"...And so pretty that I hardly can believe I'm real. See the pretty girl in that mirror there..."

[hazelchaz]

Suggestions for Costume College: Move the CGW meeting to the beginning of the convention, and have some kind of closing ceremony at the end of the con. I agree with bovil on this one: put it at the beginning of the meeting, so people who care about that sort of thing can make plans attend, and it won't get bogged down with gripe-session fodder. And the CGW business meeting shouldn't be combined with "Orientation" either! The CGW meeting on Sunday lasted three hours; colleency left after two, which is why she didn't learn she'd been elected VP until she received my text message congratulating her.

And is the hotel liaison following up on the deteriorating quality of the food service? I hear the Tea was worse than last year, which wasn't as good as the year before. And why no hot carbs in the breakfast buffet? Someone ought to secret-shop the hotel -- go over there on a couple of consecutive Saturdays and see what they're serving in the breakfast buffet. Have they downgraded their offerings on a general basis?

Someone at the Dead Dog party was talking about the exclusive/non-exclusive aspects of the Gala. The Gala is a banquet that you can buy tickets for, at $80 a head I think; after the food's served, they open the doors to anyone who wants to come in and dance. Should the whole event be an exclusive affair, because as it stands it's just a very expensive meal? Should they abolish the dinner aspect entirely and just have a dance? My thoughts: Leaving aside the decline in the Airtel's customer service, the banquet and the Tea (and the food that Hospitality orders from Room Service) are important because they represent a significant revenue stream, and are the main reason why everyone gets free breakfast included in their room. Consider, the room rates for Costume College were $10/night less than what animelosangeles enjoyed, and breakfast was included.

Everything in the contract is a matter of trade-offs, and F&B is really, really important. If I could figure out a way to funnel more F&B money to the animelosangeles without breaking the bank, I'd do it... Our Tea last year was an experiment along those lines, by the way.

So I say, keep the Gala and maybe the Tea. Crack the whip on the hotel and get them to give you value for the money, sure. Look into that aspect when negoitating with the next hotel -- the Airtel's too small to stay, and there's reportedly only one year left on the current contract.

Which brings me to my next idea, which isn't original either: gotta find a new hotel. Why? Costume College is surely outgrowing the Airtel. Costume College 2007 filled up in September 2006; Costume College 2008 filled up before the end of the day on Sunday. I'm not suggesting any fundamental changes to the structure of the convention's program, which consists of a mix of open items and limited-signup $$ classes. But clearly a larger facility would allow more classes, lectures and workshops to be added, limited and otherwise. Some things could be put in larger rooms, but I don't think that's really an issue -- more small breakout rooms would be ideal.

I don't know how many room nights the convention had. If this were a convention like animelosangeles, I'd estimate fewer than a hundred. But I'm sure it's higher than that -- lots of people brought their machines and worked on their costumes, sometimes up to the hour of the event they wanted to wear them at. One of the really nifty features of the Airtel is the design of the rooms -- every regular guest room in the main hotel has a little built-in desk area that's perfect for setting up a sewing machine. But even if they get one room night per member, that's only 300 and change: not a huge carrot to offer the hotel.

My understanding is that Sandy Rhymer's still Costume College's hotel contract negotiator. Trained by Bobbi, and Christian considers Sandy to be better at it than he is. So I expect that Sandy will get C.C. a good deal, provided that Sandy has a clear understanding of what the CGW Board thinks is important in the next contract... I think Sandy spends most of her C.C. weekend in the Marketplace (Dealers Room) at the Alter-Years table, so I don't know if she's keeping on top of the situation during the convention itself: is there an on-site liaison assisting Sandy?

[I have some unanswered questions about how the convention runs, that I could find out by consulting a staff roster -- but I wasn't a member, I was just a volunteer. Handy, because it meant I could volunteer and not spend the money (which I couldn't anyway, they were full), but that meant I didn't get any of the materials everyone else got.]

Comments

[jadecat9.livejournal.com]

I don't think Sandy Rhymer spent her entire CC at the AlterYear's table. That was Janet Wilson Anderson, who is a red-head. Sandy is also a red-head.

Maybe you're confusing the two?

Sandy's movements

[hazelchaz]

Perhaps I am. I'm working from insufficient data here. If Sandy was on the case, so much the better. Hopefully she'll raise some hell about how the food service has declined.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

College actually takes up very few room nights for the amount of space it's using. It was around 325 people including staff and dealers, and college does a roommate-matching service.

Low ratio

[hazelchaz]

That's my understanding -- I expect there's more than the ratio I'd see at animelosangeles, i.e. I'd expect them to have at least 100, but not enough of a bunch to make a hotel sales person give any significant concessions.

Re: Low ratio

[hazelchaz]

Unless you're saying it's down in the two-figure range after all?

[chloeandrudy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reminder to send in my Opinion/Feedback sheet. I have some major opinions this year.
This was my 5th year at CC. And this year I was veeery disappointed in the food. The tea food was atrocious! I cater teas myself so I'm jaded but God! dried up cinnamon twists for dessert?!! One of them crumbled when broken in half. And dry cookies? Sandwiches that had bread so dry we only ate the insides. Any chef with common sense knows to keep damp towels over them until served. And hotel tea bags? Please. For the price we paid, I've had amazing food at tearooms at a much lower cost. I've offered to run the tea a couple times, and bring at my own cost a good quality tea. I've gone 4 years to the tea, and if I even mention maybe going next year, I have promises from 4 people to shoot me first. An event to dress up for, they call it? Sheesh, I can just wander the hotel, find my own better food, and not pay the money.
And you just opened my eyes up to the fact that I'm paying so much for a plate of food at the Gala. Yeah, I knew others come in to join the dance afterwards w/o paying, and it never bothered me. But now?
I've followed the line with CGW that unless they get more volunteers to help run CC, they can't grow. And the hotel can't grow. I do volunteer. Last year I ran the Check-In Desk with fellow SDCG members.
I share a room with 3 other girls. It would be nice sometimes to only have to share with one, so we didn't have to share the shower/bathroom at the same time. But it does save money for shopping. :)
I'm happy to have met you at CC, and very grateful for the wonderful pictures you took, at no cost! You animal!
May I friend you? Valarie LaBore, President, San Diego Costume Guild.

Friends and volunteers

[hazelchaz]

No permission necessary, friend away. All are welcome.

May I have permission to link from your pictures on my website to your LJ?

Re: Friends and volunteers

[hazelchaz]

Incidentally, if you haven't already found it, here are all the pictures of Valarie LaBore on my website.

Re: Friends and volunteers

[chloeandrudy.livejournal.com]

Certainly!

Food service

[hazelchaz]

bauhausfrau reports (here) that the breakfast improved the next day. "There was a pancake and waffle station and better eggs."

Re: Food service

[chloeandrudy.livejournal.com]

*Wonderful* We're so special.