To the concert people complaining about Benaroya, what about the Paramount Theatre? It's one block away from the convention center (there abouts might be two) and concerts is what they do.
Pretty sure that khoo made a post explaining why they couldnt get the paramount.
The only issue I had at PAX was getting access to the internet.
As a foreigner without a US phone number I wasn't going to be using my data roaming as that would have bankrupted me immediately.
Some kind of Wi-Fi or internet stations (with short time limits) for use would have been perfect for me to keep in touch with people and check my twitter.
Otherwise I had an amazing time at PAX.
Thanks to everyone that worked so hard on making an amazing event
The only issue I had at PAX was getting access to the internet.
As a foreigner without a US phone number I wasn't going to be using my data roaming as that would have bankrupted me immediately.
Some kind of Wi-Fi or internet stations (with short time limits) for use would have been perfect for me to keep in touch with people and check my twitter.
Otherwise I had an amazing time at PAX.
Thanks to everyone that worked so hard on making an amazing event
There is wifi available at pax.
For a more stable connection though I advise you to check out BYOC next year.
If you need to have the internet at pax its worth the cost, also there are contests, and its a great place to just hang out place some PC games, and drop off your swag.
To the concert people complaining about Benaroya, what about the Paramount Theatre? It's one block away from the convention center (there abouts might be two) and concerts is what they do.
Pretty sure that khoo made a post explaining why they couldnt get the paramount.
So we get stiff once in a while. So we have a little fun. What’s wrong with that? This is a free country, isn’t it? I can take my panda any place I want to. And if I wanna buy it a drink, that’s my business.
To the concert people complaining about Benaroya, what about the Paramount Theatre? It's one block away from the convention center (there abouts might be two) and concerts is what they do.
Pretty sure that khoo made a post explaining why they couldnt get the paramount.
Yeah, but I think it'd be ridiculous to make that stance non-negotiable, especially given that Paramount had an empty theater during PAX this year. It basically comes down to "do you want to earn money this weekend or not"? Even as a non-profit, I can't see why they would opt for "not" unless they value uniformity/rigidity that much.
The only issue I had at PAX was getting access to the internet.
As a foreigner without a US phone number I wasn't going to be using my data roaming as that would have bankrupted me immediately.
Some kind of Wi-Fi or internet stations (with short time limits) for use would have been perfect for me to keep in touch with people and check my twitter.
There is wifi available at pax.
For a more stable connection though I advise you to check out BYOC next year.
If you need to have the internet at pax its worth the cost, also there are contests, and its a great place to just hang out place some PC games, and drop off your swag.
The Wifi at PAX did not work even slightly. You are correct that it existed, but it dangled just out of reach like some jerk dangling something just out of reach.
As someone in the same boat as the original poster I tried wifi. I also tried data roaming (with Telstra prepaid one can buy 10mb for $30) which works for a little Twitter, texting, Facebook with a little forethought and email, but cell reception was completely impossible inside the convention center. Cell reception started working after about midnight on convention days.
As for BYOC, if you brought your gaming laptop or were brave enough to submit your precious baby to the tender mercies of baggage handlers and us customs, neither of which I was in a position to do, you could access Internet while you were there. What you couldn't do was all the things the 21st century has gifted us with, such as instantaneous communications, dynamic scheduling, queue monitoring, any form of spontinaity, and contact with friends new and old. Pax is short, the path to byoc is long, and pcs are so very heavy. And as all gamers know, ping time is everything, in personal communication as well as life (ie gaming)
smerk on
What is this 'Pants' of which you speak?
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whypick1PAX [E] Info Booth Manager~2' from an LCDRegistered Userregular
As for BYOC, if you brought your gaming laptop or were brave enough to submit your precious baby to the tender mercies of baggage handlers and us customs, neither of which I was in a position to do, you could access Internet while you were there. What you couldn't do was all the things the 21st century has gifted us with, such as instantaneous communications, dynamic scheduling, queue monitoring, any form of spontinaity, and contact with friends new and old. Pax is short, the path to byoc is long, and pcs are so very heavy. And as all gamers know, ping time is everything, in personal communication as well as life (ie gaming)
...you know all the PC Freeplay computers had internet access, right?
Thought that they might be entertaining for the more mature gamers out there. Though I don't know how far their range of operations is... Might be more feasable for EAST.
Okay so for I believe 08 I mentioned this idea, and I think this year it's worth bringing up again. Especially after what I heard happened with the Omegathon final.
Why not in some spot in the convention hall, set up a group of crane games. Three different sizes and worth a certain amount to play, with all the proceeds they make going to Child's Play. They can all be stuffed with swag the game companies donate to them.
So the smallest would be one of those ones you see in the store that's just full of candy. Only here on top of candy there can also be keychains, buttons, little knick knacks of the sort. The price to pay to play on this could be 50 cents.
