Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!

[SquishyK]

So, something needs to be said on the matter of clockwork. It is a seperate entity as of 2 years ago, only thing they share is relations set by the last head of con. Head of con is a 3 year position, so the idea of this con is that we want to be friends, not enemies kind of status. Clockwork isn't bad imo, I mean they got guests I have wanted to see in the past (Steam powered Giraffe was INSANE).

back to bahamut, I come for the cosplay, stay for the guests. but then again, its kinda my job in department.

Relations, as in guest relations?  That's actually damn huge then and exactly fits in with Clockwork Alchemy being to blame for Fanime guest announcements being so late.  Look at how early Clockwork Alchemy gets their guests.  Look at how late Fanime guests get their guests.

Or if you just mean relations as in it's related to Fanimecon, I've seen that claim, and I'm suspicious of it because there are other explicitly shared resources like hotel rooms (the con's at a point where the lack of hotel rooms is now a significant constraint towards it growing any bigger) and badges (and obviously the money from the badges).  That just makes me want to see the Fanime guest budget before and after 2012 (or actually even total budget).  Because of the way the funds from badges are shared, it's ripe for financial gymnastics to make the numbers work out the way the people in charge want it, to put it lightly (because really, how are you guys divvying up the badge money?  With the way Fanime continues to grow in attendance if any of the numbers went down that's pretty much a red flag)

Alternatively, did staff quit, especially guest relations staff?  That's another biggie that can screw up a cons' guests.

No, NOT GUEST RELATIONS. And I don't understand this hotel room issue. Rooms near Fanime fill up first, rooms near Clockwork Alchemy fill up last. It would only stand to reason that Clockwork Alchemy is taking few if any of the high demand Fanime rooms while providing spill over housing with convenient transportation for those who missed out on the early rush. I know people who work on Clockwork Alchemy staff and it really gets on my nerves that people blame Clockwork Alchemy every time Fanime has a bump in the road. THEY DO NOT SHARE DEPARTMENT STAFF. OMG, Fanime Masquerade sound went out! It must be that darned Clockwork Alchemy again!

[Kuudere]

On a positive note, more guest announcements just went up!

I'm super excited for Ai Nonaka. Great job on staff for getting her to come to the US for the first time!

Whoops, it looks like the website might be wrong on that last bit of info. She was invited as a guest to Otakon in the past, so unless she didn't make it, this'll be at least the second time here. Not like that makes a difference to me at all, however. I'm just thrilled she's coming.


Aaand scratch all of that. "Western United States" is on the website. That'll teach me to read in super fast excitement!

[Imperial]

So, something needs to be said on the matter of clockwork. It is a seperate entity as of 2 years ago, only thing they share is relations set by the last head of con. Head of con is a 3 year position, so the idea of this con is that we want to be friends, not enemies kind of status. Clockwork isn't bad imo, I mean they got guests I have wanted to see in the past (Steam powered Giraffe was INSANE).

back to bahamut, I come for the cosplay, stay for the guests. but then again, its kinda my job in department.

Relations, as in guest relations?  That's actually damn huge then and exactly fits in with Clockwork Alchemy being to blame for Fanime guest announcements being so late.  Look at how early Clockwork Alchemy gets their guests.  Look at how late Fanime guests get their guests.

Or if you just mean relations as in it's related to Fanimecon, I've seen that claim, and I'm suspicious of it because there are other explicitly shared resources like hotel rooms (the con's at a point where the lack of hotel rooms is now a significant constraint towards it growing any bigger) and badges (and obviously the money from the badges).  That just makes me want to see the Fanime guest budget before and after 2012 (or actually even total budget).  Because of the way the funds from badges are shared, it's ripe for financial gymnastics to make the numbers work out the way the people in charge want it, to put it lightly (because really, how are you guys divvying up the badge money?  With the way Fanime continues to grow in attendance if any of the numbers went down that's pretty much a red flag)

Alternatively, did staff quit, especially guest relations staff?  That's another biggie that can screw up a cons' guests.

Kinda took way too big a step there boss. Relations, as in planning stuff so we don't overlap major things.

[Dracil]

Ok, so not guest relations, fine.

@Pitin:
You call it spillover housing, but even if Clockwork Alchemy wasn't there, surely Fanime could procure the same housing?  So unless Fanime couldn't get the same hotel rooms if Clockwork Alchemy wasn't around then it's still a net loss overall.

But from what you say, CA really doesn't get a lot of attendees, but the badge revenue still has to be shared somehow because of the dual access thing.  So again, how does this work?

[SquishyK]

Ok, so not guest relations, fine.

