AC Preregistration Badge Pick up
I'm not sure if this issue was addressed later on in the day, but I know there was some confusion about pre-registration badge pick-up on Thursday. There were a lot of lines, but the signs telling us which tables were the appropriate pick-up locations for our last names weren't visible due to the high traffic levels. Would it be possible next year to put up signs above each of the pick-up tables (rather than directly in front), showing us which table we're to line up in front of? It might clear up some of the 'standing in the wrong lineup for half an hour' problems.
:3
would it be possible to move the tables back closer to the windows, and tape up computer-paper printed signs behind them (up high), or perhaps just tape up the signs behind them without moving the tables at all?
(or is the centre quite particular about things like tape on windows?)
The Tables cannot be moved significantly closer to the windows, due to the need for movement space behind tables, storage of 4100 stuffed conbags (next year, 4500.) and other factors.
The convention center might object to tape on windows, but further to the point: The tables are divided akin to "A-CHR" "CIA-FRO" "FRU-LIN". That means each sheet of paper will need to have at least six letters; making placement that far behind the table a bit tricky to read.
I've got about three other plans, and likely will be trying two of them, that should neaten up the Pre-Reg lines and ensure less people in the wrong lines.
--Chi
Is it possible to receive the con badge and a pamphlet card by mail; and then just have a really speedy line of folks exchanging their pamphlet card for their con bag? As a bonus, you can use the pamphlet cards to determine how many folks did actually show up.
As to identity; there is no way to ensure the person who picks up a badge in their name is the one who is continuing to use it after pickup currently...so there shouldn't be any greater security risk overall. (at least in my head)
/Wolfin
First, the timing isn't there to do this. Anthrocon leaves pre-registration open until the last minute: there wouldn't be time to print and mail the badges. Second, the current method ensures that the person whose name is on the badge matches up with the person they claimed to be during pre-registration, along with any age limitations that that individual might have.
I don't see this changing anytime in the foreseeable future.
Mmm, perhaps an "extra-early registration", but only for those who had a badge /last/ year (based on badge # or something). AC would already have a "relationship" with them, and you'd know if they wern't minors last year, they won't be this year either. Likewise it would be highly unlikely for someone to "renew" their badge for someone else. (if you wanted to get really strict, prevent them from changing the name on the badge as well).
/Wolfin
We once tried mailing out pre-printed con badges, and the loss rate exceeded 30%. Hundreds of people showing up with "Uhm, I lost my badge." We're exceptionally leery of trying that again.
Pre-Registration tends to be rather speedy as it is now; we emptied the lines completely after only 3 hours open this year, and that's handling thousands of people. After the inevitable initial crowding, there's nil wait, and even with the first crowds things still tend to move quickly.
Or to politely put it another way: The average wait in the Pre-Reg line at Anthrocon right now is less than the average wait in Pre-Reg at Furfright, a convention a quarter of our size. That's no disrespect to Furfright, mind, they've got less resources, staff, and space than Anthrocon does as well.
Ah, seems fair then, never thought of folks loosing them. I know I got in Thurs afternoon and there was no wait for me in pre-reg, well, there was a slight delay as the guy apparently never seen a Canadian driver's license before and it confused him a lot, but, there was no one in /front/ of me 
Next year I intend to be a sponsor, and be there to help set-up the day before too... oh, do people who set up the day before the official con get their badges earlier?
/Wolfin
Next year I intend to be a sponsor, and be there to help set-up the day before too... oh, do people who set up the day before the official con get their badges earlier?
Not really. Nothing is really set up yet and there is no way to give out badges to volunteers the day before. If you are there and helping registration on Thursday you will get your badge before we officially open the pre-reg lines, providing that you did pre-reg. If you did not pre-reg you may need to wait until the on-site computers are up and ready before you can get your badge.
I want my staff and volunteers to give extra scrutiny to any badges which seem unusual or unfamiliar. This is a feature, not a bug. 
There is a way to get your badges on Wednesday, quite early! ... that way is becoming Staff. Otherwise, we may occasionally expedite Volunteers through the lines to get them back to their volunteering work, but you'll still have to wait for the noon for Pre-Reg, 2pm for On-Site opening times still.
--Chi
Maybe, Chia, we should have line guides like in the on-site line, and place signs at the end of them. I'm curious, however, to know what your other plans are.
We're always looking for good ideas to help with guiding people to the correct locations.
If you mean the stanchions and such.. we.. use every stanchion the DLCC owns, right now, to guide the On-Site line. 
Don't we already have a thread 123 posts and growing on this very topic.
I suggest doing something similar to having a sign signifying who the last person in line is, that the last person in line holds; have signs signifying the last person in line, for the specific area of the alphabet the line is for. :3 Just a simple printout with a page protector.
