First off, thank you to everyone who is giving us constructive feedback. We were taking notes since Day 0 of con as to how we can improve our event as well as our department for next year.
I will try to address individual comments as they come and will try to keep things as in-context as possible, but if you have any questions about anything that has been said by my staffers or myself, please email us at bwball@fanime.com or PM me here to discuss it privately.
People who bought official dancing were turned away for not buying brand name dancing shoes.
Heels specifically, no matter their brand name or whether they were true dancing shoes or not, were turned away for exceeding the height restriction or not meeting the width requirement in the dress code. This, unfortunately, is due to the safety of individuals as well as protecting the dance floor we rent - Okach explained this in his post quite thoroughly. Attendees who decided to change their shoes to types that were not allowed in the dress code after being permitted inside were politely asked to change their footwear back to the compliant shoes and those who refused to comply were unfortunately asked to leave. Please keep in mind that, like many other convention as well as dance events, the Black & White Ball has its own individual guidelines that need to be followed. For us, it's the dress code.
If you allow some heel's in, let them all in because you can't tell the difference between Waltz, Salsa or Tango shoes, that much is obvious. Train your people to see dancing shoes or next year, say flats all around.
If you would like, I can send you a picture of my multiple Salsa, Ballroom, Tango, Swing, and dance shoes of varying styles (jazz, modern, ballet) to help you understand that we do, in fact, know our shoes. Our staff is comprised of people who are students learning or fully involved in dance, hobbyists, dance instructors, and competitive dancers who have a wide variety of experience in dance in and outside the social/partner dancing circle. The shoe rules were relaxed a little bit this year to include Toms/VANS due to their heavy use by swing dancers, but we could not do much about the heel rules since safety of everyone attending the Ball was the biggest priority.
Then I remembered the stormtrooper who was in the ball, that, in my opinion negates e ery argument that staff could have possibly made.
Yes, he was black and white- a condition which doesnt actually seem to matter, not that Im complaining it would be ridiculous to turn away amazing ballroom attire because it has some color- and yes his shoes were okay. But are we not forgetting the most important part of the dance? It is a black and white BALL for which you are supposed to DRESS UP.
Im very disappointed that the staff would let in someone who could not even bother to change his highly costume, and turn down those who planned far in advance. I take that back, Im disappointed that staff would turn down ANYONE after letting that storm trooper in.
Very true. I saw many people in much less formal wear than the two friends I mentioned were wearing absolutely stunning ballgowns. One was wearing this: http://www.cosplayfantasy.com/images/sakuraflamekimono.jpg and the other was wearing another beautiful dress that I do not know the style of.
The only reason they came here was to enjoy the Black and White Ball, and they were turned away while a Storm trooper was let in? One of them spent hours upon hours painting the dress for this event alone, and she's been really upset ever since. We all have those 'big cosplay' events we go to, hers was Black and White Ball. I really can't believe they let a Stormtrooper, along with many others in, while turning away some people. Pick and choose much?
Glad to see I'm not the only one who questioned why the Storm Trooper was allowed in yet others with very beautiful and classy attire were turned away due to a mere quarter of an inch or something ridiculous like that. Maybe I should pull together a sick Darth Vader costume like the Storm Trooper and go to the BW Ball, no reason why I shouldn't get in, right?
I hope you sense the sarcasm in that last line.
I apologize for your friends' experience, MinionJay, as well as the storm trooper issue. The costume that had been linked would have been approved in the dress code, so the only thing I can think of that may have caused them to be turned away at the door could be their shoes since I am unaware of what they were.
I have been made aware of a large majority of issues relating to the inconsistency of the dress code enforcement at the door and we have already started setting up a new system for checking the dress code for next year. Okach had mentioned one of our issues with this and I am making sure that these kinds of inconsistencies will not be occurring in the future. If you have any specific ideas as to how to improve the dress code process, please email me at bwball@fanime.com so we can discuss them in detail.
The skirt-length issue has been a consistent dilemma for our staff over the years. In previous years, we've had a two-inch-above-the-knee rule as well as several others, but it seems from my point of view to have a never-ending backlash over whatever we decide for in the dress code. This year, the dress code clearly states "skirts that do not go higher than the top of the knee cap at its highest point (
including slits and asymmetrical hems)." If it's a half inch above the knee, it's higher than the top of the knee cap and, unfortunately, against the dress code. I really do not want to have to enforce a mid-calf-or-lower skirt rule as that cuts out a lot of shorter, formal dresses, but if it will help get the point across that we are trying our best to be a formal event, we may actually have to keep that idea in mind (I'm joking, I promise

)
The new system we are already starting to work on will
not allow any of these inconsistencies to happen in the future.
I was denied since my heels were too thin and I had a red Chinese dress on. So I had to change into some ugly boots just to get in. The people behind me were denied as well because her heels were too thin but they were dance shoes. We had a conversation about how she was wearing a corset and she was dressed in a lovely long black dress with a slit to the side (very beautiful, wish I got a picture) and in the end, she got denied which was a waste of time of standing in line. My sister had a dress that was apparently "too short", which was barely above her knees and when I got in, I saw girls who had dress that where mid-thigh high. There were also girls who had way thinner heels than myself or the woman behind me had on. It's probably safe to say that I won't be attending the ball next year if there is no consistency to the rules. The first and last Black and White Ball I will see.
I sincerely apologize for your experience. As it has already been stated, shoes in general became a large issue this year due to the lack of understanding the width requirement of the heels. If you have any suggestions as to how we can improve our door system or any other places we should post our dress code to make it more accessible to everyone, feel free to email us at bwball@fanime.com. The inconsistency of this year's Ball will not be happening in the future.
First and foremost, while I didn't attend the B&W Ball, thank you (and princesskitty) very much for all the hard work you put in year after year. Many people I know attend Fanime solely to attend the ball, so definitely, thanks! *U*
As for getting the word out on dress code:
I think many people used the Fanime twitter and/or app a lot more this year, so I think it'd be helpful for the Twitter reminders, for example, to mention the dress code in addition to the time/place of the ball.
Additionally, while this isn't as helpful now that con has ended, it would've been a good idea to ask the people who didn't know about the dress code on the spot about where they found out about the ball. That way it's easier to pinpoint where they're getting their information, and where dress code reminders might be lacking.
Just my two cents, but I hope this can help you guys out for next year 
Thank you! I'm glad to hear that.

We did have a daily Twitter reminder of either the Black & White Ball itself or to check out the dress code, but we will definitely try to make those happen more often in the future.
We ended up posting an extra lesson schedule sign at the info desk by Stage Zero. Do you think we should have the dress code posted up at some of the info desks as well? If you could think of any other areas where more information should be posted, please let me know - it would be very helpful for us!
Now that I have caught up on everyone's feedback, we will try to keep up with what everyone has to say. Our department takes every critique in mind as we prepare for future years, so any positive or constructive feedback is definitely welcome so we know what we did right and what we can improve for the future.
Thank you.
- Rebecca