Wapsi Square Forum

Take whatever time you need, Pablo. Life likes to surprise us sometimes, sounds like you got the deluxe package on this one.

Was awesome to finally meet you at SpringCon, sorry we didn't swing by again like we planned before heading out. We were worried about whether the rain would catch us again on the drive down (it did) and were in a hurry to get going. Once the bills clear in a few weeks, I'll order a print or two to make it up to ya!

GreyWolf wrote:Take whatever time you need, Pablo. Life likes to surprise us sometimes, sounds like you got the deluxe package on this one.

We don't mind life surprising us - but we really don't want plumbing surprising us!

Plumbing is what happens to you while you're busy planning out-of-town visits?

Actually, it puts me in mind of one of the incidents at the recent Furlandia convention. I heard afterwards that one of the Guests of Honor had a malfunctioning toilet in his hotel room - not what anyone wants, and embarrassing when it happens to your con's GoH. After several hours of the hotel not sending anyone around to fix it, he finally went to Home Depot, bought the necessary part, and fixed it himself. (For those of you who don't run conventions, this is not an effective use of your GoH's time!) Happily, he seemed to leave annoyed with the hotel rather than the convention!

Did he leave a bill for the hotel? I know I would have.

No idea; I heard this second-hand. But similarly, I hope the fan whose AC caught fire got a really nice discount from the hotel.

Like all first-year conventions, Furlandia had its little glitches. Unlike many cons, the hotel caused a lot of them. Rumor has it that the place is going to be torn down soon.

The pessimist in me is suspecting we're about to get a week of sketches because Paul needs to pay for the plumbing problem (alliteration unintended).

Wyvern wrote:Like all first-year conventions, Furlandia had its little glitches. Unlike many cons, the hotel caused a lot of them.

Not the first time a hotel hasn't been really capable of handling a con... there have been cases in which the managment's basic incompetence and lack of preparation and service has lead to noisy insurrection in the corridors.

What will we do with the hotel manager?
What will we do with the hotel manager?
What will we do with the hotel manager?
Early in the morning?

Make him eat his own Yankee Potroast,
make him eat his own Yankee Potroast,
make him eat his own Yankee Potroast,
Early in the morning!

Timotheus wrote:Did he leave a bill for the hotel? I know I would have.

Would depend on the Guest of Honor's chosen avatar, would it not? Almost by definition, the attendees at a Furry convention would be cosplaying as mammals, not birds.

I suppose if he were dressed as a platypus, and the hotel's inaction had really gotten his nose out of joint...

Wyvern wrote: Unlike many cons, the hotel caused a lot of them.

Would that were true.

Unfortunately, hotels cause a lot of problems for cons

My friend Meade Frierson (longtime head of the Southern Fandom Confederation, and an attorney specialising in corporate law - gone these many years and i miss him...) once said something that became known as Frierson's Law:

"The hotel can do whatever it wants to during your convention, and despite your contract you have no control over it. You'll win a lawsuit six months down the road - but your convention will be ruined today."

Horror stories ... oh, the horror stories.

Dave wrote:

Timotheus wrote:Did he leave a bill for the hotel? I know I would have.

Would depend on the Guest of Honor's chosen avatar, would it not? Almost by definition, the attendees at a Furry convention would be cosplaying as mammals, not birds.

I suppose if he were dressed as a platypus, and the hotel's inaction had really gotten his nose out of joint...

Ouch. And ouch.

Fairportfan wrote:My friend Meade Frierson (longtime head of the Southern Fandom Confederation, and an attorney specialising in corporate law - gone these many years and i miss him...) once said something that became known as Frierson's Law:

"The hotel can do whatever it wants to during your convention, and despite your contract you have no control over it. You'll win a lawsuit six months down the road - but your convention will be ruined today."

Horror stories ... oh, the horror stories.

I'm planning to attend an inaugural convention this August; is there anything I should forward to the organizers? They're probably aware of most potential pitfalls, but I figure any edge would help.

