Headless Lounge Exposed?
Last year while wandering about, I was struck by how exposed the Headless Lounge was ... from what I can gather, it's for 'suiters to have someplace to go to escape the heat and have some privacy, but it being so close to the Spirit of Pittsburgh Ballroom, a lot of people go past it during the day and the doors seem to be wide open most of the time.
It just struck me a few minutes ago that, "Well, why not just hang a curtain over the door so it's easy to get in and out, but still have some privacy, too?" Surely, that'd be an easy enough grab, right? =) *
And yes, I'm fishing for an Airplane comeback here. ;D
Well, you've got it right; some suiters will also change in and out of their suit in the headless lounge. You've also got it right: 'Some privacy'. not complete and total privacy, but 'some'. The current design works for 'some'.
An additional curtain might be good, but there are two issues: The mentioned cost of renting and having staged acurtain (that's the sort of thing that would be quite a Union Job), as well as keeping the room easy to enter and exit- for exhausted, sweaty, limited-vision fursuiters.
The doors being open thing is a bit of a problem. If I am understanding things correctly a lot of money is pumped into cooling that place down. So when people leave the doors wide open, it sort of defeats part of the point of the place.
Often when I go in if the doors are not shut I shut them myself, and if they are shut when I enter or leave I always re-shut the door. If you see the doors open, don't hesitate to close them.
I myself was rather confused to see the doors constantly propped open. It costs me $1500 to refrigerate that room. Were people trying to tell me that the room was still too hot? Or was it too cold? Or were the doors too difficult to manage with fursuit-hands?
We can fix the problem but only if someone steps forward and tells us what it is.
When I was in the room it was fine temperature wise for me. If I was really hot I could always move closer to the fans to cool off. Likewise if I was too chilly I could move away from the fans. I never found the doors too difficult to handle either. I think the door issue just came down to either inattentiveness or laziness. If I remember right the doors were the type where if you push them open far enough they would lock open (as opposed to the type that have the door stop mounted at the bottom of the door). Then what would happen is people would open the doors far enough to lock and then not notice that they were left open or just not care and leave them open. Not sure what you could do to try and fix this issue apart from having someone posted at the doors constantly making sure the doors remain closed and only allowing suiters and handlers into the room or finding a way to adjust the doors so that cannot lock open (which would require approval from the DLCC) but I don't know how feasible either of these would be. Another option would be to post signs on the doors that they should remain closed at all times but not everyone pays attention to the signs either.
Signs might be the best, but many suiters won't be able to see them clearly. In my experience, too, only about 30% of people pay attention to signs.
We've spoken before about situating someone at the door, and could include "keep the door shut" in the list of duties. We may make that a volunteer position if we can find folks willing to put in 1- to 2-hour shifts.
Again, though, if anyone else knows any reason why someone might have deliberately propped the door open, I'm eager to know.
I think in a few cases the rooms actually got too hot despite the fans running.
Other times the headless lounge was perfectly cool. I think, in part, it depended on how big a crowd was gathered there at the time. I know in a few cases the headless lounge got pretty packed, and not just during things like the fursuit games etc. In some cases though, I think it may have just been a matter of perception of the hall being cooler than the headless lounge.
For example, when walking through the con in my suit, I'd often get freezing cold because the fur on my suit breathes relatively well, but when standing still I can actually get quite hot. This temporarily makes things like the headless lounge /seem/ warmer but that's only until you get near a fan or people actually keep the damn doors shut long enough for the room to properly cool off.
Those are only my personal observations however, and not necessarily meaningful on their own.
Signs might be the best, but...
Last year I had to prop a door open while we brought in two injured suiters One over exerted himself, the other was in a motorcycle accident earlier the year and pulled something both did it at the same time, I was part of their con-group.
I shut the door after we had them in, but this kind of thing happens, suiters are under a lot of stress and sometimes handlers tend to be "rush rush rush" for them and forget to re-close doors, and the like.
I noticed the above mentioned issue, fursuiters would leave the room and push the doors open to get out, but with their limited visibility not realize that they had pushed them open to the point where the would lock in the open position. When I was in the area I would close them when I saw this, but im fairly certain that that was the majority of it. Accidentally propping them open as opposed to intentionally.
Tora-
I realize this topic may seem old now, but I have yet to see a definitive action.
Will we be implementing volunteers to help regulate the fursuiter lounge this year?
If the only thing keeping this as a "maybe" and not a "definitely" is someone to head up the program I would be happy to play volunteer wrangler. That is of course if someone else isn't already set to do so.
Besides the issue of the open door situation and random people walking in, I think it would be a good idea to have someone monitoring the room in the event that someone should need assistance.
Thank you for volunteering! Report to Operations, which will be in room 309 of the Convention Center, and we'll give you your assignment.
I'm pretty certain this is a go.
I myself and Zeke have already put ourselves out there to volunteer for this. The more people we get the better the rotations and shorter the shifts.
