Print

[Yukari Kaiba]

The Good
-the Hilton! god I love the Hilton: the renovations were awesome. My room was super nice and spacious. Only thing was that there wasn't a mirror over the desk (would have helped as my room was filled with cosplayers lol), but thats just a minor thing. Staff was super awesome and friendly as usual, and the huge room they had to hold luggage was a fantastic idea. I was completely reassured my Noitora scythe would be safe in there when they gave it its own wall space safe from others luggage XD Will definitely be staying with them again.
-photographers were great - got to work with a lot of different people and make friends with many photographers.
-the late night concession stand on the convention floor <3
-I had the most awesome roomies this year <3
-finally got to take a part in QuickDraw at Stage Zero XD
-Masquerade was awesome this year! really well done skits for the most part and definitely upped the level of competition from last year.
-doing cosplay pikapika photos with friends <3
-my Bleach gathering went super well

The Bad
-the line of "Hug Me" people. Seriously, it was annoying as hell to have people either jump in front of me and my friends with open arms being all "hug me" or just to call out for one whenever I walked by. There was a time when my friends and I were walking back to our room and when we ignored them when they called to us asking for free hugs, they called us racist which was completely uncalled for. We responded back to them saying "no, you're just desperate" and continued walking. I don't ever remember the hug me people being such a problem until this year.
-not being able to go into the dealer's room until monday because I was so busy - I missed out on the deals for the Kotobukiya DMC4 Nero figure and they were all gone by the time I got in there T_T
-didn't get to see some people I had hoped to hang out with
-missing the Bleach!Cosplay Chess game because I had to finish up a costume for the gathering later DX

I also agree with what others have said on the badge issue - I'd rather have my fan name be in white and in bigger lettering than my real name.other than that, I had a most awesome time. It went by too fast! I can't wait to do it all over again next year! =D

[gem2niki]

This year felt really crowded! Esp walking outside. But one thing that was annoying is the "hug me" people. They can't just sit around there and lining up to harass people. Wasn't there some rule on that before? No signs or something?

And people seriously need to shower!! The greasy hairs are disturbing. And the con goers in general felt dirty... *shivers*

[havok rt]

I was wondering WTF!? happen to the water coolers from last year?

[FanFicGuru]

Oh yeah, the "hug me" line...what happened to the whole no signs thing? That was just really obnoxious imo.

As far as the gurren-hen movie: a rehash? You think so? I thought that for a two hour movie it did a great job of condensing the story with a slightly altered storyline in a manner that worked really well. Hell, the way that they combined his encounters with the generals into that one epic scene was a pretty good alteration.

Anyways, I pretty much agree with everyone else here: smoothly run, just had a bit of trouble finding things that jumped out at me.

[GokuMew2]

-Yamaga-san Guest Party. Again, the time and admissions information for this event were kept so under-wraps that I was unable to go even though I wanted to.

IIRC, it was announced during the opening ceremony and information on when, where, and how were in the pocket schedule. Wasn't it in the program book too?

[Sucrose]

Pros:

+ Yes yes yes to the pocket guide. While we'd previously gone over the schedule online to mark what we wanted to do to put on Google Calender with SMS reminders, it was great to not have to lug the entire program guide around to check things on paper.
+ Momoi was adorable and had great energy; I'm not usually that big a fan of J-Pop, but she was so cute and enthusiastic! The glowsticks were a great way of getting the audience involved, and I really hope she had as much fun as the rest of us did.
+ Artist's Alley had some excellent innovation and variety this year, I easily spent twice the money I spent in the Dealer's Hall while getting great deals on everything. It's great seeing more original art and stuff besides the usual prints and keychain chibis.
+ The Lolita Panel and Fashion Show was neat; I went since a couple of friends were on the panel (hi, Molina and Jeanine!), and it was quite informative and neat to see the different subfashions showcased as they were.

