FA+
Shop
Anthro New England 2015
10 years ago
Another day, another rant...
Okay! It's time for another post con review and wrap up.
Today's subject: Anthro New England
Years in operation: First Year (2015)
This one is a bit different from my usual wrap ups and reviews. Going to break down as much of it as I can since there were some excellent points and some very awkward points as well.
The first one being the staff of the convention itself. ANE had a very interesting and diversely gifted staff. A seasoned and self taught DJ and lead of the A/V area, Drahck made sure to shine throughout the entire event with excellent selections for intros and outros to events run in the main ballroom. There were little if any missed opportunities for a well placed comment from the A/V director to add to the atmosphere or keep things moving. A liberal use of effects and music to keep things interesting and entertain the audience during segment changes. Assisted by DJ Code who has become more or less Drahck's cohort in musical crime. When Drahck is away, Code will play. Given many opportunities to step up and show what he knows, Code has proven that new talent is always welcome to the scene. Aiding in lighting control, mixing operations and audio/video recording, Code was given an excellent chance to show the audience a mastery of the A/V field.
Con-Ops and Registration were both well organized and run. The staff in this department was working hard even through small technical difficulties to keep things moving. Though Thursday did feature a late set-up/open for the registration area, it was kept moving and expedient by all of the staff. Friday through Sunday had no major issues or hiccups. Even an attendee whom had lost his badge was allowed a reprint, which most will realize is not allowed at many major or large conventions. The level of service and personal attention to attendees was noticed and enjoyed.
Logistics and Dealers was a little out of sorts Friday morning with one hour late soft opening of the Dealers area to Philanthropist and Sponsor badge holders. From what is known of the issue, this is not related to the staff themselves, but due to small issues with equipment and vendors who had needed extra time setting up due to late arrivals from either weather or travel related issues. As for logistical staff, they were as hard to find as they should be. Always in the shadows, but right there when something needed to be attended to.
Security and crowd control were minimal and almost unnoticed as there were no reported instances which required staff interventions. The security director, Pup, made a point to patrol the convention areas and check in on panels to ensure there were no problems. To my knowledge, there was only one reported complaint against the security department which in good faith I will not discuss. Fear not though, the complaint is nothing that should drive you off as an attendee, but did bring a review of situation responses to the table. Overall, this department performed exceptionally and ran a tight ship.
Now, the convention itself is covered. You might think I'm done, but you're not quite right. I am done with the review of the con, but not of the venue/hotel.
Where: Hyatt Regency, Cambridge MA
Event spaces were large enough to handle all attendees in a comfortable manner and without any need for large amounts of crowd control. Though hotel staff did see a need to manage the flow and gathering areas of attendees due to the layout of the general areas on the lobby level. Notable areas that saw hotel intervention were the immediate vicinity of the elevator lobby, the main floor lobby near the front desk, which did later receive tables and chairs to facilitate gathered attendees in a more friendly manner. A hard curfew of discussions in the main area appeared to be in effect for main lobby around 9pm. Groups of three or more were asked to move to a more "appropriate" area by hotel staff under the reasoning "Due to the design of the hotel, sound travels up the floors and can bother our other guests." This was not a large problem due to the amount of space for gathering, but did appear to be a slight point of awkward contention with some of the guests. The ballroom area was noticeably out of character for room temperatures at most furcons. During the Saturday night dance the room was found to be approximately 95 degrees at the warmest point. As most know, fursuiters generally do not do well in high heat or humidity, and the heat was seen to be taking a small toll on those who attended the dances. The A/V and convention staff made every effort to mitigate the temperature issues by opening external doors and placing fans near the doorways to get air moving and cool the room. It was noted that hotel engineering had been informed and the temperature would be lowered per request, but would later be returned to it's previous point for some unknown reason. This was actually an issue seen in quite a few of the hotel rooms themselves as well. My own room with three other suiters had called engineering with a complaint of the heat being too high regardless of how low the thermostat for the room had been set. Even housekeeping had noticed and commented on how the room was rather unbearable.
Now, that is a good chunk of negatives against the hotel itself, but let's not forget. I did tell you that this would be an interesting review. The hotel staff who served guests were extremely well mannered and considerate of the attendees and suiters even without any prior experience or knowledge of what to anticipate. Housekeeping and Concierge had no known complaints and had made sure to help cater to those attending as best as possible.
On a small side note, due to structural issues, the third and fourth floors of the parking garage were closed due to a collapse in a roughly 50x80 foot area of the garage ceiling and large amounts of snow still present on the upper floor of the garage. (This is a weather related issue and could not be anticipated or mitigated due to poor weather conditions.)
The surrounding areas of the venue were well accessible with aid of either Taxis, hotel shuttle or even just a ten minute walk. A personal suggestion to those looking for a good bite to eat, or something interesting to drink. The Asgard Irish Pub located at 350 Massachusetts Ave Cambridge MA (about 10 minutes at most on foot) had excellent wait staff and food. Even going so far as to offer a beer sampler to help us in choosing what we had wanted to drink with our meals.
