I hated the Marriot.
1) Box perimeter design means a long walk to anywhere in the hotel.
2) Bathroom adequate for 150, used by 500 and cleaned once a day whether it needed it or not. We might as well have just pee'd on the floor.
3) Parking ripoff! The $36 they ripped off from me to park was $36 Paizo did not get in sales to me. When the parking costs almost as much as the convention, there is something wrong.
4) No restaurants or other facilities within walking distance, and no in/out privileges from the parking ripoff. Ate at the 7-11 numerous times because there was nothing nothing nothing nothing else. (Did I mention that there was nothing else? Nothing!)
5) Price gouging in the hotel store and restaurant...more money siphoned off from Paizo.
6) I thought the larger gaming area was great, but that also meant lots more noise. One event, I could only hear about every third word our squeaky-voiced game master said. That really complicates things when "Fortress of the Nail" turns out to be a yawner "talkie" with three ludicrously petulant Hell Knight officials. The noise in one big room could have been dampened by using the dividers to make it three big rooms.
7) It seemed like there was another group using the hotel entrance and the space set aside for character creation on Friday night. Was there really another group scheduled for Friday, not only in the same hotel, at the same time, but also literally in the same space as PaizoCon?
The Marriot was a terrible venue.
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This was my first gaming convention, and overall it was very fun! the Jousting Tournament was hilarious, and the mold making workshop was very interesting. It was great to make new friends!
I very much agree with the other comments about lack of food options and noise levels. Food trucks would be amazing, or at least some more options on the premises would be appreciated. As noted by others, we had to choose often between eating a meal or making it to an event on time. That just isn't healthy!
As for noise, most people at my tables had to make themselves hoarse in order to play together and be heard. It was overwhelming at times. Is there any way to change this?
Customer Service Dire Care Bear Manager
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While I'm not going to try to respond to each point made in the feedback thread, I do want to address the banquet seating issue. I've had numerous employees say there were 1 or 2 empty seats at their tables. As the banquet hall fills up, it does get increasingly harder to find those empty seats. I'm thinking of ways for next year to help make those empty seat more obvious for the end of the line folks next year. Perhaps as the line draws to an end asking people to raise their hand if they are next to an empty seat, or having a few employees assist with seat finding would help. Or maybe each table gets a helium inflated balloon with the raffle tickets inside and as the table is filled up, the balloon is popped, giving attendees their raffle tickets and letting people looking for seats know that the table is full. For future reference, please let an employee know if anyone finds themselves in this situation next year for whatever reason.
thanks
sara marie
The balloon idea is actually a pretty cool one
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Customer Service Dire Care Bear Manager
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The balloon idea is actually a pretty cool one
The only problem I foresee other than having to carry 40 some odd balloons around would be making sure all balloon scraps would be picked up... I can't imagine bits of rubber doing anything good to the hotel's vacuum cleaners.
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Second PaizoCon. Definitely not my last.
The Good
- The Marriot Atrium+Lobby.
This was absolutely perfect for casual open gaming outside of the open gaming space in the convention area. It did close at 11 PM, which made late night gaming hard, but I don't expect any hotel to maintain a space for us beyond the lobby 24 hours a day.
- The Store. Like last year, great selection, efficient service, and great customer service. I love the use of the badge to link purchases to our Paizo.com account.
- Proximity to Public Transit/Airport.
Last year, I felt it necessary to rent a car or be stuck at the hotel/Redmond. Not having that obligation this time around was great; I could take a train to the city and back to go do tourist-y things.
- Wide Array of Non-PFS Things.
I ended up playing Eyes of the Ten all weekend, but I really felt the tug of missing a number of panels and non-PFS events. This was not the case last year, which I think speaks to how much you've expanded the array of programming at the convention. I will definitely be leaving some time open for panels and non-PFS gameplay next year. (Please do Diversity in Gaming again! I heard so much great stuff about it and really wished I'd been able to go!)
- Knowing Now Where/When The Con Will Be.
Again, this makes attending next year a definite for me because I can plan financially around it a calendar year in advance.
- The Marriot Bar Staff.
