Hello all,
Your friendly familiar Fanime forum mod here. I wanted to address all the frustrations you have all expressed in the website thread:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,19020.0.html
I first off want to apologize for our perceived silence on this issue. We do hear your concerns and see your posts, but do not really have answers for you other than those posted. I want to apologize for not keeping you updated on this issue. We should have posted periodic updates, but did not. We were under the impression that the website would be up in a matter of days, but issues have repeatedly popped up that delayed the launch. In fact, MPLe was intending to post a reply tonight, but his other duties were so overwhelming that he was unable to reply. As we speak, MPLe is checking on the progress of our web developers to resolve the issues that prevent us from launching.
Now to the meat of your concerns: Con is still happening. Guests are being booked, events planned, and the wheels of the convention are turning. As I stated, the website launch has been delayed due to technical issues, but we do have much content to post on there when it comes up. There has been lots of planning that has been happening despite the delay of the website launch. We look forward to bringing the website up so that you all can see the fruits of our hard work up till this point. We also look forward to expanding on what we post beyond what we post when the website launches, as we are working hard to bring more and more content to you.
In the mean time, please keep on checking the splash page, the forums, facebook and twitter for more updates. You will find that many things are up and running despite the webpage not being up. These have rolled out this year much in line with when they came up last year. Please keep an eye out for those things.
I will do my best to answer any questions you have.
Thanks,
Your friendly familiar Fanime forum mod,
Eric Wu
Not really a question, but thanks for being so straightforward, Eric. Really looking forward to the web launch :D
Here's a question: Has anyone determined the root of the problem? Is it that staff aren't getting started early enough? Is it that there are not enough staff? Is it that the departments aren't communicating with each other, causing delays?
There has to be some determinable cause that can be solved in order to avoid these unacceptable delays. And if it's not enough staff, let us know! I'm seriously considering joining the Web Team myself next year, but only if I know it'll make a difference.
Thank you for posting and giving us an update. I've already mentioned this in the other thread, but I think an important suggestion to reiterate is that if there isn't an answer to a question that attendee's are asking, you do not continue to ignore them. That is absolutely the best way to cause unnecessary anxiety. It also caused the frustration and anger that you saw in the thread, which in turn cemented many people's decision (including mine) to stop attending Fanime completely. Such a thing could have been avoided with simple communication. When there is no direct answer, you at least acknowledge a person's worries and let them know you have heard their concerns. Again, this lead people to believing that Fanime doesn't care about us, doesn't care that they don't care, and there was nothing we could do about it.
I'm going to be blunt, and say that despite "technical issues," being this late with the website is still absolutely unacceptable. I hope the problem is taken care of swiftly, and the launch is soon, but my plans for next year have already been decided by the lack of professionalism so far this year.
Well, glad we finally got a response.
Good to know that just because the full site isn't up doesn't mean Fanime staff isn't planning and working on things. Though it would've been nice to have known all this earlier, instead of leaving us all panicking.
Hope all the technical stuff gets solved soon, and that the site will be appearing within a matter of days! Then again that's just my wishful thinking.
I could be completely wrong, but I think that some of the issues might be caused by coding the site from scratch. The web team does a fantastic job with the design of the website when it's up, but if I remember right...it's all done without some existing platform...(again, I could be misremembering it, but I usually like to admire the design and look through the code because I'm weird like that).
Other large conventions circumvent issues by using pre-existing publishing platforms to develop their site, so most of the busy work (and room for coding error) is removed from the process. Anime Expo uses Wordpress, for example. Maybe we could consider doing the same if we are not already doing so?
So we were ready to launch at the end of February and found some compatibility issue. I am not totally certain what the issue was, but all the substance and design was and still is ready to launch. It was our belief that it was an easy fix. That it was not worth a post if it was only a few hours or a day delay. But as you can see, that is not the case. At the risk of repeating history, I have been informed that it should be coming up soon, but we have said that before. Feel free to ignore me. (unless it actually comes up "soon"....)
Thanks,
Eric
Quote from: Kuudere on March 25, 2014, 11:16:19 AM
Maybe we could consider doing the same if we are not already doing so?
We will consider that, however, those are substantially limited by the templates offered. Thanks for the suggestion!
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 11:19:43 AM
We will consider that, however, those are substantially limited by the templates offered. Thanks for the suggestion!
Yeah, they can be boring-looking (though they can also be modified to suit different needs). Maybe for next year, we could have a Wordpress theme up as the temporary page until the website gets completely designed, then swap it once the website's ready to be shown. That way, content can still be delivered without delay due to the coding of the website. It won't be as pretty, but it'll certainly keep the attendees happy.
Thanks for keeping us updated on the progress, ewu!
Quote from: Kuudere on March 25, 2014, 11:38:20 AM
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 11:19:43 AM
We will consider that, however, those are substantially limited by the templates offered. Thanks for the suggestion!
Yeah, they can be boring-looking (though they can also be modified to suit different needs). Maybe for next year, we could have a Wordpress theme up as the temporary page until the website gets completely designed, then swap it once the website's ready to be shown. That way, content can still be delivered without delay due to the coding of the website. It won't be as pretty, but it'll certainly keep the attendees happy.
