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FanimeCon: Participate, Join, Create => Ideas and Suggestions => Topic started by: citrus on April 08, 2015, 02:46:13 AM

Title: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on April 08, 2015, 02:46:13 AM
Hey fanime! As of this post its april 9th 2015. Are you just going to keep using your ink so hard that you can't extract anything anymore or are you EVER GOING TO ANNOUNCE YOUR GODDAMN GUESTS!? Oh and news flash everybody. Fanimecon has already announced some of their guests for their steampunk convention counterpart. Yet we have not gotten a SINGLE announcement for their anime convention which it originally started and is their cream of crop. And their has not been any announcements for the convention in general. I know all of you staff are reading this! I know one of you is online every single day! If you are. Why don't you provide answers why guests announcements haven't been announced. Or anything about the convention has been updated?

Oh wait... no matter how many times I ask none and I mean NONE of you are willing to answer! Is it because you can't answer not without getting in trouble? Thats right you never clarified anything like that because nothing has been provided. This is what I think. Either the staff is super lazy or you KNOW your guest roster is going to suck and you won't announce it until very late!

Join the staff you might say to see if I can change things or make a true change? As far as I'm concerned one is already doing that for us and has not made any progress so far.

"i'm really digging how you never answer any of your attendees on any form of social media. you handled your line fiasco, but how about you do something about this lack of communication?"

"Soooo... Guests?"

"Any updates on guests? Or who's getting into Artist Alley? The convention is seven weeks from Friday."

All quotes from facebook, They complain about two things. No guests announcements and LACK of communication with any of your fans. And if you value your fans then COMMUNICATE THEM AND ADDRESS THEIR CONCERNS! But no, as from what I've seen my vocalization is going to remain fruitless and the staff will continue to ignore me. So go ahead and continue to ignore me fanime. Continue to disappoint me and other certain fans that feel the same way as I do. Don't want to disappoint me? Then address and me prove me wrong!
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on April 08, 2015, 02:48:48 PM
Actually, citrus, there ARE some guest announcements as of today on the website. Do you even check it?? Guessing not since all you seem to do is complain, but that's just my two cents. Carry on.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on April 08, 2015, 03:07:21 PM
Quote from: Angelx624 on April 08, 2015, 02:48:48 PM
Actually, citrus, there ARE some guest announcements as of today on the website. Do you even check it?? Guessing not since all you seem to do is complain, but that's just my two cents. Carry on.

Well I apologize If I seem to act rash or angry most of the time. And yes I always DO check every single day for guests announcements. I was not aware as of today on this post that fanime FINALLY made some guests announcements. And in ways I think I have rights to complain, since this is an important issue and it's been what many have been anticipating. If the convention would actually post some guests or showed that they are working hard sooner I wouldn't complain or rage so much. I don't have much to complain for now at least...but since fanime has finally decided to budge with progress, I'll try to trust them and not complain.

Yes I apologize for always complaining everyone but I can't help be on edge with extreme lack of progress in the past few months. But I think that might change now. Still it wouldn't HURT to communicate and ensure there fans they are indeed working...
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: echoshadow on April 08, 2015, 08:30:08 PM
Quote from: Angelx624 on April 08, 2015, 02:48:48 PM
Actually, citrus, there ARE some guest announcements as of today on the website. Do you even check it?? Guessing not since all you seem to do is complain, but that's just my two cents. Carry on.

Holy flying squirrels , batman!!
With only less than 5 weeks away from showtime, they just TODAY posted up 1 guest? And two side performers. How are you not upset at this too?

There is zero need to apologize citrus. I would in fact I'll keep saying what's wrong with Fanime. In fact I really don't see why we shouldn't be grabbing pitch forks and torches this late in the game. 

For the second biggest con in California, to be this disorganized complaints should be flying like crazy.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on April 08, 2015, 09:17:58 PM
Quote from: echoshadow on April 08, 2015, 08:30:08 PM
Quote from: Angelx624 on April 08, 2015, 02:48:48 PM
Actually, citrus, there ARE some guest announcements as of today on the website. Do you even check it?? Guessing not since all you seem to do is complain, but that's just my two cents. Carry on.

Holy flying squirrels , batman!!
With only less than 5 weeks away from showtime, they just TODAY posted up 1 guest? And two side performers. How are you not upset at this too?

There is zero need to apologize citrus. I would in fact I'll keep saying what's wrong with Fanime. In fact I really don't see why we shouldn't be grabbing pitch forks and torches this late in the game. 

For the second biggest con in California, to be this disorganized complaints should be flying like crazy.
Believe me, I have my complaints, too, but you don't see me literally attacking the forums with mostly complaints. I guess that's just what I get for being more of a positive person. But suit yourself.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: echoshadow on April 08, 2015, 11:26:08 PM
Quote from: Angelx624 on April 08, 2015, 09:17:58 PM
Believe me, I have my complaints, too, but you don't see me literally attacking the forums with mostly complaints. I guess that's just what I get for being more of a positive person. But suit yourself.

I'm a positive person too, BUT I'm an adult that expects some professionalism from Fanime.
Not sure why smaller two or three day anime cons local and across the country, that are mostly run by "starving" college students, can run things on schedule than a anime con that's in the middle of Silicon Valley. 

By complaining on what is wrong, it makes Fanime's upper management take notice on things they assume are going right, and corrects them. Perfect example: day zero badge pick up lines. It took about 3 years to finally get it right. If it wasn't for that massive complaints on 2013, I'm petty sure upper management would have thought things would be going smooth as usual.

I don't consider attacking the forums by complains, I consider them as tough love attitude. Like a  figuratively slap up the head to wake up some dude sleeping on the job. 
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: cutiebunny on April 09, 2015, 12:27:32 AM
Quote from: echoshadow on April 08, 2015, 11:26:08 PM
By complaining on what is wrong, it makes Fanime's upper management take notice on things they assume are going right, and corrects them. Perfect example: day zero badge pick up lines. It took about 3 years to finally get it right. If it wasn't for that massive complaints on 2013, I'm petty sure upper management would have thought things would be going smooth as usual.

And therein lies the problem; With the exception of a handful of people, no one is complaining.  It's just the same 10 people or so.  Management doesn't care because their bottom line has yet to be affected.  As long as record numbers of attendees show up every year, there is really no incentive to announce things earlier.

I'd be willing to bet that Yamaga will be at Fanime again this year.  Because Yamaga is at Fanime almost every year.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: SweetNiar on April 09, 2015, 07:49:17 PM
Incentive or not there should be announcements about guests well before April.  Have they even used Twitter and Facebook to announce these guests?  Or anything lately? :\
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on April 10, 2015, 07:05:39 PM
Alright, you do have a point there. The badge pick-ups did finally see a major step up last year, and I was relieved about that. Though I would hope that us continuing to suggest guests in the threads regarding those matters would hopefully make a light bulb go off in their head, that since we continue to throw out names of big-name guests, they would realize that maybe it's about time they actually tried harder in getting them. I don't know, I mean I see that they do see our suggestions, but what we're not sure of is how hard do they try in actually getting those guests??
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on April 11, 2015, 02:43:25 AM
Quote from: SweetNiar on April 09, 2015, 07:49:17 PM
Incentive or not there should be announcements about guests well before April.  Have they even used Twitter and Facebook to announce these guests?  Or anything lately? :\
They do... but they BARELY even use it and they never communicate with the fans complaints either. Both on facebook, twitter and the forums themselves. Given the lack of objection or comments from the staff themselves. They just give me the impression, they could care less about their fans.