These guys were awesome, rolling with a never ending flow of con goers seeking beer and food. They even brought beer to my table in the atrium, which I know is a bit out of their way. If you did not tip these folks, please do so generously for their services next year.
- The Registration Line.
I have never in 13 years of organized play or con-going see a line move so quickly and efficiently. Yes, this is not a terribly large convention, but it remained impressive. Professional, even. Whatever you did this year, do it again.
- The Meet & Eat.
Kyle, I've worked in event planning and catering. My partner does it for a living. That was pretty damn impressive.
- The PFS Special
The special itself was great. Good use of the map, good use of high level players to help other tables, and great "siege" feel. My only suggestion here is to include a tougher set of encounters for a full table of 6.
The Bad
- The Food Situation.
It's been said, but I'll say it again: $20 for Breakfast is silly. I understand hotel pricing, but this was clear abuse of the food desert that existed around the hotel. I was able to get to Target on Thursday, willing to walk to Subway Friday/Saturday, and make 7-Eleven work otherwise...but not everyone is able to do that. Whenever I have to explain the very concept of a "food desert" in social science, this neighborhood is going to be something I talk about.
- Con Goer Treatment of the Atrium
This is because I hope Paizo includes some "etiquette" discussion in the program next year. Folks, I would come to the Atrium near close and see hotel staff clearing away mounds of trash and pizza boxes. Left behind beer glasses and dishes are one thing; trash is another. Please respect this space and the time/effort of the staff. I saw a complaint that the bathrooms were trashed as well; less time on picking up after us is more time cleaning areas that need their attention due entirely to normal use. It is my hope extra trash receptacles will go up next year now that the hotel knows what to expect.
- Mustering
The PFS mustering space/process was a nightmare. And I only participated in two rounds of it this year. The hallways was too narrow, people did not get out of the way, there was no clear system beyond yelling for persons of one group/apl/scenario to come to the person yelling...this was absurd for a ticketed event.
- The Special As "Beta" or Unfinished
I reiterate that I loved the special itself overall. But it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to pay to go to a convention to be a guinea pig for the GenCon Special. In gaming, Beta Testers don't pay for the privilege of testing one's product and giving feedback. Please provide a finished product next year; our luck that the "beta" version of the special is still a blast may not always hold.
No Ugliness, Only Suggestions!
[list]
-Publish a "local food guide" in the program that describes nearby eateries, their rough cost level, and how best to get to them (walking, light rail, etc.). Include in this guide places like Targets, Grocery Stores, Etc.
-Figure out a nearby (<15 min Drive) hub of restaurants. Arrange a shuttle from the hotel that is active around meal times.
-Arrange a Minimum Cost/Purchase Catering setup for Con Goers with Marriot. This is where the hotel puts together a buffet/meal setup only for PaizoCon attendees to purchase at a lower cost than their restaurant. Often in these events, the host only has to put forth a deposit, tip, and agree to pay up to an agreed upon spending minimum should it not be met. Even if this was just done once a day for Breakfast or Lunch, it would help a great deal.
-Third Party Sources. If you can get a third party to come provide food options, that's great. I do not believe the hotel would allow this nor would they have anywhere to park a food truck nearby; I'm fine with being proven wrong, though.
Can we get a Thursday night early pick up time? A lot of us are there on Thursdays, it would be nice to get the badge out of the way.
I don't really know what would help here, to be honest. I think allowing ticketed individuals early entry (15 min before slot start?) would help at least alleviate congestion in the hallway. Group tables of the same game close together so GMs/players can self-muster within the same scenario around party composition. Have GMs send a player at 5 minutes post slot start with how many seats they have open and in what APLs.
What I mean by this is have volunteer "security" staff as most larger conventions do. Now, by Security, I don't mean guys with stun guns. I mean individuals who hang out in different con areas and enforce everything from traffic flow to picking up your damn trash, along with any other Code of Conduct/Guidelines set forth in the program. Yes, this is a boring and unforgiving job. But it helps keep things moving and the space intact. As we get larger, we are going to have more needs including better spaces. You want to create a reputation that makes venues want to host PaizoCon.