The next one up is your standard sized one. This would can contain mostly t-shirts, small card games, bigger swag from the show floor. Set the price to this one for 1 dollar.
Finally one of those big ass ones. This one can be filled with games, even systems, just the biggest and best things you could possibly want to win. Set the price on this to 5 dollars.
Now for all this, you can set up the machines in one of the smaller conference rooms, and arrange an organized line outside. When they get to go in the person states what machine they want to play (small, medium, large, Just one or more then one), then they go in, get their chance on whatever machines they wanted once. Then come back out and if they want to go again can go back in line.
Also for each of the machines you can set up special rewards that would be extremely rare to win (IE only put into the machine once). Like backstage pass to that night's concerts, a special meet and greet with one of the special guests, special invite to one of the company parties that are set up over the PAX weekend. ETC, etc. You can even have a white board set up outside the room where you can find out what are the big prizes to win at that time.
Um, I have a TL;DR version I'll do at work...but just some thoughts.
1) Love the idea of using Benaroya Hall. Paramount is marginally bigger (300 folks), and a much worse place for panels, and a slightly better place for concerts (I've seen 20+ concerts there, mind you). If you were able to get a zerg of enforcers, it might be possible to do the concerts where they were in 2009, and just do the main panels at Benaroya. Only key might be that should the weather not cooperate (and wow, we had BAD weather this summer in Seattle), having people wait outside in line could end poorly. Might want to move the initial morning line inside if possible.
2) Media badges are getting a little too easy to get, and as someone who went to E3 2004-2006, I am deathly afraid of the same thing happening, where anyone with a website can get a media badge. Please, PLEASE (if possible), try to be more discerning about who gets Media badges. I talked to about 10 media types over PAX, and only one was working for someone I would call legit (G4). The rest openly admitted that they made shady websites to get Media badges. >_<
3) Cosplay was fun. I saw Leeloo, and I think most people can agree she rocked the outfit very well. I had a friend doing the super cool Akuma outfit, and I think it brings a lot of awesomeness to PAX. Even the bigger gentleman without the shirt wasn't necessarily the most pleasant site, but he has a right to rock what he wants to wear.
4) Move Acquisitions Inc and Wheaton to the main theater. I've said Wheaton needs to be in the main theater since 2008, and he should be.
5) Make a Robert Khoo / the business behind PA panel! Hell, put it in the main theater. That panel would be amazing, and as someone whose job is similar to Khoo (taking stuff and making it work), I find him and how he got PA to where it is utterly fascinating.
6) Two more twitter accounts: PAX_lines_pegasus, and PAX_lines_theaters -- the twitter feeds for the line were epic, and if possible, have one for Pegasus & one for the Raven / Wolfman / etc theaters? Hell, I'll personally volunteer to run one of 'em, even if it means spending PAX going from theater to theater, that is fine by me, and I sure as hell won't volunteer someone for something I wouldn't be willing to do. :-)
7) I know this is a PITA to do technically, but more streaming to the queue hall / BYOC area for the main theater panels would be pretty awesome. Or perhaps floor 1/2 of the hidden hall?
This was my first year at PAX, and it was easily one of the highlights of my year. Being in a place filled with things you enjoy, surrounded by like-minded people who often share your thoughts, opinions and general nerdiness cannot be surpassed.
I spent a good majority of my time in the expo hall, seeing what companies plan on releasing this year. Helps me determine if I want a game when it releases to the public, or to try something I never would have even known existed otherwise. Free stuff is good too =D PC Freeplay was fun to go with friends when we needed a relaxer or someplace to sit (mostly the latter). Tabletop HQ let me try out new boardgames too. Panels were generally informative, and the overall atmosphere was astounding.
It was an amazing experience, but I do have some suggestions:
1. Really there was so much to see and do it was hard to do it all in three days. 4 days please?
2. MOAR TABLES!!! Preferably large ones, as we had to play a rather large boardgame on the floor, as many others did. All the ones in the tabletop rooms were full too =( In general more places to sit just in the hallways would be great too.
3. Reader boards, TV's, projectors, etc. all over with the official twitter feeds, as well as things of note happening soon.
4. Free parking? Oh wait, I forgot. We're in Seattle.
5. Network together the 360's, PS3's etc. in the console freeplay area so larger parties can play in a LAN game together
6. Rent more Microsoft Surfaces, those things are fun!
Other comments:
I have AT&T, but had no problems wih cell reception, I could make calls whenever I needed to meet up with someone. Not sure what troule others were having.
Benaroya hall is easily the best place to have the concerts. Many people were complaining that the acoustics were off, but that theater was designed in '98 to have some of the best architectural acoustics of the time, and the Seattle Symphony plays there regularly. I imagine there was some confusion on the mixing levels...