And I've said it once and I'll say it again. They're tagline "For fans by fans" and pardon me for my french is full of bull**** now. If it's so much for by fans. They would address their fans complaints, be more organized and overall do a better job with the convention. That tagline use to be fairly valid but not anymore. Given with how the convention has performed. I don't think they even deserve it if they have unhappy attendees going to other competitors for a good time. Or have others constantly badmouth the convention through other competitors convention forums. I recently attend Sakura-con for the first time. While it did have a fair amount of issues. I was able to overlook them due to their fairly solid guest roster and programming. I had an immensely good time compared to the last few years of fanimecon. And when I was at Sakura-con I overheard 3 people talking about fanime and one of them said "Isn't fanimecon 50% full of **** now?" And all three of them agreed that it has really gone downhill. One of them I know was a vendor and also a recent staff member of another con called Touhoucon.

While I have no idea what issues a vendor deals with at fanime but it's clear that even people that sells things during the con agree with the general attendees. Artists included to I bet.

I also got some information from the fanime facebook staff straight out of their mouth. Shocking!

"There's never going to be an "early enough" time to announce everyone, but we still have to wait until everything is confirmed. There's not much we can do other than wait for things to be confirmed and unfortunately it is preferred to not mention guests that we are in negotiations with."

So from what I'm understanding is. The reason why your not announcing guests is because your STILL negotiating for guests and waiting for them to confirm?! Now I understand that it does take time to negotiate and confirm guests fanime had an ENTIRE YEAR to negotiate for guests! Now I want to know is. What the heck has the staff been doing for the entire year then!? As far as I'm concerned either the staff is super lazy and decided to progressinate or the staff who is in charge of negotiating guests is absolutely horrible with their jobs! Maybe if they had done a better job in the first place we would get earlier announcements! And yes I understand that you can't announce EVERYONE early. But you could at least confirm some at an early time! For example take my local animecon sac-anime. The convention is held every 6 months meaning it has a summer and winter con. And before even the con started they already had 8 guests that were going to be either at the summer or winter show confirmed on a flyer they had at-con. So what does this mean? It means that the staff are actually GOOD at their jobs! Or for example a big con like AX. While last year was their worst year ever. They had at least announced some guests 3-4 months prior to the con, giving enough time for people to decide whether or not they should go!

I'm reading other threads and just because fanimecon racks in the most money for San Jose out of all other events doesn't mean its GOOD! While not everyone convention is perfect, the complaints I have for some of them I can overlook easily. But for fanimecon's case? They got too many problems that it's highly unacceptable!

I only pray fanimecon will get their act together one day...
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: cutiebunny on April 11, 2015, 08:07:08 PM
I dunno, Citrus, but I think your energy could be better spent elsewhere.  Fanime is certainly not going to change for the better by you continually posting your complaints.  If staff seriously cared, action would have been taken.  This action would have been taken years ago, after the lackluster guest list and late announcements (two weeks before Fanime in 2012).  You are doing no one a service by continually complaining; Staff is aware and either doesn't care or doesn't have the manpower to address your concerns.  If Fanime has a large dip in attendance this year, perhaps then they will consider your advice.  But as long as people flock to the con and Fanime earns revenue, in the eyes of the upper management and investors, there is no need to change the status quo.  AX is a perfect example of this; The only time things improve is when hundreds of people post complaints on Facebook.  As these people aren't posting on Fanime's page, your criticism hasn't even registered a blip.

As I've said in the other threads; If you have the money to do so, go elsewhere.  Dealing with 12,500 at Animazement is a lot nicer than 25K at Fanime.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on April 11, 2015, 08:57:12 PM
Quote from: cutiebunny on April 11, 2015, 08:07:08 PM
I dunno, Citrus, but I think your energy could be better spent elsewhere.  Fanime is certainly not going to change for the better by you continually posting your complaints.  If staff seriously cared, action would have been taken.  This action would have been taken years ago, after the lackluster guest list and late announcements (two weeks before Fanime in 2012).  You are doing no one a service by continually complaining; Staff is aware and either doesn't care or doesn't have the manpower to address your concerns.  If Fanime has a large dip in attendance this year, perhaps then they will consider your advice.  But as long as people flock to the con and Fanime earns revenue, in the eyes of the upper management and investors, there is no need to change the status quo.  AX is a perfect example of this; The only time things improve is when hundreds of people post complaints on Facebook.  As these people aren't posting on Fanime's page, your criticism hasn't even registered a blip.

As I've said in the other threads; If you have the money to do so, go elsewhere.  Dealing with 12,500 at Animazement is a lot nicer than 25K at Fanime.
I suppose your right... I can't really argue with what you stated. The reason why I continually complained in the forums was because I truly hoped and believe that the staff would actually acknowledge me or at least others and address me straight on. But it seems like you said. I'm doing no one a service and after continually complaining, the results are bearing no fruit at all. The only thing that fanime did change, was the registration line and that's pretty much it. Complaints for everyone else seems to be bear minimum or non-existent.

I do have to admit I am sick and tired of fueling all my energy complaining so I'll take your advice and spend my energy elsewhere.

Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Pandah on April 14, 2015, 10:11:17 AM
Been attending since 1998, Ive seen it grow like you cant imagine, I remember how excited I use to be and atmosphere of this con has always been great. But it was nice that registration improved, but swapmeets gained a new problem(its line). I don't know for sure cause I cant remember atm, did swampmeet need badge to access(2014)? Cause if not it should be changed. It should be a perk for pre-registers like it use to be.

As for Guests why aren't you asking local people? We have Vampybitme, whos very nice and a well known Cosplayer, I'm sure people would love to meet her at a panel, instead of randomly at the con floor.

I know you might not know about Long Vo, but hes an amazing artist that was just at comic-con in Dubai and he has fans everywhere. And usually gets Booths at cons and does drawings of favorite characters for people.

What about Mari Iijima I remember her from the 2nd con at fanime, shes old school, everyone knows about Macross.  Shes always at Macross world con, she performs, shes super nice. And it would bring in Older Fans of anime easily.

So I usually never complain or post on forums cause you guys usually handle yourselves well enough. But this time around you guys need to make more of an effort. I'm sure you're all working hard, maybe work a lil harder for 2016. And ask Vampy, Long Vo, and Mari Iijima whos been a guest here before to come back.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: ewu on April 14, 2015, 07:18:59 PM
We are expanding from the traditional guest model. Examples of this are WindOfTheStars and the Chalk Twins. Please suggest them in the main guests thread and we will look into bringing them to con 2016.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: cutiebunny on April 14, 2015, 09:07:53 PM
Quote from: ewu on April 14, 2015, 07:18:59 PM
We are expanding from the traditional guest model. Examples of this are WindOfTheStars and the Chalk Twins.

Booking hotel for Animazement 2016 now.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on April 17, 2015, 03:36:09 AM
So ewu you FINALLY decided to come out and give a reply. So your saying all guests are set and we can suggests guest for 2016? Then what's the point in using the 2015 guest suggestion then!? We put A LOT of effort and time making the list the guests we want at fanime 2015. And you made it clear that all guests for fanime are all set and is no longer negotiating or finding anymore guests it seems. Then what the was the point of guest suggestion thread we made for 2015!? Cause its now clear its useless. Suggest your guest for the guest suggestion thread for 2016? You got ****ING KIDDING ME! Even if we do so are you guys gonna actually give us what we suggest and get the guest we want next year? Whatever upcoming guests you have I be won't be even that great. And if you want our feedback for guests in 2016. READ THEM AND GIVE WHAT YOUR FANS WANT! I'm done talking. Its useless to talk to the admin that posted here. He's just gonna bail and not answer anything...
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Nina Star 9 on April 17, 2015, 09:35:52 AM
Quote from: citrus on April 17, 2015, 03:36:09 AM
So ewu you FINALLY decided to come out and give a reply. So your saying all guests are set and we can suggests guest for 2016? Then what's the point in using the 2015 guest suggestion then!? We put A LOT of effort and time making the list the guests we want at fanime 2015. And you made it clear that all guests for fanime are all set and is no longer negotiating or finding anymore guests it seems. Then what the was the point of guest suggestion thread we made for 2015!? Cause its now clear its useless. Suggest your guest for the guest suggestion thread for 2016? You got ****ING KIDDING ME! Even if we do so are you guys gonna actually give us what we suggest and get the guest we want next year? Whatever upcoming guests you have I be won't be even that great. And if you want our feedback for guests in 2016. READ THEM AND GIVE WHAT YOUR FANS WANT! I'm done talking. Its useless to talk to the admin that posted here. He's just gonna bail and not answer anything...
I'm not sure I'm understanding your post. The point of the guest suggestion thread for 2015 was that, right after the con when the thread was made, people could suggest guests for the upcoming year, and had a whole year to do so.

