Transformers fans left wondering about BotCon 2010 registration

It's getting to the point now that if they don't have registration up by the end of next week, I won"t be able to go, as I have other things to plan around it. Airfare that close to the convention is going to be way more expensive, and I am not certain where I will be flying out of. Looks more and more like this won't be my first Botcon this year after all.

LoL

First the no-info on Dion's delay...now this.

Let's see how this plays out.

I'm not gonna make it... sadly for the second year in a row Im not gonna lie though that I am a little worried that alot is gonna fall throgh the cracks for people... it seems like the registration has always been a little bit of pandamonium and making it this close to the con seems insane to me... especially the complete lack of info about guests etc.

I've repeatedly defended the club and I'm getting tired of waiting. As a software developer, I do not comprehend the excuses regarding the code for registration not being ready. Did they genuinely build something from the ground up? There are several event services that could easily handle registration for a few thousand people without even blinking.

It boggles the mind.

the thing that worries me is; look at how they treat the JoeCon. Most years they reveal the next location during the current one, and they had their registration up waaay before the con this year. Oh and they already have their yearly free figure shipped, with most membaers already having them in hand. Sometimes it's like BotCon and the Collectors Club is an afterthought compared to the Joe Club.

This may be the first-timer in me talking but, you know what, I'm just not concerned. If I can't get the toy set, I don't get the toy set. I'll just get the cheaper ticket. My hotel room is already booked anyway. So I plan on showing up regardless.

Though you'd think they'd be more eager to take my money.

Razorclaw0000 wrote:I've repeatedly defended the club and I'm getting tired of waiting. As a software developer, I do not comprehend the excuses regarding the code for registration not being ready. Did they genuinely build something from the ground up? There are several event services that could easily handle registration for a few thousand people without even blinking.

It boggles the mind.

As a website developer with almost 10 years of experience developing ecommerce websites (several of which were event registration websites), I have to agree with you. It's ridiculous that we didn't have online registration back in 2005 and it's unfortunate that 5 years later we still don't. It doesn't take this long to build something, even from scratch, unless that person has no experience building ecommerce websites. Kind of makes me a little worried about the whole credit card bit and whether or not this will be PCI compliant.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe ... =&gs_rfai=

Energon wrote:All I can say is to bring your own food and drinks because if they are anything like their Disney counterparts you are looking at $4.00 for a bottle of water.

Actually the Swan and Dolphin are both billed as having free bottled water available. Of course if everything else at BotCon 2010 is as disorganized as this registration, I'll end up needing a much stronger drink than water!

Sheesh, guys! It'll be up when it's up. Just be patient.

UltraPrimal wrote:Sheesh, guys! It'll be up when it's up. Just be patient.

I think those of us who have planned to go to BotCon have been in fact just that. However, when you are making a large financial investment to attend a convention such as BotCon I think you deserve a little more attention/respect than what he have gotten recently. Don't get me wrong, BotCon is an enormous endeavor and FunPub overall has done a good job but this would seem to be a very vital thing they are dropping the ball on.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we were promised that we would be able to register in late February/early March as I recall and right now we're about to run out of April in a matter of hours. Wanting a real explanation and/or some action is not being selfish on our part.

Delicon wrote:

UltraPrimal wrote:Sheesh, guys! It'll be up when it's up. Just be patient.

I think those of us who have planned to go to BotCon have been in fact just that. However, when you are making a large financial investment to attend a convention such as BotCon I think you deserve a little more attention/respect than what he have gotten recently. Don't get me wrong, BotCon is an enormous endeavor and FunPub overall has done a good job but this would seem to be a very vital thing they are dropping the ball on.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we were promised that we would be able to register in late February/early March as I recall and right now we're about to run out of April in a matter of hours. Wanting a real explanation and/or some action is not being selfish on our part.

Seriously. My wife is going to a fan event in mid-May, and she was able to register in November, had all of her conformations in hand in Mid January, and had her entire itenerary before the end of January. We were able to save so much on airfare since we had so much time to play with, but I'm not planning on going to Botcon if I can't get the set, and have passed on several grat sets of non-refundable, no-changable airfare.

FACT: The registration wait as already cost me more than 150 bucks.

I consider that unacceptable customer service.

Seibertron wrote:

Razorclaw0000 wrote:I've repeatedly defended the club and I'm getting tired of waiting. As a software developer, I do not comprehend the excuses regarding the code for registration not being ready. Did they genuinely build something from the ground up? There are several event services that could easily handle registration for a few thousand people without even blinking.

It boggles the mind.

As a website developer with almost 10 years of experience developing ecommerce websites (several of which were event registration websites), I have to agree with you. It's ridiculous that we didn't have online registration back in 2005 and it's unfortunate that 5 years later we still don't. It doesn't take this long to build something, even from scratch, unless that person has no experience building ecommerce websites. Kind of makes me a little worried about the whole credit card bit and whether or not this will be PCI compliant.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe ... =&gs_rfai=

That's a serious concern for me.

Maybe, they should work on 2 locations at once, one for next year and one for the year after. That way they'll have everything done a year in advance and can focus on the following year, and have plenty of time, for them and us, to plan.

