Con feedback (Feedback will not effectively reach staff if you do not use form)

[hikanteki]

I know Fanime is a volunteer on-basis position and it takes up your own personal time, but with power comes big responsibilities and it's extremely unacceptable to run registration for a convention like this.

Translation: I know that a lot of people put their personal time and energy into running the convention, but that doesn't really matter...

I'm normally not one who says that one bad episode can negate a lot of other good ones; however, here's the deal: this is registration, the point of entry, the initial contact for the con.  If people have to wait too long and end up getting fed up and leaving and not registering, then sadly they're not going to see anything else and thus won't see the hard work, time, and energy put into running the rest of the convention.

[nemuneko]

-Seemed a bad move scheduling the Poke-scandalous panel back-to-back with LittleKuriboh's panel; both were traffic-blockingly huge and I think staff was just overwhelmed trying to manage exiting the crowd from one and keeping the line in that hallway in something vaguely resembling order. When a line gets that massive, it would probably be easier to send the excess to some sort of waiting position out of that hallway. Maybe once the construction is finished in the convention center, managing line overflow for panels could perhaps extend to the bottom floor of the convention center or something. Trying to keep the entirety of a line that huge in that hallway just is not working out, resulting in blocked hallways. Another possible solution is setting the panel rooms (especially the big room) with one door as the entrance and another the exit. That floor is set up in a loop, making it a one-way traffic flow might help ease congestion when one of the really enormous panels is lining up.

Totally agree with this. We wanted to go to both the Poke-scandalous! panel and Little Kuriboh's panel, but the lines were horrendous. The entire hallway was literally crammed full of people and we couldn't figure out where the line started and ended. The line for Little Kuriboh's panel was already forming 15 minutes or so before the Poke-scandalous! panel even started. We had to just give up and leave. Very bad move scheduling those two very popular panels back to back. I really wanted to see them both, but it was just too crowded

For the artist alley, while I really liked the larger building this time, the lighting was horrible. It was dark and it made it hard to see a lot of the artwork. We talked to several artists and they were complaining about how dark it was inside. Not very good lighting at all for displaying artwork. I hope they move it back to the convention center just because of that or at least adjust the lighting somehow to make it brighter in there. Other than that, I appreciated the larger, less cramped space. It was a lot easier to move around than in previous years.

[Rhornez]

I found the artist alley weird. They should have used that space for previous years

[chifunii]

Second of all, dress code distribution.  Apparently, some folks did not know that there was a dress code despite it being posted on Facebook, here in the forums, in the program guide, and in Parkside.  If any of you have any suggestions as to how to get the word out, please respond here or in the official FanimeCon feedback thread or email [email protected] 

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 :D

[chifunii]

Renting the convention center and the furniture needed (tables, chairs, etc.) costs a looot.
While it costs the artists/vendors money to rent a table/booth, Fanime doesn't get anything from the exposure the artists get, or the profit the vendors make. Plus, AA and DH are arguably two of the greater reasons people buy badges. You can get art from your favorite artists who might otherwise not sell their stuff, or only sell online. The selection and sheer amount of stuff in DH is very much a one-stop shop for goods. It just doesn't make sense to me to charge less for one of the main exhibits/events of an anime convention.

Personally, I think it's great they had Thursday badge-free, like a sample day, for people to, as you said, "sample the con atmosphere and see if they want to come back".

[hikanteki]

Renting the convention center and the furniture needed (tables, chairs, etc.) costs a looot.
While it costs the artists/vendors money to rent a table/booth, Fanime doesn't get anything from the exposure the artists get, or the profit the vendors make. Plus, AA and DH are arguably two of the greater reasons people buy badges. You can get art from your favorite artists who might otherwise not sell their stuff, or only sell online. The selection and sheer amount of stuff in DH is very much a one-stop shop for goods. It just doesn't make sense to me to charge less for one of the main exhibits/events of an anime convention.

Yes, I agree.  While at first it may seem kind of crass to have to buy a badge in order to go somewhere where you can spend more money...the dealer's room is a spectacle unto itself, and I find a lot of things for better prices there than online, or things that I just can't find online. 

[sysadmin]

When you come to the table

A table?  That's awesome.

I didn't know you got to set the table and determine what things were allowed and not allowed.

