FanimeCon 2012 Feedback

Started by M, May 27, 2012, 02:29:53 AM

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Armored-Heart

I haven't noticed anything said about this yet (and quite frankly, trying to even skim through some of these walls of texts is a massive headache!) but I wanted to make a comment regarding the nazi-themed yaoi booth in Dealer's Hall. What the hell, guys? That's incredibly offensive! I understand that some are more sensitive to this sort of thing than others, and some people just don't give a damn at all, but I really don't understand why FanimeCon would allow that sort of merchandise to be sold at the con.
Not attending for 2014. Sorry!

Rosewine

I would love to see staggered hours of operation for dealers hall and artist alley for next year.
It would be a win win win situation where the vendors and artists would see periods of increased traffic [when the other is not open] and the con goers would have longer access to the exhibitors!

hazelasher

I have been going to Fanime since 2001 and the only negative thing I have to say is the registration lines are simply outdated. My boyfriend and I could only attend for one day, so we arrived at 9:00 AM on Saturday and waited for four hours. There is *NO* reason why you shouldn't be allowed to pre-reg for a one-day only pass and have it mailed out. Or at least have some type of barcode to be scanned at the con for pick-up. The process for registration at the con is so archaic, it's nuts! Here, stand in line for hours, enter your name and number into a computer, print out the info and have your badge picked up. So much time could be saved with a simple letter in the mail! Fanime will only grow in 2013, it's time to implement one-day ticket sales and allow them to be mailed out in advance.

I hope to see this improve in the future. Otherwise, we had a pretty positive experience! I don't know if I'll attend next year if a similar set-up occurs.

SpiritOfKairi

Pros:
- Rovers seemed much friendlier than last year.
- Epic cosplays!
- Wonderful Artist Alley.
- Much appreciated pocket schedules, though it would have been nice to have event end times on there too since my roommate and I were confused about when the Black and White Ball was closing.
- Moving the Ball to the Parkside Hall.  Having it at the Fairmont last year wasn't very convenient since the room was very small, there was a massive 30-45 minute line to get in, there weren't any bathrooms, and if you had to walk out, you had to wait in line again to be allowed back in.  Having it at the Parkside Hall was a VAST improvement though, since the room was easily large enough for all the dancers, there were bathrooms, almost no line, and you could walk out of the room for a couple minutes without being penalized for it.


Cons:
- I know many others have mentioned this, but the lines were fairly long.  I waited in the pre-reg line for 2 hours (1 1/2 hours longer than I've ever had to wait before) before finally getting my group's badges.  I do realize though that the whole situation likely had to do with the power outage Thursday, and at least the line was moving.  Still, I was just amazed at how long it took in comparison to other years.
- The Swap Meet.  I love going to it, but I don't think having it at the Fairmont was a good decision.  Separating the sellers into two rooms with two different lines was a bit stupid, and waiting in line for 30 minutes to get in wasn't very fun.  Yes there was generally a line when it was done in the gaming hall, but it only took maybe 10-15 minutes max.  Plus, I missed being able to walk among the sellers and also easily slip back into the convention when I was done.  Yes the Fairmont is only about a 5-10 minute walk, but it's nice to seamlessly go from the swap meet to the rest of the con instead of trekking to and fro, especially when it's at night.
- The Dealer's Hall seemed a little flat.  I don't know if it was just me, but it seemed like most of the merchandise was shirts, figures, some plushies, and hair accessories.  That stuff's good and all, but more variety would have been nice.  Maybe a few more food vendors along with movies, music and games.

Overall though it was a great con and I can't wait for 2013 =D.

SweetNiar

Quote from: epyonzer0 on May 28, 2012, 05:47:05 PM
Pros:  This was my first time at Fanime and it was as orgasmically awesome as I expected it to be.

Cons:

-The pocket schedule was great, but I think either it or the big book that comes in the bag needs to a little more explicitly state when and where the dance(s), MusicFest, the Masquerade, and things of that nature will happen.  
-The consolidated listing of cosplay gatherings was a great help as well, but I wish it had included a legend for all of the location acronyms for first-time Fanime visitors (such as myself).  Also on this note, the one time I asked the cosplay info desk for said legend that it was supposed to have, no one knew what it was.  Admittedly this was probably because everyone who knew was dealing with the protestors and other things.

