Messages

Hi, I'm planning to attend the full weekend for Fanime 2013, but I have a few friends who are only coming for one day (friday or saturday).  My question is this, can I get in the reg line and buy my friends' badges for them before they get there?  And if yes, can I do this on Day 0 when I pick up my badge, or do I have to do it on the same day they will be attending?

I really hope it is possible for me to buy my friends' badges, because the horrible reg line that we had to wait in at Fanime 2012 was so bad that they don't want to attend 2013 :(

If you pre-register, do you receive your badge ahead of time?  Or do you still have to wait in that terrible line when you arrive at the con?  It was terrible this year, was waiting for like 4 hours so by the time I actually got in, half of my day was gone and I had missed a bunch of panels that I wanted to attend :(

How early would you suggest booking a hotel room if I want to stay in one of the hotels that is connected to the convention center?  Also, will there be special rates offered for Fanime attendees once registration goes live?

Hi Fanime staff!

I want to start out by saying that I love Fanime! I have gone every year for the past 5 years, but every year the group of friends who are willing to go with me gets smaller and smaller.  This year, only 3 of my friends attended with me, and I feel that the issues with Fanime were worse than ever this year and my 3 friends have already said that they don't plan to return with me next year.  I want to let you know why they won't be coming back, so that perhaps you can work on the big issues and make Fanime even better than it is now.

The first big issue this year was the registration line.  We can only make it to the con for one day, so we are unable to pre-register.  It would be very nice if people could pre-reg for single day passes, and would make the registration line move much more efficiently.  Also, this year we spent nearly 4 hours waiting in the registration line, which is twice as long as we've ever had to wait.  It was awful,  we stressed to make it to the con bright and early (arrived around 9:30 I believe), but we still missed panels that we wanted to see and had significantly less time than usual so we were unable to take full advantage of everything we wanted to at the convention.  I understand that there were some complications with registration, but it's really expensive to get into the con just for one day, and we feel like we were ripped off because we still paid full price to get in but had less time and missed so much.  We felt that we should have gotten a discount for the entry fee, or that things like the artist alley and dealers hall should have been kept open later to compensate for the line being so awful.

Another big issue with Fanime is the scheduling.  My group of friends and I are always bummed out because we'll pick a day to arrive at Fanime and once we get there, we find out that none of the panels we want to see or events that we want to do are available on that day.  It would be great if we could have the schedule up in advance like many other conventions do, so that we could better choose which day to attend, and schedule our time better.  The program that we receive is also lacking in that it describes amazing panels, screenings, etc., but never mentions the time and place.  It's really frustrating to look through the program and get excited over several panels then find out they are on different days or have already taken place. 

The third big issue, and one of the most frustrating, is the awful organization.  Whenever my friends and I went to get in line for a panel, it was total chaos and 4 out of 5 times, none of the staff could give us clear direction on where we needed to be for a certain panel, or where the line ended.  Also, the lines for all panels were so crowded together that it was confusing as to which line was which.

I really love attending Fanime, but if these issues continue to worsen, I'm afraid that not only will I have a less enjoyable time at Fanime, but I'll have no one to attend with.  Although my friends and I still had fun, these issues made the convention immensely frustrating for the attendees (I imagine frustrating for the staff as well), but I'd love to see some of these problems improved and worked on.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren Schwartz (a concerned Fanime lover)

I was a maid style Totoro and I'd love to see any pics of my costume!  https://skitch.com/stitchygirl/87nyu/img-1923.jpg-106-documents-106-total-pages

My friends were Tina, Louise, and Gene from Bob's Burgers and I'd like to see pictures of them as well!  https://skitch.com/stitchygirl/87ny4/img-1925.jpg-106-documents-106-total-pages

Thanks!

1st season of Pokemon!  And maybe the first 2 movies :)

I would love to see "My Darling is a Foreigner" ! If you do show it, can you show it on Saturday??  Heeheee  :)

Do you have any contact info for them?  An e-mail address perhaps?  :)

I've got a friend who wants to volunteer to be a part of yaoi bingo this year, does anyone know how he can sign up?? 

I agree with Blu, the registration for the tournaments should begin on the same day as the tournament itself ... me and my friends can only afford one day at the con and we chose saturday specifically for the l4d tournament, and now we might not even get a space :(

I was wondering if there are entrance fees for any of these tournaments?  And how do you sign up for these, do you do it online somewhere or do you sign up at the con?

Will there be yaoi bingo again this year?  And if so, when is it?