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that goes the other way too..

don't let anyone use your badge... that's just.. a big no-no.. they're probably get it taken.. and then you'll have to go to ConOps to pick up your "lost" badge.. and explain why you let someone borrow it.

[Pre-Reg lines/Times]

Another thing I noticed was attitude by some rovers. I didn't get their names, and I was so tired that I can't really give a description - nor do I really want to, as maybe they were just having a bad day - but I didn't really appreciate being talked to in the manner they did. The first incident was as I was walking down the designated walkway by stage zero. I was quite angrily snapped at to keep moving I was blocking traffic. While I understand that blocking traffic is not a good idea, there was a small child who tripped in front of me. I most certainly was not going to just stomp over this kid, I stopped to give him the space to stand up and brush himself off.

Pre-Reg lines/Times I was going to show up on Thursday to pick up my badge, only to get stuck in traffic. It passed the 8 o'clock time limit, so I went back home. I was later told that the line wasn't cut off until 9:30. It would have been nice to know that before I wasted a lot of gas. I expect times to be more or less honored.

^^ two things i want to clarifiy and make sure you understand..

"angrily snapped" at you? are you sure it wasn't just a stern loud voice to make sure you got the message.. vs... "i'm in a pissed off mood.. GTFO!" type of manner? rovers can't fix a problem you're addressing if you can't tell us who it actually was. i wasn't there to witness the incident.. but nonetheless that walkway needs to have continuous traffic flow..

funny how in this very same topic, you have other attendees complaining about just that. one of those, "sorry, but we can't please everyone" situations i guess.. sorry.

the maturity level as addressed, no way... if anything.. the attendees were very much LESS mature than previous years... it is most apparent during the late hours.. especially during dance. if anything... the maturity levels you witnessed were because of Rovers keeping things in order.. and made sure those immature folks were taken care of so you could enjoy the con.

pre-reg on Thursday.. the lines were capped off at 8pm... which means anyone who came after 8pm.. could not get in line.. of course Registration still needed to be open until much later to finish off everyone else.. and i believe you heard wrong.. the line wasn't cut at 8pm.. and the lines finished at 9:30pm

volunteers.. unfortunately.. receive the least amount of training out of anyone that helps with the convention.. most don't show up for meetings.. and when being assigned to a station.. they barely get any training, and get inadequate instruction...

that always happens.. and needs to be addressed more on the volunteers side... but hopefully fixed or at least implemented better in the future.
water stations, i agree were kinda lacking.. i really don't know what happened there.

the biggest thing i remember was the MASSIVE crowd control issues in front of Stage Zero... but last year, someone was smart enough to tape down that "roadway" and attendees used it properly and kept traffic moving as it should've. Before that was implemented.. IT WAS HORRIBLE.. many Rovers had to be stationed in that area to instruct people to keep moving.. and that took away manpower that would've otherwise be better elsewhere.

this year, the roadway was taped down again... but it seems a lot more attendees didn't care.. and as such.. some stopped in the middle of the roadway.. causing traffic issues. as a staff member, in my opinion... i would not mind another attendee to help self-police the crowd and tell people to keep moving when they should. if other attendees become rude to you, then you can go and seek help. we love attendees that help us find and fix problems.

observing from the outside, yes, there was a some mis-communications that happened.
I knew there was no way that glowsticks would not be, not allowed at Momoi's concert... oh no way.. but for regular dance.. i heard they were not allowed minus the thin necklace/wristband-ish like ones.

but i certainly remember the guy who thought it was a good idea to break open one of those glowsticks years ago and poured it on himself..
(uh.. toxic.. and.. broken glass?!) IIRC, rules about glowsticks were pretty much non-existent until that incident.. so.. yeah... you can blame THAT GUY... he certainly ruined your fun.

and.. eww about the couple under the table... i heard about that.
also.. the majority of issues that stem up during the entire convention... are during dance events.
it's emphasized over and over that Fanime is a dry convention... don't be dumb and show up intoxicated... or even worse, with alcohol.

trying to pass off with a badge that doesn't belong to you, or with one that is fake.. doesn't fly either.. so you only have yourself to blame if you get caught.

Seriously people?? seriously?