Honestly, I would hope that a month out, the guests would already be set (and announced a few months ago but that's a bit much to ask of this con ;P) and that they wouldn't be looking at new guests for this year, but instead for next year.

Quote from: ewu on April 14, 2015, 07:18:59 PM
We are expanding from the traditional guest model. Examples of this are WindOfTheStars and the Chalk Twins. Please suggest them in the main guests thread and we will look into bringing them to con 2016.
Thanks for the reply, ewu. Though, I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed in the guest offerings. The Chalk Twins sound potentially interesting, but maybe as a guest to add to an already solid lineup, and not as the lineup itself. Having cosplay guests is cool, but as far as I know, this particular cosplayer is mostly local and goes to this con most years anyway, so it isn't that big of a draw to see someone I would probably see anyway, if I were interested in meeting her.

I'm hoping for a more solid lineup to be announced later, but I'm doubting that will happen. It seems like the con would want to come out with some bigger guests first to make an impact and draw in a crowd, so I'm afraid that these are the most interesting guests that the con has.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Dracil on April 17, 2015, 11:21:15 AM
If this is the direction Fanime is going then maybe it's time to expand from Fanime as the traditional spring con.  Sakuracon for the spring anime con and maybe Kublacon for the May time slot.

What's the point of suggesting guests if there's no indication they ever matter? Neither Chalk Twins nor WindOfTheStars show up in what people were requesting so it's not like they were picked because people wanted them.  Meanwhile, how many of the guests people suggested past for 2015 have been announced?
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Sunara Ishi on April 18, 2015, 05:40:39 PM
Not too thrilled about the guest lineup. Sure, the Chalk Twins sound cool but I'm not sure I would want to travel 6hrs to see them. And really hoping this cosplayer isn't another one with an over-inflated ego but one that is actually nice & has some good advice. So far, the only one I'm somewhat interested in is Kazuhiro Soeta. I really hope the guests yet to be announced are awesome.

I'll see how this year goes and then decide if its worth it to come back.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Imperial on April 18, 2015, 06:45:04 PM
Trust me, This is not a business model at all for a convention. I really don't know if the con will live by this model for 3 more years. using this model in radio business KILLS stations. I really am biting my tongue on this, and you all have big points, but I won't say anything until we have all the guest, and compare to the lists of guest requests for the last 2 years. And then I just will have a talk with the head of con, and talk this out.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on April 18, 2015, 09:41:47 PM
Quote from: tjimmy2 on April 18, 2015, 06:45:04 PM
Trust me, This is not a business model at all for a convention. I really don't know if the con will live by this model for 3 more years. using this model in radio business KILLS stations. I really am biting my tongue on this, and you all have big points, but I won't say anything until we have all the guest, and compare to the lists of guest requests for the last 2 years. And then I just will have a talk with the head of con, and talk this out.

Your the only staff member or at least a person who attends any of fanimecon tjimmy. And your the ONLY person I've seen so far is actually working hard for the con to get its act together. All the other staff members in this convention's forums either give the same generic answer, never get back to us and just ignore us or even when one tried to help, they never got back to us or truly assure that they're going to do their bests to get the guests we want or address our other concerns. So far your really the only person out of everyone I trust, because you know fanime has problems and your working hard out of everyone else as far as I'm concerned. If we had more people like you. Then maybe fanime would be back to its former 2011 glory.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Nina Star 9 on April 18, 2015, 09:55:37 PM
I also feel like all the guests suggestions aren't listened to. I know that staff says they read the suggestion thread, but I don't know if there's a failure in actually obtaining guests people want, or if there's a failure in staff reaching out to guests people want. Other, smaller cons have bigger guests than Fanime. I know that isn't really the main draw of Fanime at this point, but we can do better than this. And really, with the poor guest choices and the late announcements (not to mention other areas where the con is poorly run), what is the focus of the con anymore besides a giant party? I mean, the similarly sized Anime Boston got freaking Yoko Shimomura this year. What I would have given to see her. But I have a feeling that even if I suggested someone like that, it wouldn't happen.

Quote from: tjimmy2 on April 18, 2015, 06:45:04 PM
Trust me, This is not a business model at all for a convention. I really don't know if the con will live by this model for 3 more years. using this model in radio business KILLS stations. I really am biting my tongue on this, and you all have big points, but I won't say anything until we have all the guest, and compare to the lists of guest requests for the last 2 years. And then I just will have a talk with the head of con, and talk this out.
Not, it isn't. I think that at this point, the con is surviving off of the fact that it was already large before it started to really go downhill. I think it also survives off of being the only larger con in the region (though SacAnime is slowly catching up, but still hasn't shaken its small con reputation), and one of the better cons to wear and see cosplay (though, as I've said before, I don't do Masquerades so I can't comment on that, though I've heard stories about how that has gone the past couple of years).

With how the con has been going, I've been giving it 5 years before it implodes, so I guess I'm a little more generous than you are. I think that once people from afar decide that it's not worth travelling to, and once people who are local decide to mostly ghost the con instead of buying for badges, the con will collapse. It may still gain mass, but might not gain enough money to keep running. Of course, I'm not privy to the budget information, but I know that this model is not sustainable if they want people to keep coming and paying for badges. The con's reputation is only getting worse, and I think it'll gain mass unless something catastrophic happens, but may not gain money.

I'm curious about your comment on the guest list for this year and comparing it to the previous two years (once everything is announced). I'm wondering if it compares favorably to the past two years (and everyone will be pleasantly surprised, if upset at the late announcements), or if the guest list is significantly lower in quality than the previous two years? Your comment can be read either way. I know you can't really answer that, so I guess I'l wait until it's all released.

Though, if there are big guests in the works, just waiting to be announced, I still don't see why the con would announce smaller-name guests first. It seems like, especially after waiting so long, the con would want to announce the biggest draws first, and then announce guests that are just padding to an already solid lineup later? It doesn't make sense to me, especially if the ink is already dry, as it not only should be, but you have said in other threads. I guess it's just a game of waiting and seeing at this point.

(I'm really glad you are here giving a smuch insider info as you can. :] We all appreciate you working so hard for the con and for the fans)
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Sunara Ishi on April 18, 2015, 11:00:24 PM
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on April 18, 2015, 09:55:37 PM
I also feel like all the guests suggestions aren't listened to. I know that staff says they read the suggestion thread, but I don't know if there's a failure in actually obtaining guests people want, or if there's a failure in staff reaching out to guests people want.
This is why I stopped posting in your thread so many years ago.... it started to feel useless. And it seems like less and less people post every year. I thought at first it was because of all the old fanime forum regulars leaving the boards for other things but it is more than that.

