ReaperCon 2021 feedback thread..

[Bold]

 

9 hours ago, Chaoswolf said:

Put all the t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, mouse pads, leftover ghoulie bags or Christmas bags from last year, and whatever other Reaper branded stuff in the store for a set price. Keep the resin masters, vendor donations, and other rare/more unique stuff in the auction.

 

Perhaps it might be nice to still have the Brinewind Store open after the conclusion of the auction, even if just for a half-hour? I'd hate to see someone get outbid for a fancy item, then walk away extremely disappointed with a pocket full of useless Reaper Bucks. If they could still pick up some a t-shirt and a coffee mug, that might send 'em home on a happier note.

 

8 hours ago, edz16 said:

Even a bucket of reaper paints and a bucket of bones miniatures that you could select from for 100-300 bucks a pop would have made it much better

 

I saw this over in the other thread, but wanted to voice my approval here as well. Not everyone wants a mousepad (even a 16k mousepad ), but I think many ReaperCon attendees would dig getting a couple paints or Bones minis. Oooo, or maybe a bucket of Sample Paints? That might add a unique flair to the offerings.

 

 

Suggestion:

I love having the cameras and TV in the classrooms (what an improvement over years ago!), but would it be possible to adjust their settings? Specifically the brightness of the TV, and the color depth of the camera?

 

I had a number of classes in Classroom #1 (Connemara), and found it difficult to see anything on the TV when I was sitting in the back half of the room: the miniature on-screen was just a big dark blob. It may be worthwhile talking to people who run Twitch streams of their painting to offer advice since they have so much experience in this area; I don't know if it was a lack of lighting, or TV settings, or camera settings, etc.

 

Similarly, there was a weird "posterization" effect occurring. For example, Derek Schubert's amazingly-smooth blends looked blocky or cartoonish when viewed on the TV. I don't know if this was an issue with the "color depth" of the camera, or TV settings, etc. It looked a little like this:

Edited September 8, 2021 by Bold

[Highlander]

We always try to leave early on Sunday ... sometime between finishing breakfast and about 10:30 AM (when In-N-Out opens) .  It is a personal thing.  I dislike the feeling of a Con or contest or Symposium or whatever winding down ... fewer and fewer people, the vendor or exhibition room being torn down and emptying, vacant seats around vacant tables, missing faces, quiet descending ... a melancholic mood.  It is particularly strong when I have had a great time.  Our two day drive home was spectacular ... the monsoon season this year has greened and beflowered the entire route.  We avoid interstates and drove secondary and back roads almost the entire way.  So, we departed ReaperCon on a high note, and it continued for two more days.

 

I prefer to ride out, headed west, when things are still going strong and to anticipate next year.

[Corporea]

I had such a wonderful time this year! I was so grateful to be able to see everyone and hang out.  It was a much-needed break.

 

I loved the extra space we had at our artist row seats  Usually I have to pack my stuff into a smaller space, so this year I didn't feel like I crowded my table-mates as much. I suspect that was because there were fewer of us, but maybe we can stick with the same space size in the future.

 

I loved doing the feedback on sunday, so I'm hoping we can do that again. Maybe with some limited hours saturday night for those leaving early sunday.

 

I ran out of candy.   I must pack better in the future.

[HenryRequiem]

First of all, thanks to all Reaper employees, artists, vendors, volunteers and attendants for making an overall awesome con. 

TLDR: Great con, COVID sucks, see you all next year

 

Getting the elephant out of the room first: COVID made the con challenging, as a participant wearing the mask all day was hard on the ears, fogging glasses are not great for classes and hearing instructors over mask is not the easiest either, but all in all Reaper pulled it off

 

Classes:

- New teachers made a great debut (Dev Sodagar in particular from my classes) 

- Glen Phillips' handout on the Makeup class was amazing, super detailed and with great tips 
- Small number of participants made it easier to participate and get feedback
- TVs and cameras were much better than trying to huddle behind the instructor, please keep them! 

- The 1:30 runtime wasn't the best though, most classes felt really rushed. I'm assuming this was related to cleaning protocols, but it might have been better to move the schedule (i.e. class 9-11, next starts at 11:30). 
- I don't know if this was requested of the instructors (COVID safety?), but this year all classes had a "Choose your colors" dynamic, vs other years where we would get the color recipe for the class. I'm sure that is an important skill to learn, but the wrong colors can really mess up the learning of a technique (i.e. glazing)

- Nitpicking: The supplies prepared for class included only one sheet of paper towel, which would be used for the wet palette, leaving us without paper, so on most classes people had to go to the supplies bucket and get some more (same with amount of water included on the cups)

MSP:
- Great idea to have a separate area! Really helped with appreciating the amazing entries
- Loved the pre-registration, hope we keep it 

General Area:
- Please, please, please keep the Brinewind store. The only way to win something on the auction is to pool with others, and for us socially challenged people that means we usually are left with a bunch of useless reaperbucks at the end of the con (I usually donate them to whoever I'm sitting with, or younger attendees trying to win something). Also, adding some low cost prizes (as someone mentioned, single paints or single bones) would be great as well. 
- Great to see new vendors and the rise of 3d printing (loved the misprint buckets that bombshell and rumbeard had!), and sad to see some of the regulars couldn't make it, I hope they are all aright (missed FyreSyde publishing in particular) 
- Was really confused about the massage gun though... 
- Would love some general presentation/panels/interviews as someone else already suggested to be performed on the main stage. 

