showed off the Zagg charger there I believe. BUt either way yeah more vendors for the PC and stuff would be nice. There where plenty there for the Card and Board games though.
Zagg, thanks! Sorry, remembered the wrong one. Same idea.
Actually they did have a Duke there. He just was not always out. Maybe because of crowd issues cause every time he was out the area got conjested. OR contract agreements .. either way he wes there.
Unless there was another Duke I never saw, the Duke you're referring to was actually a PAX attendee in cosplay that hung out in that area a bit for obvious reasons.
Jaelus on
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That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
Every map needed a "You are here" label on it.
More signs pointing to where things are.
More signs where people can see them. It is really hard to see a sign a ground level when there are 5 people standing in front of it. Signs should be handing.
Better orientation of the signage. Every map was pointed in the same direction, making it difficult to get my orientation. The maps need to be customized for where they are in the building.
The food was pretty lousy and way overpriced. I know this is a con and everything has to cost too much, but it really sucks for the attendees. Maybe next year you could give them a break on the rental of the space in order to drive prices down. Please taste the food before allowing people to sell it. Most of the food I ate there (save for the Sam Adam's place) was bland and unappealing.
Live streams and archives for the panels (I'd pay a little extra for it)
Better food options. The first PAX East had muuuuuuch better food because of the attached mall. That said, it's reasonable to expect in house concession stands to be over-priced. I'll be attempting to bring my own foods next year
Whoever the contracted vendor is for the BCEC is who they have to use. The prices are set by them based off of their conract. PAX has no control over this. South Station is a short walk away and has reasonable prices.
VisionOfClarity on
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Moe FwackyRight Here, Right NowDrives a BuickModeratorMod Emeritus
Whoever the contracted vendor is for the BCEC is who they have to use. The prices are set by them based off of their conract. PAX has no control over this. South Station is a short walk away and has reasonable prices.
You can also hop the silver line to get to South Station if you don't want to walk there. It's super fast and the wait was short every time, for me.
Whoever the contracted vendor is for the BCEC is who they have to use. The prices are set by them based off of their conract. PAX has no control over this. South Station is a short walk away and has reasonable prices.
In the satellite food court it seemed like they just had ordinary food carts set up. There are quite a few decent to great food cart and food truck vendors in the Boston area, and if they could park themselves in that satellite section I think people would be very happy with them.
Off the top of my head, these are the cart vendors that set up every lunchtime M-F just a mile away from the BCEC:
Posts
I have to say, this experience was completely different for me than last year's PAX East. Last year was fun, but it was very last minute and not particularly planned well. Last year, we ended up staying about a mile away - the hotel was old, but nice. The walk was a b*tch though. We went to Wil's keynote and several of the panels, got our badges signed by Mike & Jerry, and played a crap-ton of D&D (last year we happened to walk into the D&D room first and were lucky enough to sign up for 2 or 3 sessions). We didn't really meet or game with other people, didn't try a lot of (any?) new games.
This year we planned everything way ahead of time. We got 3-day passes as soon as they became available. We booked a double-room at the Westin within 2 hours of the OnPeak block opening up. We were probably within the first 50 or so to register for BYOC. We bought tickets for the Sonic Line PAXTrain early. Etc etc etc.
The Good
The trip started off great. There were PAXers all over the train, and while I started out with my nose in my DS, I ended up playing a great game of Munchkin in the cafe car for several hours, next to a group playing Pandemic. The 7-8 hour trip flew by and we were in Boston before we knew it. We got to the Westin quite easily, and using Twitter ended up going to dinner at LTK (Legal Test Kitchen) with some new people. After dinner I found that my computer was "lost" at the hotel (I shipped it via Fedex so I wouldn't have to carry it on the train). After sorting that out, we played some more Munchkin in the lobby of the Westin until 1 or 2.
Friday morning, we got to the BCEC bright and early at 8am. This was one point that wasn't 100% clear for us BYOC people - this year, there were carts available at the front door for BYOC people to use while unloading their cars at the main overhang. The desired strategy for those of us staying in the Westin and coming over via the Skybridge were less clear - we tried to get a luggage cart from the Westin, but they informed us that some type of union rules prevented luggage carts or Westin employees from crossing the Skybridge. Thankfully, once again the professionalism and helpfulness of the Enforcers showed through. David Coffman himself came over and asked what he could do to help us. He ended up giving us two enforcers on loan to help move our equipment from the skybridge to the BYOC room. Sweet!
