FanimeCon 2012 Feedback

[SOawesomeness]

- What I am about to write is an attempt to help and improve a bad situation that will only get worse if left unchecked. Please, Fanime Staff, understand that "it's always been done this way" does not mean that it's the best way. If a method is broken, the proper solution is to mend it, and perhaps even replace it, not let it continue to be broken.
- I mentioned some of these things on Friday after picking up my (replacement) badges to a lady who identified herself as the "person in charge" of the registration team. I did not get her name. I want to say she was polite, courteous, and professional. It was clear to me that she was stressed and worried about the situation of registration as a whole. It is because of the concern she showed that I am writing this.

We have noted your ideas and will definitely keep them in mind- I stand very much so by the phrase "By Fans, For Fans" and as thus, we are listening to your feedback. These ideas are definitely creative thinking as well, so thank you for taking time out to write feedback. I can tell you care deeply about FanimeCon, its staff, and about Registration as a whole! (:

[meowrei]

Pros
~ Pocket Guide!!!!!!
~ Artist Alley rocked this year!
~ Shuttles!!!  The drivers were all very friendly.  Only went to the Doubletree  – no problems.
~ Keeping Thursday Swap Meet open till 1:00a. Since I was group leader, I stayed in line while my boyfriend checked it out and pick up some things for the both of us.
~ Marathon, Nostalgia and Asian Film Room
~ Stage Zero
~ Hiroyuki Yamaga
~ Cosplay Gatherings
~ Clockwork Alchemy – loved it. When I wanted to get away from lines and chaos, we would head over to CA. Artist Bazaar had a nice mix of vendors. Love that one of my favorite vendor from Dickens Fair was there.

In spite of the problems with registration this year, I'm looking forward to next year. Looking into buying a small folding stool to make the wait in all the lines next year a little less painful for my feet & knees. :)

Suggestion
For Clockwork Alchemy, please place a map of the schematic of where things are located and the hours of the Artist Bazaar in the pocket guide.

In front of the convention center, it would be nice if the shuttle stop and line were clearly marked - hopefully this will cut down on mob rule mentality. Also, the front of the center was constantly clogged with waiting vehicles and often times caused a HUGE problems for the shuttles. Sometimes the shuttle was forced to dropping off and picking up people at the bus stop. Maybe the shuttle stop should move to a different location, like maybe to the Hilton side of the convention center.

Not fond of the idea of having the badges mailed out. So many things can and will go wrong. I've attended several cons where this idea was a MAJOR FAIL, even when badges were mailed (according to postmark) out 2-3 weeks prior to con time. Here a few problems my friends and I have ran into:
- badges that did not arrive before people had to fly out or their badge arrive just as they were about to head to the airport
- several times badges were mailed out to the wrong people
- and the worst was when several thousand never received their badges
HUGE fiasco!  Luckily each time we all had our receipts/printout to show proof we paid. 

Do like the idea of dividing up the Pre-reg/Early reg/At-Con/Groups lines.

Cons
People cutting in line. Don't mind those that are group leader and their friends are checking on them (bringing drinks &/or food) but on Thursday I witnessed several people letting their friends cut into line causing the line to grow. At one point, some young girls cut into the line ahead of a young girl and her father who were just behind us. Later this same girls let in several of their friends. One of the guys tried to push me out of line. He backed off when I refused to move or to make way for him. Very rude and inconsiderate.

Day Zero Registration Line, didn't care for the rover/staff/volunteer that made announcements like we were all at an Occupy Protest. I guess because I didn't play along (shout back what he said), he came up to me and tersely asked if I have my printout & ID out and ready to show. I pulled my printout & ID out of my pocket and showed them to him. He then said something to the fact, "Okay. Good." and walked away. After that, I figured things were not off to a good start and it would wise to just avoid rovers/staff/volunteers as much as possible.

It was hard to found the varies Cosplay gatherings. What was up with the cryptic secret coding for the varies locations.

