My official suggestion
According to Uncle Kage, no suggestion is not worth mentioning... with that in mind my official suggestion to make Anthrocon better iiiiis:
Have the Westin build more elevators.
I'm sure this will be pretty easy to implement, OKAY GOOD LUCK!
O: additional 600 room hotel tower? When did they say that?
How many rooms are in the Westin currently anyway?!
Correct me if I'm wrong, Chi, but I believe the 600 room tower was another pie in the sky wishlist item :]
They said it back in 2006. Then, very simply, some of the city-asisted funding dried up and the economy had a crunch. We understand it's impractical and unlikely now. We'll be a multiple-hotel convention for the forseeable future.. we're looking into possibly adding a FIFTH hotel for next year.
That doesn't mean we don't still want that tower. 
As you head away from the Spirit of Pittsburgh Ballroom on the third floor of the convention center, if you were to turn left rather than right down the corridor that takes you to registration and artist's alley/art show and dealer's den, you would be facing four sets of double doors and a terrace that if a steel fence had not been erected would lead you out into thin air some 50 feet above Tenth Street and Penn Avenue. This is the main entrance to the convention center.
I believe there was supposed to be a hotel there.
.
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But since that would necessitate the removal of The Kwik E Mart, Cory's, and Furnando's, it is just as well left unbuilt.
I never thought about that, but it certainly explains the seeming oddity of that part of the building design - especially with the perpetually covered outdoor escalators that dead-end into a fence. Makes a lot more sense now!
I'm not from Pittsburgh, but a couple of years ago, I got curious about why the planned second Westin tower never materialized and started doing a little digging in the local press. It seems to be a catch-22: Hotels are not willing to invest in building major new facilities unless absolutely huge events start coming to town. They built a $450 million convention center and most major events do not even give Pittsburgh a second look because, in spite of the beautiful convention center, there is not enough nearby hotel space and there is no system of interconnecting skybridges to get people where they need to go in inclement weather.
Without numerous major events, it's unlikely there will be new hotels and skybridges. Without new hotels and skybridges, no major events. The city itself can do only so much, and all of this was before the economy started circling the bowl. I think they're stuck for now.
I'm sure they're pretty happy to have us there, but the facility is unbelievably huge for a convention of Anthrocon's size and it's plain to see that we don't come close to filling it. Halls A, B, and C alone can accommodate 15,000 dinner guests, and then there are Halls D & E, plus all the meeting spaces. An event that really packed the convention center would need many thousands of hotel rooms (especially since most other groups would not have nearly as high a percentage of attendees as we do sleeping 4 to a room).
Maybe by Anthrocon 2030, we'll really start filling the place up.
I never saw this part of the convention center, nor the area that Recherei described.
Are there pictures of this? I'm curious now, but not curious enough to make the 5+ hour drive in each direction.
Google Street View is your friend. Just stand on 10th St iin front of the Westin and look up at the Convention Center.
Oooh...THAT area?
I saw it very briefly while on the rooftop early Thursday afternoon (I somehow managed to crash some private photoshoot up there on the roof before it had been closed. Which reminds me, I need to email BBF and that other guy those photos sometime soon 
). Had I known that below my feet was a building oddity from plans long since ceased, I would have taken the time to go down for a minute and take a closer look.
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http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hOBG3EPIPO773tXuvcEHoQ
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In the center of the photo you see two pillars on the third floor holding up narrow walkway. Underneath this walkway are the double doors I described.You can see the two tarp covered escalators a few yards to the left and right of this.
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The "feet" for this tower would presumably be the two open-air parking lots currently on either side of 10th St.
Ah, thanks
We tried to get the Adams Mark in Philadephia to build more elevators, (their lines were legendary). They wouldn't listen. Now it's a department store.
BTW, adding elevators is neither easy nor cheap. They are the first thing built in any building. Adding to their number would require a complete redesign of every floor, not only removing at least one hotel room from each floor, but realligning the corridor and considerable change to the exterior of the building as well.
I actually was only being semi, mildly, partially, somewhat, a little bit, kind of sort of, tiny bit serious... more/bigger/faster/somethingier elevators would be quite nice, though...
Or maybe air conditioners in the stairwell? The heaty, stale feeling air in the stairwell did nothing to make the trip up 15 or so flights of stairs any easier!
Greetings, Chargecko!