The Bad
Yes, the con food was really expensive. The only thing I refused to buy was a $3 bottle of water from the vending machines (I had a Nalgene though and there were free water coolers in the BYOC). As I said in another thread, the burgers and pulled pork were fairly tasty, but I steered clear of the pizza and cold foods.
I didn't go to any panels or concerts, so I never saw a single person in the queue room. Therefore I can't truly comment on it, but to me it seemed like far more space than necessary. I'm not sure it's as easy as some people are saying - "expand the expo hall 1.5 times" - since the expo hall needs to be easily locked down much earlier than the food court/table top areas. It would be nice if the table top area were maybe even a little bigger, and the food court definitely didn't need that much space, but again I'm not sure I can suggest a viable alternate use of the floorplan.
I didn't notice too much con funk. There were a few whiffs here and there, but the only lines I waited in for long were the DM challenge and the Portal 2 video.
The Ugly
I did see one Dickwolves shirt on Friday in the TableTop area, and I considered giving the guy some shit about it, but it wouldn't have been productive, and I was in the middle of a Munchkin game. The guy was alone though, and looked like the worst archetype of anti-social "neckbeard", so I tried to put him out of my mind and was quite happy that the Dickwolves didn't make another appearance that I saw. While I thought the original joke was fine, the resulting discussions/threats were way over the line on both sides, so I was hoping that PAX attendees would just put it behind them and get together to have fun.
I'd love to attend a Q&A with Robert Khoo. He's just as much of a celebrity as Jerry & Mike are to me. I couldn't help taking a few fan photos of him when I saw him in the halls at PAX East! I think he'd have some fantastic insight into what it's like to manage Penny Arcade, as indicated by one of the questions at the Penny Arcade Q&A (somebody asked how much it cost to put on PAX, Jerry texted Khoo to get an answer: 8 figures). He's like the wizard behind the curtain.
Suggestion #2 Make PAX more accessible for parents with babies
As a lot of PAX attendees are in their 20s, they are getting married and having babies. We brought our four-month-old to PAX East in 2010, but we left him with his grandparents this year. In 2010, I had to go to the tiny and uncomfortable first aid clinic to nurse him, and we got kicked out of the expo hall because strollers weren't allowed (even though our stroller is much smaller than a wheelchair and those were allowed).
I was happy to see several babies and toddlers this year. I think most mothers would appreciate a dedicated room to take their babies for nursing, diaper changes, and just some quiet relaxation time. It'd also be a great place to for mothers to make friends!
THIS! I'm totally +1 on this. Not that he has time while PAX is running, of course. ;-) But seriously, I would love to hear more on the business and management side of this behemoth ... compelling stuff for many of us geeky manager types, and I never fail to be impressed with Khoo's mad skills. Man behind the curtain, indeed.
*DUN DUN DUN* Booth Babes: Personally, I don't care much for the whole DNF franchise, so I would avoid it purposefully, but I'd like to ask the developers "Why?" Seriously, why did the females at their booth HAVE to dress up in a school-girl outfit? Would it have destroyed the feel of the booth? I don't think so. Now granted, I saw a cosplayer wearing an outfit that included a thong back that kinda bothered me, but at the same time, I know a little bit more about costuming than most guys should (competitive ballroom dance means I know about ladies and their dress needs).
~~SOLUTION: If you are a developer wanting to use the "female employees cosplaying" excuse to get around the booth babe label, plan out the costumes more so that it doesn't become a problem and you can be "above reproach".
Food/Water Prices: I echo every sentiment on this topic, but in some weird way, it comes down to the 123 rule (that someone told me about this year); ONE shower a day at least (BO comments covered by this), TWO meals a day, and at least THREE hours of sleep. So in some small way, you can deal with this problem on your own end. However, I do agree that $7 for a sandwich is a bit too steep, and other things should be brought down.
~~SOLUTION: PAX can work towards getting cheaper options open in some ways, but also, we should plan a little bit better. Nalgenes, snack foods, and some forethought will help out in many ways.
Space Allotment: There were some issues on Level 0 with the layout, I agree. HOWEVER, I'd like to point out that the spaces were divided by LARGE WALL PANELS on fixed tracks. This complicates things quite a bit. But in the end, the macromanagement of the space is an easier fix, and will make micromanagement of the space easier once it's better worked.
