Any more guests of honor?

Started by DrScorpio, May 09, 2014, 06:19:11 PM

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DrScorpio

Are there going to be any more guest announcements? Being 2 weeks away I am getting worried that this years guest list may be worse then last years.

Gatsby

#1
While the guest list is smaller than cons past, to say it's worse than a previous year is rather rude, don't you think? You don't have to like the lineup by any means since everyone has different opinions, but the guests who are coming out should at least still be welcomed and not, as a collective, be considered worse than a previous year because the total number is smaller or not who you want.

EDIT: With that said, I too am curious if more guests will be announced since the numbers are lower. Still, the current lineup is solid for my tastes.

Tetsuo

I'm assuming this is all we have.

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.



Makoto

Looking at Fanime's Facebook, it seems that whoever is running the account is more concerned with people signing up for that Chopped Cosplay event. No, I don't think there will be any more guests. Actually, Fanime is known for doing everything late and messy, perhaps they will get new guests, just that we won't hear about it until hours before the convention actually starts. I wouldn't be surprised.

kokosatou

Since the last Fanime site update for guests wasn't since almost a month ago, and there being less than 2 week till Fanime, I'm going to assume that they won't be announcing anymore guests at this point. It would be too late to secure anything, and to be honest, I think that eriq should leave the guest list to someone more up-to-date and reliable. Because really, this has got to be the saddest list of events announced in the 5 years I've been to the con. Looking back, I've noticed the list deteriorate into a pile of garbage. I can only see 2 relevant guests on this list, and only one of them is up-to-date. Fanime, I can honestly say this could be the last year I'll be attending.

EJAY420

Badge prices increasing while entertainment decreasing.........now that IS rude.
Most Impressive.




fr33lanc3r

Will be my 10th Fanime this year. Things haven't been looking too good these past two to three years in terms of getting guests one to two months before Fanime comes around. Really don't know where the budget is going if they are depending on fan made events and a few overseas guests with NA guests mixed in. I saw on twitter (https://twitter.com/VTA/status/461923847709921280) and instagram (http://i.imgur.com/sZXmFjf.jpg) the light rail trains wrapped in advertising which a step in the right direction. Would like to see more time invested in having guests from overseas come over. Not looking forward for another $5 price jump next year with the lack of guests attending every year.

Angelx624

Quote from: Tetsuo on May 09, 2014, 08:39:37 PM
I'm assuming this is all we have.

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

I know what you mean, especially as one of those who would suggest music guests in that thread ever since the year after my first Fanime back in 2010. And even though none of the guests I've suggested have gotten picked, I've still been rather pleased with some of them, and so I decided to keep trying in hopes that maybe one day Fanime could finally book someone I've been waiting a long time to see that were possible. Though now....... I don't think making suggestions is gonna do anything anymore. Although, as you said, people did suggest Home Made Kazoku, so at least there's that(and they are pretty good, I like their music from what I've heard so far) but if Raj is barely related to anime or anime-related things, then I don't really understand why they booked him? I mean I know he's been to Sac-Anime from what I've remembered and thus maybe they thought he'd be a good fit for Fanime, or maybe the other music guests they wanted to get are busy during Fanime weekend? Though I doubt pretty much every single band/music artist that's related to anime somehow is busy that weekend, honestly........

But, it is what it is. There's nothing I can do about it, so I'm just gonna go to MusicFest and enjoy seeing Home Made Kazoku perform, as well as give this Raj guy a chance.
(ノ•ω•)ノ Cosplay List:
Rook Hunt
Ukyo (Ranma 1/2)
Kagome (Inuyasha)
Freminet (Genshin)
Giyu (KnY)
Rengoku (KnY)

ewu

We really appreciate the suggestions, however the process is more like the GoH picking us as opposed to us picking the GoH. While there are many nuances involved, basically your suggestions drive us to contact the GoHs. However, it may be that our contacts do not have established relationships with your suggestions and so we need to develop that relationship from fresh. While money does play a role, if the GoH is already booked or simply not interested for any reason, we will not be able to get them regardless of how much green we throw at them. We will keep on trying and please keep on suggesting, or we will end up getting the GoHs WE like (while our interested may overlap)...it will be more like FanimeStaffCon as opposed to FanimeCon:)
Eric Wu
FanimeCon Chairman
FanimeCon Forums Moderator