@Pitin:
You call it spillover housing, but even if Clockwork Alchemy wasn't there, surely Fanime could procure the same housing?  So unless Fanime couldn't get the same hotel rooms if Clockwork Alchemy wasn't around then it's still a net loss overall.

But from what you say, CA really doesn't get a lot of attendees, but the badge revenue still has to be shared somehow because of the dual access thing.  So again, how does this work?

Yeah, while my question was pre-reg before, I also wonder what happened to the people who went over to Doubletree to register instead of waiting in the 6 hour at-con registration at Fanime. Did that money go to Clockwork Alchemy instead of Fanime?

We have many metrics to evaluate our events. We also look at the actual numbers of people attending the events and other indications.

p.s. the Double Tree CURRENTLY has rooms open, so housing can't be THAT desperate... (they only sell out that early from Fanime fans filling them up and then going "oh crud, we don't need these rooms anymore" days before the cancellation deadline. Really THAT's the housing issue.

[Sunara Ishi]

On a positive note, more guest announcements just went up!

I'm super excited for Ai Nonaka. Great job on staff for getting her to come to the US for the first time!

Whoops, it looks like the website might be wrong on that last bit of info. She was invited as a guest to Otakon in the past, so unless she didn't make it, this'll be at least the second time here. Not like that makes a difference to me at all, however. I'm just thrilled she's coming.


Aaand scratch all of that. "Western United States" is on the website. That'll teach me to read in super fast excitement!

Thanks for letting us know. I loved Ai Nonaka as Fuuko; now I can see if I have something with Fuuko (or another character.) Assuming autographs happen.

The guest list looks a lot better now. Starting with those first three was a little worrying... like fanime was going in some strange direction. -.-; Though, why didn't you guys announce Gilles Poitras ages ago? I don't think there has been a fanime that he hasn't come to. However, having both a Japanese and English voice actor is a nice touch; with the whole fan divide, this is probably a great idea.

I still wonder who the musicfest guest is; I hope it is someone great (thus the secrecy...? )

[Nina Star 9]

Yay! Guest announcements!

That's not what I'm posting about, though.

I was thinking about the "cons are what you make of them" mentality. This is why it bothers me. Yes, cons are what you make of them, for sure. You can have a really terrible con experience at the best-organized con with the best guests ever, due to something not related to the con. You can have an amazing con experience at the worst con ever because you were with really good friends (heck, I'm sure someone had fun even at Dashcon). This type of experience is unrelated to the con itself, though. The con itself should offer con things -- guests, panels, events, etc. -- and be organized enough that people will be able to have a good experience if they decide to do these con things. It should, for example, not have super long lines for something like badge pickup, and should not have all sorts of issues with the AA and the Masquerade and other attractions, and should not have a paltry guest lineup that is announced within a month of the con. Especially once a con gets to a certain size, there are expectations on how it will be run. If someone wants to hang out with friends all weekend and have a great time that way, good for them, but the con itself should have a bare minimum of functioning. If cons all got rid of guests and events and such, or stopped caring about them, then cons would cease to be cons, and would be more like those NorCal cosplay gatherings that are put on a few times a year, only with hotel rooms and parties. I know that's kind of an extreme situation, but saying "oh you should make your own fun" or "does anyone care about the guests when all they do is party anyway?" and other such mentalities...it's not that far of a leap to go from that to "well, no one cares about guests anyway, so we won't have any." (And then what do people who attend cons for the guests and events do, the ones who don't spend their cons hanging out or partying? It seems like cons would want to welcome both groups of people, and everyone in between. Though, the type who just wants to hang out seems to be a lot easier to appease.)

I personally don't care much about guests. I rarely see them. I also spend most of my time at this con doing cosplay things rather than con things. But I see the guest situation as emblematic of a larger structural issue with this con, where feedback doesn't seem to be listened to, organization is lacking focus, etc. etc. If this con had guests I wanted to see, or otherwise had more interesting events and such, I might spend more of my con time doing those things than doing cosplay things. (Though, I am a cosplayer at heart, and this is the only larger con I can afford to attend, so I'd probably still just bust out all the elaborate cosplays...) Since I'm a poor grad student and don't have the time or money to go flying across the country to other cons, I would hope that my (semi) local large con would be up to par. As much as I would've loved, for example, to fly out to Anime Boston just for Yoko Shimomura, that's just not feasible for me.

[Oniko]

^ ^ This.  I agree!

[Angelx624]

Yeah, I agree with Nina. As of last year I noticed I was doing more cosplay/gathering-related things and less guest/con event related things. Last year was even the first year I skipped Music Fest ever since I started attending Fanime. I think the only con events I did do were the Black & White ball and host a couple panels, as well as check out the Swap Meet and Dealers Hall. I remember back when I first attended Fanime in 2010 and went to see LM.C perform, I had a complete blast at their concert. I really hope that last year will be the only year I decide to skip Music Fest, because it really is one of my favorite Fanime events, and for me to actually skip it last year should tell you something........