I've been attending Fanime and have been behind the curtains this entire time... in many ways.. holding back the need to register for this forum.
Reading over these complaints... I have crawled out of my hiding... and will place my feedback. If you find me rude as such.. than it shall be.. but most of the stuff I'm seeing are from a very select few that had some disappointing moments.. and does not reflect on the overall success of the convention this year. And for goodness sake.. DO NOT take my opinions and think that just because I am staff myself, that it reflects upon the rest of us. That's just being ignorant.

I will agree on the aspect where schedules were lacking.. but knowing that things were thrown upon the staff almost only a week before the convention itself started.. it is NOT THEIR FAULT that things went the way it did.

Such "rudeness" from the staff that you may have experienced, I would have to say from observation, can be blamed from to the rudeness of the ATTENDEES. As conventions of any sort, or of any genre grow.. you get more and more individuals who are nothing more than belligerent folks who make the job of the staff much more difficult. Each attendee needs to be treated the same way from all the staff.. and as such.. they need to make judgement to do what they need to to keep order. If that requires enforcing rules they were told to enforce in a stern manner.. then why would you be complaining about them just doing their job?! I witnessed behind the scenes of how many intoxicated people they had to deal with. Not to be a killjoy, but it is very much emphasized that Fanime is a DRY CON. I have no sympathy for those that fail to abide that rule.. and you can blame them for ruining your fun.

Now... continuing on with "proper training" of the staff.. I don't know what other departments do.. but with Rovers in particular.. they were given PLENTY of training.. and to the point where they have implemented proficiency tests to filter out people. There's ALWAYS an understaffing issue.. and as the con grows.. and as more and more people who want to join staff increases as well... it makes it more difficult to make the balance between filtering out people vs. making sure we have enough.. I'm sure a few slithered their way in.. having that knowledge.. but perhaps poor application was witnessed. There is absolutely NO WAY you can be trained for that... that only comes from on-hand experience.

With regards to the military outfits and uniform stuff... the people you had to deal with (probably rovers)... the people that had to tell you no.... they weren't the ones that made the call.. they were following orders from higher ups.. where, from somewhere.. made the decision that it was the proper thing to do. Does that make those higher ups correct? no.. they're human... we make mistakes... but to complain about the person "power tripping" only because they were doing what they were told to do?? SERIOUSLY? You're going to whine about that? Sorry, but that's the way it is.

(FYI, I'm former military myself.. and we have plenty of active and former active military on our staff that have the same thoughts and concerns)

If you really have an issue with a particular staffer, do what any person would do: Take their name, and file a complaint. It's that easy. You can't complain about an entire group of staffers or a certain department off of what one or a few people that you had a bad experience with.

I suppose I'll add something else about me that might help with my credibility: I have worked at MANY different conventions, along with AX (which you guys seem to love to compare Fanime to).. and there is no comparison for me. Fanime is the most organized group of staffers for what they need to do.. and with what they have to work with. I parted my ways with AX during the 2010 staff walk-out... and guess what? Did you see the numerous complaints on the AX 2010 staff??? SOOO MUCH more worse than I have ever seen... and nowhere close to how bad some of you guys make this year's Fanime seem to be.

Other things I saw earlier in this topic:
- something about bootlegs being sold in the Dealer's hall? Simple solution.. report them. They are not supposed to be selling them.. obviously.. and unless you tell someone... WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING.
- Money stuff: with regards to reg. prices.. and dealers price gouging... People already answered about the economy, exchange rates, as well as operating fees that you guys seem to forget about. No further commenting needed.
- video rooms: contact Fanime and make sure your input is heard, but again.. agreeing with other people, I liked the setup they did.
- crowd control: staff can only do so much.. and unless YOU GUYS HELP us (by self-policing lines, cooperating with staff, etc)... we can't really help you beyond that.

In the meantime.. having being stuck at the Autographs room the entire day Sat & Sun... I have to thank everyone who came by that helped make my job easier. I personally am sorry about how long the lines got and profusely have to apologize to those that could not get an autograph. I think we did the best we can to be able to get that many people through with how things had to be set up. In only one hour, Yuya was able to sign close to 400 autographs each on both Sat and Sun.. which was amazing (~800 in 2 hrs total?!). FLOW, even with a 2-hr session on Sunday.. I think the numbers were just under 600 because of slower pace that we got from having a 5 person group. That, I know... and AM VERY SORRY for those who couldn't make the cut... even after we even capped off the line, towards the end.. we still had to cut a large group. :(