Masquerade and B+W Ball time conflict

Started by DracoMancer, February 24, 2011, 11:38:45 PM

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DracoMancer

I, like many other con goers, have been going to Fanime for a long time. For me personally, I've been going since 05 and the time set up for the Masquerade and the Black and White Ball was just fine the way it was. But now the masquerade has been moved to Sunday. This is bad for several reasons.  >:(

As was posted in another thread, an explanation was given as to why the Masquerade was changed to sunday. That wouldn't necessarily be a problem if it weren't for the fact that the B&W Ball is set on the same day around nearly the same time. The Masquerade usually lasts 3 hours so it cuts directly into the B&W Ball. By the time the masquerade is done, so will be the B&W Ball. So now you're forcing cosplayers to choose between two major events so most people that might have more than likely attended the masquerade to fill in with a great audience, now they'll be stuck at the ball. But those who had major plans for the ball, but practiced really hard for their skits are now stuck at the masquerade.

Not only that but Sunday is usually the day most people decide to leave because they have work the next morning, or they need time to get back home etc etc. Sure there's event panels and gatherings to keep people amused, but the biggest highlight that people usually go to the con, whom have paid registration, is for the bigger more main events.

In doing these time over laps and event change screw ups, the con will possibly loose money as well. For example: For me? the ONLY reason I even bother to pay for registration is mainly for the masquerade, dealers room, and guest panels which I rarely go to since most of the guests I don't care for anyway, and the B&W Ball. The ONLY reason I get a weekend badge is because those events are set on different days. But if the major events are set on the same day, then there's no reason for me to pay for a much more expensive weekend badge, when I can just pay for the cheapest day for a one day badge and do everything on sunday? Are you guys sure you want to loose money instead of gain money?

I freely admit that I have never run a con myself so I don't know all the details that go on behind the scenes and I won't pretend to know, but the only major issue with running the ball or the masquerade is to set up a placement slot with the people that run the theater and the hotel? Fanime has been able to accommodate for both for the last some odd years and now all the sudden its an issue?  ???

I may be one person speaking here right now, but I know this situation is true for MANY other people. Quite a few of my friends have already been raging about it on facebook. Seriously, if nothing else can be done about the timing of the masquerade, then for the love of god and cosplayers, move the Ball to Saturday while the masquerade is on Sunday.

Mod edit: thread title.
"A burrito? That is so pathetic. I WANT A TACO!" -Grimmjow voice actor.

M

Hear you loud and clear. :) This will be brought up to those that plan these events.

This post isn't a guarantee that anything will change, but please keep in mind that we have yet to officially announce the time for Black & White Ball.

Keep in mind that we are (unfortunately) unable to please everyone and that we've always gotten complaints about the date/time of overlapping events.
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OniCourseMusha

#2
I feel you but there's always sacrifice involve especially when I'm apart of B&W Ball department and wanting to watch the Masquerade.

I personally don't think that Fanime would lose money just because Masquerade was moved on Sunday to conflict with B&W Ball.  Masquerade used to be hold on sunday couple years ago!  Musicfest and B&W Ball had that kind of a concern as well couple years ago but it is possible to check both event if either you sacrifice your time sticking around at Musicfest or B&W Ball was extended for the people coming back from Musicfest.  Sacrifice and choices is always everywhere that everyone should really prepare for that if you don't like the change!  I can list so many examples that I had to sacrifice that it didn't matter to me and yet I still had a great time.  I had to sacrifice staffing for SacAnime winter to check out AnimaLA and I had a great time.  I had to sacrifice watching Haruko Momoi concert for B&W Ball and it was great.  I had to miss out the Masquerade to run MvC3 tournament during the last AOD and I still had a great time because I got to watch epic matches to make up for it.  If the event is set we always have to come up with a solution and taking advantage of our time.  To me it was sad that I'm probably going to sacrifice Masquerade but I'm fine with that decision since I'm now I'm apart of the B&W Ball department to make sure the event goes great for everyone who attends.  It's all about choosing wisely how you want to have fun and that's why we make our schedule in advance.  Just like MPLe said the time the time hasn't been decided.  But I'm sure that their should be enough time to attend both event and do some major preparation on planning that I'm sure we'll have a great time.

