FanimeCon 2007 General Comments and Criticisms Thread.

[Mordyan]

I do agree that unwanted glomping has gotten out of hand. People who have stated that it is assault are correct (a quick search on the internet shows this). That is why I think that the Con may have to enforce tougher rules against this behavior.

People also need to report offenders to the con staff. I realize this can be difficult. Those who have suggested violence as a solution may want to rethink their stance.

In the case of self defense:

The degree of force which may be used must be limited to such force as would have appeared to be necessary to a reasonable person in all of the circumstances, knowing what the defendant knew, and facing the facts which presented themselves at the time to the defendant. In determining whether the degree of force was reasonable, the amount of force exerted, the means or instruments by which it was applied, the manner or method of applying it, and the circumstances under which it was applied are factors to be considered, but that determination is ultimately one for the trier of fact. . If excessive or improper force is employed, such force will itself constitute an assault and battery though the act would have been lawful if excessive or improper force had not been used. The necessity for the use of force may be either real or apparent.

This means that if you hurt someone trying to glomp you it is possible for them to file counter assault charges which would then have to be dis proven in court.

Ugh...

[alkaline]

I would really like to see the whole "glomping" thing taken out completely.

I'm not asking for "ZOMG TEH NAZIS,"

...

Glomping and maid cafes are officially serious business. -.-;;;

I know you did not just invoke Godwin's Law on this.

Listen. There are people.. people who are not sad and lonely, who are sick and tired of getting tackled by fat, smelly anime fans who have absolutely no idea how to act in public, or their mommies never loved them or whatever.

And anime conventions == Public.

Stop trying to defend it. The people who want it curbed are not on the same level as a mass murderer. We just want to be able to walk about without risking our health and the people who do this are exactly that: health risks.

Anecdotal proof: After being "glomped" by some fan girl, Miss Shelby's foot was injured and swelled to the point where we had to go back to the hotel room and soak it in hot water for an hour. Please, do defend this.

[Tony]

I have to agree with the complaints about glomping. (Though, alkaline and mikey please don't swear on the boards.) One of the MusicFest guests was glomped by Dude in a Blue Thong. He was incredibly professional about it and simply wrote it off, but I could see him (and others, such as the hotel and convention center professionals) seeing these sorts of things and really reconsidering whether they want to work with FanimeCon.

The sandwich-making party late night on the concourse pissed me off. One, PB&J and OJ in the carpets isn't fun to clean up. Two, someone put tape on the carpet to act as a line, and that messes up the carpet too. Third, food is highly controlled in the convention center, and FanimeCon would have taken the blame for that.

I can say that the facilities were not entirely happy about people pushing all of the buttons on the elevators, trashing the rooms, abusing the hospitality suite, and not getting tipped. (They lost money, having to tip their staff because no one else did.)

[Pimpstress Rei]

Maybe you all didn't look pissed enough.

Whenever anyone came near me I gave them my "don't f*ck with me" face and they backed off right away. Then again I was pretty upset the entire con due to the program guides not showing up and people complaining that my department wasn't doing its job by not having enough schedules and maps out. Sigh.

[PyronIkari]

The attendees are usually the worst part about any convention. They have no social graces nor understandings. When I was leaving the hotel I had a long wait and our bellboy was really patient. But then someone came about 10 minutes after us and had their cart of luggage(no bellboy). The entire time I could hear them bitching about how the bellboy didn't carry their luggage for them(we requested a bellboy, not a cart). When an elevator came, they rushed into it, instead of letting us and the bellboy with our luggage go in(despite us waiting there much longer).

I tipped the bellboy 10$ (woulda been more had I had any other smaller bills outside of a 100$). The entire time I was waiting for our car in valet I saw 2 people tip the driver.

Things like this, in addition to the glomping, random hugs, and others trying to get me to buy them stuff or eat there pocky... kiss them, and a number of other things. Why can't people act like respectable human beings? Being excited having fun doesn't mean not having any social graces at all when dealing with strangers. Hey, you wanna screw around with friends you know, more power to you... when it's a stranger though... follow simple social graces... please.

[LordKefka]

Speaking of elevators, there were idiots who tried to fill as many people into an elevator as possible. I thought I was going to die when I heard the alarm go off while going down cause there was literally 20 people in there. Some guy tried to grab me too..-__-.

[G.I.R]

Speaking of elevators, there were idiots who tried to fill as many people into an elevator as possible. I thought I was going to die when I heard the alarm go off while going down cause there was literally 20 people in there.

'Could've been worse.  Imagine getting stuck between floors with that bunch  (No!  Not Fan-boy Funk!)  :x

[thebrain2u]

Oh my gosh, I just realized. I forgot to tip the valet. Crap. I feel pretty bad now, cause I was all prepared to tip him. He was really cool, too. Oy.

[lyricaldanichan]

I forgot to add, with all the issues happening I should have scream out OUUUUEEEEEEEDAAAAAAAN !!!!!!!  :P


I also forgot to ask what was up with the bondage cat gear going on at the con. I noticed several groups with leashes and thought that fad ended like 5 years ago.

