InstructureCon 2015 Public Postmortem

[jordan]

tl;dr: This is an open discussion where you all can publicly share your qualitative thoughts and feedback about InstructureCon 2015! Please post before reading the comments from others. Then feel free to reply to others!

So InstructureCon 2015 came, took our breath away (thanks Olivia), and now it's over. Fortunately the great sessions, ideas, and connections we made, can live on within our Canvas Community and the InstructureCon 2015 community space!

Please be sure to take that survey that our marketing team sends out, so we can make instcon even better next year. That quantitative feedback is invaluable.

In addition we wanted to have an open discussion where you all can publicly share your qualitative thoughts and feedback about InstructureCon 2015!

Here's some things you might want to talk about: the sessions, the keynotes, the general sessions, the activities, the online schedule, the printed schedule, opportunities to connect, ideas for the community team to improve community interaction and engagement.

Thanks for your help Canvas Community...  We ❤️ you!

Onward and upward!

---

Please @mention other community friends or use the "Share" tool to encourage others to offer their feedback as well!

talk about a #ff FYI:

 @scottdennis ​,  @Renee_Carney ​,  @biray ​,  @shauna_vorkink ​,  @kona ​,  @clong ​, awilliams​,  @mjennings ​,  @travis_thurston ​,  @ewander ​,  @seanmichaelmorr ​,  @jared ​,  @scottdennis ​,  @G_Petruzella ​, Deactivated user​,  @canvas_admin ​,  @mfgu ​,  @tdelillo ​,  @hvaughn ​,  @ted_coopman ​, 229780​,  @sbastian ​,  @kschneider25 ​,  @jmunoz1 ​,  @anthonem ​, st2840​,  @rseilham ​, Deactivated user​,  @jward ​,  @dlyons ​, Deactivated user​, Deactivated user​, JGarton​, 504417​,  @bacherts ​,  @SethBattis ​,  @mlattke ​, Deactivated user​, erinhallmark​,  @sabsmith ​,  @adam_b_nemeroff ​

[rgibson1]

[kona]

Hey awilliams, does this seem familiar??

[scottdennis]

I made that mistake at Instcon12 - never again!

[canvas_admin]

Deactivated user We're going to buy Pandemic for our staff (and I'm going to buy it for me personally) all because of Game Night.  I will always be appreciative for that!

[jordan]

Wohoo! That's a great way to grow together as a team! Isn't pandemic what life is all about? We all have different skills and strengths. We need to get to know one another's unique abilities and help one another be the best we can be. So... um... we can prevent epidemics from spreading and destroying the world. Right... that's it!   When you're ready to hear about some other great games, we have a lot of people in the community who can lead you in the right direction for another really fun game to get!

[clong]

Ryan, one of the reasons I love InstructureCon​ is because it's is NOT split into K-12 and Higher Ed. The diversity is amazing and I love networking and learning with the Higher Ed Folks that us K-12 peeps would never otherwise have the privilege of doing so. I hope this doesn't change! There's not many conferences where this opportunity is afforded.

[kmeeusen]

Chris:

I also appreciate the blend of K12 and HEd. I often find myself sitting in on K12 presentations because the topics are also useful for our college, and at the same time I get them from a K12 perspective which can be very useful. There is a lot of creative stuff happening in K12.

[sbastian]

This was my first InstructureCon, although not my first (by a long shot) Educational/EdTech conference. This one blew the others out of the water. I'd put it on par with the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) conference but with a much better venue and a more fun/entertaining vibe.

I really don't do altitude well at all. The anti-altitude-sickness medication I got from my doctor helped, but not 100%. But it's SO PRETTY up there! I really did love the location. I LOVED being able to ride the Orange Bubble Gondola on Tuesday - I only wish it was open later in the week as well - nothing beats an open-air view of that area! I also liked that the gondola rides were free and there was enough time here and there to ride them. I certainly had no time to explore anything else in the area (if I can swing it next year, I'll plan for an extra day or two to do just that).

I was EXTREMELY happy to find the "Special Diets" food in the Farm. As a pescatarian, I appreciated not having to second-guess what was in the food, and the chef and his staff went above and beyond to give us creative, healthy, beautiful food. I kept hearing complaints about the "regular" food, but the Farm was just a gem.