If the only thing keeping this as a "maybe" and not a "definitely" is someone to head up the program I would be happy to play volunteer wrangler. That is of course if someone else isn't already set to do so.
Better tell petercat; he may be able to readjust your work schedule to help make this easier. 
I have to agree with you there. I thought the temperature was just right. With the doors being wide open it probably is just inattentiveness or laziness.
For the last two years of being at AC, myself, and Zeke, and any other suiters I was around or with just closed the doors ourselves when we noticed them open. When someone would come in, and push it all the way open we would suggest politely for them to close the door to keep the cold air in.
But I think if one wants to take a more active approach to keeping the doors shut, I suppose Kage's idea of having volunteers rotate to keep an eye on the place. To make it more interesting, I could imagine that the people could stay inside the room, and help suitors out when necessary in addition to ensuring the doors stay shut.
But thats just a suggestion.
EDIT: You would also need to get the volunteers willing to do it. Personally I wouldn't mind taking 1 to 2 hours out of my time at AC each day to sit and look after the place, and keep the doors shut and help any suitors that need help. Plus I could probably bring along a repair kit for those who need it. I can talk to Zeke and see if Zeke is up to doing it.
EDIT: Zeke told me she's be willing to volunteer time for something like this too. She has experience being a watchdog(comes as part of working at a library).
My understanding was it was too difficult for fursuit hands. My friend and I kept going into the lounge and closing the doors behind us(We take our bodysuit upper torsos down to help cool off and having the whole convention centre peeking in is ridiculously annoying), and then handlers would let their fursuiter in and THEN PROP THE DOORS OPEN. I yelled at a few of them because it's stupid.
The only downside of having a security person on the door(in my experience) is the one year we had a security person there, they were treating it more like the dealers den than somewhere to get water and cool off. THey kept pestering us for badges(Which mine had fallen off in the dealers den- I had to leave the convnetion centre, go up to my room, shower, change, and then go to lost and found to get it- when all i wanted was a drink of water.). I mean, if you see the same fursuit in a twenty minute period ODDS ARE THEY WILL STILL BE THE SAME PERSON.
I was a volunteer for the Headless Lounges at both the hotel and convention center, so this thread is of particular interest to me. (Namely, it's showing what I SHOULD have done but didn't.) 
My first thought in reading some of the responses was, "How much do they charge for a curtain? I'll PAY the Convention Center for it." (...and yes, I would pay out of my own pocket for that curtain if it makes the suiters inside the lounge feel safer.) But if it's also costs the convention money to refrigerate the room at DLCC, that could be a problem, as no amount of fabric will keep the cold air inside.
That being said, if the doors to the Lounges are to remain closed, I just have to say to Uncle Kage's suggestion about volunteers manning the doors: YES. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS FURRY, YES.
YES, there we are: control over keeping the door shut. I guess I thought the doors were being held open for a reason. =p And really, I sort of figured that there were a volunteer or two hanging around the lounge at all times anyway, keeping an eye on the doors and who gets to enter and whatnot ... really, I'd just take an old bedsheet or two and string that up for some more privacy. =p Hell, I've got tons of 'em just laying around the house, unused ...
It's not as easy as that. The bedsheet has to be hung from *something*. We would either need to get a ladder and tie string to the ceiling struts, or construct a framework and attach the sheet to that. Both would require us to hire a carpenter who works at a 4-hour minimum for the placement, and again a 4-hour minimum to dismantle it on Sunday. We cannot justify that expense in this case.
Definitely sounds like it wouldn't be worth the expense. I think it is going to come down to just utilizing the doors.
Well hell, I could prolly do that... I'm sure I could build a lightweight frame that could fold up into a suitcase and everything. I've got all the materials and wood I would need right here at home... no charge, of course. =p
Couple strutted feet, joints, hinges... don't think it'd be much work, honestly, just a lot of planning and stuff.
P.S. Which is to say, until you mentioned "framework" that particular thought hadn't crossed my mind. Now it sounds like one helluva n' idear. =p
The issue is not getting someone to design it or getting the supplies for it. Even if someone did come up with something the union rules require that Anthrocon uses union workers to assemble and disassemble it so the 4 hour minimums for each would still be required. Non-union personnel are not allowed to do any of that type of work in the DLCC.
Isn't it easier to just make sure people close the door? We don't have to construct one of these:
Well, some fursuiters actually might use that if there was one. 
And construction of it would have to be done by DLCC staff...yet ANOTHER expense for the convention.
I imagine they'd use the flap-door type if IT was available. xP
Bah... bloody unions. If it weren't for them, we could actually get some WORK done in this country. e_e
I even went to the trouble of designing a framework ... sure something like this couldn't just be "donated" and be part of the installation equipment? I am actually gonna be in a town a couple days beforehand, or I could even FedEx it to AC HQ. It's designed to fold and ship/deploy as needed.
