Maid Cafe

[poison_flower]

I would like to suggest a Maid Cafe for JAFAX 16.  A maid cafe would be a great way to improve sales in the food lounge by creating a fun atmosphere to relax and eat in.  Maid cafes are really popular in Japan, and as this is JAFAX's sweet sixteen, it would be a great addition to the event list.

I understand this has been discussed in previous years; I was wondering if anyone was still interested.  Do you like the idea?  Would you like to attend?  Or does dressing up in maid/butler attire appeal to you more?

[bunraku*hime]

That's kind of a cute idea.

[Emiko87]

I would totally love to be a maid xD

[RatasVadumee]

Big Jeeves and Wooster fan, so I'd love to be a butler if this were to happen.

[poison_flower]

Yay!  I'm glad there are people wanting to volunteer, and the forums are barely active with the con so far away.  Thank you! 

[Oreo the Homicidal Maniac]

I like Maid Cafes and everything, but this has been brought up in the past. JAFAX simply can not afford to host Maid Cafes.

[SasoriLoveless]

We could like do it in conjunction with my Tea party or something I am gonna be dressing up anyway so it would almost be perfect if not I think I can leave things in the care of my friend the march hare to be a butler for this for a little bit at least.

[SasoriLoveless]

I could supply tea and things and if others wanted to brings small things and such that way Jafax wouldn't have to finance it just see if we can gets a space.

[Chibi Jon]

I really like this idea, and it's been brought up before, but I really can't see it happening; it requires an army of volunteers and a great deal of space and we can muster neither.

[poison_flower]

I really like this idea, and it's been brought up before, but I really can't see it happening; it requires an army of volunteers and a great deal of space and we can muster neither.

Don't you already have a food lounge?  Is there any way that volunteers in maid outfits could serve people at the food lounge? 

[Kip]

I really like this idea, and it's been brought up before, but I really can't see it happening; it requires an army of volunteers and a great deal of space and we can muster neither.

I think that if someone who isn't staff can coordinate volunteers who aren't the ones the volunteer coordinator handles, and organizes it well behind the scenes, I can't see why a maid or two under the control of a leader couldn't happen given this much enthusiasm from the forum visitors already.

This is something we discussed before in meetings and it would be out of the hands of our present staff to commit the time and energy, but I would like to see where the speculative discussion would lead if we treated it like an event such as the tea party or a photoshoot.

[Chibi Jon]

I really like this idea, and it's been brought up before, but I really can't see it happening; it requires an army of volunteers and a great deal of space and we can muster neither.

Don't you already have a food lounge?  Is there any way that volunteers in maid outfits could serve people at the food lounge? 

Two problems.  One, I don't think you appreciate the scale we're dealing with here.  That food lounge serves several hundred people per hour, at it's peak we're serving almost 10 people a minute.  If we had maids serving pizza there would only be more, and they wouldn't be grabbing pizza and leaving like many of them do, so we'd need seating for something like 200 people.  We have seating for 30.  We'd also need an army of 20+ maids at peak times to handle the traffic.  That's like 1/3 of the volunteers for the entire event.

Second, we can't spare ANY volunteers or staff to manage it, let alone an army.  Chances are any staff & volunteers we could rustle up for something like this are needed more urgently elsewhere.

We could have pulled this off 10-12 years ago when total attendance was around 500 people, but now?  I shudder at the logistics.

[SasoriLoveless]

I think I understand what you mean at the point in time there would be no way to spare man power right

[poison_flower]

If the maids did NOT detract from your volunteer staff, and this event was managed by people that are not your staff, would you consider it?  Seating for 30 is great.  Is there any way maids could serve those people at those tables, for a small extra fee that goes towards JAFAX?  By that I mean, Maids would invite customers to come and "buy a table" for about 20 minutes, for say $5.  for those 20 minutes a maid/maids would wait on the customer, keep them entertained with games and conversation etc.  There are already volunteers interested, though few members are active on the forums, so 20+ maids is definitely achievable.

Please consider this, I understand it would be a burden to place upon your staff.  That is why non-staff members could organize this. 

Thank you,
poison_flower

[SasoriLoveless]

I honestly agree with her I said I would help with it and just like do my Tea party with that like I wanted to do I supervise at my work and if I spend 10 hours making sure heavy machinery is running properly for like 5 different people at a time while working my own machine I think I can definitely organize this

[Chibi Jon]

Oh we'll certainly consider it, I expect we'll have a number of conversations on the topic in our planning meetings.  Charging is a good idea and it's something we've considered before; it helps reduce demand down to manageable levels.  We also have to keep in mind that some of the people who would volunteer for this would not otherwise be interested in volunteering, so 20 maids doesn't necessarily mean 20 less volunteers for other things.  It will most definitely be considered, but I want you to understand why this isn't a simple slam-dunk, and why it may or may not happen.

[SasoriLoveless]

I understand what you mean I hope it does happen if not then I suppose we really can't do much else

[Kip]

Right, I imagine a cafe of two or three maids on a shift at a time, or one long block when the cafe is typically slow where it can turn in to a maid cafe. The maids may not
serve, rather visit customers and keep them company or play a game with them. Cafe food service would likely remain self serve unless one requested tea or something of the sort.

