Messages

WAY LATE to this thread, but some ideas:

- instant noodles OKAY instant noodles, but hear me out: the bowls of tonkotsu ramen from Costco are god-tier and make a decent meal on their own
- beef jerky, nuts, trail mix, any snacky thing with protein
- fresh or dried fruits so you can get that fiber in
- protein shakes are also god-tier to keep you going
- any kind of bar food, like you are already thinking: Larabars, Kind bars, Cliff bars, whatever your preferred bar
- I have a friend who brings those pre-packed crustless PB&Js. I've also been known to bring a loaf of bread, peanut butter, and something sweet (jam if you have a fridge, honey if not)
- If you have a fridge in your hotel, you can upgrade to lunch meats and such
- Also can bring salads, yogurts, and other fridged things if you have a fridge

Thanks for all your work on this! I'm really excited to enter this year, especially since Fanime was my first con 20 years ago and I'm doing a much updated variant of my first cosplay haha

I do have a few questions, though, which I hope you can answer:
1. I'm super glad to see a list of well-qualified judges! I'm wondering how judges are picked for this con? Partly because I would be open to judging in the future, and mostly because I'm a bit disappointed to see a lack of diversity. I've talked to plenty of people who are uncomfortable entering a contest with an all-white judging panel, whether it's because they are white but want cons to be more inclusive spaces or because they are BIPOC themselves and want to see themselves reflected in the judging pool. So I'm just curious what the process is and if you ever need suggestions of people to add for diversity, I'm happy to give some names.

2. I have a question about costumes that have won awards at previous cons, since this isn't specifically addressed in the rules -- my costume will be new, but are costumes that have previously won major awards allowed? I see a clause about things entered at previous Fanimes and entered at other cons, so I'm just wondering what I'm up against in terms of potential sandbagging haha

3. I didn't see a spot on the entry form for our experience level -- is this information gathered at the con itself during judging/check in?

4. This might be an unanswerable question, but when will we find out if we made the cutoff to get in? Or if we have an email saying our application was received, is that the confirmation?

thank you so much for all you do! :]

EDIT: WHOOOPS got my email saying I'm in literally a minute after posting this!

I've done cons solo before, and while it's a weird experience to not have anyone as a built-in group, it can be fun if you know what you're doing and go in with a bit of planning.

I've done both "staying in a hotel with people but we don't really hang out at the con itself" (did that pretty much every con before I started going with my partner) and "hotel room alone," and the latter is the weird one, but it's fine. Being able to just go back to the room and take a nap if you need without worrying about other people? That's really nice haha (Plus it's easier to host people for hangouts since you have so much space if that's what you're into)

It's too late for this year, but my tips are these:
- Plan to go to events. If you find yourself bored, just go to whatever panel or video room or whatever you find even remotely interesting. Plan to see a band you aren't familiar with, or go to a guest panel even if you aren't super into their work, or the Masquerade even if you don't normally go. Find things to do. Karaoke is my top choice, but I'm a karaoke junkie from way back haha
- Make sure you have downtime to just wander. It can be a lot of fun to just wander the halls, people watch, take your time in Dealer's or AA, etc.
- Find ways to meet people. Strike up conversations in line, or join in games in the game room. Wander around and look for cosplayers and talk to them. Go to cosplay meetups for series you like, even if you aren't in cosplay yourself, just to see what people are doing and maybe meet some new fans. It will take some work if you are as shy irl as I am, but you can meet some good people this way!
- If you cosplay, either schedule photoshoots ahead of time or go fishing for photogs. Often there are photographers waiting around the outside portion of the convention center looking for interesting people to take photos of. Go strike up conversations with them and make yourself available for photos. This can be a lot of fun just to see how many photos you can get taken of yourself and show off for a bit.
- Pamper yourself a bit. You don't have people you're with to worry about what you want to eat for dinner, or finding a table large enough at a restaurant? Go and eat a nice meal by yourself to relax. Does your hotel have a pool? Go swimming or laze in the hot tub. Go do a sheet mask in your room between events. Hell, find a nearby nail salon and treat yourself to a manicure (I don't care your gender you deserve a mani/pedi).
- If you know people who will be at the con, even if they are only acquaintances, find ways to meet up and hang out. Don't be the clingy person who won't leave a group alone, but meet up for a bit or grab lunch or something together with social media mutuals or other people you may want to see or possibly build a friendship with but aren't going to spend the whole weekend with
- If you're really bored, make scavenger hunts or games for yourself. You can probably find con scavenger hunt lists online, but if not, do things like try to find the cosplayer or merch from the oldest series you are familiar with, or count how many people are cosplaying [insert series] or [insert genre] or whatever else. See if you can find certain con cliches, like someone eating Pocky or drinking Ramune on the con floor. Try to take a picture of a cosplayer with a wig of each color of the rainbow. If you think about it, you can find fun little activities to give yourself.
- If all else fails, bring a portable gaming system like a Switch and sit down in a corner and play a game for a bit

I haven't been to the particular event so I'm not sure how it works, but I know ALA has cosplay life drawing sessions. If I remember what a friend who went to one described, it basically is a room where you can go in and out and there's models there to draw who are constantly cycling through poses.

I'm a former art model myself, so I imagine something like this would work like most art modeling sessions I've done: Models would work in 20 minute blocks of time with 5 minute breaks between, and models would do different lengths of poses throughout the session (gesture poses, 5 minute poses, 10 minute poses, 20 minute and long poses done for multiple 20 minute sessions). I'd imagine if there were multiple models, there would be one model doing shorter poses, one doing longer poses, one in a long pose for the duration of the session, etc., and that artists could come and go as they please and go between the models to draw who they like. Most of my art modeling sessions were 3 hours total, so the event could be a few hours, or it could be a longer event with models coming and going.

