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PAX EAST 2012 SUGGESTIONS THREAD

12346

Posts

  • KiashienKiashien Medford, MARegistered User regular
    YodaTuna wrote: »
    Kiashien wrote: »
    Wolfiee wrote:
    5. Organization. This is probably because of the ridiculous amount of people this year, but a lot of the organization for the lines, at least for panels, weren't very organized. Sometimes we never knew where the line began and ended and we were often moved around. As mentioned above, we would get in line really early for some panels (in fear of missing out), which sometimes granted us a front-row seat. However, there were many times where we would sit down in a line and then get moved to another room a few minutes later. This often resulted in a ton of people, who were BEHIND us, rushing to get in the front. This is unfair to those who were waiting longer. I also had a friend complain about a lot of people being confused as to where the line would start, causing them to just cut in front discretely. Again, unfair. I don't like waiting 2 hours only to have someone come in 5 minutes before the panel starts and get a better seat than me. Sounds whiny and babyish, but I can't help it.

    Lines were screwed up due to Convention staff this year is my understanding. They're working on it, but it wasn't Enforcer's fault. Also, you weren't supposed to be allowed to line up at all until X minutes before the start to dissuade people from lining up 2 hours early. Again, more inter-staff confusion is my understanding.

    I'm gonna disagree with you here. The actual convention staff was far less prevalent this year than last year. The only thing I ever saw them do was check badges at the doors. They never did any line management.

    This is absolutely wrong- I was BYOC with 80 pounds of gear strapped to my back, and the convention staff tried to make me wait in line 2 hours FOR A LANYARD. I walked up to the info desk, got a lanyard, and walked around until I found an Enforcer, who told me how to get to BYOC and bypass the retarded psycho line.

    That was the staff that wanted me to stand in line carrying enough weight to make most Army Men go "WTF?" (They would have handled it, but god they would have been pissed.)

    Convention center staff definitely and totally messed up this.

    The pirate hat riding bobcat compels you...

    Relevant info: #PAX East: 3 Coin Lunch organizer. 2012 Trading card available. Pokecrawl Assistant 2012. Pokecrawl attendee 2011. Cult of the Leaf attendee 2012.
  • KiashienKiashien Medford, MARegistered User regular
    Having read the entire thread to this point, some simple ideas that might be feasible:

    #1: The Tabletop area was super gorram confusing. It really needs to be open, like it was last year. I get that various vendors wanted their own areas.. but maybe we can figure something out? All the vendors along the walls, with X tables in front of their area theirs? So many were reserved for tournaments, it made it insane to find a VISIBLE table that you could play a game at... A ton of Tabletop is organic - "Oh cool they're setting up munchkin, I wonder if they have space for us.." is a simple example.

    #2: At least my hotel ran shuttles until 3 am, but every half hour isn't enough- or at least it seems like it. PAX knows when the concert is getting out- can they arrange for shuttles to be present and just run back and forth ASAP at that point? It's less about a schedule at that point, and more about waiting in the cold for something that may or may not be there in 2 or 20 minutes.

    #3: BYOC shouldn't be adjacent to the Exhibit hall. Or, if so, it really needs a wall. I won't keep ranting, since it's in the BYOC thread.

    #4: The Expo food is horribly overpriced and is awful. The Shuttle food is expensive, but is generally awesome and not overpriced. Basically.. Signs should reflect that the shuttles are awesome and people really do need to use them if they don't want to wonder where the lube is.

    To put it in perspective, you can get goddamned wood-grilled fresh alaskan trout with two sides that is totally splittable as a lunch for two people at LTK for about 20 bucks. Including soda. Or you can get a burrito that, despite having no salsa, will magically be too spicy to eat despite not being marked as spicy on the menu for $9... or a slice of pizza for 7 dollars... or magically spicy cashew chicken (How the hell?) at the asian stand for 8.50... and still have to pay $3 for a drink. Remember friends, fancy restaurants sound expensive until you realize how much the BCEC is raping you for absolute garbage.

    #4.5: I mostly suggest #4 since the BCEC ignored your requests for better food and for more options- I didn't see either, and believe me, I would have GLADLY paid $9 for an edible meal that actually WAS a meal. Unfortunately, only the burritos had enough food to constitute a meal, and they weren't edible.

    5: Cabs. Hand out fliers. Put a gorram sign up in the cab line. I took six cabs during the convention, as a local. Not a single one didn't try to fuck me. Excuse the language, but my fare each time should have been six dollars. It eventually was- or was after they weren't tipped. I'm FROM Boston. I know the area. I know the laws. I was super pissed- but they really kept it going. Every time.

    Oh, a dirty trick they use if your cab ride is far enough- their GPS's are set to "Avoid highways" unless you demand they fix it. Fun.

    Post the laws all around the cab lines if you can. If not, handouts, and all over the place signs facing inward when they walk out. And make goddamned sure the Hackney division of the BDP knows you're doing it, and yes, to be fair, let the cab companies know it too. I'll even help write them if you want! Cabs won't try this garbage if they think you're informed.

    I know there's a limit to what's feasible, but knowledge is power in this case- EVERY law in Boston is in your favor. It's just a goddamned pain in the ass to convice the cabbies that you know that.

    The pirate hat riding bobcat compels you...

    Relevant info: #PAX East: 3 Coin Lunch organizer. 2012 Trading card available. Pokecrawl Assistant 2012. Pokecrawl attendee 2011. Cult of the Leaf attendee 2012.
  • TangoTango Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    I have to say, I was impressed by the BCEC's tasty "sausage-inna-bun" stands -- though, to carry that reference on, the prices were indeed worthy of CMOT Dibbler himself. I definitely felt the food situation in the con center was an improvement over last year, though.

    Also, there were fewer MCCA Public Safety staff because Anime Boston was running at the Hynes at the same time as PAX East. They had to split their staff between the two shows.

