The Tale of Knoxcon (On Going)

So, let's start from the beginning.

I (jeefy) got to work on the fabulous morning of April the 28th and noted that one OJ had sent me a message...:
OJ: http://www.knoxcon.org/
OJ: lololololol... Looks like Matsuricon's website.
At first I was a bit perturbed, a little aggravated... That settled down real quickly. I thought for a bit, and felt it right not to be angered, but to offer a helping hand.

Throughout the day, I've received various messages from Maiku, Bob, OJ, Mike, Bear, John, all concerning this matter. I calmly let them know that it's not an issue and I was going to handle it.

And this is how I handled it.
Dear Jordan,

My name is Jeff (Everyone calls me "Jeef") And I'm one of the two con chairs in charge of MatsuriCon. One of my staffers recently sent me a link to your convention's website. When the page loaded, I noticed that you had "loosely based" your site design and layout on MatsuriCon's website. I was honestly quite flattered that our site was good enough for you to copy (And I say that without any sarcasm.)

Copying code and incorporating other sites' designs is common place in this day and age, even if it's as blatant as this instance. However, I do have a few issues with your site that, if you have the time to read, I feel you could benefit greatly from reading.

See, I am a professional web developer for my day job. And though I'm modest, I've been told I'm Not Too Shabby. Along with my day job, I've worked countless conventions, so I do have a *small* grasp on the inter-workings of cons.

  1. The "Location" button you've tried creating stands out like a lollipop in a pocky box. I understand you tried making it look *like* the original buttons, but it was a failed attempt. You should spend the extra ten minutes it would have taken in Photoshop/PSP/Gimp/????? to make consistent buttons. (Also as a note, if you're going to rename the button Location, at least rename the file to Location instead of keeping it the original hotel.html)

  2. Your banner gives visitors the impression that you're hosting this convention in a large city or well developed area. From Looks of it, your con is actually held in a smaller college area. It's not something to be embarrassed about (We all start somewhere) but putting a banner like that up there gives attendees expectations that may not be met.

  3. On some of the pages (Guests, Location, Registration) you've messed up some of the html:
    <a href="hotel.html"><img alt="" name="hotel-menu" src="images/buttons/hotel-off.jpg" onmouseover="imgOn('hotel-menu', 'hotel-on.jpg')" onmouseout="imgOn('hotel-menu', 'hotel-off.jpg')</a>
    <img alt="" src="images/buttons/seperator.jpg">
    <img alt="" src="images/buttons/seperator.jpg">

    SHOULD BE
    <a href="hotel.html"><img alt="" name="hotel-menu" src="images/buttons/hotel-off.jpg" onmouseover="imgOn('hotel-menu', 'hotel-on.jpg')" onmouseout="imgOn('hotel-menu', 'hotel-off.jpg')" /></a>
    <img alt="" src="images/buttons/seperator.jpg">
    <img alt="" src="images/buttons/seperator.jpg">
    If you're going to rip a site off, at least do it properly. ;) Otherwise it not only gives you a bad rap, it may also reflect poorly on my convention and my skills as a web developer.

  4. Web hosting isn't that expensive. It's worth the <$5 a month investment to get a decent web host that doesn't force ads onto your site. Looking at your guest list, I think it's safe to say you could afford $60 a year, right? :) Hell, just to get the ad off of the top of the screen I'll even host the site for you.

  5. It's not a very good idea to Publicly Announce that you're showing copyrighted licensed videos in your video room. Of course, you're allowed if you have the company's permission (which in this case is Disney.)

Hopefully you're receptive to all I've suggested. If there's anything else you'd like to discuss, I'd be more than happy to communicate with you. Thanks and good luck!

-Jeff (Jeef)
Internal Con Chair
MatsuriCon 2008
Also, I took this screenshot as a visual comparison. I could go down to the code level and outright show what lines are different and what lines are the same, but that'd take too much effort. I already glanced at it and know it's the same. :)

Update! 04/28/08 9:50PM

Hello Jeff sorry for the rip on your site our webmaste rfound your site so hew could get the Idea for an anime con website but must have copied it not to worrywe are changing it as we speak and FYI that banner picture is a picture of tokyo but like you said itll give them a bad idea so im making a new one right now.

Jordan

Update! 05/05/08 9:38AM

Jeef, Hello I'm Kurt Eshelman. I am in charge of the web site. My web master ___________ is the designer, not Jordan. I would like to say thanks for the suggestions, ________ did them all. So as for "ripping off" your web design i feel this is ___________'s fault. I agree he did use alittle too much of your design. Thanks for being so cool and remember that the greatest form of flattery is copying one's work. You are better than " not to shabby". Thanks again and thanks for putting our link on your site, we'll make you proud I promise.

Kurt Eshelman
co-chair,guest relations
Now at this point, I didn't really think a response was called for. Buuuut....

Update! 05/08/08 4:21PM

what no answer? Kurt
I was rather confused, but I finally responded (Work's been bogging me down and I had been sick)
Hey Kurt,

Sorry I hadn't responded. I didn't feel that the email warranted a response (Not to be taken the wrong way, just though you had said what you wanted to say and there were no questions asked.)
Thank you for the kind words though, good luck with KnoxCon, and if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask.

-Jeef

Update! 05/09/08 5:21PM

Thanks Jeef and good luck with the third installment, If you guy's would like a booth for free to advertise for Matsuricon ,drop me an e-mail. Three other cons (i can't think of right now) will be there with their stuff.
Kurt

And with that... I think the tale comes to an end. :)