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[Dragon]

Even though I already have to leave in several hours and should probably be asleep by now, here you have my part of feedback for EF23:

TL;DR - Good EF with some flaws at the Estrel side of things.

I'll start with the negatives, because why not:

- Horrible air/climate in most of the hotel's zones. Why have no side/roof windows been opened until Saturday?!
- Air conditioning clogged af, no way air can circulate, thus making the convention rooms unnecessarily hot. Estrel, please clean the filters of your A/Cs and they will magically work again!
- My first day of breakfast (Wednesday) was a catastrophy. When I got there at 9, there were lots of empty spaces at the buffet upstairs. It was slowly filling up after a while of waiting, but that has been way better in the past years.
- Several sausages were served almost raw at all days, not even a tiny bit roasted. Even though there seemed to be a huge demand, please let them have their time roasting.
- Due to the bad air in the hotel, the lobby and places around it seemed rather empty of suiters, except for Saturday, when someone finally let some fresh air in.

o New lobby feels okay, but I liked the old one more

+ Almost ever on time for events this year
+ It felt well organized to me
+ Moving the smokers away from the main entrance was a good step
+ After there have been issues with Daily Eurofurence on Thursday, because there were already none left at 9 in the morning, you could grab your copy even later in the day in the past days
+ Events were well distributed this year, at least for me
+ EF Prime was watchable most of the time this year, except some minor issues like blackscreen for a few minutes or some hiccups in the broadcasting here and then.
+ The Pawpet show, even with their little delays between the sets, was completely AWESOME. You did a devilishly good job with all the characters and sets, especially Ortha in my opinion. The expression of her face was stunning, even more with eyes lit. And because someone randomly asked for fun if we want plushies of her, YES I DO. ... but only if big enough. You totally got me there.

To see the general interest of Ortha after the show has been insane. It was really nice to be allowed up close, touching her or even get a photo with her. The croud around her all the time since she left the stage, which even followed her when going back to the workshop, underlines the awesome work you did there. It has also been a very nice move from the pawpeteers continuing giving her life when the croud was around, so that they could enjoy this piece of work up close. Nice to see they really have fun with what they're doing!

(Click here for Full Size pic)
A huge thank you to the whole crew involved in the PPS!

It's possible I forgot lots of stuff, but that's what's been in my head now. I might add some more stuff when I'm home later today, when I let things replay in my head while riding the train for almost 6 hours over 8 hours. Thank you Deutsche Bahn!

I hope everyone will have a good and safe travel on their ways back home! Thanks for another good EF!

P.S. I'm open for any Ortha merchandise that might come up in the next months 

Update:
o Small TVs left and right from the stairs to the stage would have been nice, so those sitting in the middle could comfortably view whatever is shown on the silver screens while parts of events are going on, that are not happening on stage.
+ To sit in front row and feel the soundwaves hitting you was a great experience. It's a good thing to spend more money for better sound. It surely was worth it. The Pawpet Show had an awesome sound atmosphere with all the speakers.
+ There were two of three elevators broken in wing one in the morning of the 20th, which were already being repaired while we got down to breakfast. When we returned, they were working again. Good job on a Sunday!
+ Checkout was easy again this year.

Thank you all for making this event possible every other year!

[Angus]

- Several sausages were served almost raw at all days, not even a tiny bit roasted. Even though there seemed to be a huge demand, please let them have their time roasting.

As usual, please complain with the hotel on these issues immediately. It's their responsibility. And they can usually do something about it.

+ After there have been issues with Daily Eurofurence on Thursday, because there were already none left at 9 in the morning, you could grab your copy even later in the day in the past days

We didn't manage to assemble all the standees we had by Thursday morning. So we just had one standee at the lobby at that time. And this thing drained faster than we could refill it. From Friday onward we had two standees there.

Passt issues of this year's Daily Eurofurence should be available at ConOps throughout most of today.

[Dragon]

Thanks for your reply.

As usual, please complain with the hotel on these issues immediately. It's their responsibility. And they can usually do something about it.

I did indeed complain about most things, there was some more stuff that happened.

We didn't manage to assemble all the standees we had by Thursday morning. So we just had one standee at the lobby at that time. And this thing drained faster than we could refill it. From Friday onward we had two standees there.

It worked out well in the end. Thanks for your effort.

[Ragear]

basically all what Dragon said ...

