Anime Banzai: WiR Continued...
Or, lets see how much drama I can cause with this...
Well, after eating lunch (well Adam and I, Gordon gave his away), we headed down to the Main Events room to setup for the contest. At a glance, things seemed ok, when we actually started getting down to looking over everything though, things weren't what they seemed. We didn't have anywhere near enough pencils as there was cross event stealing going on. There were some issues with the sound system but we managed to get everything in a semblance of order just in time. Then came the time of letting the contestants in first. Apparently only a few of them knew they were able to come in early. I'm sure that Adam had made an announcement the night before but still, something should be put in print on the booklet next year.
Then we started letting people in, this took awhile and I admit I took my time handing out ballots and filing people in for a couple of reasons:
a. To keep things orderly.
b. In the hopes of giving Danny enough time to get back with more pencils.
This was apparently not satisfactory to some so we sped things up and filed everyone inside. As they were still getting settled, Adam killed the lights and started up with only a "Are you ready!" Adam, I know you're probably reading this, but you really should have taken a minute to explain what the ballots were for, where pencils were at, the numbering system, etc before just jumping straight in with the first video. It probably also would have given the guys in the back time to do a final sound check before officially starting. We should also probably have some ambient music to play as they sit down that can be used for that purpose as well, so that way we don't have the problems that happened with the first video.
The first video started and there was no sound. This apparently took a bit to correct so for the first 15-20 seconds there was a nervousness in the crowd, or maybe it was just me at the door...
Then things were leveled out and working. Then the door shenanigans started with the cosplay groups and the others who decided they'd come and go. I *tried* to get people to use only the main door that we let them in at but apparently no one would listen. Worse is that they'd keep the doors open, which caused a terrible glare on the projection screens and more than a few complaints from the audience. I also got several questions from people asking "Why don't you just lock all these doors?" I told them that I had believed they were. Later as I was starting to freak, I went out into the hall. Adam was out there at that point having a nervous breakdown. I asked him about the doors and he told me they couldn't lock them due to OSHA & Fire regulations.
I headed back inside shortly after this.
Adam was starting to lose his mind due to some slowdown in the videos, the crowd didn't seem to notice or didn't vocalize any concern while I was watching. But for someone who'd seen the videos before, it was extremely apparent and only getting worse (If I remember correctly, by video 4 we had to stop and restart). Gord was apparently handed the mic by Adam so I headed towards the back to check on Fred and Chris.
Fred buggered off shortly after I arrived and we stared at the computer screen for a few minutes. Chris then told me that the codecs kept reloading themselves (and not unloading themselves) whenever it switched to a new video track on the playlist. Because you see, Adam was streaming the whole two hour show to both projectors in High Definition with a computer he had built the night before. I don't know what the internals were, but that instantly gave me a headache. Adam said the codecs reloading themselves wouldn't be what was causing the slowdown, but it couldn't have *not* been a contributing factor. Frankly you're streaming HD video and that is a terrible strain on any processor and to have any of the overhead taken away by continually running processes unnecessarily isn't a good idea.
After watching for a little bit and stressing and seeing that things were generally ok, and in an attempt to keep our sanity, Chris and I went out for a smoke. Apparently much to the horror of Gordon who watched from the main part of the room as we got up and walked away.
Chris and I vented for a bit, tried to relax, and then talked about the video he entered that was not accepted. That *I* in fact had voted to drop the kill switch on. We talked about the problems with its pacing and how while I thought the concept could be amusing, it just took too damned long to get to the point. That was when he told me that he knew that and had already cut a minute out of the intro. Overall though, he seemed receptive to criticism and promised to try better next time. He also mentioned that his eventual goal is to do a *good* video to Linkin Park and Dragon Ball Z. I laughed and said, good luck.
It was around here that we headed back in. I ended up wandering around, playing door guard, and checking on the back every little bit. By shortly after the halfway point I ended up in the back behind the stage left projector sitting in a chair, zenning as my favorite video of the competition played, Nostromo's Auriga.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHieEhINI7g
Which is playing in the background as I write this. ^__^
Anyway, things rolled on and there was a couple more incidents but nothing too major until the second to last video which was just restarted and allowed to play straight through. By the time it was over and done with, Gordon and Danny got on the microphones and explained to everyone the ballots, and that we had pencils at the front and back for people to use and to clear the room when they were done.
This happened, and then the cosplayers for the competition decided they were going to camp out in the room for the next hour till their competition started. We told them to GTFO as the place needed to be cleaned up. They complained of course but we got them to leave. At which point we (Adam, Gord and I) buggered off to the staff lounge to count the votes.
There were some bumps on the road while we were doing this, but overall ended up getting things done. It's probably a good thing that I purposefully threw myself into the job of counting things up as some of the comments from other staff members I overheard about made me go tilt.
In the end we got things done, and in retrospect, despite the stress, the con was fun. Here's hoping next year goes just a bit smoother.