Thanks for keeping us updated on the progress, ewu!
Well, Wordpress is one CMS but there is also Joomla and Drupal. I haven't worked with Wordpress but I have worked with both Joomla and Drupal and would personally recommend Drupal. I find it is easier to transition from traditional website themeing to Drupal's system of themeing. Although I haven't looked at Joomla in years so they may have changed things. Of course this is really all academic because it depends greatly on Fanime's current ability to support any of those systems. You wouldn't want to implement one system today and then have no-one who is qualified to maintain it tomorrow. There are many, many, many variables to consider. Not to mention I'm sure the web team is already well aware of these options and have good reason for supporting the website with whatever system they do use. Also, if I were to hazard a guess (and this is truly just taking a shot in the dark here) I would say that the "compatibility" issues mentioned are probably a result of optimizing for portable devices. Which considering today's technological posture would be a very prudent thing to do. Of course you have to take such things as a one time issue (even if it has nothing to do with portable devices). Perhaps technology will change in the future but once you get a system that works then ideally upkeep of that system will be minimal especially compared to the work involved in implementing an entirely new system. But like I said, many many variables.
Thanks for the suggestions! I will let the webteam know, but as pitin pointed out, they are professionals in that field IRL, so they probably know about it.
And of course, we are always looking for staff:) so please apply if your IRL job or IRLL has some practical aspect you think we can find helpful!
I wouldn't mind so much about the webteam making sure the website had a unique theme-based design every year if all the important info wasn't made available through the forums with BBCode or on Facebook anyways.
Hi Ewu,
I just want to start out by saying that I appreciate you communicating with us but I'm still frustrated. Any frustration vented from this point forward is not pointed at YOU, just so you know.
What's annoying to me here is that they've sent Ewu to talk to us and not the folks who are actually responsible for the website building. I'm hearing that the site was supposed to be ready in February, some kind of error happened, and now we're almost in APRIL and don't have a site yet? That's unacceptable, I'm sorry. And once the web development team realized that more than a week had elapsed with a fix in sight for the site (heh) they should've contacted us directly in the form of a message on FB, the forum, or some other method. They sure as hell shouldn't have been saying the site would be here "really soon" if they didn't actually have it 100% completed and ready to go, because look at us now.
While I appreciate having SOMEONE talk to us, the fact that not a single member of the web team (better yet, the head) can't take 2 minutes to type out a brief message of explanation and apology to us is infuriating. 2. Minutes. Instead you send out someone that we can't really get angry at, because he's not part of the problem, and can only offer second-hand explanations that he gets from you people.
I agree with those who have offered expertise in web development; if the team needs help, they need to advertise that early on so these people can offer help. And I'm also in agreement with Kuudere; the neato layouts on Fanime's site are pretty and all, but if using a template would speed up the process and fix any "compatibility errors", it should be done. I don't care if it's a blank white page with nothing but information on it! I want content and information, not a schmancy design that will be getting pulled in less than 2 months now anyway! It's ridiculous!
Though an actual reply from a staff member is better then nothing, pretty much nothing is explained. The incredible delay was caused by "technical issues" and ewu is "not totally certain what the issue was". After this much time with a splash page, I find it hard to believe that we cant find someone who knows what actual issues were to let us know whats going on.
I doubt that fanime staff spent all this time doing nothing since that would be retarded. What worries me is that they spent all this time trying to get things working and this is what we are left with! I dont mean just the website, but all aspects of Fanime. The website is easy to point to as evidence of major problems since we can all see it.
Im much more worried about other aspects of Fanime such as badge pickup, the cosplay spectacular (failure), guests, etc. Seeing how 2014 is coming along, I have no reason to believe that Fanime will have these issues fixed. I have been given no assurances that they will be short of non-informational one line messages like "the website will be up soon".
I dont blame ewu for anything as he has the short end of the stick of having to address our concerns with no actual way of addressing our concerns. The problem is that is another thing that we can point to as evidence of MAJOR issues with Fanime.
(not your fault, ewu...I know you're just the messenger)
I hate to say it, but this is all "too little, too late" for my taste. I've seen hot mess conventions in FL (my previous home state) run more smoothly (at least they announced their guests well in advance and had useful websites) and be better organized.
After last year's fiascos I lost faith in reg and anything to do with the masq.....and this year has pretty much cemented my loss of faith in the rest of the con. Convincing me otherwise at this point is going to be exceedingly difficult. If I hadn't already bought a badge, I'd be canceling my hotel room and saving the money for Dragoncon (hell, I'm actually considering eating the $55 reg fee and doing this anyways). At this point, I'm only attending for the AA and cosplay meetups I have planned to attend.
After this year, you have lost my business. You might even lose it this year. We'll see how the next few weeks go. Sorry to be a bit harsh, but please get your sh*t together and give us some info about SOMETHING.
Please forgive me, Ewu, if it sounds like I'm being harsh to you. You're a nice person in RL, and I don't blame you for the Fanime debacle and feel bad that you're being sent in like this.
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 12:11:47 AMGuests are being booked, events planned...