[hikanteki]

Lets ask an honest question here

How many people actually come for the guests?

A LOT more than you think. A major Anime convention like Fanime, SakuraCon, etc could not have earned its size and stature without a consistently strong guest lineup, like it has had in 2011 and before. And as the guest department crumbles, so do other areas of the con. We're already seeing this.

I also go to ~6 cons per year (this includes both anime and general comic conventions). I block off Memorial Day weekend because despite what's happened to Fanime, I can count on it to bring very good musical guests. MusicFest seems to have been insulated from the rest of the con's problems. I originally wasn't going to go in 2014,the only reason I changed my mind was they announced Home Made Kazoku. Otherwise I'd go somewhere else. There are like 6 other anime cons going on the same weekend, and I'm increasingly tempted to go to one of those instead.

[Angelx624]

I admit, guests are one of the reasons I go, but I go for many other reasons, too. Such as the Swap Meet, the gatherings, you name it. That and Fanime has some good locations for cosplay shoots. <3 So while guests are one of the reasons I go, it isn't really the main reason I go. I don't really have a main reason, I just enjoy Fanime as much as I can each year.

[Sunara Ishi]

More guests announced. Two more English voice actors... I'm really hoping there are more Japanese guests yet to be announced; I really only come (register) for those and because of my longtime loyalty to the con. Everything else (cosplay, friends, material things...) isn't really dependent on fanime.

I'm ok with fanime catering to the newer crowds (the ones that prefer Eng. guests), to some extent, but please don't neglect us older fans (the Jpn. guests crowd). Otherwise, I'll eventually relocate my fanime budget to other things... like visiting japan.

[Dracil]

FYI the music guests announced themselves almost a week ago now https://twitter.com/info_backon/status/592366574985576448

[Angelx624]

FYI the music guests announced themselves almost a week ago now https://twitter.com/info_backon/status/592366574985576448

Yes, Back-on did announce they were coming to Fanime. ^^ Wonder who the other Music Fest guest will be.

[citrus]

The band will announce they will be coming yet Fanime just SIMPLY refuses to announce them. We're already in may as of this post!

[Sunara Ishi]

FYI the music guests announced themselves almost a week ago now https://twitter.com/info_backon/status/592366574985576448

Yes, Back-on did announce they were coming to Fanime. ^^ Wonder who the other Music Fest guest will be.

I am aware but unless fanime announces it themselves, I can't be 100% sure. There has been rare cases where "X" famous person announces they are coming to an event, not as a guest, but an attendee. I'm almost sure that is not the case here but... I will wait for official confirmation.

I hope there will be another Music Fest guest. Preferably someone we (most of us) know.

[Angelx624]

FYI the music guests announced themselves almost a week ago now https://twitter.com/info_backon/status/592366574985576448

Yes, Back-on did announce they were coming to Fanime. ^^ Wonder who the other Music Fest guest will be.

I am aware but unless fanime announces it themselves, I can't be 100% sure. There has been rare cases where "X" famous person announces they are coming to an event, not as a guest, but an attendee. I'm almost sure that is not the case here but... I will wait for official confirmation.

I hope there will be another Music Fest guest. Preferably someone we (most of us) know.

True, but it does seem like they will be performing, from the way they announced they were coming. And hopefully the second guest is someone a lot of us know, as well.

[citrus]

Oh for god sakes! As of this post it's close to three weeks prior to the con and they STILL announced the rest of the guests or even anything about the con for that matter? I'm reading other threads and it's not just guests they're having problems with! Does the convention seriously think this is acceptable?! Do they even find it a problem!? This is even WORSE then last year! Because at least in 2014 they announced the first three guests and the main act for musicfest! If they don't announce anything soon I'm going to expect the worse when the day for the convention finally arrives...

[Amarok]

It is REALLY embarrassing for Fanime that the guests basically have to announce themselves because Fanime isn't going to do it for them.

I would love to know the actual reason for why Fanime fails to announce guests because it's clearly NOT that it hasn't been set in stone, as much as they seem to love throwing that line out at any given moment. Is it laziness? Incompetence? Poor organizational structure/accountability?

Whatever it is, it would do a lot more good for Fanime's image to fess up to the actual problem and say how they're going to address it in the future rather than saying nothing or making excuses that clearly aren't true.  :-\

[Angelx624]

Yeah, I mean, obviously the guest is coming, so I don't really know what Fanime's problem is, there. They don't tell us anything and it frankly sucks.