They did come through the queue and scanned the tickets. Thats how we got our armbands before they opened. I saw them walk up and down the queue a few times.
VapeCon 2017 - Tickets online at iTickets
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If that was the case, then they did not do the whole queue. Why do I say that? Because that was my and about 500 other people's experience on the day.
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I can confirm this. They did 3 passes of the front of the line and then moved back.
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I cannot confirm if they went up the whole way, but I know of some people that left to go get breakfast and coffee when they scanned our tickets and when they returned to the queue they still got their tickets scanned.
Don't know why they didn't scan everyone.
I can confirm this. They did 3 passes of the front of the line and then moved back.
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3? Don't make me laugh, we only got scanned after, at the door of the venue, having been in the queue with others for 3 hours.
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I was there from 7AM bud. Uncle Rob made the first pass with the scanning team and then they did two more passes before going to the back. I didn't have my tickets physically with me and I asked if I could scan through my phone.
The only thing I could complain about was the way they set everyone up at the gate after we waited for hours in a single profile line they just told everyone to get to the front and people who were at the very back of the line had come and pushed their way into the front. That was the only negative comment I had about the event.
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The only thing I could complain about was the way they set everyone up at the gate after we waited for hours in a single profile line they just told everyone to get to the front and people who were at the very back of the line had come and pushed their way into the front. That was the only negative comment I had about the event.
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Then you were lucky. We never saw anyone scanning. Until we got to the entrance. Only people handing out flyers were around, as for rob, only on the stage.
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In any event, next year, I am advising one and all to do the cash line. Quicker, easier and no line to wait in.
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This is a slightly disingenuous. Let me explain why. NOTE: I have a fetish for queue dynamics and models. Don't read this if queues don't interest you.
Things to note:
- this is an amazing event that the admins (@Rob Fisher @Silver @Andre @shaunnadan) and others give of their time to organise with no remuneration for themselves.
- tickets prices were R60/R80. Which event can you gain entry for that price? It's rare that something is so cheap in this day and age.
- the security was excellent. I never felt unsafe and felt my car was well-guarded.
- I purchased tickets on-line
- I arrived at around 07:10 and there was plenty of parking available and the security staff were giving clear directions
- I joined the queue at 07:17
- @Rob Fisher and scanner came around at about 8am if I remember correctly. They started from the back of the queue, which by this time was almost at the entrance to Heartfelt Arena.
- The made two more passes. They did indeed do three passes.
- Around 25 minutes before the gates opened they bunched people at the front which I agree was a problem (see below).
- I was at the back of the main "clump" of people so we were probably the last of the "already scanned" people even though there were scanned people who had been behind in the single file queue that were in front of us.
- Once through the main gate I walked straight into the venue via the queue that had already been scanned (the two middle ones by the door).
- I made my first purchase at 09:26 which is not bad in my opinion
- Got everything I wanted and that's not bad considering that there were at least 500 people ahead of me in the queue when I arrived at approx 07:15
- When I left the venue to return to my car at 10:45 there was no more queue EXCEPT (and this is important) people who were purchasing cash tickets (some of which had to turn back to draw money from the ATM outside the entrance). More on this below.
- The single file queue prior to "the big bunch" move grew sideways. There were people joining the queue from the sides but not an immense amount. Some were at their cars eating/having coffee.
- I would surmise that is why the scanners stopped doing the rounds. People joining from the sides meant there was too much of a mix of scanned and unscanned. I would estimate that most of the people that arrived before 8AM were scanned if they had been aware of and listening to the ecigssa helpers.
- That road should have been blocked off once the queue formed. The cars driving down that road were not ideal.
- The "big bunch" was a flaw but in my view a necessary move on the day. The queue had reached the road and the pavement as you turn into the venue is not suited for a large queue and was probably unsafe. They had to move people forward to ensure everyone's safety: and this is the kicker. If I was delayed by 20 minutes to ensure people were safe then that's ok with me.
- The main sliding gate only opened on the left-hand side. This meant when they told unscanned ticket holders to queue on the left of the gate that they would be allowed in first. This was a mistake. In order to ensure fairness they should have let all scanned people with wristbands in first before letting cash or unscanned people in.
- Because the gate was open on the left hand side this means that people on the left hand side were admitted and this created a bottle next which means that anyone to the right of the opening was delayed.
- I waited two hours before gaining access but I paid R60 and wasn't really that hard done by in the end. I made my purchases and got to take advantage of the specials without too much hassle. If you're complaining on the principle of first-come first-serve then sorry but I doubt you missed anything major as a result of the organisation.
- Logically the first cash customer will get into the venue before the 20th online ticket customer. This will always be the case unless they have a different entrance time for cash customers (which seems draconian). However it's also logical that the 100th cash customer would have gotten in way later than the 100th pre-bought customer on the day. So on average it was an advantage to buy an online ticket. No-where was it stated that people would be let into the venue in order in which they arrived. To expect that is just naive. From speaking to a few people who were there last year they felt that having bought online tickets this year was more advantageous than it was last year.
- Back to the cost. Ecigssa could use an alternate venue with more advantage security, professional outsourced event organisers and more palisade fencing for queueing purposes. However this would probably drastically increase the entrance fee. Some may prefer this, some may not.