It is less than two months before the start of the con. These things should have been largely taken care of. Yes, I realize that guests have lives and that RL stuff pops up, but the guests and events should have been largely taken care of. Attendees, especially those with a booth in the AA, need to make travel arrangements. Making them wait until less than 2 months prior to the con to book flights means that they'll be stuck paying a premium, if they're fortunate to find any flights left at all.
Ok, we get it, Fanime hired the con equivalent of the Obamacare website developers, and the shell of a website was what was created. Great. My problem is - You have a Facebook page. And Twitter. Why could Fanime not announce a confirmed guest on either platform? Yeah, it would have been nice to have updated both on social media and your website at the same time, but some update on some official site would have been a lot better than what was done.
I agree. I believe I've seen other convention Facebook pages post guest announcements and whatnot, so why can't Fanime do the same? If you guys have ANY information that you'll be posting on the site once it's up, why not share it on the Facebook page? Unless you can't share it with us until the site's up, though I don't see why not...
The postings above me all beat me to the punch. They perfectly said what I wanted to say. I'm only sorry that a lot of heat is aimed at you, ewu. You seem a decent enough fella who's just been thrown into this.
This is my second year attending Fanime. I wanted to give you guys the benefit of the doubt after last year, figuring every con has a bad year and all that jazz. However, seeing some echoes of last year is really making me skittish. Y'all have Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. Why have they not been utilized to their fullest? Why all the secrecy? You're just ticking off your supporters and those of us willing to give you a chance. Is that really any way to run a con?
No more excuses, no more of this rubbish. I said it in the prior thread, and I'll repeat it. Step. Up. Your. Game. This mamby-pamby 'We've been having problems' announcement 2 months before con is ridiculous. It's triply ridiculous that no one on the web team had the guts to say it.
Above posters: thank you for your comments. We understand your frustrations. I'm not too sure what I can do to appease you, but we hear you.
Before this thread becomes an venue exclusively used for venting frustrations, please let me know what questions you have that I can realistically answer and information that I can reasonably get for you.
From what I can put together from the posts, you are looking for more information through other means of dissemination. I will pass that point on. Unfortunately, they are not optimized for our current model, but we will look into posting them there.
Thanks again!
Eric
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 08:55:41 PM
From what I can put together from the posts, you are looking for more information through other means of dissemination. I will pass that point on. Unfortunately, they are not optimized for our current model, but we will look into posting them there.
Thanks Eric....at this point I think people would just like to know who the guests are and that events are actually happening, even if that means disseminating info via FB/Twitter/forums until the website goes live. Anything is better than the info void we've been stuck in.
I find it crazy that the website was supposedly ready a month ago, but technical/compatibility issues could not have been solved now four weeks later? We don't want a fancy website, we want a functioning site with information. If it's basic as basic gets, we don't care, we just want something. Heck, there are tumblr themes that could have done the trick.
In terms of information that I'm interested in, I am also anxious to hear who the "confirmed" guests are so far. But if that is out of the question, then I am equally anxious to know if music fest is happening?
I agree. My only questions are basically what guests will we be having and which ones have been booked, and which are still not booked yet? And as far as events go, are there any special events planned, with it being the 20th anniversary?
Also I agree, I don't really care how the website looks, as long as it has the information that we need about the con. Heck, I kinda prefer basic-looking websites over overly fancy ones, but that's just me.
Quote from: Angelx624 on March 25, 2014, 10:26:01 PMMy only questions are basically what guests will we be having and which ones have been booked, and which are still not booked yet?
No one but higher up staffers will ever know which guests have yet to be booked. That's not something that Fanime, or any con, will ever publically reveal. This is done to keep Fanime's connections in good shape as well as preventing any guest from experiencing negative feedback due to their non-appearance.
Assuming the ink is dry on contracts, it would be nice to know who is planning to show up. Usually, though, Fanime does not make announcements until mid April-late May, with Yoshiki in 2011(?) being the final announcement at less than 2 days before the con began.
Quote from: Angelx624 on March 25, 2014, 10:26:01 PM
I agree. My only questions are basically what guests will we be having and which ones have been booked, and which are still not booked yet? And as far as events go, are there any special events planned, with it being the 20th anniversary?
Also I agree, I don't really care how the website looks, as long as it has the information that we need about the con. Heck, I kinda prefer basic-looking websites over overly fancy ones, but that's just me.
Fanime can't give information on guests who have not been officially booked, but knowing which guests have already been confirmed (aka, contracts and agreements all completed) would be nice at this point.
But yeah, I'm curious if there will be anything special for the anniversary as well. Not anxious about it, but certainly curious.
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 08:55:41 PM
Above posters: thank you for your comments. We understand your frustrations. I'm not too sure what I can do to appease you, but we hear you.
Im pretty sure you guys hear us. The problem is we dont hear you guys. I would love to hear why things were allowed to go so wrong in 2013 and know how things would be different from 2014. I want to know why after all this time the website is a shell of a website.
You guys need to understand that we have been waiting for quite some time and have gotten nothing other then a working Clockwork Alchemy site. The frustration has built up over time and now I want to know who I should be directing my anger at.
