More Fans/chairs/security in the Headless lounge '08?
I don't know if anyone addressed this yet or not, but last year, despite the sheer ammount of suiters at the con, there was a deplorably small number of fans or places to sit in the headless lounge.
last year's(07) lounge was basically:
- Huge wide open space
- about 15-20 chairs sporadically placed against the walls
- 2 tables with coolers
- about 6 large fans and a few smaller "head dryer" varieties
When you've got upwards of like 50+ people at a time, and more than that during peak hours, it becomes problematic fairly quickly. Alot of people were stuck sitting/laying on the floor, waiting for a fan to stand in front of, or a fan to rest their wet/hot suit heads on.
Also for whatever reason, random non-suiter people just kept wandering into the lounge. And not even spotters/helpers either. just like, straight up random groups of people just hanging out & drinking the water. It got kind of annoying at one point on saturday afternoon.
It'd be really cool @ AC'08 to see an increase in the number of cooling-off fans, chairs, & maybe someone hanging out at the doors to keep the gawkers out of the lounge.
:3
I had my 2 fans there, one a head fan the other a fairly blowy house fan.. mine were some of the first there.
I would have been happy to hang around the headless lounge more, cept for the fact I was ill most of the con, and didn't even get to wear my own suit.
I've seen piles of furs just ganged up in front of the fan.
Oh, and I learned a neat trick last year to mount your fursuit head in front of the fan. Putting it back on after just a half hour is seemingly icy cold! ^^
last year's(07) lounge was basically:
- Huge wide open space
- about 15-20 chairs sporadically placed against the walls
- 2 tables with coolers
- about 6 large fans and a few smaller "head dryer" varieties
You forgot to mention:
- air conditioning running full blast all weekend at an additional cost of $1000 from the convention center
Look, we're not mind readers. As Charlie said, many of the problems were discussed after the con. But it would have been far more effective for someone to notify Operations of the shortcomings during the con, when it might have been possible to improve the situation at the time. (Vandalizing signs doesn't count as notification, either.)
Hey, I was just mentioning/pointing it out. I was suiting the entire con. It's pretty much my reason for going, so it's something that stood out in my memory.
I don't live on these forums, or for that matter regularly check them, so I wasn't aware(like I said in my first sentence 
) if these issues had been addressed prior or not.
If I'd known at the time (which I didn't) that I could have actually gone and said "hey, could we pleeeeese please get some more chairs/fans?" to someone, by all means, trust me I would have.
From where I sat and roved last year, the problems with the headless lounge in the convention center were User Error. That is, the doors were being propped open for the comfort of the non-fursuiters. This allowed all that expensive cool air to flow out into the rest of the convention center.
In the past security has kept a hands off approach to the Headless Lounge, unless there was a problem. The fursuiters liked their privacy, etc. This approached worked well until last year.
Last year I saw way too many non-fursuiters going in and out. Most of these were not handlers.
The fursuiters using the lounge should be policing themselves, as in keeping the doors closed and encouraging the non-fursuiters to remain outside.
I concur. Although we could probably see about getting a volunteer to sit outside and serve as a door guard. We haven't the staff to spare for that duty, but hopefully we can find enough people to do one- or two-hour shifts making sure that the door stays closed, and that only fursuiters go in.
Now, right up front, we're going to have to make a rule that says, "If you aren't walking alongside a fursuiter, you don't go in." It's a little awkward to have to give a volunteer a huge list of conditionals. "If this person does this, then it's ok, but if he says this, then..." It's got to be very simple, very black and white.
That will control traffic through the door and will keep the cool air in; however, it is still going to be up to the people inside the room to help maintain order. If there's folks hanging out in there without suits, do not be afraid to ask them politely to leave. The purpose of the room is to server as a waystation for fursuiters to stop in and cool down, get a drink, or rest their feet for a few moments. Despite the name (which I regret having coined for this very reason) it is not a "lounge." If a fursuiter wants to get out of suit while in the room, that's fine. Once out of suit, you should be out of the room, though.
Perhaps, as a suggestion, a small badge or something for the handlers to wear to show that they are with their suiting friend? That way there would be less confusion as to who is or isn't assisting those in costume.
Just a small thought. 
Hey Kage, that's actually a really good idea having a volunteer staff of door watchers. I'd happily volunteer to do that for an hour or two. As long as everything goes smooth and everyone refrains from gettin an attitude when we do our job, then I won't have to go sergeant all over them.
As an aside, it would also be nice if you took it easy on the truck Kage. Lol, as I recall it, those fans were fine when we loaded them. 
Come down for a few days, I'm making head cooling racks for my workshop :3
I'll be bringing a couple fans with me to help out with this situation. I have a 25" high velocity fan, and one of the "Head Dryer" types too.
if anyone brings a fan. make sure your name and phone # is on it
Have a decent copy of the head tree from FC, just some light pvc pipe and a high pressure blower, should have about 8 or 9 outlets on it just for head cooling. I'll just put ma name on it. that's nuff for me.
