I thought we should take a moment and list those items that we really liked and want to include for Denver, as well as those items which we need to fix and or recognized as sub-optimal.
In no particular order, here are my thoughts:
Needs Improving:
- The raffle sucked. Small items need to be pre-drawn and posted for redemption. Only big items should be drawn live. The raffle should start on time and it should not be held captive by an idiot with a microphone. No one had a plan, no one knew what they were supposed to do and the xcel solution was unreadable and not manageable.
- Raffle signs should be clear, well marked and indicate if the item is being picked up or shipped to the winner. Lots of folks didn't enter livestock raffles as they didn't want to bring them on a plane. Who knew they were being shipped?
- Speaker rooms should be far enough away from the vendor hall as to allow the speaker to be heard. Half the time I couldn't hear the speakers as announcements were being made in the room next door, separated by a partition.
- Stagger speaker times and don't start Friday morning with your headliner. Who thought it was a great idea to have Julian go first on Friday? I asked Julian, it wasn't his idea.
- Vendors weren't getting food or water during the show. Who was in charge of care and feeding?
- Speaker gift baskets weren't delivered until Saturday night or Sunday morning.
- Registration was... a mess. There was no record of my ticket purchased at last years MACNA, and many others were in the same boat.
- Why open the vendor halls so frickin early in the morning? Did anyone actually sell anything at 8:30 am?
- There were no signs directing folks to food/water/beverage stations. Nothing that I found in the program indicated what times the food for purchase in the hall would be available.
- The AV system for the Saturday banquet wasn't tested prior to the event. That should have happened before hand, blame both the A/V vendor and the DFW MACNA folks.
- Having vendors in two separate rooms didn't work well... folks in the back were complaining about little to no traffic until midday.
- Having the speaker rooms inside the exhibit hall was just a bad idea all around. Noisy (noted earlier) plus everyone had to have the same level of access.
- What happened to the buffet on Friday?? It was advertised as such, but the few finger foods that dribbled out went quickly. Advertise what we intend to do so folks can plan.
- One door to let 1500 people in to the banquet?? While we were eating dinner, other folks were still trying to get through the doors. And even though we were some of the first ones served, the food was cold and/or over done. Bad job on the hotels part.
- I didn't care for the wrist bands to get in....
- Raffle again... under no circumstances should a raffle crew member be flashing their tickets and then teasing the audience when they win... stupid. Let somebody else hold your tickets for the whole damn raffle.
Worked Well:
- Thoroughly enjoyed the speaker at the banquet. What a cool opportunity.
- The bars in the corners of the vendor hall, especially those dollar margs.
- There was a shipping office on the bridge (FedEx/UPS), though I'm not sure that was well advertised.
- Liked the downloadable PDF of the speaker sessions. Too bad it didn't match the actual event times.
- Easy to purchase food and beverages using plastic, as well as lots of vendors using square etc.
- Nice hotel facility and decent restaurants. Bar closed too early though.
Items to remember:
- Some folks mentioned having problems getting critters through TSA. It would be a good idea to notify DIA to expect a large number of water borne critters, possibly even getting some info from them for travelers?
- Would be nice to have FedEx on-site and highly visible.
Please feel free to add, comment and or critique.
In no particular order, here are my thoughts:
Needs Improving:
- The raffle sucked. Small items need to be pre-drawn and posted for redemption. Only big items should be drawn live. The raffle should start on time and it should not be held captive by an idiot with a microphone. No one had a plan, no one knew what they were supposed to do and the xcel solution was unreadable and not manageable.
- Raffle signs should be clear, well marked and indicate if the item is being picked up or shipped to the winner. Lots of folks didn't enter livestock raffles as they didn't want to bring them on a plane. Who knew they were being shipped?
- Speaker rooms should be far enough away from the vendor hall as to allow the speaker to be heard. Half the time I couldn't hear the speakers as announcements were being made in the room next door, separated by a partition.
- Stagger speaker times and don't start Friday morning with your headliner. Who thought it was a great idea to have Julian go first on Friday? I asked Julian, it wasn't his idea.
- Vendors weren't getting food or water during the show. Who was in charge of care and feeding?
- Speaker gift baskets weren't delivered until Saturday night or Sunday morning.
- Registration was... a mess. There was no record of my ticket purchased at last years MACNA, and many others were in the same boat.
- Why open the vendor halls so frickin early in the morning? Did anyone actually sell anything at 8:30 am?
- There were no signs directing folks to food/water/beverage stations. Nothing that I found in the program indicated what times the food for purchase in the hall would be available.
- The AV system for the Saturday banquet wasn't tested prior to the event. That should have happened before hand, blame both the A/V vendor and the DFW MACNA folks.
- Having vendors in two separate rooms didn't work well... folks in the back were complaining about little to no traffic until midday.
- Having the speaker rooms inside the exhibit hall was just a bad idea all around. Noisy (noted earlier) plus everyone had to have the same level of access.
- What happened to the buffet on Friday?? It was advertised as such, but the few finger foods that dribbled out went quickly. Advertise what we intend to do so folks can plan.
- One door to let 1500 people in to the banquet?? While we were eating dinner, other folks were still trying to get through the doors. And even though we were some of the first ones served, the food was cold and/or over done. Bad job on the hotels part.
- I didn't care for the wrist bands to get in....
- Raffle again... under no circumstances should a raffle crew member be flashing their tickets and then teasing the audience when they win... stupid. Let somebody else hold your tickets for the whole damn raffle.
Worked Well:
- Thoroughly enjoyed the speaker at the banquet. What a cool opportunity.
- The bars in the corners of the vendor hall, especially those dollar margs.
- There was a shipping office on the bridge (FedEx/UPS), though I'm not sure that was well advertised.
- Liked the downloadable PDF of the speaker sessions. Too bad it didn't match the actual event times.
- Easy to purchase food and beverages using plastic, as well as lots of vendors using square etc.
- Nice hotel facility and decent restaurants. Bar closed too early though.
Items to remember:
- Some folks mentioned having problems getting critters through TSA. It would be a good idea to notify DIA to expect a large number of water borne critters, possibly even getting some info from them for travelers?
- Would be nice to have FedEx on-site and highly visible.
Please feel free to add, comment and or critique.