Make CodeMash Better

[Onorio Catenacci]

I didn't attend CodeMash 2015 but at the risk of saying something obvious and dumb; the room reservation process was a debacle.  I don't know if that's within the power of the organizers to fix but if there were one thing to address, that'd be it.

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Onorio

[Steven Huwig]

I expect it will be handled like the wifi has been — iterative improvement until no one thinks to compliment the venue, because it’s that invisible.

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[bprince]

We definitely will be spending a lot of time at our annual planning kick off meeting in a few weeks to discuss this. We already have ALL the rooms. People keep forgetting this. We have 2,500 people at CodeMash (staff, attendees, sponsors, etc.), and about 800 rooms. We are already working with the hotel for an online reservation option.

On Wednesday, February 25, 2015 at 10:00:17 PM UTC-5, Steven Huwig wrote:

I expect it will be handled like the wifi has been — iterative improvement until no one thinks to compliment the venue, because it’s that invisible.

On Feb 25, 2015, at 9:23 AM, Onorio Catenacci <cate...@gmail.com> wrote:

I didn't attend CodeMash 2015 but at the risk of saying something obvious and dumb; the room reservation process was a debacle.  I don't know if that's within the power of the organizers to fix but if there were one thing to address, that'd be it.

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Onorio

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[Eric Gurney]

It wasn't so much that I couldn't get a room - understood.  It was the wasting of over two hours redialing that was the aggravating part.

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[Robert Casto]

In the 4 years that I have gone, 3 have been where I stayed at another hotel. I like the cost savings, and driving means I can come and go as I wish. Waiting on the shuttle means I have to cater to their schedule. I'd rather come and go as I please, especially when I'm there until 1 am in the game room. Everyone is allowed in the water park, so while it is convenient to be there in the hotel, paying 1/3rd at another hotel and having to drive 10 minutes doesn't seem so bad. I don't feel that I miss out on the experience at all. I'm curious why the strong desire to stay in the Kalahari? I understand the convenience, but it isn't like Los Angeles or New York where it can be a real pain.

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[Gaines Kergosien]

Roberto,

My first year at CodeMash we stayed down the road and I agree with you that it's really not bad staying off site. That said, this year I hung out with friends at the bar and played board/card games in people's rooms until the wee hours of the morning, and between the late nights and the weather I was glad to have a room there.

Not getting a room at Kalahari shouldn't keep anyone from attending, but the convenience is definitely worth it to me.

Gaines Kergosien

http://dotnetdude.net

(615) 414-9739

[Onorio Catenacci]

That was sort of what I meant when I said "debacle".  I wouldn't have minded not getting a room at the Kalahari (I've never stayed at the Kalahari yet); it was tying up the phone for a solid hour trying to get through that I found annoying and aggravating. If I had even gotten a busy signal when I dialed, I would probably have given up sooner.  The problem was that I intermittently would seem to get through only to have my call dropped in 15 or 20 seconds.  

I'm not faulting any of the CodeMash organizers; all that can be done is what you're doing--discuss the issue and try to figure out a way to fix it.  I just wanted to make sure to mention it before I forgot to do so.

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Onorio

[Amber Conville]

It's too bad there's not a way to reserve a room for CodeMash online, though I'm sure that would have it's own issues as well.

[bprince]

We are already working with the Kalahari to make online room reservations possible.

On Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 11:49:05 AM UTC-5, Amber Conville wrote:

It's too bad there's not a way to reserve a room for CodeMash online, though I'm sure that would have it's own issues as well.

On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 9:15 AM, Onorio Catenacci <cate...@gmail.com> wrote:

That was sort of what I meant when I said "debacle".  I wouldn't have minded not getting a room at the Kalahari (I've never stayed at the Kalahari yet); it was tying up the phone for a solid hour trying to get through that I found annoying and aggravating. If I had even gotten a busy signal when I dialed, I would probably have given up sooner.  The problem was that I intermittently would seem to get through only to have my call dropped in 15 or 20 seconds.  

I'm not faulting any of the CodeMash organizers; all that can be done is what you're doing--discuss the issue and try to figure out a way to fix it.  I just wanted to make sure to mention it before I forgot to do so.

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Onorio

On Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 3:48:34 PM UTC-5, Eric wrote:

It wasn't so much that I couldn't get a room - understood.  It was the wasting of over two hours redialing that was the aggravating part.

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[Amber Conville]

What, that's awesome! :D

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[Elizabeth]

I know some of the big gaming conventions do it lottery style. You are guaranteed a room and most likely to be with all of your friends. But a big magic computer assigns all of the rooms based on preferences and what not after everyone has reserved. So people could up front say I want to save money put me in a farther out hotel, etc. 

If people drop out after that...

Tickets go back on the market I guess...

EN

[Nick Orlando]

It sounds good, but I think the biggest problem with that idea is that even the overflow hotels sold out this year.

And it would require the Codemash committee to pre-book all of the rooms at all of the overflow hotels, which the overflow hotels aren't likely to do unless the committee is willing to pay for them up front.

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