ericATfanimeDOTcom

Nina Star 9

Quote from: Darth_Diclonius on May 09, 2014, 08:11:24 PM
While the guest list is smaller than cons past, to say it's worse than a previous year is rather rude, don't you think? You don't have to like the lineup by any means since everyone has different opinions, but the guests who are coming out should at least still be welcomed and not, as a collective, be considered worse than a previous year because the total number is smaller or not who you want.

EDIT: With that said, I too am curious if more guests will be announced since the numbers are lower. Still, the current lineup is solid for my tastes.
I don't think anyone complaining about the "quality" of the guest lineup is disrespecting the guests themselves (personally or professionally), but are disappointed with the lineup as a whole. People are still glad that the con has guests, and seem to like the guests, but don't find the guests entirely suited to this con for a variety of reasons (and don't like the paltry number of guests...)

I think that when people mention "quality" of guests, they don't meant that the guests currently in the lineup do poor work, but rather that the guests aren't relevant to the convention and aren't popular enough or big enough names for a convention Fanimecon's size. I think that people also expect more Japanese guests at a con of this size, as a lot of English-language voice actors can be found at smaller cons (and most of the English-language voice actors attending aren't super popular or relevant, as far as I can tell). It's more an issue of "what do other cons this size (or even slightly smaller) have?" and Fanimecon not stacking up. Heck, SacAnime tends to have larger lineups of guests that are more relevant and popular (though almost entirely American guests), and Fanime has been around much longer and is much larger. Guests like this are staples of any convention, and help round out a guest list, but a con Fanime's size needs to have something besides staples. It would be like going to a fancy restaurant and only being able to order the same basic sandwiches that can be ordered anywhere else, without anything extra or gourmet to make going to the fancier restaurant worth it. (not a perfect analogy, but I think it gets the point across)

So the issue is more that the guests haven't worked on anything new and popular, and aren't particularly famous otherwise, that we could see a lot of these guests at smaller cons, and that there are just so few guests.


That said...

Quote from: Tetsuo on May 09, 2014, 08:39:37 PM
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

I'd love for this to happen. That's a guest I would go see. :]

Quote from: ewu on May 10, 2014, 09:19:31 AM
We really appreciate the suggestions, however the process is more like the GoH picking us as opposed to us picking the GoH. While there are many nuances involved, basically your suggestions drive us to contact the GoHs. However, it may be that our contacts do not have established relationships with your suggestions and so we need to develop that relationship from fresh. While money does play a role, if the GoH is already booked or simply not interested for any reason, we will not be able to get them regardless of how much green we throw at them. We will keep on trying and please keep on suggesting, or we will end up getting the GoHs WE like (while our interested may overlap)...it will be more like FanimeStaffCon as opposed to FanimeCon:)
I think that most attendees would prefer to have more guests and more popular guests, even if it's the guests that the staff likes and not ones that have been suggested by attendees. ;]

Also, if many, many guests have been contacted but only a few have wanted to join the convention (assuming that this is what happened, rather than that very few guests were contacted), then there might be something wrong with the guest selection and contacting process. I don't know if it is a PR issue with the con/a bad reputation, or contacting guests too late, or some other issue, but it seems like new contacts and relationships with guests can be made, and that other conventions manage to do so. There seems to be something going wrong in this process, but I'm not part of staff or knowledgeable about convention guest selection processes to really know what is happening behind the scenes.

Though, thanks for always going into threads and trying to clear things up as much as you can and manage any PR issues the best you can, ewu. No hatin' on you, just frustrated with this con generally.

cutiebunny

Perhaps this is just my observation, but I've noticed Fanime has changed emphasis over the past three years.  Whereas, a couple years prior, the convention seemed to have equal emphasis on both artists and musical guests (most of which were Japanese), the focus of the convention has shifted to what appeals to the majority of Fanime's attendees; Music and US VAs.

