Day 4 and overview of Fan Faire
Well day 4 started at 4:45 due to an early flight. No major troubles checking out, getting to the airport or flying into St. Louis. The flight into St. Louis was 35 minutes early in fact. The drive home was a labor of sleep deprivation as we had to switch off driving between myself and my wife.
Finally arriving back in Kentucky we picked up our little one, who was glad to see us, and headed home. All in all not much of a day 4 but they assure us that Fan Faire is a 4 day event and the travel day is part of it. Dosen't seem that good to me.
So what did we think of Fan Faire this year?
The Good
Bally's was so much nicer than the Hilton. The room was clean and cheap. The bedding could use a bit of a upgrade as could the tv but not bad. There were not as many food options it seemed as there was at the Hilton but when you took in you could walk to the Paris hotel without going outside well you doubled your food choices.
SOE had their game face on and did very good at getting vendors in and really doing a great job at setting up the different areas where Fan Faire was held. Their store offered alot more to buy, which I did, and they had more areas set up for fans to enjoy.
Not having to leave the building for any events was another major plus.
Brenlo did a great job as MC, but one wonders with his new position if this is his last year?
The Bad
SOE is still not getting the hint on crowd control for entrance into some of their events. A little help from their staff would go a long way in stopping alot of rude people from getting ahead of people like me who try to remain calm and not hurt people.
The farewell dinner was mexican. Come on, thats just asking for travel day trouble. And it wasn't very good, better than last year but still not what I had hoped.
The Swag bad ordeal.... Me and my wife were in early on early registration. My bag was mostly empty and hers didn't even have a schedule in it. When we went to complain they told us they had ran out of things and it was just too bad. They even acted slightly annoyed that my wife wanted a schedule. Couple this with the fact that Cody and his wife got in 2 hours after us and got a majority of the swag and that one of the big "this is what your money gets you" bulletpoints in effect made us lose out on some of what we had coming to us. Some of you may think well what were you missing and I can tell you this we got a pen and paperwork. Thats it.
Some of the panels were hidden somewhat and could have used a bit more signs and the signs could have been bigger and darker.
Some of the panels could have used a bit more iron fisted moderation due to them being railroaded.
I do understand that SOE spends alot of money on this and probably loses some but it still seems a little jam packed and could be spread over a day or two more.
I think they could have done a better job with the Matrix Online shutting down. They more or less footnoted it but should have had a farewell showing during the community address.
Lastly they did not announce anything about the next Fan Faire. While this may actually be good as they were waiting to see how Bally's turned out one can only hope they give a bigger lead time than usual.
OK, I know what you are saying, "Donnie, from the looks of it there was more bad than good." Well yes and no. Numerically yes. Overall most of the bad was minor and the good was major items.
Me and the wife had a great time and I believe Cody and his did as well. Will we come next time, yes. Oh yes we will be there.
So to wrap up this was a great Fan Faire. I got to meet Cody and his wonderful wife as well as get into a room with like minded gamers which just rocks. They had more to buy and more to see than last year and the hope is next year will be even better.
For those keeping track I walked away about $29.00 in the plus from the casino and my wife was about $80.00 ahead. Take that casino! Of course they got us on food and the spa. Dang you spa!
In the next few days we hope to get together and put a audio edit of the entire trip. We hope to have that out within a weeks time. For those of you who followed us in Twitter and on here as well we want to thank you for following along on our trip to Fan Faire. Maybe next time we will see you and talk with you at Fan Faire instead of hearing from you from afar.
Now, lets get back in the game!
Donnie "Talnor" Hall
Finally arriving back in Kentucky we picked up our little one, who was glad to see us, and headed home. All in all not much of a day 4 but they assure us that Fan Faire is a 4 day event and the travel day is part of it. Dosen't seem that good to me.
So what did we think of Fan Faire this year?
The Good
Bally's was so much nicer than the Hilton. The room was clean and cheap. The bedding could use a bit of a upgrade as could the tv but not bad. There were not as many food options it seemed as there was at the Hilton but when you took in you could walk to the Paris hotel without going outside well you doubled your food choices.
SOE had their game face on and did very good at getting vendors in and really doing a great job at setting up the different areas where Fan Faire was held. Their store offered alot more to buy, which I did, and they had more areas set up for fans to enjoy.
Not having to leave the building for any events was another major plus.
Brenlo did a great job as MC, but one wonders with his new position if this is his last year?
The Bad
SOE is still not getting the hint on crowd control for entrance into some of their events. A little help from their staff would go a long way in stopping alot of rude people from getting ahead of people like me who try to remain calm and not hurt people.
The farewell dinner was mexican. Come on, thats just asking for travel day trouble. And it wasn't very good, better than last year but still not what I had hoped.
The Swag bad ordeal.... Me and my wife were in early on early registration. My bag was mostly empty and hers didn't even have a schedule in it. When we went to complain they told us they had ran out of things and it was just too bad. They even acted slightly annoyed that my wife wanted a schedule. Couple this with the fact that Cody and his wife got in 2 hours after us and got a majority of the swag and that one of the big "this is what your money gets you" bulletpoints in effect made us lose out on some of what we had coming to us. Some of you may think well what were you missing and I can tell you this we got a pen and paperwork. Thats it.
Some of the panels were hidden somewhat and could have used a bit more signs and the signs could have been bigger and darker.
Some of the panels could have used a bit more iron fisted moderation due to them being railroaded.
I do understand that SOE spends alot of money on this and probably loses some but it still seems a little jam packed and could be spread over a day or two more.
I think they could have done a better job with the Matrix Online shutting down. They more or less footnoted it but should have had a farewell showing during the community address.
Lastly they did not announce anything about the next Fan Faire. While this may actually be good as they were waiting to see how Bally's turned out one can only hope they give a bigger lead time than usual.
OK, I know what you are saying, "Donnie, from the looks of it there was more bad than good." Well yes and no. Numerically yes. Overall most of the bad was minor and the good was major items.
Me and the wife had a great time and I believe Cody and his did as well. Will we come next time, yes. Oh yes we will be there.
So to wrap up this was a great Fan Faire. I got to meet Cody and his wonderful wife as well as get into a room with like minded gamers which just rocks. They had more to buy and more to see than last year and the hope is next year will be even better.
For those keeping track I walked away about $29.00 in the plus from the casino and my wife was about $80.00 ahead. Take that casino! Of course they got us on food and the spa. Dang you spa!
In the next few days we hope to get together and put a audio edit of the entire trip. We hope to have that out within a weeks time. For those of you who followed us in Twitter and on here as well we want to thank you for following along on our trip to Fan Faire. Maybe next time we will see you and talk with you at Fan Faire instead of hearing from you from afar.
Now, lets get back in the game!
Donnie "Talnor" Hall
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