Or maybe air conditioners in the stairwell? The heaty, stale feeling air in the stairwell did nothing to make the trip up 15 or so flights of stairs any easier!
it should be remembered that the stairwells were never intended to be used in the way that we use them; the primary interfloor transport is supposed to be the elevator system. The stairwells are meant for emergency use, indeed they are designed for optimal use during a rather specific emergency: Fire! The "stairwells" are really Fire Escapes.
One of the insidious things about the way that fire kills in an enclosed building is via smoke inhalation. The materials used in fabrics for wall coverings, carpeting, furniture and draperies, can all release highly irritating, toxic, and flammable gases when exposed to flame, or even to very high heat. These gases immediately cause severe irritation to the eyes and to the throat and lungs, causing your eyes to involuntarily shut and you to cough. This is why it is so important to get down low, crawling on your belly if necessary, in a smoke-filled room or hallway - the air is fresher down there, at least initially, and cooler; the air at shoulder height could be over a hundred degrees hotter thatn the air at the floor, and be unbreathable. And if your eyes are forced shut and are stinging, and your throat is trying to close up as you gag on toxic hot gases, you are likely to lose your way - therefore it is a good idea when you get your hotel room to FIRST make note of where the fire escape is, and then actually walk to it, counting the door frames you pass until you get there; in the middle of the night with your visibility lost, you may need to feel your way along the floor to the fire escape.
One of the first things that happens after a fire is detected, is that the air conditioning/ventilation system is shut down - this is to prevent the toxic (meaning deadly poisonous) gases from being circulated through the whole building. As an extra safety measure, the fire escapes are not on the building air circulatory system, though there may be an exhaust fan at the very top of the stairs to vent out gases which may get in, when the door to the floor with the fire is opened. Ideally, people on floors above and below the fire floor will be directed when to use the fire escape by a fire marshal or incident commander via the PA System, one floor at a time, to minimize crowding or panic, or the inadvertent propping open of a door to any floor; when not actually being used by people being evacuated from a fire, those doors are supposed to remain shut at all times.
Anyway - as the stairwells are intended to be used as an evacuation route in case of fire or other catastrophic emergency, they are by design and probably by firecode not part of the building A/C system - and as they are not intended as a major thoroughfare for primary travel in the building, they are built strictly for function, not for comfort.
The "stairwells" are really Fire Escapes.
Somebody might want to remind the Marriott of that - I happened to take the stairs once, and found that the first floor exit was partially blocked by some dumpsters; I went to retrace my steps and found that there was no handle on the door back into the hotel, and the only other option was to go through the kitchen, which I wasn't willing to do, so I managed to squeeze out behind the dumpsters but it sure wouldn't've worked for a mass evacuation
I'd settle for them either adding an extra sky bridge or making the current one wide (at least the DLCC end of it where the hall hooks to the right making the whole thing smaller).
Me and my friends stayed at the omni this con; and, it wasn't bad. I think the walk from the Westin to the omni was shorter than it would be to wait for the elevator line. Not to mention parking is cheaper there, and the lobby is pretty peaceful (starbucks in that lobby too...yay).
/Wolfin
Something I was thinking about just to reduce the length of the line in the lobby was to have 2 lines. One on the First floor and other on the second (or third) floor.
The First floor line would be for the 3 elevators on the left and the second (or third) floor line would feed into the 2 elevators on the right. Fursuiters would be allowed to enter any elevator on either floor.
This would allow fursuiters to get to an elevator quicker, and could allow for some of the line that occasionally blocks access to the parking elevators and the Fish Market to move up to a less traveled area.
To make sure the 2 elevators on the right stop on the upper floor, the DI could press the button for that floor when the elevators arrive on the first and then allow non-con or fursuiters to get on as needed.
Just a random thought that should make for good target practice. You may begin firing holes into it now.
Trying to dedicate elevators simply does not work, and trying to load effectively from two floors is a logistical impossibility. We've been doing this for 10 years now -- trust us on that.
I will not debate my point, but to be honest I think I lacked on communication skills in trying to show the design behind it.
No matter, it works the way it is, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Thanks for the response.
--EF
Wouldn't the elevators almost always be full by the time they hit the 2nd floor tho? I mean if there is a limited number of elevator cars; the capacity would be the same regardless of the floor they stopped on...so you'd end up with the same number of people and the same wait time; just split across two lines? Not sure how that'd help.
My logic may be flawed.
/Wolfin
P.S. Didn't see Unclekage's post before I posted this...my logic is vindicated.
Bingo.