    Tango on
  • ChorazinChorazin Lancaster, PARegistered User regular
    Tango wrote: »
    I have to say, I was impressed by the BCEC's tasty "sausage-inna-bun" stands -- though, to carry that reference on, the prices were indeed worthy of CMOT Dibbler himself. I definitely felt the food situation in the con center was an improvement over last year, though.

    I agree, those sammiches were pretty good. I would have prefered fries over chips if I'm paying $9, but I didn't walk away unhappy.

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  • vttymvttym Ardent Gamer Northern NJRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    I thought there was a decent variety of food, TBH. The prices WERE ridiculous, but that's to be expected. If you want cheaper, a 15 minute walk down Summer St. will bring you to a food court with a variety of options.

    I did find the best bang for the buck was the chicken fingers and fries ($8.50) next to the Rock Band freeplay stage. My daughter charmed them, and they loaded up enough in the little basket for myself and my daughter to eat, and that's saying something. And the quality was actually pretty good. The sausage with peppers and onions I had the day prior for $9 was awful.

    vttym on
  • artificialartificial Registered User new member
    Those of you complaining about media, for next year I would suggest getting that media person's name/company and making a specific complaint. Not all media cut lines (and has been pointed out previously, had a scheduled appointment), and not all media were dicks looking to cut line. Just as I'm not going to lump all males in the same boat as the select few who chose not to bathe/wear deodorant or who treated me as inferior because of my gender (and WHOA that was bad this year from both attendees and exhibitors), you shouldn't be lumping all media into the same category.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited April 2012
    artificial wrote: »
    Those of you complaining about media, for next year I would suggest getting that media person's name/company and making a specific complaint. Not all media cut lines (and has been pointed out previously, had a scheduled appointment), and not all media were dicks looking to cut line. Just as I'm not going to lump all males in the same boat as the select few who chose not to bathe/wear deodorant or who treated me as inferior because of my gender (and WHOA that was bad this year from both attendees and exhibitors), you shouldn't be lumping all media into the same category.

    I don't think the presence of "all" media causes any of these problems, I think the presence of media-specific badges are at least a partial cause though. When I say that media badges should be removed, it's because their presence creates the perception that there's something special about being media at PAX, when we are always told that PAX is an attendee-first conference (which I still believe for the most part it is) and that media don't get special privileges. Exhibitors, for example, get a lounge because they are /paying/ money to be there, AND they are a big part of the show itself for attendees. Media, on the other hand, gets a free badge and implied extra status (even if many perfectly fine media folks don't treat it that way) and extra access, and they do not directly participate in making the show any better for attendees in a way that is visible to the attendees.

    I keep going back to where @Robert Khoo spoke about the media and exhibitors in his Q&A (which was fantastic btw) and said that PAX doesn't compromise attendee experience for media or exhibitor pressure. I think at this point it's pretty clear that even if many media folks do not compromise attendee experience, the perception that they do is pretty prevalent. I'm glad that they made the requirements for media badges at PAX more strict, but I still don't see the direct visible attendee benefit to having media badges exist.

    zerzhul on
  • tvethiopiatvethiopia Salem MARegistered User regular
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun. just one meeting room set aside and stocked with some kid-appropriate console and tabletop games from the freeplay libraries (or independently donated maybe?) and staffed by special enforcers who have experience with kids and have been CORI checked. we were thinking it would be for kids 10 yrs old and under (although a minimum cutoff of 3yrs or so would probably be prudent). i noticed quite a few pax folk with kids in tow, and we had a 9 yr old with us, and i just think it would be cool for there to be a place the kids could all meet and hang out while also giving their adults time to go do what they want to do. there could even be organized activities and stuff. as a girl scout troop leader, i would totally volunteer to staff something like that, and i think others would agree that playing games with kids would be a pretty sweet enforcer shift.

    <3 Daintier. Smarter. Better dressed. <3
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  • artificialartificial Registered User new member
    zerzhul wrote: »
    Media, on the other hand, gets a free badge and implied extra status (even if many perfectly fine media folks don't treat it that way) and extra access, and they do not directly participate in making the show any better for attendees in a way that is visible to the attendees.

    I'm going to defect back to this response:
    vttym wrote: »
    As much as it may surprise some, vendors don't spend money being at PAX to manage lines and shovel out swag. They're there in hopes to expose their product to as many people as possible. Part of that is letting the community experience it at PAX. And part of that is letting the media write about that experience.

    There is always going to be media, that is the point of exhibitions. To a larger extent, most of the media folks played nice. Those who didn't are the ones who should be named and shamed, and dealt with. Again, let's not vilify an entire group because some individuals are being dicks. Some of the exhibitors actually had media areas outside of the exhibition hall (Square Enix had a suite at the Westin) which lessened the impact on attendees.

  • ZombiewskiZombiewski New JerseyRegistered User regular
    Xiryc wrote: »
    Why put screens in the queue room if you aren't going to do anything with them?

    THIS. Bring back the fantastic line games from the first PAX East.

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  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    artificial wrote: »
    zerzhul wrote: »
    Media, on the other hand, gets a free badge and implied extra status (even if many perfectly fine media folks don't treat it that way) and extra access, and they do not directly participate in making the show any better for attendees in a way that is visible to the attendees.

    I'm going to defect back to this response:
    vttym wrote: »
    As much as it may surprise some, vendors don't spend money being at PAX to manage lines and shovel out swag. They're there in hopes to expose their product to as many people as possible. Part of that is letting the community experience it at PAX. And part of that is letting the media write about that experience.

    There is always going to be media, that is the point of exhibitions. To a larger extent, most of the media folks played nice. Those who didn't are the ones who should be named and shamed, and dealt with. Again, let's not vilify an entire group because some individuals are being dicks. Some of the exhibitors actually had media areas outside of the exhibition hall (Square Enix had a suite at the Westin) which lessened the impact on attendees.