~~SOLUTION: Not sure what PAX can do, because the larger level stuff is more on the BCEC people.
Staffing: I thoroughly agree with the "WTFMCCA" sentiments. It seems as though the mentality of the MCCA security and housekeeping staff is that they are not in the customer service industry, which is a COMPLETE FALLACY. The BCEC staff in red were always happy to be there, and more than once I greeted them with a smile and a thank you, but they KNOW they are in customer service.
~~SOLUTION: I don't care if you don't like your job, or if you have anything going on outside of the convention center that is making you act a certain way. Once you step into the BCEC in uniform, you are an representative of MCCA and BCEC, and as such you are REQUIRED to act in a manner that reflects positively on the Center and the Company. Either fake it, or go home. (Working in retail, I know what I have to do for positive customer service, and I would expect the same from anyone doing a similar job.)
I have been attending PAX since 2005, and have watched the community as a whole grow from a younger, more college-age oriented crowd to a more young family aged crowd. Obviously this doesn't account for everybody, but each year I see more and more people with younger children. I believe there is a strong value in this suggestion, and with the BCEC, I also believe there is the space to potentially make it happen.
See and I was offended the other way around. I saw people wearing "Dickwolves Survivor" shirts that were clearly meant to just instigate an issue. People giving away "Team Respect" bracelets at various parts of the convention and trying to talk about the controversial issue with anyone who would listen. One girl basically accosted my girlfriend for being a girl and supporting PA through the entire Dickwolves issue. I saw a singular person in a Dickwolves shirt... I saw (and heard about) many people trying to spread their anti-Dickwolves message, which to some people has become just as offensive. I was deeply saddened that anyone felt the need to make an issue about it.
PSN - AngryCremepuff
My general view is to let everone commenting to have their say, but this is the most elitist BS I have ever read. I want every gamer who can to be able to enjoy PAX, regardless of economic status. Yes, convention center prices are expected to be higher, but that does not mean that variety and quality should suffer. The Walter Washington Center in Washington, DC has a Wolfgang Puck and other high end eateries and their prices are less! We as attendies deserved better and there is absolutly nothing wrong with letting the planners know that the food was an epic fail. Furthermore, the Westin is NOT a five star hotel. It is a 4 star. Guests tend to rate it a 3 1/2. The breakfast buffet was $23. At that price point, I expect eggs to order, thick cut uncurred bacon, higher quality sausage, a selection of freshly carved meats and a wider assortment of fresh fruit. Eggs Benidict would not be out of order. That is what I get at other 4 star hotels, and even 3 stars that charge that much.
How much time was wasted on the Expo Floor entering information into surveys or friending companies on Facebook? Those lines would move so much faster if there was a unified survey that we filled out when we registerd and the barcode scan shared that with the vendors. For those who wish to maintain their privacy, they can opt out and not get any of the swag.
Queus for each theatre at start of the day awesome idea, really cut down on overcrowding. However the main queue room was twice the size it needed to be and so was the food court merge them please.
The expo hall: all that space at the front that had tables and chairs. wasted space! lose half of that or all of that space and give it all to the exhibitors. that would greatly increase the size of pathways!
exhibitors: more silent raffles please. maybe limit the big raffles ones to once or twice a day so it is not a clog every hour. keep your demos short. 10 minutes MAX it keeps stuff flowing much faster and everyone can see most everything.
boothbabes: this has been covered a lot, i didnt see every booth that had them. Sprint didnt seem that bad. like last year the major offendor for me was the Triton booth. They were wearing the skimpiest clothing of the con hands down. DNF was fine in the spirit of the game, and they could have made those skirts much shorter. the qualm i have with them is when they leave their alloted space and wander in the aisle. one of the girls was handing out bottle openers (i think) in the middle of the lane adjacent to the swtor booth and it stopped everything fo 5 minutes. and since the line was roped off for her booth she couldnt be pushed back into it by the restless throngs beside her. Triton exhibitted this behavior as well not sure about sprint.
convention food: breakfast sandwiches awesome and decently priced. The level 0 food court food and similar carts sucked ass and were to expensive. the level 1 food court a bit better quality though doubly as expensive. Also 3 dollars for a bottle of water/coke. FUCK THAT. small food carts going around lines good idea. price still bad.
panels: for the most part all i went to were great. though please have at least 4 microphones for all theatres at all time. The IGDA dev center was the most glaring issues. 5 people on stage with only 2 microphones for the panelists to include. It was also far to small a space for the panels I went there to (One of Us and 10 games you need to play [misleading but still good])
The lay out for the most part was pretty good. Except for when the expo hall closed and a 2 minute walk from one end of expo center turned to a 5-10 minute trek to get to Table Top and beyond. Also the long ends to the rectangles had absolutely nothing there and it made for a pretty boring walk, have some signs or something at least to occupy us on the journey. The table top area was a million billion times better then last years as well keep that or even make it a bit bigger!