And if you try to hold a dedicated elevator, you are going to have a lot of outraged people shouting, "Why can't we get on that empty elevator???"
"Because a fursuiter might show up."
"But there's no fursuiter here now! Let us use it!"
And suddenly we do not have a dedicated elevator anymore.
The problem is that a lot of people coming down the elevators want to go down to the lobby. If someone pressed the button to go down to the lobby there would be no way to keep the elevator from going down to the lobby once it hit the 2nd or 3rd floor. Having the 2 lines like that could make the line in the lobby shorter just because there would be people lining up on another floor but it would probably be more confusing and wouldn't save any time, probably be a little more time consuming. I think it would be a lot more simple to keep the lines on 1 floor.
From experience, this isn't going to work. Cause you're still trying to put the same amount of people into the same amount of elevators. There would be the illusions of shorter lines cause you'd divide the people between two floors, but the time you'd remain in line would stay the same. Its a classic time/motion study problem.
In fact, a moment of thought will show that it most likely slow down the process cause you can't control which car will arrive when. Theoretically people using the right bank of elevators that only load and unload on the first floor could move fast and quick while those using the left hand bank which only service the second floor could be slow. In this not unlikely model, you could have no one waiting for a car on the first floor while a line forms on the second.
The hardest part of all this is that once the cars reach the sleeping floors, they are no longer controllable. In even a stranger, but not impossible model, one car could spend the whole evening bouncing between floors 5, 10, 18 and 25 and never reach the loading floors for hours.
So while I like that you're thinking about the problem, this isn't a solution.
I was mostly thinking about moving some of the line out of the lobby, not so much of moving more people. There isn't a solution that will move more people, the elevators are only so fast and so big.
Can we stick 8 elevator cars in each elevator shafts... that can move through each other, like in Sim Tower?
...and now more seriously! Instead of brainstorming on how to make the elevators more betterer/efficienterer, maybe brainstorm on the other end of the problem, us!
I was just thinking of how often I had wanted to go up to my room in the Westin, and why, and figured that if I analyzed that, perhaps there is something in that train of thought that could lead to some kind of solution that results in people needing to make less trips to their rooms in the Westin. 
This is just like... brainstorming, yeah!
perhaps there is something in that train of thought that could lead to some kind of solution that results in people needing to make less trips to their rooms in the Westin
I don't know about anybody else, but I made only a couple trips to my hotel room per day during the convention. The first on Friday and Saturday was to return my rolling bag of art supplies, portfolios, and other assorted miscellany that I was using in the Alley. Before going back down again, I'd think about what I'd need for the rest of the day (money, program book) and what I would likely want with me (drawing supplies, badges to finish), then stuff it all in a drawstring bag. Everything was with me, so I didn't need to go back upstairs! I guess it might have also helped that I took the stairs almost every time despite being on the 12th floor.
My point is that just getting people to think about what they need could reduce some unnecessary trips, although it's quite possible that most everyone who would do this is already doing it. In which case I am rather unhelpful. 
Another solution would be to not be able to get a room at the Westin because you're attending con by yourself
I kid a bit about that part, but since I couldn't afford a con hotel by myself and stayed at another hotel 15 minutes away, it meant that I had to make sure before I drove in each day that whatever I would need for the con was either packed with me in my bag, or at least in the trunk of my car. Otherwise if I had to go get it, that meant losing at least 30 minutes of my time, and whatever parking fees I had to pay again. So it is a rather good idea to make sure you have as much as you possibly need before you leave your room, whether you're at the Westin, or the Motel 6 up the road.
Greetings again, Chargecko!
... Instead of brainstorming on how to make the elevators more betterer/efficienterer, maybe brainstorm on the other end of the problem, us!
Now you're attempting to apply Science to resolve the problem!
I had the opportunity to attend many conventions and trade shows before first running into the problem of elevator transport failure at AnthroCon, during the first year at the Adam's Mark Hotel and meeting center in Philadelphia. I had been to only one other AnthroCon up til then, at King of Prussia, and there used the interior stairs to get to my room on a relatively low floor, with no problems. Since I had never before seen this phenomenon at any other Furry or SciFi convention - and certainly not at any American Legion convention or at any professional or industrial trade event, I was at first convinced that the problem was due to the antiquated and presumably poorly-maintained elevators of the Adam's Mark.