    I totally agree that there will be media at PAX. I'm not saying that media needs kicked out. I'm saying that members of the media do not need a special badge to write about PAX.

  • Lindsay LohanLindsay Lohan Registered User regular
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun. just one meeting room set aside and stocked with some kid-appropriate console and tabletop games from the freeplay libraries (or independently donated maybe?) and staffed by special enforcers who have experience with kids and have been CORI checked. we were thinking it would be for kids 10 yrs old and under (although a minimum cutoff of 3yrs or so would probably be prudent). i noticed quite a few pax folk with kids in tow, and we had a 9 yr old with us, and i just think it would be cool for there to be a place the kids could all meet and hang out while also giving their adults time to go do what they want to do. there could even be organized activities and stuff. as a girl scout troop leader, i would totally volunteer to staff something like that, and i think others would agree that playing games with kids would be a pretty sweet enforcer shift.

    Even if they couldn't have a staffed kid's room for actually leaving the kids by themselves it would be great if there could be a parent's/kid's room for those of us with kids. Seems like there's plenty of room to put something together.

    It wouldn't take a huge amount of stuff - bean bag chairs, a few consoles, a small lending library of games, maybe a Kinect. It would great just for some downtime or to make connections with other parents. It would be awesome to have a place to sit down, chat with some other parents, maybe play a round of Catan or something while giving the kids a chance to play with some other kids. I would think someone like Nintendo would love to do a "PAX Family Room sponsored by Nintendo". I would also love to volunteer to help with organizing something like that.

    I know we do these every year where we make recommendations but I can't remember, does anyone official actually review or comment on these?

  • tvethiopiatvethiopia Salem MARegistered User regular
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun. just one meeting room set aside and stocked with some kid-appropriate console and tabletop games from the freeplay libraries (or independently donated maybe?) and staffed by special enforcers who have experience with kids and have been CORI checked. we were thinking it would be for kids 10 yrs old and under (although a minimum cutoff of 3yrs or so would probably be prudent). i noticed quite a few pax folk with kids in tow, and we had a 9 yr old with us, and i just think it would be cool for there to be a place the kids could all meet and hang out while also giving their adults time to go do what they want to do. there could even be organized activities and stuff. as a girl scout troop leader, i would totally volunteer to staff something like that, and i think others would agree that playing games with kids would be a pretty sweet enforcer shift.

    Even if they couldn't have a staffed kid's room for actually leaving the kids by themselves it would be great if there could be a parent's/kid's room for those of us with kids. Seems like there's plenty of room to put something together.

    It wouldn't take a huge amount of stuff - bean bag chairs, a few consoles, a small lending library of games, maybe a Kinect. It would great just for some downtime or to make connections with other parents. It would be awesome to have a place to sit down, chat with some other parents, maybe play a round of Catan or something while giving the kids a chance to play with some other kids. I would think someone like Nintendo would love to do a "PAX Family Room sponsored by Nintendo". I would also love to volunteer to help with organizing something like that.

    I know we do these every year where we make recommendations but I can't remember, does anyone official actually review or comment on these?

    the nintendo sponsorship idea did occur to me as well, since i've heard they're pretty welcoming to kids that visit their booth. the op says that organizers do read this thread, so maybe someone will go for the idea!

    <3 Daintier. Smarter. Better dressed. <3
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  • Moe FwackyMoe Fwacky Right Here, Right Now Drives a BuickModerator mod
    Tango wrote: »
    Also, there were fewer MCCA Public Safety staff because Anime Boston was running at the Hynes at the same time as PAX East. They had to split their staff between the two shows.

    I said it before, but I would have appreciated it if they had kept a single elevator tech on site. I honestly don't believe the tech was on site at Anime Boston either, given the amount of time it took him to get to the BCEC.

    E6LkoFK.png

  • Lindsay LohanLindsay Lohan Registered User regular
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Tango wrote: »
    Also, there were fewer MCCA Public Safety staff because Anime Boston was running at the Hynes at the same time as PAX East. They had to split their staff between the two shows.

    I said it before, but I would have appreciated it if they had kept a single elevator tech on site. I honestly don't believe the tech was on site at Anime Boston either, given the amount of time it took him to get to the BCEC.

    Is that why there was an enforcer over by the elevators on Sunday? I thought it was kind of odd that they would dedicate an enforcer soley to making sure people didn't use an elevator.

  • Moe FwackyMoe Fwacky Right Here, Right Now Drives a BuickModerator mod
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Tango wrote: »
    Also, there were fewer MCCA Public Safety staff because Anime Boston was running at the Hynes at the same time as PAX East. They had to split their staff between the two shows.

    I said it before, but I would have appreciated it if they had kept a single elevator tech on site. I honestly don't believe the tech was on site at Anime Boston either, given the amount of time it took him to get to the BCEC.

    Is that why there was an enforcer over by the elevators on Sunday? I thought it was kind of odd that they would dedicate an enforcer soley to making sure people didn't use an elevator.

    I'm not sure. On Friday, 14 of us got stuck in an elevator on the second floor and were in there for 40 minutes waiting on the elevator tech. It took him 30 of those 40 just to get to the BCEC and another 5 to get to the elevator from outside.

    E6LkoFK.png

  • lucazzolucazzo Registered User regular
    This is more closely related to media badges:

    Media registration began in January and badges were assigned to the various organizations during the first week of March, barely a month before PAX. Before this, nobody knew how many badges would be assigned to an outlet, if any.

    Considering hotels are pretty much sold out by February (unless you're willing to stay at one a good hour away by T, or $20 cab ride), it really complicates things for smaller media outlets when it comes to planning. Hotel needs to be set by January, and flights by the end of February due to limited availability. Only knowing in March if these arrangements will come to fruition cuts it very, very close.

    The fellows at the Bohle company were very gracious with any inquiry, and we know their job is crazy during those months. Still, it would be nice to know a bit further ahead of time.