- Organisers should consider using fencing to form a zig-zag snaking queue in the parking lot. This would mean that queue integrity is maintained while still saving on space and getting the maximum amount of people into the queueing area in the first tier of the parking lot. HOWEVER this would mean that leaving the queue for the toilet or keeping a place for a friend would become near impossible. It may also have other security concerns.
- This single queue can then lead into the 4 separate queues in from of the entrance.
- Statistically single queueing systems like at Woolworths reduce average waiting time as opposed to the multiple queue system used at places like McDonalds. Use a single queue and then split at the front. There is research and there are mathematical models which shows this to be the most efficient.
- Having a single queue whose formation and integrity is enforced by fencing also allows the scanners to do their job more efficiently because they don't need to do multiple passes because the queue's composition does not vary over time.
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Nice post @Glytch
Here is a pic of @Rob Fisher keeping the queue in good cheer at 07h53 in the morning
Here is a pic of @Rob Fisher keeping the queue in good cheer at 07h53 in the morning
Now that is a human rights issue. Luckily I dosed myself before leaving home.
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I can relate. Was in Queue at 6:45. Ticket scanned and armband given. Ended up getting in when all the specials were sold out but none the less the eye candy made it all worth the while n loss lol. Awesome epic event.thanks admins.
Thanks for your epic post @Glytch
We did explain this when asked beforehand - that we would have one queue outside that would split into three tickets queues inside and only one cash queue. So you hit the nail on the head @Glytch in your comments about the first cash person getting in before say the 20th ticket person. But that the 100th cash person would have to wait far longer than the 100th ticket person. And this is indeed what happened. I was there and saw it.
@Rob Fisher was outside managing the outside queue and i was inside managing the entrance. I did observe that the people that had been pre-scanned outside got in to the venue in a flash. Much, much faster than last year.
The scanning staff did pre scan a lot of people outside before 9am. More than we anticipated. Thanks to their efficient new scanning hardware. So they did a great job. Perhaps there were some ticket holders they missed and we apologise for that.
But overall, the queuing and pre-processing went as we expected - actually a bit better than we expected.
PS - @Glytch, we will chat to you about queue dynamics before the next event
i want that mathematical model and am keen to hear about any way it can be improved!
We did explain this when asked beforehand - that we would have one queue outside that would split into three tickets queues inside and only one cash queue. So you hit the nail on the head @Glytch in your comments about the first cash person getting in before say the 20th ticket person. But that the 100th cash person would have to wait far longer than the 100th ticket person. And this is indeed what happened. I was there and saw it.
@Rob Fisher was outside managing the outside queue and i was inside managing the entrance. I did observe that the people that had been pre-scanned outside got in to the venue in a flash. Much, much faster than last year.
The scanning staff did pre scan a lot of people outside before 9am. More than we anticipated. Thanks to their efficient new scanning hardware. So they did a great job. Perhaps there were some ticket holders they missed and we apologise for that.
But overall, the queuing and pre-processing went as we expected - actually a bit better than we expected.
PS - @Glytch, we will chat to you about queue dynamics before the next event
i want that mathematical model and am keen to hear about any way it can be improved!
Thanks for your epic post @Glytch
We did explain this when asked beforehand - that we would have one queue outside that would split into three tickets queues inside and only one cash queue. So you hit the nail on the head @Glytch in your comments about the first cash person getting in before say the 20th ticket person. But that the 100th cash person would have to wait far longer than the 100th ticket person. And this is indeed what happened. I was there and saw it.
@Rob Fisher was outside managing the outside queue and i was inside managing the entrance. I did observe that the people that had been pre-scanned outside got in to the venue in a flash. Much, much faster than last year.
The scanning staff did pre scan a lot of people outside before 9am. More than we anticipated. Thanks to their efficient new scanning hardware. So they did a great job. Perhaps there were some ticket holders they missed and we apologise for that.
But overall, the queuing and pre-processing went as we expected - actually a bit better than we expected.
PS - @Glytch, we will chat to you about queue dynamics before the next event
There are some great models out there as well as some decent software simulation. Preprocessing tickets and handing out arm bands before was definitely worthwhile. Let's chat!
Yip there was an issue at the gate... the security peeps were trying to do thier own thing before I got there and the result was a bunch up at the gate... we do need a better system to get the rush of people in and try stop the queue jumpers who no doubt annoyed the crap out of the patient people. It was way better than last year but it still needs work and crowd control. Maybe hand out numbers to people in the queue... we will give the system some more thought.
When we arrived the line was moving very nicely, but we were not in the first 100, so I can't comment.
I saw a wide piece of grass next to the palisade fence. What if some barrier tape is used to make a snaking line on this piece of lawn
This is a nice idea.
My suggestion would be to have the line going from the gate towards the parking lot to avoid people going towards the road. At the front you can have 3(or more) lanes for people and use the same system you guys implied, left for pre scanned, middle for to be scanned and right for cash.
However judging by the way the event was outlayed, I'm more than confident that next year will be perfect.
As for the event, I'm stunned! Never seen any convention in SA with a vibe like that and the look was on an international standard so a big well done to all the event organizers and all those involved in making that event possible. It was my first VapeCon and it most certainly was not my last. 
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