...But each year, it seemed to get progressively worse, as AnthroCon grew bigger - and as attendees started to overflow into the Holiday Inn across the parking lot, the problem spread to there, as well. Finally - the year we had to move to the hotel near Logan Circle in downtown Philly (which was a fun hotel, but way too small for our event), I had to acknowledge that the problem wasn't with the elevators, but rather with us, and the way that we were using them. And as people attempted to cope with the problem - sometimes in apparently clever but rather selfish and inconsiderate ways - the problem found new ways to manifest itself, slowing effective movement even further, and even stressing the elevators to potentially dangerous levels.
We need more data before we attempt to form a solution; observation of traffic densities and demand vs time of day, and observation about what people are carrying up to their rooms, or down. Perhaps a simple survey to determine just why people go to their rooms during the day, and when, and what they do in their rooms, and for how long, once they get there. Whatever way this data is collected, we need to know more about why people go to their rooms - or the rooms of others - when they do, and then try to compare this behaviour to other Fandom conventions or largescale events.
Other Fandoms have costumes and masquerades, but when a SciFi fan puts on a "Hall Costume" or an Anime Fan does "CosPlay", the costumes are worn for long periods without any hazard to the health of the model/performer - that's one issue. Another is that the folks selling stuff in the Dealers' Dens in such conventions are selling Merchandise, nearly all of which is kept in the Den through the length of the convention, whereas the bulk of our dealers are artists, who haul their materials to the Den in the morning, and back to their rooms each night, along with "Homework" - either Sketchbooks or badge-making references and materials - in both directions. And Panelists - while there are some panels which are more presenation, with props or samples or audio/visual needs, and for which someone may store all those things in their room prior to their scheduled presentation - most panelists at SciFi conventions bring themselves, their wit, and their memories, with perhaps a few 3x5 cards or a small notepad for reference.
NOTE: At some conventions, particularly where the panelists may be minor celebrities such as authors or entertainment stars, the ConOps staff will maintain a "green room" with a staffer, a few platters of sandwiches or other very light refreshment (dougnuts, cookies, cheese and crackers), some beverages (soda, juice boxes), and a place to stash your "presentation kit" until time to set up for your panel. Admission to this Panelists' Green Room is strictly limited to folks with a "Panelist" or "Guest of Panelist" ribbon. and this saves trips up to the rooms for the panelists, at least. The staffer also keeps track of time and schedule, and rouses the napping (or nervous) in time to get to their panel, where someone else on staff has set up name placards, a bowl of fruit-flavored hard candy, and seen to a pitcher of ice water and glasses at the panel table.
Anyway - we need to look at ourselves, as individuals and as a group, and study the problem to see if there is an active solution (imposed upon The Fen collectively, or to specific groups) or a passive one (modification to Con Operations) to either redistribute the traffic across the clock, or eliminate elevator trips to rooms by eliminating the necessity, or the perceived necessity.
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Sample Survey Questions:
1) How many times a day do you go between the convention and your room?
2) Why do you leave the convention to go to your room?
3) What do you take to your room? What do you bring back from your room?
4) Do you Dine Out, or Eat Meals in your room?
5) If eating in your room:
A) Do you make your own meals from food that you have brought with you?
B) Do you bring back "take out" to your room from local eateries (sandwiches, pizza, etc.)?
C) Do you have food delivered to your room (sandwiches, pizza, etc)?
6) When buying stuff from dealers, do you prefer to take it immediately up to your room? Or carry it around in a "book bag" or similar carrier, until the Dealers' Den closes, or you are done shopping for the day?
7) Do you do all of your shopping for "Furry Stuff" at one time? Or spread it thoughout the duration of the convention?
viii) Do you take "breaks" from the organised convention events, and "decompress"/de-stress up in your room? How often? For how long?
9) During Convention Hours, do you go up to your room to use a PC for e-mail/social Webpage updates, or do you use the FREE terminals generously provided by TigerDen Info Svcs, conveniently located just outside "The Zoo"?
10) When needing refreshment during Convention Hours, do you:
A) Use the watering stations set up by the Convention or Hotel Staff?
B) Get a soda from the Convention Concession Stand?
C) Pay for bottled water or soft drinks from the vending machines in the DLCC?
D) Go to your room to get a can or bottle of soda from your private stash in an ice chest?
These last two are a bit intrusive, but still important - and need to be phrased carefully:
11) When you need to "Use the Facilities" during Convention Hours, do you use the Public Restrooms in the DLCC or the Westin? Or do you make a trip to your room, to use the bathroom there?