Not really - just make sure you know exactly what your hotel contract says; what they don't have to do and what you do have to, as well as what they have to. Make sure to meet with the hotel staff a week or so before the convention to make sure that you're on the same page.

Make sure whether the hotel is going to be cranky about people bringing in outside food or beverages.

Be sure whether the hotel will require you to use their A/V equipment for something like showing movies/video or providing music for a dance or other function.

Make sure that everyone knows who on the hotel staff to contact if there's an emergency or unforeseen circumstances.

Be aware of local labour laws, and any union contracts the hotel may be subject to - in some hotels in some states, you can get in trouble for having your own convention people moving things like tables and chairs around.

Depending on how big you expect the convention to be and how many people from out of the area you expect, it might be a good idea to make sure that you (or the hotel ... but i'd rather do it myself) know how to reach emergency medical services.

Oh ... and since we're coming into hot weather, make sure what the hotel's rules about use of the pool (if any) are, and whether you might want to get a waiver to keep the pool open later than normal hours on Friday or Saturday.

(At a convention in Louisville, manymany years ago, a lot of people managed to sneak into the pool area after dark when it was closed. At least some of them, since they were in a non-lighted area that was almost impossible to see from any of the surrounding area, decided to swim in the nude. It would have been so much better if any of the late-night swimmers had visited the hotel's main restaurant and noticed the big window in the foyer that looked into the pool underwater...)

And especially especially - do your best to cultivate and maintain a good relatiosnhip with the hotel's security staff.

OK, some pretty common-sense stuff. Many thanks, FPF! I'll send these to the organizers right away, just to cover the half-chance there's something they didn't think of.

Fairportfan wrote:Unfortunately, hotels cause a lot of problems for cons. ... Horror stories ... oh, the horror stories.

Yeah. A long running convention in a responsibly run hotel will rarely have major difficulties - but lose either of those qualifiers and amazing things can happen. First-time conventions are particularly vulnerable. If the hotel is going out of business, anything can happen. (Once I was at a con where the hotel was actually closing forever on Tuesday; we were their last thing ever. I don't actually know that anyone looted the place of anything important, but the staff didn't care.) More commonly the management will know this before anyone else and see the opportunity to pocket some money before disappearing from pursuing lawyers.

MerchManDan wrote:OK, some pretty common-sense stuff. Many thanks, FPF! I'll send these to the organizers right away, just to cover the half-chance there's something they didn't think of.

One more: Make absolutely sure you know what you have to pay and exactly when you have to pay it.

A small first-time convention in New Orleans thirty-some years ago (when things were cheaper) was presented with a bill for $700 at something like 10 PM on Friday night.

If Karl Wagner hadn't pulled out his Mastercard and paid it on the spot, the convention would have been shut down right then.

(I miss Karl...)

His plumbers weren't named Mario or Luigi were they? Cause there are plumbing problems and then there are plumbing problems.

And make sure the gophers know exactly what's expected of them. Don't abuse them, but at the same time make it clear that you're counting on them and if they don't follow through with their promised times discharge them. Gophering is one of the best ways to enjoy a con, but the gopher hole has to be run with a fairly tight rein and the con managers need to know how to use them as a resource. We gophers have saved a few cons from disasters, AnimeCentral a couple times.

Fairportfan wrote: Oh ... and since we're coming into hot weather, make sure what the hotel's rules about use of the pool (if any) are, and whether you might want to get a waiver to keep the pool open later than normal hours on Friday or Saturday.

(At a convention in Louisville, manymany years ago, a lot of people managed to sneak into the pool area after dark when it was closed. At least some of them, since they were in a non-lighted area that was almost impossible to see from any of the surrounding area, decided to swim in the nude. It would have been so much better if any of the late-night swimmers had visited the hotel's main restaurant and noticed the big window in the foyer that looked into the pool underwater...)

Normally when I'm out eating and some drama (or such) happens my inner cynic is quick to say 'dinner and a show' ... but in that case I suspect I'd be needing a different saying :-p