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As this is my first paizocon I greatly enjoyed it. I did not play any PFS as I have not really gotten into it. Going to check it out more this year. But went to quite a few of the Seminars and loved them, the horror in RPG's and the Art seminars where my favorites. Also the delve was fun, both my sister and I played with Wes GMing and he was hilarious (Thanks Wes!) The Banquet was tons of fun. Everyone I met at the con was nice and fun to talk to. Ultimately I had a great time. Thank you Paizo for putting on a great Paizocon and I will be back next year as long as work does not get in the way.
The balloon idea is actually a pretty cool oneThe only problem I foresee other than having to carry 40 some odd balloons around would be making sure all balloon scraps would be picked up... I can't imagine bits of rubber doing anything good to the hotel's vacuum cleaners.
I would think, that as long as the tables don't mutilate the balloons that it would be ok for the most part..
The hotel may have a helium tank for rent which means that there would be no hauling of balloons outside the hotel and makes the possibility more of one.
Security Staff
What I mean by this is have volunteer "security" staff as most larger conventions do. Now, by Security, I don't mean guys with stun guns. I mean individuals who hang out in different con areas and enforce everything from traffic flow to picking up your damn trash, along with any other Code of Conduct/Guidelines set forth in the program. Yes, this is a boring and unforgiving job. But it helps keep things moving and the space intact. As we get larger, we are going to have more needs including better spaces. You want to create a reputation that makes venues want to host PaizoCon.
Agreed, a "staff" t-shirt and a walkie to get someone with more authority if absolutely needed and you're golden. Also have to agree it's thankless, I've done it for a couple of years for a local con -- overnight security with the drunks. Phrase things right and people will even listen to someone wearing bunny ears.
Perhaps offer a discount on the badge for those that would volunteer to run security for a shift -- such as 5% for each 8 hr shift or something...
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If your 10-year-old is the one I think he is, he was a great 10-year-old. I was at a table with a 10yo. It was a Tier 1-5 scenario that came in at APL 3.something... and we played up, but the 10yo had a 2nd (or maybe even 1st?) level druid character. He indicated he was cool playing up, but then he died partway through on a nasty encounter. However, he seemed to be fairly unfazed by it. It helped that he had a rare and awesome boon that allowed him to insta-resurrect... but, still, he was cool about the dice falling where they may.I'm happy to have 10yos at the gaming table if they're like him!
Yes that was him. Thanks for the comment. I passed it along to him and he was pleased. See, I think the Pathfinder community is pretty awesome!
This was my first con of any real size. I had a blast! The Paizo staff and fellow attendees were a bunch of awesome people.
Food: I brought boxes of breakfast bars, nuts, and snickers because I anticipated limited time and high prices at the hotel. I did buy three meals at the bar (2 on Sunday since my flight wasn't until Monday) and the food, while pricey, was quite good. I'd love getting some food trucks in there somewhere.
Mustering: very confusing for a newbie. I saw some of the same issues people are reporting for Sunday also happening in the Saturday afternoon slot. Let us know ahead of time that we're supposed to find our own table for the special.
Noise: The noise in the gaming room was about what I expected. It didn't cause a problem for me.
Banquet: What about assigning tables? *ducks* That would allow the existing buddy system to be used so people who wanted to sit with a friend could. Even though I was in line way back at the bar, I still got to sit with the Paizo employee I hoped I could, so I'm happy there. Again as a newbie I was unprepared to see folks lining up at 5:30. Assigned seats would remove the line too, until the buffet opened.
Crystal ran a great goblin game! I'll never be able to look at a hound archon the same way again :)
The balloon idea is actually a pretty cool oneThe only problem I foresee other than having to carry 40 some odd balloons around would be making sure all balloon scraps would be picked up... I can't imagine bits of rubber doing anything good to the hotel's vacuum cleaners.
A raised orange flag at the table that could be seen from afar and then placed upon the floor when the table is full? Something visual would have been wonderful. I would have loved to have sit with Liz had I known her table had seats available. :(
Just know you Paizo folks are AWESOME, and this was still an EXCELLENT con, no matter some glitches. THANK YOU, ALL!!!!!