Overall, had a great weekend, and can't wait until next year! Cheers!
Oh, another suggestion: Perhaps rent out a few conference halls at the nearby hotels and use them as video rooms? Livestream the popular panels or show geeky movies like Dr. Horrible or The Guild during other times?
Suggestion: partner with Amtrak to get a promotional discount. I would love to take Amtrak Cascades down from Vancouver instead of driving. Trains are a bit more civilized.
Suggestion: partner with Amtrak to get a promotional discount. I would love to take Amtrak Cascades down from Vancouver instead of driving. Trains are a bit more civilized.
Amtrak is a government owned company.
Thats like asking the IRS for a discount on my taxes :P
Oh yeah, one other thing. In the queue room, we weren't let into the expo hall in the order we arrived, rather it seemed fairly random. Please let the people who waited longer go in first...
Two problems with the front rows of the Benaroya:
First, the HDTVs you had set up for the musicians prevented people up front from seeing much on-stage. During some of the sets, some of those seats went empty.
Second, a complaint about the sound: The monitors that sat on the edge of the stage did not have any vocals coming out of them. I could hardly understand any of the singers; we only gleaned a couple words here and there when the reverb off the walls of the concert hall didn't prevent us from understanding them, and even then it was only possible to hear the vocals when the frequency range they occupied wasn't filled with the sound of the bands' musical instruments.
So in terms of sight and sound, please give more consideration to the front rows of the Benaroya next time.
Just watched the latest PATV, and the hand sanitizer segment at the end gave me this idea for cutting down on the spread of microbes at PAX:
Make a blend of hand sanitizer and a skin-safe dye that fades away after 20-30 minutes of exposure to air[1]. Put dispensers of this stuff all over the expo hall. Randomly reward attendees whose palms are still dyed with stuff like moving to the front of a line, extra time with exhibits, or snacks.
Hand contact isn't the only way to spread disease, and I have no idea whether it's economical, but I thought it was worth sharing. HTH.
[1] Don't know off-hand what dyes exhibit these properties, but at one point I owned a sunscreen which was purple when applied and faded to nothing after a few minutes to show coverage.
Just watched the latest PATV, and the hand sanitizer segment at the end gave me this idea for cutting down on the spread of microbes at PAX:
Make a blend of hand sanitizer and a skin-safe dye that fades away after 20-30 minutes of exposure to air[1]. Put dispensers of this stuff all over the expo hall. Randomly reward attendees whose palms are still dyed with stuff like moving to the front of a line, extra time with exhibits, or snacks.
Hand contact isn't the only way to spread disease, and I have no idea whether it's economical, but I thought it was worth sharing. HTH.
[1] Don't know off-hand what dyes exhibit these properties, but at one point I owned a sunscreen which was purple when applied and faded to nothing after a few minutes to show coverage.
At pax east they had little stations with hand sanitizer. If you want to use it then feel free to if you bring your own great more power to you. The idea though that we should have peoples hands dyed a certain color is a bad idea much less i have no clue how it would even work. Cutting in line pisses people off especially if its something as arbitrary as colored hands.
Please people wash your hands encourage others to do so as well but beyond that it's only going to annoy people.
chupamiubre on
<ZeroHourHero> I have a tiny penis
<Qs23> I just need to get my dicks in a row
<prox> i work for dicks #paforums_pax, all about the dicks.
Best practices are the ones that aren't intended to spike corporate sales. :winky:
1) Just remember to wash your hands after you use the bathroom (I mean, c'mon guys...yeah you, I saw you walk out without washing).
2) Don't eat, touch your eyes, pick your nose (yeah, you in back), stick your finger in your ear (okay, this one's me), or otherwise touch any of your orifices UNTIL you've washed your hands. Your skin is the result of thousands of years of evolution to protect your innards from the various ills of the world. Those soft spots inside your orifices...not so much.
3) If you're sick, do NOT shake hands or touch people unless you haven't got a choice. It's a gaming expo so everyone's handling those controllers. I get it. You COULD have hand sanitizers for every booth (but they have to be kept filled!) to clean up after using a game controller but then there's the cost...
4) If you even suspect you might be picking up something (slightly sore throat, more tired than normal--I know, we're all tired by the end--or something more obvious like sneezing, coughing, weeping pustules, limbs falling off), please try to refrain from doing things that spread germs like sneezing or coughing into the open space between me and you. Cover your mouth/nose/etc. Basic hygiene my friends...basic...binary...
And before you ask, no I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. Let's just say, in a previous life I studied those very bugs that spread like wildfire at PAX and other large accumulations of human lifeforms. As mad scientist as this sounds: viruses are beautiful and elegant. They pack all sorts of misery in the smallest of packages and manage to make it all happen on someone else's dime.
