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Messages - hikanteki

#21
Quote from: bahamutknightzero on April 19, 2015, 02:58:03 PM
Lets ask an honest question here

How many people actually come for the guests?

A LOT more than you think. A major Anime convention like Fanime, SakuraCon, etc could not have earned its size and stature without a consistently strong guest lineup, like it has had in 2011 and before. And as the guest department crumbles, so do other areas of the con. We're already seeing this.

I also go to ~6 cons per year (this includes both anime and general comic conventions). I block off Memorial Day weekend because despite what's happened to Fanime, I can count on it to bring very good musical guests. MusicFest seems to have been insulated from the rest of the con's problems. I originally wasn't going to go in 2014,the only reason I changed my mind was they announced Home Made Kazoku. Otherwise I'd go somewhere else. There are like 6 other anime cons going on the same weekend, and I'm increasingly tempted to go to one of those instead.
#22
Interesting topic. I've been every year since 2010 and for me, it's worth going to because I can walk or take VTA there. If I lived further away and had to travel and stay at a hotel, then it wouldn't be worth it anymore for me.

The main reason it's still worth it for me is MusicFest. It's been consistently good. I like seeing bands from Japan that are virtually impossible to see elsewhere in the US. I don't mind that the opener last year was North American because Home Made Kazoku was a HUGE deal and I just figure they put their entire budget into getting HMK. Even in 2012 when they didn't get any major acts, they still pulled it together for a well-run MusicFest and Chiba-san was fun to watch. However, I wouldn't be able to make plans to travel for J-Music if I don't know it's happening until like two weeks before the show.

The lackluster lineup of guests last year was a little disappointing for me; however, I would MUCH prefer that the con pool their resources first into organization rather than top-name guests. I can definitely enjoy a well-run con with 24 hour anime and movie screens, a great exhibition hall, and few guest panels available; however I cannot enjoy a con where I can't get in due to the line being too long or where I have no idea where everything is going on.

The main problem IMO, and this is something that seems to span across multiple departments, is that people pulling the strings are too lazy/stubborn to do what's best for Fanime. Yes, not announcing the guests until a month before the show is a major issue. There have been people saying the ink is dry and has been for months, so it's mind-boggling why they wait this long. This is NOT the norm for most anime conventions (Take for instance Sac-Anime, who has pretty much their entire lineup announced six months in advance) and some people need months to prepare their guest-related cosplay or even make plans to go.

They get major props in 2014 for fixing line-con. However -- there was virtually NO mention before the show of what their plans were to make sure it didn't happen. There was only like one hidden thread on this message board which mentioned it. A number of would-be attendees I talked to would have been willing to give them another chance in 2014 to see if they fixed it, but didn't because Fanime gave us no reason to believe that it would be fixed. They should have posted on Facebook and Twitter their plans on improving the line and expected times to get badges, rather than announcing "expect to wait a really long time in line Thursday and Friday" which came across as petulant and turned people off. A much better approach would have been to say something like "We apologize for last year's delay. We are instituting a new registration system that will process ___ badges in ___ seconds, at ___x faster than last year. While we cannot promise that there will be no line, we assure you that we are working to make sure that what happened in 2013 does not happen again and thank you for your understanding." They may want to consider adding a PR department.

The defense of Fanime's warts being attributed to "by fans, for fans" in this topic & others was seriously painful for me to read. First, a number of the other cons (i.e. AX, Otakon, Comic-Con) name-dropped as not by fans are actually non-profits, whereas Fanime's a for-profit corporation. (For the record, I have no problem with any con being organized as for-profit or not...but don't claim to not be what you are.) Second, being by fans for fans is NO excuse for terrible organization. Third, just because corporations may be involved doesn't mean that they people behind the corporations aren't fans too.

All that being said...I do like attending Fanime. I'm proud to have something like this in my backyard. If it seems harsh it's because I want them to improve in areas where they can easily do so -- they are doing many things right, and I do NOT want to see another Bay Area con fall apart or leave (i.e. WonderCon).
#23
Quote from: Erik_anderson on March 18, 2015, 01:56:29 PM
For tax purposes Fanime, like every other convention, fair or event is organized as a corporation, so its misleading to imply that this is the same as a for profit corporation like AX, ComicCon or Wizard.  What 'for fans by fans' means is that we volunteer our time and while some perks are rewarded generally we spend far more time and money then the benefit.  Personally I spent around $3000 last year of my own funds to host my event.

The irony. While Fanime is organized as a corporation, 2 of the 3 you mentioned (AX and Comic-Con) are non-profits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime_Expo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_Comic-Con_International
#24
Quote from: cutiebunny on April 02, 2015, 10:39:46 AM
Fanime has, since 2012, only announced their guests in May.  They usually will give you the same song and dance about how they only announce guests when the ink is dry or, my personal fave, the "their management has asked us to wait until May to announce".  While the latter excuse may work for some guests, it can't possibly apply to every guest for the past three years.  This is especially true when other cons are able to announce their guests months in advance.