Also, one of our local cons has the hotel offer hot dogs and quick foods just outside the gaming area that are affordable eating options. Could something like this be arranged with the hotel?
Unfortunately, we were greatly disappointed with the Banquet. We had purchased tickets with the understanding that this was to be a dinner with a Paizo employee or special guest at our table. We were really looking forward to asking some questions about Paizo products, and hopefully hearing some more great stories.
However, we did not have an employee or a special guest at our table. A volunteer GM sat with us for about 10 minutes at the beginning of the banquet, but he spent the entire time talking to the one player he already knew. Once he left we did not receive any other visitors.
Would being able to sit with a Paizo contributor or third-party publisher have been a better option than the volunteer GM? I know many of us fitting that bill would have enjoyed interacting with the attendees.
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This is the second PaizoCon for my wife (DestrucTOR) and me.
Pros: We agree with most of the previous pros.
Cons: (The ones that we experienced that seem fixable by Paizo)
1. Friday morning mustering was exceptionally chaotic. All the announcements being conveyed, broken-telephone style, through multiple people, to those in the back (stuck around the corner due to ticket-holders not being allowed in to reduce the throng). This seemed much improved on Saturday.
2. Both years, the slot before the banquet was cut short by 45 minutes, at the last minute, to allow for banquet setup. It also did not help that there were 4 seperate announcements about it this year, cutting into the reduced time.
We suggest adjusting the scheduling of the banquet, taking into account that they need time to set up the room, or (at the very least) don't spring the shorter time on the GMs and players at the start of the slot.
These are relatively small things though, and we have had a GREAT time both years.
Fourth PaizoCon for my buddy and me. Had a great time as always. But, ... you asked, so:
1. Food list, local and delivered, would be a great idea (hotel concierge may already have one)
2. Crowding in gaming room- only put eight (not ten!) chairs at each table
3. Saturday afternoon/evening schedule- plan for the required set-up time in the prepublished schedule. The loss of that 45 minutes hurt that session.
4. Could the con please provide wifi in the conference area?
5 and 6.
I was in the game mentioned upthread where Celebrity GM1 was a no-show. This is actually two problems in one. First, (we were later told) GM1 switched slots with GM2. This is a problem by itself- we signed up in the lottery for GM1. I have not heard of GM2. This kind of switch should rate at least an email to the lottery winners as my buddy and I would rather have played PFS. Big disappointment for some table-mates looking for autographs/discussion, etc of GM1's products. It felt kind of like a bait-and-switch, except that we didn't even get the switch as GM2 was a no-show. On the plus side, I will call out JUSTIN RIDDLER (Paizo Customer Service)as an excellent last-minute savior who kept our table from having an empty slot- he ran a great game, especially on the spur of the moment. Thanks, Justin!
Despite a longish post, we had a great time. Thanks for all the hard work that goes into this- I am sure there is more than I can imagine.
Would being able to sit with a Paizo contributor or third-party publisher have been a better option than the volunteer GM? I know many of us fitting that bill would have enjoyed interacting with the attendees.Unfortunately, we were greatly disappointed with the Banquet. We had purchased tickets with the understanding that this was to be a dinner with a Paizo employee or special guest at our table. We were really looking forward to asking some questions about Paizo products, and hopefully hearing some more great stories.
However, we did not have an employee or a special guest at our table. A volunteer GM sat with us for about 10 minutes at the beginning of the banquet, but he spent the entire time talking to the one player he already knew. Once he left we did not receive any other visitors.
We had been eagerly anticipating a Paizo employee or affiliated third-party member, but would have been satisfied with our volunteer DM if they had stayed and talked with everyone for the course of the event. Our biggest disappointment was being left with absolutely no table guest for all but a very brief time at the beginning.
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I attended PaizoCon 2013 and it was my second time attending! I have to say that it was fun seeing all of the Paizo fans and the staff again and we had some fun times that were memorable.
Since this is a feedback thread, I would like to offer a couple of sustains for the next year (although likely I won't attend) and a couple of improves to make next year better.
