FanimeCon 2010 Feedback Thread

Started by M, May 29, 2010, 10:37:02 PM

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M

Place feedback here please.

We do have staffers that read this, so in order to keep things better organized, please use a format such as the following to give your feedback:
[Department Name/Event Name: Description]

i.e.

Marketing: Needs better Marketing.
Dealers: Needs more dealers!
FanimeCon Head of Marketing & Director of Communications (2008-Current)
(Former Fan Services Director, Registration Staff, & Volunteer)
Have questions (about almost anything)? Message me!

Dracil

#1
Info Desk: Should actually have correct info.  So first, there was some confusion with the schedule saying Fanimaid Live was at 12 while some flyers said 1PM.  After Yukie's concert, our group got ourselves some seats.  But the website (m.fanime.com) still said Fanimaid was still at 12.  At about 12:30 the MC was saying there was some dance group coming up, which wasn't on the schedule so I went up to the Info Desk right next to the stage to verify when it was supposed to happen.  They said Yukie's concert WAS Fanimaid Live and when I pressed them they continued saying that was the case and nothing could be done.  We were there mainly to see and support our friend in there so we left disappointed, with a feeling of, that was it?  Imagine my surprise then when at 1:15 I passed by and noticed that the Fanimaid performance was indeed going on.  What is the point of having an Info Desk if they don't even have the correct info, and if they really don't know, can't be bothered to check with the people who do know what's going on?

Rovers: Not a real criticism like the above, but it was certainly amusing to see a couple of them taking the elevator from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor.

HarpB

Panels: Only thing I would like to see is additional places inside the room to charge the camera or run the camera when it is low on battery and I want to record the panel. Now that I think about it, maybe I should take the responsibility of carrying a long extension.

I don't have any other issues, it has been an awesome experience so far.

Anon

#3
swap meet:

-Your policy of skipping/bumping people that were not physically there for when their number was called was not followed. I understand that there were plenty of spots and that in the end it didn't matter, but regardless many people were left standing around waiting at the desk while earlier numbers came in long after their number should have been checked in.

-Your people that were checking the inventory of sellers were standing around many times doing little/nothing while waiting for sellers to check in at the desk. Checking the inventory before admitting people in, or even before the check-in would have sped up the process and kept the entrance to the room clear. This is not to say they weren't being helpful, on both days my friend and I were both escorted to our spot by the same guy, he even offered to help carry some of our things. Kudos to that guy.

-This issue was not so much a deal on Thursday, but on Friday, the line of people checking was lead in through the same door as the one people that were coming in to shop/game. It got very hairy when people also started going through the same door as the exit (which, eventually got marked as entrance only. Also on that note, many times people were told to come back in and exit through the proper exit, making things even worse.) Lastly in regards to the door, your staffer on many occasions people were told to "go go go!" "hurry up!" and "run!" while being badge-checked. Worse case scenario, between the seller check-in line streaming through that door, people exiting and the people being told to run in, you could have had a serious injury there.

-Please allow more time for swap meet sellers to check-in and set up/lay out their wares, before letting people in. My friend and I had a ton of stuff to put out for display and had to tend to people asking about things we had, while trying to watch the things I had set out and make sure nobody stole anything, all while still setting up. I understand that the area was shared with the gaming area, possibly switch the room next year this with a room that closes its doors at a specific time, as opposed to the game room that is open 24 hours, or perhaps even it's own dedicated room. The attendance during the first few hours certainly filled the entire room, meriting a larger space may need be facilitated.

Those are the biggest issues off the top of my head. I'll probably think of more after a day or two, still winding down and taking inventory


Dracil

#4
Gaming Hall: At 2AM in the morning, when most people are sleeping or partying in their rooms and there isn't much traffic flows, those entrance/exits that are supposed to help the congoers become more of a hindrance.  You could probably just open both doors, and have the staff sit in the center but a little inside the room and have people enter/exit from their right like standard traffic flow.  They only need to check the badges of the people from the side entering then, but still allows people to enter or exit from both sides to go back to their respective hotels.

heeroyuy135

#5
BlazBlue/Guilty Gear creators' autograph session - The policy of the BlazBlue/Guilty Gear creators' autograph session was unacceptable if people wanted both signatures and sketches and if others just wanted one or the other which will lead to some skipped merchandise and poor quality. What they should of done and make one pure signature session, and if you want to come back for sketches you do one a different day for a sketch session.

