Cosplay feedback (will not effectively reach staff if you don't use form)

Started by sakaki, May 27, 2013, 06:06:43 PM

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sakaki

There were so many issues with this year's Cosplay Spectacular it's not even funny. Now, for the record all of the staff I talked with were nice and tried to be as helpful as possible. Unfortunately I don't know where the blame for all this lays and I don't really care - what happened, happened, and this is the gist of it:


  • Rehearsals made no sense. Why not have a sign up list in advance assigning blocks of time to people? And why were some groups allowed 15 practice attempts and others only 1? And barring that, why was there not a signup sheet onsite? A lot of people were lucky to just practice once, some didn't even get to practice at all. Partly this was due to:

  • No laptop?! We couldn't even find out if our audio was okay because CS head had no laptop. We know other groups got cheated because they had video which of course a netbook with no cd/dvd drive couldn't handle- and don't know what was up with favoritism where some groups eventually did have video playing during their performance and others did not. We asked multiple times over the course of ~4 hours and just kept hearing "the laptop is coming!"
  • No sound check? Cosplayers were rudely cleared off the stage so people could setup the band equipment. This happened before 3pm and we never did see the band perform a sound check. Was there seriously a reason that the band had to have their equipment setup over 3 hours before their performance? And the band suffered from poor audio levels - and it was really hard to hear the singer, too. And on a side rant- why was the band even there? How did that relate to cosplay? At the very least they could have performed while the judges deliberated.
  • Why did it begin so late? According to the online schedule, as well as the CS head, seating was to start at 4:30 and the show to start at 5:00. Seating didn't even start until around 5:40.
  • And then dragged on...The show ended around 10. That's WAY TOO LONG. Almost all the audience was gone by that point. Probably because of--
  • SO MANY technical problems. This is totally inexcusable. Why did so many people have their audio mess up? Seriously, what is the reason for this?
  • Inappropriate content. Something like the cosplay burlesque was a little risque but totally appropriate (and awesome dancers!). The male Link "performance" was totally inappropriate and should never have been allowed. Lights and audio should have been cut the second they started gyrating on each other, if not earlier- things started going downhill pretty fast. Family friendly? Heck no.
  • Ordering problems. Not only were all the performance numbers changed at the last possible second but some groups were rushed on stage before they should have been. This was really not conducive to having good performances. Especially when people have large props and set pieces, this is just not acceptable.
  • Last minute emcee. The emcee seemed to be heckled quite a lot for things that weren't his fault - apparently he was thrown into it at the last minute and was trying to make the best of a really bad situation. It is also inexcusable that things were so disorganized that he didn't even have a list of the performance names until like an hour in - thank goodness that wild laptop finally appeared -_-.
  • Favoritism? Not only with the aforementioned video thing (some groups got to use their video, others didn't) - how come the Madoka Magica performance got a redo and the Hetalia performance didn't? Their audio cut off early and they weren't given the same opportunity- why was that?
  • Complete waste of a day. Due to all the disorganization a bunch of us were basically held hostage at the Civic Center the entire day- waiting to rehearse, waiting to see if audio/video were functional, waiting to find out 100% sure what time the show was supposed to start, etc etc. I wonder how much the band got paid to perform when the rest of us got nothing but are a big part of Fanime- to be clear, I'm not asking for anything but complete organization so we could get in and get out so we could maybe, you know, actually enjoy the convention. And maybe some kind of snacks available- who else was practically dropping over from hunger since we thought the show would be done 8 at the latest and it dragged til 10?

Myself, my group and a bunch of other people we talked to are seriously considering not attending Fanime nor participating in the Cosplay Spectacular again. It wasn't fun, it wasn't organized, it was a huge mess and I think everyone should be aware of this for the future.

Sakaki

Erik_anderson

Hi Sakaki

I just volunteered that day at 4:45, so I am unaware of much  the background. I did try to manage as best I could to keep communication going, get water for the contestants and to keep everyone safe.  I however as a (I'll be it temporary) member of the crew, personally apologize if I let you guys down and I hope to see you next year.