I think that's one of the things we're going to try for 2011, indeed.
Hey! Whatever happened to the floating balloon-signs that were proposed last year as the solution to this very problem??
The DLCC doesn't permit balloons because they may get loose and then they have to bring in a cherry-picker to get them down.
Oh, that. Nuts. 
(Why is it that when you pit balloons versus practical issues, the balloons never win?)
It's not just that. There are folks that have severe latex allergies. If a latex balloon pops and someone with an allergy inhales the residue, there could be a need to rush them to the hospital. Unfortunately, it's happened at other events, so the DLCC takes a hard line on balloon usage. And yes, if one gets free, we do have to have a union representative drive a cherry picker in, and another union rep on the cherry picker retrieve it.
Seems like you would not need to make big signs nor a really high ones. A simple wire type rod with double loops on top that you could slip a sign in between them. Kind of like the wire type holders on tables at restaurants, but seven foot tall. Make a short pipe boot at the bottom so that a table leg can slid down into it holding the whole thing up right. If the table legs are vertical and on the ends.
I looked at a few pics and pickings are slim. There are those big supports on that floor a small support behind the tables and the window frames.
You can go deluxe and get a sign made up. Eight foot tall the signs on top, and going up the 4 inch pipe have slots that can hold the preregister badges. The base is taper 3 feet wide so not to fall over even if I ran into it.
I can 3D model one up if you are interested in something like that.
I see what you're saying with those, and that could possibly work. Feel free to go ahead with the 3D model, and perhaps someone might be generous enough with their time and talent to construct some for Anthrocon from your designs.
I used to do 3D models. I was a 3D modeler for an MMO, at one point, but I got kicked out of the project for being the most unpopular member of the community.
I'd offer to do some 3D things for AC, but my expertise is in fencing. >.<
The Art Show has a number of surplus 7' pipes (1" diameter with a rubber foot on the bottom), but someone would have to design a way for them to stand securely upright on their own, perhaps by attaching to a table ("to note," as Chi would say, by one person using only hand tools).
1" PVC pipe is relatively cheap, easy to assemble/disassemble, and could easily be designed to free stand at almost 8' tall.
I'll try to draw something up showing this.
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UPDATE: Prepare to claw your eyes out:
(Click for en-big'nd ver)
This design will cost approximately $12/per unit to build, depending on costs in your area. Which can be reduced by interconnecting all of the units together so that they share the leg that sits between each table using a single T-adapter and 1 leg instead of 2 elbows and 2 legs.
The question, as always, is the cost of having the union set it up - it would have to be set up in the convention center. There were similar talks about setting up a very similar construction outside the headless lounge and the cost was so absurd I believe that it was like... nah. Forget it.
I'd imagine this is the same thing.
I thought the union only had to be involved if it involved power tools or a multi-person job?
That is a good idea EaglesFlight, but may need a few changes. I worked with 1 inch PVC pipe it MAY sag in the center with the signs hanging on it. The price is going to be more than that I think.
I was thinking that it would go around or over the table, but that is not up to me.
8 foot wide 7 feet tall leg deep as the table. The good news is the couplings should be tight enough to hold it with out any glue or pins. So it could be very easy to set up.
Ill model and render a few pics of all the idea's.
This is a neat design but the one thing that would concern me is the 4 foot support legs at the bottom. We would nee to place these in such a way that the support legs would not be a trip hazzard and with a total length of 8 feet that may be difficult to do considering that the tables will only be around 3 feet deep. There are two ways I could see around this. 1) Perhaps if we angled the support legs so the looked more like an upsidedown Y and made them so they were only about the width of the table that would eliminate the trip hazzard. We could also secure them to the table legs for added stability. 2) Keep the legs flat like they are but make them shorter and then weigh them down with something for more stability.
The design is starting to get more complicated than necessary, I think. Pull back to the original requirements: You need to support a small sign showing the letters that table is handling.
I'd think a simple support that sits on the table would suffice. Someone mentioned something along the lines of a jumbo version of a restaurant menu holder, but that might be a little too bendy when scaled up to 4' high.
How about a plywood base, 1' square, with a PVC pipe end cap fastened to the center, with 3'4" lengths of PVC pipe inserted? (That way you can cut 3 from a standard 10' length of pipe.) Fasten a binder clip to an end cap to put on the top, which would hold the sign. The sign would have to be fairly stiff, but it could be laminated, or put in a page protector with a piece of cardboard if it needs to be changeable.
You'd have to experiment a bit to learn what diameter of PVC pipe would be rigid enough. Probably 1 1/2" at least.
The design really isn't too complex, and it fairly easy to pack up into a small pile of pipes with a bag of adapters. IE: Small storage needed.