I have to agree with everybody. I don't understand how setting up a registration program can be so difficult. Why is this a problem every year? Are we re-inventing the wheel? There are literally millions of softwares out there that can do this. Simply put, this is ridiculous--if I was Brian Savage, I would be downright embarrassed. I can tell you that when registration finally does become available, there will be many unhappy people because the Botcon exclusives will be sold-out in a matter of hours.

All of the above is why I'm not going to BotCon. I had wanted to go and I had the Mrs. all set but, we wanted to plan for it in advance. They should take a lesson from the major comic cons.

Yeah, I really just can't understand why the TFCC has such a lousy web presence.

I mean, hell, there's plenty of free one-click install software that would improve their current web presence by a ridiculous degree, let alone if they have any money at all to throw at it.

And they might not even need money to go beyond the free software; there's got to be some TF fans out there with web development experience who would be more than happy to donate their services in exchange for free toys or memberships or something like that.

youngku wrote:I have to agree with everybody. I don't understand how setting up a registration program can be so difficult. Why is this a problem every year? Are we re-inventing the wheel? There are literally millions of softwares out there that can do this. Simply put, this is ridiculous--if I was Brian Savage, I would be downright embarrassed. I can tell you that when registration finally does become available, there will be many unhappy people because the Botcon exclusives will be sold-out in a matter of hours.

While it is fairly easy (assuming you know what you're doing) to develop an online event registration with credit card processing, it does take time to build an application that does this. If building it from scratch, it should take a few months to build something of this nature, though I'm sure there are "freeware" things that they could use instead but I'm not a fan of those (things like the nightmarish osCommerce, Zen-Cart, and Magento all come to mind) ... especially when integrating it with an existing website.

I'm sure the biggest factor here is $$$$. E-Commerce websites and event registration websites are expensive. I wouldn't freelance a project like this for less than $7,500, probably more like at least $12,000 to $20,000 when I start thinking about all of the special line items they would need. Between the cost of the convention itself, paying for the convention exclusives up front with the factory (or however that works), paying in advance for the Club exclusive, covering all of their salaries, website expenses, website redesigns, packaging designs, etc ... I imagine they don't have a lot of extra cash sitting around to be paying for someone to build a website professionally.

Keep all of this in mind when you're thinking about this.

What I don't understand is if they're having such problems or delays with the online registration, why we don't revert back to the traditional fax method so that we can all get on with our lives and then worry about online registrations after the convention season.

Their website looks really lousy it looks like what I did 4 years ago while learning basic html and that was n00bish and just like me they never bothered with improving.

Why do fansites that are made in people's free time look better than the website of an official organisation?

And I don't think Ryan's excuse with it costing a lot of money to make an entirely new registration program from scratch is a good enough excuse.

They run 2 conventions, the registration system can be used for both, plus if they make the investment in something like that they can reach more people as they will no longer be put off by how unprofessional they look.

Fecking ridicules.

What really pisses me off is that they do not have a set date anymore. The conventions use to always be in September/The Fall, so you could plan accordingly. Nowadays they have them whenever they feel like it. Sometimes giving people less than 5 months advance notice and that is not fair! Everyone works, has school, a wife/husband, kids and numerous other responsibilities. Having a floating convention date is not acceptable. If it were always in the same month at least, then people would be prepared as they would always have a year. Only the location would be a last minute addition. Supposedly the-powers-that-be behind Botcon think Botcon should be people's main or summer vacation each year, but that is just absurd! When people go on true vacation they go far away or exotic places like Europe, Mexico, or some Trpoical Island resort, not some random city in the US. For aside from the Botcons held in California, New York and Florida, none of the other locations are actual tourist or vacation destinations to begin with. So Botcon shouldn't consider their convention anyone's true summer vacation or family holiday.

Now personally I don't care too much about the guests not being announced. I don't go to Botcon for the guests. I go for my friends and the toys/exclusives. The conventions haven't ever really had anyone special aside from some of the G1 voice actor anyway. and it's not like they are going to get Megan Fox or Shia Labeouf to show up in person and sign autographs.

I think Botcon needs to pick a "set month" to always hold the convention and not deviate from this plan, or at least they need to pick a set date when they will always have "ALL" convention material available and resgistration up and running. Then people can always plan accordingly.

UltraPrimal wrote:Sheesh, guys! It'll be up when it's up. Just be patient.

Well I need to know when to arrive because I'm trying to get into the custom class. I'm trying to save $$!! I'm trying for the Thursday class, which means I must book a Wed flight and pay for Wed-Sunday hotel cost. If I can't get Thurs, I'll try Wed's class, and book a Tues flight, and stay Tues-Sun. But I'm NOT going to book a flight until I know when I need to be there. And if I don't get the class, I'm showing up Thursday staying till Sunday. So it makes a BIG difference in what I will be spending. And this is just for someone that is single. I know -B- has a family so it make an even BIGGER difference for him. So this waiting game is costing some of us.

Forgot to mention something that really sucks for me. Each summer for the past 20 years I have been going to Europe for my vacation. I usually leave at the end of June and stay for 2 or 3 months. This is the 2nd time that I will have to fly straight from the convention to Europe, and lug all of my convention stuff to Europe and then back to Los Angeles. It adds up to a lot of hassle and extra baggage fees! Plus I can't even stay for the whole convention as I have to be in Denmark for the Roskilde Music Festival Saturday June 26th before 6pm. So I am only at Botcon to pick up my badge, toys and take the Thursday Customization class and leave around noon on Friday. That's it! I don't get to see any guests, attend the Saturday dinner, or even buy anything from the dealers room because it's not open yet. Which brings up another point. The dealers room should open early Friday morning! There is no reason for it not to be open Friday morning. Eeveryone usually arrives on Wednesday or Thursday anyway and aside from the lame over priced tours, there is only the customization classes being offered. So having the dealers room open early would be a plus!

