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I've been a fanimaid for two years, and it really is one of the highlights of my Fanime experience. As many other maids have said before, meeting random people is slighty scary (and at the same time quite a pleasant thrill). Even though I had public speaking experience as well as memories of being a maid before, I was still very nervous when interacting with the customers last year.  I still have no idea about how to carry on a conversation.This is completely normal. You don't have to act specially or cater to some sort of specific personality. Just be yourself, and conversation will figure itself out. In fact, many of the customers are happy to do a lot of the talking, and just appreciate a listening ear! There are quite a few customers I've met who were content to just talk and forgo the mini-games altogether haha.

Ditto on what some have stated before, about staying professional but sweet. No need to take it over the top if you don't feel comfortable with it or if you feel it isn't in your character to do so. It really is true that many customers have never heard of a maid cafe. I remember a few instances where people came to just get food, and were surprised when the maid were not just waitresses, but would also keep company. It's also not just young anime fans who eat at the cafe. Some examples of customers I've served:

-Guys who work in Silicon Valley who came for the day and have little to no idea about what anime is.
-Couples with small children
-Parents tagging along with their kids, who grew up watching very old anime.
-Parents who speak little to no English

So, kind of a funny story with that last example. I asked if the girl would like to add extra moe by doing a cute chant with me over her soda (like I've seen done on youtube), and the mom looked at me like I'd just suggested spiking her daughter's drink with drugs. Ahahaha. No matter what happens, even if you end up derping, just remain calm and patient. The other girls and veteran maids are always around if you have any questions or need any help.

Best of luck,
Ling

I'm talking about people from the existing convention attendee pool. Certainly, there might be some people who are more motivated to attend a convention (who have not been to Fanime before) if they knew that an artist who has performed the theme songs to their anime. However, I see any increase due largely in part to this reason to be minimal at best. Unless you can get an artist who is outrageously popular, so popular that people would go to the convention solely to see the artist perform, I don't see the attendee numbers rising just for this.

FLOW and Perfume, please!

Sorry for waiting so long to write a reply to this thread. I actually planned to make a review right after Fanime but school took my mind off of it.

I have to say, I had the most fun at the dances this year, and it was my 7th year at the con. I have no idea what the glow stick restriction was about, since my friends and I got through with our little glow sticks no problem. I did think it was interesting that this year, Fanime switched the placement of the stage. I remember in past years, it was on the far end of the room, but this year it was on the closer wall. That was a good idea, since it felt like more people could dance close to the music (while in the other formation there was a giant empty area near the entrance).

As for the music, I think the DJs did very well. There was the usual electronic/techno stuff (sorry, not a music buff) and some dubstep (which I don't think is a type of music made for dancing). But what really stuck out to me was the kpop mixes. It had to have been either Saturday or Sunday night, but right in the middle of the normal Fanime rave music, the DJ began to spin Kpop into there. And my friends and I just went wild. I'm talking about screaming at the top of our lungs, jumping around like we were high, and crying tears of joy type of wild. Because honestly, that mix was so easy to dance to, plus we were already familiar with the music so we followed along with moves from the music videos. I distinctly remember hearing After School and Kara in that mix. So thank you very much, DJ Peter Lo, or whoever that awesome person was. That mix made the dance one of the most memorable moments of the con.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the smaller dance room. however, a few of my friends went there, and told me about it afterwards. Apparently it was small, and a very intimate setting. For some, they thought that atmosphere was awkward. I had another friend who thought it made that dance the best thing in the world. The location did seem to be a bit weird though; right in the middle of the dining area. Maybe that can be improved in the future?

As for music for next year, here's what I would suggest. Keep playing that rave-ish music, whatever that is. I took a quick look at the 'request music for 2012' thread, and I had to laugh at some of the responses. Unless you can make an electronic remix of jazz, just leave that slow and instrumental music for the black and white ball. Also, please continue to play Kpop sets. The Korean music scene is becoming extremely popular, and many people that I know even listen to it more than Jpop now. Plus, many of the songs are great for dancing to. As for the Jpop, it might be a good idea to look at popular new anime themes (new anime series in the winter or spring, for example) as well as mix it with older anime songs that have a good history with the dance crowd. I'd also love to hear some of the top 40 songs in there as well. I'm talking stuff that you'd hear at a college party (Lady Gaga, Rihanna, an so on...).

I feel like, at the moment, headliner DJs would not be very beneficial to the con. People who may recognize them represent a small portion of the convention crowd, and many people just go to the dances without knowing who is playing, just looking for something good to dance to.Unless that person can incorporate different music into their sets to make it more diverse (tailor is to the Fanime crowd), just save the budget money for something else. Almost everyone going to the convention watches anime, so having an artist who is related to anime would bring much larger crowds.

Merry Go Round of Life - Joe Hisaishi (from Howl's Moving Castle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31nOaXSeqSo

Mata Ashita! (Ouran High School Host Club)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blmr3KodrQI

Groovin' Magic - Round Table feat. Nino (Die Buster)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f8oKenOP_U

Bad Apple! (Touhou)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3C-VevI36s

Selenite - Rurutia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBGRnvsQGcw

Umbrella - YUI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_p3gasQVqc

Aural Vampire