I'm chiming in on the Benaroya hate. Mainly because this is the first year of PAX (I've been to every one) I was missed the Final Omegathon and it was purely because of that hall. The walk there is 5m if you're lucky and every light is green as you walk down and you walk at a brisk pace. It took 15m for me to get down since I had to wait for every light. It was infuriating to spend all that time walking to get turned away after I got there. In addition, according to people who did make it in, there were still plenty of empty seats even after it had started meaning I could have easily gotten in when I got there. And also, the Enforcers obviously didn't know about the queue room since I'd assume that as they turned people away they would have had the decency to mention such a place existed.
It was a huge bummer ending to a fun weekend, especially since it was apparently the most awesome Final Round in the last few years.
Was anyone else disappointed by the Panels this year? It seemed like half of them were how to get into the game industry and then a bunch of obscure things I had never heard of. Last year It was hard to fit in exhibition time whilst this year I was bored at several points as I only came to the venue with my brother and I didn't meet up with people I have met online to eat time.
Someone has already mentioned that lines this year were insane no doubt. Several of the demos were over 10 minutes long with over 2 hour lines that is insane. You could be in line for an hour and a half only to leave for a really important panel.
- I want to say cut down on ticket sales but that would upset a lot of people no doubt.
- Limit demo times in the expo hall / have more stations for big titles.
edit: I have been to PAX twice and apparently wrist bands for the concerts are hard to get, I didn't want to go alone so I never really bothered but next year I think I want to view some regardless.
I'm chiming in on the Benaroya hate. Mainly because this is the first year of PAX (I've been to every one) I was missed the Final Omegathon and it was purely because of that hall. The walk there is 5m if you're lucky and every light is green as you walk down and you walk at a brisk pace. It took 15m for me to get down since I had to wait for every light. It was infuriating to spend all that time walking to get turned away after I got there. In addition, according to people who did make it in, there were still plenty of empty seats even after it had started meaning I could have easily gotten in when I got there. And also, the Enforcers obviously didn't know about the queue room since I'd assume that as they turned people away they would have had the decency to mention such a place existed.
It was a huge bummer ending to a fun weekend, especially since it was apparently the most awesome Final Round in the last few years.
This can't be a serious complaint...how do you get to a job or class on time?
Enforcers should have the power + balls of steel to drive scalpers away. I saw one 3 day badge sold to someone desperate, prolly paid 200+ for it.
Enforcer Barracks, visible from the expo hall, with refreshments, chow, and rest spots would be good. Our Enforcers should have a lot of perks given the responsibilities they have. Consider 'Enforcer Sponsors'.
LINES AND DEMO REQUIREMENTS
Ridiculous this year. Its sad to see PAXers stuck for 20 minutes or more, waiting in line. Should require a fast and thorough demo experience, that does not involve gutting my PAX time in queue.
SILLY GEESE MARKETROIDS, BOOTH BABES?
I got nothing against boobs, booths or babes. But some marketroid giving me packets of dandruff shampoo? Srsly. Would love more cosplay booth babes, Gearbox section did this well. I'm not sure what else was advertised this year, did shaving cream come into the mix? I came here to play, not be reminded of my terrible hygeine.
MUSIC
Fsck the Benaroya for 'standing space' bands like the Protomen. Give us back our glorious expo hall! Some of us wanna mosh, wanna rock, and wanna move.
COSPLAY
Cosplay section, or maybe a cosplay 'free zone' should be allocated. Good for photos and rp'ing. Makes it easier to access, focuses cosplayers into one conglomerate.
Keep PAX the way it is; Pure Awesomeness.
Dude, i was stoked on the free dandruff shampoo. I put that sh*t to work.
I was less than stoked. I was handed a leaky shampoo packet.
Krathoon on
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GundabadPAX East & Unplugged Tabletop ManagerNJRegistered Userregular
edited December 2010
Waiting in Expo Lines
I don't think limiting what companies can do in the expo hall is a good idea, just force them to be honest about what they are doing. If they have a 15 minute demo that seats X number of people, they can easily calculate the time that will be spent in line, similar to how roller coasters estimate wait times. Require that they provide time estimates at some regular interval in line, and then each attendee can decide for themself if something is worth waiting 1 hour, 2 hours, etc. for.
Tabletop Matchmaking
A large stock of table flags made available in tabletop HQ that say "Players Needed". You can buy these from restaurant supply, as they usually have customer #s in them that you take back to your table so the wait staff knows who gets which meal. Check out a game from HQ and could use another player? Set it up and put the flag on top of the game. If people know this is going on, I'm sure you'll have enough players in 5-10 minutes. This is how things work at BoardGameGeekCon and it's smooth.
