[WCB10] - We want your Feedback!

By **jpwise**. 25/04/10, 07:43 am

Hey guys, a big thank you to everyone who came to the event, and we hope you all had a great time. :)

There is discussion on holding another ball next year aswell (yes, we are mildly insane - if this ball didn't finish us off the next one surely will), but at any rate we want your feedback about the ball.

Constructive feedback only please. Points you found enjoyable, anything you felt could be improved upon, etc.

All feedback will be taken onboard, and if we can, we'll try to fix it up for the next time round. Smile

By Static. 25/04/10, 07:50 am

A note - I'd like some feedback specifically about the photo area please! Those I shot with were great, but a few groups got all excited, booked a slot, then bailed. Was this because of anything we can fix for next time? Could the signage be better? Was the photographer a douche? WE (...okay, *I*) need to know for next time!

By VaguelyPiratical. 25/04/10, 08:41 am

Awesome things: using costumes as decor worked really well; the venue was really nice and wonderfully central.

By kyokyogirl. 25/04/10, 08:43 am

I liked the venue and having lots of space. The DJ was awesome. Drinks and food epic.

As for the photo area I think making time slots didn't work very well. As snapping some photos only took an minute or so, maybe just having a lineup scheme for the time period where you are willing to dedicate to photography might have been better.

By Junko. 25/04/10, 10:00 am

Awesomesauce; The venue, the DJ, the band, the costumes everywhere was awesome, and the theme helped people with no idea what to do. Food was nom too yay Very Happy

For moar epic; A clock! Somewhere! I'm so bad at keeping time, and since our bags were all hidden away, some form of public time keeping would be awesome. Maybe some parteh games 8D?

By azeria. 25/04/10, 10:06 am

Re photoshoot; I didn't have a watch so was very nervous about missing it >__> Especially with the performances (however it seemed that photoshoots were timed to fit around them which was good n__n) I just kept asking Kelly for the time since I was paranoid about missing mine/not showing up and making someone else miss out =P

Also the DJ was awesome.

By Static. 25/04/10, 10:42 am

@azeria: hehe, yes, I tried to time things around performances - unfortunately, the schedule got shot to sugar honey iced tea before the event even started. Which was just horrible, but hey! We learned!

A clock would have been great for the theme - I'm sorry nobody thought of it beforehand. And yes, I agree on the bookling slots...I'm not sure now why I thought that was a good idea. I decided it ages ago, and didn't give it much more thought - I should have done! I think the queuing idea is a great one, Diana - I'll do that in future I think. Simpler is best! :)

By Chitara. 26/04/10, 12:45 am

My partner was surprised how much he enjoyed himself! Hopefully this means he'll be more willing to jump in in the future. He certainly didn't expect to be dancing as much as he did... even if I had to drag him up by the robe...

I liked the booking slots, and luckily Richard (Rincewind) kept his phone on him so we had an alarm. But when we went over we weren't sure whether to bowl on in, wait politely outside until we're called or what. So we might have been one of the groups that appeared to have bailed because by the time we decided maybe we should wait on the other side of the wall it was almost 10min past our booked time.

A clock would be great. Lots of people were asking if each other had the time. lol! And it would have been appropriate as decor. It just wasn't in people's mind prior to event. Wink

I would have prefered if the music started earlier, because there was a long period when we were waiting around listening to the sound checks after opening. I understand this is because a performance bailed, I think?

By mightydelemma. 26/04/10, 02:50 am

Chitara wrote:: I would have prefered if the music started earlier, because there was a long period when we were waiting around listening to the sound checks after opening. I understand this is because a performance bailed, I think?

yeah a miss comunication on the part of the dj... he thought he was starting at 8.... which is funny because he said he would be there at 7. I'm not sure... there are a lot of things we learnt from

By Static. 26/04/10, 08:34 am

Yeah - massive mess-up on the music front! But, as delemma said, we learnt a LOT for next time! The DJ (despite what I said about him earlier in the day when I was raging without all my facts....) was actually really good, and it wasn't his fault he had the time wrong. I'm not sure where that mistake happened, but he turned up when he thought he was supposed to, and gave us a really good deal. And then another one, because he thought he was going to do more work than he did - so, Musical Cheers everyone! For all your musical needs!

By Thornback. 26/04/10, 09:01 am

He was a very good dj, that much is true...but did any of the songs requested get played? Prior to the ball, in the music thread?

By Mischa. 26/04/10, 09:07 am

We didn't get him the files on time- I requested a song and he played it right away! <3 he was very helpful

By **JVCA**. 26/04/10, 09:12 am

I didn't go, but just in my looking through the photos afterwards - maybe a grey or brown/similar neutral toned background instead of a black one if possible next time? A few people disappeared into the background a little thanks to the black parts on their costumes, hahah.

By Pura. 26/04/10, 10:48 am

I loved the venue - absolutely amazing! Well done for getting that, guys!

I thought it was awesome how people who were into historical costuming came along - I talk to one of them and she was really nice and had an awesome dress on~

Maybe a better area for bags? It did get closed off after a while, and if you need stuff like medication from your bag, it's a bit hard to get >__>

Uhmn, I'm not sure what else. The costumes hanging around was awesome decorations~

Oh! I noticed that when that band played, a lot of the cosplayers went upstairs, which I felt SO bad about ;A; But I personally hate really, really loud music like that. I couldn't hear myself talking to people >_> I had nothing against their music - just the volume.