    PAX East '11 Team Squirtle Group B - Professor.
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  • BigRedBigRed Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Tango wrote: »
    Also, there were fewer MCCA Public Safety staff because Anime Boston was running at the Hynes at the same time as PAX East. They had to split their staff between the two shows.

    I said it before, but I would have appreciated it if they had kept a single elevator tech on site. I honestly don't believe the tech was on site at Anime Boston either, given the amount of time it took him to get to the BCEC.

    Is that why there was an enforcer over by the elevators on Sunday? I thought it was kind of odd that they would dedicate an enforcer soley to making sure people didn't use an elevator.

    I'm not sure. On Friday, 14 of us got stuck in an elevator on the second floor and were in there for 40 minutes waiting on the elevator tech. It took him 30 of those 40 just to get to the BCEC and another 5 to get to the elevator from outside.

    Well I heard lots of people mention how shitty traffic was in boston that weekend, cant blame him for bad traffic.

    <MoeFwacky> besides, BigRed-Worky is right
  • SleepSleep Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun. just one meeting room set aside and stocked with some kid-appropriate console and tabletop games from the freeplay libraries (or independently donated maybe?) and staffed by special enforcers who have experience with kids and have been CORI checked. we were thinking it would be for kids 10 yrs old and under (although a minimum cutoff of 3yrs or so would probably be prudent). i noticed quite a few pax folk with kids in tow, and we had a 9 yr old with us, and i just think it would be cool for there to be a place the kids could all meet and hang out while also giving their adults time to go do what they want to do. there could even be organized activities and stuff. as a girl scout troop leader, i would totally volunteer to staff something like that, and i think others would agree that playing games with kids would be a pretty sweet enforcer shift.

    I don't even have kids yet and this sounds like an awesome idea. Although I would have to say less of a daycare vibe and more of a place for families to meet up sounds like an excellent idea. A room with some kinnects and some wiis with some kid friendly titles in them. I'm thinking like a little nerd playground basically. Bring your kids let them play around with other kids while you keep an eye on them and socialize with other parents doing the same thing. Although while I agree that it is a pretty decent idea I would not want to be the enforcer for that room (not that I totally hate kids I just don't like having that many kids around all at once). A headache at the end of the day is almost guaranteed if there are that many loud children about and your not ready for it/ trained to deal with it. I'm actually pretty sure given the nature of things in the state of MA they would have to hire specially trained enforcers for that room. Namely people trained in child care with some sort of certification or at minimum trained as lifeguards. If they could get the volunteers it would be awesome but I don't think a normal enforcer could even be put in charge of that room. Although I may be entirely wrong about that as I'm no lawyer.

    Sleep on
  • RevGutterRevGutter Registered User regular
    Only suggestions I have are concert related.
    Start the concerts earlier if possible. A HUGE chunk of the crowed left before MC Frontalot came on. I'm sure a good amount of people only stuck around for JoCo, but I did over hear some leaving who had no clue who Front even was. Maybe if it wasn't so got dang late they would have stuck around to find out. He brings so much energy and awesomeness even in the wee hours it's just a shame it ran too late for some to fully enjoy it.

    Would also love to see more variety in musical acts. Front should be a staple, maybe I'm biased but PAX wouldn't feel right without the latest version of the PA theme song. Was very happy to see Super commuter, maybe one night could be all the nerdcore, Front, SC, Mega-Ran and Lars or something.

    ALSO!! Give Protomen their own full concert at some point in the weekend. Let them do Acts 1 & 2 in it's entirety with enough time to expand the stage show. Maybe it will give them extra motivation to finish Act 3.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    BigRed wrote: »
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Tango wrote: »
    Also, there were fewer MCCA Public Safety staff because Anime Boston was running at the Hynes at the same time as PAX East. They had to split their staff between the two shows.

    I said it before, but I would have appreciated it if they had kept a single elevator tech on site. I honestly don't believe the tech was on site at Anime Boston either, given the amount of time it took him to get to the BCEC.

    Is that why there was an enforcer over by the elevators on Sunday? I thought it was kind of odd that they would dedicate an enforcer soley to making sure people didn't use an elevator.

    I'm not sure. On Friday, 14 of us got stuck in an elevator on the second floor and were in there for 40 minutes waiting on the elevator tech. It took him 30 of those 40 just to get to the BCEC and another 5 to get to the elevator from outside.

    Well I heard lots of people mention how shitty traffic was in boston that weekend, cant blame him for bad traffic.

    Yeah I think his point is that the tech should have been on-site given how large the show is.

  • vttymvttym Ardent Gamer Northern NJRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun.. ....... lots of other stuff ....

    Love the idea, but this will require more setup than just slapping a few enforcers in there. People would need some sort of child care certification for this to work for a public venue such as this. And while I know it's PAX, and we're all there for the same reason, I know I would not want my daughter sitting in front of TVs playing games all day. If this were to work, it'd need to be more tuned to what most day cares have - centers for learning and exploration. Not saying no tech, but certainly not all tech either :) .. It would be tough to have kids aged 3-9 in one room, so this would also have to be expanded to multiple age rooms. And considering there's probably insurance and licenses that would need to be acquired in order to run this kind of thing, for 3 days, I don't know if it's worth it.

    I love the idea, and maybe next year we parents schedule a meetup for an hour or two in the many nearby parks or children's museum or aquarium.. I just don't see how it would work logistically. Not for lack of space, but for the many other costs and considerations.

    vttym on
  • KiashienKiashien Medford, MARegistered User regular
    RevGutter wrote: »
    ALSO!! Give Protomen their own full concert at some point in the weekend. Let them do Acts 1 & 2 in it's entirety with enough time to expand the stage show. Maybe it will give them extra motivation to finish Act 3.

    As much as I love Protomen (And I loves me some Protomen) that would be unfair- as it was they got the longest slot this year, and managed to do more than an entire act. There's not many chances for geeky bands to all get together and put on a sweet concert, and it'd detract from that if it was just "Protomen."