As head of an Anime Convention with an attendee base around 5000, I can honestly say that getting our registration online is a very fustrating thing that (as a process) has taken a very long time to work out and get the kinks dealt with.

That said, Fun Pub has access to a lot more resources, and for the profile of their events, the issues they are having are just sad, especially when compared to an event like PAX, who has had about the same amount of time as FP has been presenting Botcon, is also hosting a second event now (PAXEast/Joecon) and registering for their event was a snap.

They also should have a Twtitter page or something so we can all be Tweeted the minute online registration goes up. You would think they would have thought of something like this already. Twitter has been around for ages!

I hate to sound harsh, but I wonder if we ought to express our concerns over this to the folks from Hasbro at BotCon. Hasbro does have a corporate image to maintain, and surely they see how FunPub's unprofessional and inefficient practices concerning BotCon reflects negatively on the franchise at large and on Hasbro itself. Personally, if it was up to me, Hasbro would buy out FunPub and create a Hasbro Conventions Department to handle BotCon, JoeCon, and the Collectors' Clubs.

And here's why:

FunPub has given us very little in the way of a reason WHY we should attend their convention. The only reasons they have given us thus far are three figures from the 5-piece set.

A guest list would really help calm the impatient masses. For a lot of folks, the autographs and interview panels with voice actors, comic writers, and artists are a deciding factor in whether or not to attend the convention.

I'm no web-developer, but I have a pretty strong background in basic HTML and an Associates Degree in Local Area Networking. An online registration system for BotCon should be easily complete in a matter of weeks by a team of 1-3 trained professionals. Yet, it's taken FunPub months, and, if the rest of their websites are any example, it is going to be amateur at best.

So, we have to endure all of this, and what happens when we arrive? Well, if previous years are any example, you can expect to be verbally-abused by an elderly woman as she checks you in at Registration/Package Pickup. Don't bother asking her any questions, she doesn't know. Her only job is to take your information, give you your Package, and stamp her foot impatiently while you check to make sure she actually gave you everything you were supposed to get. Which, by the way, you should ABSOLUTELY check, BEFORE you walk away from the counter, or else you risk being unable to exchange your items. Unfortunately, whoever packages the figures has a difficult time telling right missiles from left missiles, and many figures in the past (most notably the BotCon conehead Seekers) have come packaged with two left-sided missile launchers. Now, granted, this isn't FunPub's fault, as I doubt they assembled the figures themselves. However, shouldn't there be some form of Quality Check? Or at least the ability to exchange them? Shouldn't the Package-Pickup people be knowledgeable about the products that they are handing out? Shouldn't they, at the very least, have a positive attitude?

Before anybody says, "Oh, you just had a bad experience," I have been to three BotCons, and I have encountered these problems at every single one, both in my own personal experiences and in the experiences of numerous other attendees.

That said, I will be in attendance at BotCon this June. I will be there to enjoy the company of my fellows fans, and out of a sense of loyalty to the franchise. The only way to improve something is to work from within, finding its shortcomings and addressing them intellectually. BotCon will no doubt be an incredible event, with good times had by all, but I would like to see it improved in the future to run smoother.

That's just my little rant.

Just wondering for those who attend Bot/Joecon.

A regular feature than many animecons and a few others I've been to usually run a gripe panel after closing ceremonies on the last day. A chance for attendees to tell the people running the show what worked, what didn't and such.

Has FP run a panel of this nature? and if so does Hasbro's rep show up for it as well. If they haven't, requesting something of a similar nature where FP and Hasbro officials can directly hear the concerns of attendees, rather than just at regular events where cheers will most likely drowned out any other reactions.

Nope, they have never done a gripe panel. Unless you count the Q&A sessions with Hasbro reps, but those mostly consist of questions like "will we ever see a figure for X".

By the way, has anyone else noticed that it went from "Registration Soon" to "Registration Not Yet Available" sometime this week?

Fail. Pure, unadulterated, ridiculous FAIL. Anime Iowa instead for me.

Savage wrote:I hate to sound harsh, but I wonder if we ought to express our concerns over this to the folks from Hasbro at BotCon. Hasbro does have a corporate image to maintain, and surely they see how FunPub's unprofessional and inefficient practices concerning BotCon reflects negatively on the franchise at large and on Hasbro itself. Personally, if it was up to me, Hasbro would buy out FunPub and create a Hasbro Conventions Department to handle BotCon, JoeCon, and the Collectors' Clubs.

I think you might be being a little too harsh. Botcon is a night-and-day difference under FunPub's control than it was in the days prior to them. Picking up the exclusives at every convention has always been a bitch. I'm sure those of you who attended BotCon '94 through BotCon/OTFCC 2004 can attest to this. FunPub has done a fairly good job, there's just room for improvement.

Savage wrote:FunPub has given us very little in the way of a reason WHY we should attend their convention. The only reasons they have given us thus far are three figures from the 5-piece set.

