TFCon 2015 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread

[JLvatron]

Originally Posted by LadyBug

b. I thought it was really unfair to read any and all questions of people who were not present in the room. Instead, they should of been skipped and moved onto one that was. I had submitted a question, hoping it was to be read but it wasn't. It was also very biased. The questions selected should be based on Transformers questions only. We are after all at a Transformers convention, right?

I'm certain the TFcon staff didn't have any bad intentions regarding this.
Indeed this was the 1st of probably few times a guest is of such a grand status; it requires different rules so attendees can get the most fun experience.

Concentrating on Transformers makes perfect sense to me, and I agree priority for questions should be to actual attendees at the panel.

These are great suggestions!

[JLvatron]

Originally Posted by Ras

Great weekend. Seeing PC was an experience,

I've never heard Peter Cullen called PC before, Lol!!
Glad you enjoyed it and that he was so awesome with you and your kids!

Originally Posted by Swalloweddark

I also found the Cosplay Competition was fairly rushed compared to other years. It went from an hour event to like..20 minutes at most. They were already trying to pass onto the next constant before a cosplay was done being shown. I understand, TF Con isn't 'big' on cosplay but I hope for them to expand more panels on this subject, even invite cosplay guest, which can then be judges for the competition.

I believe attendees at TF Con are as interested in the idea of Cosplay as they are at buying things in the dealers room or making something in a workshop. I say this, because I get alot of cosplay related questions from attendees that either want to start themselves or are fascinated by the idea. Yes, there are other outlets to learn but it would be nice to have a place for it in the con as a regular panel.

I know they had a panel last year and I was hoping for it again this year but it didn't surprise me they took it off totally.

1 of the biggest challenges for TFcon staff is finding a balance in the programming. There is literally more subjects of interest in Transformers than there are panel times for the weekend.

Back when I was active staff, 1 year we had a Costume panel. My friend told me afterwards it was 1 of the greatest panels he'd ever attended; he loved how it was full of passion, creativity, and energy.
And guess how many people showed up to see the panel?
20.

Obviously there was tons more people interested in costuming than just 20.
But with other convention interests like dealer room, autograph lines, artist sketches, or just social hangouts, it proved a low priority.

I was the biggest advocate for the costume panel, but it's hard to argue a number like 20.

[TRUCKvsGUN]

Overall, I had a great TFcon. Felt like a couple things could have been improved, and if someone from the team is reading, hopefully they'll keep it in mind:

• Proper signage so people know where to queue up for what. A certain volunteer got mad that I hadn't heard something that she was running around screaming and dared to ask her about it. If signs had been put up, she wouldn't have had to scream at people and get stressed out.
• Someone at the door to greet guests during peak times and let them know where to go and answer any questions.
• Ventilation. I know its crowded and the hotel probably did crank the AC, but that's not enough. A few rented, strategically placed fans would have done wonders. We all know that a room filled with hundreds of excited nerds will get hot, and next year will be even busier.
• An opportunity for attendees to vote on the art contest. We wanna look at it, why not let us participate by voting?
• More than one sitting for a panel with a major guest like Peter Cullen.

Again, I had a great time, and no major complaints

[Robimus]

Something that came up multiple times in the organizers panel was the idea of more fan run panels. Numerous attendees mentioned how they would love to organize them.

Now there may be logistical reasons why such an idea isn't ideal for TFcon - lack of rooms, staff requirements for extra rooms, extra costs, what have you. I personally think it might be something to look into for the Con. Perhaps a smaller secondary panel room running programing at the same time as the main panel room.

Such smaller panels wouldn't work well in the main room, but another room with 40 seats for those type of fan pitched presentations, if everything could work out logistically, might be neat.

As I say though, the Con may have reasons why something like that simply isn't possible.

[Masta_Skidz]

I would prefer that there was a q and a for just the vip/weekend pass holders and another shorter one for the rest

Another gripe I had was with one of the dealers talking shit about transformers fans and how he hates to deal with us. I wanted to ask he why did he buy a table at the show if we bothered him that much. He then went on to bitch again the second day again that no one was buying enough of his stuff and i figure it was his attitude towards his customers. This vendor was beside tfsource.

Lastly I would like to say that I'm not Happy with how the vendors where favoring US dollars / Canadian at a Canadian show

[Gumby]

This years TFCon was fantastic! I attend a lot of cons both in Ontario as well as in the states and this organization consistently knocks it out of the park with their shows. I'm just going to highlight the Peter Cullen signing for now:

This has to have been the most professional and well run "big name" signing that I have ever attended. Going row/section at a time was a great idea and helped keep it organized. Just observing, I could tell the line ahead was moving a good clip but also slow- not the bad slow- the type of slow where you could tell Peter was taking his time with folks and that's exactly what you want (especially for the price paid).