Sustain:
1. The invitation of the Herolab stations for character creation. This is an awesome function of a big Pathfinder supporting company and it really helps people keep track of their PFS characters. If anything I would suggest perhaps a 4th workstation to speed through queues when the events are over. I also liked the showcase of the Realmworks and the showcase of the GoblinWorks Pre-Alpha to give a visual on how that game is going to progress. The delve was also a really fun thing to do in-between games, and really challenging. For the delve, I would allow the round that the players are on to cycle through the initiative at the timer rather than cutting it short mid-round. Other than that, tons of fun!
2. Bill Webb. He ran the best two nights of gaming in my opinion and I think that his games made this Con the best out of the two I've attended. We just had a lot of fun, and it is nice to see Paizo support another system that goes a little more "old school" which is fun sometimes. Overall, having staff from all over the industry was a big bonus, and the convention is small enough it makes approaching them very easy to do. You have some great Venture Captains and Lieutenants and I give some props to the Sunday Morning VL who got everyone into a game even though many of the tables were full and some GM's were having to take 7 people. My Hat is off to you Tier 1 Sunday Morning VL!
3. The Paizo Store. There was a lot of stuff on display which made it handy and there was a good selection of flip mats which I needed to purchase for a session of "Reign of Winter" I was running as a pick up game. I would definitely support an expansion of the store with even more Paizo and 3rd party projects on hand. It was nice that there was cash this year as well, I seem to remember it being all cards last year which was a little inconvenient. Keep in mind that some of the newer stuff may sell better than say the APG, so it's good to have double the space, or a center display dedicated to some of the new stuff. Perhaps put the Reign of Winter AP, the Ultimate Campaign, and the Shattered Star Minis on a display headlining the store. I liked it and am glad that the store was on display again this year. I did want to pick up "Dungeon Crawl Classics" and was somewhat sad it wasn't on display that I could see this year. The Pint Glasses rocked. My wife has about as much interest in my Role Playing hobby as I do in her slippers knitting, but even she liked the glasses!
Improve:
1. Location. I can't stress this enough, but Seatac Airport and environs is really the arm-pit of Western Washington. I would rather go to Graham or Enumclaw for a Con than the Seatac Airport. Sure it's close to the hotel for ingress and egress, but everything else about that location is sub par. When a google search highlights "Airport Parking" as the top 15 businesses within a mile of the hotel, you know you have a problem. The hotel itself has miniscule rooms, too few double rooms, and the convention facilities are sub-par. Emerald Queen Casino would be a better venue in my opinion. Or go back to Redmond or Bellevue; at least they have SOME stuff to do surrounding the hotel other than park your car. That's enough of a venue rant, but really, we want to bring people to Seattle and show them SeaTac?!
2. Convention Rooms - Too loud. End of story. Either use more rooms for gaming and parse out the seminars to smaller venues, or find someplace to offer better convention spaces. No one could hear anything and all of the GM's voices were gone by Sunday session. We need to drastically reduce the amount of tables-per-room and spread them out a little to make it more manageable. Valley-Con in Fargo North Dakota had the best layout at the Holiday Inn IMO, where the noise was a low din, rather than a constant roar, They are about PaizoCon size; I would investigate that a little for a small to mid-size Con. 4 banquet rooms instead of 1 would make all of the difference. I wasn't too put off by the banquet time, it didn't bother me at all that we had to end a little early.
3. Overall Execution - It seemed to me, that last year's Con just ran smoother. I think I had more fun at this con, but the organization from the Musters, to the venue changes, to the banquet planning, to the room block reservations were not as slick as last year. This year felt much more like chaotic organization as compared to last years managed organized chaos. Again that might be attributed to the layout of the venue, but it just wasn't as well executed IMO. Others have mentioned getting kicked from ticketed events, multiple venue changes for the card game, seminars etc., Muster-(expletive deleted), and events that were GM no-show/cancelled. I would really rearrange some things next year to make the flow and execution smoother.
All in all I had a fun time at the Con, although part of me is relieved that I won't have to attend at the Seattle Airport Marriott next year. Thinking about going there again gives me some anxiety, so I hope that 2015 I can make it back to the States and to Seattle at a new location.