[renalcul]

Not fond of the idea of having the badges mailed out. So many things can and will go wrong. I've attended several cons where this idea was a MAJOR FAIL, even when badges were mailed (according to postmark) out 2-3 weeks prior to con time. Here a few problems my friends and I have ran into:
- badges that did not arrive before people had to fly out or their badge arrive just as they were about to head to the airport
- several times badges were mailed out to the wrong people
- and the worst was when several thousand never received their badges
HUGE fiasco!  Luckily each time we all had our receipts/printout to show proof we paid. 

I've only ever experienced having badges mailed when dealing with PAX, and it worked beautifully for me.

I mean, if that's your concern, wouldn't it just be an optional alternative, rather than something that happens with everyone?

If they fear their badges showing up before they leave or after they leave, i'm sure they could just choose to not have them mailed to begin with and just pick them up at the con.

I just figure that if there is an option to mail the badges for a slight extra fee, the amount of incidents that would happen would either be so major that they'd all end up just picking up their badges at the con anyway, or they would be so minor that the lines would probably be cut in half or more.

BUT I'M NOT REG STAFF SO THIS IS ALL SPECULATION AND OPINIONS

[svatoid]

Loved Fanime.  Kudos to the organizers. Video presentations were great.
Only complaint--registration. Got there at around 9:30 AM friday and had to wait 2+ hours to get my badge.  Organizers need to think about mailing out badges next year. I would be willing to pay extra for that service.

[Wiccat]

I got there a little after 5:00pm on Friday.  With my spot being in the 20's, I knew I wasn't going to be checked-in until probably 5:20-5:30pm.  I personally would rather get to an event early, and if there were any changes I'd rather let the staff of that event tell us, rather than trust the Information Booth of a convention in-case of any mis-communications. :)

That's all well and good, but remember I'm also working the artist alley and I don't have the luxury to go track down the staff of the event or to get there early.  I had expected things to go as they did on Thursday - we got there at the time told to us, we lined up in order according to our numbers (my number was #2), and we get to pick our spot.  It might not seem important to those who don't come to Fanime to conduct sales, but good time management is very important to me.  If I leave my table early, a missed sale could be a difference of up to $85 profit, depending on what the customer wished to buy. 

Also, you said in your previous post that the head of the Swap Meet was very rude to you.  Are you referring to Maryssa, AKA AngelJibrille?  She's always very busy running the Swap Meet each year (as-well as the Masquerade.)  My friend, who was also selling on Friday showed up later to check-in around 6:00pm.  My friend had to attend a funeral that morning, and by the time she got to the con, she had to wait in-line for badge pick-up which took a few hours.  Maryssa was very kind to allow her to check-in.

That is good for your friend, I'm glad she was able to still get into the swap meet.  But just because Maryssa was nice to some people doesn't mean she was nice to everybody.  It doesn't cancel out the negative experience I had with her or make her rudeness to me any less important.  It doesn't make all the other complaints about her go away.  And I would prefer my complaint about her to be heard rather than for it to be challenged.

This is my feedback in a feedback thread, so please stop trying to dismiss my opinion.

[Eurobeat King]

I got there a little after 5:00pm on Friday.  With my spot being in the 20's, I knew I wasn't going to be checked-in until probably 5:20-5:30pm.  I personally would rather get to an event early, and if there were any changes I'd rather let the staff of that event tell us, rather than trust the Information Booth of a convention in-case of any mis-communications. :)

That's all well and good, but remember I'm also working the artist alley and I don't have the luxury to go track down the staff of the event or to get there early.  I had expected things to go as they did on Thursday - we got there at the time told to us, we lined up in order according to our numbers (my number was #2), and we get to pick our spot.  It might not seem important to those who don't come to Fanime to conduct sales, but good time management is very important to me.  If I leave my table early, a missed sale could be a difference of up to $85 profit, depending on what the customer wished to buy. 

Also, you said in your previous post that the head of the Swap Meet was very rude to you.  Are you referring to Maryssa, AKA AngelJibrille?  She's always very busy running the Swap Meet each year (as-well as the Masquerade.)  My friend, who was also selling on Friday showed up later to check-in around 6:00pm.  My friend had to attend a funeral that morning, and by the time she got to the con, she had to wait in-line for badge pick-up which took a few hours.  Maryssa was very kind to allow her to check-in.