Queues: Line games on the screens were gone. The only thing I saw on those while waiting was an endless loop of that Tribes trailer, that didn't get old fast.
Also the indie game alley was depressingly hidden. I felt super bad for them and made sure to spend tons of time talking to them because it seemed they got tossed in a corner. Use that recluse space as storage or a small rest center in the expo hall.
Thats all i have for now, ill update or post more later as i can recollect.
I am a monster truck that walks like a man.
The convention center was some of the cheaper meals I had while in Boston, but just because I can afford it doesn't make the food good value. If I'm over to PAX East 2012, I'll definitely be looking harder into alternatives outside the convention center.
I just want to say again I had a great time and have to say everyone at PAX is so nice (like really nice, I've been to a ton of Anime cons and everyone at PAX is at least 10 times as nice). I talked to so many random people and everyone was cool and the Enforcers are always helpful. Thanks for having such and awesome event.
Here are things I've seen that I'd like to second or ideas of my own.
Please stop assuming that because you didn't want them there that they didn't want to be there. Stop assuming that because some of them were obviously models who were hired for their amazing bodies that they also weren't smart intelligent gamers who enjoyed the con and working there. Please stop unloading your personal world view and emotional baggage onto them. [/rant]
Apologies (kinda) for the wall of text.
tl:dr version - Awesome job, very specific and focused tweaking is needed, but amazing work for a con in it's East Coast infancy still.
The good and the bad:
Trolleys:
The courtesy orange trolleys that went to the local restaurants were life savers. As vegans, my wife and I found almost nothing to eat at the BCEC, but the Chinatown trolley let us off only a couple blocks from an all vegan restaurant. The only bad thing was the trolley timing. Since it takes a good 2 hours to trolley out somewhere, eat, and come back, having a trolley that only runs until 3 pretty much dictates your lunch time for you. This meant missing out on some panels we would have liked to see, as well as missing out on some expo hall time. The couple hours between the floor closing time and the concerts would have been an ideal time for the service to run to allow for getting some dinner. For next year, please announce ahead of time whether or not this service will be running again. If we had known in advance, we actually would have made a more convenient hotel choice this year. For those with special dietary needs (not just vegans), advance planning on where to eat and how to get off site to get there is a critical issue.
Bands:
The band merch alley and the bands in general were all very accessible and terrific. All the merch was reasonably priced and the bands made time to be at their booths at various times during the con to sign stuff. Fantastic.
The concerts were all especially great as well, but it would have been nice to see a few rows of chairs on the sides of the hall, in addition to the rows in the back.
Timing:
DST should be avoided at all costs. If anything the con should be longer (especially expo hall hours). I didn't feel like I got to see everything I wanted to, and wouldn't mind a fourth day. I think that would be appropriate for a convention of this size. Also, there was conflicting information given out about what time the expo hall closed on Saturday. Some things said 6PM, some said 7PM. Confusing.
Maps:
The maps were not clear at all, and equating the maps to the actual convention center was rough. Enforcers were all very helpful, but getting correct directions from BCEC staff was hit or miss. I can't entirely blame them. I'm sure if we said how do you get to (insert actual room number here) they would have known. But ask how to get to the Manticore room or whatever, and they have no clue. We found ourselves constantly on the wrong side of the floor, or going up to the second floor on the wrong side by accident.
Panels:
All the panels we went to were great, and we got into everything we wanted by arriving about 30 minutes in advance. The one exception was the Females on Female Characters panel. The line for this panel was at least three times the maximum capacity of the Wyvern room, and rivaled the lines for the Main Theatre. We arrived at least 30 minutes early, weren't even close to getting in, and the line was so long that it actually got to the end of the entire floor and wrapped back around on itself along the other wall. As the only dedicated panel to a very interesting topic for female gamers, this was a panel that had massive audience appeal and no alternatives. A lot of people were very disappointed to be turned away. In the future, any events like this should be in the Main Theatre.