This is all I can think of for now.

They use to have a legend on the same board for at least couple years, but i guess this year they felt no one needed them anymore.  Because i was confused where the Full Metal Alchemist gathering was and didnt know what CPMS meant and no one who were currently at the tables (either side) knew.  So i just passed on going.

SweetNiar

Quote from: hazelasher on May 29, 2012, 04:47:22 PM
I have been going to Fanime since 2001 and the only negative thing I have to say is the registration lines are simply outdated. My boyfriend and I could only attend for one day, so we arrived at 9:00 AM on Saturday and waited for four hours. There is *NO* reason why you shouldn't be allowed to pre-reg for a one-day only pass and have it mailed out. Or at least have some type of barcode to be scanned at the con for pick-up. The process for registration at the con is so archaic, it's nuts! Here, stand in line for hours, enter your name and number into a computer, print out the info and have your badge picked up. So much time could be saved with a simple letter in the mail! Fanime will only grow in 2013, it's time to implement one-day ticket sales and allow them to be mailed out in advance.

I hope to see this improve in the future. Otherwise, we had a pretty positive experience! I don't know if I'll attend next year if a similar set-up occurs.

I dont know about sending badges out in the mail....it would either get lost in the mail, people would loose them or forget to bring them.  I think that Fanime knew this big crowd was coming for a good while and should have set up more lanes for pick up.  At least that way the line might still be huge, but people would have got threw a lot quicker.

ApacheChief

This is just my 2 cents on Fanime this year as a congoer/staffer from what I saw and experienced.

Cons
- Felt like there was not enough pre-reg/reg workers to keep the line flowing faster.
- Massive long waits for the con-goers. (cousin had to wait 3+ hours to get his pre-reg on day 1)
- Marriott elevator is ridiculously long to wait.
- Not much variety of arcade games too choose from.
- Black out made things worse

Pros
- Generous people/staffers
- Noticed the booming of congoers this year..Maybe it is just me?
- AA was a A++! Lots of talented artist and hope to see them next year!
- I bought too many stuff from dealers hall


I have much more to say, but I'll just keep it simple. Hopefully Fanime will be vamped up for next year to keep everyone satisfied. I love Fanime, but there are some flaws to every con that can be improved within the years.  I mean, I love Fanime since it is the only Anime Con ever gone to for the past 3+ years, but this year was just plain crazy both good and bad. Also, I don't blame Fanime for the black out, but I think there should be an emergency plan if anything like this occurs so that no congoer who pre-reg would go empty handed on day 0.  ;)


Kyokun

I've been going to Fanime for almost a decade now.

1)  Registration was completely disorganized and ridiculous.  We pre-reged and waited for over 2 hours for our badge.  We missed everything we wanted to see on Friday.  Plus they lost my badge, which for me, is the whole point of pre-reging, to get the nice plastic badge, and not the stupid generic printout badge.  Also, because onsite was so out of control, my friend who can only attend one day, could not get any tickets at all, and was therefore unable to attend Fanime.  We travel over 300 miles to attend Fanime and being forced to have to spend time away from the con so we can also hang out with our friend was aggravating.  Please make single day passes available online AND mail out badges.  Or something.  Friday was a complete bust.  By the time we got our badges, it was dinner time, and we were starving, so yeah.  Friday we spent ZERO time at con, minus the reg line.  A complete wasted day.

2)  Schedules coming out the day before the convention was unacceptable.  I'm in charge of planning everything and seeing what there is to do, and having it come out the day before was ridiculous.  I had to stay up extra late researching anime titles and panels and people to see what we wanted to do.  Please make schedules available at least 1 to 2 weeks before the con.

3)  People blocking hallways and aisles and stairs to take pictures.  More off limit photography areas would be nice so that we can actually move around. I'm about ready to give up and photobomb everything by cutting through.

4)  For the attendees: Pushing all the hotel elevator buttons is fucking infantile so knock it off.  Also, stop leaving bottles of pee everywhere.  At the Fairmont, we kept seeing bottles of pee in the elevator, under tables, in corners.  If you guys keep this crap up, the hotels will stop working with Fanime.