[FanFicGuru]

The attendees are usually the worst part about any convention. They have no social graces nor understandings. When I was leaving the hotel I had a long wait and our bellboy was really patient. But then someone came about 10 minutes after us and had their cart of luggage(no bellboy). The entire time I could hear them bitching about how the bellboy didn't carry their luggage for them(we requested a bellboy, not a cart). When an elevator came, they rushed into it, instead of letting us and the bellboy with our luggage go in(despite us waiting there much longer).

I tipped the bellboy 10$ (woulda been more had I had any other smaller bills outside of a 100$). The entire time I was waiting for our car in valet I saw 2 people tip the driver.

Things like this, in addition to the glomping, random hugs, and others trying to get me to buy them stuff or eat there pocky... kiss them, and a number of other things. Why can't people act like respectable human beings? Being excited having fun doesn't mean not having any social graces at all when dealing with strangers. Hey, you wanna screw around with friends you know, more power to you... when it's a stranger though... follow simple social graces... please.

I agree. I wasn't assaulted like most people seemed to be over the weekend, and I didn't really see much of it going on actually. I did see the guy in the blue thong. Disturbing...

Also, no offense Mikey, but how hard is it for your panel to be a 'success' when the main point of it is for people to get together and swear and rant about the idiots that roam the interwebz? Doesn't seem terribly complex. My friends went and had a good time though so, hoorah.

In any case, I had a great con, personally. My main complaint is the AMV contest was not as good as it has been the last few years. I still think there are plenty of shows you can make a good comedy AMV to, but they are seriously lacking as of late.

The Dealers room was also lacking in variety, but it was cool to see Video Games New York there. THey had some cool stuff.

I can't comment on the maid cafe, I just noticed the line was really long, but I never went to it.

Anyways, hopefully next year the AMV contest will be back in the civic center and we can get some cool guests. Until then...back into the cocoon.

[astroboy]

More schedules, more announcements! Since there was no paper guides/schedules available, you could have used the PA system to announce what things were coming up next.  I could not find *any* info at all about the AMV station, and only came across some video's by pure chance.

I found myself (virtually) running back and forth, from one end of the hall to the other, trying to figure out what was going on.
....

Confucius says "He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask is a fool for the remainder of FanimeCon."

We may not of had the program guides but we certainly had printed schedules...at each of the info desks. If you needed info you simply could of just walked up to any of the 4 info desks Fanime had this year. Fanime staffers actually like it when attendees ask for help. *seriously* That's what we're here for.  :mrgreen:

[Dagger-6]

People also need to report offenders to the con staff.

Yep.  Again, if anyone has future problems with people jumping on them, behaving inappropriately, etc.  Please get in touch with staff.  It has a lot less red tape than either violence or going straight to police involvement.  

The sandwich-making party late night on the concourse pissed me off. One, PB&J and OJ in the carpets isn't fun to clean up. Two, someone put tape on the carpet to act as a line, and that messes up the carpet too. Third, food is highly controlled in the convention center, and FanimeCon would have taken the blame for that.

Ah.  We overlooked it because they were just giving out food and not asking for payment.  That seemed to be the main guideline on wether to allow it: wether they were getting payment/donations.  I'll look around for more clarification on the food policy since right now the staff notes just say "Giving food away is a case-by-case basis;"

But as for the mess, tape, etc.  That was just an oversight on our part.  Noted for next year.

there were idiots who tried to fill as many people into an elevator as possible.

Noted to keep an eye on next year.  Again, with people wandering around all the time it won't put a stop to it completely, but hopefully by at least having people swing by the eleveators more and checking for these things it'll cut down on it.

I did see the guy in the blue thong. Disturbing...

We let him wander around for a while since all his...important bits, were covered up.  But after we got a couple of complaints he was asked to put clothes on if I'm not mistaken.

Again, if somethign is bothering you, note it to a staff member!

Thank you rovers dept. for a job well done.

You're welcome.  We try to do our best, and while we do have a few kinks and misses here and there, hopefully things will just get better and smoother as the years go on. ^^

I'm banning everyone and shutting down the convention. Razz

OH noez.  :shock:

[Ekac]

Well, this is kind of a stupid suggestion, but I'm just seeing if anybody is really 'into' it...

If we get more stationed staff [not moving around, or at least far away from their spot] to spot / catch glompers. If a glomper the stationed staff member can ask if the glomping was harmful / offensive to them in any way. If it was, then two actions are to be taken:

1) A special yellow ribbon is to be given to the glomper if the glompee is offended by the tackle.
2) The badge number will be taken down:
- A) If the ribbon is removed, automatic badge removal.
- B) If it happens twice, badge removal.

...just thought I'd throw that out there... this being my first year, and not cosplaying, I wasn't glomped much, but I do say there was a well-planned glomp in the Dealer's Room on Monday around 10:30 AM. But that's just me... so... any feedback on this idea?

Edit -~=
Let the Elevator Ninjas be the Elevator Police.  :roll:

[LadyKaren]

I'm not banned anymore \o/(No reason to explain that)

Well I can see why you were banned.