Hotel:
1) Usual good and corteous service. Employees seem to like us. Noticed no furry ears and snow leopard waiter this year though
2) A bit stuffy climatewise in some places.
3) why are alternative walkways closed? Namely between 1 and 2 ...
4) I somehwat missed an excuse from the hotel/ ihotelier for the mess caused. Not that we are a bunch of snowflakes in general but a lot of people have been upset.
5) Lobby: we'll have to live with it until the new tower cooler but I liked the old outfit more ... but I am an old lion.
6) Breakfast until 11 THU-SUN minimum (SUN even till 12)? Please? Though ... lobby was pretty quite at 4am, we used to be more partysome? though the Biergarten was still populated weather permitting.
7) the bistro where one could grab small bits was a very nice idea and allowed to stay at the hotel at a reasonable cost Missed the ice cream place at first but frozen yogurth was available to alleviate the pain ...
I welcome the fact that Estrel would like to take hotel reg back in it's own paws ...

EF (w/o pps)
1) didn't note anything negative aside from usual delays which are folk lore and I don't need to know all of them. Maybe a radar enforced speed limit for wheeled contraptions?
2) Suitwalk: any shorter and we'll just circle once around the suit lounge though I see the reasoning. But fursuit group photo should (imho: must) be a part of the suit walk! And only in case of dire emergency not outside in the biergarten theather.

I'd like to express my deepest thankfulness to anybody involved staffwise for making this possible again!

pps:
It was nothing short of a blast. I am looking forward to see a video again for all the nice details, and Ortha was one of the most fascinating "paw"pet ever conceived, drawing a tear in my eye when I saw her being shown to the audience and just winking and moving a bit. Would love to see her again Marvellous!!

best regards

Ragear

[Greldon]

Well, what shall I say... Again a wonderful grat experience.
First of all, many and heartly thanks to all the people which have participated to that great experience.

But now some thins I want to mention in particular

1) Pawpet Show
@Cheetah / Eisfuchs:
What should I say... You have broke my heart with that story and you managed to get my eyes moist. To make it short, it was for me the best one since EF 8... so far, my favourite has been the show from EF 11 (back in Nürnberg). But this year... simply fantastic.
The only thing I am sad about is the fact that I have missed the chance to give Ortha a hug.

2) Fursuiter Lounge
Well, first, I want to thank all of you for providing it and for the drinks and all... but, unfortunately, this time please allow me some criticism.
For receiving the fursuiter badge you have to bring your head with you. That's okay and that gives me the feeling that this way noone without legitimation will be able to enter the lounge later. But then... I have never been asked to show my fursuiterbadge when I entered the lounge. Sometimes there hasn't be any security there at all. I understand it if noone is around at the early morning or so... but not during the day when many people get in and out. I just wish there would have been more controls.
And then I was missing the small mini-lounge. Okay, this year it was not possible to provide it since there was now the breakfastroom, but maybe next year again somewhere in the lobby?

3) Fursuiter Group Foto
I have been very unhappy about the time: The Game show wasn't over yet, interesting panels at the same time... why not before or right after the fursuitwalk or simply later the day? The hall as location for it is perfect on the other side. The stairs down to the Biergarten are nearly impossible for me to step down in my suit...

Kind regards
Greldon

[Shade]

Fursuit Lounge is the only critic point I want to mentioned.

From Tuesday till Sunday, I attend the Convention and I never saw someone by the fursuit lounge to ask for my fursuit badge. I saw that some took photos in the FL and that non furries was there one time as well.

In the old Hotel in Madgeburg, the security was way better. I know it is not easy to find helper but this makes the Fursuit Lounge so different to US convention. Huge, good service (water, soda, candy and security).

But Eurofurence was awesome again and I will attend next year as well.

~Shade

[ANTIcarrot]

I enjoyed several things about this year quite a bit more than last year. Though that is partially due to getting a last minute room at the Estrel. ^.^

I also enjoyed the pawpet show -and will be commenting on that separately.

I'm not sure what changed, but the Art Show Closing seemed much faster and less chaotic than last year. Sadly I only won one thing, but that meant I could spend my reserve funds on the Dealer's Den instead.

Finally queueing for various shows seemed to go better this year.

A lot of the custom decoration looked fantastic. The 'do not touch' backdrop in the atrium in particular.