5)  Good things:  anime selection, problems with equipment seemed to be handled quickly. Artist's Alley was amazing.  Despite Friday being a waste, we still managed to do more than 2011, so that was great.

Junon

Quote from: SweetNiar on May 29, 2012, 05:51:01 PM
I dont know about sending badges out in the mail....it would either get lost in the mail, people would loose them or forget to bring them.

That can be taken care of in the same manner as lost badges during the con itself.

I want the option to have mine sent to me.

Barnes

Quote3)  People blocking hallways and aisles and stairs to take pictures.  More off limit photography areas would be nice so that we can actually move around. I'm about ready to give up and photobomb everything by cutting through.

That idea was brought up after the Closing Ceremonies: one of the con chairs said something like "we tried that, but people didn't use them."  :( Just pointing that out.

Someone said something about walking canes: huh, I guess I'm lucky that I never got pulled over for my cane  ???

Anyway, my cons were:

Badge pickup at the DoubleTree: I had to go over there, but I wish there was a staffer or two over there on Day Zero to answer questions about when and where exactly our badges could be picked up (I brought this up during the gripe session, as I stuttered XD).

Swap meet on Thursday: A friend of mine got screwed over when a staffer said that he couldn't register for a spot at the meet itself. Ouch. Another dude I walked up to said that he pre-regged for his spot, but still had his given away to someone else. What the ****?

Dealers Room: I wanted some Sekirei, Freezing, or even Maken-ki! merchandise, but nope XD  Oh heck, the room itself does more SOME more non-mainstream and/or obscure anime products to sell. Oh well.
Also a Proud Fanime Con Attendee since 1998!
Yay, Haruko.
http://myanimelist.net/profile/CapeBarnes

SOawesomeness

Quote from: ApacheChief on May 29, 2012, 05:51:59 PM
Cons
- Felt like there was not enough pre-reg/reg workers to keep the line flowing faster.
- Massive long waits for the con-goers. (cousin had to wait 3+ hours to get his pre-reg on day 1)
Please, please, please if you are a dedicated, reliable, responsible person who is willing, we always need more reg staffers especially on those three days. More people = more booths open and available/more well rested staff = shorter wait times. :D

My personal gripe about dealer's hall: more totoro plushies pleaseeeee. It's a tradition of mine to buy at least one per Fanime. I couldn't find any this year and had to settle for a totoro cell phone charm. D:
Ellie S.
Head of Registration
FanimeCon - "By Fans, For Fans"
FanmeCon: Twitter | Facebook

noticetoappear

Masquerade

Pros:
-Great Performances
-Great Audience Participation
-The host was very smooth
-Showing AMVs at end very good touch

Cons:
-Let in late
-Failure of Staff to watch lines (people cutting in, or saving spots for large groups of their friends). My example given, I was in the first 30 people waiting since 3:15pm, At 6pm there were about 65 people in front of us)
-Mislead multiple times as to when we'd get let in (General announcement made by particular fanime staff "Okay we're gonna open the doors in 4 minutes! Please have badges ready!" (Actual walk-in time was about 35 minutes after his announcement)
-Absolutely NO FOOD OR DRINKS walking in.... okay no problem...
-Absolutely NO FOOD OR DRINKS sold in premise! What happened!? Last year there were refreshments. We wait in line 3+ hours and told not to leave the line without express permission, okay get it, but now expected to sit through a four hour masquerade without any refreshments?! Very bad results....
-One judge had the nerve to walk up on stage displaying his wine glass filled with gatorade. I thought there was NO FOOD OR DRINKS ALLOWED IN PREMISE?! Who is sending the bad message here? And who is policing the rules? The judge came up a SECOND time at the rewards ceremony, still drinking from the same glass. What is this supposed to tell the couple thousand attendees who are banned from any liquids?
-No flash photography. Period. Okay no problem. However....
-Flash photography announced OKAY by the fanime staff over loudspeaker during awards ceremony. Okay! Great! However...
-Completely hounded and threatened by the Civic Auditorium security that NO FLASH photography except by "Press" during awards ceremony. Mixed messages? Not cool to be threatened to be kicked out/camera taken after fanime staff clearly mentioned cameras with flash okay. Very confusing.
-Awards ceremony almost giving away $500 prize to the wrong group. Any rehearsal or anything?
-The opening ceremony of the martial arts team lacked a good show. I was hoping for more than a practice session of their students. Perhaps something grander next year to make the lines worthwhile.