ZaichikArky

Ok Here is all my feedback.

Asian Drama Room: What happened to this? I'm pretty disappointed that you guys didn't have it this year. I'm very, very picky with what anime I watch, so most years I just watched Asian drama shows.

Gaming Room: The board games were pretty cool, though a lot of them were missing instructions, which made them hard if not impossible to play for the newbs or people who didn't know all the instructions. We went home and printed instructions for Risk and left it in there so hopefully no one stole it 0_o. Also, would it be possible to keep tabs on which games get checked out? This would be beneficial to know for future years as some games I imagine aren't going to really be checked out and some are always checked out. So instead of having video trivial persuit games (a less popular choice) you could have more (insert very popular game).

One minor complaint... I don't really understand why there is a SPECIFIC entrance and exit for the games room. Do any of the other areas have this?

The fanime magazine thing: My biggest complaint is that I would really, really love to have all the summaries for every anime/movies at the con. I don't really know any of the shows that fanime plays so it's kind of hard to decide what I want to watch. I gotta go up to all the salons and read the summaries if the show sounds interesting to me. It would be helpful if people had some kind of wifi device, I guess, but a lot of people don't have those. I'd rather not pay the extra free for the cellphone internet, sorry!

That's about it. Thank you.

mirnamomo

General: Prices on water need to be dropped, it is easier for people to just buy sodas and not drink water cause sodas don't cost as much, but everyone still needs water. It would be nice if ya'll think about dropping the price of the water from $4 down to something reasonable. People would rather stay thirsty than have to pay $4 for a normal sized bottle of water.

Dance: The music really sucks. I know its sposed to be a rave-like place and have a lot of beats, but not for the whole time! Play some remixed songs. Popular J-pop, J-rock, hip hop, pop, dance, techno, songs, but not just only beats. It is annoying, you can only dance to that for so long without getting bored. The place might have looked really cool, and fully packed, but it really was just people making giant circles to watch other people show their moves, while everyone else is trying to dance to the same beat that has been going on for 10 minutes. They were saying they had great DJs, but they sucked.

Black and White Ball: Almost the same like I said before but concerning coordinating the dances with the songs. My brother went with my friends and my self to it so that we would have some knowledge on how to do the dances. And he had some comments that he wanted ya'll to know. When picking songs to styles of dances place them accordingly to their beats matching up. At one moment there was a very slow song playing for the 2-step, at another there was a 4/4 song playing for a 3/4 dance. The only time the songs matched the dance was for some of the demonstrations, but again not all.  Last but not least this is not concerning the music, but the dress code. Please make it well known in the booklet of the dress code, and don't leave out talking about Lolita. At last minute we were hearing from multiple places different things [two of those places were: straight from a staff members mouth and from the booklet.] We weren't sure if Lolita was okay to wear. Cause the booklet didn't say if, and a staff member said no, then later on changing his answer to "Gothic Lolita is accepted". Then the colors of clothing that were allowed were not told, we were hearing from staff that clothing could only be either: black, white, or red. But when we arrived there, we saw a multitude of colorful clothing and Lolita, and not just Gothic Lolita.  

Mantaray3000

#8
Video Screenings: Fanime needs to work out the video screening sessions. I mean honestly was it really necessary to make the saturday screening of Evangelion 2.22 @ 8am!? Couldn't there have been a better time for that considering that a movie like that could draw in a full crowd!? I am aware that there were other showings of it buy my point is; not everyone can attend all 4 days let alone get up so early in the morning. Hopefully when Fanime shows 3.0 or the Trigun movie, we will never have to exprience that ever again.

Dealers: What ever happened to the booth that sells anime soundtracks? What happened to Japanvideogames? Wasn't there more booths last year especially industry like funimation and bandai?

Guests: Need a little more guests especially seiyuus. This is only a small complaint because I've mentioned this before how I understand that Fanime is not like Anime Expo where they are funded by the State and not every seiyuu is worth bringing overseas. However I just find it a little frustrating how many people (including myself) are constantly requesting certain seiyuus only to come up short :-\. Its like no one from staff is listening or taking it seriously. Then again I could be wrong.