That is good for your friend, I'm glad she was able to still get into the swap meet.  But just because Maryssa was nice to some people doesn't mean she was nice to everybody.  It doesn't cancel out the negative experience I had with her or make her rudeness to me any less important.  It doesn't make all the other complaints about her go away.  And I would prefer my complaint about her to be heard rather than for it to be challenged.

This is my feedback in a feedback thread, so please stop trying to dismiss my opinion.

Done.  Sorry you had such a bad time on Friday at the Swap Meet. 

[Dracil]

Not fond of the idea of having the badges mailed out. So many things can and will go wrong. I've attended several cons where this idea was a MAJOR FAIL, even when badges were mailed (according to postmark) out 2-3 weeks prior to con time. Here a few problems my friends and I have ran into:
- badges that did not arrive before people had to fly out or their badge arrive just as they were about to head to the airport
- several times badges were mailed out to the wrong people
- and the worst was when several thousand never received their badges
HUGE fiasco!  Luckily each time we all had our receipts/printout to show proof we paid.  

I've only ever experienced having badges mailed when dealing with PAX, and it worked beautifully for me.

I mean, if that's your concern, wouldn't it just be an optional alternative, rather than something that happens with everyone?

If they fear their badges showing up before they leave or after they leave, i'm sure they could just choose to not have them mailed to begin with and just pick them up at the con.

I just figure that if there is an option to mail the badges for a slight extra fee, the amount of incidents that would happen would either be so major that they'd all end up just picking up their badges at the con anyway, or they would be so minor that the lines would probably be cut in half or more.

BUT I'M NOT REG STAFF SO THIS IS ALL SPECULATION AND OPINIONS

Yep, by default PAX mails out all badges.  They had 70000 attendees last year.

But PAX has a *huge* line on opening days too.  Oh wait, it wasn't a line for badge pickups.  It was just a line to go in.

Also, I've heard from staff that the reason registration is so bad is because of stupid union rules (hey SJ residents, vote against the unions for being stupid! :P).  So maybe consider doing Day 0 registration pickup *off-site* then so you don't have to deal with them.  Maybe at SJSU?  Or have half the registration at the doubletree site since obviously a place people could pickup badges (just group it by numbers, numbers X and below at one spot, X+1 and above at another spot)

[aetherltd]

OK, obviously reg has to be fixed.  With web sites and smart phones, standing in line is so last-cen.

I'm from the Clockwork Alchemy side. I'm the guy behind the Telegraph Office, with the antique equipment printing messages and messengers delivering telegrams around CA. CA went well, but it was slow.  Friday was totally dead. Not enough people from Fanime found Clockwork Alchemy. I asked a few random people at Fanime if they'd seen CA.  Most said they knew a steampunk convention was around somewhere, but they weren't sure where or how to get there. The original plans for CA included some kind of outpost/info desk over at the convention center, but that didn't happen.  Oops. Big arrows with "Bus to Clockwork Alchemy this way" and stuff like that would help.

(Incidentally, our telegram service is free. You text in a message and we print it and deliver it within CA.  It's been pointed out to us that some Fanime members were afraid they'd be billed on their cell phone or charged for delivery.  We don't do that. We do this for fun, as cosplay.  We'll make this clearer next year.)

[Wiccat]

Done.  Sorry you had such a bad time on Friday at the Swap Meet. 

Thank you. I just wanted to bring to attention that the Information Desk should be the ones to have accurate, up to date information.  Otherwise it defeats the purpose of having an Information Desk if I need to look online or elsewhere to get the information I need.

[Yuu]

  Good-
Peace Bonding It looks like my complaints on being harassed over peace bonding last year were taken to heart.

The people at the peace bonding booth were polite and once I had my sword peace bonded I was not bothered even once. I am very impressed. Thank you.

Dealers Hall

I usually don't bother even going to the dealers hall.-at any con, not just Fanime-the crowd is not worth looking over he same stuff that I could by at a nearby store or online.