A guest list would really help calm the impatient masses. For a lot of folks, the autographs and interview panels with voice actors, comic writers, and artists are a deciding factor in whether or not to attend the convention.

The convention sets have been a knock out every year since FunPub took over, whether you personally like the sets or not. I haven't liked all the sets (Shattered Glass comes to mind) but I respect what they did and understand that a lot of fans really do like even that set. So they must be doing something right with the convention exclusives. It sure has heck beats some of the convention exclusive figures from previous years.

Savage wrote:I'm no web-developer, but I have a pretty strong background in basic HTML and an Associates Degree in Local Area Networking. An online registration system for BotCon should be easily complete in a matter of weeks by a team of 1-3 trained professionals. Yet, it's taken FunPub months, and, if the rest of their websites are any example, it is going to be amateur at best.

Again, HTML and actual programming (.NET, Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails ... pick your flavor) are two different things. While HTML is fairly simple, programming an application to accept registrations and process credit card payments is a whole other beast. Not to mention the administrative side that would need to be built as well as other backend tools that the client would need ... all things that none of us would ever see but require just as much work.

Seibertron wrote:

Savage wrote:I hate to sound harsh, but I wonder if we ought to express our concerns over this to the folks from Hasbro at BotCon. Hasbro does have a corporate image to maintain, and surely they see how FunPub's unprofessional and inefficient practices concerning BotCon reflects negatively on the franchise at large and on Hasbro itself. Personally, if it was up to me, Hasbro would buy out FunPub and create a Hasbro Conventions Department to handle BotCon, JoeCon, and the Collectors' Clubs.

I think you might be being a little too harsh. Botcon is a night-and-day difference under FunPub's control than it was in the days prior to them. Picking up the exclusives at every convention has always been a bitch. I'm sure those of you who attended BotCon '94 through BotCon/OTFCC 2004 can attest to this. FunPub has done a fairly good job, there's just room for improvement.

Yeah probably, but my computer froze and rebotted four times during the typing of that message, so my frustration factor just kept going up.

Seibertron wrote:

Savage wrote:FunPub has given us very little in the way of a reason WHY we should attend their convention. The only reasons they have given us thus far are three figures from the 5-piece set.

A guest list would really help calm the impatient masses. For a lot of folks, the autographs and interview panels with voice actors, comic writers, and artists are a deciding factor in whether or not to attend the convention.

The convention sets have been a knock out every year since FunPub took over, whether you personally like the sets or not. I haven't liked all the sets (Shattered Glass comes to mind) but I respect what they did and understand that a lot of fans really do like even that set. So they must be doing something right with the convention exclusives. It sure has heck beats some of the convention exclusive figures from previous years.

Personally, I loved G2, and I'm thrilled by this set. If there's a g2 Ramjet / black Sideswipe / blue Grimlock in the mix, it'll probably become my favorite Set to date. But three figures isn't a solid justification for the massive expense that is BotCon. A guest list AND the boxed set figures would be enough to make most people feel informed and more patient about the registration. At least they'd know what they'll be getting.

There are so many people online here who are skilled in computer graphics, software, programming and art such as myself. That I think they would have gladly set up Botcon's online registration for free or at least for a free convention set or whatnot. So there really is no excuse for these delays. A skilled individual could have set it up by themselves within a week, less if they used an already existing program, which are readily available. Anyway this wil be my last bitching session for awhile. I have a feeling registration will go online after Joecon this Monday or sometime before the 7th of May when Ironamn 2 comes out. May would mean that people have had less than 2 months to register for Botcon which is really, really sad if you ask me!

I think the question is, and I would ask this of employees working for me...

You've had a year to prepare for this.

This is a large task with potential complications.

Other people's money is being dealt with via this issue.

Why was this not handled earlier, as a higher priority, and why is a detail so important still outstanding in a public capacity?

While I will not be in attendance at Botcon this year, I am impatiently waiting. This is the first year I will be able to get a Toy package and I don't want to miss out. I really find the lack of information disturbing.

Being this is my first and probally only time because of the location, I wish they would hurry up. I reserved a hotel room and pretty soon gotta pay or loose the reservation. But what if I pay and the Primus Packages sell out while Im at work or sleeping ??? I cant stay glued to a computer 24-7. We all got lives. And the longer they take is just slowing me down from booking a cheap flight in advance...Please put it up already.

Counterpunch wrote:I think the question is, and I would ask this of employees working for me...

You've had a year to prepare for this.

This is a large task with potential complications.

Other people's money is being dealt with via this issue.

Why was this not handled earlier, as a higher priority, and why is a detail so important still outstanding in a public capacity?

I agree...

Or maybe we could toss this into the hasbro Q&A this time around? Maybe ask them if one of the biggest Transformer events this year is being handled by the right team?

Don't get me wrong This will be my first Botcon and I am still going, I just luck out by having gone to high school and graduated college their so even if the con is a wash I still have family and freinds to enjoy a week vacation with.. I haven't made flight or rental arrangements yet because I also want to get into the Customize class and prices are still somewhat reasonable but it does kind of hang heavy in my mind that something this "Major" is seemingly being done "Last minute" so to speak...