Don't have any pics but if you had seen the one at FC, its a good copy.
Bet your foam filled fuzzy head I am, should have spots for 10 heads on a pike.
I know it's probably a bit late now to be replying to this thread, but I have an iea that might help out maybe?
Everyone seems to be up in arms about the non-suiters and non-wranglers lingering about in the lounge. If they do intend to keep a guard at the door, why not make it easier to distinguish the proper people to allow in with say stickers that can be applied to the badges, specifically for suiters and their handlers?
This can be accomplished by simply asking when someone picks up their badge at registration, if they are a fursuiter and will be in costume at the convention? If so, then the reg-ops would give them a small sheet of sticker labels, like say 2 or 4. One would go on the suiters badge, and the others the suiter can give out to his/her freidns that will be helping them to suit.
This would allow for the person at the door to just glance at the badges, much like the people do at the adult art show in order to check ages. It would cut down on unauthorized entrance, allow the suiter to be able to have their handler come in when NOT with the suiter to like say grab stuff they forgot, or to come pick up the suiter. Plus the cost to the con would be minimal cause you can get big rolls of stickers or something form any office supply store for next to nothing. In fact someone could even just offer to donate the stickers if need be.
I am sending this reply as en e-mail to con-ops as well to see if they might like the idea.
It's a thought, certainly.
I'm not sure that the registration folks are really looking for another piece of information to keep track of, considering they already have IDs, permission letters for minors, separating people into appropriate lines by ID name, groups of badges for staff and dealers that need to be handled differently, standard con bags full of the usual flyers and treats, sponsor and supersponsor ribbons and all the treats that go along with them, directing people to other places they need to go (such as art show check-in), t-shirts that have been preordered in several different sizes, people registering at the door, people who registered previously and are now upgrading to sponsor or supersponsor, and any other little last minute glitches that may come up (a typo on a con badge, for instance) for some 2,000-3,000 people. And while all of that is happening, veteran reg staff may also have to be training new volunteers in various pieces of the job on the fly, while everyone in line complains about how long the whole process is taking.
If this is a big concern for fursuiters, might i suggest a short term solution that doesn't require additional staff labor? Instead of having the stickers at registration, someone could just buy a couple of packets of cheap stickers, say all hearts or pawprints or something, at the dollar store and bring them. Then fursuiters can tag themselves and their spotters when they go in to use the headless lounge, and you need only ask that folks who are spotters or fursuiters try to be mindful of when they're in the lounge and don't need to be.
Ok...so long and short of this thread...as a sumamry.
Comments and suggestions have been heard. Things to understand about the headless lounges. They are not social areas. They are there for folks to cool off when in costume. So if someone goes in with the intention of "chit-chatting" with a friend, any person in the lounge has the right to ask them to leave.
On the subject of handlers. While this may be something needed for a few costumes, the majority of performers do not need a spotter or handler while in the headless lounge. (I'm speaking as a fursuiter myself and my interactions with the many, MANY performers that I've encountered over the last 10 Anthrocons.) So this isn't really something we need a policy on. It's just common sense. If you can remove your head and put it on by yourself, you don't need a spotter to accompany you into the lounges. If your costume is complex and requires someone to remove components to get the headpiece off, it'll be pretty obvious that you need someone there with you. However, if the lounges get crowded (and they do), we can ask all handlers to leave to give more space to those who NEED to be in there. Even if you are "handling" for someone, if the rooms become crowded, a staffer may ask all non-suiters to step out into the hall to give more room to the suiters that need to come in. Again, just use common sense.
Please remember, we have the possibility of having over 400 fursuits running around the convention. Even if spread between both headless lounges, that is a LOT of people in costume who may need access to those spaces at a moment's notice.
Finally, keep in mind that you amy see SOME people out of suit who SHOULD be in the headless lounge from time to time. As prorgamming director, if I'm not in costume, I may pop in to check on the status of a room. One of my programming staff may do the same periodically throughout the day. Staff members or security may be assisting a fursuiter who has a special need (overheating, dehydrating, impaired vision, etc.) but please, if you feel that someone is in there that shouldn't be, look at their badge. If it says "Staff" on it, they may be helping someone, or relaying important information.
KP
Anthrocon Programming Director and *fursuiting puppy*
IIRC, Mirabem, most of these questions were addressed right after the con.
Apparently, some of the fans were damaged during the trek to Pittsburgh. I don't know how many were brought or were active at any time (I'm not a fursuiter), but I am fairly certain Kage said that would not happen in 2008.
I also believe that Kage stated they would have the water tanks in the Headless Lounge filled more often in '08 as well.
As for security, I feel certain that a volunteer could be found to prevent random people from entering the Lounge.
These statements reflect only my own rapidly-failing memory. However, bringing them up again can't hurt.