69 replies to this topic

[hiddenmaniac]

Zerker, on 29 March 2012 - 09:21 AM, said:

$2 to move 1500 chairs? Heck, I can wrangle up a few con buddies of mine and we'll do it for a high five and a can or two of AriZona drinks. (I like Fruit Punch.)

That year, we had about 200 people who said the exact same thing. We called them "staffers."

mewcat, on 29 March 2012 - 01:01 AM, said:

I havent had any problems with the hotel staff? what happened with other people. Also why was the one person kicked out? ^points upwards

I didn't witness the event and don't know all the details, but from what I've heard, we had a "he said, he said" situation where a hotel staffer and an attendee accused each other of being abusive. The hotel staffer pulled rank and asked the attendee to leave.

[ludus]

gogal, on 29 March 2012 - 02:44 PM, said:

Another point to that is a pre-registration can be transfered to another person up to two weeks before the convention AND it can be transfered to the following years Tekkoshocon.  So, realistically, you really don't have much to loose by preregistering.  That is as long as you remember to transfer it, other wise you just are donating to Tekkoshocon.

The reg page currently says the following:


Refunds

Tekkoshocon has a no refund policy with the possible exception of head panelists.  Head panelists may be reimbursed after completing their panel(s) on a case-by-case basis. We advise panelists not to preregister before submitting their panel. Please contact registration @ tekkoshocon.com or panels @ tekkoshocon.com




I haven't paid to go to Tekkoshocon since 2006, so maybe I just never looked for it, but was the transferring policy ever publicized?I know people have transferred badges in the past, but it was always through forum posts and seemed like a big pain for staff.  But if it's a standard policy, well, I know where I'm doing my Christmas shopping now. That would certainly help a bit with getting people to pre-register.


While on the topic of money, gogal, I saw you post somewhere about $80,000 in taxes to the city of Pittsburgh... out of curiosity, what is that for exactly, since Tekko's a 501©3?

[gogal]

ludus, on 29 March 2012 - 04:40 PM, said:

The reg page currently says the following:


Refunds

Tekkoshocon has a no refund policy with the possible exception of head panelists.  Head panelists may be reimbursed after completing their panel(s) on a case-by-case basis. We advise panelists not to preregister before submitting their panel. Please contact registration @ tekkoshocon.com or panels @ tekkoshocon.com


I haven't paid to go to Tekkoshocon since 2006, so maybe I just never looked for it, but was the transferring policy ever publicized?I know people have transferred badges in the past, but it was always through forum posts and seemed like a big pain for staff.  But if it's a standard policy, well, I know where I'm doing my Christmas shopping now. That would certainly help a bit with getting people to pre-register.

Covers what I mentioned above:
http://www.tekkoshoc...t-a-refund.html

ludus, on 29 March 2012 - 04:40 PM, said:

While on the topic of money, gogal, I saw you post somewhere about $80,000 in taxes to the city of Pittsburgh... out of curiosity, what is that for exactly, since Tekko's a 501©3?

That $80,000 is the income in taxes generated to the City of Pittsburgh through hotel room rentals, food purchases, dealers room purchases, taxi, retail purchases outside the convention, site rental, and a few other items.

Tekkoshocon Inc. is not a 501©(3) it is a non-profit organization, but not a charitable one.

[ludus]

Gotcha. Thanks for all the clarification!

[Tsuki]

mewcat, on 29 March 2012 - 01:01 AM, said:

I havent had any problems with the hotel staff? what happened with other people. Also why was the one person kicked out? ^points upwards

I don't want to say to much but one attendee was removed from the dance after noticing that he had been drinking before attending the dance and for his own safety was asked to leave.

[serenitydeath]

What about somewhere like the Petersen Event Center in Oakland, though its up a huge hill, or look at one of the hotels in Oakland to host it? Just a few thoughts to toss out. Though, to bad you all can't just buy a building that has x amount blocked off for a con and then the rest of the year rent parts of it out for office space etc....

[gogal]

Tsuki, on 30 March 2012 - 03:37 AM, said:

I don't want to say to much but one attendee was removed from the dance after noticing that he had been drinking before attending the dance and for his own safety was asked to leave.

That person was removed from the convention, not the hotel.  The person removed from the hotel was done so not for issues related to the convention itself

[Tsuki]

gogal, on 30 March 2012 - 08:04 AM, said:

That person was removed from the convention, not the hotel.  The person removed from the hotel was done so not for issues related to the convention itself

Sorry, You are right and I posted that incorrectly.

[JoeMello]

serenitydeath, on 30 March 2012 - 05:38 AM, said:

What about somewhere like the Petersen Event Center in Oakland, though its up a huge hill, or look at one of the hotels in Oakland to host it?

It's been said before, but I'll say it again; neither of the three hotels are adequate enough for Tekko.

For your consideration, just looking at the schedule, this year had eleven rooms with live programming in it.  This 11 does not include RPG/CCG, Video Games, Dealers, Artists Alley, Art Show and/or Model Competition, Bag Check, Manga Library or any staff operations rooms.  In total, they housed over 3700 people.