Thanks again Paizo for another great time, and keep churning out that awesome stuff!
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This year was my first PaizoCon, and as a point of reference I am a regular con goer to such convention s as San Diego Comic Con, GenCon, Strategicon, and many others. I had an awesome time at PaizoCon and, though the conventions I listed above have an immense sense of framework given the amount of events involved, the con felt very organic and intimate. I loved it!!
Some suggestions for next year could be:
1. Place some of the seminars in Rooms 1-3 rather than Hall F,G,H,and I- What I mean by this is that in my attendance of Horror in RPGs, Pathfinder Rules Design, Pathfinder Q&A, and others I feel that the rooms were roughly half full, some less, and could provide more of an intimate setting for the panelists and seminar attendees by moving them to the side rooms 1,2, and 3. My suggestion for the Halls is to have one of them open for free gaming and perhaps to open more room for the various Lottery specials, and other special release games Paizo could run.
2. Provide early registration for Pathfinder Society GMs, and 3PP on Thursday- This suggestion is to hopefully provide a better experience and more prep time for GMs prior to their games and for publishers to have time to set up their demos and their booths in the dealers hall. Even if the time frame for registration is only in a 2 hour window, I feel that it would be easy to segregate these registration packets as Mike Brock would have all of the PFS GM names available and 3PP would seemingly be made available to certain paizo staff as well and so segregation of packets could be easily split.
3. Fundraiser Dinner- Much along the lines of the Enies Dinner at GenCon perhaps their could be a special closing con dinner for perhaps (6) special con goers who have the opportunity to have dinner with most of the Paizo staff. Whether its is through an auction, or a raffle ticket buy-in with all the proceeds going to the Red Cross or whatever charity you deem fit.
These are just some of my ideas that come to mind at the moment. I enjoyed my con experience immensely and plan to attend next year. thank you all for the amazing experience!!
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Also, PaizoCon 2014 will be in the same hotel, and on the same weekend, so keep that in mind when determining what's realistic feedback.
I must have missed this before! Are you saying this in a 'in all likelihood, unless something changes" kind of way or are you actually confirming PaizoCon 2014's date??? As in, I could theoretically book my flight today for the weekend of Friday July 4th - Sunday July 6 2014?
Thanks!
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Well, I would advise arriving a day before and leaving a day later for maximum convention enjoyment, but yes—PaizoCon 2014 is July 4th through July 6th.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, Contributor
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As far as I'm concerned, this was one of the best Paizocons yet. I thought the first one with 180 people was better, but mostly because I love smaller/ cozy events.
A few minor Niggles
First time con attendee.
PROS:
Accessibility to the Paizo staff! All staff members were nice, helpful, and interesting in meeting me. Even staff members like Jason, Lisa, Eric, and Sean!
Marriott staff was very nice and highly responsive. I even had a major complaint and they addressed it right away and in the very short time I requested. I especially wanted to mention Nicole (front desk), and Debbie Soule in sales were VERY helpful and went FAR BEYOND my expectations. I'm a Marriott Rewards Elite member, so I already have high expectations. The Seattle Airport Marriott went beyond my expectations and made the trip very enjoyable.
Friday check in did go fast but this required being in line at 6:30 to get to my first game with the needed spare time before the start at 8:00.
Organization of all events I attended started on time and ended on time. All events were well organized and well prepared.
CONS:
Check out at the Paizo store is too slow and time consuming. Check out was slow and I'm confident this affected your sales being lowered. Even with two people ahead in line the wait time was easily 5-10 minutes. SOLUTION: You need at least 3-4 registers in the Paizo store.
You need much better and more silent auction items. The items seemed like a last minute idea and not well thought out. Two of your items involved alcohol, which may of been offensive to people who don't drink alcohol. Some SOLUTIONS are:
How about a game session event on Sunday, 1:00pm with a specific person like Jason,
Erik, or Sean?
Or how about 1 hour with a Paizo staff member to ask gaming questions?