Obviously, this working for Fanime.  They're able to increase their attendance numbers each year for the past three years despite the late announcements and fewer FanimeCon (not including Clockwork) guests.  The incidents of the past, such as 'LineCon 2013' and the infamous power outage on Day 0 2012, have not made much of an impact on the overall attendance.  Any savvy business minded person could see that there is no reason for FanimeCon to spend more money on guests if the same amount manages to draw in more guests yearly.

What this means is that, for those of you who do not like the direction that this convention is heading, it's time to speak with your money.  Do not attend FanimeCon and go somewhere else that has what you're looking for.  If you enjoy SacAnime's offerings, go there instead.  Or Anime Expo.  Or Japan Expo USA.  Or any other anime convention.

As hard as it was to make the decision not to attend Fanime last year, it is one that I will continue to make as long as the guest list focuses more on music and US VAs, and less on the mangaka, character designers and other animators.

EJAY420

Speak with our money? You mean the money we spend on the badges?
Most Impressive.




echoshadow

Fanime has never been know to bring top name guests. Been that way for the last 5 years. I don't go to Fanime for the guests.  I go for everything else Fanime offers.
Not your typical anime junkie.
MAL:Echoshadow's Anime List

Glitch

Considering I was sent the form to make my requests on which guests I want to interview, it's safe to say there are no more additions.

Angelx624

Quote from: ewu on May 10, 2014, 09:19:31 AM
We really appreciate the suggestions, however the process is more like the GoH picking us as opposed to us picking the GoH. While there are many nuances involved, basically your suggestions drive us to contact the GoHs. However, it may be that our contacts do not have established relationships with your suggestions and so we need to develop that relationship from fresh. While money does play a role, if the GoH is already booked or simply not interested for any reason, we will not be able to get them regardless of how much green we throw at them. We will keep on trying and please keep on suggesting, or we will end up getting the GoHs WE like (while our interested may overlap)...it will be more like FanimeStaffCon as opposed to FanimeCon:)
Well then, I guess I'll just keep trying and keep on throwing names out there, and hope that Fanime can build positive relationships with future possible GoHs.
(ノ•ω•)ノ Cosplay List:
Rook Hunt
Ukyo (Ranma 1/2)
Kagome (Inuyasha)
Freminet (Genshin)
Giyu (KnY)
Rengoku (KnY)

DrScorpio

Quote from: Darth_Diclonius on May 09, 2014, 08:11:24 PM
While the guest list is smaller than cons past, to say it's worse than a previous year is rather rude, don't you think? You don't have to like the lineup by any means since everyone has different opinions, but the guests who are coming out should at least still be welcomed and not, as a collective, be considered worse than a previous year because the total number is smaller or not who you want.

Rude to Fanime? I definitely think not. In fact I consider it rude to attendees that Fanime has yet to address the many issues from 2013. Coming off of 2013, its been non-stop disappointments in all departments. I keep hoping as my other friends have already abandoned Fanime. I only bring up the guest issue as its 2 weeks left til the con. Ive been quietly waiting and hoping for guest announcements for quite some time, but things dont look good.

Its cool though as the message has been received loud and clear. This will be my last Fanime until things get better.

cutiebunny

Quote from: EJAY420 on May 10, 2014, 01:32:41 PM
Speak with our money? You mean the money we spend on the badges?

Yup.  But if you've already booked a hotel, paid your attendee fees and are stuck going, you can opt not to buy from the vendors (not including Artist Alley people) that paid fees to sell at FanimeCon.  If their bottom line is affected, they'll be more likely to lobby Fanime for a change, or take their business elsewhere.  As any good shopper knows, you can find most of the stuff in the exhibit hall, online, for cheaper.