The reason for these is simply to get the signs close to 8' in the air so they can be seen from the back of the lines.
Multiply by the 7 or so necessary, and it starts to get bulky. Consider also how they're to be stored -- one of the problems we have with storing the fursuit head dryers is that there are no road cases or bins to keep all the parts together.
As for the height, just make the pipes 5' long, but the base might need to be bigger, or weighted.
Filling the 1' and 2' sections with plaster would add some weight without taking up anymore room. Also only add $3-$6 in cost for all of them.
If we use the Wolffort's modification of a pipe under the table, then we would have a 2 8' pipes, 2 6' pipes, 2 2' pipes, and 4 1' pipes. A little bit of rope or small bungee cords could be used to bind them all together once disassembled. We could also wrap them all inside of a small tarp and tie that up. the adapters could be dropped into a box or bag. We use stuff like this all the time for our BSA Troop.
If it wasn't a 1200 mile drive I'd offer to buy it, build it, and haul it, but I'm flying up. That drive was murder in 2008.
I made the stabalizers 4 foot long because it was half of an 8' pipe, but yes, they could be made 1 foot each and likely keep things quite stable. Particularly if there is another pipe running under the tables.
That looks like it'd be fun to build. I'd offer to do so myself, if I had the materials.
Well here is what EaglesFlight PVC sign suggestion would look like with a few mods from me. Like adding end caps and an extra support bar. I believe they are banquet tables 8 foot long? Since I do not have the table in front of me, I had to guess at a few things.
You can go with his suggestion and build them to go between the tables. The would eliminate a lot of guessing, but you might need to attach them to the tables for extra support.
PS
There is a lot of different ways to go in the pipe selection size and type. I would strongly suggest painting the pipes to.
It may not be up to me, but I like it!
Looks great. Do we really need the Union for a temp sign-post like this?
That's looks like an incredibly interesting design and I feel it would hold merit. Should bring it to the higher-ups and see what they think.
If there's any way we can make registration easier for everyone, I'm all for it!
This would seem a good and simple design, and the sort of thing that could work well indeed. Thanks aplenty for the lovely renders, WolfFort.
Now, as to if this is going to be something practical, that can be set up and stored ourselves (or with modest union cost), that can be created at low cost.. give me a bit of time to handle that before anyone starts sawing PVC, okay?
But yes, I would *like* this sort of thing.
--Chi
I would wait for the ruling on the union involvement before we get any further along, like building a proof of concept.
If, as, and when we get to the point of actually constructing this thing, let's also put some thought into how we can store the parts so that everything is neatly gathered in a reusable package with all of the parts clearly labelled by where they go in the structure. A laminated set of instructions and contents list to go with the parts would be good, too.
I'm really pleased to see this coming together. Here's hoping that the union reps decide to rule this in the same category as the art show bag check shelves, which are also assembled by staffers with nothing but hands.
Ease of assembly and storage is _exceedingly_ important, indeed.
To note, after research, Union assistance is not involved provided two things occur.
#1 Signage can be assembled and disassembled by one person. That should not be a problem for this sort of PVC construction.
#2 Signage can be assembled without tools. Again, I do not think that's a problem.
Here's what I'm going to propose for 2011: Anyone with a design and the gumption may feel free to build and bring one table sign. One. Feel free to team up, or to work on your own- we have seven possible tables. After we see exactly what folks bring for 2011, and what designs are best suited for our needs, the Registration department will judge a winner, and that poor sap kind soul's design can be used for 2012.
In other words, it's kind of a contest. Between that and some other plans of Registration, this ought to help sufficiently in 2011, and greatly in 2012.
For designers: Our tables are 72 inches by 30 inches in dimension, and are topped with a table skirt that adds about an inch overall. I cannot tell their height exactly, but it can be estimated at the typical 29-30 inches tall such tables usually are. Designs should be capable of displaying two 8x11.5 laminated sheets paper per table at a height of at least seven feet to the bottom edge of the paper. Designs must leave as much of the table free for Attendee/Validine interaction as possible while remaining stable.
--Chi
* Wolfin ponders silently if that would give him time to come up with an anti-gravity machine...
This is a really neat idea. It will be interesting to see the ideas we get. Perhaps as a little incentive we could offer a prize for the winning design, maybe a free con shirt or a free membership for the following year.
That leaves me out of it. I can't make anything in these apartments...
I've got about 3 weeks of solid booked weekends, but then it's on like Donkey Kong.
We're working on solutions to the problem, as the lines did get rather a bit out of control, and sign visibility- despite being better this year than in years past- was a significant difficulty.
The problem with 'raised' signs is simple: We'd need to buy signs, we'd need to raise them. They'd need to not interfere with smooth processing at each table, and not be of complex cosntructiont hat would involve the union needing to set them.