smithee_awards: Question for All You A2 Smithee 17 Attendees

smithee_awards (

smithee_awards) wrote,
@ 2008-04-24 10:23:00

Entry tags:

polls, random smithellany

Question for All You A2 Smithee 17 Attendees
So yeah. We had our show and it went (pretty well all things considered) and we were thoroughly set to despise MLB-3. But. It had some advantages over 1800 Chem that gave us pause to reflect. I'd like to ask you Smitheeites who attended what you thought of the new venue (MLB-3) versus the standard venue (1800 Chem). I'll list what we found as pros and cons for each and if you have any other insight, please feel free to comment.

MODERN LANGUAGES BUILDING AUD-3
Pros
-More handicap accessible
-Comfier chairs (cushier, better back support)
-Rows spaced further apart so it's easier to walk in and out of them
-Newer (or newer renovated actually)
-Building located closer to foodstuffs for preshow snacking or intermission snacking
-Building located closer to parking
-No crazy ass long-short-long-short stairs
-Much easier to unload and set up equipment and snacks
-Many more garbage cans double bagged as the U ought to be doing everywhere
-Better sight line on the extreme edges

Cons
-Poor sightlines - front to back
-Poor sound set up (which can be fixed if we buy speaker stands. I'm not exactly sold on that at all really)
-Carpeted floors which makes taping cords tricky and also food spills messy
-Lack of tables for Smithee snacks (we had to scrounge for what we had there)
-First floor bathroom is small and sort of grungy (3 stalls)
-Bathroom at other end of building which made clean-up a little more complicated
-Awkward aisle placement. The projector had to go in the single middle aisle which made ballot collecting tricky. Mind you, LG and I can eventually work around this but Saturday's show was less than perfectly ballot collected
-Single middle aisle meant that people had to climb over one another to get snacks
-Hallways not such a keen place to hang out at intermission
-Closer to big venue areas that might also be doing sommething and adding traffic (Hill, MTheater, League)
-Flip up table not big enough for ballot and snacks
-Chairs less comfy for the ample butted Smitheeite

1800 CHEMISTRY BUILDING
Pros
-Better sight lines - front to back
-Better snack table set up
-SINK! In the room! For to drain the pop after the show
-Better projector set up
-Comfier chairs (seem wider, easier to get in and out of)
-Better aisle placement for ease of ballot collecting
-Located closer to BOOZ AND FOOD (which only really affects us and whoever tends to booz and food after the show)
-Linoleum floor for easier clean up of spills
-Bathrooms closely located to Auditorium, have many stalls and are nicer
-Inner courtyard makes for a better break area
-Tables make better writing surface
-Tradition!
-Geeks can geek out at a geekier place (periodic table FTW!)

Cons
-The room is in mediocre to poor repair
-Parking not readably accessible
-Building not close to anything really so an intermission snacks run is a bust
-Damn steps. Someone's gonna kill themselves going up and down them. Probably me
-Damn steps make for poor handicap accessibility
-Damn steps make set up and tear down more difficult (the roundabout elevator problem)
-SINK! In the room! Gives off stank fumes
-Never enough garbage cans and the ones that are there are never properly double bagged. Was going to solve by bringing stash of own garbage bags this year.
-Snacks in front make the Guru nervous for the cords and such. Could be solved by switching the snacks to the back row
-Chairs tough to get into because of the 30 degree swing and are less stable

So there you have it. I'd love to hear from both first time Smithee attendees as well as vets about your MLB-3 experiences. Is MLB-3 a better venue? Worse? About the same? Let us know and if you have any other items for the list (throw them in the comments) and I'll add them as they come up.

-Your Friendly and Curious Neighborhood Promotions Ninja
[Edited with new pros and cons 4-25 @ 6:43pm]

(Post a new comment)

darksumomo
2008-04-24 03:42 pm UTC (link)

I see you have "comfier chairs" listed for both venues. Are you sure about that? :-)

My fiancee and I both preferred 1800 Chem Building, as the chairs seemed wider and were definitely easier to get in and out of. Also, the writing desks in 1800 Chem made for better tables. The courtyard of the Chem Building is a better break space than the circumferential hallway of the MLB. However, you're right about the steps in 1800 Chem; my fiancee was the one who slipped and fell when she got her door prize at the 2007 Smithees and she still hasn't completely recovered.

Finally, talk to Animania about their setup that they used in that room for years. They know the drill for placing their projector and sound stands. Also, tell them your secret about how you were able to get food into the room. They have had a no-eating in the auditorium rule for years and claim it's because of the rules the school has imposed on them.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

smithee_awards
2008-04-24 04:44 pm UTC (link)

Yeah...we had one person say that the MLB chairs were comfier and one say that 1800 Chem were comfier. I think it's that the MLB chairs offer more back support while the Chem chairs are wider. [Edit: explained chairs twice :)]

I agree on the table thing.

Ummm...we just brought the food in so that's our super secret. I can see why THEY might be a tad tetchy about it though, snacks made a mess on the carpeting.

OW! We were talking about 1800 Chem's DAMN STEPS and your fiancee's header came up. Man that looked like it hurt!