It's forthese reasons that I opt to travel 3000 miles to go to Animazement instead.  When Fanime can get the same caliber of guests it had in 2011 AND announce them at least two months in advance, I'll return.

Yeah, this is, sadly, par for the course for Fanime but NOT standard for anime (or other) conventions. They normally have a pretty good guest lineup but it's not announced until frustratingly late. (Last year's was a little weak overall, however they scored big with HMK for Musicfest.) I'm not sure if it's because they want to surprise us, they take that long to finalize the guests, they're too lazy to update, or if they have some other reason.

I'm going this year because they fixed registration and I live within walking distance, and at least they have the website up (unlike last year). But if I didn't live in the area, I would not make plans to travel to Fanime with no information available.
#25
I agree with everyone.  Thank you Fanime, for one of the best years to date!  After hearing that registration was fixed, I zipped over and bought a Saturday badge with literally NO line.  Walking around, almost everyone seemed to be in a very good mood -- what a difference having a fast, state of the art registration system can make!  The completed convention center is gorgeous and Fanime made good use of the space.  I also liked the use of the Fairmont for panels.  I was able to find a couple new Gloomy Bears in the Dealer's Hall and had a great time seeing everyone's cosplay and watching Gurren Lagann, Sword Art Online, and Anime Hell, and most of all, the fantastic HOME MADE KAZOKU concert!  Only thing I'd suggest is please provide more, and earlier, pre-con updates next year.  Let's keep up the momentum for 2015! XD
#26
Were all weekend and single day badges random? Or did the single day ones have different designs?
#27
Registration / Re: KUDOS TO REGISTRATION!
May 22, 2014, 05:23:13 PM
This is great news!  If it ends up being as short the other days this weekend then I'll get a one day pass after all.

I wonder why they didn't let people beforehand know what they were planning on doing to make it go so smoothly, though!  Maybe they didn't want to get people's hopes up in case it didn't turn out.  But had we known, we would have preregistered.
#28
Registration / Re: Clockwork Alchemy VS Fanime?
May 21, 2014, 02:54:38 PM
If you pick up your badge at Clockwork, can you still get a Fanime Program Guide?
#29
Quote from: Tony on May 18, 2014, 12:49:07 AM
I cannot speak for staff because I'm not involved much this year, but I can talk in generalities.

The industry thing is probably the biggest, because it affects so much else.

People in the industry are working hard, so they're busy. It means they are either booked solid and can't come, or they can come only at the last minute when it's clear they can make time for Fanime.

Fun, related fact: nearly every single year, a Big Name contacts us days to weeks before con saying they are available. By then it's too late. We could certainly scramble to make things happen, but: 1) we look disorganized making announcements too close to con, 2) we're usually out of money, meaning we have to fight and scrape for cash, and 3) theres zero marketing value at that point - i.e. the "I wish I'd heard about this earlier!" effect from attendees. Yoshiki's appearance in 2011 was one of these, and thankfully it was a great experience, but we pulled a lot of strings and had some late nights making it happen.

Relationships are key. Otakon, ACen, etc work really hard to maintain relationships. They do a good job, too, so they are trusted. This is something that can literally take a decade to build up and one year to destroy. We have had volatility in certain areas that harmed us; I know I went through several promoters with MusicFest before we got and really developed our current relationships - which are stronger than people might think! - around 5 years ago. The anime side is more hit-or-miss; we are building relationships with seiyuu and their management, but many individuals represent themselves and don't have a management layer to trust and delegate to.

Related is staff. Otakon in particular has long-standing staff that have floated around and kept some consistency in the quality in execution. Personally I did not do a good job in this respect: I handed things off and took a nice vacation, leaving the new guys and girls hanging. They've had to re-learn things I could have taught them, but didn't. Then again, I was making it up as I went along, too. Like relationships, this is also something that can take years to develop, but one bad burn-out year can ruin it.

Money. Some conventions happily raise and pay fees and move along; others, like us, are more hesitant to go down that road.

There's some inside info. I hope it explains a bit why guest relations - across many conventions - are why they are what they are.

Tony, thank you for your very detailed post about what goes on during the process of booking guests and how it has changed over the years.