Erik (Big, red pants, white shirt guy)
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PinkHairSasuke

That seems way too chaotic and disorganized. It's something you'd expect from a con that was just starting in years, but Fanime has been going on for quite some time. You'd think they'd have their act together. This whole year was pretty chaotic.

der Glitzkrieg

The only really good thing I can say about participating in it was that the staff was very nice and, at the very least, tried to get us answers when we needed them. Erik, you were especially helpful and I appreciate that so much.

We had to have someone guide us to the proper entrance for our pre-judging/rehearsal and he wasn't even a staffer, he was just some very helpful attendee. There was no direction given to the participants as to what to do when we got on stage. We had to talk to someone just before we went on, since we were first in line. Our audio, like almost everyone else's, was screwed up. I had hoped that our audio being messed up would have been the one hiccup, but no, it wasn't. We weren't even announced at all, no names or anything.

That was another issue -- the MC didn't even have a script until part way through the show. There were no group names nor series names announced, which was confusing, especially when awards were announced since no one had any idea who won what at first.

I went in 2009 and participated in the Cosplay Spectacular then and it was run well and smoothly. I had hopes for the same experience this year, but that was just not to be. I can afford one out-of-state con a year and after the experience I had at Fanime this year, I won't be going back until the issues are ironed out.

Dany

As an audience member and past participant in the Masquerade, while I had a decent enough time watching so many people I know or are acquainted with compete, I was truly disappointed in what I saw in the execution of the event this year. I was giving every possible bit of my patience, as with new management there are natural bumps and thuds that will happen as someone different takes over. With that said, there were far more major issues this year than I have seen since I started attending Fanime, and it has resulted in a significant loss of trust in the event that will likely keep participants from returning, and may keep audiences opting for room parties or Black and White Ball instead.

Perhaps part of the reason is because with new management also came a switch in staff to those far less experienced. Perhaps major technical difficulties occurred that were unanticipated. Perhaps communication was simply not strong enough...whatever it was, this year was not to standard at all.  I do not foresee many people wanting to return to the masquerade in any capacity if these things are not openly addressed (as in, discussed openly on the forum if possible) and major effort is putting into resolving these issues.

I know running an event like this is not easy, and does not come without quirks sometimes.  I commend the significant effort that WAS put in to hold the event together until the very end. I commend Wendell specifically for his effort in trying to keep the audience energetic while...whatever was going on behind him. His was not an easy position to be in and I think even the most savvy emcee in the world would have had troubles with keeping the audience engaged given the situation. Go light on him, because I am sure he was sweating bullets a few times over....I know I would have had done no better in his shoes.

But I will say with no reservation that Jack and his team must put in a LOT of extra work to prepare for next year.  Based on what I have picked up from many who have competed and my own personal experience in the audience, it's a small list, but it impacts things immensely.  Communication has to be aggressively shored up so that changes in logistics are relayed to staff and participants in a timely manner.  A significant backup plan needs to be in place so that the event resumes flow if there is technical failure.  And if things need to start being prepared earlier so that an event starts on time? Get in the building earlier and make it happen no matter what. I can live with a slight delay, but the fact that the audience was not even in the door at 5:00, let alone seated and waiting for things to occur, was a huge issue.

On a much more positive note, I would like to praise is that there appeared to be more effort put into utilizing the technical resources of the stage than in the past (lighting effects, etc). Maybe I'm wrong, but if that was something intended, please continue to take advantage of it! I know many people come to compete on the stage at Fanime because it is a true stage, and any additional effort turned that way is sure to fire up a few imaginations.