The sessions were short, which at first I thought would be a problem, but most tailored their presentations to fit the time slot and promised us we'd have access to slides and video later, so it felt OK. A few I wish had a longer time slot - maybe there could be a variety of session lengths with a few going 60-90 minutes each day? Just a thought. Nearly all of them were crowded, no matter how large the room. I quickly learned to hop on the nearest golf cart (THANK YOU for those!) and head to the front of the room to find a seat (there was almost always a front-row seat available even when the room looked packed to overflowing - only once did I have to sit on the floor). I spoke to someone driving a golf cart who said the conference had nearly doubled in size this year - wow! I think that showed in the crowded session rooms. I'm not sure what the best solution is - are there more rooms? Cap attendance (boo)? Maybe erect some smaller tents or use the bigger tents for some breakout sessions? Maximize the space you have!

Despite being involved in the online Community Space and jumping on the Twitter bandwagon, I felt like I was missing some information all week. I discovered the Unconference VERY late in the game, but managed to get into the "course" on time and attend part of the it. I was already registered for some Pre-Conference sessions, so I couldn't attend all of it (which I suspect is why it was on the down-low - free vs paid sessions). I didn't understand what the General Sessions were about and almost skipped them in favor of a nap - until I asked a conference veteran who explained that's when we learn about new stuff in Canvas. In retrospect, I think all the information I needed was indeed, somewhere, but for some reason, I felt a bit scattered compared to other conferences I've attended. The hugely enthusiastic, energetic, and helpful Instructure staff more than made up for it though - They were easy to locate with their matching shirts, they were EVERYWHERE, and not one ever hesitated to help out and make everyone feel super-welcome. They really made the difference in this conference in my opinion. Kudos to Instructure for fostering such a great sense of community and welcome in your staff!

The Wi-Fi issues were, in my opinion, inexcusable. During the Pre-conference, I was unable to participate at all in one session due to not being able to connect. I eventually got onto the hotel Wi-Fi, but their connection was so slow I was unable to keep up with the hands-on class. It felt like a huge waste of $100 for that session. 😞  I asked the IT guys I found in the hall during that session why my laptop couldn't find an IP address - I was told they were "working on it". But the connection issues continued all week - some times I was golden, others, I couldn't connect at all. Incredibly frustrating! Especially for a tech conference where folks were encouraged to bring multiple devices. Again, I suspect this was a function of growing pains, and I hope and trust that it will be much improved for InstCon2016.

I liked the theme, but the color scheme left a lot to be desired. All the yellow was extremely hard to read - both on the website prior to the conference as well as in the PowerPoint templates presenters were given.

There was almost too much to do - I wanted more time! More time to meet and chat with folks from around the world. More time to play games at game night, more time chat and learn at Hack Night. I may, possibly, have tried to do "everything", which may not have been the best plan. But I had a blast!

The swag was generous, but perhaps include some more practical items like water bottles (I HATED to keep using plastic bottles and then searching for a recycling bin), a notebook (I found one on the last day - I could have used it earlier to take notes during the sessions), etc...

A huge THANK YOU for the air-conditioned giant tent for the keynotes and general sessions. If those had been held outside in the blistering sun, I would have had to look for a live-feed or wait for the YouTube video.

Overall, I had a ton of fun, learned enough to keep me busy for weeks if not months, met a whole new community of awesome people, and came home both energized and exhausted. Well played, Instructure. Rock on!

[DaleDrees]

Thank goodness for the Farm!!! Could not agree more - the food was great and everyone working there were awesome!

[rhelbock]

InstructureCon thoughts:

As much as we tried to hustle to a few anticipated sessions, three of them were full. This was very disappointing as I've never been turned away from a session at a conference. Venue seemed too small and overbooked. Too much gimmick and not enough substance.

Food, schwag and entertainment were unprecedented in my decade-plus of educational conference experience but session content (the one's that weren't way over room capacity) was sup-par in my experience. The session rooms were simply too small. I will likely not attend another InstructureCon because of this. Keynotes were very good. Every Canvas staffer we encountered (and there were more than enough, which was great) was pleasant and accommodating. Nice job, folks! It was a nice diversion but I didn't get much out of it. Sorry.

[rhelbock]

Oh yeah, and the Wi-Fi was only slightly better than no wi-fi. This should be a major embarrassment to those in charge of this service. I had to resort to using my own metered hot spot.

[xcotto]

First time InstructureCon 2015 and I really enjoy it those 3 days at the conference. I
did have a blast time, but those 3 days weren’t enough. Maybe 1 or 2 additional
days will get to cover all those sessions we missed because sometimes there was
some Sessions at the same time so you’ll have to pick up one of them. But
overall it was a privilege being part of the INSTCON15 .

