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I've stayed at each hotel around the convention center. This year, I because of issues with the website this was the only hotel still available to me. At first I was very disappointed, as I had never stayed here before. But after this year I think I found my permanent 'home'.

The Saint Claire

Pros
-The hotel itself is beautiful. Very elegant and classy.
-The size. The hotel only has five floors. We were on the fifth floor and had a wonderful view of the park and the Fairemont.
-THE ELEVATORS. I still have nightmares of the Marriot's elevators and being crammed against the wall by sweaty con goers. Not only does the Saint Claire have a nine person limit but often times my friends and I were the only ones taking the elevator. The number of times we had people in the elevator with us I could count with one hand.
-The staff was very friendly and seemed to be enjoying seeing everyone in their costumes and would often ask someone about it. It made me feel like I was welcome and not an annoyance.
-Location. The hotel is about fifty feet away from the nearest entrance into the con. Something that me and my sore cosplaying feet were very grateful for.

Cons
-We had a single bedded room and it was a bit smaller then what I'm used to, but I had read that in previous reviews so it wasn't really the fault of the hotel.
-Parking. They only had valet parking so we had to find our own, which wasn't too difficult since we planned ahead of time where we were going to park.


Overall, it was a very pleasant stay and I'll be looking foreward to staying their again, especially with my extra bulky cosplays I have planned for next year.

Cons
-For the single bedded

I'm excited! Can't wait to see the line up!

Oh wow, this is at the exact time of the Final Fantasy gathering otherwise I would show up as Lady Phoenix Wright. That kind of stinks but I hope you have fun with your pizza party!

It's funny, I'm not normally a gatherings type of person, but I gave it a shot this year and had a blast!

You can count me in as Dead(ish) Aerith!

What do you mean by that? You mean being down at the convention center by yourself? You said you had your driver's license so you're at least sixteen years old. I guess it really depends on how much freedom your parents typically give you. For me, I had a job, was saving up for a car and pretty much paid for everything that wasn't absolutely necessary. So when I wanted to go to an event that was a few hours away and I was paying for my ticket and whatever expenditures there were going to be? Fine, whatever. Call when I get there and when I'm just about to leave. But I also had friends who weren't allowed to do things like that. They couldn't even walk to the store during lunch because their parents wouldn't allow them to.

Just explain how an anime convention works if they're not familiar with it. Tell them about how many people you're age are going to be there and how you'll finally get to interact with other people that like anime. Have certain times for you to check in with them during the day. If all else fails, invite your parents to come with you. I've seen a lot of parents do this and most of the time they find something to enjoy.

Well, opening up a conversation about it is the only way to go forward as this point. If the driving is the one and only issue holding you back, I'd suggest looking up the Carpooling thread and seeing if anyone is coming through your area.

[ Because I draw sexy female anime and comic book characters. Nothing gets female con goers all riled up then seeing anything sexually suggestive that isn't yaoi art or fan fiction.

See, I was mostly with you riiiiiiight until this part. As has been reiterated, your experiences differ from my own and I cannot speak for any women that have told you that they take issue with your artwork. But speaking as a recovered 'yaoi addict' (Can't even type that word without shuttering) I remember having a sort of animosity toward female protagonists because I felt they were 'getting in the way of hot sexy teims!'. Thankfully that all changed when a friend of encouraged me to become active in the LBGTQ community and I cut that shit out so fast I nearly gave myself whiplash.

Not all female con goers get offended by sexy and provocative artwork just because they're yaoi fans. Some of then probably feel like women are being objectified and feel they have to speak up.

If they were rude about it, then it really doesn't matter what points they have. Once civility is thrown away any possible chance of bringing up something of substance goes along with it.

My personal opinion on the subject is... 'eh, whatever floats your boat.' While I do find myself wondering what sort of protection a chain mail bikini would offer in battle, I'm not about to raise a stink over it anymore then I'm going to raise a stink over being smothered in Black Butler bodypillows when I walk down a crowded corridor. I may not like it, but that doesn't mean I need to demand everyone else stop liking it. I've been doing the convention scene for almost ten years. If I got my hand-stitched panties in a bunch over stuff like that I would stopped going to these things a long time ago.

And one last thing if you think all girls get all up in arms over this. Go check out the line for Hentai Nights sometime. I think you'll be surprised.

That being said I would love to visit your booth and maybe we could swap convention tales. From the sound of it you probably have quite a few.

Well, it certainly gives us something to discuss while we wait for Fanime to role around.

I think this whole incident is a good reminder to keep your project file, or screenshots of your work at various stages so if something like this should happen, you have all of your proof documented.

and if Vlad gets wind of this I wouldn't surprised if we never see another video make it to the finals in almost any con from this editor again.

Even if Vlad doesn't get involved, this guy has pretty much dropped off the face of the planet. I was trying to find his youtube account (which he deleted) and came across his twitter instead. I went to go grab some dinner and when I came back the account was gone.

I took my time watching both videos and comparing them and yeah, that's some pretty damming evidence. Wow... I can't imagine if someone did that with my videos. Makes me glad I've never deleted any of the project files for AMVs I've submitted to contests.

Well at least both Fanime and AX have this person's information. I don't know about Fanime but as far an AX is concerned he might be banned permanently from their competition.

I'm sorry this happened to you! I hope this does get dealt with quickly and efficiently. 

Yep! They play the same list in both rooms. It's played in 2 rooms to make sure that everyone who wants to see it can, since it's a big event. (It used to play across the street @ the concert hall.)

They do play the categories in different order in each room, though. This is to prevent an audio lag-echo from coming through the wall and messing up the experience.

I was pretty weird hearing my video in the other room one year. I had to fight the urge to dash over and see it, but I didn't want to be disrespectful to the entries that were currently on the screen in my room.

It's going to be EXTRA hard this year though since mine is a comedy entries and seeing how people react to your video is pretty vital.

I've always brought my friends with me to the showings, and I've never had an issue with it. The only time I ever remember sitting apart was back in 2010 during my first contest because I didn't know they could sit with me. They ended up sitting very close though.

Yeah! You can chill with the cool kids!

Action and Drama, How bout you?

Wow, you got into some pretty tough categories! Congrats!

Mine got into Comedy so now I can stop stressing about getting in and start stressing about how well it's going to do. Anime Conji showed me my video has a chance so now I'm excited to see how the audience reacts to it.

People can "cosplay" (if that name even counts for western rubbish) whatever they like. But its up to the convention to tell them otherwise when it comes to their event. Heck, its fANIMEcon for crying out loud. A bunch of folks costumed as figures of western media showing up to an anime convention is already awkward, and then asking them to make it all equal for everyone? What tenacity.
There are some people in this world (most true otaku) who don't want their weekend fully poisoned by the likes of which you speak. We already have Sac Anime and it's diluted western-filled experience.

And you know, I feel some comics and video games could be accepted...but disney?! homestuck!? etc...shoo shoo with all that rubbish. Go to disneyland, sac anime, or E3 lol.

If the new chairman ever sees this for some odd reason, I'd like him to remember that most long-time fanime goers like the con the way it is- its the closest to having a lot of hardcore otaku, and fanime usually reflects that by providing good Japanese guests (usually) and the maids, dealer's items, etc...there's just more of a real Japanese Anime fan experience than other events I've attended. Hoping the big staff change doesn't change much...its very easy for a convention to become overrun with garbage and turn into an "everything"-con. >__<

Last year we had a pile-up of editors on the forum posting while we eagerly awaited the emails. I wonder if we could hope for the same this year. :D

That would be fun. Nothing like a pile of nervous editors waiting to hear back from the higher ups.

This is my first AMV that I'm entering in contests, so I'm pretty excited and nervous to hear back soon.

Good luck! I remember the first time I submitted a video back in 2010 and I was a nervous wreak. Apparently that feeling never really goes away.

In all seriousness, I haven't attended one yet- but I probably should. Congrats on your awards!

Thank you! And if you do decide to go that would be totally awesome. I'd love to know which videos are yours!

I know I shouldn't be as nervous as I feel about the waiting. My last videos made it in and did fairly well. I guess since this is my first year submitting a comedy to Fanime I'm more anxious then I should be. I was going to submit the comedy I did last year, but I was trapped in bootcamp and didn't send it off before the deadline. Apparently I was missed lol.

But it's great to see so many entries and I'm sure it's going to be a fantastic contest!

For what it's worth, I've been entering Fanime's AMV/FMV Contest for... uh... 9 years (?) and if you're anything like me, that feeling never goes away. But that makes it all the more exciting if/when you get the good email. :D

Have you sent your vid anywhere else? Has it done well? That'd probably be a good indicator of  getting in to Fanime. :)

Let's see, I sent it out to Anime Conji first and it won Best in Comedy and Best in Show (first time I've ever won that) so I'd like to think that's a good sign, lol.

But wow, 9 years?! Are you going to be at the AMV meet and greet? I would love to meet a veteran and get some in-person advice on how to really step up my game.

I know I shouldn't be as nervous as I feel about the waiting. My last videos made it in and did fairly well. I guess since this is my first year submitting a comedy to Fanime I'm more anxious then I should be. I was going to submit the comedy I did last year, but I was trapped in bootcamp and didn't send it off before the deadline. Apparently I was missed lol.

But it's great to see so many entries and I'm sure it's going to be a fantastic contest!

Not to worry! A Comedy entry will be on its way in the morning or afternoon!