EDITED TO ADD:  Curious, what was the influence of the decision of choosing the Trims as an opening band for the show? I was a bit surprised as in the past, there has been far more thought with keeping the opener at least in the Asian theme. The band was OK, but it just seemed to not fit in, and of course, it was not what people came to the show to see.  I hope that perhaps some form of cosplay-related performance can be chosen as an opening act next year, or at very least, something more related. I actually really liked Hideo, for example...or even the Taiko group that we had a couple years ago. Anything that could be kept short, ideally - remember, the primary purpose of the event is the masquerade, and anything taking from that ought to be minimized.
2012 Costumes (or so we hope!)
Ayukawa, Miime, Oscar, Yuria, D'Eon

der Glitzkrieg

Oh, I also forgot to add that one auditorium employee was being extremely rude. The guy that was closest to the right hand front of the auditorium was being very rude, yelling at us to get out now when we were trying to pick up our stuff (phones, award papers, costume pieces, etc.). There was zero attempt made to be at least somewhat polite, like 'please hurry up', just straight up rudeness and verbal escalation every time I said something. He was also getting physical with some people from what I heard and the group of people I was with thought he had actually pushed me. This is unacceptable, as the other people working there were at least polite and saying we looked great and we did a great job and asking us politely to hurry.

I know the staff of the auditorium has nothing to do with Fanime, but I figure that it's worth a complaint, at the very least, so maybe someone can tell the people that own/run that venue.

sakaki

I pretty much agree with everything everyone has said.

@Erik - I do remember you and we all noticed that you were making a huge attempt to try and get things running smoothly. Unfortunately it seemed like someone was working against you because we were yelled at the minute we entered the wings that we were going on NOW (guy in black, headset, baseball cap?), despite the fact there had been multiple people in front of us.

@Dany - I hope didn't come off like I was saying anything mean about Wendell! He did try to do his best and I felt really bad that he was thrown into that situation - since he was the "face" of the show I was worried some of the audience might blame him for whatever was going on. And yeah - the band choice was the least of the problems that night but a bunch of us were miffed by it and how it seemed like having them there really gummed up the works.

@der Glitzkrieg - That IS totally unacceptable - probably what happened is the auditorium staff was told things would be cleared by 9 so they could shut down....and when things weren't over at 10 I bet a lot of them got really mad. They never should have taken it out on cosplayers though - it's not like what happened was your fault =/.

Okach

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Jazqui

I agree with all of this. I was EXTREMELY upset with the fact that the times for tech/onstage rehearsals were changed after the website had said that they would last from 1 to 4 on Sunday, which is standard for Fanime Masq. I had a shoot I had been planning for a YEAR with friends from out of state with costumes that are extremely difficult to get in and out of on Sunday morning, and because I found out SATURDAY NIGHT that tech rehearsals apparently had to be done by 1:30, which did not seem like the case anyway as people were on the stage until at least two or two thirty when we went out into the hallway to practice on our own, I was not able to be a part of that shoot. Which is a personal problem, I know, but I think it was extremely inconsiderate of the staff to NOT have established times for these things that they stuck to. Given that nothing even started until 5:30 and the audience wasn't even brought in until 5:15, there is no reason why tech rehearsals COULDN'T have lasted until four.

In preparation for the con, I was never added to the mailing list of skit participants (and neither were a few other groups I know), and I only got updates because one of my skit members religiously checked the thread on the forums, so I wasn't receiving the proper information. I didn't know where masq check in was, and when I emailed Jack to ask WHEN and WHERE they were, he just said, "Yes, you can check in today." I ended up asking the info desk where it was, and they had to call about ten people to figure out where it was. On the first day, I was told we did not need backstage passes, but the next day one of my friends told me their friends' group was given backstage passes, so when we went back Saturday afternoon, we were told that they had "changed their mind," and they gave us stickers to put on our badges and told me that I had to personally walk in every member of our skit (which wasn't possible given how late it was at that point) because EVERY TIME I HAD ASKED if they wanted a list of the names of the skit members, they had said no and that I should just show up with everybody in the skit as their representative. I asked about three times, and was reassured time and time again that it would not be necessary (which I knew was going to be a mess, but whatever).

In the end, badges and backstage passes were not even checked on the way in to the Masq hall or backstage, and it was a huge hassle for no reason whatsoever. We also forgot to turn in a permission slip for one of the younger members of our skit on the way backstage after we were told to bring it to the actual event, and we realised in hindsight they didn't even ask for it. They were not enforcing any of their own rules this year, I felt like.