Quote from: Nina Star 9 on April 18, 2015, 09:55:37 PM
With how the con has been going, I've been giving it 5 years before it implodes, so I guess I'm a little more generous than you are. I think that once people from afar decide that it's not worth travelling to, and once people who are local decide to mostly ghost the con instead of buying for badges, the con will collapse. It may still gain mass, but might not gain enough money to keep running. Of course, I'm not privy to the budget information, but I know that this model is not sustainable if they want people to keep coming and paying for badges. The con's reputation is only getting worse, and I think it'll gain mass unless something catastrophic happens, but may not gain money.
This has already been happening. I've witnessed it with my friends. Some have already decided fanime is just a place to hang out with friends or just for cosplay. And they don't think its worth paying for a badge. Those that stuck around mostly joined staff or artist alley. I know they all try their best and I'm sure there is quite a few stuck cogs. But it isn't their areas that are the problem. (Yes, I've thought about joining staff but its useless at this point. )
And heaven's forbid if they made the con center badge only... I bet the cosplayers and crowds would drop in half. Perhaps they are reluctant to release numbers because it would be obvious that the con doesn't have as many attendees as it appears?

I've been actually thinking about SacAnime because it is now closer to me. Fanime used to be my home con but unless the guests attract me in future years, I may only come to San Jose just to hang out with friends but not necessarily for the con. If I come down for a week, it has to be worth it.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Dracil on April 19, 2015, 12:15:06 AM
Reading some comments on Facebook posts, there seems to be a general sentiment that 2012 was the year everything started to fall apart in terms of guest announcements.  Turns out that's also the year that Clockwork Alchemy got started.  Perhaps it's time to cut this unrelated con out and focus on Fanime.

I'd be very curious what the guest budgets were prior to 2012 and afterwards.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on April 19, 2015, 01:16:08 AM
Quote from: Dracil on April 19, 2015, 12:15:06 AM
Reading some comments on Facebook posts, there seems to be a general sentiment that 2012 was the year everything started to fall apart in terms of guest announcements.  Turns out that's also the year that Clockwork Alchemy got started. Perhaps it's time to cut this unrelated con out and focus on Fanime.

I'd be very curious what the guest budgets were prior to 2012 and afterwards.
Now that you mention it. Not only was that the year when Clockwork Alchemy started and became a branch of fanime. It was also the year I heard from someone at the AX say that the head of fanimecon switched during 2012. Perhaps the reason why fanime deteriorated and had a list of crappy guests for the past previous years is because the head that ran for 2 years loves his precious steampunk convention more then he does with anime... It's possible that this is mostly his fault. However from that one person at the AX forums said switched to animazement after 2013, figuring 2012 was just an off year. But unfortunately that person was wrong and the con just get worst when it comes to getting guests and overall how organized the convention is. However, according to what this person said. The head that ran for 2012-14 that ruined fanime and turned it into a crappy con left and now that there is a brand new head and I quote from that person "I know the knew head and his is an all around terrific guy! If it's anyone who can get back to fanime's 2011 glory its him!" I think I did recall that somewhere reading the head left and the new guy is up. But from what I'm seeing... NOTHING'S CHANGED! If there really is a new head he's certainly doing a bad job as the previous guy!

A lot of us have been complaining nonstop for the past few years and months, yet for some reason the staff has done NOTHING and I think has gotten even worse at their jobs as each year passes by. And to those that suggest to us that joining the staff we could make a difference I feel is just absolute bull. The masquerade head? Yeah he tried using that method and he said to suggests a couple of guests and he'll do his bests to find people he knows to get the guests we want. And you know what? After that the guy has not commented or what I know of made any progress

I'll say it again tjimmy is the ONLY staff member I know who I feel like is trying hard and is doing the best he can to give us a better experience. Everybody else and even the admin? Yeah your not doing a very good job showing us that your making improvement or progress toward the convention. By now they should have addressed our concerns but HASN'T at all. And I'm sure all of you know Fanimecon has SERIOUS and unacceptable issues! Not everything is all cookies n cream. I'm aware that some attendees who go to fanimecon has different taste and standards are satisfied with what fanimecon has to offer. But to those of us that are complaining are clearly not happy. I've given this con 3 chances to fix things but there has been barely any substantial improvement.

There are only 2 things that actually HAS improved and that is the line to get your badge and the size of the panel rooms. That's it! No matter how short the line is, they've got to back it up with good guests and good programming! I've endured AX's lines, and waited a couple of hours just to get into certain panels! But do you know what the difference is? IT'S WORTH IT! Even if I had to pay way more money for traveling expenses and more money at the con I'm at least getting my money's worth! For someone that lives in Sacramento my local convention Sacanime has shown DRASTIC improvement towards everything that there just simply doesn't even seem any comparison towards fanime's problems. And that's the thing while not Sacanime is perfect and there are some things that could improve the complaints that I do have are so minimum that I always end up having a phenomenal experience. With how things are going so far I wouldn't be surprised that people would start going to Sacanime instead of fanimecon in the future. If my local con can start offering experience's like fanime 2011 then I'll be happy to cross off fanimecon permanently off my list!
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: bahamutknightzero on April 19, 2015, 02:58:03 PM
Lets ask an honest question here

How many people actually come for the guests?
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Imperial on April 19, 2015, 04:11:04 PM
So, something needs to be said on the matter of clockwork. It is a seperate entity as of 2 years ago, only thing they share is relations set by the last head of con. Head of con is a 3 year position, so the idea of this con is that we want to be friends, not enemies kind of status. Clockwork isn't bad imo, I mean they got guests I have wanted to see in the past (Steam powered Giraffe was INSANE).

back to bahamut, I come for the cosplay, stay for the guests. but then again, its kinda my job in department.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: cutiebunny on April 19, 2015, 09:08:36 PM
Quote from: bahamutknightzero on April 19, 2015, 02:58:03 PMHow many people actually come for the guests?

I do, or did, until I stopped coming to Fanime after 2012.  That's why I pay almost a grand to travel across the US for my flight/hotel room/food and attend Animazement, and I've done this since 2013.  I go to cons solely for Japanese guests.  If Fanime can't deliver, I'll go elsewhere.

Quote from: tjimmy2 on April 18, 2015, 06:45:04 PMI really am biting my tongue on this, and you all have big points, but I won't say anything until we have all the guest, and compare to the lists of guest requests for the last 2 years. And then I just will have a talk with the head of con, and talk this out.

Gonna be honest here and say that this does not read well nor does not bode well for Fanime attendees.  You're basically just telling me that, knowing the full 2015 guest list due to staff privileges, what hasn't been announced is not what the people posting here want.  Which means that concerned posters, such as citrus, are going to be very, very upset.

I'm willing to bet money that lack of quality guests are being decided solely by those controlling the purse strings.  Why spend money on big name acts if the same amount of people, more or less, or going to attend anyways?  The investors that run the con know that you have two options; Attend Fanime or go elsewhere.  As going elsewhere entails a significant investment, either due to the cost of flying there or time to drive/take a train to NC, this is not a reality for the majority of Fanime attendees.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Imperial on April 19, 2015, 10:14:42 PM
Quote from: cutiebunny on April 19, 2015, 09:08:36 PM


Quote from: tjimmy2 on April 18, 2015, 06:45:04 PMI really am biting my tongue on this, and you all have big points, but I won't say anything until we have all the guest, and compare to the lists of guest requests for the last 2 years. And then I just will have a talk with the head of con, and talk this out.

Gonna be honest here and say that this does not read well nor does not bode well for Fanime attendees.  You're basically just telling me that, knowing the full 2015 guest list due to staff privileges, what hasn't been announced is not what the people posting here want.  Which means that concerned posters, such as citrus, are going to be very, very upset.

I'm willing to bet money that lack of quality guests are being decided solely by those controlling the purse strings.  Why spend money on big name acts if the same amount of people, more or less, or going to attend anyways?  The investors that run the con know that you have two options; Attend Fanime or go elsewhere.  As going elsewhere entails a significant investment, either due to the cost of flying there or time to drive/take a train to NC, this is not a reality for the majority of Fanime attendees.