Anyways just thinking about the con just gets me excited so...Yeah..I'm on the fence here I guess

Novascream wrote:What really pisses me off is that they do not have a set date anymore. The conventions use to always be in September/The Fall, so you could plan accordingly. Nowadays they have them whenever they feel like it.

Actually, only 2 domestic Botcons and 3 international Botcons have been in the fall/winter.

DOMESTIC

1994: Grand Wayne Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana -- July 16 [1]
1995: Dayton Convention Center, Dayton, Ohio -- August 5-6 [2]
1996: Radisson Hotel Rosemont (formerly Clarion Resort Rosemont), Rosemont, Illinois -- July 12-14 [3]
1997: Rochester Riverside Convention Center, Rochester, New York -- July 18-20 [4]
1998: Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California -- June 19-21 [6]
1999: Touchstone Energy Place (formerly RiverCentre), St. Paul, Minnesota -- July 16-18 [8]
2000: Grand Wayne Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana—July 28-30 [10]
2001: Durham Marriott Civic Center, Durham, North Carolina -- July 13-15 [12]
2002: Grand Wayne Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana—July 26-28 [13]
OTFCC 2003: Hyatt Regency O'Hare, Rosemont, Illinois—July 25-27
OTFCC 2004: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois—July 31 - August 1
BotCon 2004: Pasadena Conference Center, Pasadena, California -- June 19-20 [15]
2005: Embassy Suites, Frisco, Texas -- September 22-25 [16]
2006: Lexington Convention Center, Lexington, Kentucky -- September 27 - October 1 [17]
2007: Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, Rhode Island, Hasbro's home state, the weekend before the live-action Transformers movie was released—June 28 - July 1 [18]
2008: Duke Energy Center, Cincinnati, Ohio -- April 24-27 [19]
2009: Pasadena Conference Center, Pasadena, California -- May 28-31 [20]
2010: Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Disney Dolphin and Fish Resort June 24-27.

INTERNATIONAL

BotCon Japan 1997: Science and Technology Hall, Tokyo, Japan -- June 8 [5]
BotCon Japan 1998: Sevencity Hall, Tokyo, Japan—December 12-13 [7]
BotCon Europe 1999: Barnabas Center, London, United Kingdom -- August 13-14 [9]
BotCon Japan 2000: Trade and Industry Center, Tokyo, Japan—December 17 [11]
BotCon Europe 2002: Wolsey Hall, Cheshunt, United Kingdom—November 3 [14]

Novascream wrote:A skilled individual could have set it up by themselves within a week, less if they used an already existing program, which are readily available.

A properly done event registration module that would meet BotCon's needs and processes credit cards definitely takes longer than a week. It's probably a full time project that would take, at the very minimum, at least a full month though I would never quote that short of a time frame for this scope of a project because there's always scope creep, unforeseen circumstances and scenarios, and there are always additions to a project. It probably needs a minimum of at least 2 months in order to test it properly and to work out the bugs. There's also the graphic design of it, which might not be important to some of you, but it is definitely something that would need to be considered to make it look professional.

From my professional experience over the past 10 years, I doubt there is a plug-and-play event registration module that would meet BotCon's needs ... at least not one that doesn't need some major customization to meet BotCon's needs. Those of you who are programmers know that it's generally easier (or at least preferred) to work with your own code than it is to modify somebody else's code.

Savage wrote:Personally, I loved G2, and I'm thrilled by this set. If there's a g2 Ramjet / black Sideswipe / blue Grimlock in the mix, it'll probably become my favorite Set to date. But three figures isn't a solid justification for the massive expense that is BotCon. A guest list AND the boxed set figures would be enough to make most people feel informed and more patient about the registration. At least they'd know what they'll be getting.

I think some regular communication would be great ... that would go along way. Simple Twitter or Facebook fan page updates would be awesome, though I'd personally prefer Twitter.

I've been so engrossed with Seibertron.com lately (plus PlanetBeast.com and Eternians.com behind the scenes), that I didn't even know until yesterday that this weekend was the GI Joe Con. Which most likely means that nothing is going to happen with the BotCon side of things until at least after they get back some time next week.

TFCC wrote:NOTICE!! Any order placed after April 20th will not ship until Thursday, May 6th due to all staff being at the GIJoeCon from Friday, April 23rd through May 4th. BotCon dates are June 24-27, 2010 at the Walt Disney World Hotel and Convention Center in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Please go to Botcon.com for updates.

http://www.transformersclub.com/shop/

Prime Evil wrote:

UltraPrimal wrote:Sheesh, guys! It'll be up when it's up. Just be patient.

...I'm trying to get into the custom class. I'm trying to save $$!! I'm trying for the Thursday class...

Same here, I really want to get into that class.

OK, even I'm starting to get a little impatient. I thought for sure it would go up today, and have been patiently refreshing BotCon.com all day.

Seibertron wrote:

TFCC wrote:NOTICE!! Any order placed after April 20th will not ship until Thursday, May 6th due to all staff being at the GIJoeCon from Friday, April 23rd through May 4th. BotCon dates are June 24-27, 2010 at the Walt Disney World Hotel and Convention Center in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Please go to Botcon.com for updates.

http://www.transformersclub.com/shop/

DOH! JoeCon is this weekend?! Ofcourse they're not gonna post the registration! They're all over there. Shit! To think, I could have gone to the movies or something today.

