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[echoshadow]

Remember a lot of the Fanime staff incharge do have normal day jobs.

 It's not like they are at Fanime hq just partying up all day watching/reading anime/manga and listening to Pururin song in the background.

[tenton]

What, just in time so people can't cancel their hotel rooms? That would be quite the coincidence.

Hey, look, that convention at the end of July has announced their first guest. They're still 93 days away and they have the same amount of announced guests.

It makes no sense for us to delay announcing guests to lock everyone into a hotel room. Looking at the entire picture, it would mean that we sell out of hotel rooms for one year but hurt us in future years. Makes no sense to me or anyone else that would make decisions like this.

Note, I'm not claiming that anyone is delaying announcements for this purpose. Just that it would be a hell of a coincidence (i.e. I don't believe that to be the intention). But you must admit, cynical thoughts may creep is (perception is reality, as they say). Just because no one is saying it out loud doesn't mean people aren't *thinking* it on some level (perhaps in a deep corner of their minds).

Note I'm also not complaining. Things happen for various reasons. Fanime staff have to do what they feel is necessary (making sure everything is confirmed, details worked out, contracts signed, etc). Of course, potential attendees also have to do what they feel is necessary (make plans to go to Fanime, make plans to go to other conventions, stay home, etc).

Also, I don't think selling out hotels is a problem, seeing as every year, they seem to sell out just fine without any guests announced. This year they went pretty fast; less than 6 hours and the contiguous blocks were all snapped up (Fri-Mon) in the walking distance hotels. Plus, looking at the survey on what people go to Fanime for, guest related stuff was surprisingly low on the ranks (the highest were the concerts, which were ranked 4th with 10%), so it would appear that a specific set of guests aren't critically important to the survey taking people or the hotel reserving potential attendees.

Whatever the reasons, it actually doesn't matter to me, since I have to concern myself with my situation. On the attendee side, a final decision must be made, since the free hotel cancellation period ends this Friday. Why this is the case, I don't know. Certainly wasn't like this the first year I went to Fanime; this "can only cancel a month before" thing only seemed to have started last year. I'm sure Fanime will have great guests, but I since I do not live down the street from San Jose, I can't just decide to when things get announced. The guests are a critically important factor for me, so not knowing more than 1 guest with 30 days to go makes it so that difficult choices must be made, because of this cancellation policy (which I've never seen for any other sort of event, but maybe I'm wrong).

As for the staff having day jobs...yes, this is true. It is also true for many other conventions. Do they have a difficult job running the convention? Yes. Do they get my sympathy? Sure. Does that mean it's perfectly fine they way it's being handled, from a attendee's perspective? That's for each of the attendees to decide.

Anyways, enough ranting off topic. I'm sure whomever Fanime is trying to finalize as their MusicFest guests will be great and the attendees that go will love them. I'm sure whatever other guests Fanime is about to secure will also be great and people will love them too. I'm just not sure if I will be there to see them, since my decision on what to do MUST be made shortly.

[Gigantor]

I think we have untill the 30th to cancel reservations. I got good rooms this year so i'm in high hope of them announcing someone soon. It's fanime they wouldn't let us down i hope lol.

27th I believe

The 27th is correct. However if you read the email thoroughly, this is only to cancel through FaniHousing.

[tenton]

I think we have untill the 30th to cancel reservations. I got good rooms this year so i'm in high hope of them announcing someone soon. It's fanime they wouldn't let us down i hope lol.

27th I believe

The 27th is correct. However if you read the email thoroughly, this is only to cancel through FaniHousing.

If you read the FaniHousing site, you'll also see this gem:

Cancellation Deadline: Last day to cancel is Friday, April 27, 2012. After this date, a cancellation penalty of one night's room and tax will apply.

[MPLe]

What, just in time so people can't cancel their hotel rooms? That would be quite the coincidence.

Hey, look, that convention at the end of July has announced their first guest. They're still 93 days away and they have the same amount of announced guests.

It makes no sense for us to delay announcing guests to lock everyone into a hotel room. Looking at the entire picture, it would mean that we sell out of hotel rooms for one year but hurt us in future years. Makes no sense to me or anyone else that would make decisions like this.