The Benaroya
Was awesome. Lot of people voicing their complaints but I thought it was great in most aspects and what didn't work can be fixed. You guys did a great job getting that place.
I look at the fact that we all have to play with one another, with the long lines and all. I had to miss most game play because I have a spinal injury that stops me for standing in one place for more than 5-10 mins. Yeah it sucked that I couldn't see everything but it would have been just as hard if I have been in all the lines. Lots of pretties!
hml151 on
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School Girl Goodness...Watch for us at future PAX Prime events. If want some of my geek chic collection, click on the etsy link.
Fsck the Benaroya for 'standing space' bands like the Protomen. Give us back our glorious expo hall! Some of us wanna mosh, wanna rock, and wanna move.
This times a thousand. I felt so confined during the concerts that I actually had MORE fun at The Protomen's hijacking of the Jamspace. Being able to move around and have a good time is important and Benaroya sucks ass for it. Not to mention that the acoustics blow if you're up front. Benaroya was built for symphonies and things like that, not for speaker fed, face melting awesome. The main speaker bank is above the people sitting in front which means we're getting hosed pretty bad.
I enjoyed PAX 2010 as my second PAX, and brought two of my friends who are now going to be PAX regulars.
I know alot of people didn't like Benaroya, but I actually enjoyed having seats for the concerts, and the additional space that the hall provided for the popular panels and such.
Another awesome PAX, keep it up guys!
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GundabadPAX East & Unplugged Tabletop ManagerNJRegistered Userregular
How would you deal with everyone at the expo wanting to see a popular game like Portal 2 or DNF?
People would have to make decisions such as "is it worth it for me to wait in this line?". How badly do you need to see the Portal 2 demo, is it worth an hour? Maybe. Is it worth 2 hours? If not, then there are a lot more people who want to see it more than you, so go make better use of your time.
If you came away from PAX having spent a lot of time in lines and then felt bad about it, then you probably just didn't make the best use of your time. Even if you avoid the expo hall, you're never going to see everything great at a single PAX, so this is not just me trolling on people who want to see all of the expo hall booths. Plotting out a good schedule is something every con-goer should learn.
Expo hall wait times are really an argument between the attendees and the companies, but it's much harder to contact someone in a large company than it is to lodge this complaint with the PAX staff. It would be nice to see this feedback passed on, as I'm sure everyone agrees that lower wait times would generally be a better thing. I'm still not convinced it should be mandated though.
I'm chiming in on the Benaroya hate. Mainly because this is the first year of PAX (I've been to every one) I was missed the Final Omegathon and it was purely because of that hall. The walk there is 5m if you're lucky and every light is green as you walk down and you walk at a brisk pace. It took 15m for me to get down since I had to wait for every light. It was infuriating to spend all that time walking to get turned away after I got there. In addition, according to people who did make it in, there were still plenty of empty seats even after it had started meaning I could have easily gotten in when I got there. And also, the Enforcers obviously didn't know about the queue room since I'd assume that as they turned people away they would have had the decency to mention such a place existed.
It was a huge bummer ending to a fun weekend, especially since it was apparently the most awesome Final Round in the last few years.
This can't be a serious complaint...how do you get to a job or class on time?
On another note, if you get a BYOC pass Final round is broadcast there, I also know it was broadcast in the queue room.
Enforcing an earlier possible line-up time limit would be great. Nobody wants to wait around and everyone wants to see as much as possible, yet the line-ups get started hours early, sometimes even before the panel or two before the panel they are waiting for.
I only went to a few of the popular panels and they were packed. I waited for quite a while and still ended up in the further rows, which is annoying because I don't require my glasses but I'm not good at reading small text.
I also noticed that because it was so packed, some panels were nigh-impossible to get into. Sometimes I wonder if it might of been a better idea to stick highly-popular panels at the same time, therefore people have to choose. This way the people who don't want to wait in line for hours could have a chance to get into a panel they want to see.
Many things went right at PAX. Love the convention. Some suggestions though:
Benaroya Hall
Pros: Seating (really nice to be able to sit)
Cons: If someone leaves, the seat just stayed empty. This wasn't a problem at '09 when folks could easily come/go. However, the biggest problem was the vocals. HORRIBLE. Couldn't understand a word of MC Frontalot or the new songs by JoCo. The irony of going to an actual concert venue only to have WORSE sound than the convention center. WEIRD.
Suggested Solution: Fix the sound at Benaroya (not sure if that's reasonable or not) or find another venue that has good vocals. Either way, the sound quality should be the highest priority imo. Perhaps move more of the convention over to the annex which seemed under-utilized so the main theater could be used again.
In fact, what if BYOC was put over there which would open room for additional panels / exhibitors in the main convention area.