The 'lego cushions' were a lot of fun. Especially seeing groups working together to precisely comply with EF's instruction that no structures be more than 4 cubes high.

And I was very pleased to hear we were just shy of 3,000 attendees this year.

Question about the breakfast arrangement: Thursday onwards we were punted into the Atrium & Estrel hall. Is that likely to happen next year? It clears up the lobby area but unfortunately occupies a lot of convention space that could possibly be put to better use.



I feel there were some issues this year though...

Crowd control & choke points:
Between the lobby and atrium there are three access points, and at times on Tuesday and Wednesday two of them got completely blocked off. One via the registry line, and the other via photographers crowded in front of the 'do not touch' backdrop, and in front of the doors. It would have been nice if the backdrop could have been located in the Atrium where the bouncy castle was last year. I know there was something there the last two years, but the 'posing couch seems to have made a difference this year.

If not maybe have security standing by next year with some squirty water bottles to discourage such behaviour.

Signage:
Something of a minor issue but it's a little unfortunate that the only sign for Tuesday's registration queue looked something like this:

FURSUIT BADGE
Pick up and printing
In front of Fursuit Lounge

I know Deutsch likes to put key concepts at the end of a sentence, but maybe this isn't a good way to put signs together. 


The Artists lounge was slightly bigger this year, which was good, and I'm told by people with better judgement than I that the lighting conditions were far superior to last year. However...

All the plug sockets were locked away. Part way through Wednesday, EF was able to partly unlock one of these, and supply two tables with power, which left a ~10cm hole in the floor covered with nothing but duct-tape - and the rest of the room without electrical power. While a majority of artists still use a variety of traditional media, some of us use computers and touch-pads, and we were not well supported this year. This was reported to Con Ops on several occasions. Can Eurofurence please clarify with the hotel that the artists lounge is a place where electrical equipment needs to be plugged in, and appropriate access points need to be arranged.

I also feel it is unfortunate that it was put within shouting distance of the open stage; particularly on Friday night during the cat-strangling karaoke competition, when some of the contestants seemed to lose all sense of volume control. It might be nice if these two events could be a little more separated in future years.

[meo]

My feedback for EF23:

TL;DR - Good EF with some flaws at the Estrel side of things.

To be a copycat I'll start with the negatives too:

- The Air Problem: While the Estrel could have open the roof much earlier (or didn't even close it in the first place) they left it closed on both Tuesday and Wednesday till around noon. Giving all of us a great warm welcome of humid Air and Wallpaint! Yes this had been reported to the front desk but they simply said they can't open them manually.
- Not consistent Prices: The drink prices where not consistent and even change sometimes from waiter to waiter. For example Coke 0,5 liter are supposed to cost 8,00 but when you ask to not have lemon inside the price magically goes up to 8,20. Same goes for Ice! Thank god they didn't fill up the glasses all the way again with frozen water.
- The decor felt like we where only allowed to put up the "do not touch Wall". Please talk to the Hotel next year so we can decorate more.
- - No Badgecontrol at the Entrance to the rotunda. Seriously guys, when we have the Conventionspace for registered ones only control the Badges! There where at least two Family (one time 5 the other time 9 Persons) that simply ignored the signs and went straight in (yes we talked to them), and nope, that was not on a concert day. We all know that we don't have a lot of security ones for disposal but dropping at least one there with a chair would make it better imho!

o New lobby feels okay, but the Estrelstube in particular now feels way more tight being cut by the new stairs.

+ EF Prime nearly never fuckd up this year and got constantly good performances in Hall 1 with just a short black screen by the storm
+ Breakfast in the Estrel Hall was in my opinion way quieter and therefore enjoyable than the years before
+ Not as much Press is a plus for me too, because someone simply don't want to play hide and seek with the cameras
+ "your first furcon panel" on the first day is a must for the youngsters. Finally giving it this block quite next to the opening was a huge improvement imho, thanks Programplaning team.

[nobs]

"me too" 

I enjoyed EF Prime. Did it run longer this year? I watched it till the late departure morning this year. I really liked that. Of course it is a "heavy rotation" loop, but it gives a better "background noise" than all the other channels. And the Twitter stream is fun.

[Nathalias]

Well... another EF (my 4th) has come to an end... and it was a great time as ever.