Cons:
+ The entries at the AMV contest were kind of disappointing, especially in the Drama category, and it was tough to sit through everything just to get to the Comedy ones, which were in general the best-done.
+ Dealer's Hall: same-old, same-old. Tons of merch on the new popular series like Hetalia, not much else, no good deals. I only bought a box of mikan-flavored pocky and a mystery-box of two Higurashi posters (featuring the two characters I least wanted, naturally).
+ I guess I can't really blame anyone else for this, but there just wasn't that much in the way of panels or video programming that really grabbed my interest, and when something did, it was usually two or three things happening all at the same time followed by hours of nothing. Maybe I just need to expand my horizons?
+ The signs, as other people have noted, seemed to be back with a vengeance this year. No, sir, you cannot be my bishie, and I will not guess your gender for a $1 "wrong fee." And absolutely NO HUGS. (Also, can people get over "the game" already?)

Maybe I'm just growing out of it a little bit; aside from a few select events and getting all dolled up in costume, I had a hard time getting as enthusiastic about things this year as I have in previous years. Kudos to everybody who made it run smoothly, though!

[Mordyan]

I felt overall this year was very solid. Things seemed to run smoother from my perspective as a con goer. I rate it at the top of the cons I've attended. So lets break it down.

Highlights for me:
THE POCKET GUIDE - Wow, this is the best thing next to sliced bread. It was so much easier to carry around and pull out. It contained lots of information on when rooms opened and closed and when guest events occurred. Keep it!
Registration - It seemed to move faster than last year. Great job all!
Momoi Halko - She was a awesome guest. And her fan's put on a fun panel. I was glad to be up there swinging my glowsticks.
Resident Evil 5 - Rueben, Ken, and Patricia were very cool people. And I was pleasantly surprised that Karen (Sheva) came along as well. I enjoyed their panels. Thanks all!
Old School Anime - There was a serious dose of older anime sprinkled in even, outside of the old school room. And that room seemed busy every time I went! I know that some people only want to see just the new stuff. But new does not always equal awesome (or even good). I felt it was a good ratio. heh
Video Room Layout - I liked how they were grouped together and the size of the rooms. There were times that video main could have been larger, but I think it averaged out just fine.
Panel Rooms - I liked where they were moved this year. Made them feel more part of the main action.
Autographs - Thank you for moving autographs to their own room. It made things calmer and went smoother than having them in artist alley in my opinion.
Day 0 programming - It is always nice that there is something going on on Thursday nights besides just the swap meet.

Lowlights (pretty minor):
Huggers Alley - Wow it got real bad real quick. We all are aware of the attention whoring nature of hug me signs and the traffic hazards they produce. I thought that signs had been banned unless they were part of a cosplay? Walking between artist ally and and the entrance to dealers room was really ugly.
At Con Food prices - I know you have no control over this, but the convention center pricing was really high. A cheese burger, bag of chips, and a coke totaled $17.50. Original Joes is cheaper than that.
Traffic around Stage Zero - It got tight a number of times. Maybe roping off a walk way would help? Or moving the flyer tables to a different part of the concourse. People tended to lean/sit on them during shows and moving them would free up the walk way.
Water Coolers - Seemed to scarcer this year. I saw them in the panel rooms and near the Dance but that was it.

And... Hmmm... Thats all I have got right now.

I have noticed a few posts about not being anything that they wanted to see or interest them this year. That sort of goes without saying. Every year it will be different and peoples tastes change. For every event or guest that someone says they didn't like or care for, this year, I know lots of people who did. So keep up the good work Fanime and thanks for trying new stuff every year.

Awesome job all!

[elizacuts]

I finally joined the forum after years and years of reading. I really hope to see more of the Swap Meet sellers and buyers prepared. Too many people I see asking for bags to hold their gear, and too many sellers with no bags or correct change. I don't know, I try to break my 100 if I'm going in to buy.

[FanFicGuru]

I finally joined the forum after years and years of reading. I really hope to see more of the Swap Meet sellers and buyers prepared. Too many people I see asking for bags to hold their gear, and too many sellers with no bags or correct change. I don't know, I try to break my 100 if I'm going in to buy.

After running a booth at swap meet and meeting with some great success (I made a little over $350) I'll probably start gathering merchandise for next year. I made sure I had change but I didn't have any bags so sorry to anyone who bought from me and couldn't get a bag. >_<

I'm looking forward to next year. ^_^

[idontknow]

The Bad
-the line of "Hug Me" people. Seriously, it was annoying as hell to have people either jump in front of me and my friends with open arms being all "hug me" or just to call out for one whenever I walked by. There was a time when my friends and I were walking back to our room and when we ignored them when they called to us asking for free hugs, they called us racist which was completely uncalled for. We responded back to them saying "no, you're just desperate" and continued walking. I don't ever remember the hug me people being such a problem until this year.

i MOST DEF agree! i mean, i'm okay if you have a sign asking for hugs because, as you can see, some of them did get hugs so that means that some people actually don't mind the sign people. however, there's a difference between standing on the side and standing RIGHT IN THE AISLEWAY. like you said, if someone with a sign jumps in front of me and says "HUG ME!" i SWEAR i was gonna punch them. some girl tried to block my way by walking into my path but i just walked around her. someone else suggested this but they really should have rovers that at least keep sign-people under control.

this goes for the protestors too. i mean, i'm christian catholic and i believe in god/jesus etc etc but i mean CMON!! it's an ANIME convention! i see them mostly as annoying than trying to preach or whatever shit they're doing. they kind of make me wanna form a group of atheist cops next year to bring to fanime. now that's something interesting i'd like to see mwuahahahahaha

^ by the way i was just joking about that group of atheist cops.

[bebop]

FAnime is soooo much better when you rent a hotel.

This was my first year being there with a hotel, and it rocksssss.
Everything is just so convenient and it seems like FAnime is your home!

Ahem anyway
This year was great. I saw many great, cute, and beautiful cosplays this year. I swear, is it me or does FAnime get better every year?
The dealer's hall had so many great things this year as well!
What else, FAnime Cafe could use a little work though, perhaps some better food! Cold sandwiches? Come on!
Aside from that, the anime marathons could've been better too.
Masquerade was alright... I could've sworn 2007's masquerade was better. Much more diversity and better ideas IMO.

Other good things?
I WAS EXTREMELY glad there wasn't as much Naruto and Bleach cosplayers as there was the previous 2 years. I mean, talk about overload back then. It's better now, and I saw a lot more diverse cosplayers.

The Black & White Ball was EXCELLENT too. I had an extraordinary time there. Really, I loved it. I was also very glad that the music there wasn't Hiphop/Rap/RnB, yuck, I hate those genres. Will there be a B&W Ball next year? I hope so >_<

Anyways, overall, FAnimeCon 2009 was off the bat. It was worth my 72 hours there. And I hope next year gets even better.
Thank you fellow Anime Fans!

[Xanreo]

Pros:
Almost Everything Single Thing.
Especially the Artists' Alley and the Karaoke room.
Those 2 made my Fanime Weekend.
And the cosplayers of course.

Cons:
The switching of panel rooms with the viewing rooms.
I liked the viewing rooms being in the Marriott a lot better.

And I actually didn't go and sit in any of the viewing rooms 'cause all the good stuff was during the day like Crows Zero and DtB, while stuff like Rosario and One Piece was at night when I had lots of "roam" time.
But I can understand since the majority of Con Attendees aren't insomniacs like me.

My hotel stay was pretty unpleasant but that isn't really FanimeCon associated.
Small room, lots of guys, one bed.
Luckily I switched rooms with my friend at the last minute.

I'm thinking of trying the Marriott next year.
Elevators from Hell anyone?

And lastly, having to wait 360+ days for next year's.
*Sighs*
See you all next year.