Dance: Have an open ballroom dance floor like you did with open rave night. Not everyone can attend B&W ball but some us still love to dance just not always fast pace.

chifunii

Info Desk: I only asked them once where the pre-reg badge pick-up line was. So I can't really offer feedback about this.

LINES!!!: Lines. Lineslineslines. Fanime is full of them. So I was thinking. Perhaps have bigger signs of where things are. I didn't even know where the pre-reg line was until I asked. Also, for long lines such as FLOW, LM.C etc., it would be clearer if there were signs for the front of the line, and the end of the line. Plus, a sign for what the line is for. I know it seems like a bunch of signs, but a clearly-written whiteboard would suffice for most of them! :) I hope this can be implemented next year.

Marketing: I have no idea what more I can say. They did a great job doing some promo, although sometimes I wish updates came more often, even if nothing much has been happening, updates are awesome. And also... I didn't find out about Fanime until my friend told me about it...I don't really know how else people find out about Fanime. Maybe that could use a little work.

Dealer's Hall: SO glad there was a JMusic stand. Although I wish that there were more dealers this time around, I only bought a couple things because some dealers I saw last year weren't there, and many of the items within the hall were similar...

Artist's Alley: Nothing much.

MusicFest: YES. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS THIS YEAR. FLOW and LM.C were so amazing, and everyone involved were VERY FAIR about people who would cut in line, or try to get into the show unfairly...etc.? And whoever/whatever team asks the artists to come, they really knocked it out of the park this year around. If music guests like FLOW and LM.C could come, or if they could come again, Fanime would beat out all other cons everr. Slight critique because I wanted to offer something helpful: There were a couple people for both shows that had people waiting in line that were saving seats for others. Usually I don't mind this, since waiting in line is tough sometimes, but when five or six other people show up per person in the line, it gets a little out of hand. Perhaps come up with a way to make sure that the people that wait the longest time to have the privilege of going in earlier. :<

FLOW & LM.C Q&A to autograph session: SOOO FARRR AWAY!!! The timing was very very tight, and it was always a race across the con center (of walking quickly) it was pretty intense...But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

For the Q&A panel, I was given little sheets of paper for panel feedback (which were full points for both FLOW and LM.C Q&A), but nobody ever told us where to put it or where to turn it in....

Rovers: Were a buncha bunch nicer this year around...And more understanding, and, especially, EVEN MORE ORGANIZED!!! In the previous cons some rovers would give different information. It seems to have really cleared up this year.
FanimeCon attendee: 2008-

Jelly Soup

Artist Alley: One of the best I've seen in years.
Gaming: Nice selection of old school games, but I had one issue. One, the staff needs to keep better tabs on who is using what and how they are using it. One person on Saturday night kept getting mad at his game and slamming the controller on the ground. I told a staffer who just brushed me off.
Convention in General: Pick which door is which and stick with it. Artist Alley had it's entrance and exit switched a bunch of times, with both doors eventually becoming both an entrance and an exit. I was also pleased to see we had non-god complex staffers this year, that was a major plus.



DTJAAAAM

Dealers: I was disappointed by the lack of vendors selling video games, so hopefully Japan Video Games or another company will fill that void in 2011.

Swap Meet: My favorite event! I wish it could happen on more than two days, and possibly start up a bit earlier.

Maid Cafe: I was unaware that pictures weren't allowed, and was scolded by a Rover for zooming in from across the railing for a photo. I'd say put up some signs on that railing since it's just asking for oblivious people like me to start shooting photos.

Somebody

Rovers: Most of them did a fabulous job, but I was disappointed to see some in the gaming room and in general places towards the end of the convention completely and purposely ignoring ongoing problems, even when my fellow staffers mentioned what was happening to them. Although, is Spin the Bottle allowed in the game room? Just curious. Otherwise, very helpful, kind, and hard-working.
Cosplay 2013
Friday night: RWBY (incomplete)
Saturday morning: Arrietty
Sunday afternoon: Ruby w/ Adam (RWBY, no scythe)
Monday: Arrietty

Sora

Karaoke Room: I blame myself for not suggesting any songs for Open Mic, but I was a little upset that some of the songs I wanted to sing didn't have lyrics, so I just walked out and didn't sing at all.

