Is this true? If so, is it going to be a part of the masq, or a separate event? All the Masq groups are already determined and totally unprepared for this announcement. When did the staff plan on letting the groups know about this?
This won’t affect Cosplay Spectacular (the Masquerade) in any way, it’s a completely separate deal and there is absolutely no overlap. We wouldn’t be giving out prizes or anything else; this would be held almost as a panel and
is not a Fanime-sponsored event other than letting them have panel space. There are no technical services provided for this event; it's just a room with chairs.
I’d actually had several people ask me to bring this event to Fanime, so I was just responding to demand by accepting the panel request despite my initial hesitation due to the negative press a few years back. I just talked to someone about it yesterday, and there is no finalized information about anything, so that's why there wasn't any sort of annoucement. Also, as it's not a FanimeCon event, we wouldn't announce something like this anyway - it's up to the panel people to provide information on their panel.
I am not running this event either; I just assisted with providing a panel room. If this manages to go off without causing any issues, we may consider some sort of more formalized event next year. At the moment, however, this is just a test. Thanks!
This has nothing whatsoever to do with FanimeCon's Masquerade / Cosplay Spectacular. Everything is staying just as it was. I hope that clarifies things!
Marisa
Masquerade Coordinator