This year i was surprised to find a very nice variety. The down side, of coarse, is that I actually spent money.

Even more amazing was the lack of crowding and shoving. I wasn't even ran into once. Nor did I have to shove anyone out the way myself. Very nice.

Bad- It's only one but it's a BIG one.

The Masquerade. I usually don't attend but this year I was convinced to do so. I was not convinced that I should ever go again.
The contestants ARE told that this isn't American Idol right? I say 'American" and not 'Japanese" because while I am so very, very, sick of going to see creative skits and costume only to see MOE cosplayer in skimpy outfits murdering my ears with some  high-pitched, grating song and dance,  those ARE at least relevant .

What was up with #28? They didn't  have costumes. Of ANY kind. The song didn't have anything with anime. NONE of it had anything to do with anything really.

Am I back in Seattle where we can't say 'no' because we don't want to huwt thew witto feewings? I expect better quality control from Fanime.
Having said that, the skits that were actually about the costumes were very impressive. I also approved of the guest announcer. I am now aware of the terrifying  mind control powers of the   'Manamana"

mod edit: profanity

[Eurobeat King]

Bad- It's only one but it's a BIG one.

The Masquerade. I usually don't attend but this year I was convinced to do so. I was not convinced that I should ever go again.
The contestants ARE told that this isn't American Idol right? I say 'American" and not 'Japanese" because while I am so very, very, sick of going to see creative skits and costume only to see MOE cosplayer in skimpy outfits murdering my ears with some  high-pitched, grating song and dance,  those ARE at least relevant .

What the fuck was with #28? They didn't  have costumes. Of ANY kind. The song didn't have anything with anime. NONE of it had anything to do with anything really.

I'm still reminded of FanimeCon many years ago (i think it was 2000 or 2001) when I was fortunate enough to be able to watch a rehearsal of all the skits before the actual show.  The Masquerade staff called up each group, and let them perform their skit once in-front of little to no audience, to make-sure their audio was in-sync, lighting, etc.  

One group, three guys wearing either T-shirts or bare-chested, did a skit from the anime "Fist of the North Star" but all it was was them punching each other, doing "moves" that Kenshiro does, and instead of blood, they threw confetti into the air.  It was absolutely pointless and boring, and after I saw that I said "why is this even allowed in the Masquerade?"

Well, when the show commenced, and I was dreading that the FOTNS skit would come up, low-and-mf-behold: it was axed!!  ;D

I'm unsure to this day if the guys dropped out at the last minute, or if the Masquerade Staff found the skit to be too plain/boring/idiotic/etc. so they canned it.  Sure, everyone is allowed to sign-up for the Masquerade each year, but having a dress-rehearsal if there's time to let the Masquerade Staff determine if a skit is appropriate or not and disqualify any skit they see fit, would be nice to have.

I recall a couple of years ago when one contestant stood on-stage wearing a Smiley-face mask from "Ghost In The Shell", normal clothes, and held a Zion flag from "Gundam", and just stood there for 3-5 minutes, while the "Mighty Mouse" song was being played.  Just terrible.. (I know Anime Central used to have a big GONG they used to use to get contestants off-stage when they were dragging, they no longer do, but that was one example where the skit needed to end.. and quickly.)  :P

Which brings me to this year's Masquerade.  Being backstage in the photo-area, I saw all the contestants before they went on-stage, but didn't get to see their skits.  One group, entry #6 "Pokemon Men" had 4 guys and 1 girl.  Two of the guys were half-naked, and the one Power Ranger(?) had holes in his costume in certain areas that were quite disturbing.  Once they stood in-front of us photographers, they immediately started doing poses where they grabbed each other, like one guy stood behind the other, and lifted the other's legs.  Just overall pretty distasteful..  

Here's their skit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17_9ipJMEKc

[InsaneDavid]

Do like the idea of dividing up the Pre-reg/Early reg/At-Con/Groups lines.

