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Thanks to Denise Raymond for leading the Escapade Review panel, and to Naked Bee for taking extensive notes. Below is my best attempt to order them. Let us know if this list sparks any other ideas for you.

Hotel Feedback

• Hotel staff was generally helpful & friendly (as usual).
• Wireless was unreliable (few people continued to have problems after Saturday, Internet popping up & down)
• In-room TVs are archaic.
• During the vid show (Saturday evening), no internet access.
• Lack of hot water (4^th & parts of 5^th floor). Turn it on, wait 5-10 minutes, and it was still tepid.
• Ice machines not working on 3 & 5. Ice machines only installed on odd floors. Had to order from room service.
• Service in the restaurant was improved from previous years.
• Restaurant staff was great about splitting checks, adding extras to an existing table, etc.
• Ray’s team was awesome (speedy, friendly) doing the room change on Saturday evening.
• Herbal tea was very nice.
• Request extended pool hours.
• Kristina was great as the bartender on Friday night. Personality & service.
• Good brunch today. Nice to have ham. Fruit was fantastic.
• Specify black tea at breakfast (English Breakfast, Earl Grey, something like that)

Infrastructure Issues

• Put a clock in the con suite (big, circular, easily visible)
• Larger TV in the alt programming room, or add projector to tech room.
• Could we get a screen, a display screen.
• Speakers didn’t get to tech room. TV’s built-in speakers were inadequate
• Maybe add clocks in the panel rooms.

 Friday Party Feedback

• We still remember the chocolate fountain (fondly)
• At the party, instead of appetizers (or in addition) maybe desserts (fruit & chocolate)
• Should there be music at the party? Maybe one room with music & one without.

 Vidshow Feedback

• Adore the noisy overflow vid room.
• There was loud conversation in the big room. Didn’t have an announcement about the rules in the big room..
• Can we add the vid trailer that warns people how to behave in the vid show?
• Loved the second vid show, also alt time

 Programming Feedback

• Love the amount of vid programming & panel programming.
• Vidwatching 101 was good panel choice.
• Most of the panel mods did not introduce themselves. This should be standard.
• Everything ran on time. Yay!
• Art show gallery call panel was great. This should be a regular part of the convention.
• Zine Library Tour had 5 attendees. Was cool. Saklani would be willing to help in the future. What would make them more attractive to people unfamiliar with them?
• Some people would like a lunch break every day. Others prefer closely packed programming.
• Kandy likes Friday off, likes dealer break on Saturday.
• Panel mods should end panel on time (start wrap-up at 10 minutes to the hour).
• Have someone whose job is notifying time to end of panel (hold up a sign that says 10 [or 5] minutes left)

 Things to Add

• Information piece to people leading tech panels, request: what do you need?
• Can we add more zine history?
• Escapade signature drink (Vulcan sunrise). Create a new one each year. Make a little flyer.
• Maybe we could have a tech mentoring room, with sign-up times.
• Con-com could wear something to identify them. (badges a different color, different lanyard, funny hats)

 Other Feedback

• Swap meet: don’t bring VHS tapes
• Jencat was missed.
• List of zines in library is on the website, but is too obscure.
• Publicize the list, get people to look at it, and add comments. Mark which are available online.  (NOTE: Dail will give list of Pros zines to Kris, who will create a rec list)
• Possible to lend zines outside the convention? Let’s discuss logistics. Rental of zines? Mail lending service?
• Is it possible to offer more scholarship funding? Maybe active fundraising to offer more help. (auction fanworks, or something like that?) Talk to Aral about this.
• Need an endowment.
• Maybe check out Thousand Oaks hotels (closer to LAX, maybe good features, but far from beach)
• Convention trip is too expensive for college students (hotel + airfare + registration + food for the weekend)
• 2 college students would fit on these hotel beds. The guest room size is not the limiting factor here.
• Ocean is a big draw.
• Should there be an Escapade wiki? No, put it at Fanlore.
• Jenn is susceptible to gently nagging (e.g. scan program books)

Kudos

• Thank you Escapade staff!
• Aphrodite’s = awesome.
• Volunteering is fun & easy.
• Hotel continues to be located on the beach. J
• Bring a friend promotion was useful.
• Tweeting was effective.
• Great job of pre-con convention sharing. Yay, Dail!
• PB was more friendly this year. Very nice!
• Also, graphics were very nice
• Loved the hot food from Dail & De.
• Dail: post the edamame salad recipe.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll up updating the website to reflect details for Escapade 2013. The convention dates will be February 22-24, 2013, and we will likely be back at the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach again. If you missed the opportunity to register on Sunday in the con suite, you can register online.