Lines/When to Wait
As echoed by many, we were given bad information by enforcers about when lines were supposed to start. When we showed up at the right time, it was full already. Missed the D&D Game because of this and it was the only panel we planned on seeing for sure.
Suggestion: Use monitors to display live twitter feed (or RSS feed) that has the latest line/info. We tried to use twitter but cell service and wifi was horrible.
Enforcers
It was clear the enforcers were not all on the same page. I encourage enforcers to NOT MAKE UP information that they don't know and I encourage the organizers to help the enforcers be well informed.
In fact, what if BYOC was put over there which would open room for additional panels / exhibitors in the main convention area.
Not gonna happen. the annex doesn't have a large enough space for all of PC area (which would have to go together) plus afaik insufficient power drops.
For prime 6ABC is really the only room that works for PC.
Posts
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?p=15777288#post15777288
Paramount wants a cut pretty much.
As a foreigner without a US phone number I wasn't going to be using my data roaming as that would have bankrupted me immediately.
Some kind of Wi-Fi or internet stations (with short time limits) for use would have been perfect for me to keep in touch with people and check my twitter.
Otherwise I had an amazing time at PAX.
Thanks to everyone that worked so hard on making an amazing event
There is wifi available at pax.
For a more stable connection though I advise you to check out BYOC next year.
If you need to have the internet at pax its worth the cost, also there are contests, and its a great place to just hang out place some PC games, and drop off your swag.
Well that's a shame.
The Wifi at PAX did not work even slightly. You are correct that it existed, but it dangled just out of reach like some jerk dangling something just out of reach.
As someone in the same boat as the original poster I tried wifi. I also tried data roaming (with Telstra prepaid one can buy 10mb for $30) which works for a little Twitter, texting, Facebook with a little forethought and email, but cell reception was completely impossible inside the convention center. Cell reception started working after about midnight on convention days.
As for BYOC, if you brought your gaming laptop or were brave enough to submit your precious baby to the tender mercies of baggage handlers and us customs, neither of which I was in a position to do, you could access Internet while you were there. What you couldn't do was all the things the 21st century has gifted us with, such as instantaneous communications, dynamic scheduling, queue monitoring, any form of spontinaity, and contact with friends new and old. Pax is short, the path to byoc is long, and pcs are so very heavy. And as all gamers know, ping time is everything, in personal communication as well as life (ie gaming)
...you know all the PC Freeplay computers had internet access, right?
... Well of course I did ... What do you think I am... Some kind of ... Not ...knowing things ... Guy?
It's not like I hung out playing tabletop until closing every night like some weird freak or anything.
I like to think my point about social ping stands though, at least partially. I retract the ranting nature of my post, however.
http://www.cosplayburlesque.com
Thought that they might be entertaining for the more mature gamers out there. Though I don't know how far their range of operations is... Might be more feasable for EAST.
The last app was a great idea, and well executed. Unfortunately it was nearly useless due to the flipping of booths and theater changes.
If you do have one, have it updated. Or at least update it during the show via the App store.
Other than that, more SWAG!
Why not in some spot in the convention hall, set up a group of crane games. Three different sizes and worth a certain amount to play, with all the proceeds they make going to Child's Play. They can all be stuffed with swag the game companies donate to them.
So the smallest would be one of those ones you see in the store that's just full of candy. Only here on top of candy there can also be keychains, buttons, little knick knacks of the sort. The price to pay to play on this could be 50 cents.
The next one up is your standard sized one. This would can contain mostly t-shirts, small card games, bigger swag from the show floor. Set the price to this one for 1 dollar.
Finally one of those big ass ones. This one can be filled with games, even systems, just the biggest and best things you could possibly want to win. Set the price on this to 5 dollars.
Now for all this, you can set up the machines in one of the smaller conference rooms, and arrange an organized line outside. When they get to go in the person states what machine they want to play (small, medium, large, Just one or more then one), then they go in, get their chance on whatever machines they wanted once. Then come back out and if they want to go again can go back in line.
Also for each of the machines you can set up special rewards that would be extremely rare to win (IE only put into the machine once). Like backstage pass to that night's concerts, a special meet and greet with one of the special guests, special invite to one of the company parties that are set up over the PAX weekend. ETC, etc. You can even have a white board set up outside the room where you can find out what are the big prizes to win at that time.
This was my first year at PAX, and it was easily one of the highlights of my year. Being in a place filled with things you enjoy, surrounded by like-minded people who often share your thoughts, opinions and general nerdiness cannot be surpassed.
I spent a good majority of my time in the expo hall, seeing what companies plan on releasing this year. Helps me determine if I want a game when it releases to the public, or to try something I never would have even known existed otherwise. Free stuff is good too =D PC Freeplay was fun to go with friends when we needed a relaxer or someplace to sit (mostly the latter). Tabletop HQ let me try out new boardgames too. Panels were generally informative, and the overall atmosphere was astounding.