Edited at 2008-04-24 04:53 pm UTC

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	pattimst3k 2008-04-24 04:01 pm UTC (link)
	I prefer the 1800 Chem Building, too. The only thing that is weird (to me) about the Chem building is the seats, but I get used to them after a few clips. I also like the food being in the front...don't really know why though. :) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	smithee_awards 2008-04-24 04:55 pm UTC (link)
	If next year's show is back in the Chem Bldg, we might try the food out in back just to see how that goes. It might be TEH AWESOME or it might suXXX0rs but it would certainly keep the foot traffic around the front to a minimum. (Reply to this)(Parent)

slyon
2008-04-24 06:30 pm UTC (link)

MLB
Pros:
- Normal chairs! Hello, back support.
- Much closer to parking, and more of it in general
- Much much closer to food vendors and stuff.
- Snack table in back = win

Cons:
- Fewer aisles, and given the snacktastic habits of Smithee viewers, people ended up climbing all over the people on the ends all the time. CONSTANTLY.
- Grungier bathrooms
- Lack of tables in the audience made it a little harder to juggle snacks.
- Chairs somewhat lacking in the butt-room department, for butts such as mine anyway.
- Hallways are grubby and gross, not much of a place for lounging.
- Closer to potential traffic hijinx of Hill Auditorium

Chem
Pros:
- Tradition!
- Nerdy science surroundings synergizes better with Smithee movie content.
- Nicer bathrooms
- Love the atrium
- Tables in the audience are useful for holding snacks, writing out ballots, and for beating one's head against on the really painful clips
- Chairs don't have solid sides, so there is spillover room for the ample-butted Smitheeite.
- Don't have to climb over everyone if you want to make a snack run and you're sitting in the middle of the aisle.

Cons:
- Farther from parking. Wah.
- Farther from booze and food, except for the specific booze and food on South U, but even then, MLB is much closer to other booze and food.
- Farther from basically any other reason I have to be on campus.
- Chairs feel less stable and wobblier, because they're on those arm thingies.
- In-auditorium stairs make me sad.

So which do I prefer? Man, I dunno, I kinda liked MLB better overall, I think.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

smithee_awards
2008-04-25 10:49 pm UTC (link)

Wow! You really put thought into this. YAY! Good points, I've incorporated them into the matrix (muahahaha!) I did not notice the snacks shuffle/climb but several people mentioned that it was difficult to get in and out of seating. I'm hardly ever really sitting (and I do a lot of table sitting at the Chem bldg) so this is something I'd have never thought of.

The Chem stairs make me sad too.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	sorcycat 2008-04-24 07:35 pm UTC (link)
	That's 2 votes for back support! But seriously, you might also look at other auditoriums on campus like the new Palmer Commons. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	smithee_awards 2008-04-25 10:56 pm UTC (link)
	Man, I had the hardest time tracking down auditorium information this year. There is no central "room reservation" place so I didn't even get anything on the new Palmer Commons. I'd have to meander over and give it a look see (probably with the guru since he knows the tech specs for the show) but I shall keep it in mind. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	brightorange14 2008-04-24 07:42 pm UTC (link)
	I may be able to come up with equal numbers to support each, but the strength of my conviction is for Chem 1800. I found the chairs in MLB too narrow to stretch out at all, and the desks too small for food + ballot. The having to climb over people to get more snacks was a pain as well. Oh, and MLB brings back memories of failing Spanish. And Dutch. And... (Reply to this)(Thread)

	smithee_awards 2008-04-25 10:50 pm UTC (link)
	Wow. I only ever failed Russian in MLB-3. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	brightorange14 2008-04-26 02:55 am UTC (link)
	In all fairness, I think that the only class I had in MLB-3 was a music class with Kevin, though we hadn't met yet. My fails were in other rooms in MLB. (Reply to this)(Parent)

grypeseye
2008-04-24 09:13 pm UTC (link)

I definitely like the seating better at the MLB auditorium. I just wish the individual tables weren't so small. Ah well. (Fortunately, the floors under the seats weren't carpet. When my girlfriend spilled her pop, we were able to wipe it up without it soaking into anything.) (Sorry about that.)

Sound was a problem, but speaker stands (like those at Animania meetings) would solve that.

I think putting the food in the back was a definite improvement too.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

smithee_awards
2008-04-25 11:02 pm UTC (link)

The only thing about the speaker stands is that we'd have to buy them out of pocket ourselves. 1800 Chem has those little shelfy doodads above the chalk boards which we don't have to buy at all. I'm more keen on free than I am shelling out for speaker stands.

Here's a question about snackage: What would you think of the Smithee snacks being in back of 1800 Chem next year? Good? Bad? Different? A lot of people mentioned the awsome YAYness of snacks in the back at MLB and we thought, "Why not do that in the Chem bldg?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	abbagirl 2008-04-24 10:56 pm UTC (link)
	I vote Chem bldg. as well, especially for the sightlines, ease of ballot collection, and placement of snackage! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	smithee_awards 2008-04-25 10:53 pm UTC (link)
	How would you feel if the snackage at the Chem bldg was in the back next year? We're trying to decide if that's a good thing or not as a lot of people this year said that the snacks in back were teh win. (Reply to this)(Parent)

dspitzle
2008-04-25 07:14 pm UTC (link)

Here are a few thoughts I had regarding MLB benefits

* More room for people to get in and out of rows; my wife and I generally have to squeeze against the desks for people to get past in the Chem building
* Seats with flip-up desks eliminate the Chem building side shuffle to get into one's seat due to the swing arms only swinging out 30 degrees or so.
* Seats on outer aisles are at a less severe angle to the screen than at the Chem building, so more of the seats are actually usable, as demonstrated by the substantial number of folks sitting near the doors. (I'm not sure I understand the "Better Sight Lines" comment for the Chem building).

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	smithee_awards 2008-04-25 10:46 pm UTC (link)
	I clarified sight lines for you: Chem has a better front to back (no big head in front syndrome) while MLB has better side to side it seems. As for the wider aisles, I had addressed that already but realized that I was ambiguous with "wider aisles". I meant wider row aisles so I've edited that a bit. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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