Feedback about ReaperCon '16

[GuyWithCoolBackpack]

I figure that after the certainly very tired ReaperCon team takes an extended rest, they might want to see a little bit about what people thought about the con and potential improvements.  I had some thoughts, and figured others could contribute any ideas they had for the edification of all.  

 

Things I liked:  

 

The Venue.  It wasn't perfect, of course.  If it could be magically moved closer to the hotels that would be better, but the place itself was very functional and nice.  The lighting was quite good, I could paint pretty much anywhere, which was a real bonus and treat.  I liked the class spaces a lot.  Plenty of room, no tripping over one another, and the horseshoe shape was great for teacher feedback.  I think it totally worked and made the con pretty great, so kudos on that.  

 

The Vendors and the little Vendor Scavenger hunt:  Clearly designed to get us shopping, but it was really nice to have an excuse to go and talk to people, which is largely one of my favorite parts of the con.  All the vendors were very nice and pleasant and sold really cool things.  They were also all very kind when people would just come up to get their stamp.  

 

The Teachers: Nothing new, of course, but all the teachers were fantastic, willing to teach and talk, and endlessly supportive of anyone who wanted to learn.  

 

The Award Ceremony:  'Grats to Anne for keeping it moving at a good clip.  That can't be easy.  

 

Things I didn't like as much:

 

I spend all my time in classes but I did hear some people talking about how there is lots of gaming to do, and there is, and there's lots of shopping to do, but outside of the classes there aren't a whole lot of 'events' for painters.  And they were probably right.  There could certainly be more open painting 'events' for people to jump in on.  Some examples:  

 

-More speed painting:  The fact that speed painting filled up within seconds of being announced every time tells me there could definitely be more speed painting events.

-Open Q&A for artists:  Perhaps just a little time when you could give any willing artist a Mic and let people ask questions of them.  Might need a moderator, though, just in case. 

-Painting Demos:  Maybe set up a camera and an overhead projector and let people watch painters work.  Or show off some paint formulas for interesting effects.  Or have someone show off different charactaristics of different paints (blues being pretty transparent, whites covering well, etc.)  Or an open viewing of youtube painting tutorials.  Just some random ideas.  

 

Navigating the parking lot:  Man, I don't know that I ever figured out how to get out of that place cleanly.  

 

Hard to get water:  Maybe I missed something obvious, but I had trouble finding cups for painting water and places to dispose of my water when done.  I didn't want to throw the water in the trash, so I always ended up having to head to the bathroom to dispose of it or fill up on clean water.  

 

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Small concerns, I know.  Don't get me wrong, I had a blast at the Con and always intend to return.  I just figured if anyone had any ideas on how to make it better, they might as well let their ideas be heard.  

[MissMelons]

To the top with you! I agree with some of these!

[skippen]

Things I hated.  Just one.  No community paint.  I had to scrimp and beg and often never found paint to just chill and paint.  I wish that was communicated earlier.  I don't know if I could have done anything about it, but it would have been nice to know.   Every other year there was paint to share.  Not this year.

[amuller33]

First I loved the classes, the gaming, the shopping, the tour, The painting contest, etc.

 

One compliant. My Zbrush class was in room 11 next to the the gaming section. At times it was hard to hear teachers over the din of gaming. Not sure if there ids a solution besides putting louder teachers in louder areas.....

 

Still had time of my life, cant wait for 2017!!!!

 

AJ 

[hungerfan]

I enjoyed the con like usual because I love shopping for new stuff, taking new classes, meeting everyone, looking over all the work from various artists, and just hanging out.  

 

Since I never went to one of the events at the factory I am spoiled with the hotel and this year it just felt...cold.  I blame the location and the lack of carpet but sitting at the tables on Thurs and Friday with other forumites it just felt off at times.

 

My daughter had a great time Saturday with her class and has talked non stop about how much she learned and how good she did with her mini in the class. :)

[HenryRequiem]

First I loved the classes, the gaming, the shopping, the tour, The painting contest, etc.

 

One compliant. My Zbrush class was in room 11 next to the the gaming section. At times it was hard to hear teachers over the din of gaming. Not sure if there ids a solution besides putting louder teachers in louder areas.....

 

Still had time of my life, cant wait for 2017!!!!

 

AJ 

 

Ran into the same issue with classes on that strip of rooms. in comparison the area for the MSP open was whisper quiet, so it might be a good idea to switch those two? Other than that everything was great. Love the good lighting on every 'classroom' vs the crappy lighting we used to have on the hotel classrooms, so that was a great improvement. but yeah, teachers had to raise their voice quite a bit more than before.

