General Feedback

[gemma85]

Mine & my sis's experience of Bitten, was overall....AMAZING!!!

 

Had great interaction with all the guests over the weekend....particularly Todd . Not only did he remember us from the meet & greet on friday but we were waiting for a lift when he came around and waited with us. The lift came...he got in and like a true gent he held the door open for us, we rode up with him having a good old chat on the way. Needless to say that was the perfect way to cap off the weekend, just us and Todd alone=fantastic!!!

 

All the crew were great, friendly and given the fact that the sunday schedule went a bit wonky due to most peeps getting photo's & auto on saturday, I think the quiz was a good idea. Video room was also a nice touch.

 

The hotel was ok. Room was a bit pokey but suited us for what we needed. The bathroom was a bit dirty, like it hadnt been swept for a few weeks, the shower curtain was stupid, water all over the floor once you got out and the in room phone didnt work. We tried to order some drinks and chips from room service, as the phone wasnt working we had to go downstairs to order it...told the desk clerk about the phone and she said she was gunna send someone up to sort it out. The whole weekend nobody came to fix it!!

But despite the odd descrepancies with the room, it was ok.

 

Had a couple of rude experiences with the same attendee on and off over the weekend which really bugged me to no end...regardless of anything there is no excuse to be rude and literally snatching a folder off my sister in the dealers room whilst she was looking through it is just pure ignorance!!!!! Also noticed the same person trying to sit in gold seats in the talks when she wasnt a gold ticket. It annoys me that when people have paid for the privilege of gold tickets some others have to try and get what they are not entitled too. Other than, found the attendees to be friendly and easy going!!

 

Regardless of the odd few negatives, which is no slight on ME or the event itself, had a great time. All bought & booked up ready for next year!!! Cant wait!! Just wanna say a huge thankyou to ME for running these events and giving us the chance to meet the guests of this truly awesome show!!!!

 

Now just gotta somehow get through another year of waiting....what are we gunna do?!

Edited August 11, 2010 by gemma85

[Snorkmaiden]

Well, it was my first con and it was mainly really enjoyable.

 

The first night party didn't work for me. I came on my own and, although the crew were friendly, it was virtually impossible to strike up a conversation with the other punters - and believe me I really tried. One lovely girl and her sister befriended me eventually, but I was exhausted after about 8 knock-backs and a hell of a lot of "tude" from the rudes so I went to bed early, disallusioned that the con was so cliquey!!

 

Fortunately the next day I found some approachable people and things improved immeasurably.

So, maybe a meeting point for lone guests might be an idea??

 

Sat party was great until the cheesy music. More Fangtasia themed parties with a set-list like the early part of the eve please. Pole dancers were amazing too.

 

More bar-staff is definitely a must for next year and perhaps some training in speed and efficiency for them too. I've worked in busy bars and these guys just couldn't cut it.

 

Also, the hotel really missed a trick by not stocking Tru Blood. It was hopelessly overpriced in the Dealer's room and I am quite sure that everyone would have tried at least one had they been on sale chiled and with the option of adding shots!

 

I really enjoyed the talks and the signings and it was nice to catch a glimpse of the guests at the parties. They were working So hard during the day that it didn't really feel appropriate to try and talk to them, but it was nice to see them.

 

I agree with the previous posters that there was a lot of dead time. It was a bit like being at a big wedding - the waiting around for photos and speeches part - but I don't really see how the organisers could get round the delays. Queues were inevitable and that "dead time" presumably gave the guests a rest too.

 

Finally, although the Dealer's room was interesting, there wasn't really that much stuff. Why no convention mugs??

 

Big thanks to the crew who worked so hard to make it an enjoyable experience for us all and who were such Friendly, funny people. Shame we can't clone them lol

[MiZcheef]

I loved it. I really did. I was a little worried to start with because there were less people there and therefore less people to hide behind... But after I got used to it I loved it. Everyone seemed a lot more relaxed here as opposed to some of the other con's.

 

There was a little dead time granted but there was a video room which I totally forgot about!! (idiot) I haven't seen season 3 but I know whats' going on with it.... Was gutted when people wouldn't discuss it.

 

The crew were lovely, the people i met (talked to, ambushed, whatever) were lovely and the guests... Well I want to adopt them. Is that allowed??

 

Can't wait for the next one!!!

[Purple_Vamp]

There was a little dead time granted but there was a video room which I totally forgot about!!

 

 

Me too, I completely forgot to go in there!

[fanggirl]

Was there dead time? I seemed to be constantly busy. Not even time for sleep! How I managed to be downstairs for 9am after 4hrs&1.5hrs sleep on Friday&saturday nights I have no idea. But it was worth it

[paul]

We also had a problem during the talks on saturday afternoon. With my friend we left during two minutes between two talks and when we came back someone had taken our seats. We told them that it was our seats and the rules said that we had to keep our seats for the whole afternoon but they didn't move.

 

I didnt know people had rights to seats?

[clarabell]

I know on the signs that were up around the venue it did say that you had to leave something on your seat to keep it yours for the afternoon, so by that rule I'm guessing if there was nothing left on a chair anyone could sit on it with the assumption that the other person wasn't coming back!!!

 

[paul]

Ive never known chairs being kept for people before. I mean, fine, if your going to the toilet and the person you're with is with the seats.... but everyone leaving AND having the chairs kept?? Weird. People could wonder in at random and say 'thats my seat - I was here a minute ago!'

 

Plus, who would leave all their stuff on a chair, unguarded, and walk away!?