One thing that jumped out at me though -- while it makes sense that some guests don't know if they can attend until a couple of weeks before the con, then how are other anime cons able to have guests lined up far ahead of time?  Take for instance SacAnime, which is over Labor Day weekend, pretty much has their entire guest lineup now and they began announcing them in January.  Granted they have mostly North American guests, who I imagine are easier to book than Japanese guests (although they've been adding some Japanese guests lately, and announcing them ahead of time) but this year Fanime still hasn't announced their guests earlier despite being mostly North American guests too.  Are they able to book earlier due to having existing relationships or contracts?
#30
Quote from: FanFicGuru on May 16, 2014, 11:48:17 AM
Quote from: hikanteki on May 16, 2014, 10:15:25 AM
Quote from: InsaneDavid on May 16, 2014, 10:02:03 AM
You have to also remember that at the end of the day it really comes down to where the guests want to go.  I would hope (and assume) that many potential guests wouldn't be swayed strictly by waving around more cash in their faces.  Have you ever attended a panel at a convention where you could clearly see that the guest didn't want to be there?  I have - puts a weird vibe in the air of the room.  Sometimes being a big convention can hurt your chances with hosting guests that would rather have smaller and more laid-back appearances as well.

Being a big convention can hurt a con's chances at getting good guests?  Sounds like another excuse...and one that isn't even true at that, as AX/Otakon/ACen are consistently the biggest North American anime conventions and consistently get very prominent guests.

Quote
I think it's just as important, if not more so, to have guests that are enthusiastic and excited to attend a convention than to have a big name to throw up on a marquee.  Also remember, convention guests also, like, you know, have to work and live their lives and create the things that make us want to see them in person.  They can't pop around the world every weekend to show up at fan events.

However we should never be disrespectful to the guests who appear at the convention.  Don't know who they are at first glance?  Expand your horizons!

Ok, all of these I completely agree with.  I think the negative comments are directed more at Fanime's lack of organization than the guests themselves, even if they do appear on the guest threads or guest topics.  People have been frustrated and what's going around is coming around.

Those other large conventions are corporate sponsored events. Fanime is "by fans, for fans". Therein lies all the difference in the world. Of course AX and Otakon are going to get consistently big names coming out, because their contracts likely call for it as being an extension of the company sponsoring these larger conventions.

More excuses that aren't completely true.  While it's true that AX has corporate backing, it, and virtually all other anime conventions, are also still run by fans for fans.  Both the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (who runs AX) and Otakorp are nonprofit organizations.

Quote
At the end of the day, a fraction of a % of attendees use these boards, so we have no idea how the convention attendees as a whole feel about the trend in guests of honor. If things are as terrible as they seem, surely attendance will go down. Or maybe, people still keep coming because at the end of the day it's not as important that people see huge anime celebrities, as long as they get to cosplay with their friends and have a good time.

At least, that's my opinion having attended for ~11 years.

Personally, it's not the lack of huge celebrities that drove me away; it's LineCon (which is one of the biggest problems that contributed to what's been going around currently coming around) along with the messes that multiple departments have turned into these past two years (Masquerade, B&W Ball, Website, Artist's Alley). But yes, I agree that if things are as terrible as they seem then attendance will go down.  We will see what happens.
#31
Quote from: InsaneDavid on May 16, 2014, 10:02:03 AM
You have to also remember that at the end of the day it really comes down to where the guests want to go.  I would hope (and assume) that many potential guests wouldn't be swayed strictly by waving around more cash in their faces.  Have you ever attended a panel at a convention where you could clearly see that the guest didn't want to be there?  I have - puts a weird vibe in the air of the room.  Sometimes being a big convention can hurt your chances with hosting guests that would rather have smaller and more laid-back appearances as well.

Being a big convention can hurt a con's chances at getting good guests?  Sounds like another excuse...and one that isn't even true at that, as AX/Otakon/ACen are consistently the biggest North American anime conventions and consistently get very prominent guests.

Quote
I think it's just as important, if not more so, to have guests that are enthusiastic and excited to attend a convention than to have a big name to throw up on a marquee.  Also remember, convention guests also, like, you know, have to work and live their lives and create the things that make us want to see them in person.  They can't pop around the world every weekend to show up at fan events.

However we should never be disrespectful to the guests who appear at the convention.  Don't know who they are at first glance?  Expand your horizons!

Ok, all of these I completely agree with.  I think the negative comments are directed more at Fanime's lack of organization than the guests themselves, even if they do appear on the guest threads or guest topics.  People have been frustrated and what's going around is coming around.
#32
Quote from: TC_X0_Lt_0X on May 16, 2014, 05:41:33 AM
Personally I dont see the appeal of guests beyond MusicFest Guests. Sure it is nice to have them but I certainly don't go to Fanime for the guests, I go for the panels and atmosphere.

Though there is nothing wrong with having a bit more high profile guests. But there is a lot of competition for the few guests willing to come out here, especially for a convention taking place on Memorial Day Weekend.

Ehh...while MusicFest is certainly my favorite part of Fanime too, someone could turn that around on us.  They could say "I don't see the appeal of MusicFest guests. I don't go for MusicFest or atmosphere, I go for famous Japanese animators."