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 08:55:41 PM
Before this thread becomes an venue exclusively used for venting frustrations, please let me know what questions you have that I can realistically answer and information that I can reasonably get for you.
This thread is pretty much for venting frustration. It is the only expected outcome when you have people asking for information, getting none, and only getting vague assurances things are being worked on. Normally I would agree that we should be in the "be patient and let the staff do their jobs" phase. That ship sailed like a month ago.
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 08:55:41 PM
From what I can put together from the posts, you are looking for more information through other means of dissemination. I will pass that point on. Unfortunately, they are not optimized for our current model, but we will look into posting them there.
Its simpler then that. We simply want INFORMATION. Because there is an opinion that maybe the lack of information is because the website is not working, that information should then be shared with the fans via alternative means. Since the website development is in such a incomplete unusable state, it only makes sense to not be held back by the website and share the information via facebook, twitter, etc. I simply believe that there is no information and that is why everyone is silent.
Are you guys planning anything special for the 20th anniversary of the con?
Quote from: DrScorpio on March 25, 2014, 11:10:39 PM
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 08:55:41 PM
Above posters: thank you for your comments. We understand your frustrations. I'm not too sure what I can do to appease you, but we hear you.
Im pretty sure you guys hear us. The problem is we dont hear you guys. I would love to hear why things were allowed to go so wrong in 2013 and know how things would be different from 2014. I want to know why after all this time the website is a shell of a website.
You guys need to understand that we have been waiting for quite some time and have gotten nothing other then a working Clockwork Alchemy site. The frustration has built up over time and now I want to know who I should be directing my anger at.
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 08:55:41 PM
Before this thread becomes an venue exclusively used for venting frustrations, please let me know what questions you have that I can realistically answer and information that I can reasonably get for you.
This thread is pretty much for venting frustration. It is the only expected outcome when you have people asking for information, getting none, and only getting vague assurances things are being worked on. Normally I would agree that we should be in the "be patient and let the staff do their jobs" phase. That ship sailed like a month ago.
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 08:55:41 PM
From what I can put together from the posts, you are looking for more information through other means of dissemination. I will pass that point on. Unfortunately, they are not optimized for our current model, but we will look into posting them there.
Its simpler then that. We simply want INFORMATION. Because there is an opinion that maybe the lack of information is because the website is not working, that information should then be shared with the fans via alternative means. Since the website development is in such a incomplete unusable state, it only makes sense to not be held back by the website and share the information via facebook, twitter, etc. I simply believe that there is no information and that is why everyone is silent.
100%TRUTH!!
When I attended my first year of Fanime in 2012, the website was already up by September. LATE registration was considered to be February. And registration was reasonably priced and the convention itself was definitely worth the money. 2013 and now 2014 have both been horrifyingly disorganized it seems, and my only conclusion to the reasons behind the delayed website is an inability to get things together in a timely manner. Like EVERY OTHER CONVENTION IN THE WORLD, you should have been working on the following year's convention the MOMENT the last convention ended. This fiasco is causing me to rethink my yearly vacation plans and start attending other conventions in order to simply avoid the hassle of Fanime. Without prompt information I can't know if the guests/events are going to be worth my time and money, and therefore I can't decide ahead of time whether I should attend, say, SacAnime or Anime Expo instead. With as much money as you want for registration I expect fantastic guests but they've been about as good as StocktonCon, which JUST started up two years ago.
I bet half of Fanime attendees could have put together a functioning website within an hour.
I mean, if the website isn't working then throw together a blog. Tumblr, Wordpress, Blogger...even if not a blog, you have both a Twitter and a Facebook account. Guests could have been listed on FB easily. I have some HTML themes for Tumblr with drop down lists and such that would be perfect for listing panels and guests. I can't imagine these routes weren't thought of, or weren't they?
Even just a list of information using Times New Roman on a blank white page is fine. As long as the information is there.
As far as information goes (aside from guests) I'd really like to know what different venues will be used for (Former panel rooms, South Hall, Hall 1, etc.)
Ah, I guess I should've been more specific. What I was meaning was, which kind of guests have been booked and have yet to be booked. Such as music fest guests, industry guests, etc. I wasn't asking for the specifics. I know Fanime can't tell us anything until they've been officially booked. I've been going since 2010, actually.
Quote from: Angelx624 on March 26, 2014, 10:09:49 PM
Ah, I guess I should've been more specific. What I was meaning was, which kind of guests have been booked and have yet to be booked. Such as music fest guests, industry guests, etc. I wasn't asking for the specifics. I know Fanime can't tell us anything until they've been officially booked. I've been going since 2010, actually.
That would still be out of the question. Bottom line, until the contracts have been completed, we don't get to learn anything, which is completely understandable. But since the mod has stated guests "are being booked," we're curious who those guests are who have been officially booked. Or, knowing what
kind of guests have been booked would be nice too at this point.
I'm just asking for any information they can give us, not for every single bit of info whether or not they can tell it to us.
