On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 04:13:43 EST, sidecutter@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
("Orson
\"Sidecutter\" Christian") wrote:
>"Raksha" <Raksha@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>news:41199396.32100618@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> Staffers not knowing what they were doing, sending questioners around
>> in circles.
>
>I can't speak here. I've always gotten what I needed pretty directly
from
>the staff.
>
>Attendees being unable to find their way around due to
>> lack of adequate signs and directions.
>
>If you mean this year, I didn't see any signifigant number of fans having
>any such problem.
Perhaps you can count yourself among the lucky ones, then.
>A voice actor guest left
>> stranded at the air****t (!!).
>
>When was this?
Dan Gilvezan, voice of Bumblebee, was apparently left to fend for
himself in Chicago traffic and got lost on his way to the convention
center. Nobody from the staff bothered to meet him. Now, I've driven
in Chicago numerous times. It's not fun. It's almost as bad as
driving in Columbus. Meeting the voice actor at the air****t and
ferrying him safely to the convntion is, I'd think, just common
courtesy toward someone who offered their time in order to be with the
fans. I'm sure there are those who will be quick to blame the guy's
lousy sense of direction over any fault or failing of the 1H staff, of
course....
>People being referenced to "page 2" of
>> a map-and-directions packet which consisted of only one page.
>
>Right, because the page in question was a copy from the program book,
where
>page 2 did exist. I mean, seriously. Why should 3H go to the effort,
time,
>and expense of specially editing and making an altered version of said
map
>just for a completely unknown number of attendee walk-ins, where they
take
>the chance of that expense going notably to waste? if people needed a
>dealer room map that bad, they could buy a guide right at the door as
they
>walked in, or just ask someone for a look, which I think most fans would
be
>most willing to help with.
So the fact that most fans and dealers are happy and willing to help
out with directions, absolves the convention staff from knowing what
they're doing and actually providing information?
>People
>> having to scurry to pack up their artwork halfway through the show
>> because the art room was only rented for a few hours. Stuff like
>> that.
>
>Not the staff's fault.
Hmm. "Not the staff's fault," yet again. I'm sensing a pattern. How
is every single glitch and disaster "not the staff's fault," when it
was *their* responsibility to book the time in advance? What kind of
art contest, over a 2-day convention, is kicked out halfway through?
If someone at the hotel screwed up and double-booked, then it would
seem it was 1H's responsibility to go to bat and say in no uncertain
terms to the hotel that they'd secured that room for the full time ...
and the wedding would have to find another spot. It then would become
the hotel's problem as to where to accomodate the other party.
> And the OTFCC staff made *repeated* announcements about the art
>room's altered closing time, and did do several hours ahead of time.
Well that's *something,* at least. My point is, they should never
have needed to make such an announcement to begin with.
>"Excuses" is a convenient way for people who refuse to acknowledge the
>possibility of anything other than the worst case scenario to dismiss the
>perfectly legitimate explanation for a situation.
There *are* surely perfectly legitimate explanations for *some*
things. But not for all of it. Not every single time. Some,
perhaps, refuse to acknowledge the possibility that anything could be
the honest-to-gods fault of 1H.
>> Actually I *was* discussing the whole avalanche, and said specifically
>> (to repeat it again) that the late opening in and of itself, with no
>> other problems in the picture, wouldn't have been a big deal at all.
>
>Ding ding ding. Exactly. YOU were discussing it. I took task with only
>one thing, and my argument with it stands.
It would stand if that were the *only* problem in the picture. But it
isn't, as I keep pointing out.
> You can't blame Glen;s crew for
>a problem that has happened *three years* in a row, even before his
faction
>was in charge of the show. Especially not when the *fourth year*, 2001,
is
>factored in, when all three H's were solidly in place, and the dealer
room
>opened *three times later* than it did this year.