I'm biting my tongue in the matter of me wanting to yell off them for not announcing. I only know from attending the meetings that the ink is dry on the paper, as they announced that at said meeting. I have been telling you all I know from the meetings and poking, but not so much that its me just leaking everything with what info has come out. I am on your side, I just really dont know anything other than what I have told already.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: cutiebunny on April 19, 2015, 11:47:50 PM
^ I'm not upset with you, tj.  I'm actually not upset at all.  My solution to Fanime's lackluster performance is to simply go to Animazement. 

If anything, I, and others, appreciate your honesty in this.  You could simply ignore us like almost every other Fanime staffer.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: echoshadow on April 20, 2015, 06:19:42 AM
Quote from: bahamutknightzero on April 19, 2015, 02:58:03 PM
Lets ask an honest question here

How many people actually come for the guests?

Honestly Fanime has never been known to be able to bring to A list guests or B list. Not since Flow stop coming, that's when everything kind of starting going down hill.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Dracil on April 20, 2015, 11:18:59 AM
Quote from: bahamutknightzero on April 19, 2015, 02:58:03 PM
Lets ask an honest question here

How many people actually come for the guests?

What guests? I basically only go to Fanime now because my friends perform there, and as I've said, I don't even need a badge for that.

But I *do* fly around the country specifically for guests.  It's the *only* reason I would spend that much money to travel to a non-local con.  Over the past year I've gone to Otakon, Otakon Vegas/Lantis Festival, Sakuracon, Anime Expo, Miku Expo (kinda), J-Pop Summit + Slim's, Idol Matsuri for Japanese guests.  Same with my group of older friends.  They don't come to Fanime anymore because it's not local to them and doesn't have guests they want to see (at least ever since Momoi stopped coming).
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Dracil on April 20, 2015, 11:29:24 AM
Quote from: tjimmy2 on April 19, 2015, 04:11:04 PM
So, something needs to be said on the matter of clockwork. It is a seperate entity as of 2 years ago, only thing they share is relations set by the last head of con. Head of con is a 3 year position, so the idea of this con is that we want to be friends, not enemies kind of status. Clockwork isn't bad imo, I mean they got guests I have wanted to see in the past (Steam powered Giraffe was INSANE).

back to bahamut, I come for the cosplay, stay for the guests. but then again, its kinda my job in department.

Relations, as in guest relations?  That's actually damn huge then and exactly fits in with Clockwork Alchemy being to blame for Fanime guest announcements being so late.  Look at how early Clockwork Alchemy gets their guests.  Look at how late Fanime guests get their guests.

Or if you just mean relations as in it's related to Fanimecon, I've seen that claim, and I'm suspicious of it because there are other explicitly shared resources like hotel rooms (the con's at a point where the lack of hotel rooms is now a significant constraint towards it growing any bigger) and badges (and obviously the money from the badges).  That just makes me want to see the Fanime guest budget before and after 2012 (or actually even total budget).  Because of the way the funds from badges are shared, it's ripe for financial gymnastics to make the numbers work out the way the people in charge want it, to put it lightly (because really, how are you guys divvying up the badge money?  With the way Fanime continues to grow in attendance if any of the numbers went down that's pretty much a red flag)

Alternatively, did staff quit, especially guest relations staff?  That's another biggie that can screw up a cons' guests.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: FanFicGuru on April 20, 2015, 04:42:35 PM
Quote from: echoshadow on April 20, 2015, 06:19:42 AM
Quote from: bahamutknightzero on April 19, 2015, 02:58:03 PM
Lets ask an honest question here

How many people actually come for the guests?

Honestly Fanime has never been known to be able to bring to A list guests or B list. Not since Flow stop coming, that's when everything kind of starting going down hill.

I know that Anime Expo is a bit further out but just throwing it out there that their guest page only has 1 person on it right now.

Is it exciting when Fanime can bring big guests (like the Gurren Lagaan staff?) Absolutely. But from a strictly logistical standpoint, you have a convention of 25,000+ people, and a guest panel room might hold...a few hundred? And these people wait in line for hours to make sure they have a seat, lessening their involvement in the overall convention. I think that a lot of people go to Fanime for reasons besides the guests because they love the arcade, or the gaming hall, or artist alley, or wandering around the dealers hall, or doing cosplay meetups, or masquerade, or AMV competition, or swap meet, or any one of the numerous activities going on at any moment during the 24-hour Fanime cycle.

I hope that we'll see some exciting guests this year, but regardless I know that thousands of people will have an amazing Con for many other reasons.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: cutiebunny on April 20, 2015, 07:14:37 PM
Quote from: FanFicGuru on April 20, 2015, 04:42:35 PMI know that Anime Expo is a bit further out but just throwing it out there that their guest page only has 1 person on it right now.

Quality over quantity.  Ishiwatari is a great guest.  Fanime had him and Toshimichi Mori in 2010.  With FLOW, that was a great year. What I like about Ishiwatari is that he enjoys being with his fans.  Same thing with Mori.


QuoteIs it exciting when Fanime can bring big guests (like the Gurren Lagaan staff?) Absolutely. But from a strictly logistical standpoint, you have a convention of 25,000+ people, and a guest panel room might hold...a few hundred? And these people wait in line for hours to make sure they have a seat, lessening their involvement in the overall convention.

But that's their choice, right?  Some people, such as myself, spend the money to attend FanimeCon solely for the guests.  The other things you mentioned, such as Swap Meets or Artist Alley, are things I can find closer to home at many other cons without paying the price tag.  These things do not make Fanime stand out, especially not when other cons such as SacAnime, Japan Expo USA and YaoiCon all have the same activities, happen in roughly the same vicinity (NorCal) and (sometimes) cost less.  I'm not paying $$$ to experience the same thing I can experience at smaller, often better run, conventions.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Dracil on April 20, 2015, 11:10:54 PM
Yep, those things are probably more exciting to people who only go to maybe one major con a year.  But if we're attending 6+ cons, at least 3 of them major ones, it really holds no value.  And cosplays are probably even less interesting here simply because there are so many events here, from all the Japantown stuff to the (almost free) seasonal NorCal cosplay gatherings.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: FanFicGuru on April 21, 2015, 06:57:21 AM
Quote from: Dracil on April 20, 2015, 11:10:54 PM
Yep, those things are probably more exciting to people who only go to maybe one major con a year.  But if we're attending 6+ cons, at least 3 of them major ones, it really holds no value.  And cosplays are probably even less interesting here simply because there are so many events here, from all the Japantown stuff to the (almost free) seasonal NorCal cosplay gatherings.

I hear what you're saying, but I think that people who can attend 6+ cons a year are more rare. I would be interested in a demographic breakdown of Fanime attendees. It might  be because I'm getting older, but it seems like the majority of attendees are teenagers who are local and don't really have the option of flying around the country to see guests. Sure they pitch in some money with friends to get a hotel at the con, but they wouldn't necessarily have the resources that older fans do in terms of being able to go to conventions in other states solely for their guests.

With that in mind: If A) Fanime hasn't had a very "strong" guest lineup for the last few years, and yet B) they continue to see increased attendance and economic impact, maybe it makes sense that other elements of the convention are focused on more than guests.

Again, I hope that we do see some exciting guests this year, and honestly we'll wait and see who they announce!
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Dracil on April 21, 2015, 01:38:31 PM
Well, it's basically like saying it's ok for a semi-fancy restaurant to slowly turn into a McDonald's.  They makes oodles of money with lots of customers, but...

It's a general sentiment we're seeing with California cons which is why a lot of us are moving away from them unless they're local.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: cutiebunny on April 21, 2015, 06:43:45 PM
AX just announced Ryushiki07.  So, about that point you were trying to make when comparing AX's guest list to Fanime's list...

Quote from: FanFicGuru on April 21, 2015, 06:57:21 AM
I hear what you're saying, but I think that people who can attend 6+ cons a year are more rare.