And can I just say how ANNOYING it was that absolutely no one had any clue when Masquerade started? We were in there from 12:30 until 10:00 with a half hour break to get food and bring it back to eat. We did NOTHING ELSE the entire day. Every single staff member told us something different, but the general consensus from most people seemed to be 5:15, so that's what we were assuming. We were practicing in the hallway after our tech rehearsal at about three when someone came out and told us we had to go in the auditorium because it was call time because Masq started at four thirty. At that point we were so fed up with everything we left to get food and came straight back to eat it in our seats. When we got back, half of the skits weren't even there--I'm assuming because absolutely no one bothered to be clear about when the event started, which I think is the most unprofessional failure in the entire event. It is not difficult to decide on a time for the event to begin and be perfectly clear on your website, con schedule, and with all your staff.

No one came out to tell our group when we were supposed to go backstage--we were the third performance skit, so after half of the walk-ons had gone on, we went backstage ourselves to ask if we should be backstage because normally you miss about five to ten skits standing backstage. They told us they didn't know. The photo people were really behind because we kept having to get rushed backstage since no one knew what they were doing.

This is also a minor detail, but since we were not allowed/made to go through the front doors this year, we didn't know about the strobe lights that were used in one of the skits. I am epileptic, and so was one of the cosplayers in the group I was sitting next to. I have NEVER seen strobes used in a Fanime Masq. performance. Those strobes were REALLY bright and really bad. We both were complaining that they could have warned us, and when we were told there were signs on the front doors, we said that we weren't allowed to come in through the front doors so we wouldn't have seen that. A staff member told me, "Well, how likely is it that the performers are going to have a problem with it?" Note that two of us happened to be sitting RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER. A big coincidence, I guess, but it's likely enough that it's worth pointing out.

Then when we went to collect our prize money like we were told to, we were told that the money was handed off to someone else and that it would be mailed to us instead.

Overall Masq had me running around almost the entire convention like a chicken with my head cut off. I participate in this event every year and if this is going to happen again, I'm not sure I want to next year.

sakaki

@Bisouspapillon - OMG. Those strobes were terrible and while I don't have any epileptic issues I have friends that do and holy moly those should have never been allowed. I don't even remember why they were used but I closed my eyes because it was just THAT bad. And your overall experience paints a very clear picture of exactly what happened to just about everyone who participated. If anyone is still confused why all of us are upset, THIS is it.

Dany

Quote from: sakaki on May 28, 2013, 12:06:50 PM
@Dany - I hope didn't come off like I was saying anything mean about Wendell! He did try to do his best and I felt really bad that he was thrown into that situation - since he was the "face" of the show I was worried some of the audience might blame him for whatever was going on. And yeah - the band choice was the least of the problems that night but a bunch of us were miffed by it and how it seemed like having them there really gummed up the works.

Oh by no means did I think you meant to say that! :) More precisely, it's as you said, sometimes the emcee gets heat for being a bad emcee when in reality they are desperately grabbing straws to keep the audience in check in an extreme situation. He deserved a lot of credit for working with things as best as he could, especially since I have been present at other events Wendell has been in charge of and he's always been great with the crowd. I personally hope that he will have the opportunity to come back and be given less issues to have to work over.

The band choice itself is truly a small quibble in the grand scheme of things, but it does touch on a bigger issue: that people have been protesting the whole opening act thing since I started coming in 2010 (at least) and the Masq staff (or some other staff) seems INSISTENT to have something in that time slot. It poses a couple of problems:

        1. The cosplayers who are competing and are in uncomfortable costumes, some with a significantly limited vision, some with no ability to take care of biological needs without disassembling themselves..that hour can seem like not much to someone in their T-shirt and jeans, but to someone in an elaborate costume, that hour can feel like an eternity.