12) What is your general impression of the Public Restroom facilities, in the DLCC and in the Westin?
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This list is just a first draft, it can have other questions added or some of these dropped, but it MUST be an "anonymous response" survey, which doesn't ask for any identifying or defining information, except perhaps to categorize people as Fans, as Dealers, or as Fursuiters, each group having more specific reasons for needing to make elevator trips. But the questions MUST be chosen so as to give some insight into the reasons, number of trips, and times of day when individuals feel it necessary to go to their rooms.
This is just like... brainstorming, yeah!
...And in the Spirit of the Brainstorm, feel free to modify, amplify, or vilify this idea; but if the latter, then be sure to replace it with another, with perhaps a better chance at helping to solve the Riddle of The Elevators.
Good Luck!
From my very limited experience, the roughest times for elevators are:
--Directly after the parade, when we have several hundred hot miserable fuzzythings who just want a shower, plus several hundred congoers who want to drop off their heavy duty cameras and all the things that they intended to ditch before lunch except that their schedules went wonky.
--Near the end and directly after every dance, when a couple hundred tired, sweaty furs are coming up to bed, half of them in hot fursuits.
We try to plan for both times as best we can, though neither is a time easily adjusted for.
That requires behavioral changes on the scale of the 1000+ furs staying at the Westin.
If we can't convince them to pre-reg for the con, I doubt we'll convince to to change their excessive elevator use.
This year I had 6 panels I either hosted or assisted with. I always made sure I had everything I needed, except my fursuit, from my room by 10am with me.
Greetings, EaglesFlight!
That requires behavioral changes on the scale of the 1000+ furs staying at the Westin.
Yes - you have summed up rather nicely what I had spent several paragraphs of precious forum memory space to suggest.
If we can't convince them to pre-reg for the con, I doubt we'll convince to to change their excessive elevator use.
Unfortunately, I do not see an alternative. As a group, we can adapt to the undesirable behaviours which we encounter, or even participate in - we may get snarly and snappish about it, but we can and do adapt.
The elevators and escalators, however, can not; there is no known mechanism for an elevator to "cope" with excessive loads or strains, except to fail - and hopefully fail quietly, with a whimper, in a fairly safe and predictable manner, rather than in a spectacular and violent fashion. And the Hotel and Convention Center, need not adapt; their way of coping with a problem, if it grows too unweildy, is to eliminate the source of the problem - and AnthroCon only shows signs of continuing to grow.
If behaviour cannot be changed with the effective suasion of Reason, then it can be changed with force, either pleasant or unpleasant (a "Carrot vs Stick" model). If people cannot be persuaded, things can be changed or arranged in such a way that they are compelled to act in the appropriate manner, despite their wishes and thoughts on the matter. This would certainly make the environment less "fun", but right now we seem to be overwhelmed with an attitude of unbridled, carefree, thoughtless and impulsive "Freedom", and it is ruining us.
Lay down The Law. This is how it must be done, or we won't be doing it any longer. If you want to make AnthroCon Pre-Reg, for an example, then DO SO - eliminate on-site registration. This will be tremendously unpopular, but in the end, those who wish to attend AnthroCon _will_ pre-reg, if that is the only option.
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All I am trying to say is - the problem is a behavioural one, and that behaviour will have to change - we cannot continue to try to adapt, as AnthroCon grows. How that change is made, it's not really up to me to say - but sooner or later, someone's hand is going to be forced on this matter. And study of that behaviour and what propts it, in a little more detail, might make finding a solution just a tad easier.
**********
BTW - I notice that the problem of Door Signs has not been mentioned of late - this is an example of modified behaviour. The Dorsai came up with a compromise solution, of blank door tags which could be decorated and illustrated, and hung on door handles. Somewhat irregular in size, compared to the standard 8&1/2 by 11 sheets that people usually create their signs with, but it worked.
I guess you could call that a "Door Sign, Irregular" solution to that particular problem...
I am not in any way trying to be a downer on your ideas, I think you are right that behavior modification is the solution. It's the scale on which this modification must be made that makes it so difficult as to be near impossible. I will continue to think of this problem from every angle possible. There is a solution there, it's just a matter of finding it.
As for the door signs, my first year, 2007, I saw on the forums somewhere that door signs would not be allowed, so I made a knob hanger for our group. We've used it every year since. Next year I hope to bring my mate and cubs, so I plan to make a new one of the 4 of us.
There are some things that attendees can do to keep the elevators moving quickly.