Here is a big item that would be amazingly popular... a warehouse run through Paizo with
a 60 second clock to pick and Paizo items. The warehouse run could be for the current
Sunday afternoon or maybe next years prior to PaizoCon ( a one year time limit to redeem
it)?
Help to design a new mini?
The restaurant is adequate to handle the rush prior to the morning events or in the evening after the last event. The restaurant is too slow and inadequate to handle all the cons needs. SOLUTION: You need a food truck vendor to pay the parking lot rental fee to Marriott in order to supply snack items.
You REALLY need Thursday night registration. I was very surprised to learn this wasn't available after orchestrating the con for 5 years already! SOLUTION: Two employees working registration from 6:00-9:00 would make friday run much more smoother.
You REALLY need many more non-PFS Paizo gaming sessions. It's sad and I'm sure affects repeat gamers attending again when they don't play PFS and only get two lottery tickets for the entire weekend. This was a common complaint I heard during this convention. SOLUTION: Have more non-Paizo gaming industry leaders "certified" as GMs in order to have more options for non-PFS lottery tickets. I'm supposing that many of the attendees don't care if it's a Paizo staff member, but DO want to have at least two lottery tickets per day. From the comments I heard, this REALLY needs to be address for the next con and is the number one complaint along with pre-checkin on Thursday night.
The large room with multiple non-Paizo games have VERY poor acoustics. There were several people that commented about the difficulty hearing other members at their tables. SOLUTION: have 3-4 games going in each of the adjoining rooms. The adjoining rooms weren't used all day every day to eliminate the acoustic problems. SOLUTION: Pull the dividers closed that separate the single large room, which will divide the room in three sections.
I hope these solutions are useful and I had a really great time! If you need any clarification on my comments please let me know.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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A word on food trucks: we're not sure if the hotel would allow it... but even if they did, we've been told that on the 4th of July weekend, no decent food truck would commit to an event where participants number only in the low hundreds.
Lame. It makes sense though. There are going to be bigger events with more people and thus greater chance for profit.
A few ideas for food:
People mentioned having a good list of who delivers in the area, that is a good idea. If you know you are going to be open for lunch at noon you can always order early and request that to be the delivery time.
Maybe some awesome Paizo fans could organize some type of sack lunch deal. Charge enough money to cover expenses and a little bit of the cost of the trip. (On a side note, my wife and I talked about doing a special fantasy dinner at a PaizoCon.)
Sell snacks in the dealer hall. Something that could satisfy people or hold them over until they can go grab real food.
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Really, I anticipated full days of gaming and needed to make sure my kid would make it through. I just purchased food ahead of time. I had numerous snacks, water, juice and PBJ in my room. Coffee lines are impossible so I used the coffee pot in the room and had canned/bottles Star Bucks for throughout the day. A cooler with ice in my room would have increased options and I will do that next year.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6, Contributor
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I'm not sure there was a window to submit lottery events this year. I know if there was, I missed it. So, a suggestion from me, would be return to having lottery submissions next year. Perhaps the first stage would be requesting permission to run a lottery event at all, the second the actual submissions for those approved.
I did run one non-lottery event this year, and had a great time.
I had a very good time at the convention. A short list of pros and cons.
Pro:
Kyle's Meet-and-Greet was amazing. An absolute showstopper beginning to what was an excellent con. (I need to find out what was in the salmon rub.)
The banquet food was very good and the banquet itself was well run, with fun presentations. The slideshow in particular was a nice way to shout out to all the members of staff in a concise fashion. The trivia contest afterward was also fun.
The quality of the bar and restaurant food was very good in all but price.
The seminars were well run and interesting. In particular the Reaper Bones take-and-paint and painting class were a lot of fun.
The exchange board for games was a nice touch. Someone was also very generous Saturday and put an unneeded banquet ticket on it. I already had mine, but it was nice to see that sort of community.
The badge holders were very nice, good to put business cards in, and banquet tickets and the day's schedule once you trimmed it.
Con:
The choking scented-oil candles in the lobby. When I first got in on Thursday, they made it hard to breathe and made my eyes water. I mentioned something about it to staff. Either they mentioned it to the hotel or else I got used to it, but it's something I could really do without at a hotel.
