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[Here is a far fetched idea:]

Hi Toqer. Can you say more about what this technology would allow, with an emphasis on what benefits it brings to Fanime fans?

Are you talking about adding something ( a link, a widget ) to the fanime web site so "the internet" can see and hear something from Fanime? e.g. broadcasting Stage Zero?  How would this benefit a Fanime attendee?

Here is a far fetched idea: : Does this technology allow us to do a high quality video conference setup, perhaps in a panel room, so that some live events could be done interactively with another location? Each location would have a live camera, microphones, and a large video screen to see the other location. What other location am I thinking of.....? Toronto, Canada! Anime North is a very large (or the largest) anime convention in Canada and is held the same time as Fanime.

What I am proposing is an interactive social experiment, where Fanime Fans get to interact with other fans in another city. Besides sharing panels, I'm sure that our own fans could work out some shared events with fellow fans in Toronto, much like cosplay groups self-organize their own meeting times in front of the convention center. I don't personally know anyone at Anime North, but they also describe themselves as a Fan Run convention.  I think this would be a lot of fun for guests and even panelists. Imagine if this catches on and we had a room where Fanime guests could interact with anime fans in Japan.

Interactive technology provides benefits to Fanime attendees as well as the people at the remote site. Other internet viewers could watch, but not participate - that is the benefit of being at Fanime.

I'm glad there were no fatalities. I am over 99.99% certain there will be a fanime in 2009, 2010, and 2011, so please just consider this year a minor interruption in your fanime con-going life experience.

I recommend gathering up some friends and organizing a "we almost went to fanime" party. Gather up your favorite food and beverages and watch a show of the many digital photos and videos that other fans have been posting. For example, I found videos of the masquerade here:

http://www.acparadise.com/acp/videos.php

[1] I pre-registered and while it was several months ago I think it was straightforward. I don't know what advantages the registration web site gave me.  I printed out the confirmation/receipt and left it in my car.

[2] I am upset that I didn't discover how to signup for the first day of music fest tickets when I pre-registered. I think that information was well hidden.

[3] In the days before Fanime I kept checking the web site for the live programming and video schedule - I was happy to see most of the info I wanted was available. I could not find online descriptions of the Asian Live Action films. It was only after I was at the con that I found the descriptions in the program guide. It wish I could have seen this before the con.

[4] I arrived at Fanime on Friday morning around 11am. The on-site registration line looked to have about 100 people, the pre-reg line had 10. I gave the reg person my confirmation/receipt printout and let them hold my CA drivers license for what seemed like an unnecessary 30 seconds or so. My badge pickup took about 2 minutes because my badge ... "should have been in one box but instead was in another." My registration packet was missing a schedule - it had just a program guide, a lanyard, and a few cards. Out of curiosity, why does my lanyard have Nvidia printed on it?

[5] The extra plastic badge holder isn't environmentally correct, but it was a handy place for me to store music fest tickets and business cards I accumulated during the con.

[6] I was afraid to try out the Twitter updates because I my Mobile has a 5-cent Pay-As-You-Go charge for SMS and I didn't know if I was going to get 10 or 10,000 texts from you guys. You didn't explain what sort of updates you'd send and how often.

[7] I wasn't at the con on Monday to see if pre-reg was available for 2009. The tradition, as I understand it, is to not officially confirm that there will be a pre-reg, then on Monday not be able to say when pre-reg will start. Is this still true?