    The pirate hat riding bobcat compels you...

    Relevant info: #PAX East: 3 Coin Lunch organizer. 2012 Trading card available. Pokecrawl Assistant 2012. Pokecrawl attendee 2011. Cult of the Leaf attendee 2012.
  • Moe FwackyMoe Fwacky Right Here, Right Now Drives a BuickModerator mod
    zerzhul wrote: »
    BigRed wrote: »
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Tango wrote: »
    Also, there were fewer MCCA Public Safety staff because Anime Boston was running at the Hynes at the same time as PAX East. They had to split their staff between the two shows.

    I said it before, but I would have appreciated it if they had kept a single elevator tech on site. I honestly don't believe the tech was on site at Anime Boston either, given the amount of time it took him to get to the BCEC.

    Is that why there was an enforcer over by the elevators on Sunday? I thought it was kind of odd that they would dedicate an enforcer soley to making sure people didn't use an elevator.

    I'm not sure. On Friday, 14 of us got stuck in an elevator on the second floor and were in there for 40 minutes waiting on the elevator tech. It took him 30 of those 40 just to get to the BCEC and another 5 to get to the elevator from outside.

    Well I heard lots of people mention how shitty traffic was in boston that weekend, cant blame him for bad traffic.

    Yeah I think his point is that the tech should have been on-site given how large the show is.

    Exactly this. There is little to no reason that a single elevator tech could not be on-site for the weekend of a show as huge as PAX. Especially knowing that people will fill up elevators, and when they break down, it's not 1-4 people, but 14 that get stuck in there.

    Of course, this may also have been an elaborate scheme to prevent the PAX Prank from making it to the Q&A on time... or an elaborate scheme to make sure we were EXACTLY on time, given how late the keynote ran.

    E6LkoFK.png

  • tvethiopiatvethiopia Salem MARegistered User regular
    vttym wrote: »
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun.. ....... lots of other stuff ....

    Love the idea, but this will require more setup than just slapping a few enforcers in there. People would need some sort of child care certification for this to work for a public venue such as this. And while I know it's PAX, and we're all there for the same reason, I know I would not want my daughter sitting in front of TVs playing games all day. If this were to work, it'd need to be more tuned to what most day cares have - centers for learning and exploration. Not saying no tech, but certainly not all tech either :) .. It would be tough to have kids aged 3-9 in one room, so this would also have to be expanded to multiple age rooms. And considering there's probably insurance and licenses that would need to be acquired in order to run this kind of thing, for 3 days, I don't know if it's worth it.

    I love the idea, and maybe next year we parents schedule a meetup for an hour or two in the many nearby parks or children's museum or aquarium.. I just don't see how it would work logistically. Not for lack of space, but for the many other costs and considerations.

    i think most of this could be addressed by the suggestion others have made that, rather than having a staffed daycare situation it would be more of a family room for kids and parents. also, i hadn't really imagined it as somewhere you would leave your kid all day. i would imagine that most parents bringing kids to pax want to spend time with their kids, but might want a couple of hours to themselves for playing demos on the expo floor or attending a panel that might not be kid appropriate. a family room seems more feasible though, and having a selection of kid-appropriate games (video & tabletop) for them to try out would be fun too.

    <3 Daintier. Smarter. Better dressed. <3
    7YIpfE5.png
  • ZombiewskiZombiewski New JerseyRegistered User regular
    zerzhul wrote: »
    I totally agree that there will be media at PAX. I'm not saying that media needs kicked out. I'm saying that members of the media do not need a special badge to write about PAX.

    Zerzuhl I 100% agree with you. +1 for no media badges.

    RE: the kid's room: I dig the idea. My son's a few years away from attending PAX, but I dig the idea of a place for kids and parents to get together. Maybe next year could start with a meetup and then see if demand warrants a full room.

    Is there any way to get the main stage higher and raked? I was pretty close to the front for the Protomen, and I'm average height, but I couldn't see shit for most of the show. Another two feet higher would've helped immensely.

    Soul Silver FC: 0045 5822 7430, White FC: 0175 2366 9720, White 2 FC: 1636 2031 2006
    My NES blog and my Pokemon Snap tumblr.
  • TangoTango Registered User regular
    Moe Fwacky wrote: »
    Tango wrote: »
    Also, there were fewer MCCA Public Safety staff because Anime Boston was running at the Hynes at the same time as PAX East. They had to split their staff between the two shows.

    I said it before, but I would have appreciated it if they had kept a single elevator tech on site. I honestly don't believe the tech was on site at Anime Boston either, given the amount of time it took him to get to the BCEC.

    Is that why there was an enforcer over by the elevators on Sunday? I thought it was kind of odd that they would dedicate an enforcer soley to making sure people didn't use an elevator.

    To answer both parts of this nested quote -

    Moe: I wasn't referring to the elevator tech people, just to the MCCA-PS 'security' staff. I agree that the amount of time you guys had to wait to be let out was unacceptable.

    Lindsey - The reason the elevators were closed down Sunday afternoon was that Omegathon Final Round was being set up. When that's happening, Enforcers are assigned to cover all possible access points to Main Theatre to prevent anyone from seeing what the Final Round is before the reveal.

  • KiashienKiashien Medford, MARegistered User regular
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    vttym wrote: »
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun.. ....... lots of other stuff ....

    Love the idea, but this will require more setup than just slapping a few enforcers in there. People would need some sort of child care certification for this to work for a public venue such as this. And while I know it's PAX, and we're all there for the same reason, I know I would not want my daughter sitting in front of TVs playing games all day. If this were to work, it'd need to be more tuned to what most day cares have - centers for learning and exploration. Not saying no tech, but certainly not all tech either :) .. It would be tough to have kids aged 3-9 in one room, so this would also have to be expanded to multiple age rooms. And considering there's probably insurance and licenses that would need to be acquired in order to run this kind of thing, for 3 days, I don't know if it's worth it.