While we’re transitioning to 2013, we’d also be happy to receive your input and requests for the Escapade website. Is there information you wanted that you couldn’t find? Errors you noticed but forgot to tell us about? Please drop us an email.

If you missed the paper form in the Con Suite, or would rather fill it out online, the comments form is here.

As we get ready to leave for the convention hotel in the morning, we wanted to remind you of the following logistics:

1. We will set up the voodoo message board in the pre-function area (on the ground floor, near the meeting rooms) as soon as the hotel lets us. This is the best way to connect with your friends as they arrive at the hotel.
2. Early convention registration will take place in this area Thursday evening from 7:30 to 9 pm. We will also have snacks. C’mon down!
3. Part of our hotel contract includes free wi-fi. You should get a code for the network in your hotel check-in packet. If you don’t, ask for it. The hotel network sometimes forgets you, so you may need to re-login through the weekend.
4. Parking. In the past, free parking was only in the city structure next door. That’s still available. Just have the hotel validate your city lot ticket. This year, they will also allow you to park in the hotel lot, until it fills up.

Okay, maybe lonely is the wrong word. Try “lone” instead…

Captain Liberty: Manuel, we’re not lonely, are we?
Batmanuel: We? No. No, no, no, no. We’re too attractive to be lonely.
Capt. Liberty: Yeah, but we are alone.
Batmanuel: I’m not alone. Uh, spinsters, shut-ins, toll booth attendants — these are alone people. Batmanuel is lone — as in Lone Ranger, or, uh, lone wolf. Alone is an unfortunate predicament. Lone is an aesthetic choice.

On reviewing the program book, we’re somewhat surprised to notice that almost half of the panels have only one listed moderator. Given that we like to keep conversations lively, we’d love to see two mods wherever possible. So… If one of these panels looks like a juicy chance for conversation, and you’d like to help moderate it, please drop us a line at info@escapadecon.net and we’ll hook you up.

• Avengers Assemble
• Comedies in fandom: Unfairly ignored?
• Consuming our shows – small meals, group feasts, or binge sessions?
• DCU: Introduction to Young Justice
• Don’t Call It a Bromance (It’s Just Canon)
• Femslash Fandom Faire
• Festivids Review
• Free Range Pimping
• Future Proof Your E-Book Collection
• Grimm: Fairy Playground
• H50: keep extremities inside the ride for safety
• Mentalist
• Natural Woman
• Once Upon a Time: Everything Old is New Again
• Professionals: Pros 101
• Remakes, reboots & sequels
• Running a fandom thing-a-thon for porn and egoboo
• SG-1: Best Fan fiction recommendations OR Daniel Jackson: messiah or hopelessly naive idealist?
• SGA: Rodney and John: What we see is not what we get.
• Spartacus: By Jupiter’s Cock! Let’s talk Spartacus!
• Supernatural: Butch and Sundance Ride Again
• SW: New Buzz?
• Tour of the Zine Library
• White Collar: We’re still slashy, but is it?

Something we’ve always wanted, and that was specifically requested last year, but we’ve only just gotten around to looking at is a basic intro or FAQ for panelists at Escapade.

Here’s what the Escapade FAQ has currently:

What kinds of panels do you have at Escapade?
Escapade panels are usually more like moderated roundtable discussions, where everyone in the room is presumed to be a potential conversation participant. One or two people “moderate” each panel, which basically means some combination of offering some questions to get the conversation started, keeping order in the room and ensuring that nobody monopolizes the conversation, and occasionally holding forth with finely-crafted monologues and/or squee.

What else should be here? What do you wish you’d known before you said “yes” to being a panel mod? If you’ve never been a mod, what would make you think that stepping up would be a good idea? Please comment here, or drop us an email to info@escapadecon.net.

We’ve had some pretty cool stuff in the Escapade Raffle in the past: dvd sets, book collections, con membership, craft items, artwork, tech toys, and we hope this year won’t be any different.

 

As you pack for Escapade, take a look around for things you could bring to donate for the raffle.  Your generosity will help make this year’s raffle another fabulous one.