[Ayanami Rei First Child]

I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

I feel EXACTLY the same way! If you don't put our Fan Name extra large, how are people supposed to recognize us? I mean if we're meeting up, or if I spot someone's name from the Boards, I need their Fan Name. Not to mention I don't really like my real name showing up much, and ESPECIALLY being the only one that really shows. The point of FanimeCon is we RARELY use our Birth Names, and go by Fan Names.
 It was a VERY unwelcome change, and VIOLATED the "By Fans for Fans" since part of Fans, is FAN NAMES!!

Also there wasn't enough variety in the dealer's room. Over half of what was in there was Anime. Manga, Pocky, and Ramune. Granted selling the Pocky and Ramune was cheap, but still. As far as the Anime and Manga are concerned I can usually get it cheaper off Amazon or e-bay for most of them. There wasn't enough merchandising of other stuff like plushies and such.

I DO want to give you props for inviting Momoi Halko as I REALLY love her! I was also happy they were selling her DVD this year, since I managed to lose my old copy. I hope to see her again next year! ^_^

Oh and I also want to give props on having an all around better quality and selection for Artist Alley this year! You really outdid yourself in that this year ^_^

Oh yeah the food was TOTALLY over priced as well! That's why I ALWAYS went OUT to eat.

[SukebeStudios]

I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

I feel EXACTLY the same way! If you don't put our Fan Name extra large, how are people supposed to recognize us? I mean if we're meeting up, or if I spot someone's name from the Boards, I need their Fan Name. Not to mention I don't really like my real name showing up much, and ESPECIALLY being the only one that really shows. The point of FanimeCon is we RARELY use our Birth Names, and go by Fan Names.
 It was a VERY unwelcome change, and VIOLATED the "By Fans for Fans" since part of Fans, is FAN NAMES!!

Word. I prefer the Fan Names too, not the real names. I would have liked to see my Mexica (Aztec) name in bigger letters, since I used that as my Fan Name.

[codex biblio]

First year at Fanime, so I'll keep the feedback short:

Pros
*Pocket Guide (Evidently this is the first year? Truthfully, don't know how anyone survived without it previously)

*Layout: I thought the rooms were all set-up really well. Locations were great and made sense. And the Dealer's room/AA/Gaming rooms never seemed overcrowded (crowded, yes, but never too much--good traffic flow)

*Stage Zero is awesome!! It had wonderful scheduled programming, but it was also fun to just stop and see what was going on when you're in-between panels/videos/events. Great idea!

Cons
I don't really have any con-related complaints. As others mentioned, con-goer behaviours seemed to be the biggest issue (Hugger's Alley, lack of bathing, playing with elevators, etc.). But truthfully, I don't see how con  staff can entirely regulate these behaviors. Even with all the rules, actual enforcement would be a nightmare. Idiots will be idiots.

Conclusion
I'm just really impressed with how well-run Fanime is overall, considering it's a "volunteer" event. I've been on both sides of a convention (and those were "for profit" events), so it's mind-boggling to me that all the staff and volunteers can organize something like this on top of their regular lives.

Thank you for a job well-done.

[Steve.Young]

Hi everyone. This is your friendly Steve.Young on the forums wishing everyone the best and hope everyone had a BLAST at Fanime 2009.

The staff works hard every year to provide the best con possible, but like the rest of the world, nothing is perfect.

Thus, in this thread I would invite you to comment about your good experiences and the bad experiences so that we may further improve the convention!

Thanks,

-Steve

[idontknow]

Is this for any specific feedback? Because there's already an "The Official Fanimecon 09 Feedback Thread~" topic

[Steve.Young]

I would say this would have to do with the events, programming, and facilities of Fanime.

I.E. I hated where Stage Zero is, BW and Musicfest at the same time = lame, etc.

-Steve

[Ayanami Rei First Child]

Having the panels with Momoi Halko was TOTALLY awesome!

Having that Rock Band thing at Stage Zero was pretty cool

Watching my friend play off against the Voice Actor of Ken Masters was pretty epic, although he should have been more tardy.

Also the idea of having a late night video game room with a large screen for video games sounded epically awesome, and I would TOTALLY go to that!

[short_storiesgl]

Dude I made con worth while <3