That's all I have for you today. I hope this helps you to decide on whether you wish to attend.
Today's subject: Anthro New England
Years in operation: First Year (2015)
This one is a bit different from my usual wrap ups and reviews. Going to break down as much of it as I can since there were some excellent points and some very awkward points as well.
The first one being the staff of the convention itself. ANE had a very interesting and diversely gifted staff. A seasoned and self taught DJ and lead of the A/V area, Drahck made sure to shine throughout the entire event with excellent selections for intros and outros to events run in the main ballroom. There were little if any missed opportunities for a well placed comment from the A/V director to add to the atmosphere or keep things moving. A liberal use of effects and music to keep things interesting and entertain the audience during segment changes. Assisted by DJ Code who has become more or less Drahck's cohort in musical crime. When Drahck is away, Code will play. Given many opportunities to step up and show what he knows, Code has proven that new talent is always welcome to the scene. Aiding in lighting control, mixing operations and audio/video recording, Code was given an excellent chance to show the audience a mastery of the A/V field.
Con-Ops and Registration were both well organized and run. The staff in this department was working hard even through small technical difficulties to keep things moving. Though Thursday did feature a late set-up/open for the registration area, it was kept moving and expedient by all of the staff. Friday through Sunday had no major issues or hiccups. Even an attendee whom had lost his badge was allowed a reprint, which most will realize is not allowed at many major or large conventions. The level of service and personal attention to attendees was noticed and enjoyed.
Logistics and Dealers was a little out of sorts Friday morning with one hour late soft opening of the Dealers area to Philanthropist and Sponsor badge holders. From what is known of the issue, this is not related to the staff themselves, but due to small issues with equipment and vendors who had needed extra time setting up due to late arrivals from either weather or travel related issues. As for logistical staff, they were as hard to find as they should be. Always in the shadows, but right there when something needed to be attended to.
Security and crowd control were minimal and almost unnoticed as there were no reported instances which required staff interventions. The security director, Pup, made a point to patrol the convention areas and check in on panels to ensure there were no problems. To my knowledge, there was only one reported complaint against the security department which in good faith I will not discuss. Fear not though, the complaint is nothing that should drive you off as an attendee, but did bring a review of situation responses to the table. Overall, this department performed exceptionally and ran a tight ship.
Now, the convention itself is covered. You might think I'm done, but you're not quite right. I am done with the review of the con, but not of the venue/hotel.
Where: Hyatt Regency, Cambridge MA
Event spaces were large enough to handle all attendees in a comfortable manner and without any need for large amounts of crowd control. Though hotel staff did see a need to manage the flow and gathering areas of attendees due to the layout of the general areas on the lobby level. Notable areas that saw hotel intervention were the immediate vicinity of the elevator lobby, the main floor lobby near the front desk, which did later receive tables and chairs to facilitate gathered attendees in a more friendly manner. A hard curfew of discussions in the main area appeared to be in effect for main lobby around 9pm. Groups of three or more were asked to move to a more "appropriate" area by hotel staff under the reasoning "Due to the design of the hotel, sound travels up the floors and can bother our other guests." This was not a large problem due to the amount of space for gathering, but did appear to be a slight point of awkward contention with some of the guests. The ballroom area was noticeably out of character for room temperatures at most furcons. During the Saturday night dance the room was found to be approximately 95 degrees at the warmest point. As most know, fursuiters generally do not do well in high heat or humidity, and the heat was seen to be taking a small toll on those who attended the dances. The A/V and convention staff made every effort to mitigate the temperature issues by opening external doors and placing fans near the doorways to get air moving and cool the room. It was noted that hotel engineering had been informed and the temperature would be lowered per request, but would later be returned to it's previous point for some unknown reason. This was actually an issue seen in quite a few of the hotel rooms themselves as well. My own room with three other suiters had called engineering with a complaint of the heat being too high regardless of how low the thermostat for the room had been set. Even housekeeping had noticed and commented on how the room was rather unbearable.
Now, that is a good chunk of negatives against the hotel itself, but let's not forget. I did tell you that this would be an interesting review. The hotel staff who served guests were extremely well mannered and considerate of the attendees and suiters even without any prior experience or knowledge of what to anticipate. Housekeeping and Concierge had no known complaints and had made sure to help cater to those attending as best as possible.
On a small side note, due to structural issues, the third and fourth floors of the parking garage were closed due to a collapse in a roughly 50x80 foot area of the garage ceiling and large amounts of snow still present on the upper floor of the garage. (This is a weather related issue and could not be anticipated or mitigated due to poor weather conditions.)
The surrounding areas of the venue were well accessible with aid of either Taxis, hotel shuttle or even just a ten minute walk. A personal suggestion to those looking for a good bite to eat, or something interesting to drink. The Asgard Irish Pub located at 350 Massachusetts Ave Cambridge MA (about 10 minutes at most on foot) had excellent wait staff and food. Even going so far as to offer a beer sampler to help us in choosing what we had wanted to drink with our meals.
That's all I have for you today. I hope this helps you to decide on whether you wish to attend.