• I was delighted were it
  took place at the Canyons amazing view and
  area with a lot of space. Looking forward to my next Vacation trip @ theCanyons.
• Food and drinks were very accessible. Plenty of
  bottle of water I just had like 25 of them lol.
• Key Note Sessions I really liked them and the place was perfect with a
  lot of chairs and Big A/C to chill the place out. Awesome Presentation with the
  colors and Love the Wallpapers SCL 2015 The Musical.
• I Love the Canvas Community you people rock! Didn’t
  get to meet y’all but hopefully next year.
• The Panda Mascot was on Vacations? He really
  missed this year @INSTCON15. Next
  year no Vacations for the Panda!
• It wasn’t too much interactive like the last
  year at the Forum. But we had fun playing all the games at the Forum.

All I can say is Thank you Canvas InstructureCon for having
us and spent a blast time with all of you. Also many thanks for those canvas
staff member giving us the ride to all the sessions at the Canyons. :smileyplus:

[awilliams]

This was my first instructurecon​ and it lived up to my expectations (which were pretty high). Above all else I enjoyed the people and conversations I had in between sessions and at the uncon​. I regret not being able to stay for the full schedule on Thursday, but alas I planned my flight out poorly.

Venue: I love the area. Plenty to do in the area outside of the conference. I will understand if the conference outgrows the venue, but it will be a bit sad.

Staff / Employees: Part of the "people" thing but everyone I met from Instructure was wonderful. Shout out to  @scottdennis ​, Deactivated user​,  @ndittemore ​ (CSM).

Keynotes / General Sessions: I enjoyed the keynotes by Instructure employees the most. The other two keynotes were interesting but I can watch a TED talk any day.

Break-Out Sessions: I had no trouble finding interesting sessions to attend, but did run into a few conflicts were it seemed like there were similar interesting sessions going on concurrently that I had to choose between. Not a big problem since they're all posted online later and hopefully the discussion can continue through the community spaces set up for those sessions. There was indeed an issue with the room sizes. I wonder if it would be possible to live stream each session so if a session fills up you could participate virtually. I'm imagining watching the live stream and asking questions through a chat feature. Perhaps Google Hangouts on Air, Meerkat, or Periscope are viable options for this?

WiFi: This could use some work. Networks were getting overloaded quite quickly and presenters need their own network.

Navigating Sessions: I made my own paper version of my schedule and I found referring to that was the quickest reference. Perhaps better wireless will make online scheduling more feasible but I also think people who used the conference booklet are on to something and any design changes to facilitate that would be nice. The shuttles and distance weren't a problem for me but I didn't have to make the Silverado to Hyatt trip many times.

Pre-Conference / UnConference: I opted for the Unconference and LOVED IT! As others have said I wish more of the conference was like this. Smaller groups and lots of open discussion.

Thanks to the entire team for another successful conference. I can't begin to imagine how much work it takes to organize such an event. Well done!

Also thanks to those I got to meet and hang out with. You really made the conference for me. I will surely leave some out but here's a quick list of who I met.

 @scottdennis ​, Deactivated user​,  @ndittemore ​,  @James_Kocher_UF ​,  @canvas_admin ​,  @G_Petruzella ​,  @kona ​,  @clong ​.

[scottdennis]

Thank you, Adam.  Being a part of the conference is tremendously rewarding for me personally.  I'm glad we got the change to meet briefly - hopefully more in the future.

[KristinL]

Wow. I don't even know where to start.

InstructureCon 2015​ was my first. I traveled with one other person from my institution, and the entire conference, the two of us made connections and shared ideas about how to implement things at work.

standouts from this year:

...relevancy and practicality. I felt that I was able to apply discussions, key notes, and breakout sessions to my classroom and professional development leadership role. So cool! I look forward to taking some of my new "smarts" and making my job more efficient, and fun!

...networking. Overall, people were willing to collaborate or just talk! It was a lot of fun to discuss ed tech with other enthusiasts.

...UX Tent. It was a lot of fun to see the upcoming changes and to talk with developers. Developers, thank you for taking the time to talk to me about my thoughts and my institution's needs.

...branding. SCL was everywhere, but I didn't feel like the theme was overdone. It was neat to find small details and cohesive design work.

...food/beverages: thanks for keeping us fueled! No shortage there!