Not every one of the customers may get a visit from a maid but some people just want to eat their pizza in peace anyway.

The possibilities for this are limitless, but we are constrained by some space and man(or woman)power at times, which should be considered before the final decision. Something like these setups may be easier to manage just getting this idea off thr ground in the first year.

[poison_flower]

I do understand why this idea would be difficult to decide on and organize.  I also realize there are so many factors you are dealing with, and I really appreciate that you would consider this.

I was thinking similarly to Kip, maid service would be separate from pizza.  Most of the con-goers would serve themselves and eat elsewhere.  I am not fluent with the layout of the food lounge, so please correct me if this will not work.  the maid cafe seating area could be off to the side of the pizza area.  Pizza buyers could go straight to the pizza selling area without interfering with the cafe.  customers interested in the cafe could  sit down at a maid table.  A maid would come to their table and ask them how long they would like to spend with a maid, and politely remind them that it's ($5?) per (20 minutes?).  The customer would pay up front to the maid (or a staff member preferably).  Then a maid would bring them a menu (tea and simple items on it) and entertain them with card games and conversation.  If all the tables are full, there should be a maid taking down names for a waiting list (probably a head maid/organizer/overseer).
I'm visualizing a five maid shift, with one of them being an overseer. 
As for staff limitations, we've already got SasoriLoveless heavily interested in helping out, and of course I would love to organize this.    Also, there are a couple volunteer maid/butlers.

This is a very rough idea. So if you have more concerns or dillemas, please express them so I can do my best to work around that. 

Thank you,

[Kip]

I am concerned about money handling. If you can pay the pizza vendors for a maid to visit that may work. Or it could just be for fun, no money need change hands. It could just be a perk to coming and buying lunch!

[poison_flower]

The money handling was a tough one for me to think of.  I think they could pay the pizza clerk, in exchange for a ticket or something?  that way there's no confusion of who paid and who didn't.  Maybe we can pre sell tickets to people, so they are first in line.  It could get interest going and such.

but what if people stay 20 minutes at the maid cafe and then their friends come in, so they want to stay longer.  would they have to go back and pay at the pizza clerk?  They may loose their table at that point, which would be unfair.  also, Is it paid per person, because I think pay per table is a good way to go. 

Would all the maids have watches... or would there be alarms at the table, or is there a clock nearby?  The least rude way would be to say something like "did you enjoy your stay at the maid cafe?  can I get you anything else?"  when the time is up.

This question will pop up sooner or later so...I want to make it clear that this should not be about fan service.  This could be a fun event related to Japan.  I don't want any maids to be put in an uncomfortable situation.   Therefore maid outfits need to be appropriate, an apron falling high on the chest/ and or a high collared dress.  the skirt should not show anything while the maid is walking around.  I'm not particularly worried about the butlers.  ^__^

[Lynx]

I love this idea, but if we loose a large amount of our volunteers because they want to specifically want to be a maid/butler for most of the day I am so blaming you.  (don't worry, our volunteer group was amazing this past year and should be as great next)

[SasoriLoveless]

I have taken what i remember from last year and am making a quick lay out of a plan soo i'll post it here later and see if it works a bit and poison your plan layout is right and good but the problem is space in the room it is a small room

[SasoriLoveless]

Jon would my tea party still be able to be a fan panel cause I was thinking that we could collaborate and just do it there with the whole tea party theme and maid theme

[poison_flower]

I love this idea, but if we loose a large amount of our volunteers because they want to specifically want to be a maid/butler for most of the day I am so blaming you.  (don't worry, our volunteer group was amazing this past year and should be as great next)

I would accept the blame, but before I steal anything--I am going to urge volunteers (especially veterans) to work as regular volunteers.  I really, truly don't want to steal any of your staff.  I was hoping this could be a new add on to make the JAFAX family bigger ^__^

Would a panel be long enough to host a profitable maid cafe?

[poison_flower]

I have taken what i remember from last year and am making a quick lay out of a plan soo i'll post it here later and see if it works a bit and poison your plan layout is right and good but the problem is space in the room it is a small room

Thank you so much, this would help me visualize things!  ^__^ thank you~~

[Kip]

I would accept the blame, but before I steal anything--I am going to urge volunteers (especially veterans) to work as regular volunteers.  I really, truly don't want to steal any of your staff.  I was hoping this could be a new add on to make the JAFAX family bigger ^__^

I don't think Lynx was entirely serious when she meant that, but if you gathered volunteers yourself we would make a clear distinction to them that volunteering for this wouldn't count for actual volunteering hours if this were to go off, they would only be doing it for fun.

[poison_flower]

I would accept the blame, but before I steal anything--I am going to urge volunteers (especially veterans) to work as regular volunteers.  I really, truly don't want to steal any of your staff.  I was hoping this could be a new add on to make the JAFAX family bigger ^__^

I don't think Lynx was entirely serious when she meant that, but if you gathered volunteers yourself we would make a clear distinction to them that volunteering for this wouldn't count for actual volunteering hours if this were to go off, they would only be doing it for fun.

I agree, if this was entirely for fun it would be better for everyone.  I would have to think of some incentive, considering the hard work they would need to do.  ... free frilly aprons? ^__^