This. All kinds of this.  Pre-Reg should be treated as the VIP's of the line and registration process.  They were the first con-goers to put money down on their membership.  They register at the earliest possible times.  Part of that reason is so that they can have a smoother transition into the con.  Pre-Reg should have a completely separate check in area and it should open up way before the other registration options can get their passes.  Start Pre-Reg pickup at 10am and Early-Reg pickup at 4pm or something.  Pre-Reg and Early-Reg shouldn't be mixed together.  Pre-Reg should really be pre-con with Early-Reg being handled along the lines the current Day 0 smash gets now.

Also, I've heard from staff that the reason registration is so bad is because of stupid union rules (hey SJ residents, vote against the unions for being stupid!

If only we had such control.

[Dracil]

I'm assuming SJ is like SF and occasionally there are ballot measures that affect unions.  I was quite happy when they eliminated the pay guarantees for Muni operators (before that, they were guaranteed to be #2 best paid in the country.  Seriously dumbest thing ever for a bunch of employees who love to take a bunch of unannounced leaves).

Any SJ measure that would weaken union ability to bargain would probably make things less ridiculous in the future.

[Gigantor]

First off, Thank you all Fanime Staff for pulling off another good year!

Just my feedback. I tried to be thorough but maybe I got a little too thorough. Haha.


Pros:

• The "Filler" Website – I absolutely love the little filler, "recap", call it what you will website that got put up rather than just leaving the 2012 site up for the next few months. To me it is a nice little way of just wrapping the con officially up and setting a new groundwork for next year. I already am excited just by this little website for next year as strange as that is!


• Artist Alley - The Artist Alley this year was quite impressive and the growth is extremely nice. The AA Staff did a very good job running the event and there was a nice variety of return and new artists. I hope that with the continued growth of the event that they can move over to one of the other Exhibit Halls, I know there is an additional 7,000 Sq. Feet in both Exhibit Hall 2 and 3. I would vote for Exhibit Hall 3 since Exhibit Hall 2 has a little more usability for booths (According to the floor plan specs) which makes it more useful as the Dealers Hall. Since there is a rapid growth in the number of participating Artists it would be nice to see the event grow even more! The AA staff truly did do an amazing job organizing such a massive amount of applications and getting everything taken care of. This is the one event that I think has truly grown alongside the growth of the con.


• Dealers Hall - All of my experiences in the Dealers Hall this year were quite pleasant. I bought my usual three ties from Lolita Kisama, and my round of UCC coffee each day and quite enjoyed it. I thought that the variety of exhibitors was very nice, although there were a few exceptions. I'm not sure about whether or not they were charging 10% Sales Tax which is what most people were saying, I know San Jose is 8.25%. I would slightly imagine that they weren't charging additional Sales Tax (Because while that can be done, if a customer returns you must reimburse them the difference or the business is required to pay the additional tax to the state or they have an accounting discrepancy which will show up on an audit) but rather they were charging a combined amount of 10%, applying 8.25% and using the additional amount to cover either Convention costs or to substitute for the people who they relieved sales tax for. I could be wrong on this...but unless my accounting is hazy I believe they still have to pay Sales Tax for every purchase. I don't know the details or what is legal because I am not an authority and have no real personal experience but it seems reasonable in my mind at least.


• Registration Staff - I thought that overall, the staff this year did an absolutely amazing job working with the overwhelming circumstances that happened. There were a few occasions where I am certain that individuals could have handled attendee inquiries better but as a whole the entire staff seemed to do a pretty good job responding to the power outage and the technical problems. While I may have problems with the process, the Staff does an amazing job working within the current system and doing the best they can.


• Staff in General – I have nothing but respect and awe for the people who put in a massive amount of times to get this event running every single year. Thank you all so much for your massive influence on the conventions growth, and thank you so much again for working hard to make sure that the convention is a success!


• Gaming Room - I didn't spend an overwhelming amount of time in here, but the time I did spend here left me overall feeling pretty happy. The pc towers were amazing to have and I don't remember those in past years. It brought a much better feeling to the gaming room with a lot more variety. However I noticed that quite a few tournaments seemed to be cancelled? That is just what I saw from FB, Twitter updates as well as what I heard from several other people.


