Origins 2010 Pizza Party Debriefing Notes
From RabbitWiki
Here are the raw notes 'Becca took at the debriefing meeting on June 27, 2010. Discussion of the show and these notes will continue on the Origins Mailing List... if you helped us run our events this year, please share your observations about the show on the mailing list! The Big Experiment Steering Committee (BESC) will be updating "Planning for The Big Experiment 2011" with specific plans for next year culled from these notes and this continued discussion.
Contents |
[edit] Main impressions:
- YAAAAYY!!! WE ROCK!!!
- 4 people at this debriefing are new this year.
- New space provides great opportunities: space for demos, tournaments, giant pyramids, free gaming, all at once--and sometimes it was FULL!
- It was great having no stairs/escalator!
- Daisy path was wonderful!
- John Ward (head of GAMA) told Kristin our event was great!! New location is ours as long as we want it.
- Furniture should be somewhat different. Let's work on plans online.
[edit] Booth:
- Sales were down although attendance was up from last year. Other vendors mentioned poor sales too.
- Location at the front made it hard to catch people entering the hall; many walk by fast.
- But, it's like that anywhere in the hall; some people are headed for a specific goal.
- in booth Traitor demos were difficult because of number of players required.
- (we won't be promoting this in the booth anymore next year)
- Number of Rabbits in booth is difficult to balance. Too many (especially in lab coats) is intimidating and makes booth look too crowded to explore. Too few means all Rabbits are demo-ing and there's no barker. (take off lab coat if player is needed, but too many coats are around?)
- Some demos are too long: People want to finish game, but others are waiting. Need to wrap up games if rushed. This year's traffic was too slow for this problem to appear much.
- Can we offer free tournament entry with purchase of that game? (Makes Kristin's head hurt! Too complicated to arrange.)
- Good cashiers! Temp agency sent temps interested in games. They loved the con scene.
- Need better training for booth responsibilities.
- Don't loiter in booth if not on shift, especially not in lab coat. We'll have better structured lab coat rules next year.
[edit] Daisy path:
- Everyone loved it!
- "Where's the Lab?...Oh!" was a pleasurable moment for everyone who arrived after the path was laid.
- Great for directing people from booth to Lab and also from Lab to booth to buy games they'd played.
- Early closing of "our" door to exhibit hall was a big downer for those who followed daisies to this closed door on Sunday. Kristin will write into 2011 agreement that the exhibit hall door that our daisy path goes through must stay open during all exhibit hall hours.
[edit] Lab:
- Barker was okay but a bit much, not best use of a Rabbit, seems aggressive. Useful only for people looking in curiously with questions to be answered. Maybe Rabbits could wait at the front, draw in people, and then the same Rabbit stay with them to get Test Subject # and sit down to demo.
- Giant pyramids are best tool for recruiting passersby. Need someone prepared to demo the same game with small pyramids to people intrigued by a giant game in progress.
- Kristin presented her 2011 plan: She hopes (toes crossed) to have FREE demo tables at front for 3 new games. Collect extra ribbons for trying these. Need Big Experiment ribbon or tickets/tokens to come further into Lab. Better signage. Top Rabbit and Tournament Director sit just behind demos. Then open gaming and non-free demos. Then tournament area. Kitchen behind partition like this year.
- Big Experiment ribbon will grant special privileges not available with tickets/tokens, like playing new prototype games and attending What's Next from Andy seminar.
- Will sell ribbons and generic tickets in Lab again next year. That worked so well this year (after registration system went wrong) that GAMA says we can do it in 2011.
- Stand-up poster (like we had for BTTF) for most games will clarify what's happening where.
- Trouble finding demo Rabbits when needed. Because Top Rabbit wasn't allowed to grab Rabbits for jobs, he/she had to give complex instructions to demo-seekers, which probably deterred some.
- Let's strategize with the big space: Area for each general category of game?
- Some Rabbits interrupted demos talking up another product! Don't!! Especially, beware of convincing people to wait for next year's new product rather than buy now!
- Can Top Rabbit have a system for notifying Rabbits at a distance of what needs to be done? Post demo on a board and ring a bell? "Demo UP!" :-)
- Need more Demo Rabbit time slots and more Rabbits per slot.
- Giant Icehouse doesn't work--not enough people want to play.
- Other giant games got much interest. They need to be near the front and free to watch, if not to play. One giant set should be used for demos basically all day long; the other(s) farther back can be available for open gaming.
- Big Experiment ribbon needs to hold its value, so we can't have too many free demos.