What I really liked:

- first of all: the Paw Pet Show! It is just marvellous what you put on stage there. Especially Ortha ;-) But I also liked the other characters and the story. Keep up the fabulous work. This show alone is worth coming to EF. Who needs Hollywood Blockbusters when we can have the Pawpet Show ;-)
- Peper Coyote live on stage. I already hoped for last year that he would come because of his work on Hashtag together with Fox Amoore. This year he showed up and it was just great. I had a really good time during the concerts. Hope it wasn't his only visit to EF.
- the howl bunch of fursuiters making the place as fluffy as ever ;-)
- the fursuit locker service: even while using it only for a few hours at the beginning between registering for the fursuit badge and the opening of the fursuit lounge, it was a great help to have a place to store my suitbox.
- the decoration, fitting this years theme very well. Even if the Atrium could have used some deco as well, I really liked it.
- Neon Dance: very cool alternative to the fursuit friendly dance with cool music, a big thank to the DJs
- the EF App for Windows Phone, it is working really good (yes, I am one of the few users ;-)

Some points that could be improved:

- the little oasis was really missing... ok, the hotel needed the space for themselves this year, so I hope it will be returning next year
- the schedule of the events: Paws on Fire and the Fursuit Gameshow at the same time was really bad, since these were two events I really wanted to see (because both includesas fursuiters on stage doing cool things). I hope there will be recodrings of Paws on Fire on YouTube or something else so I can see the performances at least there. The timing for the fursuit groupfoto was also not the best... even if Enter the Arena would have ended on time it would have been a really short period to get into suit. Maybe it should be moved to the end of the fursuit parade again.
- waiting in line for the charity concert at the club stage was a bit hot until the windows were opened. Maybe for next year that should be done earlier.
- and at last: yes, I didn't like those portable speakers and howling too...


As conclusion I can say that beeing not in the Estrel but somwehre outside didn't turn out that bad as i feared. The only thing I really missed was the good breakfast from the Estrel.


So... a big "THANK YOU" to all who have made this Eurofurence possible and waiting another year for the next Eurofurence.

[djem]

Just gonna do a few points fast :

- Moving the smoker space from front entrance to secondary was not a solution. It smelled like cigaret even in the upper floor of wing 3 ! It just moved the problem. A space away from doors should be chosen.

- The Estrel lobby/bar. Why closing so early even when still packed ? Where was the nice cheap drink options we had the previous year ? All the staff with tail and ears ? EF prime playing on the TV's ? I really miss all that.

- Air-conditioning. In some rooms, it seems to have worked perfectly, but in places like the DD when you entered it really felt moisty and warm. Same in the lobby sometimes.

[Reshi]

Thank you all for the wonderful con experience once again, and I have to say that this might be favorite EF so far! (or well, my first one will always be #1 for me, but this year was really close second atleast)
It was also my first time as a sponsor and all the benefits I got were totally worth the extra price, might even go supersponsor next year!

+ The theme was something I wasn't too crazy about first but I loved the decorations, conbook, sponsor gifts etc. So I ended up really liking the theme a whole lot than I thought!
+ Nothing was extremely late and I didn't really mind the delays since they weren't too long
+ Fursuit lounge was awesome as always, I really liked the ice tea and iced coffee choices for drinks! And I could find a spot to dry my head and hands almost everytime I got to the lounge, even during peak times like after the parade and all
+ No place felt overly crowded

My cons are mostly just about Estrel and they were notified about all of these points! But I still wanna mentoin them here

- Our room A/C was really cold all the time and we couldn't turn it down, unless we notified the reception. At one point we just gave up since it was annoying to always go ask them to come and crank it down lol (the system in our room was weird) *Estrel was notified about this
- Our room keys stopped working alot, and we had to go fix them all the time, even after we got to replace them. On Saturday we decided not to bother anymore since we were mostly going to the room together anyway with my roommate. Yes we made sure they are not in contact with any electric devices or anything, the cards just constantly stopped working right after the other one was fixed xD *Estrel was notified about this

+/- On most days, the schedule overlapped all the time but that's just my taste and not something to blame the people who made the schedule! I still got to see some really nice panels and stuff even tho I couldn't attend everything.
+/- Not really a con for me personally, since it didn't bother me/I didn't notice it at the con, but rather just remembered it; I don't think I saw anyone at the Fursuit Lounge checking for badges after Wednesday or so... This might have been an issue to some people and I hope they notified the lounge workers about it!