Note, I'm not claiming that anyone is delaying announcements for this purpose. Just that it would be a hell of a coincidence (i.e. I don't believe that to be the intention). But you must admit, cynical thoughts may creep is (perception is reality, as they say). Just because no one is saying it out loud doesn't mean people aren't *thinking* it on some level (perhaps in a deep corner of their minds).

Note I'm also not complaining. Things happen for various reasons. Fanime staff have to do what they feel is necessary (making sure everything is confirmed, details worked out, contracts signed, etc). Of course, potential attendees also have to do what they feel is necessary (make plans to go to Fanime, make plans to go to other conventions, stay home, etc).

Also, I don't think selling out hotels is a problem, seeing as every year, they seem to sell out just fine without any guests announced. This year they went pretty fast; less than 6 hours and the contiguous blocks were all snapped up (Fri-Mon) in the walking distance hotels. Plus, looking at the survey on what people go to Fanime for, guest related stuff was surprisingly low on the ranks (the highest were the concerts, which were ranked 4th with 10%), so it would appear that a specific set of guests aren't critically important to the survey taking people or the hotel reserving potential attendees.

Whatever the reasons, it actually doesn't matter to me, since I have to concern myself with my situation. On the attendee side, a final decision must be made, since the free hotel cancellation period ends this Friday. Why this is the case, I don't know. Certainly wasn't like this the first year I went to Fanime; this "can only cancel a month before" thing only seemed to have started last year. I'm sure Fanime will have great guests, but I since I do not live down the street from San Jose, I can't just decide to when things get announced. The guests are a critically important factor for me, so not knowing more than 1 guest with 30 days to go makes it so that difficult choices must be made, because of this cancellation policy (which I've never seen for any other sort of event, but maybe I'm wrong).

As for the staff having day jobs...yes, this is true. It is also true for many other conventions. Do they have a difficult job running the convention? Yes. Do they get my sympathy? Sure. Does that mean it's perfectly fine they way it's being handled, from a attendee's perspective? That's for each of the attendees to decide.

Anyways, enough ranting off topic. I'm sure whomever Fanime is trying to finalize as their MusicFest guests will be great and the attendees that go will love them. I'm sure whatever other guests Fanime is about to secure will also be great and people will love them too. I'm just not sure if I will be there to see them, since my decision on what to do MUST be made shortly.

All fair points. The main point of my post was essentially "lets not spread rumors". =) I think most people agree that we should start announcing guests (insert quote from random Twitter person here comparing us to other convention that may or may not be related to FanimeCon in anyway), but I can only assure you that we're working hard on getting everything finalized. It is completely understood that the GoHs are a big part of FanimeCon for some that attend FanimeCon, so it's not like we're going to purposely ignore this - What kind of fan run convention would we be.

Regarding the hotel room cancellation, it really depends on the hotel or housing company that you work with. I've assisted in events where the hotel/housing company required cancellations 60 days in advance (which is completely crazy and so rare).

[Gigantor]

What, just in time so people can't cancel their hotel rooms? That would be quite the coincidence.

Hey, look, that convention at the end of July has announced their first guest. They're still 93 days away and they have the same amount of announced guests.

It makes no sense for us to delay announcing guests to lock everyone into a hotel room. Looking at the entire picture, it would mean that we sell out of hotel rooms for one year but hurt us in future years. Makes no sense to me or anyone else that would make decisions like this.

Note, I'm not claiming that anyone is delaying announcements for this purpose. Just that it would be a hell of a coincidence (i.e. I don't believe that to be the intention). But you must admit, cynical thoughts may creep is (perception is reality, as they say). Just because no one is saying it out loud doesn't mean people aren't *thinking* it on some level (perhaps in a deep corner of their minds).

Note I'm also not complaining. Things happen for various reasons. Fanime staff have to do what they feel is necessary (making sure everything is confirmed, details worked out, contracts signed, etc). Of course, potential attendees also have to do what they feel is necessary (make plans to go to Fanime, make plans to go to other conventions, stay home, etc).