• Black and White Ball - The new location is amazing and I quite like it being used the way it is. Since I know the blueprints for the expansion include a ballroom, I do think it would be nicer to have it in the convention center still since it would have additional increased square footage unless there is a steady increase in the number of attendees in which case, my mind functions that it would be better to move the gaming room to the new Ball Room expansion (Since it is the lowest amount of square footage) , leave the Ball where it was this year, and open up Exhibit Halls 1 and 2 to make a substantially larger Artists Alley or Dealers Hall depending on interest or growth.

Cons:

• Staff and Attendee Relationship – This is something that I have been noticing over the years and it is just my personal opinion after hundreds if not thousands of encounters with many members of Staff from many departments. FanimeCon is By Fans, For Fans and I love it, but while we can all become friends and I love making new friends, the convention Staff are the ones who are running the convention. The fact is they are the ones who put an unbelievably large amount of effort into running this convention and that earns a level of respect right there that I think some convention attendees lose sight of. But the flip side of this is that the attendees are paying money, and not a little bit of money, to be at an event which needs to be run as professionally as possible and sometimes I think Staff loses sight of the fact that we are paying attendees.  This is just my thought and personal opinion, but I think that over time some of the professionalism of the event has been dying out. (This is by no means an accurate description of the full relationship between Staff/Attendee but I did focus on one overarching issue to me. Nothing is ever so simple as one issue ^^)


• Website Development – I do not believe that the website this year was overwhelmingly well designed. There were several small sections that one could "subvert" into that would have old information, or had never been updated because the actual implementation was performed elsewhere. One case in point, I believe that the About  Become Staff was an odd place overall for it. Because it didn't match up with anything else and there was already an area that had a staff section which did not contain a link to the actual staff page. The updating was also relatively slow this year. I know that some aspects physically could not be updated on, because the Staff was busy finalizing things, but a little presence would be nice rather than just placeholders. I think that rather than updating the main page along with the other areas, it would be nice to just have that middle section function AS the twitter feed. That is how most updates are carried out it seems so I think that would be an easy mechanism to just save time. I also really hope it can return to a top navigation bar rather than a side panel. Just a disclaimer that this is all my personal opinion and I completely understand how hard it is to create a brand new website every year with new implementation and then keep it completely updated. I thank the Staff again for putting so much effort into the development of new features and constantly striving to provide the best experience to all those who are involved.


• Lack of Information – I think that the amount of information this year given before the convention was very minimal and was limited to the forums in a lot of cases. Lots of people don't visit the forums because they don't like Forums in general, and I wish that more information could have been channeled onto one of the main Fanime information sources.


• Lack of At-Con Information – The Information Desks were not helpful for me but the only thing I really needed to know was where parking discounts were handled and the person who I talked to didn't know but said he would help me find it (Which ultimately he didn't because he wandered off to ask someone else but I wasn't worried) so I am glad that if they don't have the knowledge they make the effort to find out. However it seems from the general idea of the feedback I am reading that they didn't constantly have up to date information which can prove to be a critical hit to a convention on the whole. I think there is a way to improve this, but since I didn't have much interaction, I also didn't have many immediate ideas.


• Feedback Staff Response – I am mentioning this because as I see it, some of the staff responses, which are practically always completely justified as far as information content, have very little of the professional conduct of which I would expect from a feedback forum in general and seem to rapidly be drifting towards personal level of retaliation. Which brings me to my main point; why can't this Feedback be done as a web app? It would be a centralized feedback area that focuses the discussion on feedback onto the staff level which is where I believe a fair bit of it belongs. But I also see the immediate plus side to doing it in a forum because it generates discussion about what direction the con needs to go in, and points are debated and discussed and hopefully most of what we can discuss can go to the betterment of a con. I do believe that the staff post that caught my eye was removed and listed as a complaint rather than constructive feedback which makes more sense, however that was also only when it became escalated when the staff member responded.