TFC staff and his rep(?) were both AWESOME. Some reps for stars can be total jerks (Adam West's) and sour the whole experience for a fan. Even though I only talked with the guy for like 2 seconds, he came off very warm, positive and happy to be there and did not make you feel like a walking dollar sign. The TFC staff were cool to talk to, kept folks informed of any wait times, had great attitudes and ran a smooth signing.

Also, BIG props to Ian for his picture/video skills. If we had a "pro photographer" like other cons, we fans would not get the quality shots we walked away with. Usually it's one shot and if you had your eyes closed or had a funny face, too bad. Not Ian though. Dude took his time, zoomed in so no dead space/areas, made sure photos were clear and took multiple shots for you.

The actual meeting itself went wonderful. A lot of times with celebs at shows it's very rush, rush, rush, get you out but not here. Just as I suspected while line watching, Peter was indeed taking his time with fans and not only making them feel they got their money worth but making them feel APPRECIATED. He was a pretty cool dude and a great sport and to be honest, although I'm not a Prime fan by any stretch, I would definitely drop the money to meet him again.

I'll add more about the rest of the show later but for now, THANK YOU TFCon for running an excellent signing and bringing in one of the biggest guests you could possibly get. If you are ever able to bring in any of the other big names, this is EXACTLY how you should handle their autograph session. Your first time and you got it perfect- don't change a thing!

[Masta_Skidz]

Weird Al for next year !!!!!

[Mike]

Lastly I would like to say that I'm not Happy with how the vendors where favoring US dollars / Canadian at a Canadian show

This. I skipped these vendors due to that reason.

I was just there for a few hours in the dealer room on Saturday. I thought it was great although, as always, I wish there was more vintage G1 stuff. Oh well...that's to be expected. At least there was more than previous shows that I've attended. It was also nice to see some rare G1 pieces.

I REALLY wanted a nice G1 Optimus and Grimlock, but I couldn't find them in good shape. I saw a lot of KO's and re-issues, but no originals. There had to be some primes and maybe I just didn't see them, but I only saw one Grimlock, and his tail was all worn chrome.

Also what's up with dealers that weren't selling any Transformers related items at all?

[Masta_Skidz]

Originally Posted by Mike

Also what's up with dealers that weren't selling any Transformers related items at all?

What day did you go ? Sunday is also Action Figure Expo, used to be 80's Con but that moved to it's own date. I believe Action Figure Expo is also on a different date but they also include into TFCon on Sunday to draw a different audience for that day to appeal to more then just us TF Fans. Personally I am okay with it but not entirely as I would prefer that it would stay just TF themed for the whole show.

On a side note if you were talking about the Chop Shop Goods booth that was clothing not really Tf themed at all, he has been there for about 3 years now and I enjoy that he comes as he always has the best shirts around. Other than him I can only think of the artists booths and they always feature some sort of TF Theme to them.

[Einstein]

As someone who has not been to TFCon in a long time and made a return this year I have a few things, both awesome and not so awesome to say.

First, the awesome stuff.

1. Ian is very funny, a great MC host and very entertaining, you should do this professionally, you were great.

2. Peter Cullen was awesome, getting to see him and have a picture taken was fantastic.

3. The hotel was great, it was a nice venue and had a lot of space.

4. Most of the Convention staff were very friendly and great to talk with.

5. The guests were awesome, great choices and it was great to get to meet them.

Now the not so awesome stuff.

1. The service in the hotel restaurant was terrible. Numerous times my wife and I sat down to eat, were never greeted, never offered a menu, and the pricing was ridiculous. Numerous times we simply got up and walked away after seeing the waitresses look over at us and just ignore we were there. We were not the only ones who experienced this.

2. The lines were very disorganized.

3. There were too many people selling NON Transformers related stuff in the dealer room for this being a Transformers convention.

4. The last time I went to TFCon the guests were not charging for their autographs. Not really a fan of this, but I guess everyone is doing it now. 10 dollars would have been better than 20, I simply didn't have enough money to get everything signed I wanted to.

5. Was really disappointed in the Q&A questions for Peter Cullen, there were some great ones here on the forums and none of them were asked. I was also annoyed people who weren't there got their questions read when people like me who had what I thought were very good questions didn't get to ask them.

6. Having this during the PAN AM GAMES, I mean really? You guys must have known for a year at least these were going on. As someone who had to drive here, the frigging traffic to cross Toronto was damn insane. Perhaps next time, please don't schedule the event during something like that. Sitting in a car in Toronto traffic for 6 hours with a screaming baby is no fun.


OVERALL, I really had a good time and look forward to coming back.