Subject:
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Booth monitors and crowd control
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf
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Date:
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Tue, 8 Aug 2000 00:07:08 GMT
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Original-From:
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David K. Z. Harris <zonker@gnac*Spamless*.com>
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Viewed:
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719 times
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X-10 power control.
We had a wireless remote control to turn two outlets on or off. These
controlled the track controllers for both loops (ckt. 1) and the power
to the rotating doggie atop the Spamcake Diner (ckt. 2).
Oddly, the RF remote was usually in the hands of the operator who
stood closest to the track power controllers...which left the other
operator calling out "Stop the outter loop!".
I think the remote idea works well, and I'll develop that further.
I'll also suggest that we try to have more than one remote, so a few
booth monitors can "throw the switch" when they see trouble. The person
near the controllers would be the last person to get a kill switch. ;-)
These pocket remotes are also available in 4-ckt versions, and I may
consider picking up a few of those as well, for larger layouts.
Monitors on the outside
I think that having members on the outside worked well, when we had
some members outside helping. The main problem is, you don't have an
area to sit down when you are working outside. Since standing all day
is a drag, this also speaks to having shifts, or even rotating from
"inside" (with a chair") to "outside" during your shift.
More room on the inside
Well, I'd like to think that we were crowded due to a lack of planning,
but I have a gut feeling that tells me that even with great planning,
putting on a show will frequently throw us last-minute changes, and
I'm not sure how to plan for them.
The round house was to blame. It was an odd-size, versus Mike's tables.
There was a presumption of where the tracks would pass along the module,
but it was wrong, and we ended up designing the show layout all over
again on the back of used pages, less than 12 hours from move-in to
the show floor. At that point, it didn't matter about earlier versions,
or how much planning we had done. We guessed at a track design, but then
the task of putting it together showed us where we had mis-guessed at
room needed for switched track, etc.
In one area, we only had 30", and that was pretty narrow. We should
plan for more room in the middle, but since Mike's tables are 45" deep,
that means the booth needs to be larger (which means more tables...).
We also need to discuss tables versus modules again. Mike's still
working on his. Who else is planning on trying to build a module or
more on their own? (Maybe we should plan on those modules being used
to expand Mike's modules? He can make corners and switches, and the
others are simply straight tracks following his zoning/placement plans?)
When would we want to use tables instead?
Mike was talking about selling his tables before the show at cost.
I don't know if they are still available. After the teardown, I think
Mike, Tom McD. and I agree that the tables with fold-up legs are much
nicer towork with than the PNLTC-style...maybe Mike's going to retrofit
his tables, and use them for modules?
My main point here is that we probably need to try to get our tables
together before a show, and make sure we all see how they fit. The
NMRA show was the first time many of these tables and legs had been
mated together, and new holds had to be drilled, etc. The show floor
is a hard place to do integration. Having a test-run before the show
would have given us some time to rework the track plan, and maybe even
make another table or two. (We can now try to make some layout designs
with more room, so when we get asked to display, we can try to get a
slightly larger booth, having tried a few other designs.)
On-site storage
With most display items arriving in LEGO tubs and model boxes, these
containers were visible to the visiting public. Many folks thought we
were selling LEGO. Some kids wanted to open the boxes. I think having
some kind of drape in front would have been great, to hide the boxes,
as well as concealing our chairs, and personal belongings.
-Z-
--
Zonker Harris (zonkerh@corp.webtv.net, zonker@gnac.com)
GNAC Broadband Network Architect, Microsoft Broadband Deployment
MS-SVC-1:2179 1065 La Avenida, Mt. View, CA
v) 650.693.8403 f) 650.693.0202
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Booth monitors and crowd control
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| I think alot of the inside room and table problems will be solved with a standardization of tables. If they are all the same general length, width and heigth not only can the planning be completely layout based, but set up should be faster. I know (...) (24 years ago, 8-Aug-00, to lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf)
| | | Re: Booth monitors and crowd control
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| David K. Z. Harris <ba-lego@cinnamon.com> wrote in message news:v03130306b5b4e1...12.115]... (...) Sorry, Zonker, but I just can't live without a remote control of some sort in my hands. :-) (...) I belive I have 2 8 switch remotes with variable (...) (24 years ago, 8-Aug-00, to lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf)
| | | Re: Booth monitors and crowd control
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| (...) I think I had to use this once because the dog got motion sickness. ;-) (...) That's true. There was some operator "floating" going on. (...) But even so, it's hard to stand still inside the display. I would move to monitor another side if the (...) (24 years ago, 8-Aug-00, to lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf)
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