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Just curious its been 6 weeks since Memorial day weekend, I wonder have anyone received their convention admission price reimbursement check for completing their vol.  hours. I had been trying to contact the [email protected] via email with my confirmation number from my volunteer confirmation sheet and badge # since June 27 but no one responded. The websites states four to six weeks and its now been six weeks. I have not yet received the check. I hope they got my address right and it did not end up at a wrong address.

Our first goal will be to make it 24/5. That is mostly a matter of getting enough bodies to cover the shifts, which should be doable. The Hilton is jam packed with vital con operations, so it is likely we will be in the Marriott again.

The other post was correct in the convention center we would have to pay for union staff to run it. At which point we won't make much if anything for Charity, and that is what Check was intended for was to be a Charity booster. Due to liability and our contract with the convention center there is no way of running it even as boxes or cubbys.

The dance floor is a major issue for attendees and volunteers who happen to have to be there. I read that one can leave items up front at their own risk though I would not want to risk leaving my messenger bag there while I volunteer as I have important items in there. Some people do leave items or props with staff/rovers/ or existing volunteers at the tables.
The Hilton already has as lost and found room and a Cosplay hangout. Though I don't know if Cosplay hangout is open at night and whether is it safe to leave items there.

Expanding the existing check to 24/5 would be best and we would have plenty of volunteers willing to do double hours for night volunteering to catch up with their hours requirements. I find it a great idea though. Even if not 24/5 maybe until half an hour after dance finishes at 2 am. Regarding liability issues though  I wonder who or what insures the items in the unlikely but possible event they somehow become missing, damaged, or destroyed, within custody if this items check? Does it just depend on luck and hoping the proceeds from $3 each item checked would outweigh the costs of any claims that might arise for the duration of the convention? I bet the convention center's union staffed items check system are well insured for this which I believe is important not to skimp on as for this convention with so many carrying expensive bulky cosplays, props, jewelry(Bought from dealers hall or part of cosplay),or other pricy items from art and dealers hall, travel baggage, etc as well as events like dancing which one would not be able to bring these things into.  I was surprised to learn the Con decided to skimp out on the convention center's coat check service and did not have any kind of items check from any source until last year.
Glad we have considerate people like Dajoo push for it.

The Memorial Day Convention is the first anime con I visited. When I visited it I start to wonder how the Convention is put together. Such as are most of the the organizers or founders fresh off the boat/plane Japanese Nationals or Japanese that had been immigrated generations ago in North America? Are most of these conventions around handled by the same or similar group of people?

Though I am most curious about is the naming of anime Conventions based on different locations. Some convention names are based on location such as the city name i.e Sac-Con, Stockton Con, Anime Boston, while others like Fanimi in San Jose and Susoki Con in Louisville, KY are uniques name that does not refer to the city that the convention is in. Take Fanimi for example how the name get chosen maybe over San Jose anime convention, Silicon Valley Anime Con or any other names. Is it because the names had been taken? Please note I am only asking the question of out of curiosity I am not really interested to participate in naming of conventions.

Thank you Admiral Donus for letting me know about the maids cafe. I wish I got a chance to experience it, unfortunately the map/directory was not very clear I have difficulty finding my way around everything and tried asking around though many attendees including staff/volunteers are just as confused. Actually I myself also gave volunteering a try this time to work off my admission. I am glad that Fanami gives me and other attendees such opportunity to work off admission and experience new things while helping people. I do find most of the staff/drop in volunteers myself included are pretty naive about what we are doing some are doing this for their very first time. This is actually my first Fanime visit. We haven't been shown how exactly to greet and help people around so I just learn by doing and looking at the map. During my time here I teach myself people skills while doing it and to apologies profusely when I don't know the answer to someone's questions or don't know who to direct them to and I offer to help as best of my knowledge even though I have limited people skills myself and to approach people as friendly as possible. I also apologize repeatedly when the one way entrance/exit system in the halls confuses people as they are poorly marked and people have to walk a long way only to find that its the wrong direction door and having to walk a long way again. There really should be more large signs in the halls best if they are multi lingual with large arrows. During my weekend here attending and volunteering is when I got this idea as I find with so many Cosplayers of all types of Japanese/Asian characters here why not teach a dedicated motivated group of experienced staff/Rovers/etc who had been to Fanimi a number of times and have good customer skills experience and knows where things are to Cosplay service staff character uniforms(Just like the ones in Maids Cafe or in many traditional Japanese restaurants, shopping malls i.e Sogo, or department stores i.e Mitsukoshi, Uniqlo) to greet at will (irashaimase "welcome" if possible in multiple languages as appropriate) at admission and the shopping hall doors, direct ticketing, help visitors(including less experienced staff/volunteers) with questions, escort people in the right line, make multi lingual announcements for our international visitors, translate, etc. These not only make Fanime more authentic experience but sets a great example and learning experience to the first time staff, drop in volunteers, or general attendees, not to mention makes it easier to get questions answered and help people find their way around. Make it easier for staff/volunteer to refer visitors to if more assistance is needed. This would make Fanime even nicer experience.

I was looking for the Wii U console in the console gaming section but could not find it. I asked around the gaming room while people said they might have seen it but no one can confirm they found it. I really wanted to experience Nintendo's newest console as I have not yet tried it. So was it there at all?