Next topic..

Anime Rooms

Pros:
-Clear picture

Cons:
-Better selection in all the previous years
-Please have an attentive staff (who can actually see the screen) be responsible for switching between episodes and setting subtitles/audio tracks. Every room I went in, there was need of the audience to operate the computers to switch languages and remind the staff which episode we were on.

The con overall:
Lots of obstacles this year, especially the power outage and the construction! But it was great as always and unforgettable. Not the best year but major expectations next year. Pocket schedule super awesome.

kookiekween99

Pros/What Was Awesome
- Black and White Ball My friends and I had a fun time. Out of the five of us, only one of us actually had the chance to attend any dance lessons beforehand. Even so, we all had fun. The mixers encouraged the three girls without a date to dance with strangers, which really surprised me, since two of them are very shy. My date and I stood by the tables and made up our own dances when we couldn't figure out the dances we were supposed to do. All the staff I met were really nice, and I loved the demonstrations. It was an amazing night, and it was much better than my actual Senior Ball would have been had I gone.

- The artwork for the badges, the program guide, the pocket guide, etc. was really awesome. I was so excited that I got Amber and my boyfriend got Damien on our badges. They're my OTP when it comes to the Fanime characters. :)

- Waterbottles on Thursday. It made me feel a lot better that Fanime started distributing free water bottles to those of us sitting in line after the power went out. It seemed to say "We know this really sucks, and we're trying our best, but here's a free water bottle from our personal staff stash to say sorry!"

- LittleKuriboh 'Nuff said.

Cons/Suggestions
- Clockwork Alchemy ...Eh. I didn't get to go myself, as I wasn't going to waste time waiting for a shuttle, taking the shuttle, exploring Clockwork Alchemy, waiting for a shuttle, and taking the shuttle back when there were 5 bajillion things I hadn't done yet at Fanime. That being said, I talked to my friends who did go, and from what they said, it wasn't very exciting. They told me the Bazaar was very small and everything for sale was around $100 or more, and that half the stuff available was of poor craftsmenship. Now, I can't pass full judgement on this because I couldn't go, but I could offer a few suggestions. 1) Put it in a hotel closer to con. I always room at the Hilton because I don't want to have to waste time on shuttles. However, if it was in reasonable walking distance, I might have gone. 2) Encourage quality control in the Bazaar. My friend witnessed a sale of $75 for a half-finished bracelet. What the hell? 3) Quit acting like it's completely seperate from Fanime and get your staff to work together. Stop competing for my attention. If you're both going to have ballroom dances, schedule them on different nights so instead of having to choose one or the other, I can do both. I understand CA staff want to do their own thing, but please know that your attendees don't see CA dropping the ball on something, they see Fanime dropping the ball on it. If you're going to put your name and money in it, make sure their con is just as awesome as the rest of Fanime.

- Swap Meet I didn't get to go. For Thursday, I understand that you guys couldn't control the power outage and stuff. But you could have let the people in line know that you made the rest of Fanime unbadged for the night. I waited until 10 PM to get my group's badges because I thought they were counting on me because they couldn't get into Swap Meet without my continued dedication to that line. When I finally did get our badges (5 hours in line!), we all rejoiced and headed for the Swap Meet... Only to find out that they closed early because of lack of attendance. Um... Yeah, there was a lack of attendance. Everybody was still in line! I was really disappointed, as Thursday Swap Meet was one of the main reasons I made the effort to come Thursday and not Friday. Anyways, I went back on Friday... and there was a hella long line to get into Swap Meet. At that point, I was like "I am so freakin' done with these stupid long lines!" and went back to Fanime.