1) Use the "door close" button after everyone who wants to get on or off has done so. Yes, they work; no, they are not deactivated.
2) Do not hold an elevator. If the door starts to close, let it close, and for goodness' sake, don't stand there chatting with a friend outside while holding up the elevator.
3) When the elevator door opens and you see someone amazing like 2 the Ranting Gryphon, don't stand there staring slack-jawed at him. Get onto the elevator quickly and then stare slack-jawed at him.
4) Do not take an elevator to travel a distance of (let us say) four floors or less. Unless you have a bona fide medical condition, take the stairs. It's good for you.
5) Do not take an elevator in one direction in order to travel in the other. That is very convenient for you, but it is very inconsiderate of others who wait patiently only to find the elevator full of people who don't even want to go that way.
6) Do not overload the elevators. Just don't.
Out of curiosity, what is a the maximum load a Westin elevator can safely carry?
/Wolfin
I believe it's 9-12.
I don't remember the weight limit though. Probably 1500lbs or so.
Believe it or not, the Westin elevators are rated for 12 people or 1500lbs. That's 12 130lbs people. As I think I explained above, elevator ratings have VERY little to do with reality. They are calculated by volume. They measure the cubic feet of the elevator and apply a formula using 130lbs as the "average" weight of each rider.
Our experience is that elevator can carry a great deal more weight than listed and several less people than stated.
We chose 10 cause its A] Easy to count and B] 10 people fit in fairly nicely.
Having talked to many an elevator repairman in my years conventioning, you learn a lot about them. Elevators are chock-a-block with sensors to make sure they are running up and down smoothly and it doesn't take much to trip one of them and making the thing shut down. Holding the door open is the number one cause of elevator shut down. The mechanism gets ever so slightly jammed and the whole thing shuts down. Bouncing and shaking by the people riding in them is the second greatest cause.
Go up and read what Kage said about elevator operation. Don't use your hands to stop a door from closing, use the "Open Door" button. The sensors in the door are there to keep people from getting caught in them when closing, not to hold the elevator in place. Don't jump around, don't sway back and forth. Just go for a nice lazy ride.
The sensors in the door are there to keep people from getting caught in them when closing
I hope someone goes and cleans those sensors then. I got smashed between elevator doors about a dozen times over the course of the convention. And that impact isn't gentle either.
(no I wasn't rushing the door either, just filing in like everyone else on the floor)
7) Don't go up to the 5th floor on the stairs just to catch the elevators there.
YES YES YES.
Completely agree on that one. Not only is it pretty much a useless exercise (as most people will NOT be getting off on the 5th floor), but the groups can get pretty loud, which can/will/has disturb(ed) people trying to rest/sleep in their hotel room (and I can vouch for that personally).
The fifth (and sixth?) floors are not alternate elevator lines.
Elevators are a bit scary, I'd say. The crushing feeling bugs me... Though it also bugs me that people abuse elevator privileges. Why not give people 'Elevator privilege' badges, and have someone guard the elevators to let only those wearing the badges on? And people could lose their privilege to ride the elevator if they do stuff like hold up the lines just to chat, or jump around in the elevators, or stuff like that? Sure, it's a cruel way to do things, but at least elevator jams will become less common!
That's just a suggestion, though.
Managing that would actually increase the amount of trouble at the elevators, not decrease it.
It's one of those situations where we just have to hope that people can sympathize with the huge line in the lobby and think for the group instead of just themselves. :]
Oh. Didn't know that... Thought I had a good idea. Oh well!
Well it's not something I can say with complete certainty, but there's a few issues that make this problematic. One, we're not the only folks in the hotel. Two, I know that I've left my badges back in my room after finding my way to the convention center and had to make the trek there and back again to get them - if I didn't have elevator privileges too, that would suck! Three, actually TAKING someone's elevator privileges badge would probably lead to a situation (to say the very least) as that is one of the worst punishments that the con could push on someone save for a full-out ban - seriously, the westin's a TALL hotel and those stairwells are stuffy and steep. There'd no doubt be arguing and fighting, especially if someone got bounced after waiting in the long, long elevator line.
Doesn't seem to be much of a solution, then. I'll be amazed if someone can come up with something that'll work.
We have suggested this to the Westin. We want additional elevators to go up to the additional 600 hotel room tower they said they were planning to build.
If every week there was as busy as Anthrocon, they would. Alas, it's a tough economy all over.
--Chi