Author Topic: Constructive suggestions for lines.... Hall H, Sails' Exclusives & Autographing  (Read 17589 times)

Offline alyssa

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I know there's a few of you out there who have good suggestions on how to improve the system....
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Offline angoradebs

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For autograph lines, maybe utilize space in a nearby hotel? That way it wouldn't be part of the "everything else line." Maybe have a designated hotel entrance that you have to go through, get a hand stamp or a ticket or something, which you have to present before you can draw for an autograph. That would prevent people from jumping the line.

Also, eliminate the lotto. Make them first come, first serve. You don't make Hall H a lotto. If someone camps for 15 hours and is first in line they should get the autograph session. (But first eliminate the cutting problem)

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« Last Edit: July 24, 2017, 09:00:08 AM by angoradebs »

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Offline jujubaSD

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Online raffles for Marvel signatures. Halogram wristbands for Hall H so they can't be counterfeited (at least I heard some were faked. I don't do Hall H but I heard about the drama). Stop having multiple entries to the floor when it first opens. There were multiple entries that basically negated the efforts of people who waited in line early. They used to let the sails line enter 15-20 minutes earlier. This year there were multiple entries let in at the same time. There used to be loopholes to get in somewhere but that is a bit harder now. Last year and the year before were decent. This year was a horrible mess.

With all the horrible stories I've heard, this has been the worst year in way of cheaters, etc. A lot of it can be eliminated by putting signing pullings in a different building or going to an online raffle.


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Offline epicaz

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A stamp on your hand before entering sails to prove that you are entering the autograph lines by official, supervised means. Ideally that means that they would notice if anyone joined before the front of the EE line

Offline chocolateshake

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That would prevent people from jumping the line.
(But first eliminate the cutting problem)

People need to take the initiative and police their own little section of the line. I am not shy about calling out line cutters and telling them to go to the back of the line. Unfortunately many people won't do it. Some will join in when I do it or thank me afterwards. They need to do it themselves as well.

Yesterday morning, there was a huge line to get into the exhibition hall. I was close to the front. 4 times people came up and pretended to stand there at the front of the line. The first time after I said "The line's back there." and pointed. They people did. The second time the person said "For what?". I and the person next to me said "To get in." He just turned and walked away. The third time these two girls just backed up a little after the "For what?" exchange. I know they would try again once the line got moving but that would be behind me, not my problem. There was this one guy who just stood near the very front with his two daughters. I knew he was going for the cut but he was just out of shout range. Why didn't the people up there deal with him? Sure enough, when they opened the door he went for it. The worst part was that he left his two daughters behind to fend for themselves. They knew it was wrong. They just stood there red faced. I caught up with him inside while he's waiting for them. I go up and say "Sir! Set a good example and don't cut in line." He stammered for a bit and said "Have a good day." I responded "Find your ethics."

It's weak that the kids knew right and wrong better than the dad. Everyone has a role in preventing line jumping. People need to do their part.

Offline semigeekgirl

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With this year's fiasco, I think the hall H wristband experiment has officially failed. The lines are back to starting just as early as they did pre-wristband, the overnight tent city is still there, and the line management is still fraught with issues. I think at this point Comic-Con is going to have to either resign itself to this state of affairs or move to an online lottery process. Any other solution would require committing serious manpower to administering that line, and CCI has shown no inclination to provide that.

Offline angoradebs

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People need to take the initiative and police their own little section of the line. I am not shy about calling out line cutters and telling them to go to the back of the line. Unfortunately many people won't do it. Some will join in when I do it or thank me afterwards. They need to do it themselves as well.

