Messages

I think its a tired, boring and unoriginal idea. It's an anime convention, I would expect anime themes, not lowering the bar to satisfy a pop-culture fashion statement.

=(
I don't believe that we're lowering the bar - We pick our themes to be fun while capturing the spirit of FanimeCon.

What is the spirit of FanimeCon?

I don't know if there's any fun to be found in grim and stoic at an anime convention, but hey, you guys run the show. I just pay to stand in line for 6 hours. Lol.

I think its a tired, boring and unoriginal idea. It's an anime convention, I would expect anime themes, not lowering the bar to satisfy a pop-culture fashion statement.

Just as an FYI, the only major anime convention in the United States that mails out their badges (that I know of) is Anime Central.

Then we'll be happy to see FanimeCon become the second major anime convention to mail out their badges for 2013.

Improve on my N7 Armor, to be a better Shepard next year.

Lobby to get Fanime to mail out pre-reg badges to help us all avoid the Super Six-Hour Sharktopus Octoshark Ultra Kicky M-M-M-M-Monster Killing Fields Mega Line.

[Hotel Name]

Hotel Name: Hilton

Would You Book Next Year: Yes

Pros:

- It was very quiet this year, they had a security guy roaming the hall ways frequently.

- I also loved that even on some of the busiest moments, the elevators were not a problem.

- Bar & Grill downstairs was convenient.

Cons:

- They still allowed non-guests to take up the limited parking spaces they had. I was limited to remaining in the area in order to NOT lose my parking spot, considering they charged me $40 for it (and they still didn't guarantee I'd have a spot).

- They wouldn't allow anyone to pick up a cart to move stuff to the hotel room, they forced a staffer to tag along. I hate this because it kind of pressures me to tip the guy for doing the work I didn't ask him to do. They claim they've always done this, but having been at Fanime every year since ever, and staying at the Hilton most of the conventions at SJ, this was never the case before.

- Bar closed too early, 12 am really? Also the bartender, tho nice, didn't do a good job with making drinks. None of them were powerful enough to give me as much as a smirk, and that's after drinking $40 worth of random drinks.

Special Notes to Share:

I purposefully chosen the Hilton for one reason, the elevator situation. Everywhere else is a mess, at the Hilton, it was smooth at all times this year.

I dont know about sending badges out in the mail....it would either get lost in the mail, people would loose them or forget to bring them.

That can be taken care of in the same manner as lost badges during the con itself.

I want the option to have mine sent to me.

Meow.

[Positives]

Positives

- Panels. Many more of them were right up there with my personal interests, so I spent a great deal of time hunting them down and attending. I hope there are more next year.

- Clockwork Alchemy. I found this to be much better than Fanime itself, too bad it was so far away.

Negatives

- 6 hour line of the infinite. As I said in a topic that was locked, I know Fanime has no control over the power outage, but a pre-reg line can be avoided entirely if only badges were mailed out to people before the con starts.

- During the mega line, rovers were starting to break down, communications were not happening, and each one started to deviate from their coordination plans (as over heard many times). As such, a section of line was placed in front of ours, even though those people came in an hour after we showed up. That line added another hour of waiting for the rest of us.

- A Rover (in a makeshift Pikachu cap) allowed people to cut in front of us, not sure if they were his friends or not, but I was pretty ticked off about being in line for 6 hours and these clowns were there for 15 minutes. As stated before I would have stomped them down if only I could feel my legs. Normally I would have started a conflict considering I was already pretty upset about the delays, but fatigue saved that couple.

- Rovers. I didn't have any problems with any of them during the actual con, but just a few during pre-reg. By the front of the line where the next 1+ hour delay hit, rovers started eating food in front of people. A whole group of them. I understand the need to eat, but considering many of us were in line for 6+ hours, it doesn't help to smell food and see them having a jolly good time eating -- as if we were being teased. Surely there was another place to eat.

- Shuttles didn't seem to have a scheduled time on when they would arrive and depart. It was a mess.

- The pocket guide didn't specify that Clockwork Alchemy was at the Double Tree. The panel room names at the Hilton (such as Santa Clara, San Jose, etc) were the same as Double Tree, so we spent a lot of time hunting them down at the Hilton! That caused not only confusion, but even made us miss a panel we really wanted to go to. Asking a rover and showing her the pocket guide, she had no idea what it was either (so I know it wasn't just us). She did point us to someone else who did know, so at least we were helped, by then it was too late.

Suggestions

- I don't see why pre-reg/early-reg badges can't be mailed out to people before the event. Live Nation does it all the time, and they host more people per event than Fanime does. The convention grows in size of attendees, but the registration process remains the same. Even the same amount of registration booths remained the same. Your staff is simply not able to handle the huge load of people in a reasonable amount of time. Standing in line for hours before the con wears me down to the point to where I almost no longer want to be at the con.

- Pre-reg line. The line is huge, but I think it's more to do with the fact that group leaders are tagged along by non-group leaders, standing in line with their friends. I think you guys should check to see if only the group leader is in line to pick up badges and kick everyone else out. It would probably shorten the line significantly.

The actual convention however was fine, it was just getting things going that was really bumpy and those fixes aren't that difficult to implement.

Kupo, it's not called Rave. It's a Dance. :p

Anyway, I liked the panels this year, I've been to a few and it was awesome. I spent half the time in the hotel finishing my costume (to make up for the 6-hours of time I lost in the pre-reg line), but over all everything I did try out, I liked. The Clockwork Alchemy at Double Tree was awesome.

The con itself was good, I think you guys did a great job. I really did like many of the panels, I've been to a few and loved them.

The part I hated the most was the 6 hour pre-reg line. I understand that you had no control of the power outage, but I think if pre-reg badges would start being mailed out to addresses it would solve that issue completely. The current setup for registration worked fine when the con was smaller, but as it got bigger, the method of registration remained the same. I think you guys need to re-think this.

I also noticed that the rovers coordinating the pre-reg lines weren't always coordinating well and were often confused, and even placed an entire section of people in line ahead of others (even though they came in an hour later). The one thing that did frustrate me was that when finally we were getting closer to picking up the badges after waiting 6 hours, a rover allowed people to cut in front of us. Normally I would have stirred up an issue with this and possibly got into it with the people cutting, but I was so tired from standing that long that I didn't deal with it. It wasn't fair to be standing there for hours only for people jump into the line and wait only 15 minutes. Seriously, I wanted to stop them down, and I would have if only I could have felt my legs.

The construction was a bit of a put off, but nothing you can do about it. Everything else really is beyond your control so I'm not going to blame Fanime for the little nagging things.

Hopefully this will inspire discussion about mailing pre-reg badges to people's homes instead of having people stand 6 hours in line.

Last year I was in line for nearly 3 hours after arriving after 5pm.

Not this time buddy. I was in line for 6 hours. So far, Fanime 2012 is starting off quite badly.

Last year I was in line for nearly 3 hours after arriving after 5pm.

I am wondering why I decided to build armor for a Commander Shepard armor at the last minute. :(

Last year I had no problem connecting my HDMI Xbox into the TV at the Hilton.

I don't support any of the occupation movements. It's just the 'entitlement class' attempting to gain something by not earning it, and wanting other people to pay for it. It's all about their personal greed at the expense of others.

Will be going as Commander Shepard in full N7 Armor. Only 16 days left to finish it, barely got torso section done during the last 10 days. :(

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/471867_10151071691696679_657926678_12989413_2100009457_o.jpg

Hoping to see other Mass Effect cosplayers out there. I don't wanna be the only clown trying to protect everyone from the Reaper Invasion. :p

[as well as a physical* one]

Current (and backup) plans are to have schedules available online as well as a physical* one. =)

*We've learned our lesson... Promise!

Thanks. I'm sure you'll need more than a physical one, unless you're planning on some kind of Battle Royale and award it to the winner. :)

Perhaps  "Looking for people to hang out with" badges can be made, turning this topic into an actual (unofficial) Fanime event, that way it would be easier to identify us at the convention. Perhaps a bright orange or green tag/badge people can wear... or something like that. :P

As silly as it sounds, it would serve a purpose or two, as an ice breaker, and to easily identify those specifically looking for people to hang out with. Simple. Direct. To the point with minimal effort. :o

So... is there like a secret hand shake we have to perform to acknowledge we're all chummers at Fanime?