    I love the idea, and maybe next year we parents schedule a meetup for an hour or two in the many nearby parks or children's museum or aquarium.. I just don't see how it would work logistically. Not for lack of space, but for the many other costs and considerations.

    i think most of this could be addressed by the suggestion others have made that, rather than having a staffed daycare situation it would be more of a family room for kids and parents. also, i hadn't really imagined it as somewhere you would leave your kid all day. i would imagine that most parents bringing kids to pax want to spend time with their kids, but might want a couple of hours to themselves for playing demos on the expo floor or attending a panel that might not be kid appropriate. a family room seems more feasible though, and having a selection of kid-appropriate games (video & tabletop) for them to try out would be fun too.

    Actually the laws for "working" with children even as a volunteer are rather draconian in MA... I was volunteering at a pre-school at one point, and had to be asked to stop telling the kids what to do (you know, politely explaining to them that pouring sand down little jessica's back was mean, why it was mean, and why they shouldn't be doing that) because I wasn't certified and they could get sued. This was with a certified teacher standing 3 feet away from me!

    I can't state the exact laws, but I can promise you, something in MA law will make this more messy than it should be- not that we shouldn't do it, but if ANYONE works it, they probably need some weird certification. On the other hand, the odds that someone HAS that certification on the E staff is probably pretty high.

    The pirate hat riding bobcat compels you...

    Relevant info: #PAX East: 3 Coin Lunch organizer. 2012 Trading card available. Pokecrawl Assistant 2012. Pokecrawl attendee 2011. Cult of the Leaf attendee 2012.
  • basselopebasselope Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Is that they had used a little better quality shirt for the official PAX merchandise. Also, more shirt/sweatshirt/hat selections would be nice too ;)

    basselope on
  • tvethiopiatvethiopia Salem MARegistered User regular
    Kiashien wrote: »
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    vttym wrote: »
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun.. ....... lots of other stuff ....

    Love the idea, but this will require more setup than just slapping a few enforcers in there. People would need some sort of child care certification for this to work for a public venue such as this. And while I know it's PAX, and we're all there for the same reason, I know I would not want my daughter sitting in front of TVs playing games all day. If this were to work, it'd need to be more tuned to what most day cares have - centers for learning and exploration. Not saying no tech, but certainly not all tech either :) .. It would be tough to have kids aged 3-9 in one room, so this would also have to be expanded to multiple age rooms. And considering there's probably insurance and licenses that would need to be acquired in order to run this kind of thing, for 3 days, I don't know if it's worth it.

    I love the idea, and maybe next year we parents schedule a meetup for an hour or two in the many nearby parks or children's museum or aquarium.. I just don't see how it would work logistically. Not for lack of space, but for the many other costs and considerations.

    i think most of this could be addressed by the suggestion others have made that, rather than having a staffed daycare situation it would be more of a family room for kids and parents. also, i hadn't really imagined it as somewhere you would leave your kid all day. i would imagine that most parents bringing kids to pax want to spend time with their kids, but might want a couple of hours to themselves for playing demos on the expo floor or attending a panel that might not be kid appropriate. a family room seems more feasible though, and having a selection of kid-appropriate games (video & tabletop) for them to try out would be fun too.

    Actually the laws for "working" with children even as a volunteer are rather draconian in MA... I was volunteering at a pre-school at one point, and had to be asked to stop telling the kids what to do (you know, politely explaining to them that pouring sand down little jessica's back was mean, why it was mean, and why they shouldn't be doing that) because I wasn't certified and they could get sued. This was with a certified teacher standing 3 feet away from me!

    I can't state the exact laws, but I can promise you, something in MA law will make this more messy than it should be- not that we shouldn't do it, but if ANYONE works it, they probably need some weird certification. On the other hand, the odds that someone HAS that certification on the E staff is probably pretty high.

    again, if the parents are present i don't think this would be an issue. it would be no different than staffing any other area that parents happen to bring their kids into. also, are you sure this is about law and not just some policy? i have worked as a sub paraprofessional in a middle school and i lead a girl scout troop of fourth graders and have never needed more than a CORI and brief orientation (for the girl scouts). i do happen to be a certified secondary level teacher, though. regardless, i think it's clear that having a place you leave your kids would complicate things. but as for a family room, i like the idea of a dedicated space better than a meetup because it's really difficult to find a specific meetup time that works for everyone, especially with kids in tow.

    <3 Daintier. Smarter. Better dressed. <3
    7YIpfE5.png
  • wonderpugwonderpug Registered User regular
    I think a "leave the kids here" room would be a monster to implement, but I really love the idea of a kid room. It could be a place for parents to take a break and let their kids blow off some steam from standing still in a long line, a place for nursing mothers to get some privacy and let their older kids have something to keep busy with, and just a general place for gamer parents to meet & greet one another. I really think it's a fantastic idea.

  • Lindsay LohanLindsay Lohan Registered User regular
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    Kiashien wrote: »
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    vttym wrote: »
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun.. ....... lots of other stuff ....

    Love the idea, but this will require more setup than just slapping a few enforcers in there. People would need some sort of child care certification for this to work for a public venue such as this. And while I know it's PAX, and we're all there for the same reason, I know I would not want my daughter sitting in front of TVs playing games all day. If this were to work, it'd need to be more tuned to what most day cares have - centers for learning and exploration. Not saying no tech, but certainly not all tech either :) .. It would be tough to have kids aged 3-9 in one room, so this would also have to be expanded to multiple age rooms. And considering there's probably insurance and licenses that would need to be acquired in order to run this kind of thing, for 3 days, I don't know if it's worth it.