-The Hilton Garden Inn has 10 rooms, and their max capacity is 593.
-The Holiday Inn University Center has 7 rooms; max size 692
-The Residence Inn University Center only has 3 rooms, totaling 98 people.

Neither of these are close to each other, nor are they near the Petersen Events Center or Fitzgerald Field House, each of which could hold the 1,000 people needed for concerts and whatnot.  Hell, even if the three combined into one super hotel robot  「かんせい、 旅館王!」 it still would not fit Tekko's needs, because there's only room for 1/3 of the con's attendees.

Now don't get me wrong, Tekko in Oakland/CMU would be the Greatest Thing Ever, but the chances of it actually happening are nil.  Sangawa or KKF, maybe, but Tekko is unpossible.

[baqaqi]

JoeMello, on 02 April 2012 - 12:22 AM, said:

  Hell, even if the three combined into one super hotel robot  「かんせい、 旅館王!」 it still would not fit Tekko's needs, because there's only room for 1/3 of the con's attendees.

We definitely need an animation for this.

[vampireketsuki]

In complete honesty, what about one of the masonic temples around? Some of them (the Syria Shrine center for example, near harmer-ish) are quite large and might be able to hold the con (or maybe Sangawa or KKF). I'm in a masonic family so that's how I thought to suggest it (and would be able and willing to be a go-between)

[Prager]

We've looked into Masonic facilities before.  It inevitably ends with us determining that they are not useful as con space for several reasons including:

1) Lack of sufficient hotel space adjacent
2) Lack of space (Especially in an area geared to be main events)
3) lack of the volume of usable rooms we require.  One of the best summations is below:

JoeMello, on 02 April 2012 - 12:22 AM, said:

For your consideration, just looking at the schedule, this year had eleven rooms with live programming in it.  This 11 does not include RPG/CCG, Video Games, Dealers, Artists Alley, Art Show and/or Model Competition, Bag Check, Manga Library or any staff operations rooms.  In total, they housed over 3700 people.

TLDR: there is a long and exacting set of requirements for Tekko to run.  None of the Masonic facilities in the area could handle our needs.

[JoeMello]

The most plausible I can see at this point that's not DLCCC is possibly the Omni Downtown.  It's largest meetspace can boast up to 1700 people (1200 without expansion), and there's a lot of variety to their spaces and sizes.  The problems lie in pricing and that they have 15% less rooms than what we're used to, though the Westin has less than the Omni.

[gogal]

JoeMello, on 05 April 2012 - 11:22 PM, said:

The most plausible I can see at this point that's not DLCCC is possibly the Omni Downtown.  It's largest meetspace can boast up to 1700 people (1200 without expansion), and there's a lot of variety to their spaces and sizes.  The problems lie in pricing and that they have 15% less rooms than what we're used to, though the Westin has less than the Omni.

I will say that the Omni brings SOOOO many new issues it isn't funny. We looked at the Omni as just a attendee hotel for Tekkoshocon VII. I will say that the requirements for that hotel are astronomical.

[JoeMello]

Aww, man.  And I thought 17th floor party would be so awesome x3

Well, then I propose slowly turning into UrbanSprawlCon, starting with the Marriott and the DoubleTree.  They're across the street and the spaces may just be enough to work.

[newtypezaku]

Man, just about the only other thing I could think of trying would be to try and claim a bunch of the art exhibition space in the Cultural District and basically turn it into a street carnival.  Which is a horrible idea.

[Wombat]

newtypezaku, on 06 April 2012 - 03:22 AM, said:

Man, just about the only other thing I could think of trying would be to try and claim a bunch of the art exhibition space in the Cultural District and basically turn it into a street carnival.  Which is a horrible idea.

It works for the Ren Faire and the Irish Festival.  I kid, I kid, I know it wouldn't work for Tekko.  But a street carnival event does sound like a cool fund raiser.

[michigami]

Wombat, on 06 April 2012 - 04:31 AM, said:

It works for the Ren Faire and the Irish Festival.  I kid, I kid, I know it wouldn't work for Tekko.  But a street carnival event does sound like a cool fund raiser.

yes it does, but festival permits are kinda expensive in downtown, and they practically turn into one with all the cosplayers wandering downtown during con anyway.  all tekko needs is some stiltwalkers dressed like pokemon breathing fire on the sidewalk and a few carny games and food booths and we're there.

Tekkofaire would be funny though.

[Wombat]

michigami, on 06 April 2012 - 05:12 AM, said:

yes it does, but festival permits are kinda expensive in downtown, and they practically turn into one with all the cosplayers wandering downtown during con anyway.  all tekko needs is some stiltwalkers dressed like pokemon breathing fire on the sidewalk and a few carny games and food booths and we're there.

Tekkofaire would be funny though.

*grabs lute and sings*
Are you going to Tekkofair
Pocky, Bawls, sashimi and rice
Remember me to the guest there
He will be a cosplayer of mine

[Zerker]

Tekkofaire the new KKF?