        2. Why put a band in front of an audience who is captive and likely may not give a damn about you? That's a disservice to both the audience and the band, in my opinion...they were a decent enough band to get the crowd going a bit, but it wasn't my thing and I would have been happier moving on to the performances.
2012 Costumes (or so we hope!)
Ayukawa, Miime, Oscar, Yuria, D'Eon

pantsu

Agreeing with everything said above....this was just a freakin HOT MESS. (I used to compete in some very poorly run masqs in FL and the cosplay spectacular made them look professional by comparison)

The scheduling thing is really what bothered me....we never knew when things were going to start/finish and I basically lost a whole day to "hurry up and wait" over at the auditorium.  When you're wearing a giant wig this is exhausting....normally I wear Scarlet Claw for 7-8 hours for fatigue issues...this time it was more like 11 hours and I was totally over it near the end.  I came to fanime alone this year, so I didn't have the ability to have someone run and get me food....and pretty much everything was closed by the time we got out of the masq.

Also NO staff knew where the cosplay spectacular room was so I had to go to 3 different places just to be sent elsewhere to get the info on where it was.  No one knew about who had submitted CDs vs. emailed in an mp3 file, etc.  The whole thing reeked of massive amounts of disorganization.

On another note...does Fanime not consider costumer levels normally?  Usually I compete at the Master level and was a bit surprised to see that all levels seemed to be lumped together for craftsmanship consideration.... 

EDIT: also, band was not really appropriate...but didn't the karaoke contest winner usually perform at the masq?  that would be WAY more fun and they could do it while the judges meet, keeping more of the audience around for the awards part.
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rynn

I think everyone else has already noted the bulk of the problems, and more eloquently than I am able to muster at this point. I don't know where exactly to place the blame but I truly hope that Fanime takes note of our concerns because I know that many cosplayers (myself included) will not be returning unless there are DRASTIC changes made to regain our trust and respect in 2014. There is a LOT of work to be done.

On a positive note, thank you for offering cash prizes this year. It was a nice gesture and definitely appreciated.

clickclackbang

Yup this is the only year that I've been going where there were so many technical difficulties. I did not like the MC, but since he had no script I guess he was trying to make the best of a bad situation. Btw the time for the masquerade wasn't mentioned in the pocket schedule. Had to download the app to know what time it started. Explains why there were so many empty seats this year huh.

Highlander97

Looks like they placed more effort on getting the band to perform, than to actually concentrate on the Masquerade.

Let me shed some info on the audio.

Our experience with Masquerades is to always double and triple check with the crew to make sure our music was received... even when we physically handed it to them at the check-in. When we did check, they couldn't find the music cds. It wasn't clear whether it was just our cd they couldn't find, but at the time it seemed like it wasn't just us. Mind you, this happened while the band was playing so the show already started and they were still trying to look for cds.

Fortunately, we had a back up that we rushed back to the Marriot to grab. Based on that situation, it sounded like they were far from ready to begin with, and with all the numbers changing, they didn't really have any time to preview the audio or setup properly.

It would then appear that they didn't get things together until half, or more, of the contestants already performed. So it was very unfortunate for the first groups that got screwed over by this.


While it's understandable they did their best, and there are volunteer staff involved that are giving their time to do this... it also needs to be said that the performers also put forth a lot of their time and effort to put on the show. We spend money, time and effort to make the masquerade possible. We are the fans, for the fans. It just didn't feel like the coordinators of this event really took that into consideration and did not treat our performances seriously, nor with respect.

With that said, there are those staff like Erik_Anderson who really did try to help the best he could.

CeruleanRogue

Now that I'm back from my own transportation, I can chime in as well.

This was my second competition, and it was...interesting.  I really felt for Jack, Wendell, and the entire CS Staff.  From speaking with a few of them, they literally had to rebuild CS from the ground up this year, and much of the staff was incredibly green.  It really seemed they weren't prepared for a lot that was going on, and as such weren't able to roll with the punches as easily.

With that said, the audio goofs were rather annoying.  For the record, I was Maou-sama.  The reason I was out on stage for so long?  They couldn't find my music, and the lights weren't cut so I could make my way offstage to help them locate the music file.  (I've been trained that you don't move until the lights go down.)  I also really felt for the other groups who had major audio issues, though I really have to wonder why the Hetalia group wasn't offered a redo the way the Madoka group was.  From talking with their group members, they were rather rudely rushed off stage and not allowed a redo.

