Messages

Only $50? I guess fanime was saying up to $100 in order to include all hotels(that being the Fairmont).
I guess this makes it easier for me. A relief.

I think it's a problem with young people who just haven't been to enough concerts, especially Japanese ones, and part of that is also probably the cons' fault for not placing enough emphasis on music guests and also educating the attendees.

My group of con friends are generally older (probably 25-40s+) and they're also fairly introverted but nobody there has any issue with standing.  Hell, some of us even have old injuries and we will work through the pain if possible to keep jumping and standing during the concert.  But everyone in the group are veteran congoers who attend cons *specifically* for music guests, and a large number of them also make trips to Japan to attend lives there as well.

Actually since I'm on a rant, American con "dance" scenes are also pretty dismal IMO.  If a dance gets described at any point in time as a "rave" they've already failed.

Here is what anime music events at music clubs are like in Japan.
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/61017139 - Club Mogra (very famous, if any of you watched the anime Saekano, the characters actually go here in one of the episodes!)
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/60731753 - Sukimono

Even outside Japan, at Anime Festival Asia, they know what's up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrBcn8w9uVM - AFA Indonesia '13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV7SE9TmCeo - AFA Singapore '14

They get it over at Mexico too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjFxAsr1Kf0

Notice in all cases the very clear anime/vocaloid music with generally minimal amounts of remixing.

And then here's what happens in USA cons...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WOTq5-s9y8 - Fanime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gRkuXceQPY - Otakon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgaokBV9B2Q - Anime Expo

That AX video is especially telling of why I have such a dim view of the con culture here.

There really is nothing in the cons here that really shows people this aspect of the culture.  And I only got into it myself by luck from seeing people who knew this aspect, and continuing to keep in touch with them over the years.

It should be pointed out that dances and concerts are two different things. A concert at a con usually invovles a guest a lot of people want to see, and therefore people will be a little be more active than when seeing a dj.

Such as when Momoi was here at fanime. When she jumps on stage in this vid, you can see things go energetic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMrQ4aCRIAY

I just think posting that video of the dance at Fanime and saying that people here are slouches, is misleading.

Here we go again!

Glitch the Digital Demon does one of his Hentai Review episodes (but uncensored!) Watch him skewer a hentai series, but with all the juicy bits left in. And games where you could win a prize(lucky you!) Plus ask him any ridiculous question you may have.
18+ event (sorry kiddies)

Friday/Saturday, midnight - 1am. panels 2

Our facebook event link.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1434842813497014/




Yeah, you can pretty much tell which hentai is gonna be reviewed this year by that pic.

Depending on time, may come as Miko Mido from La Blue Girl. Heheh. 8D

If possible, I might bring my tentacle arm. ^^

I will be going as Tenchi this year, and two others will be Ayeka and Ryoko. :)

Thank you for everyone who attended! Here is the video of both nights. It was a great time and of course we can't wait to come back next year. ^_^


Saturday Nightt: 

Intro/Glitch(me)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75b9_GO3Gx8

Miguel Gama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqgwS6a155A

Spooky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYLUkq3ywDI

Dan Bublitz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIbCgLbxorE

Marina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRodRHJZg9w

Fazio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQeGHPcssDs

G.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyrLQUSNJtY

Dennis Pham
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72liQIooG6c

Hidden Hydra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwGal5_cNGY


Sunday Night: 
Rob
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IsWR6G2jF4

Raul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sCAUwpkH4Y

Matt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Sh7hAllZ8

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________


The Comedy Club at Fanime is back! We are coming to Fanime 2015 and we will attack your funny bone!(it won't hurt)
We are a stand up comedy show featuring comedians riffing on subject such as anime, comic books, conventions and such. Come on by for some good laughs.



Update: 05/12/2015
We have our line up! Here is the list of who performs on which night.



Saturday Night:
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM in Panels Room 2.

Miguel Gama
Spooky
Dan Bublitz
Dennis Pham
Marina
Fazio
G.
Hidden Hydra



Sunday Night: 
6pm-7pm in Panels 2

Rob
Soap
Raul



Let me know if you need to change your position on this line up. So we're not switching things around the day of the show. I also sent out an email with this info.

Try to arrive 15 minutes before the show starts. I will be waiting at the entrance for you guys. You can spot me by my cosplays. I'll be wearing a bright blue/teal jacket on saturday. On Sunday I'll be wearing a red wig.



_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you wanna be one of the performers? Well here is how to get in on the action.

How to apply.
Newbies and experienced comedians are all welcome. There is no audition process.
Send an email with the following info.

Name:
Email:
phone number I can reach you during the convention:
How you want to be introduced before your performance(otherwise I just say your name):

Email to [email protected]. Make sure to put "COMEDY CLUB" in the subject line(any questions you have can also be sent to this address).
People who have performed in previous years at the comedy club get guaranteed spots.

And also be ready to memorize and time your sets, and make sure it is comedy relating to anything geeky(that's kind of a given but just to clear all bases). If you go on about the wife and kids for a minute straight, I will get up(and ask politely that you stop it).

This is a 16+ panel. You can swear and talk about sex, but don't get graphic. As long as your sentences aren't entirely made up of curse words and you don't mention every precise detail of certain sex acts, you should be fine.

You get ten minutes for your set.

You must have a badge during the time of the panel.


Update: 04/12/2015
We are approved! and these are the dates given to us:


The Comedy Club at Famine
Saturday, 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM in Panels Room 2.

The Return of The Comedy Club
Sunday, 6pm-7pm in Panels 2


We still have room for sign ups. Once it is filled up we will have a waiting list. You can show up to the panel to see if anybody has dropped out or if we have time left over.
Usually people have some luck filling dropped spots. So don't worry.

If Fanime management is as transparent as you make it seem, why not simply come out and state that the convention is run and funded by a corporation?  Abolish the FFBF motto.  State that you are a 501(c)(6) in your guide book and website(s) like AX and every other con run by a corporation. As much as I complain about AX (albeit for many other reasons), I appreciate that they openly state that they're a business.  I am under no illusion when I attend AX that it is a grassroot, "buy local" type convention whereas with Fanime, I always got the impression that that's what management wanted everyone to think.

Fanime has always been pretty clear that are run by the Anime Resource Group(ARG). It's been said a few times during opening ceremonies. You can even find the logo and name in the Fanime program.
Unlike AX, all of Fanime's funding from attendees. They aren't getting sponsorship from corporate backers. Fanime has to answer only to their customers(aka attendees). It's ridiculous to say they shouldn't use "For fans, by fans" just because certain individual staffers broke Fanime's rules when it comes to guests of honor.
Honestly, Ax is way more hypocritical for saying they are non-profit, when they are basically one giant puppet for several companies.

[Disclaimer]

The real question you should be asking is if it's worth going to Fanime to you. If you feel your points are valid and justified, then perhaps it is best to forgo Fanime for you. You don't need our approval or agreement to determine what's best for you. Your opinion alone should be what matters in that decision, since it's you who is spending money to attend these conventions. The following is only my response to your listed concerns, which hopefully help to explain some of these things from a different perspective.

Disclaimer: I am not staff, nor have I worked for any convention aside from a small, local con, so consider the following information to be mostly casual research done by an outsider, rather than someone with inside knowledge in the structure of Fanime and other cons.

Fanime, as it states in its slogan, is "by fans, for fans." This is actually a big deal, considering some of the largest cons are basically run by organizations and corporations these days. Which, while that gives those conventions more power in the guest relations department, it can also take away a lot of control from the people who attend the event. Fanime has the advantage that they can listen to their attendees, because they don't have bigger organizations as their primary interest. They're fan-focused.

"Well, they don't do a good job in giving us what we want," you may be thinking. There are several comments I'd like to make to that, primarily that you're not going to like everyone they get. That's a fact. They cannot please everyone. But for every time you hate a guest they chose, there are at least several dozen that genuinely enjoy that guest choice. One of the biggest complaints are when cons go with American VAs over Japanese VAs. Sure, those might not appeal to older fans who are die-hard sub watchers, but have you noticed that conventions are tending to draw younger crowds? I won't speak for every young person, but I know that many of them are exposed to anime through American programming, which is by-far dubbed. Same-day dubbing is actually revolutionizing the industry and making the same shows you watch available to all types of viewers. American VAs are what they know. These guests are a big deal to them.  I don't think it's fair to focus solely on the older crowd (and by older, I don't just mean age, I mean time spent in the anime fandom) when it comes to determining guests, especially when our guest choices are much more expensive and difficult to bring.

Second, they have designated places that they encourage you to request the guest you want to appear (and they actually monitor and keep record of the suggestions). I don't see where that option exists for Anime Expo. Unfortunately, I don't see enough people take advantage of that offer, or if they do, they request guests in February when it's really late to be securing guests. Perhaps staff can make more of an effort to promote that option to people early on in the planning stages. Anyway, they at least make an effort to find out what guests that their attendees are interested in.


As others have stated, the main programming is reserved mostly for Saturday and Sunday, as those are the days with highest attendee count. Many people are in school or they work during the week, so it wouldn't make sense to put the biggest events on a Friday when many can't even attend. And with 24-hour schedules (which not every convention has), it's impossible to pack things that are relevant to every attendee in every hour.

There are a lot of things that this convention offers outside of Japanese guests. It is in a fantastic location, surrounded by hotels within walking distance and close to a large variety of food sources. There are excellent places for photoshoots for cosplayers and photographers. I've heard from many people that Fanime is pretty well-known for having excellent cosplayers attend. It's not extremely overcrowded. 24-hour programming. A wonderful artist alley and a huge dealer's hall. Typically great weather. Attention given to attendees. It actually had an enviable line-control system last year (heard from plenty of people who went to other cons that they wished that those cons were more like Fanime in that respect).

And hey, they even get some amazing guests to come to the US for the first time (and come back, like FLOW did, meaning the guests enjoy the experience as well). Those are just some great perks that Fanime has to offer.

I absolutely agree on the housing website mess, though. I think Fanime has long outgrown the services they get from CMR and either need to upgrade, if possible, or move to another provider. Whatever servers they're currently using are way below what is necessary to accommodate the amount of traffic the site now gets. Also, I'm hoping that they eventually roll-out the badge-before-hotel system they've been trying to implement (maybe badge-buyers get access to a unique code that gives them access to the hotel page before it's open to the general public, and there's a limit to how many rooms can be reserved under that code? I don't know.)

Those heading the convention this year are different from the previous few years, so I'm kind of excited to see what changes happen. So far, the website (a huge complaint that I, and many others, had last year) is revealed around the time it used to be revealed years ago (yay!). They've been a bit more transparent on progress than in the past, in my opinion. So other than the hotel problems, I think that these point to a promising year.

So, if, knowing this information, you are still not happy with the direction that Fanime has taken, then I think it would be a good idea to see what other conventions are a better fit for you. If it's Japanese guests you like, AX tends to do well with that because they've got connections and the budget. People talk positively about ColossalCon in Ohio, but that's less because of the guest list and more because it's hosted in a giant indoor waterpark. There's also ACen in Chicago and Otakon, which are both popular conventions.

Sorry for the wall of text.

Pretty much that. I was gonna mention the part of new chair myself. Things seem to be moving much faster and smoother in the lead up to this Fanime. Most of us were caught off guard by how early hotel registration came at us. All of a sudden it was like earlier years of Fanime.
This year is at least worth a look for the reason of change in the con.

I've been enjoying this show much, and the large cast would be great for a gathering. I figure there must others who also get laughs from this show.

I'm still contemplating who to cosplay. Toss up between Karma and Koro-sensei himself.

TMNT 2014 made more money than the 1st SpongeBob movie.

and more than Pacific Rim.

If the food you ate was terrible, you can always go to the local food joints near Fanime. I remember somebody making a list of the bets ones.

And when they do, it's never good news.

Here is the video of the event!(sorry it took long)

The intro/snippets of the hentai review I showed.(when the video starts)
The orgasm imitation contest - 1:08
The Q&A session - 9:25
Me tickling and smacking a girl on the butt with my tentacle: 10:34

That should be the highlights(don't worry, safe for work).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvUOuBTQkto

I wasn't aware that they were still showing it at Fanime. Technically, 2014 marked 15 years of Fanboy Bebop. 0_0
I hope something special is done when they reach twenty years.

Other works by Studio Sokodei are up on youtube(such as Evangelion Redeath and Nescaflowne). Unfortunately Fanboy Bebop isn't to be found.

Let's face it, Fanime has outgrown San Jose.

A more correct term is that Fanime has consumed San Jose. with each year, it takes more and more of downtown. And now it is going even beyond that.

I've heard staff say they don't want to move because the next biggest place is the moscone in frisco, and it is not exactly to their liking.

I wouldn't mind Moscone, but the decision isn't up to me. :P

The price for moscone is very expensive, and hotels WILL be more pricier than the ones in san jose!.. ALSO even though it's bigger, the venues are going to be hard to seperate from each other.

The biggest problem is traffic, and Raised ticket price!....

MOscone is nice, but i don't think i want to experience another horrible moment like wondercon did! (when san francisco held that)

I also heard that the hotels aren't connected to the convention center. At least I think a staffer said that.

Let's face it, Fanime has outgrown San Jose.

A more correct term is that Fanime has consumed San Jose. with each year, it takes more and more of downtown. And now it is going even beyond that.

I've heard staff say they don't want to move because the next biggest place is the moscone in frisco, and it is not exactly to their liking.

I feel like this is kinda cheating but there are auto-redialers apps out there and that's how I finally got through....

I just put in the 415 number and tell it how often to redial (every 3 seconds)

We do what we can to win. victory goes the smartest.

Uh..... Setting the bar lower eh?

I just don't see it. It's just every day cars with decals. Sorry if it was blunt. But you'll have better luck advertising vinyl decals.

What? I thought they were totally up to par with designs like these. #sarcasm

It sounds like who ever was put in charge this time said "get this thing going! Chop,chop!"

Yeah, this some butt-kissing but I'll go ahead post anyway.

A big thanks to the panels staff for really putting all the effort that they do. There's so much work that goes on during the panels operations.
And also for putting up with some of our stuff. I thought they were gonna lecture me and my cohorts about the streamers we threw over the heads of the audience. lol Luckily they were cool about it and shared some psycho donuts with us.

And of course my fellow panelists at Fanime. This convention gives a us chance to do stuff that other cons around the same size do not. We truly live up to the creed of "by fans, for fans" by having us,the fans, really participate and contribute to the uniqueness of Fanime. Let's keep pushing those new ideas.

You're all awesome.