For the most part I had a great time at TFCon. Out of the few cons I go to, it is by far my favourite, however I do have a few lows/ critiques though.
- I think the experience I enjoyed the least was the Peter Cullen VIP session. Now don't get me wrong, Peter Cullen is a very kind person and a pleasure to meet, but I mostly had issues within the contest of the session. I felt it was moreso like an assembly line rather than a VIP session. It went by so fast and I barely got to speak to him. I REALLY wanted a second item signed (especially since this might be my only chance to meet Peter Cullen), but we were told we could only have one item signed and that was it. At the end of the day, I feel like at the end of the day it was 150 for a single autograph and one picture, guess I just feel there should have been a little more for that kind of money. It also sort of felt like there was a strict atmosphere to the session. Now I don't know if the rules (such as no personalizations/ 1 autograph per person) were set by the organizers or Peter Cullen's agent, but if at all possible, I hope that future VIP tickets will have something more to them (like maybe 2 or 3 autographs or other con perks like getting a tshirt/ being able to go into the dealer room up to an hour after it closes to the public, etc.). For all of my points of critique though, I will say that there were quite a few good things going on for TFCon's first VIP session. Even though we had to wait in line, the organizers made it far less of a chore. We all got to wait in seats instead of standing around forever and they even played some G1 episodes while we were waiting. I also like the fact that they took one row up at a time so most people could still sit and wait. I also liked that they had someone write down names on a postit ahead of time so that Peter Cullen knew how to write everyone's names. With a name like Shawn I've had a ton of people spell it wrong in the past. XD Wouldn't mind something like this being employed for all the guests. Actually it would be perfect if there was an open blank spot on the badges to write your name into.
- I guess it's here to stay, but for someone who REALLY loves getting autographs, I can't say I enjoy paying 20 per autograph or picture. I wish there was some sort of deal to be had (like maybe 20 for the first autograph/pic and 10 for each subsequent... or maybe something along the lines of buy 2 get one free). I will say though that some of the staff gave me some deals price wise because I had quite a few things signed, but that is dependent on whoever is accompanying the guest.
- As stated by a few people, I feel that maybe the Peter Cullen Q&A should have featured people who were present to ask him questions instead of asking questions from people who were not there. If time allowed those questions could have always been asked at the end. I will say though that for those who wanted purely TF based questions, I didn't mind having non TF based questions at all. I mostly like attending Q&As for the stories that the guests tell so as long as it was thought provoking questions, I was perfectly fine with them.
- Scheduling seemed a little bit strange this year. For instance, there were differences between the printed schedule vs the schedule on the badges (or even that some things were oddly scheduled like the script reading). The art contest awards happened to fall into these printed differences. Tried asking a staff member but she actually just answered midway and just turned around and left.
- It seemed like it was a really good year for artists from what I understand. My friend David seemed to do really well this year compared to previous years. I also think the weeformers table sold out of it's primary items in just a couple of hours. Always think the artists should be supported and it looks like there was a lot of love for them this year. It makes me feel like I should maybe attempt to do a table next year too. (By the way does anyone know the name of the people who made the plushie keycahins? Do they have a website?)
- I felt the hotel was fairly good at replacing the water. I'm glad that there's plenty of water provided especially since I don't know any other con who does that (and it can get quite easy to become thirsty with all the hustle and bustle). I also felt that everything was air conditioend well since it was absolutely boiling outside during the weekend.
- Not certain if this is out of TFCon's control or not, but I REALLY hope that more blocks can be secured in the actual hotel for next year. Was initially meant to go to the second hotel, but got in to the main hotel a day beforehand only by accepting the non TFCon rate. I have to add though that staying in the main hotel made things a million times easier!
- For the most part the staff was great and quite friendly as usual. My lanyard actually fell apart at the piece of metal that keeps the string together and was able to replace it very easily. A lot of the staff members who sat next to the guests were quite friendly and helped add to the conversation if there were any pauses.
- I'm really glad that John Moschitta Jr. was acquired to help host the charity auction. It made such a good cause feel even more special! It was also very nice of him to throw in his autograph for Blurr related merchandise.
- I hope TFCon continues with the way they have autographs scheduled. They started doing this last year and was really happy to see it return this year. Basically all the guests were at their signing table as long as the dealer room stayed open and left whenever they needed a break or wanted to go eat. I think this model works REALLY well because it gives everybody a chance to stop by and there aren't any outrageous lines to wait through (in fact it was very rare to see a line at all).
Sorry for the long post, but I just felt that these points needed to be mentioned.
Grand knowledge of all things Transformers
[{o}] Till all are One
for accommodating us though out the weekend not sure if you guys plan this or not but heads up to you all ...