Edited August 12, 2010 by paul

[clarabell]

It was also in the leaflet I believe in the reg pack, and to be honest I left my cardi on my chair all the time as it was so warm in there and no one sat in my seat or tried to steal it both days, obviously you wouldn't leave something valuable on it but, I can honestly say I came home with said cardi!!!

 

This has been the case at most of the cons I've been to over the years and I was pleased to see that ME are in keeping with tradition!!!!

[LisaMarie]

Ive never known chairs being kept for people before. I mean, fine, if your going to the toilet and the person you're with is with the seats.... but everyone leaving AND having the chairs kept?? Weird. People could wonder in at random and say 'thats my seat - I was here a minute ago!'

 

Plus, who would leave all their stuff on a chair, unguarded, and walk away!?

 

I would and did leave stuff on my chair whilst I went to the toilet. Of course I took my phone and purse but left by bag which had things like water and mints in it... no one was gonna take/move that!

 

Also the rule, as I take it, is once you have the seat that is your seat for the day. So leaving to go to the toilet seems reasonable...

[Queen_Sindel]

Also the rule, as I take it, is once you have the seat that is your seat for the day. So leaving to go to the toilet seems reasonable...

 

You are understanding correctly.

Unfortunately there's always some who won't listen.

 

As weird as it seems to some, it's always best to leave something on your seat. If nothing is left, it's quite normal to come back and find your seat to be taken. Doesn't have to be your expensive cell phone. A bag (minus valuables) or a cardigan does the trick.

[nickichicken]

We put tissues on our seats with our names and ticket numbers on, that seemed to work fine too!

 

[DavidB]

I'm just imagining you half-drunk still, trying to spell your name on a tissue

[Queen_Sindel]

A clever attendees prepares those in advance.

[dragonsanddaffodils]

I am now imagining attendees chairs with flags attached. Bags I the Pirate one!

[fanggirl]

I had my seat nicked too.

Oh well! I'll be gaffataping a giant teddy to it next year or something. Maybe dress it up as Vampire Eddie with a bottle of True Blood

[CosmicAvatar]

Yeah, my friends in the row behind me got up and left their seats and two girls behind them had leaned forward and plonked their bags onto my friends' places. Fortunately my friends had come round to the front to talk to us in front and saw the whole thing. They quickly reclaimed their seats by putting the bags back whence they'd come, but got some filthy looks. (Mind you, the girls in question were walking around looking po-faced every time we saw them, so that was nothing new. ) Their attitude was completely unjustified, the cheeky beggars, as the rules of seat-owning have been made clear in several instances.

 

It's a shame those who insinuated themselves into others' seats and refused to move couldn't be evicted. I can see how it might be difficult to enforce, though.

[fanggirl]

Yeah, my friends in the row behind me got up and left their seats and two girls behind them had leaned forward and plonked their bags onto my friends' places. Fortunately my friends had come round to the front to talk to us in front and saw the whole thing. They quickly reclaimed their seats by putting the bags back whence they'd come, but got some filthy looks. (Mind you, the girls in question were walking around looking po-faced every time we saw them, so that was nothing new. ) Their attitude was completely unjustified, the cheeky beggars, as the rules of seat-owning have been made clear in several instances.

 

It's a shame those who insinuated themselves into others' seats and refused to move couldn't be evicted. I can see how it might be difficult to enforce, though.

 

technically you could have a seat per ticket no, but it would mean that you may not to get to sit with your friends if you booked at different times.. so not sure it would work.

[Too Tall]

We've looked a all the different systems and decided that loading the hall in ticket number was a best for us.

 

People SHOULD NOT take other people's seats. Maybe we need to make this more obviously at the start of the talks.

 

Also maybe give out post-its so people can put their Name, ticket number and maybe ROW number on it. That way they can leave the post-it note on the seat when they want to leave.

[bezzo]

Maybe you could just physically attach ticket numbers to the chairs?

[Too Tall]

Maybe you could just physically attach ticket numbers to the chairs?

This is one of the systems we dismissed because as has been said, it then means that people HAVE to sit in that seat and if they didn't book at the same time as friends it means they can't ever sit next to each other.

 

The other issue with that is you have no idea how long it would take to "attach" ticket numbers to the seats. At an event like ET4 with over 1000 seats it takes 30 minutes plus just to get the seats out, if we start attaching numbers that time would triple at least.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Too Tall

[dragonsanddaffodils]

the only problem with anything fixed to chairs is the sheer number of times that the chairs are laid out then stacked back up again, you would be either removing and re-tieing then all, or searching through hundreds of chairs trying to find specific numbers

[LisaMarie]

Just stating the rules of keeping your chair at the beginning of the talks seems a good idea to me. I'm aware that there are notices around saying the rules but maybe not everyone sees these. :)

 

Would just help clarify this for others.

 

Also the post-it notes are a good idea :)

[Blackviolett]

My partner just made a good point. If someone is there on their own and needs to leave their seat for the toilet why should someone come along and be allowed to take that seat over. Thats like someone sitting in your seat at the cinema, you just wouldnt have it would you lol. I think to leave something like a cardi on the chair is acceptable. People who steal seats are just mean, theres plenty of room for everyone in the talks and to be honest, even at the back, you can hear whats going on and with a nice zoom camera its not bad for shots either. :) I hope it gets sorted for next year :)

[Charmer]

I don't see anything wrong with leaving a bag or coat on a chair as that's what I do myself if I need to pop to the loo or something. However, if you leave your seat with nothing by it then I don't think you can have a go at anyone in it when you come back unless you've asked anoher person sitting near by to keep it for you or something.

Peronsally I always ask people if empty seats are actually free before I sit in them and that should really go for everyone.