At this point in time, I know more about Anime Expo which is happening in 4 months than I do about Fanime which is in half that time. This is frankly unacceptable. It isn't like you don't know the dates ahead of time, since Fanime has been held Memorial Day weekend since 2004. Hell, Fanime's dates in 2015 will be the 22nd – 25th.
Since the fiasco of 2013, I've seriously considered abandoning Fanime for conventions that are more organized like SacAnime, and Japan Expo USA. At this point I'm only going for my friends and cosplay gatherings, since the masquerade was a joke, there were massive issues regulating the black and white ball, and I've had several bad experiences with rovers (I can't report a badge number if they wont show or tell me...). Problems from 2011 and 2012 (I've been in 2 of the 7 hour lines) were not fixed in 2013, and with the current track record my expectations haven't raised one iota.
Consider this your last chance Fanime Con. There are less than 60 days until the con. Your Move.
Fanime draws over 20,000 attendees, most of whom are paying well over $50.00 to attend. Add in the money paid by dealers for their space, artists in the artists alley and the flea marketeers and Fanime has to be drawing well in excess of a million dollars a year.
So, where is it going? It certainly isn't buying us professional grade website development and support. Hasn't been showing up at the registration side of things, either. Guests? NOPE. Where does the money go?
Sure, the facilities aren't free. Still, it seems to me that Fanime would benefit greatly from letting a professional event management team run the show. Either that or a comprehensive audit. Maybe both.
SELL FANIME TO A COMPANY THAT HAS THE ABILITY TO RUN IT PROPERLY.
Quote from: ewu on March 25, 2014, 01:21:49 PM
And of course, we are always looking for staff:) so please apply if your IRL job or IRLL has some practical aspect you think we can find helpful!
The staff application didn't go up on the website until, what, late Feburary, early March? Kind of a catch 22.
Well, I'm not even sure if I still want to enter the Masquerade this year. On one hand I really want to do the skit I have planned, but on the other hand we don't have everyone that we need for it, plus who knows if the Masquerade will be any better this year...
I might just save the skit for SacAnime if possible. Or maybe PMC, if they have a masquerade there..........
Quote from: CatToy on March 27, 2014, 12:55:15 PM
Fanime draws over 20,000 attendees, most of whom are paying well over $50.00 to attend. Add in the money paid by dealers for their space, artists in the artists alley and the flea marketeers and Fanime has to be drawing well in excess of a million dollars a year.
So, where is it going? It certainly isn't buying us professional grade website development and support. Hasn't been showing up at the registration side of things, either. Guests? NOPE. Where does the money go?
Sure, the facilities aren't free. Still, it seems to me that Fanime would benefit greatly from letting a professional event management team run the show. Either that or a comprehensive audit. Maybe both.
I have always wondered this myself. If Fanime draws in 20,000 attendees, and if those attendees pay $50 per ticket, that means that the convention is pulling in 1 million dollars each and every year. In addition to that they also receive money from Dealer's Hall dealers, Artist Alley vendors, etc.
I understand that they pay facility fees, staffing fees (even though a large majority of their staff are volunteer based), guest fees, etc. But that is only a small amount compared to the amount of money the convention is pulling in each and every year.
I've always wondered where exactly the rest of that money goes, or to whom? If the con pulls in that much each year surely they can afford simple web design for their website. There are even attendees who would be more than happy to volunteer to web design for the con, it would look great on job applications.
There simply is no excuse for the website to be up so late. Is anyone else curious where all Fanime's monetary earnings are going??? ???
I second the notion of someone quickly make a website already!!!
To make a point, I made a dummy site for a made-up convention:
http://fanmade-anime-con.tumblr.com/
(https://forums.fanime.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi58.tinypic.com%2F11tyjqq.png&hash=d5ce0e45965356b853dc137cbd3605991ab58149)
A theme, links, and posts all on one page, and I did it in under 30 minutes. Now, I'd like to point out that this is by no means the most optimal theme type for a convention page, and obviously a much more professional page could be made. My point was to create a page to display how necessary and important information could be easily added to a simple layout in an extremely minimal amount of time. Now, how Fanime can't manage the same thing is beyond me.
Well, hate to admit it, but that looks better than Fanime's current "site". *sigh*
Not trying to give the staff a bad time, but we're getting into April here, and still no full site. I know you guys explained why there isn't a site yet, but at least getting the information you can give us up SOMEWHERE shouldn't be too hard. I mean, unless there's something holding you guys back from telling us anything......
Quote from: InsaneChan on March 30, 2014, 11:10:04 PM
To make a point, I made a dummy site for a made-up convention:
http://fanmade-anime-con.tumblr.com/
(https://forums.fanime.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi58.tinypic.com%2F11tyjqq.png&hash=d5ce0e45965356b853dc137cbd3605991ab58149)
A theme, links, and posts all on one page, and I did it in under 30 minutes. Now, I'd like to point out that this is by no means the most optimal theme type for a convention page, and obviously a much more professional page could be made. My point was to create a page to display how necessary and important information could be easily added to a simple layout in an extremely minimal amount of time. Now, how Fanime can't manage the same thing is beyond me.
Even this is ten times more polished than a site needs to be.
Took another 5 whole minutes to organize it a bit better by adding some simple borders.
