Costumes: When should I wear mine?

[Joshua Logan]

I voted Friday. I agree with Andy that Saturday is a VERY busy day, what with tournaments ending, finales of games, etc etc. Friday isn't so bad because a lot more people are there because they can actually take like a couple extra hours off of work to get to the con earlier instead of sacrificing a couple days of work (which eliminates opening day of course) and no one is going to be so hectic to try and fit every last event they can together (i.e. Saturday). Fridays would be a very good choice.

Dennis, you're just worried that you wont be able to dance as well in your costume... you KNOW you wanna do costumed DDR finals!! itll make it that much more memorable

I gotta agree with Cassie on this, whats the point of having it on saturday, the biggest day with the most attendees, if those votes arent going to determine the winner?  people would rather see their vote count, and the votes that come in that day should be counted and a winner announced Sunday morning.  This isnt the electoral college!

[Tiny]

     Personally I would like an input as to what the best costume is, and hey I'm a VP with Double Exposer and the Con Chair, so I get that input. I'm looking at this from the point of view of an average con attendee. If they don't vote and use the voice that is available to them fine, but no one can ever say they did not have the opportunity.

     This forum is all about having that opportunity. It gives people strength to influence the world around them. If 15 people decide who the winner is then fine, that's still more then 3.

     By doing the whole contest with pictures it opens up the contest to a larger # of people. People who may want to participate, but may not due to event conflicts will be able to.

[Denn]

Dennis, you're just worried that you wont be able to dance as well in your costume... you KNOW you wanna do costumed DDR finals!! itll make it that much more memorable

Please dude. Its a nice fitting costume. Do you actually think I won't try that?

[Joshua Logan]

Please dude. Its a nice fitting costume. Do you actually think I won't try that?

oh, i hope you will, that way you can bow away in defeat as strong bad outdances you on the phat beats

[Tiny]

You guys need to start a new thread for DDR smack talking.

[Shannon]

I'm kinda liking the two people sitting at a board thing.  There are details you just can't get in pictures, like the flow of a skirt when it twirls, etc.

[CassieMcCullin]

     Personally I would like an input as to what the best costume is, and Hay I'm a VP with Double Exposer and the Con Chair, so I get that input. I'm looking at this from the point of view of an average con attendee. If they don't vote and use the voice that is available to them fine, But no one can ever say they did not have the opportunity.

     This forum is all about having that opportunity. It gives people strength to influence the world around them. If 15 people decide who the winner is then fine, thats still more then 3.

     By doing the hole contest with pictures it opens up the contest to a larger # of people. People who may want to participate, but may not do to event conflicts will be able to.

A hall contest actually at the con with pictures would give you the opportunity to have input Or are you saying you want to be a *judge*, and not just vote?

The forum may be about opportunity, but there are things a picture won't show. There are construction details that are just not visible. For instance - not to say this is true, in fact I believe the opposite - Dennis's Sephiroth costume could be unhemmed, stapled together in parts, and the shoulders could be made of spray-painted cardboard. But that might not be visible in a picture. So it might win over a costume where someone actually took the time to get every little detail right and the construction is perfect. On the other hand, maybe it deserves best costume - because Dennis just acts so freakin' badass in it that he practically becomes Sephiroth, in which case you can't tell that from a picture, either. With the bulletin board at the con system, the pictures are basically just reminders of the people you've seen wandering around all day. But by the time people get to the boards to vote, they may well have forgotten what a costume really looked like.

As for the "event conflicts" thing, well, A) there are always going to be things that someone wants to do that conflict, it happens at cons all the time, they can deal with it; and B) I was thinking of doing something Otakon has done a few years running, which is set up a time by which to just register (fill out a form with name, badge number, and costume, and get your Polaroid taken), and then you will get a specific time to come to the judges' table and be looked over. Of course I (and hopefully whoever is helping me) will do everthing possible to honor their request. This method eliminates a lot of standing in line, allows more people to participate, and generally keeps it less of a madhouse.

As for dancing in costume - aside from the "stay hydrated more than usual because that thing looks really warm!" bit - you should be able to dance in almost any costume A little trick to see if your costume fits well and make sure moving around won't bust the seams that many cosplayers have used is to put it on and vaccuum the house in it - but DDR works just as well

[Tiny]

     Wow  and all I was thinking was that we could Keep It Simple.