The aforementioned food desert, not just around the hotel but in the hotel. I've been doing cons for a number of years and my old favorite and the best model I've seen for a con hotel is the old Red Lion/Doubletree model where there is both a high class restaurant as well as a coffee shop. The lack of a coffee shop option makes the con too pricy.
Parking. I didn't bring a car this time, but $36 for parking is obscene.
The banquet seating. I didn't have a trouble standing in line, but there ended up being a spare seat at our table. No one claimed it, and it ended up being used as the empty chair since that was the only way people could get by the table to the ones further in. Putting balloons up to mark the empty chairs is a good idea.
The printed schedule cards were nice but just a bit too wide to fit in in the badge holder. I trimmed mine and it worked, but using slightly narrower paper would fix this.
Suggestions for Next PaizoCon:
All the Paizo staff were present and a good number of the contributors. It would be nice if one night--likely Friday--if a mass signing were organized on the model of the ones at World Fantasy. Have that go on in the hall outside the Paizo store both as a way to sell books and promote the authors.
I had a great time at the con!
I was pleasantly surprised that there was non-Pathfinder gaming, but would have liked to make time for a Pathfinder game, too. That's purely my own fault for having paralysis of choice. So many scenarios, I wasn't sure which one to pick...and then too distracted by other things-SQUIRREL!-to follow through.
I did get time to sit down for a Hero Lab demo, and that was worth the price of admission.
Any hotel is going to have an expensive restaurant; it's the nature of hotels. A dining guide that includes directions to the nearest grocery store and some delivery options (and rail directions for out-of-town folks?) would be great.
I liked getting to meet some of the artists, and the mass autograph session that Kevin mentioned would be really nice, too.
I agree with above posters that after next year a bigger venue might be needed. And, from some of the other comments, I guess being female at a gaming convention is a big plus when it comes to restroom traffic!
A signing time/place would be great.
A word on food trucks: we're not sure if the hotel would allow it... but even if they did, we've been told that on the 4th of July weekend, no decent food truck would commit to an event where participants number only in the low hundreds.
I think it's still worth checking into due to not having any other plausible solution. I thought we had 700 attendees not including staff? I would think a food truck would have some interest, and you may be surprised at the food vendor's response.
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A word on food trucks: we're not sure if the hotel would allow it... but even if they did, we've been told that on the 4th of July weekend, no decent food truck would commit to an event where participants number only in the low hundreds.I think it's still worth checking into due to not having any other plausible solution. I thought we had 700 attendees not including staff? I would think a food truck would have some interest, and you may be surprised at the food vendor's response.
Hey Monkplayer :)
That weekend, the weekend of the 4th of July, has 17 different events that I know of where food trucks and catering teams will be.
They quite literally fill themselves to capacity at their facilities on everything they can, prep the night of the third and morning of the fourth, and usually sell through 90% of what they have on the 4th of July events they attend.
With it also being a holiday weekend, restocking is nearly impossible with the wholesalers that would supply them.
Any mobile food trucks would want a steady stream of people on that weekend to contiously pour in.
Having worked in the Seattle region as a wedding DJ and coordinator of events for years, I can say with certainty that a food truck won't even consider Paizocon2014 without a massive incentive or underlying guarantee.
A solution, however, would be to speak to the hotel for next year on offering cheaper, faster, and express style orders for folks an hour before each slot ends.
Have a couple hundred and cut pieces of paper with 6 options on each of them. You mark off what you want, your name, and pay for it...they will have it ready for you in one hour.
NORWESCON does an awesome job with getting the convention hotel (Doubletree down the street also in seatac) to provide a convention goers menu of items that are more affordable for everyone there.
It does 2 things for the hotel.
1. Guarantee more money goes to them instead of 7-11 or Denny's.
2. Streamline and cut down a menu that may run "low" on some items towards the end of the convention.
While option 2 for the Aqua Terra wouldn't be too much of an issue as they are already streamlined to under 20 items, it sure would make alot of sense for them to consider even a buffet or cafeteria style pay and go station just for lunch where they had the morning buffet. Even if this was a cold sandwhich line for only two hours.