I'm one of them.  In the past year, from April 2014-2015, I have attended: Animazement, AX, Japan Expo USA, YaoiCon, PMX, SacAnime Winter, Otakon Vegas/LANTIS and SakuraCon.  The problem with your statement is that you're not acknowledging the income potential of these attendees.  These are the people that just dropped 40K on charity auction items at SakuraCon this year.  They are the ones that travel across the US and internationally just to see a particular guest.  They drop insane amounts of cash on artwork, signed items, etc.  What that means is that, if these same attendees all got together and pitched their funds, just imagine the kind of convention they could put on...I'd say it would be similar to AM2 2011 in terms of guests and caliber of said guests.

This is something that I've never understood.  While small, you have a good portion of possible attendee population who are willing and able to drop $$$ to bring over some fantastic guests.  If someone from a con approached these attendees with a sales pitch, I'd imagine that these same attendees would willingly drop thousands of dollars to fly over guests, especially if you could work something out where the attendees will receive some kind of sweet incentive for their donation...like dining with the guest, etc.

And before I see a "That's elitist and it's unfair to the rest of the attendees", let me remind you that the current trend with conventions and dealers is that they're being offered free booths, panels and all sorts of cushy bonuses to bring over guests.  A couple of conventions have done this this year and I'd imagine, as it costs little for the convention to engage in this arrangement, more and more cons will be moving towards this model.

Except Fanime, which seems to be content with its "Hang out with your friends" con mentality.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: FanFicGuru on April 22, 2015, 06:21:38 AM
Quote from: cutiebunny on April 21, 2015, 06:43:45 PM
AX just announced Ryushiki07.  So, about that point you were trying to make when comparing AX's guest list to Fanime's list...

Quote from: FanFicGuru on April 21, 2015, 06:57:21 AM
I hear what you're saying, but I think that people who can attend 6+ cons a year are more rare.

I'm one of them.  In the past year, from April 2014-2015, I have attended: Animazement, AX, Japan Expo USA, YaoiCon, PMX, SacAnime Winter, Otakon Vegas/LANTIS and SakuraCon.  The problem with your statement is that you're not acknowledging the income potential of these attendees.  These are the people that just dropped 40K on charity auction items at SakuraCon this year.  They are the ones that travel across the US and internationally just to see a particular guest.  They drop insane amounts of cash on artwork, signed items, etc.  What that means is that, if these same attendees all got together and pitched their funds, just imagine the kind of convention they could put on...I'd say it would be similar to AM2 2011 in terms of guests and caliber of said guests.

This is something that I've never understood.  While small, you have a good portion of possible attendee population who are willing and able to drop $$$ to bring over some fantastic guests.  If someone from a con approached these attendees with a sales pitch, I'd imagine that these same attendees would willingly drop thousands of dollars to fly over guests, especially if you could work something out where the attendees will receive some kind of sweet incentive for their donation...like dining with the guest, etc.

And before I see a "That's elitist and it's unfair to the rest of the attendees", let me remind you that the current trend with conventions and dealers is that they're being offered free booths, panels and all sorts of cushy bonuses to bring over guests.  A couple of conventions have done this this year and I'd imagine, as it costs little for the convention to engage in this arrangement, more and more cons will be moving towards this model.

Except Fanime, which seems to be content with its "Hang out with your friends" con mentality.

I can understand the appeal, but something about that model just doesn't sit right with me. Essentially, conventions would court high-roller anime fans hoping that they could bring over guests in exchange for whatever demands said high-roller has in exchange? I can just imagine the stipulations getting more and more ridiculous, or conventions getting desperate chasing after "whales" to please please come to their convention and/or pay for guests to come out.

For me, the thing that's made Fanime unique is that "hang out with your friends" feeling of the con. I think that's part of the reason the motto for quite some time has been "By fans, for fans". It's not corporate sponsored, they don't have a huge non-profit supporting them...they bring out the guests they can and host a myriad of other events over the weekend that draw tens of thousands of fans from around the bay area and the country as well.

Again, it would be awesome if we get a strong guest lineup. I had the privilege of going to the Yamaga party when the gurren lagaan staff came out and that was a lot of fun. But last year was probably one of the most memorable cons for me in the last 10 years and I didn't see a single guest. I just feel like everyone's con is different. For those who really relish/enjoy the guest element I hope they enjoy the lineup this year.

If you need me I'll be at the swap meet  ;D
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: SquishyK on April 22, 2015, 10:41:29 AM
Quote from: Dracil on April 20, 2015, 11:29:24 AM
Quote from: tjimmy2 on April 19, 2015, 04:11:04 PM
So, something needs to be said on the matter of clockwork. It is a seperate entity as of 2 years ago, only thing they share is relations set by the last head of con. Head of con is a 3 year position, so the idea of this con is that we want to be friends, not enemies kind of status. Clockwork isn't bad imo, I mean they got guests I have wanted to see in the past (Steam powered Giraffe was INSANE).

back to bahamut, I come for the cosplay, stay for the guests. but then again, its kinda my job in department.

Relations, as in guest relations?  That's actually damn huge then and exactly fits in with Clockwork Alchemy being to blame for Fanime guest announcements being so late.  Look at how early Clockwork Alchemy gets their guests.  Look at how late Fanime guests get their guests.

Or if you just mean relations as in it's related to Fanimecon, I've seen that claim, and I'm suspicious of it because there are other explicitly shared resources like hotel rooms (the con's at a point where the lack of hotel rooms is now a significant constraint towards it growing any bigger) and badges (and obviously the money from the badges).  That just makes me want to see the Fanime guest budget before and after 2012 (or actually even total budget).  Because of the way the funds from badges are shared, it's ripe for financial gymnastics to make the numbers work out the way the people in charge want it, to put it lightly (because really, how are you guys divvying up the badge money?  With the way Fanime continues to grow in attendance if any of the numbers went down that's pretty much a red flag)

Alternatively, did staff quit, especially guest relations staff?  That's another biggie that can screw up a cons' guests.

No, NOT GUEST RELATIONS. And I don't understand this hotel room issue. Rooms near Fanime fill up first, rooms near Clockwork Alchemy fill up last. It would only stand to reason that Clockwork Alchemy is taking few if any of the high demand Fanime rooms while providing spill over housing with convenient transportation for those who missed out on the early rush. I know people who work on Clockwork Alchemy staff and it really gets on my nerves that people blame Clockwork Alchemy every time Fanime has a bump in the road. THEY DO NOT SHARE DEPARTMENT STAFF. OMG, Fanime Masquerade sound went out! It must be that darned Clockwork Alchemy again!
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Kuudere on April 22, 2015, 01:54:38 PM
On a positive note, more guest announcements just went up!

I'm super excited for Ai Nonaka. Great job on staff for getting her to come to the US for the first time!

Whoops, it looks like the website might be wrong on that last bit of info. She was invited as a guest to Otakon in the past, so unless she didn't make it, this'll be at least the second time here. Not like that makes a difference to me at all, however. I'm just thrilled she's coming.


Aaand scratch all of that. "Western United States" is on the website. That'll teach me to read in super fast excitement!
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Imperial on April 22, 2015, 02:13:59 PM
Quote from: Dracil on April 20, 2015, 11:29:24 AM
Quote from: tjimmy2 on April 19, 2015, 04:11:04 PM
So, something needs to be said on the matter of clockwork. It is a seperate entity as of 2 years ago, only thing they share is relations set by the last head of con. Head of con is a 3 year position, so the idea of this con is that we want to be friends, not enemies kind of status. Clockwork isn't bad imo, I mean they got guests I have wanted to see in the past (Steam powered Giraffe was INSANE).

back to bahamut, I come for the cosplay, stay for the guests. but then again, its kinda my job in department.

Relations, as in guest relations?  That's actually damn huge then and exactly fits in with Clockwork Alchemy being to blame for Fanime guest announcements being so late.  Look at how early Clockwork Alchemy gets their guests.  Look at how late Fanime guests get their guests.

