Author Topic: 2015 Badges  (Read 6162 times)

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Offline RobinSena

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2015 Badges
« on: January 07, 2015, 10:07:09 pm »
Did I read the registration page correctly?  Are they really doing away with the awesome souvenir card badges and switching everyone over to crappy paper badges, even those of us who pre-reg'ed??  The paper badges sucked. We (my group) haven't had paper badges since the very first cons when they didn't have anything but the paper badges.  How are they going to do badge numbers with the (if I read it right) "print on demand" badges?  It better be based on when you paid for your badge and not when you pick it up, or there's going to be a lot of unhappy congoers... :-\
"Well, it's going to look pretty good then, isn't it?  The One Horseman and the Three Pedestrians of the Apocralypse." Terry Pratchett

Offline Chromophobic

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2015, 11:57:18 pm »
I'm sure they will still have badge numbers... They're going paper probably because it's faster then printing on plastic. It's still the same badge, just different material. I'm surprised Kumoricon has stuck with plastic all this time with most cons using paper badges.

Offline baka-imouto

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2015, 02:35:15 am »
Did I read the registration page correctly?  Are they really doing away with the awesome souvenir card badges and switching everyone over to crappy paper badges, even those of us who pre-reg'ed??  The paper badges sucked. We (my group) haven't had paper badges since the very first cons when they didn't have anything but the paper badges.  How are they going to do badge numbers with the (if I read it right) "print on demand" badges?  It better be based on when you paid for your badge and not when you pick it up, or there's going to be a lot of unhappy congoers... :-\


I don't agree with the discontinuation of plastic badges for pre-regging, but in regards to the numbers on the badges I'm pretty sure that as soon as you register a number is given to your name. Sakura Con also gives numbers to all of their attendees and as far as I know they've never done plastic badge cards.
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Offline veraca

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2015, 02:59:14 am »
I'd be worried about the con only having 3-5 printers and after day 0 and part of day 1, they crap out and stop working. Or only 2 work decently and 3 & 4 ran out of colored ink. If the con can afford to make changes and stuff, sure why not I guess..? But I do prefer the hard plastic badges.

Honestly though, why would they change the system up after years of it working well? Will going to paper badges make the process faster on-site? Cause if it doesn't make things more efficient at-con, then why change the formula?
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Offline RobinSena

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2015, 08:12:08 am »

I don't agree with the discontinuation of plastic badges for pre-regging, but in regards to the numbers on the badges I'm pretty sure that as soon as you register a number is given to your name. Sakura Con also gives numbers to all of their attendees and as far as I know they've never done plastic badge cards.
If that was true, I'd have super low numbers each year, since I've preregistered in September every year.  I haven't had time to dig them out, but I'm pretty sure that even the first Kumoricon badges had numbers...I can't imagine they would change something so fundamental, especially since no badge numbers would make them super easy to fabricate... :( Also, even the huge cons, like the San Diego Comic Con have badge numbers.  Most Comic Cons I've seen even have numbers and barcodes.

veraca, as far as I know, they've never done the plastic badges onsite, except for reprints of prereg badges that have issues.  They've had the paper ones already printed, they just hand filled the names out for those registering at the con.  Which is ok for that, but I think that the paper badges just look tacky.
"Well, it's going to look pretty good then, isn't it?  The One Horseman and the Three Pedestrians of the Apocralypse." Terry Pratchett

Offline veraca

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2015, 09:07:08 am »
True. But I'd like to point out that the pre-registration amount isn't a small bit like $20. And since they've upped the amount for it being 4-days, that should be easily more than enough to cover any costs for the plastic badges.

I'm not arguing against paper badges, but I would be disheartened to seeing the nice hard ones disappear. Even just the fact that they're typed instead of handwritten gives it a polished feel over the ones filled out on-site.
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Offline RobinSena

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2015, 05:29:31 pm »
Well, if they're "printing them on demand" then I'm guessing that they'll have printed names on them.  I also believe that people who preregister should have the nice card badges and not paper.  I think the paper looks cheap.  Even if they decide to go the Generic route and give everyone the exact same card badges depending on what pass you buy and just have printed out stickers with your character name or a place to write names on it, I think I'd be ok with that.  But giving everyone paper badges just feels really cheap.

And really, if everyone is getting the exact same badges, what's the point of bothering to preregister then?  Other than saving a few bucks, and maybe some time (which is going to increase since now we all have to wait until the badges are printed…Remember the horrid lines in 2008 and 2009 anyone…?) there's no real benefit or prestige to preregistering if we all get the exact same badge.  If they also remove the badge numbers and do paper badges?  Even worse. 

It's to Kumoricon's benefit to have us preregister because then they get to use our money as funding and capital.  Not that we can't benefit from having that capital used towards good hotels and guests, but really, that's the business side of it and something they are responsible for taking care of, not us.  Passing out cheap paper badges to those who helped fund those benefits tells those people that they aren't important.
"Well, it's going to look pretty good then, isn't it?  The One Horseman and the Three Pedestrians of the Apocralypse." Terry Pratchett

Offline oldschoolanimefan

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2015, 12:08:38 am »
I've been going to Kumoricon since its start in Eugene, OR at the Double Tree. Those first few years had paper badges and no holders. Then they switched to the plastic badges for security reasons (at least that's what I heard was the main reason). They didn't want fake paper badges to walk through the con.  I think that was also when they added the color coded system to easily tell who can be in an over 18 panel and who can't, which was a nice touch. My fear would be finding out that a group of minors got into a Hentai panel because they went and made their own paper badges and then the con getting into trouble due to it.