(https://forums.fanime.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi60.tinypic.com%2Fvqpijt.png&hash=e4d068dcacf827ed37a6b12b155f69e4b0039868)
But yeah, I think the point's been made. This was just a theme I snatched up real quick through google and added the info to. As with most tumblr blogs, there's also the option for additional pages and custom links.
Anyways, I hope Fanime's site, which apparently was originally ready to launch "at the end of February" goes up soon.
Yup, Fanime really doesn't have an excuse, now.
It doesn't take this long to get a site up and running, even with technical difficulties. They've had it up and running much earlier than this in the past. I just........... I don't know.
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the website launched after the convention finished.
Quote from: Makoto on April 01, 2014, 03:19:35 PM
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the website launched after the convention finished.
At this rate they might as well not bother and start prepping for FanimeCon 2015. Which will happen May 26-30th, 2016.
Haha holy crap, were the last few comments actually deleted by a mod or is there some "technical issue" happening?
FYI it is Aprils fools day. Must be the reason why it got deleted.
Quote from: echoshadow on April 01, 2014, 06:19:15 PM
FYI it is Aprils fools day. Must be the reason why it got deleted.
The irony is hilarious.
Nah, I see the same posts, unless there's some that were made when I wasn't on here and those were deleted........
And yes, the irony of the current status of Fanime and April Fool's. Hmmm.........
Quote from: Angelx624 on April 01, 2014, 09:36:55 PM
Nah, I see the same posts, unless there's some that were made when I wasn't on here and those were deleted........
And yes, the irony of the current status of Fanime and April Fool's. Hmmm.........
Someone made a post saying the website was updated as an April fool's Day joke, got taken down by a mod.
Yeah, there were a few posts this afternoon where someone said the site was finally up, one person fell for it and was confused as to why they were still seeing the splash page, and a few others chimed in that it was just an April Fool's joke.
I thought it was actually pretty funny, but apparently Fanime thought otherwise...(I mean, obviously it was just a joke??)
Ironic because the real joke is that it is officially April and there's still no website.
Quote from: InsaneChan on April 01, 2014, 10:21:35 PM
Ironic because the real joke is that it is officially April and there's still no website.
This is sadly not unexpected.
Two years ago, they dropped the ball on registration. (I'm not giving them a pass for the lights going out anymore.)
Last year, they added the Cosplay Masquerade and B&W Ball to that.
This year, they've already added Artist Alley and the website/information in general to that, and the con hasn't even started yet.
Furthermore, they've relayed to us absolutely nothing whatsoever about what they're doing to fix the previous years problems. Or if they're even doing anything at all.
I really wanted to give them a chance to improve, but I can no longer when their first official comment on registration came 8 months after the con and was "expect to wait a very long time Thursday, Friday, and Saturday."
Either they don't care about fixing it, or don't have the resources to. Both of which are big problems.
This leaves The Dealer's Hall, Game Room, Viewing Rooms, and MusicFest as the only parts of Fanime that might still be intact. These are my favorite parts of Fanime. But none of these are worth waiting in line 6 hours for.
I've been a loyal attendee in the past but the probability that this year is not going to be a complete mess is very, very low. I live within walking distance of the convention center and unless something miraculous happens I'm sitting this year out.
Quote from: hikanteki on April 01, 2014, 10:47:30 PM
Quote from: InsaneChan on April 01, 2014, 10:21:35 PM
Ironic because the real joke is that it is officially April and there's still no website.
This is sadly not unexpected.
Two years ago, they dropped the ball on registration. (I'm not giving them a pass for the lights going out anymore.)
Last year, they added the Cosplay Masquerade and B&W Ball to that.
This year, they've already added Artist Alley and the website/information in general to that, and the con hasn't even started yet.
Furthermore, they've relayed to us absolutely nothing whatsoever about what they're doing to fix the previous years problems. Or if they're even doing anything at all.
I really wanted to give them a chance to improve, but I can no longer when their first official comment on registration came 8 months after the con and was "expect to wait a very long time Thursday, Friday, and Saturday."
Either they don't care about fixing it, or don't have the resources to. Both of which are big problems.
This leaves The Dealer's Hall, Game Room, Viewing Rooms, and MusicFest as the only parts of Fanime that might still be intact. But none of these are worth waiting in line 6 hours for.
I've been a loyal attendee in the past but the probability that this year is not going to be a complete mess is very, very low. I live within walking distance of the convention center and unless something miraculous happens I'm sitting this year out.
People have brought up the fact that Fanime's manager/chair position is held for 3 years, and then is passed on to someone else. This is the current manager's third year. This has lead people to believe that the recent year's atrocities were due to a bad manager. No one really knows for sure, but I believe this is at least a comforting fact for many of the attendee's, who are hopeful that after this year things will improve. Still, that doesn't change the fact that this year has been the worst yet, and has already caused a lot of people to throw in the towel altogether.
On a side note, I'm still worried about MusicFest this year. It's by far my favorite part of Fanime, but considering the fact that there has been no announcement of guests so far, I'm worried that it will even still be happening.