Or if you just mean relations as in it's related to Fanimecon, I've seen that claim, and I'm suspicious of it because there are other explicitly shared resources like hotel rooms (the con's at a point where the lack of hotel rooms is now a significant constraint towards it growing any bigger) and badges (and obviously the money from the badges).  That just makes me want to see the Fanime guest budget before and after 2012 (or actually even total budget).  Because of the way the funds from badges are shared, it's ripe for financial gymnastics to make the numbers work out the way the people in charge want it, to put it lightly (because really, how are you guys divvying up the badge money?  With the way Fanime continues to grow in attendance if any of the numbers went down that's pretty much a red flag)

Alternatively, did staff quit, especially guest relations staff?  That's another biggie that can screw up a cons' guests.
Kinda took way too big a step there boss. Relations, as in planning stuff so we don't overlap major things.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Dracil on April 22, 2015, 03:02:10 PM
Ok, so not guest relations, fine.

@Pitin:
You call it spillover housing, but even if Clockwork Alchemy wasn't there, surely Fanime could procure the same housing?  So unless Fanime couldn't get the same hotel rooms if Clockwork Alchemy wasn't around then it's still a net loss overall.

But from what you say, CA really doesn't get a lot of attendees, but the badge revenue still has to be shared somehow because of the dual access thing.  So again, how does this work?
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: SquishyK on April 22, 2015, 03:53:18 PM
Quote from: Dracil on April 22, 2015, 03:02:10 PM
Ok, so not guest relations, fine.

@Pitin:
You call it spillover housing, but even if Clockwork Alchemy wasn't there, surely Fanime could procure the same housing?  So unless Fanime couldn't get the same hotel rooms if Clockwork Alchemy wasn't around then it's still a net loss overall.

But from what you say, CA really doesn't get a lot of attendees, but the badge revenue still has to be shared somehow because of the dual access thing.  So again, how does this work?

Quote from: ewu on March 14, 2014, 03:11:17 PM

Quote from: Dracil on March 13, 2014, 09:09:26 PM
Yeah, while my question was pre-reg before, I also wonder what happened to the people who went over to Doubletree to register instead of waiting in the 6 hour at-con registration at Fanime. Did that money go to Clockwork Alchemy instead of Fanime?

We have many metrics to evaluate our events. We also look at the actual numbers of people attending the events and other indications.

p.s. the Double Tree CURRENTLY has rooms open, so housing can't be THAT desperate... (they only sell out that early from Fanime fans filling them up and then going "oh crud, we don't need these rooms anymore" days before the cancellation deadline. Really THAT's the housing issue.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Sunara Ishi on April 22, 2015, 07:48:10 PM
Quote from: Kuudere on April 22, 2015, 01:54:38 PM
On a positive note, more guest announcements just went up!

I'm super excited for Ai Nonaka. Great job on staff for getting her to come to the US for the first time!

Whoops, it looks like the website might be wrong on that last bit of info. She was invited as a guest to Otakon in the past, so unless she didn't make it, this'll be at least the second time here. Not like that makes a difference to me at all, however. I'm just thrilled she's coming.


Aaand scratch all of that. "Western United States" is on the website. That'll teach me to read in super fast excitement!
Thanks for letting us know. I loved Ai Nonaka as Fuuko; now I can see if I have something with Fuuko (or another character.) Assuming autographs happen.

The guest list looks a lot better now. Starting with those first three was a little worrying... like fanime was going in some strange direction. -.-; Though, why didn't you guys announce Gilles Poitras ages ago? I don't think there has been a fanime that he hasn't come to. However, having both a Japanese and English voice actor is a nice touch; with the whole fan divide, this is probably a great idea.

I still wonder who the musicfest guest is; I hope it is someone great (thus the secrecy...? )
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Nina Star 9 on April 22, 2015, 09:09:19 PM
Yay! Guest announcements!

That's not what I'm posting about, though.

I was thinking about the "cons are what you make of them" mentality. This is why it bothers me. Yes, cons are what you make of them, for sure. You can have a really terrible con experience at the best-organized con with the best guests ever, due to something not related to the con. You can have an amazing con experience at the worst con ever because you were with really good friends (heck, I'm sure someone had fun even at Dashcon). This type of experience is unrelated to the con itself, though. The con itself should offer con things -- guests, panels, events, etc. -- and be organized enough that people will be able to have a good experience if they decide to do these con things. It should, for example, not have super long lines for something like badge pickup, and should not have all sorts of issues with the AA and the Masquerade and other attractions, and should not have a paltry guest lineup that is announced within a month of the con. Especially once a con gets to a certain size, there are expectations on how it will be run. If someone wants to hang out with friends all weekend and have a great time that way, good for them, but the con itself should have a bare minimum of functioning. If cons all got rid of guests and events and such, or stopped caring about them, then cons would cease to be cons, and would be more like those NorCal cosplay gatherings that are put on a few times a year, only with hotel rooms and parties. I know that's kind of an extreme situation, but saying "oh you should make your own fun" or "does anyone care about the guests when all they do is party anyway?" and other such mentalities...it's not that far of a leap to go from that to "well, no one cares about guests anyway, so we won't have any." (And then what do people who attend cons for the guests and events do, the ones who don't spend their cons hanging out or partying? It seems like cons would want to welcome both groups of people, and everyone in between. Though, the type who just wants to hang out seems to be a lot easier to appease.)

I personally don't care much about guests. I rarely see them. I also spend most of my time at this con doing cosplay things rather than con things. But I see the guest situation as emblematic of a larger structural issue with this con, where feedback doesn't seem to be listened to, organization is lacking focus, etc. etc. If this con had guests I wanted to see, or otherwise had more interesting events and such, I might spend more of my con time doing those things than doing cosplay things. (Though, I am a cosplayer at heart, and this is the only larger con I can afford to attend, so I'd probably still just bust out all the elaborate cosplays...) Since I'm a poor grad student and don't have the time or money to go flying across the country to other cons, I would hope that my (semi) local large con would be up to par. As much as I would've loved, for example, to fly out to Anime Boston just for Yoko Shimomura, that's just not feasible for me.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Oniko on April 23, 2015, 09:01:25 AM
^ ^ This.  I agree!
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on April 23, 2015, 08:48:54 PM
Yeah, I agree with Nina. As of last year I noticed I was doing more cosplay/gathering-related things and less guest/con event related things. Last year was even the first year I skipped Music Fest ever since I started attending Fanime. I think the only con events I did do were the Black & White ball and host a couple panels, as well as check out the Swap Meet and Dealers Hall. I remember back when I first attended Fanime in 2010 and went to see LM.C perform, I had a complete blast at their concert. I really hope that last year will be the only year I decide to skip Music Fest, because it really is one of my favorite Fanime events, and for me to actually skip it last year should tell you something........
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: hikanteki on April 26, 2015, 07:26:06 PM
Quote from: bahamutknightzero on April 19, 2015, 02:58:03 PM
Lets ask an honest question here

How many people actually come for the guests?

A LOT more than you think. A major Anime convention like Fanime, SakuraCon, etc could not have earned its size and stature without a consistently strong guest lineup, like it has had in 2011 and before. And as the guest department crumbles, so do other areas of the con. We're already seeing this.