All of this discussion about an event registration module has me wanting to program a mock-up of this that would work for FunPub's business model. I'm trying to think of what would be needed in order for this to work for them. Here are a few thoughts off the top of my head just to give some you an idea about the scope behind a project like this.

This project should be quoted as a flat price. A project of this size and scope should never be quoted hourly in my professional opinion.

Please note, I am a senior application developer. I am not a project manager. This is not a proper project plan ... this is just a general outline that I came up with us I walk through the process mentally.

0. One of the first orders of discussion would need to be the discussion of what language this module is to be programmed in. I'm a die-hard PHP programmer ... this could potentially be a problem if their existing website is programmed in another language such as Java, .NET, Perl, Python, Ruby on Rails, or Cold Fusion. Another area of concern is their existing database. I'm a die-hard MySQL database guy. If they're using something else (such as Oracle, SQL, Access (please god let's hope not), etc), this would also be an area of concern. One simple solution would be to have the store / event registration system on a separate subdomain which could be pointed at another server which could be setup with the desired environment needed to program the website application. If this route is taken, a discussion would need to be had at some point about good subdomains for this (such as registration.primary-domain.com or store.primary-domain.com, etc).

1. I'd advise that the system be setup up so that it could work with multiple websites. Same shared database, multiple sites with unique site IDs, different unique events.

2. Depending on preference, the sites could be setup to share a common admin section at one site which would allow them to filter by domain or by going to domain-1.com/admin (or domain-2.com/admin) it would automatically filter it for them. The admin section is needed in order for them to manage the websites and therefore our information.

3. Build a module that would allow them to create new events. Each event could be assigned to a particular website. If desired, the same event could appear on multiple websites though my gut instinct tells me that the event will always be specific to the site. The only way I could see them needing to have the same event appear on multiple websites is if they decided to combine the GI Joe convention with the Transformers convention.

4a. Client would need ability to create and assign "products" (items, other events, packages, tours, etc) to each event that would be available for people to "purchase" or "register for". Some items will need to be dependent on other items being in the cart/order.

4b. Alternatively, instead of creating events, the actual event could just be an "item" that you add to your cart/order. Just like "4a" above, items would be dependent upon each other (i.e. in order to purchase "item x", you must first purchase "item y").

4x. jQuery and AJAX would be great solutions to make adding items to an order/registration pretty seamless for the customer. This should be very customer friendly and idiot-proof. The customer should not be told that they need to add something to their order without being able to easily get back to the item that they need to add. Further discussion of ideas regarding this process would be required as well as possibly reviewing other websites that function in a similar fashion.

4y (addendum). I'm not a fan of the 4b solution because I think you could do more in the long run by having it as events with items assigned as mentioned in 4a. 4a could be tied into a content management system (CMS) that would allow you to do different things such as display content on a page outside of the "store" or "registration process". Bottom line is that there is a variety of ways to accomplish the same thing so a proper discussion would need to be have to further analyze the different scenarios and outcomes.

5. During the "checkout" or "registration" process, the user should be prompted to create an account in similar fashion to Zen-Cart or other popular shopping cart systems. I'd have to think some more about how to handle one individual ordering event packages for multiple people (such as a spouse, child, other family member, or friend). I still think you'd want people to create an account so that their information would be saved from year to year. Perhaps this would just be tied in with their existing club membership ... but then you have to consider that option as well (having people sign in to their club account).

6. Speaking of which, you'd have to have separate pricing for Club members and non-Club members (if for no other reason than for display purposes to prompt/encourage people to register for the club to get the discounts which pay for themselves). I would recommend that people just have to order a club membership or have a club membership as a required item if they're not logged in.

7. In addition to all of the above, you have to also consider quantity limits, item/event expirations or deadlines, etc. Quantity limits might affect possible display of messages informing the customer that only a certain amount of registrations are left before the room is booked. Client might desire quantity limits to display or other special messages (i.e. "only 5 days remaining" or "limited space available" are such examples that come to mind ... though these could also be incorporate easily into an item's description that the client would have to maintain on their own. Client would have to weigh cost vs convenience).

8. Upon completing their order, customer would be prompted for payment and shipping information if needed. An SSL certificate would be required in order to make the credit card processing secure (preferably from Verisign or GeoTrust, but there are other options available that are less expensive). I would recommend that payments are authorized and handled by Authorize.net (one of the largest payment processors out there). I can't remember off the top of my head which system of theirs I would recommend, but it's the one where they handle all credit card information so that none of it is stored on the client's database. I'm pretty sure it's their CIM module (Customer Information Manager). This would also make the whole process PCI Compliant. Authorize.net provides a unique code during the process that we could store in the database in order to handle future transactions.

9. Skipping ahead, once the user registers, notifications have to be sent out to the customer as well as the client. Depending on the amount of registrations, it might be ideal to send daily digest summary notifications to the client instead of sending them as they happen in real time. Notifications to the customer would be real-time. This would be a preference issue.

10 Client would need to be able to login to their site specific admin section(s) or their master admin section to view existing orders, limits, view reports (as needed and to include dollar amounts, profits, losses, remaining quantities, event specific registrations, etc).