Accessory vendors:
I would have liked to see more variety in accessory vendors out on the expo hall floor, if possible. For example, at Major Nelson's panel they brought up the Choixx power fort (an ultra portable backup battery unit for charging your portable USB devices) and I thought, great, I'm sold. That would be the type of thing I'd love to see for sale as an example.
Lines:
I see some people calling for the expo hall to be more spread out, but that wasn't really the issue. The walkways were more than sufficient if kept clear, and poorly managed lines and raffles were the real problems. For example, in some instances two major booths were next to each other with lines going around them on the opposite sides of the same walkway. Add onlookers to the mix and you're just asking for a log jam.
As an example of line management done right, look at Nintendo's exceptionally well-run booth. It was open for everyone to see what was going on, which cuts down on some traffic as people can see what's in there before they queue. They had a lot of stations (with incredibly knowledgeable and helpful staff I might add), a very efficient way of processing people in and out, and ran their relatively short line behind the booth so it didn't interfere with the interior walkways.
Also a couple booths like Portal 2 managed their lines in an organized way almost entirely on their own booth space. This should be required in the future for major booths in the center areas. They know how fast they can process people and how big their line will likely be, so there's no reason why they can't plan for it instead of deliberately pushing it out into the public spaces. The Gears booth was middle of the pack on this. While they had some spillage into walkways, they broke up their play areas into three separate lines and had them all run through the center of their own space. The Kinect booth also did this well.
Some booths like the Darkness II dumped 100% of their line in the walkways and had long waits, which was not very cool (though I enjoyed their demo tremendously).
Raffles:
Raffle management was bad, especially on the small outer ring booths. When a raffle is held for tickets handed out over 3 days you get a lot of people having to congregate in the walkway in front of a very small area. It's nearly impossible to not block the walkway, even with enforcers constantly pushing people back. This blocks all the nearby booths, creates an unpleasant situation for attendees, and is a fire hazard. It gets even more dangerous when they start tossing things out into the crowd. In the future this should be prohibited. There should be a dedicated raffle area established for this purpose, with the raffle times scheduled and posted. The generally wasted queue area in the expo hall comes to mind as a great place to use for this purpose. Everyone would know where to go whenever there was a raffle, and it could be conducted in a safe and non-disruptive way.
Cosplay:
It would be nice to see an official cosplay judging event. It would reward people for their hard work and provide a great time for people to see all the costumes and take pictures. One of the expo hall booths did a very brief one on Sunday and it was very popular.
Booth Babes:
From reading all the comments thus far, I'm very surprised that some people took issue with the Bioshock girl. If anything she was the perfect example of the right way to do it. She was not acting overtly sexual in any way or using sexuality specifically to sell a product. Not only was she dressed as a game character, but she was dressed modestly. There was only one of her there (not 10 dressed as the same character). She was knowledgeable about the game, and was posing and acting as her character for the photos in an appropriate setting.
Some booths (Turtle Beach/Sprint) come to mind were using the girls in a bad way. They were scantily clad for no legitimate reason, not dressed as characters, present in excessive number, not significantly knowledgeable about product (at least that I saw), and served no purpose aside from to attract people to the booth with sexuality. In general I found the entire Sprint booth to be in poor taste. While the charging stations were nice, it was the only booth that had an announcer that literally every time I walked by the booth made me think "man is that guy annoying". Also, if a booth is offering photo ops with models with no game context or other legitimate reason (Turtle Beach), it's crossing the line. The Coolermaster booth with the calendar was also inappropriate. I think there was one other booth I would add to this list, but it escapes me at this moment.
As for the DNF booth, I think with the photo op throne there, having two girls in character is arguably reasonable for a staged photo op, as long as they are also product knowledgeable. Maybe even a third to walk around and assist people would be ok. Think on this though. If they also had an actor playing the Duke, how many would have taken issue with the girls? In that scenario it would have been an ensemble cosplay related to the game - something that makes sense and is appropriate. When you have scantily clad girls dressed as minor characters while the main character of the game is conspicuously absent though, it's obvious what their intentions are and it becomes harder to justify.
Again I have to call out the Nintendo booth for perfection on this issue. They had both male and female booth attendants in abundance, dressed appropriately, (though dressed as game characters would have also been fine) who were also exceptionally knowledgeable on product. I must have asked dozens of questions in that booth and spoken to at least one attendant at each station and I was able to get a thorough answer every time. That's what's most important.