It was an amazing experience, but I do have some suggestions:
1. Really there was so much to see and do it was hard to do it all in three days. 4 days please?
2. MOAR TABLES!!! Preferably large ones, as we had to play a rather large boardgame on the floor, as many others did. All the ones in the tabletop rooms were full too =( In general more places to sit just in the hallways would be great too.
3. Reader boards, TV's, projectors, etc. all over with the official twitter feeds, as well as things of note happening soon.
4. Free parking? Oh wait, I forgot. We're in Seattle.
5. Network together the 360's, PS3's etc. in the console freeplay area so larger parties can play in a LAN game together
6. Rent more Microsoft Surfaces, those things are fun!
Other comments:
I have AT&T, but had no problems wih cell reception, I could make calls whenever I needed to meet up with someone. Not sure what troule others were having.
Benaroya hall is easily the best place to have the concerts. Many people were complaining that the acoustics were off, but that theater was designed in '98 to have some of the best architectural acoustics of the time, and the Seattle Symphony plays there regularly. I imagine there was some confusion on the mixing levels...
Overall, had a great weekend, and can't wait until next year! Cheers!
Amtrak is a government owned company.
Thats like asking the IRS for a discount on my taxes :P
First, the HDTVs you had set up for the musicians prevented people up front from seeing much on-stage. During some of the sets, some of those seats went empty.
Second, a complaint about the sound: The monitors that sat on the edge of the stage did not have any vocals coming out of them. I could hardly understand any of the singers; we only gleaned a couple words here and there when the reverb off the walls of the concert hall didn't prevent us from understanding them, and even then it was only possible to hear the vocals when the frequency range they occupied wasn't filled with the sound of the bands' musical instruments.
So in terms of sight and sound, please give more consideration to the front rows of the Benaroya next time.
Hand contact isn't the only way to spread disease, and I have no idea whether it's economical, but I thought it was worth sharing. HTH.
[1] Don't know off-hand what dyes exhibit these properties, but at one point I owned a sunscreen which was purple when applied and faded to nothing after a few minutes to show coverage.
At pax east they had little stations with hand sanitizer. If you want to use it then feel free to if you bring your own great more power to you. The idea though that we should have peoples hands dyed a certain color is a bad idea much less i have no clue how it would even work. Cutting in line pisses people off especially if its something as arbitrary as colored hands.
Please people wash your hands encourage others to do so as well but beyond that it's only going to annoy people.
<Qs23> I just need to get my dicks in a row
<prox> i work for dicks
#paforums_pax, all about the dicks.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/58819-hand-sanitizers-kill-bacteria/
Best practices are the ones that aren't intended to spike corporate sales. :winky:
1) Just remember to wash your hands after you use the bathroom (I mean, c'mon guys...yeah you, I saw you walk out without washing).
2) Don't eat, touch your eyes, pick your nose (yeah, you in back), stick your finger in your ear (okay, this one's me), or otherwise touch any of your orifices UNTIL you've washed your hands. Your skin is the result of thousands of years of evolution to protect your innards from the various ills of the world. Those soft spots inside your orifices...not so much.
3) If you're sick, do NOT shake hands or touch people unless you haven't got a choice. It's a gaming expo so everyone's handling those controllers. I get it. You COULD have hand sanitizers for every booth (but they have to be kept filled!) to clean up after using a game controller but then there's the cost...
4) If you even suspect you might be picking up something (slightly sore throat, more tired than normal--I know, we're all tired by the end--or something more obvious like sneezing, coughing, weeping pustules, limbs falling off), please try to refrain from doing things that spread germs like sneezing or coughing into the open space between me and you. Cover your mouth/nose/etc. Basic hygiene my friends...basic...binary...
And before you ask, no I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. Let's just say, in a previous life I studied those very bugs that spread like wildfire at PAX and other large accumulations of human lifeforms. As mad scientist as this sounds: viruses are beautiful and elegant. They pack all sorts of misery in the smallest of packages and manage to make it all happen on someone else's dime.
:: Pressing the PACK button on his soapbox ::
It was a huge bummer ending to a fun weekend, especially since it was apparently the most awesome Final Round in the last few years.
Someone has already mentioned that lines this year were insane no doubt. Several of the demos were over 10 minutes long with over 2 hour lines that is insane. You could be in line for an hour and a half only to leave for a really important panel.
- I want to say cut down on ticket sales but that would upset a lot of people no doubt.
- Limit demo times in the expo hall / have more stations for big titles.
edit: I have been to PAX twice and apparently wrist bands for the concerts are hard to get, I didn't want to go alone so I never really bothered but next year I think I want to view some regardless.
- It sounds like the concerts need bigger venues.