...swag! Thanks Deactivated user​ for telling me to leave some room in my suitcase for Canvas awesomeness.

my wish list for next year:

...optional regional or state meet ups. It would be great to have the opportunity to network with individuals that use Canvas and that are close to your stomping grounds. Maybe these could be in the evening while dinner and other activities are going on too.

...a program with space to write. I loved the graphics and how it tied into the visual theme for the conference, but it was difficult to keep track of breakout sessions. Thank goodness for post-it's. A lighter background or built in white space would be great so we could keep notes and remember which sessions to catch later. Could there be a way to add a note space for each session time (not each option!) for key ideas, contacts, etc?? That way I could carry one item rather than the program and notebook paper for notes.

...include "track" or intended audience group for breakout sessions. I saw a note somewhere(?), but it would be very helpful to have the focus (K-12, higher ed, tech) and the level of Canvas experience listed with the ssession details.

InstCon was an amazing experience. I'm already looking forward to seeing next years focus, and I hope I can attend!

[kona]

Great idea to suggest some region or state meet-ups!

[KristinL]

 @kona ​, while we happened to meet briefly at Hack Night, it would have been great to see who else from Midwest Regional Canvas Users​ was there, right?!

[scottdennis]

I hope that by next year there will be enough group cohesion happening in the community that lots of regional groups will want to meet up at the conference.

[rgibson1]

[kona]

And PS rgibson1​ I wasn't the only one who got to meet Olivia NJ!  @travis_thurston  and a few others got too as well!

[asivia]

Great conference!  Suggestions are as follows:

• Ditto on the black pages in the program.  I put a star next to interested sessions and I could see it if I turned the page a certain way. 
• Have a table staffed with support agents!  Life in Canvas goes on outside of InstCon so when I was searching for a support agent to solve a strange thing with Collaborations, I found a kind CSM who got me in touch with a higher up support agent. 
• Love the Canyons!  While I don't mind the walk, 15 minutes was really pushing it going from the Hyatt to the Silverado.  Maybe a few more minutes would be nice?
• Loved the snacks and drinks in each building for in between sessions.
• Offer a BOF session.  I would have liked to have met up with all Canvas Admins (since I'm an admin).

Thanks for everyone's hard work!  It's a big deal to put on a conference like that!

[rgibson1]

Does anyone know how we receive our 100 badge points for attending #instcon?

[scottdennis]

Hey Rob,

You'll get them soon.  We have to manually award them to (to 2000 people).  It's a coming...

[Renee_Carney]

Yes, you can find the information here DIGITAL BADGES (instcon15)

NOTE: This badge will be manually awarded (so please be patient). If you do not see it in your profile by 7/31/15, please follow these steps.)

[DaleDrees]

I have to say another added bonus to the conference that I realized today was the interaction with the vendors. Before going to the conference I was having a terrible time helping faculty pair their McGraw Hill course with their Canvas course, let alone trying to sync their grades to Canvas from the publisher website. I happened to run into the McGraw Hill representative at the conference and told him about the issue and he told me a couple of things I could try and since returning to Florida I have been able to successfully help two Faculty pair their courses and sync their grades! Woo Hoo! Thanks Canvas for having a space and time available to meet with the vendors (even though I might have ventured into their area initially because of the larger candy display!!!).

[scottdennis]

That is good to hear, Dale.  I have not had much interaction with the vendors at this and previous Instcons because I've been busy elsewhere.  Glad to hear you had a positive, useful interaction.

[kmeeusen]

Yes, I also found the candy to be an attractive nuisance, but love the ability to interact with the vendors. I much prefer that my vendor interactions be under my own initiative rather than their cold-calls and robot emails.

[SethBattis]

This was my third InstructureCon, and each of them has been both the same and different. The structure is always pretty predictably familiar, but where I've been at has changed wildly: mid-rollout with Canvas my first summer, on paternity leave my second summer, and with a really clear focus this past summer. All have been good.