• Registration – I was in line for just over 6 hours on Thursday and frankly it seems like the overall process of registration is no longer working for the event. And since the blueprints for the expansion center to the center do not include the Registration area currently being used it seems like a fairly perfect opportunity to revamp the system overall. I do not personally agree with the mailing out of badges on all aspects. On the one hand you can get your badge ahead of time, which is a nice perk for Pre-Registration (As compared to the seemingly pointless perks other than price at this point) but equally on the other hand, you're going to have people losing badges, people needing badges re-printed because they forget them, and a wide variety of other possible errors in mailing badges out. I like having a souvenir badge, it is honestly a form of pride having gone for so many years and having badges to remind me of all of the Fanime's I have been to. AX processes registration with a barcode, and it seems to work quite well, and I do hope that something along this line can be implemented. The multiple badge art is a major part of what Fanime is to me; it is one of the little things that helps define that con from other ones. The new area that I can easily see being used as a new Registration area would be somewhere in the L20 or L21. If L21 is completely opened up that is a massive area to allow for Registration processing. The flow control looks to be, enter from the outside, and taking from someone else's suggestions, sort people into L21 for At-Con registration, and use the L20's either independently or as one cohesive area with divisions for people who Pre-Registered, Artist Alley, Industry/Press, Dealers, and I think that is everything? Most of those could phase out to just pre-reg as well once the convention gets started up. (It is a complicated thought even for me and might be unfeasible but it seems plausible just maintenance and planning intensive). There seems to be a lot of available space once the convention center is finished and I can't wait to see.


• Rover Staff – I would like to say first off that I appreciate all of the staff immensely and that this is an extremely negligible complaint overall but some of the staff did seem a little confused on rules so it would be nice if there could be more clarity or more emphasis on training however I do understand the difficulties in training a group of volunteers many of whom may not show up for the event which I believe was mentioned by the rover staff before now. When the staff mentioned the test to take for being a Rover, it was mentioned it was mostly common sense applications and responses to likely event circumstances. Just a thought but could there not be two simple tests given? One first off to score how you would work as a Rover and then one to score your knowledge of the Convention in particular? I really don't have much of inkling on how these tests work so it may very well already be this way. Just my food for thought I suppose.

Overall I still had a pretty good time! FanimeCon is the first convention I went to out of a great many and I have stayed strong since then. I always think the staff does their best with what they have and always manage to pull off a great convention!

Thank you so much for this year and I can't wait for next year!

[ttyls]

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.

Thank you for bringing this up. While I was in the Artist Alley most of the con and didn't get a chance to see the Dealer's Hall, I am HORRIFIED to hear that something of such an offensive nature is allowed! My reaction is the same as yours: WHAT THE HELL? That is extremely, extremely offensive and I am so upset to hear Fanime let someone have a booth with something like that. It's a very real piece of history that affects many of us closely still, not a joke. It should not be allowed, period.

Also, that Megaman LMFAO skit... I don't even know what to say. It saddens me that masquerade is comprised of skits like that. Distasteful is the right word.

[Chronopunk]

I'm assuming SJ is like SF and occasionally there are ballot measures that affect unions.  I was quite happy when they eliminated the pay guarantees for Muni operators (before that, they were guaranteed to be #2 best paid in the country.  Seriously dumbest thing ever for a bunch of employees who love to take a bunch of unannounced leaves)

If we could leave politics out of this thread, I'd be very appreciative. It is not constructive, nor conducive to helping the Fanime staff garner feedback.

Further, I've worked many conventions in that convention center (more than I care to count, really), and the Union workers have never had, and should never have, any input on what the convention staff and employees do and do not do in regards to registration. I would hazard to say that anyone who implied any "fault" regarding registration difficulties toward the union workers at the convention center had absolutely no real proof, and was merely looking for someone to grind their axe against.

I humbly suggest your information was flawed and erroneous, and should be given up in favor of facts.

[Dracil]

I'm assuming SJ is like SF and occasionally there are ballot measures that affect unions.  I was quite happy when they eliminated the pay guarantees for Muni operators (before that, they were guaranteed to be #2 best paid in the country.  Seriously dumbest thing ever for a bunch of employees who love to take a bunch of unannounced leaves)

If we could leave politics out of this thread, I'd be very appreciative. It is not constructive, nor conducive to helping the Fanime staff garner feedback.