Having not talked to Robert about this yet, here's my take on changing rooms ...
Moving Main Theatre into one of the halls would be a disaster. While we'd be able to accommodate more people there are two huge drawbacks:
1) There is pretty much no way to do light control in there to a degree that would allow the sort of video reinforcement we need without a stratospheric budget. That pretty much eliminates being able to do major industry panels (and maybe even the make-a-strip panel). Not awesome. At the end of the day, video is the #1 thing we offer in there during the day, and to remove that kills MT.
2) Much worse (though I am an audio guy at heart so take this with a grain of salt) the acoustics in there would easily make it the worst sounding Main Theatre in PAX history by a huge margin. Even walking through during strike when the place is mostly empty, it is LOUD - every noise hangs in the air like the smell of old socks.
Finally, there were only a couple of times when Main Theatre had to stop admitting new audience members, and when we did have to turn away people the number was fairly small in the grand scheme of things (not meaning to be heartless - but it's a factor that needs to go into planning). Moving to a huge space would accommodate more people but if it isn't driving that much demand what's the driving reason that overcomes the above drawbacks?
Make a solid argument and sell me on it and I'll do what I can to make the full argument up the chain - but keep in mind that I've given it a lot of thought and so have a number of other people, and I think we're currently using the optimal setup given the available constraints and factors.
Happy to answer questions in PM - I am terrible about checking these forums, so it is better to reach me at pax_theatre@penny-arcade.com if you have feedback or questions. This is a hobby for me, and PAX is my vacation from a pretty demanding job, so replies may take a while but I will get to them.
Thanks for putting it forward!
Aleks/Cheebus
Who wants to talk video tech?
The ball wasn't dropped - the technical setup for the final round was more complex than we were able to broadcast out of the room, something that hadn't been in the initial plans and was added to try and enhance the experience for attendees. With more lead-time for setting up the streams next year this sort of situation can be avoided, but I think having it at all far outweighs the inconvenience of not getting a perfect experience for that event.
To describe the setup, we had two video switchers, each driving one of our two video screens, with one as the master that fed the secondary for the other events as well as providing the broadcast feed. For the final round, each switcher had a console attached and it routed that console's output to it's own screen. Because of the way our gear was set up/the gear on-hand, the options were to either not broadcast the final round (that would suck the most), broadcast only one console's feed (that would just be bizarre), or hope that a single camera shot would capture things well enough to convey the action to a reasonable level.
The secondary effect of the switcher setup was that once we put the consoles on the screens we didn't have a way to monitor the broadcast send and had to hope the camera guy was able to get a good shot. In the future, I hope to have a different video switching solution in place (for a variety of reasons) that would allow us to do an inset side-by-side of the two consoles on the broadcast send (assuming that we do another dual-console round like this one day) - and the venue is upgrading its in-building video distribution to support HD resolutions so you _may_ even be able to make out what is happening
Aleks/Cheebus
Holy crap, I'm back in Seattle and going through this at 1:30am after getting off my flight. Work tomorrow will be lols, but this needs a reply
1) Mic placement is something that we can reconsider, but there are other problems that come up with lines out to the side. I don't expect we'll change this, but I'll consider options.
2) We don't have much say on stage height - we use what is available, and in general I am happy with this height. Video reinforcement should be filling in where sight lines fail. Seating layout is up to the venue - unless you want to pay for them to refit the room
3) There was a large protected wheelchair/medical area at the downstage-left edge of the stage at the concerts. Attendees with medical badges were made aware of this, and we accommodated as many people as we could. People who got there after it was full or who declined sitting there were out in the audience-at-large.
-Aleks/Cheebus
I'd love to have more chairs, but it's not really possible given the number of people we put in that space. I wanted to up the remaining chairs to 10 rows after the first night, but knew that it would cause a massive space problem and sadly shelved the idea.
The best suggestion I can make is to get a medical badge if it is appropriate - we have some accommodations for folks for whom standing for hours is not viable.
Aleks/Cheebus
Quick replies as I am fading fast (but still reading!)