Pros

• Networking, connections -- lots of good conversations with folks that i've emailed with or talked on the phone with over the year. And meeting new folks.
• Good ideas -- I came away from a couple presentations with pretty clear ideas for how I will implement those ideas at our school. Awesome stuff. Especially Using Canvas APIs to Serve a Campus Early Warning System​!
• Time with our school's Canvasfolk -- sure, we all work in the same building all year, but we don't really get a chance to see each other and relax and talk Canvas except at InstructureCon. So that's fantastic.
• The Canyons is beautiful (and my room at the Sundial was just re-donk-u-lous). And it's adjacent to family for me, so an added bonus. Love it.
• Presenting -- I like being able to float my ideas and get feedback on what I've been doing from outside observers. I found my own session really invigorating and exciting. For me, at least. No promises for the presentees.
• Geographic strands -- I really like the way you guys localize the strands to particular spaces. The Canyons is a schlepp, but it's nice to either be able to move between nearby spaces or to at least have a mental model of where I probably need to go, based on the content of the next presentation I'm attending.
• HACK NIGHT (instcon15)​ -- it was great to sit down with a few folks who knew what they were talking about and were able to get me pointed to resources I wasn't aware of. And it was reassuring to discover that the problems I were running into weren't all about my own incompetence. I didn't make it to COURSE HACK NIGHT (instcon15)​, but it seemed like a really good idea.

Cons

• Schedule book/app -- Black pages, really? Impossible to mark up and take notes. And the awful wifi and not-quite-readiness of the Community-based schedule really meant that I wanted to rely on paper. Bah. I've seen references to Sched.org. I really like Sched -- and, if wifi could get sorted -- it would be great. Any schedule app worth its salt is going to need to be wifi-fault-tolerant and to allow syncing across devices
• Presentation templates -- they weren't mandatory, but I felt like I should be a good doobie and use it. But it wasn't readable (tiny, ALL CAPS text?), didn't have space for my content (what's up with that amp stack on every slide?) and -- the coup de grace -- when I presented in Bison 3-5, the dang fonts weren't loaded on the computer, so my presentation looked like amateur hour.
• Presenter registration -- it didn't seem like the folks at registration were ready to answer my questions as a presenter… maybe I was misfiled? It seemed oddly disconnected. I dunno. I also noticed that I sure didn't get any sweet presenter gifts. I got a whole load of bupkis. What's up with that?
• Wifi -- not sure this is really a soluble problem for you guys, but it still sucks. Part of it has to be the ridiculous network load on top of generically cruddy hotel wifi, I imagine. But this is a recurring issue, so some creative response (paper and pencils distributed in a lead baggie?) seems called for.
• Food -- I'm not a huge fan of having all of the "special" food relegated to the level of the lowest common denominator. I'm not gluten-intolerant -- I'm gluten-friendly. And protein-friendly. It was a hassle for us and for you (and not fantastic food) three years ago when every special meal was pre-ordered and you picked it up with your name badge. But some sort of middle ground seems warranted.
• HACK NIGHT (instcon15)​ -- it's a big, overwhelming room with no (obvious to me) way to find like-minded souls. Maybe table-toppers that advertise tables as things like "Building your first LTI?" or "Arcane API Questions"? Maybe something really tricky, like projecting a map of the room on the big screen and asking folks to tweet their table number and some keywords of what they're working on, and let us self-organize (the magic there would be having the keywords cluster visually at the tables on the map).
• Unconference/Pre-Conference/Meet-and-Greets -- There were a bunch of not-entirely-well-publicized events simultaneously, as well late-in-the-game organization of the K-12 Milk and Cookies. It would have been great, as a presenter, to have been told, "hey, you're K12, couldja make a point of blocking out that K12 meet-and-greet time?". (And then to schedule it in a slightly bigger room. )

[sbastian]

I really like your suggestions for Hack Night/Course Hack Night.

I arrived late and had NO idea where to jump in to the conversations. I just wandered over to a table and made eye contact with someone who looked friendly and sat down. But based on later convos with folks (and what some have posted in the forums), I missed out on a lot of potentially productive/helpful conversations. Next year I will have a better plan of attack but your suggestions are spot-on and would make it a lot easier!

[scottdennis]

Susan and Seth,

Your suggestions for improving hack night organization are well founded.  We will do a better job with that next year.

[tdelillo]

Seth, it seems like you missed the "Speaker Meet & Greet" on Tuesday. Deactivated user​ sent an email about it. It wasn't all that meet-y or greet-y from my perspective, but that's where I picked up my presenter gift and had a chance to make sure my PowerPoint slides had been received and loaded on the laptop.

[kona]

I have to admit that Tuesday's check-in was a bit chaotic, but from Rachel's email I knew I needed to pick up a speaker gift so I made sure to ask around until I found the person handing them out. It was a rechargeable portable phone charger with the Canvas logo on it and very very useful! I charged it that night and used it throughout the conference! Hopefully since you didn't get yours they can send it to you!