     Honestly your idea is great, all your points are valid. The only thing that is missing is the experience of running a costume contest at a gaming con that does not have a tradition of having costumes.

     If you want to do it this way, I will not say you can't do it. I jest think we first need to get people to wear costumes and think of DE cons as a place to wear their best costume to. They don't think that way now they may in a year or two.

     Anime cons Traditionally have far more people wearing costumes and doing cosplay.

[CassieMcCullin]

     Wow  and all I was thinking was that we could Keep It Simple.

You are right, it would likely be pretty small since DE cons don't have a costume history. But the setup is still fairly simple (to me, anyway ), and if it's small, then we get to beta-test a system on a small group rather than a large group. The weakest link in the whole thing is that depending on how many people show up, whoever is a judge at the con may have to give up a lot of other things. I don't do anything else so it doesn't bother me But I would like a second and possibly third opinion. Who, exactly, can wait until closer to the con, though

The more important thing right now is actually rules. What's allowable? Would costumes that are commisioned - not, someone's mom made it, but they were purchased on a request - allowed? (not to be confused with a costume created from purchased pieces and assembled by the wearer, which is also a separate question)  Given that it's not likely to be very big, I don't want to put in a whole bunch of restrictions or too many categories, but it's not fair to the person who slaved over their costume, only to have it not come out quite as good and lose to someone who just plonked down a bunch of cash.

Thoughts?

[Tiny]

Barb Use to run the costume contest at ShoreCon, she still has all the paper work and rules. She can bring the to Lugosicon and you can look them over.

One of the things that Barb did was have the guests of the con as the judges for the contest.

BTW I never intended to have the hole contest on line , the top 5 would be picked at the con, the top prize would be done on line.

[Joshua Logan]

Barb Use to run the costume contest at ShoreCon, she still has all the paper work and rules. She can bring the to Lugosicon and you can look them over.

One of the things that Barb did was have the guests of the con as the judges for the contest.

BTW I never intended to have the hole contest on line , the top 5 would be picked at the con, the top prize would be done on line.

i like the guests as judges idea...

also, i know you werent planning the whole contest online, im just torn on having ANY part of it online for two reasons
1) it makes it a requirement to be online to vote.  im personally against this, not because im against the internet, but i dont like having it be a requirement for anyone to NEED to be on a computer/online for something
2) to a degree, it makes the votes at the con count less, because the you vote once at the con, where we see mannerisms and the costume in action.  and then we have to vote again out of the top 5? i feel it eliminates the popularity of a costume at a convetion, especially since we know there will be SIGNIFICANTLY less voting online then at, say, DexCon or Dreamation

id say have the top five people be showcased online, just to show off their costumes... not as a means of voting, but just to show off who the top 5 were

[Barbara]

Barb Use to run the costume contest at ShoreCon, she still has all the paper work and rules. She can bring the to Lugosicon and you can look them over.

Note to self find and print out rules and the forms.

And yes it was fun having the guests be the judges but also I had workmanship awards done by people who sewed. I was basically the supervisor for the event.

Barbara
'it's Wednesday and I got how much work to do before Friday?'

[`_100003005030 (Zero)]

My personal feeling (besides that this needs its own thread, and should probably be moved to another board), is that the awards should be given out AT the con.  It's what makes the con special.  Nothing more anti-climactic than having people parade around in costume, announce the finalists and then ... wait a week to find out who won.  (Look at the difference between the Oscar nominations -- held at a 0 o'clock press conference -- and the awards, with all the fancy-dressed folk in attendance.  Which do you think is more memorable?)

If you really want a Web segment to it, I see two valid options:

1.  A post-con picture gallery, with the ability to vote for a Forum Fave, to be awarded later online.

2.  A pre-con picture gallery, with pictures sent in ahead of the con, with a contest for "fan favorite" to be awarded onsite.  This might serve to drive a bit of interest in the contest before the con, but doesn't take away from the con itself.

Linda

[Tiny]

I agree this should not be talked about her.

People who want to discuss How to run a contest please follow the link bellow.
http://www.dexposure2.com/forum//index.php/topic,447.0.html

  Everyone else enjoy voting.   

[Tiny]

Voting is not closed yet, Use your voice, or lose it.

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