-J-
Well, after eating lunch (well Adam and I, Gordon gave his away), we headed down to the Main Events room to setup for the contest. At a glance, things seemed ok, when we actually started getting down to looking over everything though, things weren't what they seemed. We didn't have anywhere near enough pencils as there was cross event stealing going on. There were some issues with the sound system but we managed to get everything in a semblance of order just in time. Then came the time of letting the contestants in first. Apparently only a few of them knew they were able to come in early. I'm sure that Adam had made an announcement the night before but still, something should be put in print on the booklet next year.
Then we started letting people in, this took awhile and I admit I took my time handing out ballots and filing people in for a couple of reasons:
a. To keep things orderly.
b. In the hopes of giving Danny enough time to get back with more pencils.
This was apparently not satisfactory to some so we sped things up and filed everyone inside. As they were still getting settled, Adam killed the lights and started up with only a "Are you ready!" Adam, I know you're probably reading this, but you really should have taken a minute to explain what the ballots were for, where pencils were at, the numbering system, etc before just jumping straight in with the first video. It probably also would have given the guys in the back time to do a final sound check before officially starting. We should also probably have some ambient music to play as they sit down that can be used for that purpose as well, so that way we don't have the problems that happened with the first video.
The first video started and there was no sound. This apparently took a bit to correct so for the first 15-20 seconds there was a nervousness in the crowd, or maybe it was just me at the door...
Then things were leveled out and working. Then the door shenanigans started with the cosplay groups and the others who decided they'd come and go. I *tried* to get people to use only the main door that we let them in at but apparently no one would listen. Worse is that they'd keep the doors open, which caused a terrible glare on the projection screens and more than a few complaints from the audience. I also got several questions from people asking "Why don't you just lock all these doors?" I told them that I had believed they were. Later as I was starting to freak, I went out into the hall. Adam was out there at that point having a nervous breakdown. I asked him about the doors and he told me they couldn't lock them due to OSHA & Fire regulations.
I headed back inside shortly after this.
Adam was starting to lose his mind due to some slowdown in the videos, the crowd didn't seem to notice or didn't vocalize any concern while I was watching. But for someone who'd seen the videos before, it was extremely apparent and only getting worse (If I remember correctly, by video 4 we had to stop and restart). Gord was apparently handed the mic by Adam so I headed towards the back to check on Fred and Chris.
Fred buggered off shortly after I arrived and we stared at the computer screen for a few minutes. Chris then told me that the codecs kept reloading themselves (and not unloading themselves) whenever it switched to a new video track on the playlist. Because you see, Adam was streaming the whole two hour show to both projectors in High Definition with a computer he had built the night before. I don't know what the internals were, but that instantly gave me a headache. Adam said the codecs reloading themselves wouldn't be what was causing the slowdown, but it couldn't have *not* been a contributing factor. Frankly you're streaming HD video and that is a terrible strain on any processor and to have any of the overhead taken away by continually running processes unnecessarily isn't a good idea.
After watching for a little bit and stressing and seeing that things were generally ok, and in an attempt to keep our sanity, Chris and I went out for a smoke. Apparently much to the horror of Gordon who watched from the main part of the room as we got up and walked away.
Chris and I vented for a bit, tried to relax, and then talked about the video he entered that was not accepted. That *I* in fact had voted to drop the kill switch on. We talked about the problems with its pacing and how while I thought the concept could be amusing, it just took too damned long to get to the point. That was when he told me that he knew that and had already cut a minute out of the intro. Overall though, he seemed receptive to criticism and promised to try better next time. He also mentioned that his eventual goal is to do a *good* video to Linkin Park and Dragon Ball Z. I laughed and said, good luck.
It was around here that we headed back in. I ended up wandering around, playing door guard, and checking on the back every little bit. By shortly after the halfway point I ended up in the back behind the stage left projector sitting in a chair, zenning as my favorite video of the competition played, Nostromo's Auriga.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHieEhINI7g
Which is playing in the background as I write this. ^__^
Anyway, things rolled on and there was a couple more incidents but nothing too major until the second to last video which was just restarted and allowed to play straight through. By the time it was over and done with, Gordon and Danny got on the microphones and explained to everyone the ballots, and that we had pencils at the front and back for people to use and to clear the room when they were done.
This happened, and then the cosplayers for the competition decided they were going to camp out in the room for the next hour till their competition started. We told them to GTFO as the place needed to be cleaned up. They complained of course but we got them to leave. At which point we (Adam, Gord and I) buggered off to the staff lounge to count the votes.
There were some bumps on the road while we were doing this, but overall ended up getting things done. It's probably a good thing that I purposefully threw myself into the job of counting things up as some of the comments from other staff members I overheard about made me go tilt.
In the end we got things done, and in retrospect, despite the stress, the con was fun. Here's hoping next year goes just a bit smoother.
-J-