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PAX Prime Changes In the Works
From http://prime.paxsite.com/news/pax-prime-changes-in-the-works
Another PAX Prime is on the horizon! Can you feel it? That special ache in your teeth? And everything smells like copper? I might be having a stroke.
But hey, we’re shaking up a few things in order to min-max your enjoyment-per-second at the event.
Change #1. No more Queue Hall. The biggest complaint we get is the Expo Hall being overcrowded. With that in mind we’re going to take the space that was the Queue Hall and spread it evenly throughout the halls to widen the aisles. This means the same amount of exhibitors with hopefully more elbow room.
So… where do you line up to get in the convention center? That’s a great question! We’ll have two primary “entrances” running simultaneously in the morning – One will be the Convention Center (head to the main entrance on Pike and building staff will direct you where to go), and the other will be at the Annex. BOTH will be let into the show at 10 AM sharp, so you can go to either location in the morning.
Change #2. No stopping in mid-aisle to take photos - particularly of cosplay. If you want to take cosplay pics, that’s cool, we just ask you do it off the Expo Floor. Pictures within a booth, provided it’s been approved by the exhibitor, are fine. We’re trying to make sure people don’t randomly stop and cause traffic problems.
Change #3: Lastly we will be doing away with 4-Day badges. When looking over the data, we saw that people were buying 4-Day badges and not using them for the full four days. By switching everything over to single days, we can help ensure that every sold badge actually gets used. Since the show isn’t falling on Labor Day, it would have made the “not using the Monday part of their 4-Day badge” situation even more pronounced.
Hopefully with all these changes, we’ll be able to provide an especially enjoyable environment for everyone and make sure the maximum number of people can take part in the festivities.
After all, it’s only 112 days away!
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Big fan of the elbow room fixes. I always enter the Convention Center from the freeway park outside the 4th floor. That entrance will still be available with people direction me where to queue, right?
Old Queue Hall to Expo entrance(s) - flat surface/minimal risk of injury for those giddy individuals that just can't help but run despite the "no running" warning.
Annex escalators to 4th floor Expo Hall - where pain and nerds collide.
That being said, I like the changes. Foot traffic has long been an issue and the above solution should help alleviate that straight away.
I don't think I'll be heading to pax till noon though, given that it will probably be harder to get to non-expo lines with all those people outdoors.
I would imagine with the elimination of the Queue Hall, freeway park is likely to become the new official queue area. After all, it has functioned as such for all the early morning arrivers in years past.
Also a little warning would have been nice, for planning/strategery.
My arrival time has gradually faded to late morning/early afternoon over the last few years and what a difference it's made.
I was hoping to see an elimination of swag bags, but I figured it for a longshot at best.
There's absolutely no reason to discount a full four day attendance for a show that sells out in less than an hour. It does suck if that $20 or $30 a head is the deal beaker for you attending that fourth day, but honestly there's another nerd willing to pay full price to go that last day in your place, and maybe he'll be thrilled he got to get in at all.
If the point of adding Monday was to let more people attend, discounting it kinda (to some extent) defeats the purpose.
I'd say all the changes are for the best. However, for those of us with badge displays, it might be nice if they'd include (or even sell?) a "souvenir" overall con badge. I'd pay a couple bucks for it. Not have it valid for entry or anything. Just as a keepsake.
Edit: Just anything without a specific day on it. I've used BYOC for that before too, but obviously those are limited.
I am also going to be very surprised if someone doesn't fall on the way in and up the escalators.
No offence, but have you seen the que room? The people that fill that room will not be able to fit on the street out front. They would also be blocking businesses. For the last year or two that have had to cap the Que room, I think on both Fridays and Saturdays and then start a second que room outside in the smoking area.
I understand they want to get more space. But this seems to me like a weak way to try and expand their square footage.
Trade me pins, yo: https://www.pinnypals.com/pals/Lazorz
Just have to hope now that if there are any events/panels that I would really love to see, they just happen to fall on the day I'm going.
Yeah, I know that bummed feeling. Same for me last year when I realized I couldn't stomach over $100 for a scalped badge just for Saturday. So I didn't go that day.
I guess I'd also forgotten just how fast the price has climbed. But really, the 3-day fee back then was ridiculously low. Arguably it had a negative impact, back when it cost less for a 3-day badge than for two one-day badges...I don't doubt that a lot of attendee-days got completely wasted back then. But damn, $55 to $120 (3-day) in a couple short years is pretty steep, true.
I also like the idea behind rule 1, and while the queue room is large enough to accommodate a fair number of booths, queuing up outside doesn't sound particularly pleasant. I usually went early friday and waited outside until the queue room opened up, it was never the highlight of my morning. Ditching the queue room may encourage people just showing up later to avoid such issues. I am also a little concerned with how people are going to get into the CC in the mornings, and how much backup there will be. There are only so many doors into the building and unless that stuff is handled supremely then I feel there could be some major issues. The front entrance of the CC and especially the escalators leading up the show are crowded at busier times. With everyone trying to get to the show in the morning, I smell either injuries, long waits, or both.
Also,
"Brilliant! Oh wait, if we were meant to fly, we would have been born with little bags of nuts."
Because this doesn't sound like the changes they announced.
Also I think badges should be personalized with name and info <on back with some type of foil or something to not allow re-creation> so that the tickets CANT BE RESOLD. That's a sure-fire way to eliminate the resellers from taking away from those that would like to attend.
The Indie MegaBooth is a little crowded, but I can say it was *way* less crowded than in 2013. It was a solid mass of people then, practically shoulder to shoulder.