There are 6 bands that were chosen for PAX East and I had to arrange them into two concerts and coordinate tech time for them with the other events in that space, time to get people in, and out, and a lot of assorted technical needs. You (and others) should dissuade yourselves of the idea that there is such a thing as "opening band" or "headliner" for PAX concerts. All of the acts are excellent and each are effectively headliners. The timing is arranged to maximize our ability to set up the acts, have a quick set of changeovers between them, and try and divide along loose thematic lines. For example, the Friday concert was arranged as it was because The Protomen are a very complex setup and we needed to tech them right before we opened the doors, then MC Frontalot has the biggest draw, and Metroid Metal can close out to their (significant) fan base. The concerts will always be in the evenings for many reasons, and in order to allow 45-60+ minutes per act they will run late. I ask acts to target a 45 minute set, but many factors play into the actual length of their sets. In the past, concerts have run to 3am or later, an option that I am not a fan of, and which has not been possible in our recent venues.
I'm not sure what you mean about VGO having their own concert last year - the Saturday concert last year was identical to the lineup this year.
Edit!
Folks who register for medical badges are informed of the accommodations for them in Main Theatre. Those resources are not infinite, but we do everything we can to work with them. I am not aware of folks bringing in more than their +1 (who also is given a medical badge - only folks with those should be in the area) but I'll see if the House Manager is aware and if we need to update our policy/training.
Aleks/Cheebus
We were concerned about the demand for the event and believed it would be fairly quick, and so opted to remove all chairs. Next year, I'll plan to match the concert setup (5 rows of chairs).
Aleks/Cheebus
So do I!
Aleks/Cheebus
Paul&Storm and JoCo had as much or more time scheduled this year than last. There was an Omegathon round (Rock Band of some sort). The difference is that the Omegathon was really fast last year and fairly long this year, so it made things feel more rushed. I'd like to start it even earlier, but the other demands of the schedule (most of which are not apparent if you just look at the content that is in the space) dictate a lot of what is possible.
Aleks/Cheebus
For what it's worth, I don't think I've seen a Sunday Q&A hit capacity (except maybe at Prime 2010 in the smaller venue we had) - I know it doesn't take all of the worry away, but 99.999% chance is that if you wander in at the tail end of the preceding panel you'll find a seat without trouble. Though the secret is out now....
Aleks/Cheebus
I like this plan!
I don't get to book the acts!
Sadface!
Aleks/Cheebus
(Been up for 20 hours or so including a long flight after 6 days of not sleeping and super high stress - hopefully I am still coherent!)
I do like this idea and will look into it for future Paxii, but the tradeoff will be that I will have to strictly enforcer (hah, a pun!) a "No Sitting on the Floor" rule.
Aleks/Cheebus
(Almost done! Gonna make it? Gonna make it!)
I made it.
And not a single C-C-C-Combo Breaker!
Hopefully, these replies were useful, and gave you some insight into the factors that have to get balanced that may not be readily apparent. Main Theatre is a crazily-complex ballet with a thousand moving parts and I strive to make it as smooth as possible so you all never notice any of the clockwork grinding away in the background. I'll happily dig into things (probably in PM or email rather than cluttering up this thread any more) if folks would like to further the discussion.
But now, I sleep.
Then tomorrow I get to go make video games. Which is sweet, because while I was at PAX from almost the initial moments until at one point on Monday when I was the only person on the 3rd floor of the entire building, I didn't get to play or see any games other than the really crappy one on my cell phone that lets my brain get distracted for a moment.
On second thought, I don't really get to play the game at work either.
I should sleep.
I'll probably buy and play Ikaruga.
PAAAAXXXXX!
Aleks/Cheebus
Oh, oh, oh, oh, pick me, pick me!
Seriously though; good to hear the video distribution equipment is going to be upgraded. Assuming that video to the hotels is impractical (the Seaport has a cabled LAN, but unless there's some practical way of running a fibre cable across the bridge I can't see that helping, and I haven't a clue if any of the other hotels have anything similar), any chance of providing streamable recordings of events later on (e.g. upload to Amazon EC2 and use a Wowza streaming instance - http://www.wowzamedia.com/ec2.html )?
Streaming outside of the building presents a world of problem. Seriously. Not just from a technical point of view, which we have a pretty good grasp on - it is like taking the lid off of a witch's cauldron and she's been watching Food Network but substituting liberally from her pantry. This goes for Prime as well.
It is a common topic of conversation. When it is viable it will be done, when it is not it will not be. We recognize the interest and value, but as with everything else, many factors have influence.
Aleks/Cheebus
Did I say I was going to bed? I didn't say _when_ did I?
How about now?
Oh!