And plus if you move the B&W Ball to saturday, that will screw up the dance lesson schedule and there wont be enough time to practice many different dances before the event.  I gonna have to say NO on moving B&W Ball to Saturday.
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DracoMancer

Quote from: MPLe on February 25, 2011, 12:01:03 AM
Hear you loud and clear. :) This will be brought up to those that plan these events.

This post isn't a guarantee that anything will change, but please keep in mind that we have yet to officially announce the time for Black & White Ball.

Keep in mind that we are (unfortunately) unable to please everyone and that we've always gotten complaints about the date/time of overlapping events.

always gotten complaints? I've been going to Fanime for a long time and this is the first I've even heard complaints about this issue, aside from my own of course. And yes I realize that obviously not everyone can be made happy, but two major events should not be on the same day around the same time. Cosplayers, or most cosplayers have always considered Saturday to be the main event day for anything major while sunday was more of a cool down day, people going home, but still most people are able to stay and enjoy another major event such as the B&W Ball. just saying.

Quote from: OniCourseMusha on February 25, 2011, 02:18:32 AM
I feel you but there's always sacrifice involve especially when I'm apart of B&W Ball department and wanting to watch the Masquerade.

I personally don't think that Fanime would lose money just because Masquerade was moved on Sunday to conflict with B&W Ball.  Masquerade used to be hold on sunday couple years ago!  Musicfest and B&W Ball had that kind of a concern as well couple years ago but it is possible to check both event if either you sacrifice your time sticking around at Musicfest or B&W Ball was extended for the people coming back from Musicfest.  Sacrifice and choices is always everywhere that everyone should really prepare for that if you don't like the change!  I can list so many examples that I had to sacrifice that it didn't matter to me and yet I still had a great time.  I had to sacrifice staffing for SacAnime winter to check out AnimaLA and I had a great time.  I had to sacrifice watching Haruko Momoi concert for B&W Ball and it was great.  I had to miss out the Masquerade to run MvC3 tournament during the last AOD and I still had a great time because I got to watch epic matches to make up for it.  If the event is set we always have to come up with a solution and taking advantage of our time.  To me it was sad that I'm probably going to sacrifice Masquerade but I'm fine with that decision since I'm now I'm apart of the B&W Ball department to make sure the event goes great for everyone who attends.  It's all about choosing wisely how you want to have fun and that's why we make our schedule in advance.  Just like MPLe said the time the time hasn't been decided.  But I'm sure that their should be enough time to attend both event and do some major preparation on planning that I'm sure we'll have a great time.

And plus if you move the B&W Ball to saturday, that will screw up the dance lesson schedule and there wont be enough time to practice many different dances before the event.  I gonna have to say NO on moving B&W Ball to Saturday.

Firstly I'd like to state, that I didn't say moving an event would be a major money loss. It was just something the con might want to take into account. If the con lost money of any kind, that's really the con's problem. Just saying. I also realize that a sacrifice has to be made here and there. That's rather obvious information. Sacrificing what con you should go to is always an issue, but why should the same sacrifice have to be at a con event? Sacrificing what event you go to hasn't always been an issue.

But the masquerade held on sunday a couple of years ago? What are you talking about, it was always held on saturday at least for the years I went. and that was 05, 06, 07, 08, and 2010. I sadly had to miss 09 so I have no idea what went on during that year, but am I mistaken on the other years? Its been a while since the other attendances so maybe I'm remembering wrong and if I'm wrong then oh well I guess, but my point still stands.
"A burrito? That is so pathetic. I WANT A TACO!" -Grimmjow voice actor.

PyronIkari

Not that either of these events affect me because I don't care for either, but the reasoning is what's important.

Every convention has counter-programming to me, and it might not seem like it to you because this is the first time two major events *YOU CARE ABOUT* have colided like this.

Let's look at this in a different light. Let's say, B&W Ball is Saturday night instead of Sunday night. This will now conflict with MusicFest if MusicFest is on Saturday night. While you may not care about MusicFest, hundreds(thousands) of other attendees will care and many of them will have to choose between musicfest or the B&W ball. There have been many complaints about this before(on these forums for that matter) as well as in person/during gripe session post con. No matter what, there is always going to be conflicting interest and it's up to the attendee to choose.