There are a lot of decent places to eat at around Fanime.  Instead of dropping $6 on a dry, hours old turkey sandwich at the con, head outside and pick up a fresh burrito.  Or hit the McDonalds a couple blocks down the street for some familiar eats.

melancholyfox

I'm never intending to be rude towards Fanime staffers at all, so I hope I don't come off that way, but...considering the con has been around for 20 years, shouldn't some relationships have been developed by now? I mean, are current staffers really that fresh to con planning that no one has a good industry relationship enough to bring in quality guests of honor? For all I know I could be talking out of my ass, but logically 20 years seems to me to be enough time to develop enough recognition for quality guests of honor to want to come to the con. So then I wonder, has Fanime developed a bad reputation amongst these guests? Maybe I'm just speculating.

InsaneChan

Quote from: ewu on May 10, 2014, 09:19:31 AM
We really appreciate the suggestions, however the process is more like the GoH picking us as opposed to us picking the GoH. While there are many nuances involved, basically your suggestions drive us to contact the GoHs. However, it may be that our contacts do not have established relationships with your suggestions and so we need to develop that relationship from fresh. While money does play a role, if the GoH is already booked or simply not interested for any reason, we will not be able to get them regardless of how much green we throw at them. We will keep on trying and please keep on suggesting, or we will end up getting the GoHs WE like (while our interested may overlap)...it will be more like FanimeStaffCon as opposed to FanimeCon:)

This is possibly one of the rudest responded I've ever heard from a staffer. You guys have TONS of wonderful suggestions, more than you could possibly know what to do with, and yet you still continue to blame your attendee's for the lack of exciting guests. I've said it before and I'll say it again--other conventions, smaller conventions, manage to book amazing guests. If you're saying that you don't have good contacts, then you'll just have to broaden your horizons. No, not "consider" doing so. Do it. Your lack of professionalism and caring continues to show.
Love. Life. fANIME.

Kuudere

Quote from: InsaneChan on May 11, 2014, 04:44:09 PM
Quote from: ewu on May 10, 2014, 09:19:31 AM
We really appreciate the suggestions, however the process is more like the GoH picking us as opposed to us picking the GoH. While there are many nuances involved, basically your suggestions drive us to contact the GoHs. However, it may be that our contacts do not have established relationships with your suggestions and so we need to develop that relationship from fresh. While money does play a role, if the GoH is already booked or simply not interested for any reason, we will not be able to get them regardless of how much green we throw at them. We will keep on trying and please keep on suggesting, or we will end up getting the GoHs WE like (while our interested may overlap)...it will be more like FanimeStaffCon as opposed to FanimeCon:)

This is possibly one of the rudest responded I've ever heard from a staffer. You guys have TONS of wonderful suggestions, more than you could possibly know what to do with, and yet you still continue to blame your attendee's for the lack of exciting guests. I've said it before and I'll say it again--other conventions, smaller conventions, manage to book amazing guests. If you're saying that you don't have good contacts, then you'll just have to broaden your horizons. No, not "consider" doing so. Do it. Your lack of professionalism and caring continues to show.

Are you sure you're not misreading Ewu's response? I didn't see anything that I would call rude in what he said...He's responding to the comments that suggested that our guest suggestion thread is useless. He said it does have a point, because staffers need to know who is actually relevant to bring for our attendees, aside from whom the staff personally believe to be good guests. I don't see where he's putting any blame on attendees at all. He's encouraging them to continue to use the thread to make suggestions, because it is used by staff to determine interest.

As for guest relations, I know it's a complicated department where not everything depends on just inviting and offering money to guests. And I don't think it's possible to have a relationship with all the potential guests (because who is considered a relevant guest changes every year, and you'd have to be at it constantly to keep up with the change). I don't work for staff, so I don't know all that goes into it, but I'd think Ewu's probably right that it's a bit more complicated. It's also a department that requires silence from staff, which may make it appear that they aren't doing anything. They can't reveal guests until it is 100% sure that the guests will be attending (or if the guests have announced it themselves). They also can't reveal to us which guests they're attempting to get, because if it doesn't go through, it can look bad on the con and also on the guest. It's just a delicate situation all around, I think.