Activity Hours
First of all, AC was absolutely wonderful! It was my first convention and I made a bunch of mistakes which I will be ready for next year, but I had an amazing time and met some amazing people!! 
The one thing that I did wish, though, was that the hours of activities weren't so in tune with the hours of the dealer's den. 
There were things that I wanted to attend, but because I was in the dealer's room at my table, I couldn't attend. Would it be possible to have more things after dealer's room hours? That would be great ^_^
Unfortunately, this is part of the reason why many dealers I know say that, when going to Anthrocon, working as a dealer and enjoying the con's programming are practically mutually-exclusive.
The problem with moving more panels to the evening is that things start to overlap the con's major ballroom events: Kage's show, 2's show, and the Masquerade, all of which are attended by a significant percentage (if not a majority) of con attendees. So, looking at this year's schedule, there are very few blank spots where panels could be squeezed in without shifting the con to a nocturnal schedule.
In addition to sheer volume of panels and events, KP (programming director) often describes the size of his Book o' Special Requests for programming to be about the size of the average encyclopedia. That's how many special requests for "I don't want my panel to overlap {event X}" he gets, adding a whole level of complexity to the programming grid, which already resembles a nightmarish jigsaw puzzle.
Personally, I think the con needs to expand programming to Thursday, even if it's just half the day, to alleviate some of the schedule conflicts. The powers that be keep saying it'll never happen, but I can't imagine any other way to solve problems like this.
We've been slowly adding a thing or two Thursday. It's tricky, because anything we add on Thursday has to be pretty late in the day; Registration currently opens at about 2-3pm on Thursday- an even held at, say, 6pm would have about 33% of attendees processed and through the Registration lines.
It's tough to open much earlier on Thursday (though I feel we're going to need to next year) because of the staff needs; Wednesday registration is near-impossible given Convention Center hours and the needs for bag-stuffing and computer setup and all. Wednesday most of the board and some staff arrive.. as well as all the convention materials; it's rather a frenzy getting it all into place properly.
Furthermore, people wanting to run panels and various programming would have to arrive on Thursday, get through registration (Which is much, much, much easier if you Pre-register), and get themselves set for that panel, knowing that it may be somewhat sparsely attended.
We did offer last year some game demos, a dance, a 'social mixer' in the Zoo, and our "To Absent Friends" on Thursday. KP can answer better on these matters, but I expect that Thursday programming will keep minimal for a while.
--Chi
Some folks like Softpaw have the issue squarely in focus. The panels and events are actually hosted by attendees themselves. So their ability to host a panel is dependant on their availability. While I personally view that as a strength of our fandom and our programming, it imposes certain limitations. In the same way that dealer room hours are important to your schedule, there are other things that the hosts of daytime panels feel are important in the evening hours. Couple that with the dances, late evening performances,and even people wanting to go to private parties and offsite dinners...and we really have an almost no-win scenario.
I do receive rather interesting lists of events that people do not want to be up against. For example (taken straight off one of the panel request forms last year): "Please do not schedule me against the following events: Uncle Kage's Story Hour, 2's Rant, the Artist's Reception, The Mature Art Auction, and The Maquerade. I also cannot be scheduled during dealer room hours. Please do not schedule me prior to 9am. On Saturday, I have a dinner appointment, so I won't be available from close of the Dealer's Room until 7pm. I also must go to sleep before 12:30am each night. Thanks for taking these times into consideration." Can you see where the problems start occuring?
Scheduling is always a tricky prospect, and in some cases (as with the one I listed above) we can't always accomodate all requests, but I certainly do try to. I just ask that people very careful and only request not to be against one specific event...to give us the max amount of flexibility possible.
I don't see much more in the way of Thursday programming happening for a few reasons. Not only would registration need to be open a day earlier, but all con functions would be shifted a day earlier. That means reserving the convention center spaces for an additional day, reserving the hotel spaces for another day, having the staff on duty a day early (so they'd be checking into the hotel earlier and taking another day off work). That starts running a really high tab in costs and manpower. Plus it'd increase the convention costs to the attendees by a day, and then we'd eventaully get into the discussion of why the dealer room isn't open a day earlier...and the problem would reappear.
I am working on trying to have more programming in the evenings, as people make themselves available for thsoe events. It's just a very difficult proposition to get things working for so many people at the same time.
KP
Well now, this brings us to Wednesday and the possibility of individuals sponsoring their own small in-room pre-con events, such as fur meets, sewing circles, (a chnace to do those last minute fursuit fixes, and possibly a small group renting some space for other things.
And with those, my guess is that there's just one very simple guideline to follow:
So long as the programming staff don't need to do anything to facilitate it and it doesn't involve anything that would make the hotel unhappy, it's no problem. 
Informal room parties can be really wonderful things.
Provided they adhere to our Party Policy, which is spelled out in the Standards of Conduct.
Heck, why not have the convention last all week? 
Because the convention staff and Board of Directors have regular jobs that they need to work. As do many of the artists, vendors, and attendees.
I already plan on using 80% of my vacation time for 2010 for Anthrocon. We're not making it longer.
Indeed. There is significant setup and teardown involved, meaning that the convention for me starts on the Tuesday before the con and ends the Monday after, usually requiring me to take off an entire week or work.
Geez, these board members these days...so demanding.
I mean, first they ask us to let them maintain gainful employment...what next, sleep? Time to eat?
As a dealer I can sympathize with you. Unfortunately AC tries to do so much in just a few days it is impossible to accommodate everyone. When there is a specific event I want to attend which conflicts with dealer hours, I simply place a note on my table informing potential customers that I will be back at a specific time. My busiest day is Friday so I stay close to my table all day but Saturday and Sunday provide me some opportunities to escape.
Otterly Amazing Tails