Also, how were the awards grouped?  Normally, you have three groups (Novice, Journeyman, Master) and both the craftsmanship and the performance awards are lumped according to that.  It wasn't made clear who won what and in what category they competed.

With all that said, I wanted to thank the other cosplayers.  Those of you whom I spoke with were awesome, and it was fun interacting with everyone.

Hakaru_chan

Hi everyone, as a former Cosplay contestant/participant and audience member, I want you guys to know that other cosplayers, fanime attendees and staff who didn't participate or even watch this year, feel your pain. The issues with the masquerade were brought up several times during the closing Q & A session and there were a lot of notes taken.

I remember last year being the last year for many veteren masquerade staff. It is inevitable but when life gives you babies, you make lemonade right? Opps lol.. I mean move on in life you know? I'm surprised they didn't implement many of the working structures and guidelines used before in past years.

The first flag for me was not having that part on the Fanime website that let's participating teams sign up into a page where they can write down their information. Sign up information was conducted by email (which gives the opportunity for groups to miss information). It also makes it difficult to implement changes and updates.

The second flag was the lack of information about masquerade in both the Fanime program book and pocket book schedule. No time was mentioned in the program and the masquerade wasn't anywhere in the booklet. This issue was brought up several times during the closing Q & A.

Another flag like everyone mentioned before was the time CS started. Many attendees thought it would start much later than 5:00 pm. I, myself, was used to attending/performing around 7:00pm. I can see the strategy as to why it may have started earlier as maybe they wanted to end early so people can still enjoy the B&W ball (unfortunately, it still ended around 10pm ish which is the normal time it has always ended).

Other things I noticed/heard about:

-   The lack of tier levels (such as beginner, advanced etc). Everyone was clumped together and from what I'm gathering, this is not a positive thing. As a performance group, we focus our shows more on performing than construction (just because we lack the experience in construction but have been dancing, singing, doing theater since we were young). If we were to clump the categories together, the general level of competition and difficulty for the masquerade assumingly then increases, thus putting competitors under the impression of both categories, however that is what "Best in Show" is suppose to be and remember, there is only ONE Best in Show is it's only for one winner/one group anyways.

-   The unfairness between groups – both in rehearsal and during the competition. From what I gathered, during rehearsal, it was still conducted in performance order (numbers 1 to etc) on a first come first serve basis, however, now this is my suggestion, maybe there should be a limit to how many times a group can go up and rehearse on that stage because even going in order is time constraining and it's impossible to go through that list as many times as a performer wants. From my past experience, I was barely able to get in two stage uses during rehearsal. With the band cutting in like it did, even more so are the constraints for people.

-   The lack of experience with the host – now, I keep hearing from people, there ARE NO EXCUSES and maybe in this situation, I can understand that (being that he's had experience from stage zero). Still, cut him a break guys! He didn't have a script and thinking off the top of your head to improv is hard. I think with more training, and having more than one host, we can definitely make it work in the future.

@ bisouspapillon – Strobe lights should never have gotten through the civic doors because there are strict rules about having lights especially rotating lights on cosplay. Someone should have have caught them before they got inside. HOWEVER, I think this is where the "loop" in the ruling comes in. Lights cannot be turned on/used/working on the cosplay if its ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR and since the civic technically isn't the convention itself, I guess this is where the miscommunication comes in. I think we need to make this rule more clear but I'm sure this rule was in effect SINCE before this year. Past years, I remember being advised about lights over and over again prior to Fanime. The rules were always clear on the website. For this year, if it was part of their CS cosplay, it should have been mentioned in that group's email that lights were going to be on their cosplay and it should have been caught by staff months prior to Fanime so the group can adjust. I don't work on staff or anything but I apologize for that experience. Again, some staffers will catch it, some won't. That's normal.

