Clutch

There is no Guidebook application for Windows Phone any more, because they abandoned the platform. Put's me in the "can't" bucket. As a work around, I use the convention Wi-Fi to connect to the Schedule page in the phone browser. Phone works great for its intended purpose of making phone calls, so I am in no hurry to replace it.

For those who want to know what a 404 error is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_404 People are giving Otakon a lot of flak for something they cannot control. Experian's servers would have been throwing 404 errors, and the entire Otakon staff together could do nothing about it. They would not have any idea why it is occurring, nor when it would be fixed. This is the same scenario as Otakon releasing a super popular t-shirt on Amazon, and if Amazon failed to take the orders people would be yelling at Otakon. Thousands of connections are slamming the hotel portal at the same time. In Internet terms, that is the same thing as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. I work in support, and can tell you what this situation is like: Our application goes down for some unknown reason. The client starts getting slammed with phone calls to their Help Desk about the system being down. The client gets on the phone and starts screaming at us about why the system is down. We try to figure out what caused it, and get the system back up and running as fast as possible. While ensuring it is not going to go down again right away. Once things are stabilized we try to figure out what the cause was and how to prevent it in the future. Experian is #1, Otakon is #2/#3 (the client) on the above list, and they would be the people breathing down Experian's neck to get the system back up. What communication is Otakon supposed to make that will make it great in everyone's eyes? Otakon has no authority to offer anything discounts/gifts/whatever that some of the commenters here are asking. There is an infinite number of ways for systems to go down. Here are a few I have dealt with: Flood in the Data Center. Air conditioning failing in the Server room (all the servers are overheating and have to be shut down before they burn up). Construction crew dug up the fiber optic connection to the outside world. Buggy patch released by the Operating System vendor wreaks havoc on our application. I am sorry if this post seems like I am attacking people, because that is not my intention. However, this topic does hit a little close to home.

Daniel, I think you are coming down with something. You had better take Friday off.

In an emergency situation, you are more likely to get a SMS message through than a phone call. The system stacks the messages, and processes them when bandwidth is available, versus getting busy signals or dropped calls. They are much smaller and can go through more quickly, even with the cellular saturation at Otakon. While there will be delays, it should not be very long. Applets add overhead to any information you are trying to send. Radio the Base, and the Base sends the SMS blast. The Information booths could be secondary message bases. Just thinking out loud.

Can't you say to your boss that you need someone to cover you for 15 minutes? That is not an outrageous request that they should deny. You could take your lunch break at that time, maybe?

The only thing I think might be able to do that is a SMS text message blast, but that is usually controlled from a special server. They do that at work with our critical employee notifications. Given the load on the cellular networks at the convention, this is still a good chance it won't get through to everyone.

In our haste to gripe we neglected to give a heartfelt thanks to all the staff and gophers that volunteered their time to put on another great Otakon. We appreciate everything you do! Thank you!

I passed a cosplayer on Friday morning and asked them for a photo. After I took the picture they asked for a business card. I was completely confused, and put my camera away for the rest of the convention.

I picked up a magazine in Union Station to read on the train ride home. I think it was called "Cosplay Culture", but I will have to check when I get home. One of the articles said to use Contact Cement instead of Crazy Glue to attach seams. That may work better than ironing on the decals. Easy enough to experiment with it on a spare.

If possible, it would be nice to have the exit locations for convention proper, Artist Alley, Dealer's Hall, etc. specified on the convention map. A quick look at the map to figure out which way you should be heading. Absolutely, more bullhorns. It was very difficult to hear people, and they were straining their voices trying to shout. Same with the people running the bag check line. Although a sign noting to have your bag open on the mid point of the ramp may have saved some shouting.

I don't think there should any unscheduled room clears. Either clear every room every time, or go by the scheduled room clears. Otakon should have been informed well in advance if a room clear is requested to put them on the schedule, so there is no need to perform them at random. When you are trying to plan your day anything unscheduled is going to wreak havoc. My 2 cents.

As I stated in another thread, I rarely go to Panels because they just don't appeal to me. Not sure that will ever change. I did get to see some new anime, but the video operators had a rough time getting things set up. They were going back and forth into DVD menus trying to get the Japanese Audio and Subtitle tracks enabled. The very first video on Friday had the Zoom turned way up, so no-one could see the DVD menus. I think 4 people were there trying to figure it out. A few times, the person running the Video Room was going into the equipment set-up menus by mistake. If Otakon has an idea of which equipment is being used, then I suggest putting a troubleshooting card on the displays (e.g. Which remote to use. Equipment: Set Zoom to 0, Volume at 5. Anime: Set Audio Track: Japanese. Enable English sub-titles, etc.). My first Otakon was in 1994, so I am well past 18. That being said, it seems like many of the anime and panels after 8 PM required an 18+ wristband. If you did not have an 18+ band (which I do not get for the most part) your activity choices were limited. That could be my perception, but it seemed to stick out this year. There was a lot of downtime on the schedule for me. UGLY: The air quality. Between the wall of cigarette/vape pen smoke surrounding the convention center, and the great un-washed, I had a rough time finding clean air. Doing my best to avoid lung cancer.

If you are a knife collector, you are better off avoiding the vendors at the convention. From the previous times I have reviewed their wares, I did not recognize any of the brands they carry. This leads me to believe they are not high quality. If you are viewing it as a piece of art that is one thing, but I would think twice considering them an investment. Your mileage may vary.

Why would they care to clear the room? Makes no sense to me, although I rarely attend any Panels.

No Silver celebration for Otakon 25?