-_- I was banned for this forum wrongly... hence why I'm unbanned now.

To put this to rest, Mikey was not supose to get banned. He is correct when he said he was wrongfully banned.

That's all I'm going to say about it and I'm walking on glass saying it.

[Dagger-6]

But that's just me... so... any feedback on this idea?

Edit -~=
Let the Elevator Ninjas be the Elevator Police.  :roll:

Regarding the idea, we're a bit shortstaffed for a dedicated anti-glomping squad. =P  And instead of the whole ribbon dealio, it's a lot simpler to just give them a warning and write down their badge number.  If it becomes a repeated problem, we'll move it up appropriately.

As for the 'elevator police', the Elevator Ninjas are more than welcome to apply for staff. =P

Or, while in the course of your elevator ninja duties, if you happen to see problem behavior, just ninja their badge number and slip it to a staff member.  :wink:

[vasher]

Well I had a wonderful time, anyways.   :D   First time at Fanime, second con overall.

Everybody there seemed quite nice and helpful (save for this one creepy stalker dude >_>; ).  I came mostly for the cosplay/stuff to buy (so my experience is probably a lot different than people who came for other stuff).  Artist Alley was great!  Dealer's room seemed to carry a little too much clothing type stuff and manga/DVDs that I could get elsewhere for the same or better price, but the Cosworx booth was a lifesaver and yay for random buttons and posters and little figurines. XD  Also, I think I spent the majority of my money at the Yaoi-con booth.  *cough*  Damn doujinshi and prints.

I thought the food stands were a bit overpriced ($3 for bottled water?! ;_; ), but the actual hotel food in the Marriot (I think?) cafe was quite good and relatively cheap.  Pizza FTW!

The signs down that stretch of hallway between the Artist Alley and the Game Room did get a bit tedious, but nobody really hassled us if we didn't make eye contact.  Did get one random glomp from behind- "DANTE!!!" "Huh?  Where?  Oh, is she talking about m-" *THUNK*- but no innocent parties were injured.

Didn't go the the Masquerade (as I had to leave early) or spend much time in the Video rooms, so not much opinion there.

I didn't stay in one of the hotels, so my elevator experience was limited.  However, there was a fair bit of wait time for the next one.  Nothing too bad, though.

Also, could you guys maybe make our real names smaller on the badges and the 'handles' larger?  Many more people would recognize me by 'vasher', and I don't want everybody walking by to have easy access to my actual name.  ^^;

Edit:  Oh, and maybe turn up the air conditioning?  *cough*  The ball was fun, but the space was kind of ... limited for the amount of people, especially with a few couples making wide dance moves.  Conga line got annoying after the first few minutes.  Got nearly run over.  x_x

[darkknightcecil]

that sucked..

[Kyokun]

My only other complaint is that for the third year in a row that I've gone, and after requesting it for the last 2 years, there are STILL NO FANIME SHIRTS IN GIRL CUT!!! I have really wanted a Fanime shirt, but I do not want one that is boy cut because even in small or child size, they do not fit a female body correctly. Would it hurt to make up a few girl cut shirts? Some of the booths in the dealer's room have finally caught onto this and I was able to find many cute anime shirts in girl cut which made me very happy.

Ah, yes, I forgot to mention this as well.  I was really disappointed this year that once again, no girl cut Fanime shirts.  I bought one last year in a youth (i.e. boys) as the pattern was really cute, but I don't even wear it because it fits so badly (see, there are these things called "boobs" that make boy shirts fit terribly).  I DO however, wear my other two girl cut Fanime shirts that were offered before--Fanime 2004 with all the pirates, and my red one with the black cap sleeves with the female mascot's eyes peering out.  There are tons of girl anime fans, and why whoever does the shirts does not recognize this, is irritating.  American Apparel does girls shirts just fine; is there a reason that Fanime just doesn't use their shirts, like so many shirt printers do?

[Ayanami Rei First Child]

Personally I didn't see people getting glomps or hugs when they didn't, it was very respectful.

I also don't think we should ban ALL glomping for the mistakes of the few. That's like banning the Rave because people get intoxicated on alcohol or whatever and break their leg on the dance floor. I mean heck the rave itself was shut down for awhile...so by your "No Glomping Policy" you should want to ban the Rave to since it's apparently such a danger. :roll:

a LOT more AC for the Rave room.

More room for the dance instructions for the B&W Ball...and more instructors for individual attention. Seriously...some of us STILL can't get 123 down!! :cry:  :cry: Also it got waaaay too crowded in there

[Chpal]

This was my first con and I had alot of fun^^ Next year I definately plan to cosplay. I enjoyed most of the con, but i noticed alot of people there werent very sociable at all. Some people, expecially around the console gaming place were rude, grabbing at controllers and not sharing.

The dealers room was a small dissapointment for me. The majority of the items been sold were Naruto/Bleach items with deathnote mixed in. I was looking for particular anime collectibles like keychains or figuress but few dealers had anything besides large quantities of Naruto.  :roll: Dont get me wrong, i like Naruto, but it got old fast how many headbands and keychains that series has while Azumanga or Chobits got ignored  :cry: