2014 Feedback

[CashWiley]

 

I have three game days at the FLGS and several paint club sessions to "practice" what I can do in 2 hours...  challenge accepted!  I might even get some "free" labor out of all of this!  double bonus!

 

And you should do it in low light with a table surrounded by heavy curtains that don't give you much room to move around. Just so you duplicate the conditions correctly.

 

Don't forget to bump the table to simulate the Lovejoy (and a couple others) effect.

 

Bonus points for creating a post-Wappelpocalypse to work on.

Edited May 1, 2014 by CashWiley

[Sergeant_Crunch]

Tell the students to bring their own blocks.

[MiniCannuck]

If people signing up for the class are trying to learn about casting blocks, perhaps asking them to bring them would be too much.

 

How about a couple of us bring a few molds down with us and take an evening early in the convention to cast up some blocks for a class later on.  It would be a fun social event - especially if there was beer involved.  I'd be glad to chip in some money for the casting material as long as someone else can bring it down.  I don't think I want that sort of weight in my luggage for a flight.

[Hymn]

It would be a fun social event - especially if there was beer involved.  I'd be glad to chip in some money ...

 

Yes, yes, yes. Yes. I'm in on this.

[Mr Melons]

Alcohol and mold casting...that should end well...

[MiniCannuck]

Alcohol and mold casting...that should end well...

Hey, I think we will be fine.  After I sat in on the KickStarter panel discussion and was told that the custom dice guy works in the tool shop barefoot, I'm pretty sure having a beer while pouring plaster is fairly safe

[TGP]

@ReaperPeeps and various persons who commented earlier in the thread that the lighting was too dim in the area where the painting contest was:

 

My cell phone has asked me to say on its behalf that it thought the lights in that space were peachy keen, see below:

 

 

On behalf of myself:

• Do the contest display area in that same space, with the same lights***, again next year. (***The Book of Pendrake, Chapter 7, verse 3: "Leave unfixed that which is not broken".)

• It was really nice to be able to at least glance at entries on the way to and from classes. At many previous RCons I have totally missed looking at the entries because they were off by themselves, or upstairs, or hidden away.

• Table height in the display area, another element just right, it was ideal for snapping pix. (So again: BoP, Ch 7, v 3... )

• Ditto for the type and colour of the table cloths. Do that again.

[Sergeant_Crunch]

If people signing up for the class are trying to learn about casting blocks, perhaps asking them to bring them would be too much.

 

How about a couple of us bring a few molds down with us and take an evening early in the convention to cast up some blocks for a class later on.  It would be a fun social event - especially if there was beer involved.  I'd be glad to chip in some money for the casting material as long as someone else can bring it down.  I don't think I want that sort of weight in my luggage for a flight.

Sure, if the class is on how to cast. I'm thinking more along the lines of assembly and design.

[TGP]

IF Reaper does not mind kinda promoting a different companies product.. ..are Hirst arts items available in the Reaper Game Store?

 

 

If people signing up for the class are trying to learn about casting blocks, perhaps asking them to bring them would be too much.

 

How about a couple of us bring a few molds down with us and take an evening early in the convention to cast up some blocks for a class later on.  It would be a fun social event - especially if there was beer involved.  I'd be glad to chip in some money for the casting material as long as someone else can bring it down.  I don't think I want that sort of weight in my luggage for a flight.

Sure, if the class is on how to cast. I'm thinking more along the lines of assembly and design.

 

Is this logistically feasible?

 

Four hour demo session on Thursday: Casting Hirst Arts Bricks. Sign-up is like a seminar and is as hands-on as each participant wants to get (some garb / costume considerations might come into play).

 

Bricks produced are bagged up.

 

Building and Assembling HAB: One class Friday; One Class Saturday.

 

Painting Assembled HAB: One Class Sunday morning.

 

If there are bricks left over from two classes they get bagged up and become an auction item Sunday afternoon.

[Heisler]

Having casts available in the Reaper Store would require someone with a license from Bruce to be casting and bagging them. There are a number of folks out there that do this but I'm not aware of any that are actually available through a retail outlet. Molds are only available from Bruce at Hirst Arts there are no retail options for these that I am aware of although there is a pretty good secondary market for used molds (I need to get rid of mine but that requires time I don't have right now).

[Wren]

It's interesting how people's experiences and perceptions can vary!

 

The classrooms weren't ideal, but I was more happy with them than not, and the experience was better than I have had available teaching at other conventions. It seemed to me that there was enough light for most people to see what was needed to study and practice the stuff that I was teaching in my classes, at any rate. (I did not teach in every one of the cubicles, so it's possible some were worse than others and I didn't experience those.) I'm not saying that I'd object to more light, just that what there was got the job done. (You can almost have too much light in a class, people will get distracted trying to do perfect blending instead of practicing stuff specific to the subject.) I even forgot my Optivisor for a couple of classes and did fine.

 

My advice would be that if you are someone who has poorer vision or is very sensitive to lighting conditions, consider bringing a battery powered light next year. Maybe Reaper will be able to add more lighting, or have outlets available, but maybe they won't. (Heisler isn't kidding about the hotel charging Reaper for every outlet used, and that's not uncommon in these venues.)

 

The classroom noise level was also acceptable to me. There are a few people (instructors or attendees) with very strong voices you might hear from another area, but overall I did not feel like I had to shout over the hubbub of other classes the way I have had to at Gen Con, and I could generally hear questions and comments from others in the same area as myself. I taught during the auction and was a bit worried about that, but only now and then heard faint sound of someone on the mike. It was miles and away much better than teaching in the small rooms at the back of the hall last year, where we not only had a fair bit of hubbub sound, but pretty much just had to stop a class dead and wait every time a mike announcement was made.

 

I do very much agree about the size of the curtained areas being smaller than I would desire, or perhaps it would work as well to say the table was bigger than what was needed. I like to be able to get around to see how everyone is doing, and between my gamer sized butt and the size of the 'rooms', it was a tight fit.

 

I also didn't have a problem with the lighting in the contest display area. As a judge, I was able to assess pieces, again usually without Optivisor except when trying to look at the finest of detail. I am aware that as a judge I did have the advantage of being able to pick something up for a closer look, however! The table height and lack of intervening glass make it significantly easier to view items than at many contests I have attended.

 

I know some of that is personal, just as some people like to paint with many lights and I get by fine with one as long as it's an inch from my eyes, I just wanted to add my POV.

[Doug Sundseth]

I'll second the suggestion upthread that Reaper suggest people taking classes bring battery powered task lights like these OTTlites. They're small and light, so easy to carry in luggage, and the cost of one is pretty reasonable compared to the cost of classes (much less the cost of attending the con).

 

I'll further suggest that Reaper consider selling (or renting?) a similar light at their store during the con.

 

I don't think it would be reasonable for Reaper to try to provide such lights (other than, perhaps, to teachers who don't already have one). And if the hotel rents electrical outlets at the kind of prices I've seen at other cons, it would probably be cheaper to buy the lights. 

 

For any painter who travels to painting opportunities, the lights linked above are really quite convenient. For that matter, I've also found them convenient as reading light on Boy Scout campouts, so they're not a single-purpose tool.

[JackMann]

If Reaper sold them, I'd be afraid of people thinking Reaper made the light dim on purpose to sell product. We know better, but people can be funny about these things.

[Serenity]

If Reaper sold them, I'd be afraid of people thinking Reaper made the light dim on purpose to sell product. We know better, but people can be funny about these things.

That's a valid point, but people are funny about a lot of things. I think you're better off dealing with reality and explaining the problem as well as you can. It would be a good idea to include the recommendation to bring lights in the class descriptions where everyone can see it, whether they read these forums or not.

[chefevild]

(Applying as a dealer next year selling OttLights)