This can't be a serious complaint...how do you get to a job or class on time?
Dude, i was stoked on the free dandruff shampoo. I put that sh*t to work.
I don't think limiting what companies can do in the expo hall is a good idea, just force them to be honest about what they are doing. If they have a 15 minute demo that seats X number of people, they can easily calculate the time that will be spent in line, similar to how roller coasters estimate wait times. Require that they provide time estimates at some regular interval in line, and then each attendee can decide for themself if something is worth waiting 1 hour, 2 hours, etc. for.
Tabletop Matchmaking
A large stock of table flags made available in tabletop HQ that say "Players Needed". You can buy these from restaurant supply, as they usually have customer #s in them that you take back to your table so the wait staff knows who gets which meal. Check out a game from HQ and could use another player? Set it up and put the flag on top of the game. If people know this is going on, I'm sure you'll have enough players in 5-10 minutes. This is how things work at BoardGameGeekCon and it's smooth.
The Benaroya
Was awesome. Lot of people voicing their complaints but I thought it was great in most aspects and what didn't work can be fixed. You guys did a great job getting that place.
http://s774.photobucket.com/user/SchoolGirlGoodness/library/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/VeronatheMad
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
This times a thousand. I felt so confined during the concerts that I actually had MORE fun at The Protomen's hijacking of the Jamspace. Being able to move around and have a good time is important and Benaroya sucks ass for it. Not to mention that the acoustics blow if you're up front. Benaroya was built for symphonies and things like that, not for speaker fed, face melting awesome. The main speaker bank is above the people sitting in front which means we're getting hosed pretty bad.
I know alot of people didn't like Benaroya, but I actually enjoyed having seats for the concerts, and the additional space that the hall provided for the popular panels and such.
Another awesome PAX, keep it up guys!
People would have to make decisions such as "is it worth it for me to wait in this line?". How badly do you need to see the Portal 2 demo, is it worth an hour? Maybe. Is it worth 2 hours? If not, then there are a lot more people who want to see it more than you, so go make better use of your time.
If you came away from PAX having spent a lot of time in lines and then felt bad about it, then you probably just didn't make the best use of your time. Even if you avoid the expo hall, you're never going to see everything great at a single PAX, so this is not just me trolling on people who want to see all of the expo hall booths. Plotting out a good schedule is something every con-goer should learn.
Expo hall wait times are really an argument between the attendees and the companies, but it's much harder to contact someone in a large company than it is to lodge this complaint with the PAX staff. It would be nice to see this feedback passed on, as I'm sure everyone agrees that lower wait times would generally be a better thing. I'm still not convinced it should be mandated though.
Saturday is the most attended day so there will be alot of people, and Friday people will be running to that line.
Sunday afternoon the line will be filled with people who put it off. So sunday morn would be the best bet in my experience.
On another note, if you get a BYOC pass Final round is broadcast there, I also know it was broadcast in the queue room.
I only went to a few of the popular panels and they were packed. I waited for quite a while and still ended up in the further rows, which is annoying because I don't require my glasses but I'm not good at reading small text.
I also noticed that because it was so packed, some panels were nigh-impossible to get into. Sometimes I wonder if it might of been a better idea to stick highly-popular panels at the same time, therefore people have to choose. This way the people who don't want to wait in line for hours could have a chance to get into a panel they want to see.
Benaroya Hall
Pros: Seating (really nice to be able to sit)
Cons: If someone leaves, the seat just stayed empty. This wasn't a problem at '09 when folks could easily come/go. However, the biggest problem was the vocals. HORRIBLE. Couldn't understand a word of MC Frontalot or the new songs by JoCo. The irony of going to an actual concert venue only to have WORSE sound than the convention center. WEIRD.
Suggested Solution: Fix the sound at Benaroya (not sure if that's reasonable or not) or find another venue that has good vocals. Either way, the sound quality should be the highest priority imo. Perhaps move more of the convention over to the annex which seemed under-utilized so the main theater could be used again.
In fact, what if BYOC was put over there which would open room for additional panels / exhibitors in the main convention area.
Lines/When to Wait
As echoed by many, we were given bad information by enforcers about when lines were supposed to start. When we showed up at the right time, it was full already. Missed the D&D Game because of this and it was the only panel we planned on seeing for sure.
Suggestion: Use monitors to display live twitter feed (or RSS feed) that has the latest line/info. We tried to use twitter but cell service and wifi was horrible.
Enforcers
It was clear the enforcers were not all on the same page. I encourage enforcers to NOT MAKE UP information that they don't know and I encourage the organizers to help the enforcers be well informed.
Not gonna happen. the annex doesn't have a large enough space for all of PC area (which would have to go together) plus afaik insufficient power drops.
For prime 6ABC is really the only room that works for PC.