Messages

It's probably too late for this year but I second the morning ticketing idea. Have a dedicated location where attendees can line up in the morning and pick up tickets, first come, first served. Lots of other conventions do this, like CRX and AX.

I am probably way too late with this response but I just noticed that the autograph policies changed this year:
https://www.fanime.com/guests-of-honor/

The biggest difference now is that you can only line up 1 hour before it starts, and the line is first come, first served.

To answer your questions:

1. How long it takes depends on how fast the guest signs. Some guests are very fast and can sign in 20-30 seconds per person. Some guests like to chat and will take the time to personalize the signature for you (i.e. by writing "To so-and-so"). If you want the guest to personalize your item, my recommendation is that you ask the autograph staff while you are waiting in line before you get up to the front. Also, if you have anything you want to say to the guest, write it down so you don't forget or get nervous when you see them. Also keep it short so you don't take up too much time.

2. Fanime autographs are free. At least they have been since 2016 when I partook in my first autograph session. If there are paid autographs, I'm sure staff will announce it.

3. It's impossible to tell how many people will be in line. But guests will only sign a limited number of autographs, so my recommendation is to get there early. Since Fanime policy now says you can only line up 1 hour in advance, be there 1 hour in advance. I am almost 100 percent positive that, for popular guests, if you arrive at the exact time the autograph session starts (or later than that), you won't get in.

Panelists are told in the signup process and the check-in process about the time procedures. A staff member at the door or the back of the room holds up yellow and red signs to signal the end of the panel, though the timing of this seemed inconsistent, and didn't line up with the "start on the hour, end at :50" timing that panels were supposed to have.

As for the feedback, either my panels last year didn't get any feedback or it was not shared with me. No word yet this year on feedback. Do you have a way to contact the panelists more directly for feedback? I know that I give out my social media information so that people can find my Powerpoints after the show, and people tend to advertise their panels, and I know that at least I welcome feedback, so you might be able to find the panelists and contact them about it.

The signal sounds like a good idea, though it seems like it would be more straightforward just to hold up a sign that says "5 minutes left!" instead of using colors. None of that matters if staff doesn't display the sign at the right time though, so I guess that's something they need to work on.

I don't have a way to contact the panelist. I think they displayed their contact info at the beginning of the panel but I didn't think to take down the info. Oh well. Next year maybe!

Registration:
I picked up my stuff at Clockwork Alchemy. Short wait and no problems at all. It's gonna be sad not to have this option in the future. I hope you'll be able to add more lines and printers to make up for this.

Shuttles:
Excellent overall. All the drivers were very nice. I only experienced one unpleasant incident. I and some others somehow wound up on a "roaming" shuttle (one that traveled to all the various hotels) without knowing that it was roaming. We stayed on board when it stopped and left the convention center expecting that it would go to the Fairmont next. Nope! It took off to another hotel. Fortunately, the driver let us off as soon as we noticed something was amiss and we walked to the Fairmont. Roaming shuttles should be labeled as such. This shuttle was labeled as just a regular shuttle.

Autographs:
If people want to line up 3 hours early to secure a spot for an autograph, they should be allowed to. First come first served is the only fair way to decide who gets an autograph. And if anyone suggests that attendees are wasting their time by waiting in line, my reply this: Who are you to decide how people ought to enjoy their time at a con? I bring this up because I was at the Ito and Ishikawa signing on Saturday. As already stated in this thread and elsewhere, that was a mess. Asking people to go somewhere else and "enjoy the con" and come back 15 minutes before the start is what caused the massive hallway pile-up. In the future, give people the option to line up however early they want, and put this line in a location where it won't be a fire hazard, like outside.

Panels:
Is it true that panels are only supposed to be 50 minutes, not the full 1 hour? If so, then please label panels that way in the guidebook, e.g. 3:00-3:50 pm instead of 3:00-4:00 pm. I think some panelists were unaware of the cutoff time and used up the entire hour, causing the next panel to start late due to the time needed for attendees to clear out and enter.

For the staff:
Do you share suggestions with the panelists that people write on the comment cards? I'm asking because I left criticism last year about the way a certain panel was run. The way they organized the panel was slightly unpleasant to the attendees, and the same exact thing happened again this year.