    I love the idea, and maybe next year we parents schedule a meetup for an hour or two in the many nearby parks or children's museum or aquarium.. I just don't see how it would work logistically. Not for lack of space, but for the many other costs and considerations.

    i think most of this could be addressed by the suggestion others have made that, rather than having a staffed daycare situation it would be more of a family room for kids and parents. also, i hadn't really imagined it as somewhere you would leave your kid all day. i would imagine that most parents bringing kids to pax want to spend time with their kids, but might want a couple of hours to themselves for playing demos on the expo floor or attending a panel that might not be kid appropriate. a family room seems more feasible though, and having a selection of kid-appropriate games (video & tabletop) for them to try out would be fun too.

    Actually the laws for "working" with children even as a volunteer are rather draconian in MA... I was volunteering at a pre-school at one point, and had to be asked to stop telling the kids what to do (you know, politely explaining to them that pouring sand down little jessica's back was mean, why it was mean, and why they shouldn't be doing that) because I wasn't certified and they could get sued. This was with a certified teacher standing 3 feet away from me!

    I can't state the exact laws, but I can promise you, something in MA law will make this more messy than it should be- not that we shouldn't do it, but if ANYONE works it, they probably need some weird certification. On the other hand, the odds that someone HAS that certification on the E staff is probably pretty high.

    again, if the parents are present i don't think this would be an issue. it would be no different than staffing any other area that parents happen to bring their kids into. also, are you sure this is about law and not just some policy? i have worked as a sub paraprofessional in a middle school and i lead a girl scout troop of fourth graders and have never needed more than a CORI and brief orientation (for the girl scouts). i do happen to be a certified secondary level teacher, though. regardless, i think it's clear that having a place you leave your kids would complicate things. but as for a family room, i like the idea of a dedicated space better than a meetup because it's really difficult to find a specific meetup time that works for everyone, especially with kids in tow.

    With parents there it would be no different than manning the handheld lounge or something similar. The laws would only be applicable if PA were to be offering it as a supervised child care area which I would never expect them to try. As just "PAX Parents Lounge" none of that would be necessary except an enforcer to manage the games/equipment.

    Here's what I would think would be ideal - during the day 3 to 4 consoles with kid friendly "party style" games. Mario Kart/Party, Just Dance, Kinect/Wii Sports, etc. Games that encourage group play. Maybe have some bean bag seating as well. If you could get some donated, have some kid friendly board games or even construction toys - like K'nex, Lego or those awesome Skallops that were on display this year.

    For the grownups, some comfortable seating for any parents that are feeding infants would be great, a console or two and some space for board games and maybe 2 or 3 games from the lending library. Maybe have a projector available and have a few times when families could get together for a geeky movie. When trying to keep a kid from exhaustion in a large, overwhelming area, letting them sit and play some Mario Kart while you play a round of Catan with other parents sounds like an oasis.

    I'm sure if the space were available and we knew ahead of time a few of us could put our heads together and make some great activities for the weekend. I would absolutely love to do some projects with a group or two of kids or maybe run a D&D campaign aimed at a younger group or run some Pokemon card battles.

  • tvethiopiatvethiopia Salem MARegistered User regular
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    Kiashien wrote: »
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    vttym wrote: »
    tvethiopia wrote: »
    so this is kind of left field and i don't know if there would be enough interest or if the logistics would work, but a friend of mine brought it up so i thought i'd share.

    the basic idea is a kids' room, sort of daycare-like, but more fun.. ....... lots of other stuff ....

    Love the idea, but this will require more setup than just slapping a few enforcers in there. People would need some sort of child care certification for this to work for a public venue such as this. And while I know it's PAX, and we're all there for the same reason, I know I would not want my daughter sitting in front of TVs playing games all day. If this were to work, it'd need to be more tuned to what most day cares have - centers for learning and exploration. Not saying no tech, but certainly not all tech either :) .. It would be tough to have kids aged 3-9 in one room, so this would also have to be expanded to multiple age rooms. And considering there's probably insurance and licenses that would need to be acquired in order to run this kind of thing, for 3 days, I don't know if it's worth it.

    I love the idea, and maybe next year we parents schedule a meetup for an hour or two in the many nearby parks or children's museum or aquarium.. I just don't see how it would work logistically. Not for lack of space, but for the many other costs and considerations.

    i think most of this could be addressed by the suggestion others have made that, rather than having a staffed daycare situation it would be more of a family room for kids and parents. also, i hadn't really imagined it as somewhere you would leave your kid all day. i would imagine that most parents bringing kids to pax want to spend time with their kids, but might want a couple of hours to themselves for playing demos on the expo floor or attending a panel that might not be kid appropriate. a family room seems more feasible though, and having a selection of kid-appropriate games (video & tabletop) for them to try out would be fun too.

    Actually the laws for "working" with children even as a volunteer are rather draconian in MA... I was volunteering at a pre-school at one point, and had to be asked to stop telling the kids what to do (you know, politely explaining to them that pouring sand down little jessica's back was mean, why it was mean, and why they shouldn't be doing that) because I wasn't certified and they could get sued. This was with a certified teacher standing 3 feet away from me!

    I can't state the exact laws, but I can promise you, something in MA law will make this more messy than it should be- not that we shouldn't do it, but if ANYONE works it, they probably need some weird certification. On the other hand, the odds that someone HAS that certification on the E staff is probably pretty high.

    again, if the parents are present i don't think this would be an issue. it would be no different than staffing any other area that parents happen to bring their kids into. also, are you sure this is about law and not just some policy? i have worked as a sub paraprofessional in a middle school and i lead a girl scout troop of fourth graders and have never needed more than a CORI and brief orientation (for the girl scouts). i do happen to be a certified secondary level teacher, though. regardless, i think it's clear that having a place you leave your kids would complicate things. but as for a family room, i like the idea of a dedicated space better than a meetup because it's really difficult to find a specific meetup time that works for everyone, especially with kids in tow.

    With parents there it would be no different than manning the handheld lounge or something similar. The laws would only be applicable if PA were to be offering it as a supervised child care area which I would never expect them to try. As just "PAX Parents Lounge" none of that would be necessary except an enforcer to manage the games/equipment.