As for recordings being available at a later date, I have no say in that. I think it would be neat, but then you get into a world of factors outside of my horizons of awareness.
I like the metaphor... kinda...
I figured it was probably impractical, but it doesn't stop me hoping
If you want to mention the making recordings later thing to people who would have a say in it, see if the idea sticks, would be awesome. If there's no-one in specific, maybe just try mentioning it to random people you meet
Now go sleep!
I know the Westin Waterfront overbook issue has been beaten to death with hammers.
The satellite food court was huge, and probably not the best use of space.
Enforcers rock my world, and I object to not getting to hug each and every one of them (except BigRed, he scares the shizz out of me).
Mad props to the guys from Battleground games who stuck around till closing every night in the tabletop area. Those guys rocked.
The "How to get the most out of your GM" panel was poorly done. I would think hard before giving those guys another panel.
The "D&D Edition Wars" panel was great, but there were sound issues with the mics. Can you triple-check sound function before panels please?
The Sprint booth babes outfits and the Duke Nukem girls were inappropriate. I know this has been talked about a lot, but I have to add it in here. It's just not PAX-kosher (or PAX-halal).
I loved the configuration of indie alley, but it would be great if you could concentrate software/games people. As it was, they were interspersed with some hardware and vendors. Not the end of the world, but as media it's really nice to just be able to go booth to booth to booth one next to the other.
The mini merch booth out front was a great idea, but it would be helpful if it was clear when it was going to open (we found ourselves waiting for a cash box when we went there friday morning).
There were no penguins walking around PAX. I don't see why you gotta be hating on the penguins.
The tabletop area was fantastic, and I loved being able to look into it from the skybridges.
Cell phone coverage was bad (as usual). Any chance of getting Sprint to send out a mobile booster for the event?
Media room was very helpful, though the lockers ran out quickly. If you could stack a few more in there, we'd love you lots. Also a couple of quiet room for podcasting would be superb (though that's wishful thinking, probably).
The BCEC is big, and people were often asking "where is X". More maps with "You are here" signs would definitely help!
I saw Major Neslon and crew at the Pod Cast taping and they showed off the Zagg charger there I believe. BUt either way yeah more vendors for the PC and stuff would be nice. There where plenty there for the Card and Board games though.
100% agree.
Actually they did have a Duke there. He just was not always out. Maybe because of crowd issues cause every time he was out the area got conjested. OR contract agreements .. either way he wes there.
And games like Duke are geared and marketed torwards the 16-25 (or so) MALE age group. SO of course it's gonna have girls like that not to mention it is kinda what Duke is about
I dont mind booth babes if they are done appropriately and respectfully for the games they are selling. The Bioshock girl was awesome, loved the game and knew what she was talking about. She was excited to be there, but when you have random girls in skimpy clothes to try and sell a game like Lord Of The Rings (not saying they were there just an example) or some NVidia Computer parts, thats when it crosses into distasteful territory. It also just feeds into the stereotype that gamers are only single, obese men that watch porn all day and would only be interested in the booth because they beautiful women which they could never have are nice to them and try to sell them the game.
Oh and the Duke Nukem forever Booth Babes were perfect IMO cause it fit with the theme of the game.
Zagg, thanks! Sorry, remembered the wrong one. Same idea.
Unless there was another Duke I never saw, the Duke you're referring to was actually a PAX attendee in cosplay that hung out in that area a bit for obvious reasons.
More signs pointing to where things are.
More signs where people can see them. It is really hard to see a sign a ground level when there are 5 people standing in front of it. Signs should be handing.
Better orientation of the signage. Every map was pointed in the same direction, making it difficult to get my orientation. The maps need to be customized for where they are in the building.
The food was pretty lousy and way overpriced. I know this is a con and everything has to cost too much, but it really sucks for the attendees. Maybe next year you could give them a break on the rental of the space in order to drive prices down. Please taste the food before allowing people to sell it. Most of the food I ate there (save for the Sam Adam's place) was bland and unappealing.
You can also hop the silver line to get to South Station if you don't want to walk there. It's super fast and the wait was short every time, for me.
In the satellite food court it seemed like they just had ordinary food carts set up. There are quite a few decent to great food cart and food truck vendors in the Boston area, and if they could park themselves in that satellite section I think people would be very happy with them.
Off the top of my head, these are the cart vendors that set up every lunchtime M-F just a mile away from the BCEC:
And elsewhere nearby: