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Yep - the maids aren't paid, and can't even accept tips. It's just convention-center prices.

Hello~

Satsuki! Thank you so much for your help in translating with the panels. It's always great to have you and Shizuki around!

On Friday morning, I purchased a badge to cover the whole weekend for $60. This was my first time at Fanime and I was a bit ignorant, so I failed to notice the different color of my badge. It was orange and it read 'FRIDAY' across the top, but the sticker with my name read 'WEEKEND'.
I didn't get any problems until Saturday, of course, and I had to clear things up with the staff when entering the Dealer's Hall, Gaming Room or Artist Alley.

Did anyone else encounter this problem? Was there any way I could have fixed it?

Doh! Yes, you could have headed back down to Registration and they would have created a proper badge for you. Sorry for the inconvenience.

and its been said that FanimeCon incarnate [made into a person] is a Girl!

I would have never thought that Fanime was a girl...

I would have loved to come to the Party...I must've gotten caught up with other events :P
If only I focused on getting a ticket for the party...

The food looked good on the TwitPic, though!

It was SO SWEET. The chocolate fountain was amazing. Props to the Awesome department for this... Awesome... event.

[These protesters are against, like, everything.]

If I may clear up some questions...

These protesters are against, like, everything. They protest other conventions, Christian groups, even Christmas in the Park. All they care about is that there are a lot of people outside - they don't care that you're into anime, cosplay, or whatever.

These protesters are essentially trolls. They document everything and are just waiting to catch their martyrdom on camera. Pretending they don't exist is the best way to respond.

These protesters are very well-trained and well-prepared. They have heard everything you can think of and already have responses waiting. They have been doing this for years, and there is nothing new or clever you can say to make them leave or change their mind.

Arguing, counter-protesting, or simply talking to them is futile. They won't be persuaded. And whenever you engage with them, you're letting them win.

They are 100% legal and they work hard to remain legal. They're very careful, so we can't simply tell them to leave, or call the cops. But that said...

We are working on several fixes for this situation, and we have a lot of really great ideas to try next year. I'll be sad that there won't be the hilarious mashups with the Jesus cosplayers, but it's worth it to ensure our attendees have a great time and don't get bothered by jerks.

Later when I moved up to the balcony at the end, I could only see roughly 1/4 of the audience being active.

That's not *too* unusual at a concert...

Me and my buddy feel that most of the audience was quite disrespectful to the band and am deeply saddened.

Well, they loved the audience! I don

I think...it was the chairs. I'd like to pin the  blame on the chairs because that's how I am.
Usually if it's a mosh pit (oh the danger), the energy is usually higher. The chairs set everyone so far apart from everyone else, it was...awkward.

That's true, but removing the chairs makes the crowd look much smaller, which makes the band sad.  :'(

Or maybe...because the people that went didn't know how to react at a live? The LM.C fans knew exactly how insane/fangirly (for lack of more exciting words) they needed to be. They're big fans so they've practiced the songs, and knew the dances.

I think that's part of it; I was surprised to hear how this was the first concert for many of our attendees. And the crowd for FLOW may have been more casual than, say, LM.C.

I was there near the front, and even then I could feel that people were just standing there. I feel a little bad for FLOW...since from the stage they must've seen the stoic...solid...statueness that is America.

Well, again, each and every member of the band personally asked practically every staff member if they could come back, so they seemed very happy with the experience.

Worst thing, IMO, is that it might not even stop some people.  I mean, most of the acts people are talking about here aren't exactly trackable unless they have a guard in the elevators and/or in the hallways.

Cameras...

It's pretty dreadful behavior on the part of the congoers responsible.  Hopefully it doesn't risk us being able to return to this locale or get discounts at the hotels in the future. :/  The employees back at Santa Clara used to always look at us ugly, even though we didn't do anything- I'd hate for it to happen again for an actual reason.

Sadly, it's a risk we run. The best we can do is to be friendly and respectful - and 99% of attendees are - so that everyone - hotel staff included - can enjoy the show.

Dunno if this is the right thread to ask this, but would it be okay to bring a giant purple balloon to the dance? xD; It's not helium-filled or anything rofl. (At least to my knowledge anyway; but it doesn't float lol.) It's practically just a beach ball filled with awesomeness. They had 'em at my Senior Ball on Saturday and they were fun to have just going around like a balloon volleyball while everyone was dancing. They seem to be difficult to pop (people did try lol) so unless someone purposely sticks a needle to it or something I'm sure that's not an issue. :3

I'll ultimately defer to Rovers on this one.

That said... how big is it? Do you just blow it up manually? Is it heavy? Do you think it is big enough to knock over or hurt someone? Could it knock over the speakers or lighting? Knowing this will help us make an informed decision.  :)

Personally I think the idea is fun, but I'm actually worried about it knocking over equipment... or landing on the lighting and catching fire...  :o

Sorry guys - sometimes the arcade company doesn't know what they can bring until the last minute. We also asked for the list later than usual... ^^; Hopefully we'll get it before the con. But, we did increase the number of games, and we're hoping you enjoy.  :)

You should have received an email on the staff mailing list about this yesterday. Please check it out and PM me if you have any questions!

The weather forecast for FanimeCon...  :-X

They're free, actually - you just need to work to get them...  ;)

Check the schedule on the website - I'm sure that will help you decide. Personally, I'd come Sunday; if you can stand the wait and the crowds, that'll be way more packed than Monday!

Let me share with your our budget...  ;)

Everyone has pretty much expressed the sentiment: it goes toward operating the convention, with a big chunk going to the rental and labor. (Labor as in union labor, not FanimeCon staff - which are all-volunteer, myself included.)

Tons of gotchas and auxiliary fees as well. We have a lot of money set aside for the likes of lawyers, accountants, ASCAP/BMI, insurance, and other things that are necessary to have the convention.

However, our biggest single cost are these forums. It is approximately 84% of our budget. Most of that money is used to make Mikey's signature sparkle.

The profit we make is generally used to replace or upgrade equipment, and is then applied to the next convention. By "profit" - I mean the money that we haven't used to light our cuban cigars. That we smoke while wearing tuxedos. And top hats. While lamenting the lagging output of our slave-labor factories.

Good answer good answer. I had the idea that large anime conventions like FC, AX, and Otakon are million-dollar entities.....or maybe that's just AX?

I would assume that with their numbers that AX is a huge entity; they also "outsource" a lot of their operation, and those things aren't cheap at all. In speaking with their Chairs last year, it was amazing to learn how expensive even the simple things are for them. I don't get the sense that they are something of a gigantic, faceless organization - but that they are so big that everything costs them extra.

When I first saw the title of Sneaking In, I thought it was going places without a badge.

This thread would have progressed much differently in that case.  ;D

Again, guys... you realize that hotel representatives read these forums, right? You should probably check with them before attempting to sneak in stuff - who knows, maybe they'll be ok with it. Otherwise... don't expect that "do not disturb" sign to actually stop them from checking your room - it won't, if they're after you...

I'd figure a sign that just said free hugs wouldn't be bad, or what if it's a t-shirt? Surely they can't take that away from you! ha ha :)

... but we could ask you to leave and not come back until you change. ^_^;;

You can thank the creepier people from last year's Hug Line for this new policy. Now, not everyone that participated in that were creepy, but some people took it too far. We're usually not so heavy-handed, but that gauntlet got us more complaints than anything, and personally freaked out a number of our staff.

Con ops?

Though awesome, ConOps is not an event.

Also internet cafe is win!!

Yep! We have wireless internet throughout the concourse for our attendees.

To reiterate, we're a 24-hour con in the sense that there's always something going on, 24/4. The gaming/egaming/arcade room is open 24 hours, as is video, stage zero, and more; the rest are a balance of day programming (such as panels) and night programming (like dance and karaoke).

[Check with the hotel]

... rice party? ...we're such a strange group...  :P

Two notes:
1. Check with the hotel before bringing rice cookers/hot plates/crock pots/whatever. They're not always allowed, and could get you evicted from the room!
2. Outside food and drink may not be allowed in the convention center... don't be surprised if a member of the SJCC asks you to take your food outside.

Im kinda worried about my department, since I asked [him] I wont say his name but im kinda worried whats going to happen to me.
My question is, how busy are the divisions and do they tend to forget their staff members?
I asked if I should come but i got no answer...
Keep this in mind I waited kinda of a long long time and im really worried here!

:-[

PM me your info =)

I'll be bringing about $10,000. Just for food.

Sadly, I'm of the age where I have the money, but don't want to part with it. I may spend $100-$200 in the dealer's room. A good chunk of that will probably be FanimeCon stuff - staff, attendee, and MusicFest t-shirts. ;D