Just trying to do what I can here to improve Quality of Experience, if possible. =p
On a related note, does that mean that the fans in the DLCC fursuit lounge belong to the convention center, and need to be set up - and turned on and off - by DLCC-employed electricians? Is the convention allowed to bring into the lounge anything that isn't owned exclusively by the DLCC? And if a room is set up a certain way at the beginning of the convention, is it expected that it looks EXACTLY the same when the convention moves out of the DLCC...including chairs, coatracks, etc?
(I apologize if all of this makes me sound like a clueless n00b, but...well, you're right. This would be quite helpful to me as far as doing my job for the convention, so any input would be appreciated.)
We describe the setup in 301-302 that we want to the DLCC. They provide the chairs, tables, and coatracks at a fixed price and place them where we tell them to.
Our truck arrives and enters the DLCC on Wednesday. Teamsters unload all of the supplies, including the fans. We are permitted to help with the unloading but only so far as moving something out of the truck.
Teamsters then transport the fans to 301-302.
Electricians then place the fans where we want them and plug them in. This year we are likely going to need additional circuits wired in, so they will take care of that, too.
We are permitted to turn them on and off as we please. We can make minor adjustments to the location of tables and chairs and coatracks, but no major rearrangements.
On Sunday evening (although we are going to ask for Monday morning this year) Teamsters unhook all the fans and transport them down to Hall B, where they are loaded onto our truck.
Do you ever miss when Anthrocon was a simple little con of just 1000 or so, a few panal rooms in the adamsmark? Wan't it such a simpiler afair then?
I'm surprized all the equipment is still "A" truck on not several and that the storage unit still fits it all.
So whats this shindig of ours cost anyway
heard something like $250,000 changes hands over the course of the convention
Do you ever miss when Anthrocon was a simple little con of just 1000 or so, a few panel rooms in the Adams Mark?
Sometimes. That was back before I had responsibility. ... thought that didn't last long.
Anthrocon generates millions of dollars of transactions in Pittsburgh over its duration with hotels, transport, food, beverage, sales, and secondary effects. It's a rather.. big.. con.
--Chi
We are and will continue to be the largest furry convention in the world, I believe. From my projections, though I'm not saying any numbers yet, this year will be COLOSSAL.
Time and again, I hear from some of my friends on how they refuse to go to Anthrocon because of how large it is.
Yet time and again, I continue to see Anthrocon increase in size. 
I will enforce an unsaid policy of keeping the door shut as I do fursuit myself when I am not working registration. Some people take their performances seriously. It's one thing to be caught headless by your average Jane or Joe, but it's another if all of the sudden, you're caught in a snapshot without your head, or worse, a little kids sees you without your head (this has happened to me. I have no idea what the kid thought of me at that point.)
And just to bring this up because I feel it is important (if someone didn't already mention this): Please only fursuiters, handlers, volunteers, and staff members in the headless lounge. It is not a "socializing" area for anyone. There are plenty of other places to socialize (e.g. The Zoo). Suiters have different levels of tolerance when it comes to heat and energy consumption. I've seen people 10 minutes in costume and an hour in the headless lounge, which is fine if you're resting, but if you're truly exhausted from fursuiting, you should get out of costume and go back to your hotel room.
Performing in costume is difficult for almost anyone with any level of experience, so we need to have those areas monitored and the doors shut.
It is perhaps my fault for coining the term "Headless Lounge" so many years ago. I think it conveys the impression of people being able to hang out and relax. The term has sort of stuck now, though.
count me in for helping keep the doors closed. I dont get to fursuit as much As I used to. I dont recall the doors being held open as much last year, but I might have missed a lot :>
Late as hell reply, if I recall the automatic door closers in the DLCC are all equipped with a 'hold-open' feature, if the door is pushed full open it stays open. I saw this done by accident and where someone would hold a door open for a suiter then walk away after letting it go. The hold-open doesn't let the door return on its own. Usually this is a quarter turn pinlock on the top arm, perhaps request that the DLCC uhh door closer adjuster union check to see if the hold-open can be disabled. Some closer arms have it built in so its not selectable.
if they are the ones i am thinking about, they can. our church took up temperary residence on a building that had these, all you have to do is turn it till you hear it click. it will then no longer hold the door open no matter how wide it is held, easy to switch back too.
I walked by the Headless Lounge a few times when furs happened to be going in or going out. I got a split-second view of a few suiters without heads on, but I could not tell who they were or what they looked like. I definitely couldn't identify any of them when they came back out in costume.
If anything, that split-second view satisfies the curiosity of those wondering, "What the heck do they do in there!?"
I like the idea of the volunteers guarding the doors. That eliminates any creepers trying to take a peek or snap a quick picture.
FYI this is coming from a lowly first-year attendee!
The problem is that those curtains must be rented from the hotel or convention center. Just 'grabbing' one could cause... friction... between the convention and our hosts. That's not to say that the con couldn't rent the curtain and use it as you suggest.
I'm ignoring the Airplane reference. When nobody commented in another thread about re-inflating Otto during his D.J. set, I abandoned all hope...