Also, having been a long time attendee, I can honestly say that I enjoy getting the lower badge numbers. Its nice to have one that's in double digits. I've often been told by other attendees that it was cool. The lower price and quicker lines are nice as well, but how much quicker depends on the reg desk (who's manning it, if the equipment is working, supplies are holding up, etc.).

I'd rather have the plastic badges with numbers since they've always been really nice to have, but if the con wants to go with paper that's their choice.

Offline veraca

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2015, 03:32:57 am »
The past year's badges have had those little logos on them too kind of etched into them so you can tell when the light hits them if they're real or not. There's more than one fake-proof methods on the plastic badges, which I think is fantastic.
I believe when you register at-con, you also get a fancy holo or metallic sticker too as proof you paid and it's a valid badge.
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Offline RobinSena

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2015, 04:54:00 pm »
veraca is right, all of the paper badges that I saw had holographic stickers (although I never paid that much attention to other people's badges, unless I was trying to figure out what character they were), we even had a holographic sticker on the plastic badges one year.  I'm not sure what kind of sticker they have though and depending on what kind of stickers, those too can be faked.  And that's something that I can see affecting how quickly event/panel lines will move, since now the staff are going to have to be looking at everything closer to make sure they're legitimate.

My group has preregistered since the first time Kumoricon opened up the ability to do so.  I've watched the lines over the years and I've seen the difference between the prereg and the regular lines.  In the end, there isn't that much difference between them.  The biggest difference was who the staff member was and how good (and efficient) they were at checking the people in.  I remember the registration and check-in lines we had to deal with in some of the past years when they had to print out or photocopy items for us.  Those were some of the worst lines I've ever had to deal with, and we were in the preregistration line, not that it seemed to matter due to everyone having to wait on the printers.  Which is why the idea of "print on demand" for everyone scares the crap out of me.

Not only that, but having the paper badges instead of the nice plastic ones is going to be a pain.  There have been numerous times when I, or one of my friends had reason to be grateful that our badges weren't paper, especially my daughter's when she was teething and we couldn't keep her from putting everything in her mouth.  We taped hers shut so she couldn't pull it out, but she was really good at fishing mine out of my holder when I wasn't looking...  :P   I've seen people lose badges into the sink while washing hands. I've seen people knock over beverages into their badge holders while eating.  I've seen them fill up with rain.  I've seen people forget about them and go swimming.  Yes, I'm sure that in the grand total number of attendees over the years those times may, or may not be significant.  But to the person who now has to go get another badge and deal with more registration lines it will mean quite a bit.

I don't work for the con, or know the state of their affairs.  They may have had their card printer(s) break and did a cost analysis and found that it would cost them more to fix/replace it than it was worth and that if would be better in the long run to switch to only paper.  Or they might have just looked at the overall costs and decided that a paper only route was the cheapest method and gone with that, I don't know.

What I do know is that, to me, paper badges look and feel cheap, especially compared to the high quality plastic ones we've had for many years. I know that there are those of us who would preregister for the souvenir card badges.  It may not be the only reason, but it is something that certainly factors into the decision making.  My group remembers the first year that they had the card badges.  I can't count how many people with paper badges saw them and expressed regret that they couldn't have one as well.  That was a year when we weren't in well known cosplays, and yet there were so many people envious of our plastic badges that I lost track of how many people I had to tell about why I had a plastic one and not a paper one.  I even had someone ask me if I was a guest speaker lol. 

Not only are there the people who liked the plastic badges, or people like my group who like the card badges and getting low numbers, but there are definitely people out there who preregister for reasons besides just the potential for faster lines or there wouldn't be an auction each year for badge number 1.  Even if I had to pay a $1 surcharge for the privilege of a generic plastic event badge (with hopefully a place to write my character name and in place of a paper one), I'd do it, since I know it would be worth it, just for the piece of mind knowing that I don't have to stress out about being hyper-vigilant over the environment my badge is in for fear of it getting ruined or damaged.

I know ultimately that it is the con's decision, but I greatly hope that they will reconsider going paper only and at least give us the option to upgrade to a card badge, even if we all get the same one, with no customization options. 
"Well, it's going to look pretty good then, isn't it?  The One Horseman and the Three Pedestrians of the Apocralypse." Terry Pratchett

Offline Valkyrie542

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2015, 10:37:44 am »
What if people who pre-register receive the regular plastic cards upon check-in, and the people who arrive and register on the spot get the paper cards?

Paper cards do make sense because if there's a lot of newcomers or late registers (or cards go missing), staff will probably want to print cards quickly - and may not want to use the laminating machines to make the plastic cards.

I don't know, but I guess we'll see when it's con time!
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Offline RobinSena

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #11 on: January 29, 2015, 06:36:39 pm »
What if people who pre-register receive the regular plastic cards upon check-in, and the people who arrive and register on the spot get the paper cards?

Paper cards do make sense because if there's a lot of newcomers or late registers (or cards go missing), staff will probably want to print cards quickly - and may not want to use the laminating machines to make the plastic cards.

I don't know, but I guess we'll see when it's con time!
That's the way it's been for over 5 years, with plastic for preregistered people and paper for on site, but they're changing it this year to all paper.  Everyone, no matter when you pay its getting paper badges.    :(

"Well, it's going to look pretty good then, isn't it?  The One Horseman and the Three Pedestrians of the Apocralypse." Terry Pratchett

Offline Sailor-Jeimi

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Re: 2015 Badges
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2015, 07:49:38 pm »
Oh opps, posted in the wrong thread..
« Last Edit: February 01, 2015, 01:33:42 pm by Sailor-Jeimi »