"A lot of competition" = just another excuse.  There are multiple anime conventions virtually every week of the year.  If there's a lot of competition, then Fanime needs to do what it takes to become competitive. 
#33
So far, there seems to be a very high percentage of North American guests.  Not that that's a bad thing but it seems different than the past few years years when they were almost entirely Japanese.  Also, it's been quite awhile since one of the musical guests hasn't been J-Pop/J-Rock.  Maybe they spent most of their budget on Home Made Kazoku.
#34
Registration / Re: Items to bring for badge pickup
April 10, 2014, 11:10:27 AM
Quote from: sjamison1427 on April 09, 2014, 08:44:32 PM
I keep feeling like I am forgetting something. Is there anything else I should bring with me when picking up my badge?

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  :P
#35
I must say...great design!

And AMAZING MusicFest headlining act.  This may make me want to get a one-day pass...
#36
Quote from: InsaneChan on April 01, 2014, 10:21:35 PM
Ironic because the real joke is that it is officially April and there's still no website.

This is sadly not unexpected.

Two years ago, they dropped the ball on registration. (I'm not giving them a pass for the lights going out anymore.)

Last year, they added the Cosplay Masquerade and B&W Ball to that.

This year, they've already added Artist Alley and the website/information in general to that, and the con hasn't even started yet.

Furthermore, they've relayed to us absolutely nothing whatsoever about what they're doing to fix the previous years problems. Or if they're even doing anything at all.

I really wanted to give them a chance to improve, but I can no longer when their first official comment on registration came 8 months after the con and was "expect to wait a very long time Thursday, Friday, and Saturday."

Either they don't care about fixing it, or don't have the resources to. Both of which are big problems.

This leaves The Dealer's Hall, Game Room, Viewing Rooms, and MusicFest as the only parts of Fanime that might still be intact. These are my favorite parts of Fanime. But none of these are worth waiting in line 6 hours for.

I've been a loyal attendee in the past but the probability that this year is not going to be a complete mess is very, very low.  I live within walking distance of the convention center and unless something miraculous happens I'm sitting this year out.
#37
Quote from: SOawesomeness on February 03, 2014, 03:12:01 PM

Miscellaneous

Q: What are the wait times like?

A: Expect long lines on all of Thursday- bring snacks and drinks if you plan on coming on Thursday.
Friday may have very long lines as well.
Saturday from morning to late afternoon will be busy. The evening time tends to be fairly quiet.
Sunday morning until the afternoon will be busy but tends to get quiet after noon.
Monday is usually very quiet.

While I'm glad info is finally up, I'm saddened that this is the first official response we get after last year's registration.
#38
General Convention Discussion / Re: State of the Con?
January 21, 2014, 12:36:19 PM
Quote from: Ponyflare on January 16, 2014, 11:12:40 PM

More people need to step up and help run the event.

They don't need more management, they need better management.  During Day 0 there were many rooms with volunteers that were doing absolutely nothing, because all the attendees were stuck in the registration line.

Quote
Preferably people with experience running large events, or managing large groups of people. Long-time volunteers who have seen fanime grow and know the event and its problems and have good ideas on how to fix them can also be good candidates for staff.

This is a good idea.
#39
Denki Groove.
#40
General Convention Discussion / Re: State of the Con?
November 05, 2013, 10:55:53 AM
Quote from: Glitch on November 03, 2013, 03:29:09 PM
Quote from: hikanteki on October 31, 2013, 01:25:32 PM
I'll second (third?) this.  We'd really like to hear what they're planning to do for next year to resolve this years problems, and time is running short. 

On Memorial Day weekend 2014, the following other cons are taking place per AnimeCons.com:

Animazement (Raleigh, NC)
Anime Minneapolis
Anime North (Toronto)
MomoCon (Atlanta)
Omni Expo (Orlando)
Anime Oasis (Boise, ID)

Every single one of them has updated their site with announcements and updates since this year's con (i.e. hotel information, travel discounts, periodic contests).  Registration is up on their site, and most of them even have guests announced. 

On the other hand...not a peep from Fanime.

Quote from: foester on October 25, 2013, 01:01:28 PM
The problem is, similar reassurance came at the end of 2012 (with admittedly, the biggest problem being registration's backup due to an unforeseeable and uncontrollable power outage) and 2013 turned out to be a much bigger mess.

That's what we wanted to think but after it turned into a bigger mess in 2013 like you said, I'm not even sure that the backup in 2012 was due to the power outage.
They are actually really early(in fact I would say jumping the gun). Fanime still has like 7 months until the convention. So it isn't that big of a deal. Once February hits, than I'd be worried.

When 6/7 have already announced registration/guests, that's not "really early", that's normal.

Jan-Feb was when we started hearing news about Fanime last year, and look how it turned out.  I don't trust them to put together a decently run show in that short of a time frame, at least not with the current guard.