I hate to sound harsh, but I wonder if we ought to express our concerns over this to the folks from Hasbro at BotCon. Hasbro does have a corporate image to maintain, and surely they see how FunPub's unprofessional and inefficient practices concerning BotCon reflects negatively on the franchise at large and on Hasbro itself. Personally, if it was up to me, Hasbro would buy out FunPub and create a Hasbro Conventions Department to handle BotCon, JoeCon, and the Collectors' Clubs.
And here's why:
FunPub has given us very little in the way of a reason WHY we should attend their convention. The only reasons they have given us thus far are three figures from the 5-piece set.
A guest list would really help calm the impatient masses. For a lot of folks, the autographs and interview panels with voice actors, comic writers, and artists are a deciding factor in whether or not to attend the convention.
I'm no web-developer, but I have a pretty strong background in basic HTML and an Associates Degree in Local Area Networking. An online registration system for BotCon should be easily complete in a matter of weeks by a team of 1-3 trained professionals. Yet, it's taken FunPub months, and, if the rest of their websites are any example, it is going to be amateur at best.
So, we have to endure all of this, and what happens when we arrive? Well, if previous years are any example, you can expect to be verbally-abused by an elderly woman as she checks you in at Registration/Package Pickup. Don't bother asking her any questions, she doesn't know. Her only job is to take your information, give you your Package, and stamp her foot impatiently while you check to make sure she actually gave you everything you were supposed to get. Which, by the way, you should ABSOLUTELY check, BEFORE you walk away from the counter, or else you risk being unable to exchange your items. Unfortunately, whoever packages the figures has a difficult time telling right missiles from left missiles, and many figures in the past (most notably the BotCon conehead Seekers) have come packaged with two left-sided missile launchers. Now, granted, this isn't FunPub's fault, as I doubt they assembled the figures themselves. However, shouldn't there be some form of Quality Check? Or at least the ability to exchange them? Shouldn't the Package-Pickup people be knowledgeable about the products that they are handing out? Shouldn't they, at the very least, have a positive attitude?
Before anybody says, "Oh, you just had a bad experience," I have been to three BotCons, and I have encountered these problems at every single one, both in my own personal experiences and in the experiences of numerous other attendees.
That said, I will be in attendance at BotCon this June. I will be there to enjoy the company of my fellows fans, and out of a sense of loyalty to the franchise. The only way to improve something is to work from within, finding its shortcomings and addressing them intellectually. BotCon will no doubt be an incredible event, with good times had by all, but I would like to see it improved in the future to run smoother.
That's just my little rant.