Guests: Just one more would be nice or a few more different people each year.

Hotel: I wish I didn't get just an estimate on the hotel room this year prior to the con instead of the actual price of it. The other people in my room complained about how much we each had to pay (as we felt not knowing the real price of the hotel with all of its charges threw us all off).

Swap Meet: I wish there were something to sit on besides the floor...like a mat or something...I mean, sitting down for a long time can put your feet and/or legs to sleep...
"Don't give me any orders."

BenihimeSama

#14
Quote from: daiphyer.com on May 30, 2010, 02:54:14 AM
Panels: Only thing I would like to see is additional places inside the room to charge the camera or run the camera when it is low on battery and I want to record the panel. Now that I think about it, maybe I should take the responsibility of carrying a long extension.

I don't have any other issues, it has been an awesome experience so far.

As a staffer, just to let you know, the panels room in the hotel, was actually one big room, broken into three separate rooms. And many of  the electrical plugs in the panels rooms, are at the front, and are used for panels tech. We will look into it for the future for everyone, but please keep in mind that spare batteries are your friends if you do a lot of video taping and pictures.   :)

Thank you for your suggestion!

Staff Note: If there are any specific suggestions for specific panels, the Panels department has a thread available for your to share your improvements and ideas for panels as well! ----http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,14469.0.html
Venus Benihime-Sama
Panelist Since 2008
Panels Staff Member since 2010
Proud member of Rena's Rangers! 

Owner of The Geeky Manifestos Blog
Just admit it: Otakus just do it better.

AmazingKenchan

Quote from: Dracil on May 31, 2010, 01:03:25 AM
Gaming Hall: At 2AM in the morning, when most people are sleeping or partying in their rooms and there isn't much traffic flows, those entrance/exits that are supposed to help the congoers become more of a hindrance.  You could probably just open both doors, and have the staff sit in the center but a little inside the room and have people enter/exit from their right like standard traffic flow.  They only need to check the badges of the people from the side entering then, but still allows people to enter or exit from both sides to go back to their respective hotels.
We kinda talked about this a bit after con.  Late hours we were probably going to do this next year anyway.  It's a great suggestion, and we feel your pain ):

Quote from: Mantaray3000 on May 31, 2010, 04:04:51 PMDealers: What ever happened to the booth that sells anime soundtracks? Wasn't there more booths last year especially industry like funimation and bandai?
Fanime is by fans, for fans.  I'm pretty sure we're avoiding industry booths as a whole, somebody correct me if I'm wrong ^^;

On a side note, there are four gaming departments in the Game Room: Arcade, Tabletop, Social (Cosplay Chess, etc.), and eGaming (PC/Console).  We are separate entities working together, so sometimes we're a bit disorganized, gonna change that this year :3
2004-2005 Logistics Staff
2007-2009 eGaming Staff
2010-2012 Arcade Head

mdarkpoet

#16
Not closing the Dealer's Hall so early, having easier to read "Enter Only" and "Exit Only" signs as well as easier to understand signs outside the video rooms, I had to really search for what was playing and when.

Also feedback on the Gong Show specifically, I think the people judging the show were a little bit too rude to the people participating, I understand that they were jesting for fun however perhaps next year it should be regulated a little better? I don't know, just my take on things.

LordMoufMouf

Is it just me, or is Fanime FREEZING in the evening? In the video rooms especially, I was SO COLD. I'm sort of sensitive to the chill, sharp air from air conditioners, and I ended up getting a nasty headache from the AC during bingo. My whole face hurt!
Is there anyway they can turn down the AC in the evenings? I also had this problem last year.

Otakun

Maid Cafe: Can we please get the convention staff to cooperated with them better? The maids do not deserve to be treated with such contempt!

Jelly Soup

Quote from: Mantaray3000 on May 31, 2010, 04:04:51 PMDealers: What ever happened to the booth that sells anime soundtracks? Wasn't there more booths last year especially industry like funimation and bandai?
Fanime is by fans, for fans.  I'm pretty sure we're avoiding industry booths as a whole, somebody correct me if I'm wrong ^^;

I seem to recall there being an industry table in the dealers room for the last few years and no one having a problem with it.