[Tarsemina]

Both my classes were in 11 and out was loud, but I could still hear the teachers for the most part. Overall the con was super great the most fun I have ever had at ReaperCon and I've been to each one since 2013-ish. The auction, the awards ceremony, the people, the artist, the catering was all great! The only thing I could add would be maybe a few more speeds paints and maybe one or two more Sophie says.

Everything was great, and I hope that next year will be even better!

[HenryRequiem]

Oh also, one of my classes didn't match the description (still a good class!):

 

Dirt and Scenes, Done Dirt Cheap: This Intermediate Hands-On class will cover using soiling and weathering techniques to set a scene and tell a story. Students should bring their own brushes. A class kit will also be provided.

 

There was no discussion on weathering and soiling on a scene. We got a lot of story telling tips, flocking and made a nice wire frame tree, but I had already taken a very similar class with Julie G. I'm really not complaining about the class itself, it was really good and Michelle is a great teacher with awesome ideas! 

[DixonGrfx]

Feedback and critiques of specific classes and instructors should probably be sent to Anne via email or PM directly and refrain on the forum threads.

[SamuraiJack]

some thoughts on my first ReaperCon..

 

Other than during tear down of the MSP open area during my class with Rhonda on Sunday, I could hear pretty well in most of my classes, but I did not have one by gaming and it was hard to hear during my PFS scenario so I imagine classes on that corner would be difficult too.

 

I could never hear any of the announcements made during my classes in the shopping side or while shopping.  I completely missed the Bones 4 announcement and every single speed paint announcement went unheard except one.  

 

My feet would have preferred a carpeted venue, but I did fine for the most part.  I didn't have a lot of negative experience with the venue.  It would be nice if they cleaned the light fixtures of dead bugs before the event, but my wife didn't notice and I didn't mention it to her.  I was never at the hotel for RCon but I can see how people would love having it there for convenience.

 

The food was amazing.  Really.  Between the dinners and the free breakfast from the hotel, my food expenditure was tiny.  I could have eaten about 20 of those enchiladas. The two meals I had at the food truck were great, although they were slower than most food trucks I'm accustomed to.

[haldir]

There was talk with ReaperRon about the classes by the rpg tables. So that issues was discussed. Simple move really, swap the competition minis & the classrooms around.

 

Food was great but Saturday dinner didn't agree with me the next day, but of course that wasn't Reaper's fault of course.

 

It would have been nice for a water fill up station somewhere. The sinks in the bathroom weren't designed to fill up bottles. But hey, free is free. I won't complain too much.

 

Since I spent 90% of my time over in the rpg area I will agree with the announcements. It was very muffled.

 

Nice variety of dinners. Nice choice of outside food vendors (VOTE for Rudy's again!!)

 

Nice variety of vendors to browse or buy from. Always nice to see Mario & gang from Frontline games. I remember when he was the only vendor at ReaperCon.

 

Missed the Bones 4 announcement but knew it was coming, eventually so no biggee there. 

[Kheprera]

I am veeeeeeery curious, if the same venue or similar is used, about handicap access, distance to lunch-type eating places, etc. Most people don't consider three blocks a big deal, but one block can be a dealbreaker for me on high pain days.

[Chaoswolf]

As far as handicap access, the venue itself was very well set up for that.

They did have a small concession area set up, but that was all junk food.

The food truck (which didn't impress me) pulled up right outside the doors.

There was some kind of restaurant right next door; I don't know what else was around, or how far it may have been.

[seej]

• I second the request for more speed paints, and/or an allowance of more competitors per speed paint.

More speakers, pointing in more directions, would be appreciated for announcements.

The venue lighting was the best I've seen at a Reapercon.

The size of the space was great. Nothing felt cramped.

Thank you, Reaper, for another fantastic Convention.

[vutpakdi]

There was some kind of restaurant right next door; I don't know what else was around, or how far it may have been.

 

The restaurant next door was Burmese.  I had lunch there one day.  The noodle dish was tasty and served quickly.

 

There is a corner store with a taco stand within a hundred yards or so as well as a sit down Tex Mex place towards the freeway.  I didn't try either, but several people liked the taco stand.  A little further away (and across the road) are a Waffle House and a Church's Fried Chicken.  Within 5 minutes drive there is a Whataburger, a McDonald's, a tasty Pho place, and a number of other options.

 

Ron