- Metal trade keeps being my favorite part of the con (talk about a kid on a toy store 😄 ), big thank you to the metal trade team on the con and factory! 

Reaper Store:
- Need more paints! The clears were OOO most of the con 😞
- Any chance we could have prices visible? Old figures have it on the board, but newer bones and box sets lack it, so it's more work for the people taking care of the store as we have to ask them about prices. 
- As others mentioned, would have loved to see the full swag/hotels miniatures on stock 
- The store was really nicely organized, the people nice as always, good variety on what was available (kolinsky brushes!)

Not con related:
- Komodo Loco on downtown is a great restaurant, try the Beef Tataki  
- Hoochie's is not 
- If you have a car, you should take a side trip to Daiso of Japan over at Carrolton Town Center, they sell a lot of organizational stuff useful for mini painters, including display stands on several different sizes, and all at very affordable prices 
 

[Duliniel]

I had a great time at ReaperCon this year! Like Corporea, I really liked the extra space we had at Artist Alley. I did take more breaks than I normally do so I could go outside or up to my room to take my mask off for a bit. As for judging the MSP Open, please believe me when I say we do our best to be fair and consistent. All things considered  - especially with COVID protocols in play - I think Reaper did a fantastic job making this event run as smoothly as it did. Now...get some rest, then paint! 

[ragados]

2 hours ago, HenryRequiem said:

 

 

Classes:

- New teachers made a great debut (Dev Sodagar in particular from my classes) 

 

 

I'm so glad you liked it!!!

Also +1 on Daiso - absolutely incredible store for hobbyists.

[Chaoswolf]

17 hours ago, Bold said:

Perhaps it might be nice to still have the Brinewind Store open after the conclusion of the auction, even if just for a half-hour? I'd hate to see someone get outbid for a fancy item, then walk away extremely disappointed with a pocket full of useless Reaper Bucks. If they could still pick up some a t-shirt and a coffee mug, that might send 'em home on a happier note.

I think this a good idea.

[Aerowiz130]

Thoughts finally being processed

 

Con:

Meet and greet - no options for vegetarian - had to go find someplace else to eat at the last minute

No map - as a first time attendee - bit lost on where to find things

No single place for information, especially on Con website - would expect to find details there

 

Pro:

Hobby Hijinks had large number of seats

Classes - learned so much - really liked the cameras - made it easy to see

[dwarvenranger]

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, but besides Chop and Grub, what were the Con exclusive minis?

[Coffee Nerdery Beer]

If this happened and I just didn't realize it, please disregard... 

 

Not sure how easy to send out a Discord ReaperCon announcement via notification would be every morning of the Con? Like a mini "Coffee Ketchup" but via Discord notification.

 

Nothing extensive, but perhaps something with reminders of important times for that day, like when Meet-and-Greet starts, the costume contest, the deadline for MSP entries, etc. 

[ragados]

12 minutes ago, Coffee Nerdery Beer said:

If this happened and I just didn't realize it, please disregard... 

 

Not sure how easy to send out a Discord ReaperCon announcement via notification would be every morning of the Con? Like a mini "Coffee Ketchup" but via Discord notification.

 

Nothing extensive, but perhaps something with reminders of important times for that day, like when Meet-and-Greet starts, the costume contest, the deadline for MSP entries, etc. 

FANTASTIC IDEA!

 

[haldir]

1 hour ago, dwarvenranger said:

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, but besides Chop and Grub, what were the Con exclusive minis?

 

I don't really think there was any as everything that I saw at the Con is up for sale now.

[Reaper_Jon]

I have been gathering feedback and putting them into a document for the rest of the team, Please keep giving it! We will be having a big lunch and going over each area with Pro's and Con's! 

[cerebro1974]

Since this was my first in-person ReaperCon my feedback will just be from a noob perspective.

 

Reaper Staff: Great job for putting on and seeing through a convention during the pandemic. I know it was a massive endeavor.

 

Having a dedicated area in artist alley was great to allow me the opportunity to paint while interacting with attendees, and while not a known name painter it was great; just often light on foot traffic. That being said it was great to be near Hijinks so I could easily paint at the tables and converse with others.

 

The folder could have benefited from an area map (I am happy to create one in a “dungeon delving format for 22), but after getting an initial walk through it was an easy flow.

 

I loved the MSP room. I loved the Brinewind Imports. I loved the Barty setup.

 

I also learned a lot to prep better for next year for classes to offer, as well as ebb and flow times to make the best offerings for attendees.

 

Biggest complaints would primarily be on me: that I didn’t allow my shipped goods ample time to arrive, I didn’t bring enough swag/giveaways and I have laxed too much in the forums!

 

Excited for 2022 ReaperCon!
 

 

Edited September 10, 2021 by cerebro1974

[SamuraiJack]

There were all the cooks for the various hotels.. as far as i know, the only con exclusives were the bust and the mermaid with the pirate in the VIP bundles.. 

2 hours ago, dwarvenranger said:

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, but besides Chop and Grub, what were the Con exclusive minis?

There were all the cooks for the various hotels.. as far as i know, the only con exclusives were the bust and the mermaid with the pirate in the VIP bundles..