Well, you know, Fanime is a model of transparency and accountability...
Quote from: InsaneChan on April 01, 2014, 11:44:39 PM
On a side note, I'm still worried about MusicFest this year. It's by far my favorite part of Fanime, but considering the fact that there has been no announcement of guests so far, I'm worried that it will even still be happening.
I would not be too concerned about musicfest. The contract for the performers tend to be very very complex. That means that even if we started nailing the details down in December, we wont get the contract signed until quite close to con. We start contacting the recording companies way before that. Last year while we did announce 7!! April 1, we did not announce ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D until May 10th.
I'm pretty fed up with how the con has been going over the past few years. It's unforgivably disorganized & lacking information. I swear to God if this happens next year I'm not even going to bother & I'm changing my yearly vacation to SacAnime or Anime Expo. I'll probably save money too since Fanime unnecessarily overcharges on registration. If I hadn't already paid for my registration this year I would go to SacAnime instead. There's some good guests going and I'm concerned that the guests for Fanime are going to be shit in comparison. I'll likely spend my time shopping and winning another iPad because I don't want to deal with the Bullsh*t Black & White Ball and the Massacre Masquerade.
(https://forums.fanime.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi58.tinypic.com%2F2ak0juu.jpg&hash=b1d938e0ef8b7072210ead0aeb27ca6d71a8cdee)
just sayin'
Quote from: melancholyfox on April 02, 2014, 12:49:48 PM
(https://forums.fanime.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi58.tinypic.com%2F2ak0juu.jpg&hash=b1d938e0ef8b7072210ead0aeb27ca6d71a8cdee)
just sayin'
Honestly, that's the first thing I saw when I saw that picture.
Seriously, This would be my second year for Fanime. Was really excited about this year and getting to do it again. I travel From Oregon (yes not as far as others but far non the less) to attend and have fun with the whole con. Actually since the start of the lack of Information, and updates to the Con. Has left me rather regretting even preregistering and attending. Let alone my friends I made there that attend Artists Ally could not be attending because of the shrinking of AA and other new paths to get in.
Which is all weird when the tag line for Fanime is 'By Fans, For Fans' Yes Dealers hall is the biggest income aside registration, but Panels, Events, games, Artistes, guests, Press, and fellow con goers. that is is what the fans look for let alone the Merchandise and what really make up the con. Then the Press people help advertise your Con and get more people from across the country even other countries to come. These seem to be the last people you would want to have last let alone tell anything.
You start with Late and broken Registration/Hotel system, to shorten lines 'Groups are now 4 more more'. Now that Group the 3 is now 3 individual people in line, then one person of that group of three or two. You have more then likely turned away attendees by both Out of the blue announcement, then you had to have connections or know where this information was to be found.
Next with the whole General attendance craziness, you have NO info about Panels, Press, and AA attendance. Referring to what makes up the con you leave the bones of the con left out of the skin. It again is not the most confidant start to Precon Registration, again people are turning a way due to the lack of info and well organization.
Next the Web site and lack of info, new attendees and Returning ones look to a Web Site to see what is exciting to them. Not hunt all over for the Social Media sites As Facebook and Twitter, even then so little info has been given. People are not seeing info for the things they are interested in as in Panels, Music, Games, Events, Special Guests. Again The stuff that makes the Convention.
It is April 2, 2014 I was hoping that it would be up by March at least, But i do understand the problems with setting up a web site. But 48 days before I fly down there to attend worries me that the 'Organization' is just not there and interestingly enough as said the split parts of Fanime Clockwork is up running and just fine. Its obvious that the 'BIG CHANGES' Fanime wants to make have made the Important things and facts about the con take a back seat. The Priorities should be the web page, and INFORM your Attendees being Con goers and those that have events as games, panels, and Artiest Ally.
Again I understand Technology can prove to be huge problems when you are under a crunch, but that dose not prevent you from keep us all informed and actually letting attendees say about your registration changes before you drop the bomb on them. Might I also point out Cons Half even Quarter of the size of Fanime, have info up three months after the con, also some of these Cons Run twice a year. Yet they have info ready and flowing for the attendees, it dose not show good for the now 5th Largest Anime Convention in the United States.
But thank you for working hard at trying to pull this together, Please take this failure to launch start and learn where you need to start for next year. Because I for one will be seriously questioning about attending next year if nothing is done or changed.
Wait, why can't you guys just post everything we want to know in the forums (or on facebook)?
Is the website launch problem really technical related or is it due to lack of (good) announcements? Presenting an empty website is pretty bad, to be honest... perhaps that's why the website isn't up yet.
Quote from: Tetsuo on April 02, 2014, 11:39:21 PM
Is the website launch problem really technical related or is it due to lack of (good) announcements?
not bringing up a website for not having any good announcements is a pretty bad reason for not having it up....Its most def technical reasons.
I would like to hear more of what execs are doing right now. I wonder if the convention would reach close to the same number of attendance this year as last year, because as of now, the convention is only promoted through social media and habit of the regulars. Without an actual website with new information, it's almost certain that everything promoted is through word of mouth.