[edit] Tournaments:
- Fluxx drew 10-15 fewer people than 2009. Maybe multiple versions of Fluxx diluted attendance. Monty Python Fluxx was huge, though! Alison suggested one Fluxx tournament with each table using a different version in the preliminary rounds, then regular Fluxx for the finals.
- Need all tourney tables to be the same size - don't mix the two sizes around the room.
- Liked 15-minute game time limit on Monty Python Fluxx.
- Stoner Fluxx was great in Origins After Dark area. May want to do more OAD events: Drinking Fluxx, Werewolf? (Not Werewolf since it would be simultaneous with Werewolf open to teens, which would dilute Rabbits and players.)
- Test Subject Numbers inadequately recorded. Need to request the number better on envelope design.
- Trouble with people coming late or leaving early.
- Need better written guidelines for running tourneys. GMs need to update theirs each year. New GMs need to read them.
- Traitor tourney should start earlier than 9pm; that was a bad time for many players.
- Players forget their player numbers for rotating tables. Could we have numbers to hand to them?
- Need to avoid running over time, in case players are planning to go to another event next. Fixed this problem for Zendo. Need to record tourney length accurately on envelope for future scheduling. Treehouse is going to need 3 hours unless run differently. If tournament is likely to be longer than scheduled, announce this at start and ask players to commit to staying until eliminated.
- Need big schedule posters outside Lab and visible inside Lab.
- Floating tournament sign-up sheets need to be filled out completely. This info is important to Top Rabbit and Tournament Director. Slips aren't enough.
[edit] Werewolf events:
- Late Night sessions (held in the hall E):
- Space... Poor acoustics. No carpet.
- Need ways to separate groups - players can too easily join without coming past Jared's sign in desk.
- John Ward says he will try to give us the space at at far end under escalator that had wi-fi in it this year, or an upstairs room (like previous Lab) and the space outside it.
- Being downstairs was good for attracting players.
- Daytime family sessions (held in The Lab):
- 1 village filled in each slot Thursday. Less consistent other days.
- Did we have fewer problems with kids attending the night sessions because they could be referred to the day sessions?
- Need a Sunday slot or at least late Saturday afternoon. Many people asked Top Rabbit at these times and were disappointed they'd missed all the sessions.
- these lab events attracted mostly brand-new players.
[edit] Volunteer recruitment:
- Could we offer a perk to new volunteers who join us during the con?
- Need automated poking of Rabbits not on Origins list. Poke all Rabbits in the last week for pre-registration discount. Then poke Rabbits 2-3 weeks before Origins telling where to find instructions and sign up for shifts.
- Lab Report should tell how to become a Rabbit. Make it easy.
- Schedule training sessions.
- Can locals get a free day pass for volunteering?
- New Rabbit could shadow an experienced Rabbit to learn our ways. Not every potential volunteer is suitable; the experienced Rabbit could report any problems.
- New software will enable new, improved perks program.
[edit] Top Rabbit and Tournament Director:
- They were too far back in the Lab!! Some people did not venture in that far.
- Need to engage with people as they enter.
- Robin will prepare new TR and TD materials; let her know exactly what's needed and wanted, as she doesn't do these jobs. Discuss details on list.
- Tables were unappealing, too cluttered, too much business stuff and not enough fun.
- Process of referring newcomers to TR who refers them to TD to get their TS# is too complicated and alienating. Shy geeks need a warmer approach of sticking with one friendly Rabbit who shows them around.
- Lab coats should identify Rabbits on duty. Be prepared to represent Looney Labs when wearing lab coat anywhere. Do not complain about any Looney issues in public while wearing lab coat!
[edit] Kitchen:
- Very smooth this year.
- Partition solves problems: messiness, social magnet effect, off-duty Rabbits' visibility.
- Some cut fruits and vegs were left around, attracting fruit flies. Need labelable containers (someone could bring old yogurt tubs and masking tape) for storage. Sharing and non-wasting are good, but flies are not.
- Zendo screen on 4th side to separate kitchen from tourney zone?
- Kitchen framework needs repairs. Looneys will take it home and check it.
[edit] Pre-show preparation:
- Wiki should be updated each year for each tourney by the GM. Need someone in charge of this, to poke people about which pages they need to update and give instructions. Not everyone knows how to update a Wiki. Someone on the BESC should take this job...
- Robin sent e-mail about Rabbit plans that got little feedback. Most people read and appreciated it but didn't think they needed to reply.
- Origins list gets so much traffic that many people experience it as spam and can't tolerate being on it. Need an Origins announcements-only list.