11. One of the most challenging parts of this, or with any website, is the testing process. It must be thorough. It must work. Client must have multiple people testing the code ... and not just people who are familiar with this concept. It would be ideal to have someone who is not familiar with these concepts to go through the event registration process and document what errors or difficulties they encountered. Client should have 1 week of testing after initial development process has been completed. After that, the programmer(s) should make the fixes/changes/modifications that the client reported, go through the testing process again, and provide the client with access to the application again. Client should verify that their changes have been completed to their satisfaction. If not, process should be completed again. It is important to note that it is at this phase that scope creep generally happens (i.e. client realizes something that they wanted was never discussed or it didn't work the way that it was originally discussed). If new features or additional programming outside of the original project's scope are needed, a quote will be given based upon the rate agreed upon prior to the start of the project. Please note that additional work at this phase might be quoted hourly with hour estimates or a complete price might be given for the quoted changes.

NOTE: Now that I'm really thinking about this, I would want to build them a custom application that handled their store as well as the event registrations. Kill two birds with one stone. One system. That'd be ideal.

I've got more to add, but this was just off the top of my head. As I think of more throughout the next day or two, I'll update this topic. Hopefully this thread helps educate some of you who think this is something that can be done in a week (because it can't) and for those of you who keep comparing this to HTML (it's far, far, far more advanced than that).

Ryan..you never made sounding like a total nerd sound so damn Awesomesauce.....

That's it...I vote Ryan take over the reigns of Botcon...Hell i'll contribute! .I order a mean pizza and make good stiff drinks!

And here I was gonna joke around with a response like this: this year we are experimenting with the human nature. We want to see how fast Botcon can sell out by giving everyone 1 week to register prior to the event with twice the usual cost to get in and hotel costs. They compare the number of quick sells to the number of complaints.

Ah ignore my joking around, I just woke up from a 3 hour nap.

How fun ... it appears their website is written in ColdFusion. Sigh. Hasn't ColdFusion died yet?

http://www.transformersclub.com/shop/index.cfm?do=detail&productid=2120

ColdFusion can run on Windows or Linux so I'll have to dig a little deeper to determine if PHP can be used on their existing server to develop an event registration application.

It looks like their website is on a Windows OS. It appears to be using IIS according to this website:

http://builtwith.com/transformersclub.com

If this is to be integrated with their current system, a solution would need to be resolved first regarding what technology(ies) would need to be used. It would also need to be discussed how existing Club member information could be shared with a new event registration system.

And in comparison for shits and giggles:

http://builtwith.com/hasbro.com
http://builtwith.com/seibertron.com
http://builtwith.com/tfw2005.com
http://builtwith.com/tformers.com

It is important to note that PHP and MySQL can both run in a Windows environment if Apache is properly setup. I use PHP and MySQL in a WAMP (windows-apache-mysql-php) environment on my various computers. It is also important to note that if their existing site is using SQL, Oracle, etc that PHP will work with those databases as well ... I just prefer MySQL.

The club uses Powered Forums for their message board. Anyone know anything about Powered Forums? I'm mostly interested in knowing what type of a database it uses. It's interesting to note that the link for the "Powered Forums" logo in their forums footer goes to a real estate site now instead of somewhere to download "Powered Forums". Closest thing I could find for an official site for "Powered Forums" is Scratch that ... it appears that the original link for Powered Forums now redirects to a Bulgarian Real Estate website, which says to me Powered Forums was someone's own code base and they lost their domain or they got into a real estate business.

The link for Powered Forums, http://www.dkanos.com/cfm_powered/pforums.cfm, now goes to http://tetrabulgaria.com/. Considering the "2005" copyright date in the Club's forum footer, I'd say that the forums might need to be updated, especially considering how many security updates there are on a regular basis for vBulletin, phpBB, and other popular message board forum applications.

Copyright 2005, Fun Publications, Inc.

Dead Metal wrote:And I don't think Ryan's excuse with it costing a lot of money to make an entirely new registration program from scratch is a good enough excuse.

They run 2 conventions, the registration system can be used for both, plus if they make the investment in something like that they can reach more people as they will no longer be put off by how unprofessional they look.

While I agree with you about the "investment", an "investment" does cost money, especially one of this nature. An "investment" of this size, regardless of how key it is to a business model, is nonetheless an expense. I imagine it's also frustrating to the powers-that-be, that they have to spend the money on an investment like this when the old system has worked for the past 16 to 20 years. (when did the Joe convention start?) It is far easier to question why someone doesn't make a financial investment into their business when you're not the one writing the check(s).

Considering that the Club hasn't done online event registrations before (at least for the Transformers side of things), I'd take an educated guess that some of the higher ups at FunPub aren't necessarily the most tech savvy. That's not necessarily a fair statement to make because it might simply just come down to money ... and if that's the case, I can sympathize with that because it is expensive to build a website properly.

I don't think the Club or the conventions are real money makers where they just have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars just sitting around. Either way, the money side of this is really none of our business. I hope that they are making money because ... they should. Money's what makes the world go round, whether you like it or not.

If you really sit down and think about their expenses, they've got quite a bit ... especially when you think that they've already dumped a bunch of money into BotCon 2010 but haven't received a penny from us yet. I'm sure they had to put down a sizeable deposit (or the entire payment) on the rental of the convention center for at least 4 days (which I'd never considered until the past year while I'm planning my own wedding this fall), the cost to develop, manufacture, and package the Convention exclusives, the cost to write/draw/print the BotCon Comic and other miscellaneous paperwork for 2,000 to 8,000 people (depending on who's numbers you believe).