I can't really think of any cons about EF really! It was amazing con and I can't wait to be back again next year, hopefully the hotel reservation is less of a mess next time!

[James The Dog]

- Moving the smoker space from front entrance to secondary was not a solution. It smelled like cigaret even in the upper floor of wing 3 ! It just moved the problem. A space away from doors should be chosen.

+1

While moving it away from the main entrance and the steps down to the road was a big help and improvement, they just moved it in front of the entrance to the other atrium, with the doors open, so that area flooded with smoke instead- and that's the area you have to walk through to get to and from the main con space. Moving smokers away from open doors is definately what's needed.

Also, it reminds me why I won't be attending BLFC any time soon, as that's in a hotel that actually allows smoking INSIDE and you have to walk through it to get around

- The Estrel lobby/bar. Why closing so early even when still packed ? Where was the nice cheap drink options we had the previous year ? All the staff with tail and ears ? EF prime playing on the TV's ? I really miss all that.

I definately missed EF prime on the TVs in the lobby. In past years I've been keeping an eye on it when sitting in the lobby and sending lots of tweets there. With it not being on in the lobby, and spending little non-sleeping time in my room, I barely saw it and I think I only sent a couple of tweets to it.

[Khirdras]

For me it was a great convention.
Especially the Pawpet-show was amazing and the highlight of all events.
Story, the puppets and the soundtrack - awesome!

Nevertheless there are a few things I want to mention, which in my opinion require some improvement

Registration:
The splitting in two seperate queues for receiving the badge and the t-shirt wasn't organized well without any signs where to queue for what:
Next year please some signs: "Queue here for Registration","Queue here here for T-Shirts" etc.
To hand out the fursuiter's badges an in the fursuiter's lounge was a good idea.

I have missed badly the mini schedule event plan for the trouser pocket, like the last years.
By the way, all my friends missed it as well.

Fursuit Lounge:
I really appreciate the "Show your Head - practice", even though it is uncomfortable. But i like the plus of security.
But this year nobody after the official begin of the convention checkes the Fursuiter's Badges at the entrance of the Fursuiter's Lounge. Not very secure, I dare to say.
And I have missed the second lounge, the small one near the Lobby. Of course. there was the breakfast room that year, but maybe it will be possible the next year to establish that small lounge somewhere else in the lobby.


Convention Zone:
Here also a lack of badge control.

Games Corner:
I like to play Card Games (Magic the Gathering for Instance), but I wasn't able to play during this Convention, since the Games Corner opened only after 9.00 PM (21 Uhr). So if I want to join the main events, I can't use the Games corner.
During the morning hours and early afternoon there was no opportunity to find someone to play.
Of course I understand that staff is needed for keeping an eye on the consoles etc and that these people doing that job don't have time during the day. Nevertheless I wonder if it would be possible in the future, to declare an empty room with a few tables and chairs to a Games Corner during the day? It would be highly appreciated.


Schedule:
This year the schedule of the events wasn't optimal. All events crowded during the evening hours. And a lot of events parallel, for example the Fursuit Group Photo.

T-Shirt:
The T-Shirt Motive wasn't my cup of tea that year. Too many flowers too less egyptian.
And the colour - I usually like beige as a colour for a T-Shirt, but this motive in gold would have had a better contrast on a black T-Shirt. In general, this year's t-shirt seems to be more suitable for females than for males...

Charity:
I love to help animals in need, but why can't we support a regional animal shelter in or around Berlin or an animal sanctuary like Gut Aiderbichl? Only a thought.

Hotel:
The bill wasn't correct two times: They charged my roommate a wrong roomfee and they charged me something from the minibar I didn't consume. Of course, it was refunded as we complained but I hope it was stress and not method.
The Air Conditioning in the whole Hotel was a desaster this year.
In our Room the only thing the A/C did was to produce noise. The service technician removed the filter, but with no effect.
The elevators (tower 2) - should I say more?

But all in all it has been a great convention.
The best improvement this year was in my opinion the seperate queue for the "common" sponsors. Thank you!
And a lot of thanks to all the staff doing a VERY good job and spending their free time for us.
I am looking forward to the next EF.

[Dragon]

I have missed badly the mini schedule event plan for the trouser pocket, like the last years.
By the way, all my friends missed it as well.

They were on the table next to the registration desk. You must have not seen them