I also go to ~6 cons per year (this includes both anime and general comic conventions). I block off Memorial Day weekend because despite what's happened to Fanime, I can count on it to bring very good musical guests. MusicFest seems to have been insulated from the rest of the con's problems. I originally wasn't going to go in 2014,the only reason I changed my mind was they announced Home Made Kazoku. Otherwise I'd go somewhere else. There are like 6 other anime cons going on the same weekend, and I'm increasingly tempted to go to one of those instead.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on April 26, 2015, 07:35:40 PM
I admit, guests are one of the reasons I go, but I go for many other reasons, too. Such as the Swap Meet, the gatherings, you name it. That and Fanime has some good locations for cosplay shoots. <3 So while guests are one of the reasons I go, it isn't really the main reason I go. I don't really have a main reason, I just enjoy Fanime as much as I can each year.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Sunara Ishi on April 30, 2015, 03:11:51 AM
More guests announced. Two more English voice actors... I'm really hoping there are more Japanese guests yet to be announced; I really only come (register) for those and because of my longtime loyalty to the con. Everything else (cosplay, friends, material things...) isn't really dependent on fanime.

I'm ok with fanime catering to the newer crowds (the ones that prefer Eng. guests), to some extent, but please don't neglect us older fans (the Jpn. guests crowd). Otherwise, I'll eventually relocate my fanime budget to other things... like visiting japan.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Dracil on May 01, 2015, 03:57:00 PM
FYI the music guests announced themselves almost a week ago now https://twitter.com/info_backon/status/592366574985576448
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on May 01, 2015, 10:10:24 PM
Quote from: Dracil on May 01, 2015, 03:57:00 PM
FYI the music guests announced themselves almost a week ago now https://twitter.com/info_backon/status/592366574985576448
Yes, Back-on did announce they were coming to Fanime. ^^ Wonder who the other Music Fest guest will be.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on May 01, 2015, 10:23:57 PM
The band will announce they will be coming yet Fanime just SIMPLY refuses to announce them. We're already in may as of this post!
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Sunara Ishi on May 02, 2015, 02:18:01 AM
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 01, 2015, 10:10:24 PM
Quote from: Dracil on May 01, 2015, 03:57:00 PM
FYI the music guests announced themselves almost a week ago now https://twitter.com/info_backon/status/592366574985576448
Yes, Back-on did announce they were coming to Fanime. ^^ Wonder who the other Music Fest guest will be.
I am aware but unless fanime announces it themselves, I can't be 100% sure. There has been rare cases where "X" famous person announces they are coming to an event, not as a guest, but an attendee. I'm almost sure that is not the case here but... I will wait for official confirmation.

I hope there will be another Music Fest guest. Preferably someone we (most of us) know.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on May 02, 2015, 02:56:07 AM
Quote from: Sunara Ishi on May 02, 2015, 02:18:01 AM
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 01, 2015, 10:10:24 PM
Quote from: Dracil on May 01, 2015, 03:57:00 PM
FYI the music guests announced themselves almost a week ago now https://twitter.com/info_backon/status/592366574985576448
Yes, Back-on did announce they were coming to Fanime. ^^ Wonder who the other Music Fest guest will be.
I am aware but unless fanime announces it themselves, I can't be 100% sure. There has been rare cases where "X" famous person announces they are coming to an event, not as a guest, but an attendee. I'm almost sure that is not the case here but... I will wait for official confirmation.

I hope there will be another Music Fest guest. Preferably someone we (most of us) know.
True, but it does seem like they will be performing, from the way they announced they were coming. And hopefully the second guest is someone a lot of us know, as well.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on May 03, 2015, 02:45:42 AM
Oh for god sakes! As of this post it's close to three weeks prior to the con and they STILL announced the rest of the guests or even anything about the con for that matter? I'm reading other threads and it's not just guests they're having problems with! Does the convention seriously think this is acceptable?! Do they even find it a problem!? This is even WORSE then last year! Because at least in 2014 they announced the first three guests and the main act for musicfest! If they don't announce anything soon I'm going to expect the worse when the day for the convention finally arrives...
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Amarok on May 03, 2015, 01:11:26 PM
It is REALLY embarrassing for Fanime that the guests basically have to announce themselves because Fanime isn't going to do it for them.

I would love to know the actual reason for why Fanime fails to announce guests because it's clearly NOT that it hasn't been set in stone, as much as they seem to love throwing that line out at any given moment. Is it laziness? Incompetence? Poor organizational structure/accountability?

Whatever it is, it would do a lot more good for Fanime's image to fess up to the actual problem and say how they're going to address it in the future rather than saying nothing or making excuses that clearly aren't true.  :-\
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on May 03, 2015, 04:49:50 PM
Yeah, I mean, obviously the guest is coming, so I don't really know what Fanime's problem is, there. They don't tell us anything and it frankly sucks.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: SquishyK on May 04, 2015, 11:36:07 AM
It is possible that Fanime is waiting to make their official announcement on Music Fest guests until all of them are confirmed (if they have two performers as they have in the past).
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Firefury Amahira on May 05, 2015, 12:25:38 AM
Quote from: pitin on May 04, 2015, 11:36:07 AM
It is possible that Fanime is waiting to make their official announcement on Music Fest guests until all of them are confirmed (if they have two performers as they have in the past).
If they haven't gotten something that important nailed down barely 3 weeks from the con, then Fanime's management is in even worse shape than the haters are saying.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: citrus on May 11, 2015, 02:39:22 AM
So... two close weeks to the con and STILL no more guests announcements or announcements for ANYTHING... really? Just really fanime? Then again during the past 4 years I shouldn't be surprised.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on May 11, 2015, 08:10:05 PM
Quote from: Firefury Amahira on May 05, 2015, 12:25:38 AM
Quote from: pitin on May 04, 2015, 11:36:07 AM
It is possible that Fanime is waiting to make their official announcement on Music Fest guests until all of them are confirmed (if they have two performers as they have in the past).
If they haven't gotten something that important nailed down barely 3 weeks from the con, then Fanime's management is in even worse shape than the haters are saying.
It's less than 2 weeks now and no second Musicfest guest announced yet....... then again Back-On announced themselves before Fanime did, so I doubt the reason is because they don't have a second one confirmed.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Sunara Ishi on May 13, 2015, 12:01:27 AM
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 11, 2015, 08:10:05 PM
Quote from: Firefury Amahira on May 05, 2015, 12:25:38 AM
Quote from: pitin on May 04, 2015, 11:36:07 AM
It is possible that Fanime is waiting to make their official announcement on Music Fest guests until all of them are confirmed (if they have two performers as they have in the past).
If they haven't gotten something that important nailed down barely 3 weeks from the con, then Fanime's management is in even worse shape than the haters are saying.
It's less than 2 weeks now and no second Musicfest guest announced yet....... then again Back-On announced themselves before Fanime did, so I doubt the reason is because they don't have a second one confirmed.
I'm kind of wondering if there will even be a second one... or if they'll have Ai Nonoka perform...
There's only a week to go and that is very last minute if the 2nd group ends up being someone major.
Title: Re: Lack of guests announcements Re: Guests I Want for Fanimecon 2015!!!!!!!!!!
Post by: Angelx624 on May 13, 2015, 02:29:12 AM
Quote from: Sunara Ishi on May 13, 2015, 12:01:27 AM
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 11, 2015, 08:10:05 PM
Quote from: Firefury Amahira on May 05, 2015, 12:25:38 AM
Quote from: pitin on May 04, 2015, 11:36:07 AM
It is possible that Fanime is waiting to make their official announcement on Music Fest guests until all of them are confirmed (if they have two performers as they have in the past).
If they haven't gotten something that important nailed down barely 3 weeks from the con, then Fanime's management is in even worse shape than the haters are saying.
It's less than 2 weeks now and no second Musicfest guest announced yet....... then again Back-On announced themselves before Fanime did, so I doubt the reason is because they don't have a second one confirmed.
I'm kind of wondering if there will even be a second one... or if they'll have Ai Nonoka perform...
There's only a week to go and that is very last minute if the 2nd group ends up being someone major.
Yeah, somehow I have a feeling she will perform along with Back-on. It's what others are saying and we do have about a week to go before the con, so unless they've had someone confirmed for weeks now and are just waiting to announce, then it most likely will be her.