- Hentai Night Line I turned 18 back in April, so from then until Con, I was talking about how excited I was that I could finally get to prove my 18-ness and get into a Fanime event I had never been able to get in before. I didn't get to go until Sunday night because the other nights I was doing stuff. But then... A line. I believe the line of Thursday night has now instilled me forever with a fear of lines, as I decided it would be better to watch AMV Hell in Video Main with my underaged friends.

- Confusion over cosplay gathering locations I'm not quite sure why the only place you can find a locations key is by asking one of the staff members at the table. I mean, I can kinda get not wanting to waste paper, but that doesn't explain why the key wasn't available online. I distinctly remember seeing it on the forums, but when I went back to check, I found something online the lines of "It won't be posted here. Only at the table. Please come to the table. We're lonely and you make our job more interesting."

- No wifi? :( The only time I could get an internet connection at all during con was in the hotel room with internet we paid for. I remember last year I could at least get free wifi in the Hilton lobby, but that changed. It would make things a billion times easier for us if you were to provide convention-wide wifi, as not all mobile devices can use 3G.

- No online schedule? Last year, you had beautiful online schedule, but no pocket guide. This year, you had a beautiful pocket guide, but no online schedule. (Putting the pocket guide online doesn't count because it's just as out of date as the book in my hand.) It would be awesome if you could shoot for both next year. :)

- Food On Monday, all the food people closed an hour before Dealers Hall and Artist Alley closed. I didn't get to eat breakfast that morning because I was too busy checking out, and I was really hungry. I ended up having my mom (second of the Info Desk department) snag me some snacks out of Programming Ops to keep me from getting nauseous. If con ends at 3, food should end at 3.


Keep in mind, none of the bad stuff ruined my con experience. The "pros" list is only short because I only listed a few major things that stood out to me this year. If I listed every single

I feel like I had other stuff, but I can't remember right now. If I think of something else, I will definitely post. :)
ASAHiCon Registration Head - '10-'12
ASAHiCon Web Head - '11-'13
FanimeCon Attendee - '10-Forever
FanimeCon Info Desk Minion - '14

Xanreo

Cons:

- What was with all the Nazi-themed merchandise at the booth in front of Anime Palace? Hitler Hats? Seriously?

- The swap meet closes way too early.

Since there are too many pros, just assume everything that was not listed were awesome possums.

Fanime 2017
Eromanga-Sensei | Digimon World: Next Order

Aelia

Quote from: arcadiapandora on May 29, 2012, 04:17:26 PM
- Dealer's hall exit and entrance - only one way while Artist Alley - just 10 feet away - had both open. Also, the Rover who was guarding the exit on Monday was rude. If you have something be an exit, exceptions should not be made - for staff, or anyone. I saw 6-7 people walk through while this Rover was busy texting on her phone, and when I tried to walk through and pointed out the huge group that went in before me when stopped, her answer was "they were staff". Yea, bet you could tell that while staring at your phone, couldn't you. Be fair, Fanime. It's conflicting to people when you let some people go through and not others.
I would just like to clarify that wasn't a Rover. It was a volunteer. Rovers do not guard exhibit hall doors.
Director of Operations

Kava

Quote from: White Rose Assassin on May 28, 2012, 09:59:51 PM+ More of a suggestion - for panel check in, can we phone or text check in? We were trying to get out of the hotel on Monday for checkout so we can make the 10AM panel.
Actually, we did provide a phone number for panelists to use in the emergency case that they weren't able to make it to the panels lounge in time to check in. Perhaps you missed it in the e-mail about check-ins? We definitely try to provide alternatives for when physically being there isn't possible.
Rena
Panels Coordinator 2007-2014
Programming Director, 2015

Panels Twitter: http://twitter.com/FanimePanels

themalletofjustice

Quote from: Kyokun on May 29, 2012, 05:59:54 PM4)  For the attendees: Pushing all the hotel elevator buttons is fucking infantile so knock it off.  Also, stop leaving bottles of pee everywhere.  At the Fairmont, we kept seeing bottles of pee in the elevator, under tables, in corners.  If you guys keep this crap up, the hotels will stop working with Fanime.