I'd love to see the cash flow ... I'm sure it can be an accounting nightmare, at least for someone like me it would be.

I guess bottom line of what I'm trying to say is ... please don't lynch FunPub. I'm just upset about the delay in registration because I can't plan that week yet. I'd like to see improvements to their system and process. I think it's great that we're having an open discussion about all of this because I'm sure someone from there will see this thread and will hopefully get some ideas about what needs to be done or how to improve their process(es).

I'd also like to hear some ideas about how the pickup process can be improved at the convention. It frustrates me every year that we have to wait in line for at least 4 to 6 hours to pick up our stuff. It seems like there has to be a better way to plan all of this. Got ideas? Share 'em!

--B-- wrote:

Delicon wrote:

UltraPrimal wrote:Sheesh, guys! It'll be up when it's up. Just be patient.

I think those of us who have planned to go to BotCon have been in fact just that. However, when you are making a large financial investment to attend a convention such as BotCon I think you deserve a little more attention/respect than what he have gotten recently. Don't get me wrong, BotCon is an enormous endeavor and FunPub overall has done a good job but this would seem to be a very vital thing they are dropping the ball on.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we were promised that we would be able to register in late February/early March as I recall and right now we're about to run out of April in a matter of hours. Wanting a real explanation and/or some action is not being selfish on our part.

Seriously. My wife is going to a fan event in mid-May, and she was able to register in November, had all of her conformations in hand in Mid January, and had her entire itenerary before the end of January. We were able to save so much on airfare since we had so much time to play with, but I'm not planning on going to Botcon if I can't get the set, and have passed on several grat sets of non-refundable, no-changable airfare.

FACT: The registration wait as already cost me more than 150 bucks.

I consider that unacceptable customer service.

This wouldn't be a doll convention in Phily or Pitsburg is it? My sister is going to one in May and she was able to register in November too. I have never understood how MC can put the hotel info out so early before the actual convention info; makes no sense to me. Oh and about the Joe Con, MC favors Joe Con more because it is older and has a slightly higher($$$) level of attendee.

One of the BIGGEST problems I see coming with Online Registration is the Customizing Class. In those precious seconds after going live, it's going to be a mad-dash to get in with only 100 slots open, thus flooding the server and possibly crashing it. It's time they updated the "fairness" for those that want to go to the class. Just like in 2007 when I got snubbed from going to Hasbro HQ due to tour limits, there should be a lottery for the Custom Class.

Rather than pre-pay for it at registration, and thus screwing everything up, the registration should go like this. You register for what package you want and any bonus set. That's ALL YOU PAY FOR NOW. On the form, should be the optional Custom Class Lottery Check Box for people that want a chance to get into the Custom Class. Have the Custom Class Lottery open for up to a week after registration goes live. Then select the lucky 100 people (50 for both classes). This allows the server load to be a bit more evenly distributed.

Really, that's the only fair thing to do. Some people have lots of free time, faster internet connections, or better computers. I also believe that the whole point of that class is to offer an INTRODUCTION to the art of repainting Transformers. I know of several people that have managed to go to it just about every year, and I think that's wrong. Once is an INTRODUCTION, more than once is taking a spot that could really benefit somebody who has been curious about it, but hasn't done it yet.

Of course, I'm also of the belief that TFCC should offer the sealed, disassembled figure for anyone that wants to repaint it on their own for the same price as those attending the custom class. Granted, you don't get the materials or instructor's help that way, but you still get the figure.

Now that I think about it, it would be really nice if that were the case, then it could be part of the online registration. Let anyone that wants the "Custom" figure add it on to their registration, then do a lottery on those that ordered the "Custom" figure to determine which one's get in the classes.

Heck, they could probably get away with offering the Custom Class figure as the Attendee Bonus, or even an additional bonus.

Fender Bender wrote:Really, that's the only fair thing to do. Some people have lots of free time, faster internet connections, or better computers. I also believe that the whole point of that class is to offer an INTRODUCTION to the art of repainting Transformers. I know of several people that have managed to go to it just about every year, and I think that's wrong. Once is an INTRODUCTION, more than once is taking a spot that could really benefit somebody who has been curious about it, but hasn't done it yet.

I actually disagree. I think the people that get to register first, server limitations notwithstanding, should be rewarded for being first. It's an incentive to get people to sign up early.

I don't understand the severe limitations. I'm guessing it has something to do with the figure that they order from the factory. They know they can easily sell 100 of 'em, so that's all they order. The last thing they'd want to get stuck with are some unfinished products that were left over from a class like this. If that is in fact the reason for this, it seems like it'd make more sense to do the class with an existing figure that is currently available at retail or is left over stock. Charge the appropriate amount for the figure plus the class and use that instead. That way you could do as many as necessary. Maybe there's classes all weekend long if the demand is there for it. From a business perspective, I just hate seeing lost money like this. If people want it, make it and make enough so that your costs are very minimal on whatever stock you get stuck with if it doesn't all sell. Hell, put it up on eBay ... I'm sure that'd get rid of whatever leftover stock there was. Man, now that I think about it, it sure seems like they could easily get rid of leftover class figures that way and make a few extra bucks on selling unused prototype figures from these classes to recoup costs.