@ Sakaki – I've watched that skit over and over and although it can be debatable if the skit is in "bad taste", being we're in a family friendly environment, there is nothing blatantly inappropriate with it. He still had his clothes on, it was jazz/hip hop dancing with no grinding or excessive expression of certain body parts/areas, and honestly, Fanime's had past masquerade performances more suggestive than that (look up Fanime 2012 Megaman LMFAO and Fanime 2010 Super Yaoi Brothers). As a note, the Megaman skit was later disqualified but the Super Yaoi Brothers won an award.

Sorry this post may be TL:DR status but I definitely want to apply to be staff/volunteer in this department being that in order to move forward, we will definitely need more hands on deck.

For those who feel the same, I encourage those, with experience or not, to help out if you could with this section of Fanime. Helping the new staff of CS will all the more make Fanime better in the future.
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Jazqui

Quote from: Hakaru_chan link=topic=18572.msg463578#msg463578 date

@ bisouspapillon – Strobe lights should never have gotten through the civic doors because there are strict rules about having lights especially rotating lights on cosplay. Someone should have have caught them before they got inside. HOWEVER, I think this is where the "loop" in the ruling comes in. Lights cannot be turned on/used/working on the cosplay if its ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR and since the civic technically isn't the convention itself, I guess this is where the miscommunication comes in. I think we need to make this rule more clear but I'm sure this rule was in effect SINCE before this year. Past years, I remember being advised about lights over and over again prior to Fanime. The rules were always clear on the website. For this year, if it was part of their CS cosplay, it should have been mentioned in that group's email that lights were going to be on their cosplay and it should have been caught by staff months prior to Fanime so the group can adjust. I don't work on staff or anything but I apologize for that experience. Again, some staffers will catch it, some won't. That's normal.

The cosplayers didn't bring them in. They were on the ceiling. I'm pretty sure they were requested from the tech crew and I was unimpressed and caught off guard by that decision because i have never seen strobes at this event as long as I have been attending Fanime

der Glitzkrieg

Quote from: bisouspapillon on May 28, 2013, 08:09:42 PM
Quote from: Hakaru_chan link=topic=18572.msg463578#msg463578 date

@ bisouspapillon – Strobe lights should never have gotten through the civic doors because there are strict rules about having lights especially rotating lights on cosplay. Someone should have have caught them before they got inside. HOWEVER, I think this is where the "loop" in the ruling comes in. Lights cannot be turned on/used/working on the cosplay if its ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR and since the civic technically isn't the convention itself, I guess this is where the miscommunication comes in. I think we need to make this rule more clear but I'm sure this rule was in effect SINCE before this year. Past years, I remember being advised about lights over and over again prior to Fanime. The rules were always clear on the website. For this year, if it was part of their CS cosplay, it should have been mentioned in that group's email that lights were going to be on their cosplay and it should have been caught by staff months prior to Fanime so the group can adjust. I don't work on staff or anything but I apologize for that experience. Again, some staffers will catch it, some won't. That's normal.

The cosplayers didn't bring them in. They were on the ceiling. I'm pretty sure they were requested from the tech crew and I was unimpressed and caught off guard by that decision because i have never seen strobes at this event as long as I have been attending Fanime

Yeah, the strobes were a part of the lighting fixtures on the actual stage and were used during one skit and apparently during the opening band. A friend of mine isn't epileptic, but strobe lights are VERY disorienting for her and she had to sit with her face covered for awhile to recover from it. Not allowing groups to use the strobing effects should have been enforced.

Angelx624

Well, saying as we had to drop our skit due to a couple reasons(mainly the bg music we wanted to use hasn't been released onto a soundtrack yet, as the series our skit is from is still fairly new) I'm kinda glad we're saving it for another con.

It's sad to hear that the Masquerade didn't turn out successful. I didn't go, though, so I can't give an opinion on it.
(ノ•ω•)ノ Cosplay List:
Rook Hunt
Ukyo (Ranma 1/2)
Kagome (Inuyasha)
Freminet (Genshin)
Giyu (KnY)
Rengoku (KnY)