Also, I don't think selling out hotels is a problem, seeing as every year, they seem to sell out just fine without any guests announced. This year they went pretty fast; less than 6 hours and the contiguous blocks were all snapped up (Fri-Mon) in the walking distance hotels. Plus, looking at the survey on what people go to Fanime for, guest related stuff was surprisingly low on the ranks (the highest were the concerts, which were ranked 4th with 10%), so it would appear that a specific set of guests aren't critically important to the survey taking people or the hotel reserving potential attendees.

Whatever the reasons, it actually doesn't matter to me, since I have to concern myself with my situation. On the attendee side, a final decision must be made, since the free hotel cancellation period ends this Friday. Why this is the case, I don't know. Certainly wasn't like this the first year I went to Fanime; this "can only cancel a month before" thing only seemed to have started last year. I'm sure Fanime will have great guests, but I since I do not live down the street from San Jose, I can't just decide to when things get announced. The guests are a critically important factor for me, so not knowing more than 1 guest with 30 days to go makes it so that difficult choices must be made, because of this cancellation policy (which I've never seen for any other sort of event, but maybe I'm wrong).

As for the staff having day jobs...yes, this is true. It is also true for many other conventions. Do they have a difficult job running the convention? Yes. Do they get my sympathy? Sure. Does that mean it's perfectly fine they way it's being handled, from a attendee's perspective? That's for each of the attendees to decide.

Anyways, enough ranting off topic. I'm sure whomever Fanime is trying to finalize as their MusicFest guests will be great and the attendees that go will love them. I'm sure whatever other guests Fanime is about to secure will also be great and people will love them too. I'm just not sure if I will be there to see them, since my decision on what to do MUST be made shortly.

All fair points. The main point of my post was essentially "lets not spread rumors". =) I think most people agree that we should start announcing guests (insert quote from random Twitter person here comparing us to other convention that may or may not be related to FanimeCon in anyway), but I can only assure you that we're working hard on getting everything finalized. It is completely understood that the GoHs are a big part of FanimeCon for some that attend FanimeCon, so it's not like we're going to purposely ignore this - What kind of fan run convention would we be.

Regarding the hotel room cancellation, it really depends on the hotel or housing company that you work with. I've assisted in events where the hotel/housing company required cancellations 60 days in advance (which is completely crazy and so rare).

So, I just have a question regarding cancellations then, the Cancellation policy on the website which says, 1 full nights room&tax will be charged, is that a contract agreement through CMR?

I know that in general, when I personally book a room, it is usually only 24 hours - 72 hours notice to escape with no costs. While it differs on room types and booking times etc, that seems to be the norm.

When I was reading the emails, it says that (just paraphrasing) "FanimeCon will have no obligation to seek recovery of monies for the guest after 27th" and to "not contact the hotels directly until May 18th".

Does that mean that we could contact the hotels directly after May 18th regarding cancellations and still cancel as long as it falls under there direct hotel cancellation policy?

It is a little confusing to me since there are two different entities engaging in the reservation policies.

Just want to clarify if April 27th is a guaranteed reservation cancellation charge of 1nights room and tax, and who this cancellation charge would go to?

[Angelx624]

Really... has Fanimecon ever let us down when it comes to guests for the past.. what... decade+? rofl... no.

I know that the past two years I've gone, I haven't been disappointed with the Music Fest guests they got. I loved seeing LM.C and Yuya perform. ^^ Not really a fan of Flow, though. But, I'm not complaining.

Heck, I'll be happy if they get any visual kei band. xDD Or any cute male J-pop group. I'm not too hard to please.

[MPLe]

So, I just have a question regarding cancellations then, the Cancellation policy on the website which says, 1 full nights room&tax will be charged, is that a contract agreement through CMR?

I know that in general, when I personally book a room, it is usually only 24 hours - 72 hours notice to escape with no costs. While it differs on room types and booking times etc, that seems to be the norm.

When I was reading the emails, it says that (just paraphrasing) "FanimeCon will have no obligation to seek recovery of monies for the guest after 27th" and to "not contact the hotels directly until May 18th".