[ted_coopman]

I agree. I walked in to a regular meeting room, it looked like nothing was going on, walk back to the help desk, and they directed me back. Some staff were hanging out working on their laptops. I introduced myself, they checked my slides, handed me my presenter gift (very cool), and that was it. Not really a meet and greet per se. The message implied something a bit more involved/formal so somewhat disappointed.

-TED

[SethBattis]

Interesting. I actually made it to the Speaker Meet-and-Greet (which was, as you say, neither meet-y nor greet-y, much like the Holy Roman Empire). After getting a response not entirely unlike "why are you here and why are you bothering me?", I then got no help in looking up which room or when I was presenting, provided my on USB drive to hand off my presentation… and then got the H-E-double-hockey-sticks out of there for anywhere that had more windows and more welcome.

[scottdennis]

Hi Seth,

You can send email to events@instructure about the missed presenter's gift.

Cheers,

SD

[SethBattis]

Thanks Scott, will do!

[asatkins]

YES! Especially to the meet and greet, I had to cancel a pre-conference THE WEEK BEFORE and I missed most of the presenter meet and greet because of another pre-conference I'd scheduled months before I knew I was presenting/there was a meet and greet. I would be great to let people know that if they're presenting they need to not plan much else for Tuesday, or let them re-arrange pre-conferences after they find out they're presenting... or something. There has to be something to make this less crazy, my Tuesday just wore me out, lol. Don't do this to me while I'm also jet lagged!

[asatkins]

Okay, post first and then read, here we go

My favorite parts of this year's InstructureCon were the science keynote? general session? Whichever it was, that was unexpectedly awesome. I also loved the increased focus on online only schools (hurray!) because I think they use the tool more extensively and throughly than hybrid or brick and mortar (not that it's not also great to hear from those folks!). I really enjoyed the more general sessions of the breakouts where they discussed specific how-to s rather than generally how that school functions (I was guilty of that as well, which informs my submission ideas for next year!) and I loved getting to meet the K-12 crowd at the meet and greet.

A few things I liked less this year than last- I thought the community pages/random canvas course/where even is the schedule?! was way more confusing this year. Last year I picked out sessions on Event Bright and it told me where they were and when I needed to go to them. This time I felt like I was constantly checking the book or my laptop, vs just glancing at my phone and I didn't make it places as quickly and missed some sessions because they were full by the time I got to them I feel like some system of deciding ahead of time and then being notified of where things are would be helpful both for us to plan what we should go to and for you guys to have an idea of how big of a room you need for some of these sessions. I think that was attempted with the community pages, but no one knew how to use them and they don't actually help you get there because there are no notifications set up. I think your best bet would be to set up a clear way to make a schedule for yourself (something with notifications!) and THEN plan where to put each session, at least where in the building in terms of room size. I think if you offered some sort of swag or incentive for setting a schedule early most people would take the time to do it.

A silly thing - I loved the cute buttons last year and I think it was smart to pare them down (there were SO many last year) but I wished they would have still said things like last year instead of the band member motif. I feel like that wasn't really developed enough for me to care about what picture was on my button/shirt/etc where the adorable "We can be heros- Friendship" button was on my backpack all year long until I lost it in Charlotte on my flight back home this year I agree that there should only be a few and they should be redesigned each year, but I would have preferred them to stay relevant to the theme but still keep the cute sayings/pictures

[ted_coopman]

Of course the central issue here is....

-TED

[cms_hickss]

Break-Out Sessions: My biggest issue was the break out sessions room sizes. I know that sometimes its a guess on what will be crowded and what won't, but I really think the Roadmap/State of Union Presentations should be in larger rooms. Those rooms were all overly packed with people crowded into every empty space (floor, corners, doors, etc) and they're like that every year (third year attendee) and they always seem to be in the small rooms.

Meals: My only other issue. The Special Dietary Needs area and the Regular Food Areas. Most of the food was good, but gluten-free doesn't always mean meat free. Lactose intolerance doesn't mean gluten-free.  I think if you clearly label all the foods and then on the back list the ingredients (and maybe even on the front hit the main allergies/intolerance... example contains: diary, soy, and fish)  people can determine what they can and cannot eat especially if they need to go through both areas to make a meal.

I was in line behind a guy with a Nightshade Allergy (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, etc) being able to pickup the label and scan it would probably have been useful for him.

And maybe Box Lunch Day could be Make Your Own Sandwich/Salad Day instead?