Further, I've worked many conventions in that convention center (more than I care to count, really), and the Union workers have never had, and should never have, any input on what the convention staff and employees do and do not do in regards to registration. I would hazard to say that anyone who implied any "fault" regarding registration difficulties toward the union workers at the convention center had absolutely no real proof, and was merely looking for someone to grind their axe against.

I humbly suggest your information was flawed and erroneous, and should be given up in favor of facts.

Let's see, few years back, they shut down a live broadcast of a MusicFest (which the artist was fine with) because they wanted $3000 to do some sort of network setup that the attendees were already doing on their own just fine with their own equipment.

In regards to reg, the staff member mentioned they had to go through the union to set up network stuff for registration AND they weren't allowed more than X computers per square footage because of union rules.

Basically every significantly negative experience I've had at Fanime has always led back to union rules.  If it was an axe to grind, it's funny how random unrelated people have axes to grind.  Do you have facts to the contrary?

My point is if union rules are really hamstringing the on-site registration process, then maybe they should move as much of it *off-site* as possible.  Either by mail, or at another location.

[ewu]

Hello all,

Lets keep this to feedback only. Evaluating feedback and the factual accuracy chills further contributions and not only keeps us staffers from hearing the issues but prevent what would otherwise be good ideas from coming out and implemented.

Please put your thoughts and ideas out there, but please refrain from criticizing or responding to the feedback.

Thanks,
Eric
Mod and power hungry servicer of fans...

[Yuu]

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.

Thank you for bringing this up. While I was in the Artist Alley most of the con and didn't get a chance to see the Dealer's Hall, I am HORRIFIED to hear that something of such an offensive nature is allowed! My reaction is the same as yours: WHAT THE HELL? That is extremely, extremely offensive and I am so upset to hear Fanime let someone have a booth with something like that. It's a very real piece of history that affects many of us closely still, not a joke. It should not be allowed, period.

i can see how that would be disturbing to some people.

Just like
rape.
or MOE
and watching little girls get beat up/raped by monsters.
and just about every other fetish you could find that is so casually shown in anime/manga.
It's disturbing from the other side isn't it? Yah, welcome to our world.

I will say that making the 'Nazi' bit so easy to see-if it even was- is a bad idea.
I sure as hell didn't see it and I was looking at yaoi. Unless your referring to that ONE fanart ass Aizen dressed in a Nazi uniform. If that' the case...I don't even know how to respond.

Some guys do LOOK for these things so that they can bitch and try to get them banned. Just do what most woman and look the other way..oh wait When we do we're greeted with some other fetish.

Either everything is okay, or nothing is. You can't pick and chose just because YOU find something offensive.

[TripleM]

This Fanime was pretty stressful and lackluster for me individually, but I felt there were a few major convention slipups:

Registration: Chronopunk's post pretty much said it all as politely as possible. I'm very willing to join staff and try and help for next year, so please let me know when signups go up. Also, I think it would be nice if at least attendees with hard plastic badges (aka PreReg Only) were mailed their badge next year. That way, there'd be enough time to both print and send everything. If there's not enough time now, I suggest ending the preregister period early enough (say, start in November and end in February?) to allow for that processing time. (I also volunteer my tongue and fingers to lick and mail those thousands of badges, XD)

Panels: As others have said, lines were messy at times. I was also saddened that there were a decent amount of cancelled panels this year.

Foot Traffic: While I liked that the entrances for both Gaming and Dealer's Hall were in the same area, it did give that area a bit of a swell/surge while walking. Also, there were many people who entered and exited as they pleased, even ignoring directions of staff/volunteers. Very frustrating. Hopefully there can just be an entrance and exit side to both the doors next year.

MusicFest: While I did not attend MusicFest this year (neither of the performers appealed to me), I did hear how it ended fairly early. Maybe next year, there can be some local bands invited to extend the length?