Does that mean that we could contact the hotels directly after May 18th regarding cancellations and still cancel as long as it falls under there direct hotel cancellation policy?

It is a little confusing to me since there are two different entities engaging in the reservation policies.

Just want to clarify if April 27th is a guaranteed reservation cancellation charge of 1nights room and tax, and who this cancellation charge would go to?

I'm looking into this. There seems to be multiple dates floating around.

I know that the past two years I've gone, I haven't been disappointed with the Music Fest guests they got. I loved seeing LM.C and Yuya perform. ^^ Not really a fan of Flow, though. But, I'm not complaining.

Heck, I'll be happy if they get any visual kei band. xDD Or any cute male J-pop group. I'm not too hard to please.

Everyone wants cute <genre> <gender> solo/group acts.

[chifunii]

So I'm the minority standing here with my ONE OK ROCK sign? Hnnnnng

Well...won't be long now til we find out who's coming...

[OtakuMcGreevy]

One of the things I love about FanimeCon is all the international guests! I don't think there's a whole lot of anime cons that has as many Japanese guests as Fanime! (Of course, this is sort of a double-edged sword for me since I'm also a big fan of English VAs, but it's not like Fanime never has them!)

[xdeath_bunnyx]

Hmm so I guess we are just waiting now.
Waiting ...
waiting ...
waiting ..
waiting ...
waiting.

I hope it comes out soon D:~
Oh and AX has two guests don't they? Not one, as someone said before.

[shellysunfish]

Online registration closes May 11th.
Are you guys going to announce
some more guest before then?
... or are you going to announce
them two weeks before the con?

[Teca]

While I normally would give any giant con the benefit of the doubt in announcing guests because of the time negotiating terms and signing contracts, especially with foreign guests, this is getting a little extreme. To only have one US voice actor as a guest when it's less than 30 days out is not only a bit worrisome, but it makes it extremely difficult to plan anything for the con ahead of time.

[zero209]

i notice alot of cons have most of there guest already booked. I'm wondering who is coming most of who i would wanted to have seen are at other cons this year. Kinda to late to cancel the room so just gonna go and have fun and if all else fails i shall be at the bar.

[cutiebunny]

For those of us who donate stuff to your charity auction, it would be helpful to know what guests will be at Fanime as soon as possible.  I'd hate to donate an Itunes card and find out that there's no music guest to sign it.

Well, here's to hoping we'll see something on Tuesday, May 1.

[Freeden]

I know you guys working the con are waiting till everything is finalized, and you keep teasing us, but throw us a bone here. We've been waiting patiently for announcements, but it's under a month now. How are things not finalized and there's less than a month when several other cons not only have more guests, but guests that are big names. Animazement has Kotoko coming, and Fanime's musicfest performers have yet to be announced. So, for the fans that are waiting patiently, could we get something? A hint? Some reassurances that there's a big musicfest name coming? Heck, even confirmation that May'n will actually be at her panel would be nice.

[tenton]

Heck, even confirmation that May'n will actually be at her panel would be nice.

That might be difficult, since May'n's tour has a 5/25 date in Kanagawa (at Club Citta), then 5/30 and 5/31 stops in Nagoya and Kyoto. Well, technically it's not impossible, but that would be a bit much to fly out her out to SJ and fly her back to Japan so quickly. She does have to prepare for each stop and rest and stuff.

[Angelx624]

As anxious as I am, and with as long as I have been waiting, I still try to be patient. Maybe there's a reason why it's taking so long. And I have a feeling it's a good reason. Who knows, maybe they're getting someone really big. But, that's just my theory. I could be wrong. But, that's just my guess.

[SweetNiar]

Well, that's a bit comforting. I hate the anticipation of not knowing, but that little update is helpful. I am hoping to see something by next week or the beginning of May. Either way, only about a month away. So excited!

*Looks at press release drafts*
*closes window and smiles*

Soon!

Oh no you didnt just say "Soon"!   You sir...believe in torture XD

[MPLe]

Oh no you didnt just say "Soon"!   You sir...believe in torture XD

I play Blizzard games so I use their definition of Soon.