Vakkotaur

From Fark commentary:



<Tweety>Aw, did we bweak their widdle bwains?</Tweety>

Or maybe, ACME Delivery: Lessons from Penguicon.

I'm not sure that the ACME ale went as well as it could have. It's not that what happened was bad, as I know some folks drank it, as evidenced by the odd empty bottle I saw in the con suite. It's just that... well, it seemed to not quite hit as well is could have. I recall that at MFF I was rather busy and didn't do a proper Orvan delivery but just took some to the gopher area. I think that if I do anything with it again, I might just check out room parties and pick one. I was tempted to write "most deserving" but that's hard to say, and "most in need" doesn't sound very nice. Right now I'm debating if I'll do that bit at all at RCFM - though if I read one comment right, someone might be disappointed if ACME IPA doesn't show up. I don't have any recipient in mind, and I don't recall any room parties last year. But then last year Jay & I went for the "Booster" level and I spent a fair amount of time at the Booster (and GoH) Appreciation Party. Therefore I wasn't checking out any of the rest of the con in that time. As far as I can tell, RCFM doesn't coordinate and try to block together room parties, but I could be wrong.

Orvan needs some sort of ribbon dispenser. It's just too awkward to deal with ribbons in a pocket with those hooves. Though now that I have the gold-on-black "ACME Customer" ribbons, they can be included with the delivered items or be attached to the parcels next Penguicon. Also, I should only need the black-on-yellow ACME ribbons next time, so they should be right. Or so I thought, I have reason to add another ribbon, which could also cause confusion. I should probably order a lot more than I did this year. This year I was really trying to get rid those defective things. I'm not sure how such a dispenser would work, but I have a while to think of something.

I'm debating if Orvan should have a holstered pocket knife or such. Many folks don't have a knife handy and have to ask to borrow from someone in the vicinity. Such a thing would have to be clearly not a weapon so as to avoid getting peace-bonded and thus have its utility removed. I've also noticed that some folks choose to open a parcel from the bottom. Perhaps I need to split the top label to make it easier to see the top of the box and where to cut.

While the big huge ACME sack works well for big things, it's not so good for smaller items. Rather than (just) a smaller version, perhaps I need to make, or have made, a pouch. That would allow for smaller items and give Orvan a place to stow odd little items for those who ask him if he has anything for them. Though he might need lots of whatever that might be, once word gets out. This sort of thing is another item I get to think about and be on the lookout for.

And... I need to shed a bunch of pounds. Again, dagnabbit. While I fit into the fursuit well enough, Orvan's belt is rather tight and that needs to be fixed. That's just one of many reasons for me to shed that weight, but it's added to the list.

Shortly after Midwest FurFest there were a few postings about how many folks were seen around "headless" rather than in full fursuit. This triggered a few arguments and there seem to be two camps: "It's just a costume, big deal." and "Don't spoil the magic." Each has their points. But it occurs to me that while the visible part is the "headlessness" that it's not the root of issue. The real issue might be a disagreement about what is the stage and what is backstage, or if there is a stage at all.

( All the World's a Stage )

After MFF I noticed a few things about Orvan and listed them. I tried to keep those in mind at Penguicon and can see, somewhat, how well the changes or attempted changes went.

Orvan needs to look up more, or at least not down quite so much.
Orvan needs to "overact" for photos and make the still shot seem more alive.
Looking up (straight) isn't easy as Orvan needs to look down if I am to be able to see what is going on around me. I did remember to look up at least some of the time when stopped for photos. I did forget the overacting some. Then, Orvan was almost always representing ACME this time, and so sticking to a more reserved business manner made sense.

I need to be sure to put Orvan's belt on under his tail.
Orvan needs slightly longer shorts, and those shorts should have belt loops.
I found some longer shorts that had belt loops. The belt being in the loops meant I couldn't put the belt on over the tail.

Deliveries actually go fairly quickly and so more of them can be done without burning the bit out.
Needing help to locate a recipient won't hurt the bit. It could even make the bit.
These are true, if one can find the recipient in a reasonable time. It's also possible for it to take way too long.

Having a photographer/assistant along is not needed, but is quite nice.
Very true. The photo collection would have been very limited indeed without jmaynard taking pictures - and having him there to explain things some helped quite a bit as well.

Orvan could use "business cards" to give to folks who take his picture so he (I) can get copies.
I didn't do this and really should. I did eventually give a couple slips of paper with contact info to a couple folks, but so far haven't heard anything back. Having a ready supply would mean a higher likelihood of contact information getting to someone who would follow up and send a photo.

Orvan should spend some time outside during the day when light is good and good photos can be taken.
Orvan did step outside a couple times during daylight, but just to cool off. As he was alone, he didn't venture very far from the hotel entrance.

The candy giveaway bit works, but a different container would be good. One such that any sign on it is completely visible in any photo.
I haven't seen any photos with the new container, but it did work better overall. I need to make a sort of grid or lattice for inside it so that when it's nearly empty the cow tails aren't fallen over and hidden. I'm also not sure how much more I can or should do that bit. It might be good to give it a rest after RCFM, or just scale it back to only one outing per event. Or just change candy? Yet the cow tails seem such an appropriate thing - so long as I can find them reasonably priced.

And some new observations:

Everybody knows ACME. And knows things from ACME can go boom. The first part means there is little if any bewilderment about what is going on. Uniformed creature with parcel and clipboard says "delivery" even without the badge. The badge and big bold ACME on the parcel completes the picture. The second part makes for an initial joke that everyone gets - or can make. I'm amused by it. Orvan isn't, but then he works for ACME.

Not finding a recipient can work out, but at Penguicon I just plain got lucky with the final delivery. Trying to find some of the others got a bit tiresome when it took a while. I'm not sure what can be done to take care of this as either it's a quick delivery or it seems to drag, at least to me and perhaps to whoever is with me. The interaction of asking folks if they've seen someone, however, probably makes things memorable for them.

Interaction is everything. I have good memories of a few rather bad ren faires because I experienced interaction on a level that some supposedly successful faires haven't matched. I expect the same is true here. Orvan isn't just a statue or even a moving statue. Orvan does stuff even if it's a mundane something like parcel delivery. The candy giveaway bit is another case of doing something. Folks don't just see an ox, they meet an ox trying to give them candy or looking for someone. There's a difference.