[spycker]

I guess I attracted a bad person ? lol I was just sharing my likes and dislikes, I could care less ill just deal with it untill next time but dont call homestuck an anime please

[sysadmin]

I guess I attracted a bad person ? lol I was just sharing my likes and dislikes, I could care less ill just deal with it untill next time but dont call homestuck an anime please

Nah, man, you're cool, and you raise reasonable points.

For other people in the thread, like Yuu- chan, remember there's a forum rule called "Don't be hating"

[Yuu- pon]

I'm a bad person overall because I don't like something? That's a bit of A stretch do t you think?

I don't actually think they should banned from the con.  No group should be flat out banned. I said that out of frustration because I took the time to post an explanation  as to whypeople are upset with homestuck ( because she asked)and was met with hostility by someone who who would refused to address a single thing I said a d then it degraded into personal
insults.

Okay let's not discuss.Im a bad person and groups of  unrelated cosplayers can continue to grow. That is a brilliant solution that will surely remove the possibility of any future tension between all groups.

I'm a little confusedI'm not hating. I'm not the who made personal insults

[SOawesomeness]

Translation: I know that a lot of people put their personal time and energy into running the convention, but that doesn't really matter...

I'm sorry if you feel that way. I personally know that many registration staff did not sleep Thursday-Friday night because we had closed at 4am (after the line died down and we were cleaning) to setting up opening at 7am. Many of our staff on Friday were running on less than 3 hours of sleep. I personally could not walk on Friday because I had been standing all day on Thursday. Most Registration volunteers/staff work are incredibly dedicated and loyal. No matter what, they will work as hard as they can until the last person walks through those final doors and is registered.

I personally read all feedback concerning Registration and at this moment, I am planning some proposals for next year. If you have any ideas that are new, constructive, and unique, I'd love to hear it. Please e-mail me at registration AT fanime DOT com or leave feedback on this forum (as it will be read).

[sysadmin]

Did you have a point you were trying to make?

[Yuu- pon]

People are annoyed by homestu Homestuck are mad that poee are annoyed by them. Why don't we try to come up with a way to make both sides happy. That is my point.

[Avairrianna]

I thought having the gathering in the park was a great solution to the whole issue so that 500 Homestucks weren't disrupting the flow of the con (besides where are we gonna fit them this year?)

As someone who was asked BY Cosplay Staff to help moderate that gathering I must say that I was shocked at how well the whole gathering was and how good everyone was behaving.

[sysadmin]

People are annoyed by homestu Homestuck are mad that poee are annoyed by them. Why don't we try to come up with a way to make both sides happy. That is my point.

I'm in too feisty a mood to say what I really think about this idea.

Instead, I'll just say, let this go.  Find some other thread to comment in.

Admin edit: everyone can continue this discussion if they wish; just not Yuu- pon.

[SquallLHeart]

i'm hoping once construction on the sjcc is completed, we can have the bus pick up right in front of the sjcc again like we had in 2012..

dunno why they switched to the smaller shuttles.. maybe due to cost is my guess.. lack of signage this year to where the shuttles exactly picked up caused a little bit of confusion as well.

[AuroraSareii]

I am genuinely interested what the reason this year was for not having the charter busses like last year...it really caused a lot of trouble in getting fans back and forth. My group wound up taking light rail since it conveniently stops right in front of our hotel. But on friday, we ran into a situation where we waited for our bus to holiday inn, the shuttle before us going to double tree filled up like a clown car, all seats filled and people standing to cram in. When our holiday inn shuttle stopped at fairmont to pick up more holiday inn guests, all the double tree guests begged to get on since the shuttle had already been full as it drove by. Bless the driver, he was such a sweetheart, he took all of the double tree guests since there were only 7 of us going to holiday, and he took them all to double tree first before dropping us off.

I'd actually heard a little bit about the shuttles not knowing where to go, but I thought that was just fans not knowing san jose. I live here so I know it can be somewhat confusing. Seeing the map there, that's way too much lol. Dunno what happened there.

[le_momo]

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected]. 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 :D

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

[otakuya]

I haven't visited Clockwork, but since it's only at 1 hotel, can Clockwork move to the same area as Fanime? There are more hotels apart from the convention center hotels that can be used (or even the SJSU campus).

[SquallLHeart]

the Doubletree hotel is a great place for a convention that is currently the size of what CA is.. so I dunno what they will be planning on for future years..

just saying.. the Doubletree is really nice for what it is, and I can't see any other hotel in the area with the capabilities or having a better fit. who knows what the expansion of the SJCC will lead to though...