I would like to see greater industry presence, especially from Viz Media, which is a local company. Yay for supporting local! I'm surprised Viz doesn't have a booth at this event. I'm also surprised that their Shonen Jump Podcast panel on Sunday wasn't labeled as an industry event in the guidebook. I'm sure more people would have attended it if it were. I think it's great that Carl Horn from Dark Horse makes the trip to Fanime from Oregon.

I have no problem keeping the upstairs area locked up for badge-holders only. That also has the added benefit of not needing staff at all the doors checking badges.

[Kensho Ono]

Japanese guests:

Kensho Ono (Wiki - ANN Profile - Agency)
- Actor: Slaine (Aldnoah Zero), Kuroko (Kuroko's Basketball), Mikaela (Seraph of the End), Yuya (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V)
- Really nice guy. He was at Tsukino-Con in Vancouver earlier this year.

Yuki Ono (Wiki - ANN Profile - Personal Website)
- Actor: Taiga Kagami (Kuroko's Basketball), Shigeshige Tokugawa (Gintama), Isami Aldini (Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma)

Takanori Hoshino (Wiki - ANN Profile - Agency)
- Actor: Katsunori Harasawa (Kuroko's Basketball), Lester MacPhail (The Asterisk War), Jack Atlas (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's)

Toshiki Masuda (Wiki - ANN Profile - Agency)
- Actor: Kurusu (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress), Ryu Zao (Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!), Masayoshi Hazama/Samurai Flamenco (Samurai Flamenco)

Megumi Han (Wiki - ANN Profile - Agency)
- Actress: Gon (Hunter x Hunter 2011), Kirio (Ushio & Tora), Aya Tachibana (Yowamushi Pedal)

Mie Sonozaki (Wiki - ANN Profile - Agency)
- Actress: Gertrud Barkhorn (Strike Witches), Viola (One Piece), Mutsumi Urushibara (Kiznaiver)

Ayumi Kinoshita (Wiki - ANN Profile - Personal Website)
- Actress (live action): Marika Reimon/Yellow Ranger (Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger), Yuko Fukui/Cyan Ranger (Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger)
- Actress (anime): Rei Aoki (Glass Mask), Aki Izayoi (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's)

Shintaro Asanuma (Wiki - ANN Profile - Agency)
- Actor: Hiroto Maehara (Assassination Classroom), Kaito Daimon (Phi Brain), Ran Kazehara (Shonen Hollywood), Takatoshi Tsuda (Seitokai Yakuindomo)

Tetsuya Kakihara (Wiki - ANN Profile - Agency)
- Actor: Natsu (Fairy Tail), Jinpachi Todo (Yowamushi Pedal), Simon (Gurren Lagann)

American guests:

Megan Hollingshead (Wiki - ANN Profile - Agency - Personal Website)
- Actress: Caster (Fate Stay/Night: UBW), Villetta (Code Geass), Mai Valentine (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Sam Riegel (Wiki - ANN Profile - Personal Website)
- Actor: Shirou Emiya (Fate Stay/Night), Taniguchi (Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), Mephisto Pheles (Blue Exorcist)

Emily Bauer (Wiki - ANN Profile - Personal Website)
- Actress: Dawn (Pokemon), Shinobu (Ninja Nonsense), Zuzu (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V)

Thanks for posting the autograph schedule early, even before the full schedule came out. That actually helped me with my travel plans because I realized I could save money and arrive a little bit later than I originally anticipated but not miss the autographs I want.

Edit: I'm all set. Thanks!

Thanks for the welcome! ^^ So it sounds like Fanime autographs are first come, first served. Are we allowed to line up as early as we want? I was just at Anime Boston two weeks ago and they didn't let people line up until one hour before the actual autograph signing started. And they limited autographs to the first 100 people in line.

Hi there, Fanime newbie here. I'm wondering how Fanime handled autograph sessions last year. First come, first served? Random lottery? Or do we need to stand in line for a ticket? I did do a forum search first but all of the posts discussing autographs are really old. Based on what I read, it looks like Fanime has tried all of these strategies at least once, so I'm wondering how things went last year.

Glad to see Fanime has already started announcing guests. Hoping to get Masaya Matsukaze's autograph!