Yesterday morning, there was a huge line to get into the exhibition hall. I was close to the front. 4 times people came up and pretended to stand there at the front of the line. The first time after I said "The line's back there." and pointed. They people did. The second time the person said "For what?". I and the person next to me said "To get in." He just turned and walked away. The third time these two girls just backed up a little after the "For what?" exchange. I know they would try again once the line got moving but that would be behind me, not my problem. There was this one guy who just stood near the very front with his two daughters. I knew he was going for the cut but he was just out of shout range. Why didn't the people up there deal with him? Sure enough, when they opened the door he went for it. The worst part was that he left his two daughters behind to fend for themselves. They knew it was wrong. They just stood there red faced. I caught up with him inside while he's waiting for them. I go up and say "Sir! Set a good example and don't cut in line." He stammered for a bit and said "Have a good day." I responded "Find your ethics."

It's weak that the kids knew right and wrong better than the dad. Everyone has a role in preventing line jumping. People need to do their part.
I was more referring to the line jumping that occurs behind Sails, where people join the ends of autograph lines when they are outside, instead of going through the EE line. I've never done an autograph drawing, but from what I read the staff doesn't do anything about it even when it's pointed out.

People definitely need to call out cutters. Last year I was in the EE line by myself Saturday AM. I was aware of who was around me in line. The line moved quite a bit at once, resulting in a gap (since some people are slower walkers than others). When I looked behind me, there were 2 brand new people. I asked the girl directly behind them if she knew them. Nope. I asked them how long they'd been in line. "We just got here." "Well, the line goes quite a bit back. You just cut in front of a bunch of people." "Oh, we thought this was the end of line." "No... that's why there are literally hundreds of people behind you." I mean, come on!

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Offline chocolateshake

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With this year's fiasco, I think the hall H wristband experiment has officially failed. The lines are back to starting just as early as they did pre-wristband, the overnight tent city is still there, and the line management is still fraught with issues. I think at this point Comic-Con is going to have to either resign itself to this state of affairs or move to an online lottery process. Any other solution would require committing serious manpower to administering that line, and CCI has shown no inclination to provide that.

You know, if I had known there would be a fiasco, I would stayed up all night for it. Free 5 day pass with preview night? Worth it. :)

Offline semigeekgirl

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You know, if I had known there would be a fiasco, I would stayed up all night for it. Free 5 day pass with preview night? Worth it. :)

Not me. It will in all likelihood be a comp badge, which means you wouldn't be eligible for pre-reg for 2019. I'll take my chances.

Offline dkd

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With this year's fiasco, I think the hall H wristband experiment has officially failed. The lines are back to starting just as early as they did pre-wristband, the overnight tent city is still there, and the line management is still fraught with issues. I think at this point Comic-Con is going to have to either resign itself to this state of affairs or move to an online lottery process. Any other solution would require committing serious manpower to administering that line, and CCI has shown no inclination to provide that.

Yep.  Follow the lead of the ATX TV Festival and have a ticket lottery ahead of time to get "fast passes".  The only difference I would apply is that the tickets have the winner's name on them and the ticket has to match your badge name or you don't get in line.  That would prevent scalping of Hall H tickets.

I can hear people griping about a lottery, but wouldn't they rather enjoy the rest of the con than wait in a tent all day?

Another idea I got is to split Saturday into two sessions by having a room clearance intermission in the middle.  That way if you only want to see Marvel at the end of Saturday, you don't sit there all day.  You enter the lottery for the Marvel half and not the early part.  You could enter the lottery for both--and win both, but you still have to exit and come back in.

Offline semigeekgirl

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Another idea I got is to split Saturday into two sessions by having a room clearance intermission in the middle.  That way if you only want to see Marvel at the end of Saturday, you don't sit there all day.  You enter the lottery for the Marvel half and not the early part.  You could enter the lottery for both--and win both, but you still have to exit and come back in.

This isn't a bad idea, but probably logistically impossible with the current way Hall H is loaded. It takes them - what, 2 or 3 hours to fill the hall in the morning? So at least 3 hours to empty it completely and refill from a new line. Even if WB agreed to start at 10am instead of 11:30, you'd have to cut at least 2 panels or Marvel would go to 9 or 10pm.