And speaking of volume, Loosy's guitar was a bit louder than her singing, so it was a bit hard to hear her at times D: (She still did an amazing job though. ROBOT UNICORN. OMG.)

By angellsnz. 27/04/10, 07:04 am

* While the venue was lovely, maybe a smaller one next time? At times it felt empty.

* I prefered the DJ over the band.

* Possibly more acts from other talented cosplayers?

* Food was awesome.

* Maybe warning people verbally or with signage that there would be a photographer wandering around taking candid shots??

* I like the booking slot system for the photo's (it didn't bother me, I was wearing a pocketwatch)

* Maybe the committee or team that organised the ball to introduce themselves at the beginning of the night, so attendees know who to come to if they have problems or questions.

By motivational. 27/04/10, 08:20 am

I agree with smaller venue. It is still shocking for me going from SakuraCon back home to events such as this and I think, where is everybody? On that note, does anyone know if a large proportion of our crew DIDN'T attend because of the price?

I demand karaoke or some sort of group competition/games, etc. to get more people involved. Also, name tags would be great, because I felt like a douche bag for forgetting people's names. >_<

DJ was good but I would have preferred more... Cosplay-related music rather than Daft Punk remixed--which is completely unnecessary I might add.

By Mischa. 27/04/10, 08:26 am

ha ha I went up and requested Daft Punk.

Remixing Daft Punk is like adding a teaspoon of sugar to a glass of krug. TERRIBLE IDEA

By Chitara. 28/04/10, 12:28 am

I love Daft Punk and only haven't cosplayed Interstellar 5555 because I feel without the right figure it'd be an insult to the design. lol!

As the cosplay music files didn't get to him in time it may have been one of the more appropriate tracks he had on him, really.
But I agree it didn't need to be remixed as much. On the other hand we were cracking up at what he did to some of the other songs.

Something interactive like kareoke would be fun.

The price initially put me off. Next year getting involved earlier would help with that!
Some of us were wondering if everyone with a ticket, other than the couple who offered their tickets on the forum, actually came. It was hard to tell how big the gathering actually was.

By Static. 28/04/10, 02:07 am

Chitara: I know of at least one person who paid for a ticket and didn't show. Which is a shame. On the price - yeah, the tickets were cheaper when we first announced, and barely anybody bought them! We gave oodles of warning they would go up in price, and still no interest.

I'm just going to come right out and say this - cosplayers are really, really hard to get on board with events like this. There's a lot of enthusiasm, but when it comes right down to it, nobody ponies up until the very last minute. That's why the ball wasn't super super otaku-fied - we were trying to appeal to a wider range of costumers, and the general public, as well as the community. Which was definitely one of the more successful aspects of the night - we got people involved who would never have considered a cosplay ball before, and those people will be coming back with reinforcements. I am sorry there wasn't any of the music requested; that was totally our fault sad

On the venue size: if everyone who SAID they would come had *actually* come, we would have been fine! Razz

Edit: That sounded really defensive - SORRY! Please keep giving feedback, lol Razz

**Guest** Guest

I know of two who paid for tickets and didn't come. Not sure if either of those is the one you know or not.

By angellsnz. 28/04/10, 03:55 am

Static wrote:: On the venue size: if everyone who SAID they would come had *actually* come, we would have been fine!

Edit: That sounded really defensive - SORRY! Please keep giving feedback, lol

I completely understand about venue size. As I said the space was really lovely, reasonably easy to decorate, and had the kind of set up/help that was great for a ball. (eg lights, lasers, pa system, etc) You would not get that at a local community hall.

Were there more people at the event this year than last year??

By Static. 28/04/10, 04:08 am

Yep, but only just.

By Keysha-chan. 28/04/10, 05:28 am

I also should point out (this was before I came back to Welly, so the other committee members would have to explain more) that there was a big group search around the city to find a good place to hold the ball. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a place that's central (because a lot of people aren't willing to go to suburbs), a good price, enough space and equipment and as an addition you wouldn't originally think of - ALLOW PHOTOS

(Yeah, apparently one venue looked at would not allow photos, even outside the building and on the grounds. How much fun would that have taken away?) D:

I also have to agree with static on the enthusiasm. Those who came and joined in were amazing - everyone seemed to be having a good time and I was approached several times during the nights with compliments which is wonderful to hear, and I'm glad you all enjoyed yourself.

But as she mentioned - it's hard to get people up and going. I'm interested to see how things are when we attend the Auckland ball - given the greater number of both people and cosplayers up there, what the numbers will be like and how things go, as the Aucklanders are always showing interest at the events we organise (or try to) down here. XD Not to bring down Wellington cosplayers or anything like that - because those who come along rock and make the event so much fun!

By Mischa. 28/04/10, 05:46 am

Capital E really was a Gem! <3

We wanted to err on the side of caution, It's better to look slightly empty then have to turn people away. WE WERE OVER AMBITIOUS! now we have a better idea of numbers.

I think kareoke is a terrible idea unless you can have a seperate room away from the dance floor...I think people would pay money not to hear me sing.

By angellsnz. 28/04/10, 06:35 am

Mischa wrote:: We wanted to err on the side of caution, It's better to look slightly empty then have to turn people away. WE WERE OVER AMBITIOUS! now we have a better idea of numbers.

Running and organising events is always a learning curve. I think that it is smart to appeal to a wider audience.

I too think that anime karaoke is a bit of a hard call, as it will only appeal to some, and not all. I think having dance performances between sets from the DJ or live band would be a good idea.

**Sponsored content**