    Here's what I would think would be ideal - during the day 3 to 4 consoles with kid friendly "party style" games. Mario Kart/Party, Just Dance, Kinect/Wii Sports, etc. Games that encourage group play. Maybe have some bean bag seating as well. If you could get some donated, have some kid friendly board games or even construction toys - like K'nex, Lego or those awesome Skallops that were on display this year.

    For the grownups, some comfortable seating for any parents that are feeding infants would be great, a console or two and some space for board games and maybe 2 or 3 games from the lending library. Maybe have a projector available and have a few times when families could get together for a geeky movie. When trying to keep a kid from exhaustion in a large, overwhelming area, letting them sit and play some Mario Kart while you play a round of Catan with other parents sounds like an oasis.

    I'm sure if the space were available and we knew ahead of time a few of us could put our heads together and make some great activities for the weekend. I would absolutely love to do some projects with a group or two of kids or maybe run a D&D campaign aimed at a younger group or run some Pokemon card battles.

    yes yes YES. this sounds pretty much perfect. the idea of a kids d&d session is just amazing! although, i think if you had a pile of legos available, you'd have quite a few adults crashing the kids room so they could play too!

    <3 Daintier. Smarter. Better dressed. <3
    7YIpfE5.png
  • RevGutterRevGutter Registered User regular
    Kiashien wrote: »

    As much as I love Protomen (And I loves me some Protomen) that would be unfair- as it was they got the longest slot this year, and managed to do more than an entire act. There's not many chances for geeky bands to all get together and put on a sweet concert, and it'd detract from that if it was just "Protomen."
    Oh you misunderstand. I mean instead of having them at the concerts it would be sick if at some point in the weekend they could get the main theater to do their act as if it was a long panel. Would open up a spot in the concert line up and give them a chance to do the full stage show they wrote the albums to be. Think less concert more Broadway matinee.

  • adias.angeladias.angel Tech-Savvy Wife Kalamazoo, MIRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    I have to say overall we had a great time and we are looking forward to next year. HUGE shout out to the enforcers. You guys were freaking awesome.

    My one and only real issue was with safety in the panel lines. The Giant Bomb line is the one that sticks out in my mind the most. There was probably a hundred or so people piled up in the hallway waiting to line up and everyone was pushing. I am small and my husband was playing human shield because he was afraid I was going to get hurt. There needs to be a pre-queue queue area for popular panels like this. (Yes I really did just ask for a line to get to the line.)

    Other than that it would have been great to know when/where the shuttles ran (for food runs). Also would love to see more clothes/Merch available in small sizes. (A mans small shirt is not the same as a women's small.)

    adias.angel on
    Prime '12, '13, '14, '15, '19 .. East '12
  • RevGutterRevGutter Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    For the food shuttles, there was a friendly gent at a BCEC info booth right next to where they pulled up that had listings of the restaurants each went to along with menus.

    RevGutter on
  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    RevGutter wrote: »
    For the food shuttles, there was a friendly gent at a BCEC info booth right next to where they pulled up that had listings of the restaurants each went to along with menus.

    I remember seeing the schedule somewhere too, maybe in an app?

  • tvethiopiatvethiopia Salem MARegistered User regular
    zerzhul wrote: »
    RevGutter wrote: »
    For the food shuttles, there was a friendly gent at a BCEC info booth right next to where they pulled up that had listings of the restaurants each went to along with menus.

    I remember seeing the schedule somewhere too, maybe in an app?

    bcec tweeted the stops, but no times. definitely something to be aware of next year, i've only heard great things from those who used it.

    <3 Daintier. Smarter. Better dressed. <3
    7YIpfE5.png
  • adias.angeladias.angel Tech-Savvy Wife Kalamazoo, MIRegistered User regular
    RevGutter wrote: »
    For the food shuttles, there was a friendly gent at a BCEC info booth right next to where they pulled up that had listings of the restaurants each went to along with menus.

    Thanks! We walked by the booth a lot but never stopped. Maybe its one of those things that needs better signage so people know.

    Prime '12, '13, '14, '15, '19 .. East '12
  • NOO3IENOO3IE Registered User new member
    I am sure this message will get lost in the millions of other posts.

    First off I am not here to complain about the lines, because last year Old Republic had a line for days. To me some people come to PAX just to play AAA title games, I got to play BL2 it was a very good game. One thing I don't understand is games that aren't even playable. Maybe it's a way to create hype for a game that is not playable yet, or to create revenue on pre orders. I would have rather seen a panel for Assassins Creed 3, even if it was a pre order only to get in. But then again Penny Arcaded is selling the space and companies are doing what they want with it.

    But enough with my complaints, the one thing I don't want PAX to lose is the feel. By this I mean the community that comes to PAX, I will attempt that I found out about PAX before Penny Arcade. Last year at PAX 2011 I felt like everyone there was my friend, I felt as if I could go up to anyone and have a conversation. But this year I did not feel the same, maybe it was because people were tired of waiting in lines and angry. I even understand why companies that had nothing to do with gaming were there. But I just don't want PAX to lose the feeling of everyone coming together for the same cause. I don't want it to lose the feeling of: "BY GAMERS FOR GAMERS" I don't want it to be about the media, or the merchandise, or even what wasn't there. Because the best part of PAX for me was during the Q&A with Mike & Jerry with all the fans, and just feeling that energy the crowd was giving off. PAX is of course the thing I look forward the most to all year long. People asked me why I was going to PAX again after I had already been the pervious year. My answer to them is because it makes me happy. I know I am going to go to PAX and just feel joy throughout my body. But I also know that joy will go away if I feel like an outsider looking in, and I don't want that to happen. I don't want PAX to turn into another E3 that has nothing to do with the fans. Maybe Pax has gotten to big to fast, but as long as it doesn't loose it's original essence...... I will continue to go forever.


This discussion has been closed.