That's so disgusting! >_< Seriously, if the elevators are becoming this much of a problem maybe it's time to station rovers outside of them. I know it would be a terrible job having to stand in front of the elevators all day and people should just know better, but if it's to maintain a good reputation with hotels and other attendees then maybe it needs to be done. It should be highlighted in the rules if it isn't already that your badge could be revoked for causing elevator problems. If being ejected from the con is too severe then maybe individuals who are reported to rovers can have their badge hole punched as a warning. The hole punch will be a visible reminder. A certain number of warnings equals removal from the con.

Kava

Quote from: Gunbuster on May 29, 2012, 05:41:52 AM
While it's true that there are other panels not directly related to anime, most at least relate to Japan (Japanese video games for example) or convention culture (the dating panels tend to be specifically for fans). I'd just like that they all tend to tie in to the theme (though I'm sure there are those that don't, it's not like I can make all of them nor do I have a schedule). Sorry if I singled yours out as an example. 
It's a valid question. :)

Most panels do center around Anime, video games, japanese culture, cosplay etc. However, if there's enough interest in it, and a panel submission is made that looks like it will be a fun panel that will interest everyone attending, we are willing to branch out.

A couple of other panels we had this year that didn't center around what you'd normally expect to find at an Anime convention:
Cthulu for President (which we've had every year for about 5 years now, and is always very popular)
Two Homestuck panels (which were both very popular and well attended - we often will have webcomic panels that aren't related to anime directly, actually)

In previous years, we've also had panels that related to non-anime things but were things our GoH's were involved in outside of their video game/anime interests, such as panels about Avatar when Reuben Langdon was a guest, or about Burlesque when we had Karen Dyer here.

We like to keep the panels schedule as diverse as possible, so that there's something for everyone.
Rena
Panels Coordinator 2007-2014
Programming Director, 2015

Panels Twitter: http://twitter.com/FanimePanels

Kava

Quote from: Junon on May 29, 2012, 03:03:18 PM
Positives
- Panels. Many more of them were right up there with my personal interests, so I spent a great deal of time hunting them down and attending. I hope there are more next year.
It's great to hear that you liked the selection!
Rena
Panels Coordinator 2007-2014
Programming Director, 2015

Panels Twitter: http://twitter.com/FanimePanels

Tantalus

Quote from: Bushido on May 29, 2012, 11:52:18 AM
My main complaint is towards Head Rover Terrance. He wears glasses and has a buzz cut. This man should not be working again as head rover next year. He right off the bat very rude, smug and arrogant. I understand that staff says that he's military but I couldn't care less if he was. It gives no excuse for him to treat me the way he did. Basically this man ruined all of Friday for me as he outright denied my Stormtrooper blaster prop, which was made out of hyperfirm rubber with no working components and is a big piece of rubber, without giving me a chance to explain and prove that it's clearly a fake and ignoring other weapons that looked more real than mine. I also must point out that his examples as to trying to prove his point like when these snipers on the roof tops protecting Obama when he was in San Jose a couple of days ago wouldn't like my blaster, well what kind of idiot would even bring a fake gun or even a cheap $1 squirt gun when the President is around? And no sorry but I also have to call bullshit on police frisking Stormtroopers just because of our blasters. Even as going as far as going on the radio and essentially labeling me a criminal. What's funny is he claims to be a fan of the 501st Legion, an organization I'm apart of, while at the same time as I said treated me like a criminal which not only did he disrespected me but spat all over the good name of the 501st Legion as a whole. I am not the only person who this man had gave crap to. There are plenty of others who understand where I'm getting at. I spent most of my Friday trying to get this mess of a situation resolved so that my fellow garrison members wouldn't have to go through what I had to go through.

Also I think the staff can do a better job not procrastinating. Having per-registration, hotel registration, guest announcements come extremely late is not the way staff should run a con. I understand that there was a staff change but that's not enough to excuse such a poor job.

All things concerned the only major complaint is Terrance. He is the number one example of who not to hire back.

I second this complaint.  My experience with Terrance in the peacebonding room was extremely unpleasant due to his condescending attitude.  As a paid attendee, I expect to be treated with some level of respect yet was essentially belittled out of the room.  This coupled with a 6 hour long registration line on Day 0 made this convention something I'd much rather forget.