Many people have complained about how they cannot go to so and so panel because it is during some other event, or they cannot go to said gathering because it is scheduled at the same time as some different event as well. While it may seem crappy overall to you, realistically there is nothing that can be done without making the con 6 days long so that nothing overlaps. Then people will complain about how they can't go altogether because they have school/work etc.

Sunday night isn't that big of an issue, because realistically, most people don't leave until Monday or really late Sunday. Monday being Memorial Day allows the majority of attendees to not have to worry about work/school seeing that is a recognized major national holiday.

Essentially, while it is taken into consideration, your complaint is personal. It is two major events you wish to attend that you cannot. To which I'm sorry to say, results in "too bad, deal with it". Because even though many also have the same complaint, if it's compromised to fit you, many others will complain with the exact same thing if the timing is changed to conflict with two events they would like to see. Here's a fun idea...

What would you do to rectify the situation, without causing the exact same problem for a whole different group of people. Complaining is fine, but it doesn't accomplish anything without offering a solution.

DracoMancer

If this was a personal matter, I wouldn't bother. Just because no one else is speaking up, doesn't mean others dont have the same complaint so stop trying to belittle this as if its my own personal issue, and if people don't decide to speak up about it then oh well. I'm just as willing to let it drop. I had my say ergo it has gotten responses ergo the con runners can decide to do something about it or not at all. But isn't it just as easy for you to dismiss the issue since you claim you dont' give a damn about either events? I find that an ironic hypocrisy, but that's just me.

If people have made complaints about music fest being interfered with on a time slot than okay. That's fine. I won't sit and argue that, since this is merely just the same issue, but with a different event. The con runs on three days for con hours although technically its reached out to monday as well as thursday, but fri-sun being the main days. Could it not be conceivable that the Ball could be on Friday? I mean as far as I recall, no real major event is on Friday and there's no reason you can't have it late at night so that gives everyone or most of everyone a chance to get in, pick up registration, get their hotel rooms, get their costumes, get IN costume and then head to the ball at a late night timing.

Friday may not be ideal to everyone, but we can't please everyone. Right?
"A burrito? That is so pathetic. I WANT A TACO!" -Grimmjow voice actor.

PyronIkari

Quote from: DracoMancer on February 25, 2011, 11:30:19 AM
If this was a personal matter, I wouldn't bother. Just because no one else is speaking up, doesn't mean others dont have the same complaint so stop trying to belittle this as if its my own personal issue, and if people don't decide to speak up about it then oh well. I'm just as willing to let it drop. I had my say ergo it has gotten responses ergo the con runners can decide to do something about it or not at all. But isn't it just as easy for you to dismiss the issue since you claim you dont' give a damn about either events? I find that an ironic hypocrisy, but that's just me.

If people have made complaints about music fest being interfered with on a time slot than okay. That's fine. I won't sit and argue that, since this is merely just the same issue, but with a different event. The con runs on three days for con hours although technically its reached out to monday as well as thursday, but fri-sun being the main days. Could it not be conceivable that the Ball could be on Friday? I mean as far as I recall, no real major event is on Friday and there's no reason you can't have it late at night so that gives everyone or most of everyone a chance to get in, pick up registration, get their hotel rooms, get their costumes, get IN costume and then head to the ball at a late night timing.

Friday may not be ideal to everyone, but we can't please everyone. Right?

Oh indeed, I don't care about the two events specifically, but I care about the convention as a whole and how things work. I never pointed out that it was only you that had this complain, and to the contrary stated it was more than just you. The reason you're complaining however is because it's personal.


Friday causes just as many conflicts, because most people have work/school on Friday as it is not a holiday. Most people actually show up on Saturday as opposed to Sunday for this very reason. As shown, the amount of attendees on Sunday/Saturday are much more than the amount on Friday. and this goes for every convention generally, not just Fanime. So although there's a basis for your statement, numbers disprove the reasoning as to put it on Friday. Again, you can't please everyone, so aim for the majority and allow those that have conflicts to make their own choices.

Your first paragraph though takes a lot of shots at me, but they're all completely unbased. You're not willing to drop it, as you keep replying and aren't really listening to what anyone is saying. Trust me, staff has thought about this issue way before you even thought about it. As it has come up for years. There HAS TO BE conflicting events. it's impossible to have a con otherwise. The question is how, which, and when. These things are judged and weighed constantly and are brought up every single meeting and everysingle time schedules are even brought up. To you, it's just these major events. We have to think of everything that goes on at the con. Maid Cafe hours to what's happening on stage zero, to concerts, to game tournaments. The dance, B*&W Ball, guest panels, signings, the Karaoke contest. We have to judge and weigh when every single one of these events take place, why they should take place then, and how it will affect every other event.  It's ironic and hypocratic that all of these things are judged, whether or not the staff personally cares about the event or not? Hardly... if anything it's overly sympathetic since we are caring about events we don't personally care about. It's about attendeesa fter all isn't it? Again, you offer "solutions" that please YOU, not the convention as a whole. While rescheduling for Friday may seem great to you, it means, that many attendees aren't even given the choice to attend the B&W ball at all because they cannot arrive by Friday. So while maybe an extra 200 or so people now don't have to choose between the Masquerade and B&W ball... 2000 people don't have the choice to attend the B&W ball at all. And trust me, the idea of having it on Friday has been brought up months ago(years actually). Many of these ideas have been through through so while ideas and suggestions are appreciated(because MAYBE they haven't been thought of) generally staff puts in a lot more consideration than you think.

angeljibrille

Quote from: DracoMancer on February 25, 2011, 10:35:54 AM
But the masquerade held on sunday a couple of years ago? What are you talking about, it was always held on saturday at least for the years I went. and that was 05, 06, 07, 08, and 2010. I sadly had to miss 09 so I have no idea what went on during that year, but am I mistaken on the other years? Its been a while since the other attendances so maybe I'm remembering wrong and if I'm wrong then oh well I guess, but my point still stands.

Hi there,

Actually, as the Masquerade Coordinator since 2005 (good lord I'm getting old), I can confirm it was like this:
2005 - Sunday
2006 - Sunday
2007 - Sunday
2008 - Sunday
2009 - Saturday
2010 - Saturday
2011 - Sunday

The really amusing thing about all of this to me is that when they first switched it to Saturday, there was a huge outcry XD

We had to switch it to Saturday in 2009 because there was a special act that could only perform on Sunday (I can't remember the band) but they needed our spot. We kept that spot for 2010 because of a different scheduling problem.

It was also really difficult for us at first, because we had to get all the judging done in 2 days instead of 3. However, we adapted.

Anyway, it's technically moving "back" to where it was.

So, yeah, sadly we can never make everyone happy :(

DracoMancer

Quote from: angeljibrille on February 25, 2011, 12:27:05 PM
Quote from: DracoMancer on February 25, 2011, 10:35:54 AM
But the masquerade held on sunday a couple of years ago? What are you talking about, it was always held on saturday at least for the years I went. and that was 05, 06, 07, 08, and 2010. I sadly had to miss 09 so I have no idea what went on during that year, but am I mistaken on the other years? Its been a while since the other attendances so maybe I'm remembering wrong and if I'm wrong then oh well I guess, but my point still stands.

Hi there,

Actually, as the Masquerade Coordinator since 2005 (good lord I'm getting old), I can confirm it was like this:
2005 - Sunday
2006 - Sunday
2007 - Sunday
2008 - Sunday
2009 - Saturday
2010 - Saturday
2011 - Sunday

The really amusing thing about all of this to me is that when they first switched it to Saturday, there was a huge outcry XD

We had to switch it to Saturday in 2009 because there was a special act that could only perform on Sunday (I can't remember the band) but they needed our spot. We kept that spot for 2010 because of a different scheduling problem.

It was also really difficult for us at first, because we had to get all the judging done in 2 days instead of 3. However, we adapted.

Anyway, it's technically moving "back" to where it was.

So, yeah, sadly we can never make everyone happy :(

oh okay. that clears up a lot.  :) this is more of a response i was going for as i already admitted beforehand that maybe i was remembering things wrong. so thank you very much for that clear up. but peeps outcried when it was changed to saturday? well damn.... :o i gladly stand corrected then ^_^

Quote from: PyronIkari on February 25, 2011, 12:05:09 PM
Quote from: DracoMancer on February 25, 2011, 11:30:19 AM
If this was a personal matter, I wouldn't bother. Just because no one else is speaking up, doesn't mean others dont have the same complaint so stop trying to belittle this as if its my own personal issue, and if people don't decide to speak up about it then oh well. I'm just as willing to let it drop. I had my say ergo it has gotten responses ergo the con runners can decide to do something about it or not at all. But isn't it just as easy for you to dismiss the issue since you claim you dont' give a damn about either events? I find that an ironic hypocrisy, but that's just me.

If people have made complaints about music fest being interfered with on a time slot than okay. That's fine. I won't sit and argue that, since this is merely just the same issue, but with a different event. The con runs on three days for con hours although technically its reached out to monday as well as thursday, but fri-sun being the main days. Could it not be conceivable that the Ball could be on Friday? I mean as far as I recall, no real major event is on Friday and there's no reason you can't have it late at night so that gives everyone or most of everyone a chance to get in, pick up registration, get their hotel rooms, get their costumes, get IN costume and then head to the ball at a late night timing.

Friday may not be ideal to everyone, but we can't please everyone. Right?

Oh indeed, I don't care about the two events specifically, but I care about the convention as a whole and how things work. I never pointed out that it was only you that had this complain, and to the contrary stated it was more than just you. The reason you're complaining however is because it's personal.


Friday causes just as many conflicts, because most people have work/school on Friday as it is not a holiday. Most people actually show up on Saturday as opposed to Sunday for this very reason. As shown, the amount of attendees on Sunday/Saturday are much more than the amount on Friday. and this goes for every convention generally, not just Fanime. So although there's a basis for your statement, numbers disprove the reasoning as to put it on Friday. Again, you can't please everyone, so aim for the majority and allow those that have conflicts to make their own choices.

Your first paragraph though takes a lot of shots at me, but they're all completely unbased. You're not willing to drop it, as you keep replying and aren't really listening to what anyone is saying. Trust me, staff has thought about this issue way before you even thought about it. As it has come up for years. There HAS TO BE conflicting events. it's impossible to have a con otherwise. The question is how, which, and when. These things are judged and weighed constantly and are brought up every single meeting and everysingle time schedules are even brought up. To you, it's just these major events. We have to think of everything that goes on at the con. Maid Cafe hours to what's happening on stage zero, to concerts, to game tournaments. The dance, B*&W Ball, guest panels, signings, the Karaoke contest. We have to judge and weigh when every single one of these events take place, why they should take place then, and how it will affect every other event.  It's ironic and hypocratic that all of these things are judged, whether or not the staff personally cares about the event or not? Hardly... if anything it's overly sympathetic since we are caring about events we don't personally care about. It's about attendeesa fter all isn't it? Again, you offer "solutions" that please YOU, not the convention as a whole. While rescheduling for Friday may seem great to you, it means, that many attendees aren't even given the choice to attend the B&W ball at all because they cannot arrive by Friday. So while maybe an extra 200 or so people now don't have to choose between the Masquerade and B&W ball... 2000 people don't have the choice to attend the B&W ball at all. And trust me, the idea of having it on Friday has been brought up months ago(years actually). Many of these ideas have been through through so while ideas and suggestions are appreciated(because MAYBE they haven't been thought of) generally staff puts in a lot more consideration than you think.

actually dude, the reason I posted is because other peeps complained in conjuction to me agreeing with the issue. i also care about the con overall as i have been going to it for many years now and i still rank it the top northern cal con compared to any other one. it is the best, and always will be the best despite little discrepancies. the other reason I keep replying is because i believe in standing my ground when someone comes along and decides to try to make a mockery of it. if a convention can't accommodate for such and such time slots, then thats fine. i dont hold it personally against the con. if i did then i wouldnt bother coming to the con to begin with. im not offering solutions that please me. im offering solutions that might help to try to balance as in weigh out the issues at hand. obviously you assume that me asking the con to place the ball on friday is something i would love when in deed i actually wouldnt. i prefer major events to be on a later date, not an earlier one. but you obviously missed that point.

again, if this was a self personal issue that no one else agreed with and that no one would really give a damn about, then i wouldnt bother posting about it.
"A burrito? That is so pathetic. I WANT A TACO!" -Grimmjow voice actor.

ewu

ok issue resolved...and what is not, will be resolved other ways.

PM me if you have a good reason why this should be unlocked.
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