What do you know. Just as I'm reading this forum, I get a text with a twitter post with multiple guest announcements. Looks like the site has moved away from the placeholder image too. THANKS FOR GETTING THIS UP! Seriously!!
Congrats, Fanime Webteam! Looks pretty good!
OMG this website design!! I think I'm in love @o@
Whoo!
So for my birthday, Fanime gave me a website! And it's beautifully rendered on mobile! *swoons*
So for future reference, "soon" means 5 weeks. Got it.
Is there a link on the website to the forums? I can't find one. the "Community" tab is probably a good place to put it. And links to the Gatherings and Panels events should just go to the forums where all the info has been for months.
I must say...great design!
And AMAZING MusicFest headlining act. This may make me want to get a one-day pass...
Link to the reg FAQ is broken when you try to navigate from the guests of honor page: http://www.fanime.com/guests-of-honor/registration-faq
Edit: Yeah, broken whenever you try to get to it from anything but the main page.
Yeah it's really sleek!
Still doesn't excuse the waiting time, but I'm impressed with the final product - and it looks like it'd be very transportable for next year's site as well
I have to say the site is very beautifully done, and the mobile version runs seamlessly. Granted that doesn't excuse how long it took to get the final product, but at least now it's up and looks great!
Quote from: Admiral Donuts on April 03, 2014, 11:27:15 AM
Link to the reg FAQ is broken when you try to navigate from the guests of honor page: http://www.fanime.com/guests-of-honor/registration-faq
Edit: Yeah, broken whenever you try to get to it from anything but the main page.
I've submitted this to our web development team.
Quote from: Steve.Young on April 03, 2014, 11:55:12 AM
Quote from: Admiral Donuts on April 03, 2014, 11:27:15 AM
Link to the reg FAQ is broken when you try to navigate from the guests of honor page: http://www.fanime.com/guests-of-honor/registration-faq
Edit: Yeah, broken whenever you try to get to it from anything but the main page.
I've submitted this to our web development team.
Specifically it is the Registration FAQ link located in the footer area under the "new to fanimecon" section. The link direct to http://www.fanime.com/
currentpage/registration-faq
so whatever comes after fanime.com/ changes depending on what page you view it from.
Quote from: keitoghostie on April 03, 2014, 11:27:43 AM
Still doesn't excuse the waiting time, but I'm impressed with the final product - and it looks like it'd be very transportable for next year's site as well
The web team should start working on the 2015 site now and put it up May 27th.
With everything that's been going on with 2014, please start doing more of 2015 stuff right away
Quote from: Otakuya on April 03, 2014, 06:04:05 PM
With everything that's been going on with 2014, please start doing more of 2015 stuff right away
I second this..
In other news, WEBSITE HYPE!
The website design is very slick and all the effort put in is very appreciated.
Oh hey, they finally got the site up!
Thank you for finally releasing the website. And with a couple guests already booked, too! As well as other information.
42 days until the convention starts and the website has content!
Congrats to the webteam on a personal best.
Even though the site launch came far later than it should, I am satisfied with the end result. My only suggestion is re-stating what others have suggested and begin to work on 2015.
The Artists Alley registration part of the website is broken. The webteam strikes again.
Quote from: CatToy on April 08, 2014, 03:44:48 AM
The Artists Alley registration part of the website is broken. The webteam strikes again.
AA reg has been closed for sometime. How is it broken? Please send me via pm or email reference links and the browser you are using so that I can get this resolved.
Thanks
Heyhey.
I noticed that the link to fan event submissions is not present on the new website. Wasn't sure where to post this, but I wanted to let someone know @__@
Quote from: Dilemma on April 08, 2014, 09:14:20 AM
Heyhey.
I noticed that the link to fan event submissions is not present on the new website. Wasn't sure where to post this, but I wanted to let someone know @__@
Do you mean panels? It's kind of buried but it's there. Events > Panels > "Please check here if you're interested in hosting a panel for us." > "You can find the Panel Request form HERE."
Quote from: Admiral Donuts on April 08, 2014, 03:16:25 PM
Quote from: Dilemma on April 08, 2014, 09:14:20 AM
Heyhey.
I noticed that the link to fan event submissions is not present on the new website. Wasn't sure where to post this, but I wanted to let someone know @__@
Do you mean panels? It's kind of buried but it's there. Events > Panels > "Please check here if you're interested in hosting a panel for us." > "You can find the Panel Request form HERE."
Nope! Fan Events, haha. Its a new thing they started last year for events that don't fit the panel mold, and it was linked to the temp splash page before this year's site was put up but now it seems to have gone missing ): Thanks, though (:
http://www.fanime.com/events/fan-events/
Here's the page, nothing on it through.
So the accommodations page is sorely out of date...
http://www.fanime.com/accommodations/
"Want to know how you can book your hotel room and receive the FanimeCon rate? Keep an eye on this page for updates!"
Quote from: Admiral Donuts on April 19, 2014, 08:54:20 AM
So the accommodations page is sorely out of date...
http://www.fanime.com/accommodations/
"Want to know how you can book your hotel room and receive the FanimeCon rate? Keep an eye on this page for updates!"
Thanks, updated.