Well, it's interesting. Glen has publically blamed his former
partners (the ones he, erm, maneuvered out of the picture, remember,
to get where he is today) for "holding him back creatively." Oddly
enough, the little problems that plagued the later BotCons, such as
late openings, have only continued and been greatly magnified with the
GlenCons. By contrast, BotCon '04 ran without a hitch, and had a
whole different atmosphere than the other recent shows. It was one of
those events that you come back from feeling renewed in your love for
the Transformers, the characters and storylines, the mythology, the
toys and collectibles, your enthusiasm for your own projects, and even
a renewed affection for the fandom (well, for parts of it, anyway ;)
). BotCon '04 had what the other recent cons have lacked: the heart
and soul and spirit that made the early BotCons absolutely incredible.
Now, who was holding whom back, again?
>And I point out once more, as at least one other here did, it was the
fault
>of rude dealers not moving their cars.
So by now we have blame upon the convention center staff, the rude
dealers, "unneccessary" expenses that somebody didn't feel the need to
spring for (little things like signs, directions), Hasbro/Takara's
unreasonable requirements, and there's probably a phase-of-the-moon
explanation in there somewhere as well. I'm not just addressing you
here, incidentally, but a lot of the posters who have de-lurked to add
to this thread (welcome back to the group, btw ;) ), and even words
I've seen from the 1H staff itself. The only blame I've *not* seen
leveled, is at the ones ultimately responsible for the show: the 1H
staff.
>> When the "mold artifact" is something as major and glaring as bearing
>> the wrong symbol for the character's pur****ted faction,
>
>A faction the character DID belong to previously.
>
> then yes, some
>> mention of it should be made in the specs if there wasn't going to be
>> any attempt to change the mold or select a more appropriate mold for
>> the character that was in mind. Such is my opinion, anyway. As an
>> uncompromising Decepticon sup****ter myself, it's a big deal to me,
>> what kind of faction symbols the toys have.
>
>So plaster a Reprolabel emblem over it. It's not that hard to deal with.
Is it the responsibility of the collector to fix the mistakes and
oversights of the manufacturer? If you buy a car that has the paint
missing from one door, is it *your* responsibility, at your own
expense and trouble, to get it painted to match the rest of your car?
>> Plenty. Because, if I can turn out a none-too-shabby product on a
>> shoestring budget, without access to professional printers and
>> typesetters and factory machinery, then I would certainly expect that
>> a mega-monster budget like GlenCon has,
>
>They do NOT have a mega-monster budget. Not by a LONG shot.
I believe someone has calculated out very roughly just what's coming
in at these shows. I could have run BotCon '95 ten times over on that
budget.
>should turn out products that
>> are damn-near perfect. And, like the person who pulls in $12,000 a
>> year and can't understand why the guy who earns $90,000 is having
>> trouble making ends meet, I'm just having a hard time understanding
>> why this isn't the case.
>
>Because they're working on a totally different scale, both cost and
>personnell related, than you. I can turn out a damn nice CD, with a VERY
>sharp looking print on the label. But not in a convention-exclusive
>quantity. Not in a subscriber quantity. it's a different scale of
>operations.
I don't buy this for a moment. I choose not to believe that either
one of us is that incompetent. If you or I can turn out a nice
product on a small scale with a small budget, there's no logical
earthly reason why we can't turn out an equally nice product (at the
very least!) on a large scale, using a pro****tionately larger budget.
It's a matter of caring enough to do it right, and a matter of (that
little phrase again), quality control. Is there any reason why 2000
of your CD labels should look any worse than, say, 25, especially when
you're getting them run off by a professional printer using
industrial-level machinery? If anything, they should come out even
*better*. I can tell you, if I had 1H's resources and access to
professional equipment and full-time staff artists, Con-Quest would be
a full-length full-color glossy-paged graphic novel every time...
To use the car analogy again, imagine if automobile
manufacturers operated under this philosopy: "Well, our production is
on such a large scale that there are going to be a few missing pieces
here and there. We just can't help that. Live with it." On the rare
occasions when there *are* missing pieces, the vehicle is recalled and
the problem is put right - at manufacturer's expense. Regardless of
whether the actual fault was due to a worker who was asleep at the
switch in the factory, or what-have-you. The manufacturer hired this
person to begin with, and it's their responsibility to put it right
for their customers. (And fire the sleeping worker, while they're at
it.)
>> Now to those who went to this year's GlenCon and had a wonderful time,
>> sold a lot, found a lot to buy, hung out with friends, and so forth,
>> all well and wonderful for you. It's hardly my intent to dampen your
>> good time, not that I should be able to do that anyway. But there
>> *are* large and legitimate problems in the picture regarding this
>> convention and the company that puts it on, and I don't think they
>> should be swept under the rug or be excused with a shrug and a smile.
>
>And yet, as so many have noted in the other direction, you really seem to
be
>picking on every little thing. Every tiny, possible problem, you take
the
>worst possible explanation to heart and ride it for all it's worth.
Granted. Because I've seen the history of this thing up close and
personal. I won't repeat the whole sordid history here yet again
(though it's still up on my web page at
http://www.plumed-serpent.com/hijackedbotcon.html),
but I have very
good reason to assume the worst possible explanations. There's a
difference between a single badly-handled event, and a badly handled
event that builds upon past negative history. The former may be a
source of momentary annoyance; the latter just adds to an already
established pattern.
Example: Hard Hero did a horrifically bad job with its
Megatron bust. I was very critical of it in my review, a couple of
years back. But its original product, the Prime bust, was super-nice,
and subsequent products have also been quite nice. The awful Megatron
was a one-time aberration, which I took to task on its own merits (or
lack thereof). There are still little things here and there that they
could have done better, but without a whole negative history in place,
I don't end up loathing and despising Hard Hero as an organizational
entity. I've since bought their Soundwave and Ravage, and am keeping
the optics open for a decently-priced Shockwave. By contrast, every
single thing that comes from Dreamwave and Hasbro in recent years, has
been repulsive to me beyond all belief. Shoddy characters, shoddy
toys, shoddy art, and a complete and total disrespect for the
integrity of their own products. They've built up a very negative
history in my mind, and subsequently *anything* they do is going to be
received by me on the utmost worst of all possible terms. Because
they've proven themselves with a long track record to turn out only
stuff that I find offensive and insulting.
And this convention business is similar, only more personal,
and more dire, because the transgressions involved are personal rather
than abstract, affecting real live people rather than fictional
characters and storylines. And even those who didn't know the history
of this event, or who didn't care, who have no feelings one way or the
other about anybody involved, must surely see that from a purely
organizatinal standpoint, there are constant problems, met by constant
excuses. Before the "official" convention web boards were shut down
because too many people were expressing their discontent in public
(never mind the reason that was "officially" given), it was apparent
that not as many fans were buying the excuses anymore, as they once
did....
> All the
>tiny things that affected almost no one's actual enjoyment of the event,
of
>those who were present, you, who were not even there, find to be a big
deal.
I only find it a big deal because of the history involved, and the
sheer volume and quantity of the problems. Again, if some people
attended the con and enjoyed it, had a blast, had the time of their
life, etc. etc., so much the better for them. But those who attended
both cons, have really had some interesting comparisons to make....
>And I will note that 3H made mistakes when the Hartmans were involved
too.
>And I never once saw a re****t or review from you at that time nitpicking
>their errors, omissions, slips in the process of running things, or
anything
>else.
In actual fact, I've taken issue with some of the true 3H conventions
as well. BotCon '01 was the single worst con I've ever been to, and
I've said so numerous times. The recent cons had turned into glitzy
advertising vehicles for the latest toys and were muscling out the fan
element more and more. This too, I have said. If I don't like
something, believe me, I say so. ;) But again, contrast with BotCon
'04. A whole different atmosphere. It's pretty clear to me, where
the crux of the problem was.
> Only once Glen took charge did you start to harp on every little
>thing in this way, when it comes to the con.
"Took charge" is perhaps still the most polite way we can put it....
--Raksha
Broke? Unemployed? Paying too much for gas?
Do something about it! www.johnkerry.com
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"I am the Plumed Serpent, I strike and I soar!"
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