Offline DRWHO42

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For the EE line I think they should break up the drawings into 2 sessions - early AM and late AM. That will give everyone better opportunities and cut down some of the excessive lineups down to the pier. This was an approach that was used a few years back and it worked well IMO. It also draws people to chose more during the day however it could cut down on the line camping.

The drawing themselves were well managed this year IMO but the WB line drew the largest congestion in Sails. Also the DC split helped a great deal.

I also think the security teams need to do a better job watching the perimeter of the first chute for cutters. There was one situation in particular where a parent tried to use his kid as a decoy to sneak in within our group. He tried a couple of times at other points in the line after we caught on to his game. Security pulled him out after a lot of us complained. Unfortunately security did not have the spine to boot him or take his badge (could be the people in the area where this guy was too sympathetic).
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Offline jujubaSD

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People need to take the initiative and police their own little section of the line. I am not shy about calling out line cutters and telling them to go to the back of the line. Unfortunately many people won't do it. Some will join in when I do it or thank me afterwards. They need to do it themselves as well.

Yesterday morning, there was a huge line to get into the exhibition hall. I was close to the front. 4 times people came up and pretended to stand there at the front of the line. The first time after I said "The line's back there." and pointed. They people did. The second time the person said "For what?". I and the person next to me said "To get in." He just turned and walked away. The third time these two girls just backed up a little after the "For what?" exchange. I know they would try again once the line got moving but that would be behind me, not my problem. There was this one guy who just stood near the very front with his two daughters. I knew he was going for the cut but he was just out of shout range. Why didn't the people up there deal with him? Sure enough, when they opened the door he went for it. The worst part was that he left his two daughters behind to fend for themselves. They knew it was wrong. They just stood there red faced. I caught up with him inside while he's waiting for them. I go up and say "Sir! Set a good example and don't cut in line." He stammered for a bit and said "Have a good day." I responded "Find your ethics."

It's weak that the kids knew right and wrong better than the dad. Everyone has a role in preventing line jumping. People need to do their part.

Where were you if I may ask? This year they did things so different. It used to be upstairs at the sails was let in first. And those lines are so tightly controlled that people can't cut there. (Aside from the people who join their friends/party later) Now people are coming in from the other lines at the same time? That really screwed a few people I know who  camped the everything line. So I'm curious at what time they let the other entry points in.


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« Last Edit: July 24, 2017, 01:11:53 PM by jujubaSD »

Offline Angology

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For the EE line I think they should break up the drawings into 2 sessions - early AM and late AM. That will give everyone better opportunities and cut down some of the excessive lineups down to the pier. This was an approach that was used a few years back and it worked well IMO. It also draws people to chose more during the day however it could cut down on the line camping.

The drawing themselves were well managed this year IMO but the WB line drew the largest congestion in Sails. Also the DC split helped a great deal.

I also think the security teams need to do a better job watching the perimeter of the first chute for cutters. There was one situation in particular where a parent tried to use his kid as a decoy to sneak in within our group. He tried a couple of times at other points in the line after we caught on to his game. Security pulled him out after a lot of us complained. Unfortunately security did not have the spine to boot him or take his badge (could be the people in the area where this guy was too sympathetic).
We had line cutters in the Funko line on the way to do the lottery (they count you off at the top of the stairs-and take about 20 and walk you over to the iPads). Two guys sauntered in to the line. [member=1527]dolphina[/member] and I called them out (and others joined in), but there really wasn't any security with us, just the line management person in the front. They kept slinking back further in line, but I don't know that they were removed. I got 9:30, so I had to book it to the Hall G exhibit hall entry point to have a good chance at getting to the booth.
There should have been someone monitoring the end of the line, since the girl in front was busy leading us there.
Ang

Online rushfanyyz

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I like the idea of a quick hand stamp to prove you went through the front first before getting in the ticket pull lines. As long as they actually enforce the stamp that would keep people from jumping in from the marina. Or have that somehow tied into the rfid scan in.


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