Even with fully clothed models I'd still recommend a no photography policy in the life drawing room for privacy reasons. When I was modeling there were strict no photography policies because...well, I was unclothed, but even so, some of those poses are weird and unflattering from some angles and I'd hate for people to take creep shots of the models, especially if there end up being any wardrobe malfunctions. It's more a respect thing than anything, and you want the models to feel safe (also, modeling for photography tends to pay a LOT more than for drawing haha).

I wouldn't want to head this event up myself, but I'd be happy to help out with the logistics if anyone IS willing to head this up. I have experience in the field, so I'd be glad to lend that expertise!

I was VERY happy with how well the SJCC staff handled the vaccination checks. I'm just high enough risk that I'll only be attending cons that are as cautious as Fanime, and the SJCC staff did a great job in enforcing the restrictions.

If you're still looking, I've been going to cons for nearly two decades now and was both a Cosplay Cup finalist and a panelist at V-CRX last year, and I'd be happy to give my input

You can email me: fabrickind at gmail

I know this topic is ancient, but I have all my Fanimecon program guides going back to 2004 at least  probably until 2003. I've been meaning to scan and archive them somewhere, but I can scan the 2005 one if you haven't been able to find a source yet.

I had both the website and FB up, and immediately after refreshing the website and seeing it wasn't going to load, checked FB, saw the link was up at noon exactly, and finished my reg at 12:02. Glad I've learned to check FB as well as the website.

Though there should be two things fixed here: one is that there shouldn't be server crashes during reg. Thankfully reg itself went smoothly, but the website shouldn't crash so much.
Second is that the link should have been on the website at noon, so that people weren't forced to hunt through social media to find it. It's like a secret back door for those of us who thought to check the FB page, and it shouldn't be like that.

I wish I knew what the time frames for the housing blocks were.  As in what gets you into what housing window.  Is it by minute? hour? day?  Oh well.. at the very least I have a few months to steel my nerves for hotel reservations.

It would make the most sense to me to not have it by time, but by person. The first X number of people to register get into block #1, the second X number of people get into block #2, etc. Doing it by time (if you register by 12:05 you get into block #1, by 12:10 you get into block #2, etc.) would cause all sorts of issues if, for example, 3000 people register in the first minute, and then 500 register in the next 10 minutes, since the numbers of people in hotel registration time blocks would potentially be very uneven. So I have a feeling that the timeframes for the blocks would vary by year, and would depend on how many other people registered in that amount of time.

Keep in mind that official con housing hasn't opened yet, so you still have a chance.

The con reserves large blocks of hotel rooms for attendees (and staff, and guests, etc., but those aren't open to the public obviously), and these open up later in the year for reservation, typically January-Februaryish. In the past few years, they've based priority on when you bought your pre-reg badge, so be sure to pre-reg as early as possible if you want a better shot at an earlier hotel room time.

So if you go to the hotel website and see that everything is booked up except for the most expensive rooms, it's because large numbers of rooms are tied up in the Fanime hotel block (which hasn't opened for reservation yet) and not because they're actually currently sold out.

I have a vague recollection of this being brought up years ago, and the argument against it was basically that there was nowhere for them to park during the weekend.

I know that you can find the occasional food truck near the park during con weekend, but there's nothing really official or a place for them to congregate. I agree with the above posters that there's a ton of affordable and good options in the area, though, and it seems like food trucks haven't really become part of this con because of the lack of need as much as anything.

Certainly, if there's a place for them, it's an idea, and could probably benefit some congoers, especially if there were late-night options, but I'm not sure how this would work logistically.

[Cibo Matto]

A long shot, but...

Cibo Matto

Still 50 years ahead of their time and 3 dimensions ahead of their space!  It amazes me that there are still people who don't know about this amazing band.  Their biggest mainstream exposure in the US is probably when the song "Birthday Cake" off their debut album, "Viva! La Woman" was included in Jet Set Radio Future.  They reunited in 2011 and released a third album in 2014 and continue to perform live.  From the few people I've talked with who've had the privilege of seeing them live over the years, they pour energy and sound and are unlike any other duo.  Even if they're not viable for Music Fest, if you're reading this and you are not familiar with Cibo Matto, go check them out right now.

PLEASE.

(I write as I'm sitting here listening to King of Silence...heh)

At least, I can dream, right? I would love to see them live, especially now that they're back together.

Now, if only someone could convince GUITAR VADER to get back together so we can get that long-thwarted Fanime concert that was cancelled from over 10 years ago...

- Glad to hear about the new maps. Is there a way to get this printed in the program guide or pocket guide, as well? Or at least a list of gatherings?

The album of locations is great, but still not quite enough, especially when everything isn't in one easily accessible place. I'd recommend having a section on the website about it, a sticky in the forums just of the locations, and having it on the gatherings FB. Multiple places to find the list, map, descriptions, and photos, and having it in multiple places where people might look.

- I can see how the easel sign thing would be a problem with needing someone there to ensure it isn't damaged. Can't wait to hear about the alternative idea. :]

- When I entered, I was greeted and told "I think thread is at the corner table." After wandering between the tables for a bit looking for it, I was then directed towards the actual table with the items I needed. So some direction, but the staff helping me didn't seem to know where it was, either. I like the greetings, but having signs on the tables (if they are organized into 'stations' like they seemed to be, evenly loosely) would also help keep things more organized.

- The problem with the photo room was less the lack of extra goodies in there as it was the total lack of people in there. I think the most people I saw in there at once was four, and this was at a very busy time of con. Having extras, like props and backdrops, would, I think, be an incentive for people to want to go in there rather than hang out outside for the same type of photo against a blank wall. Glad that you're looking into that.

But really, most things were very well-run and very smooth! It's just a few minor things that would help improve the department :]

- I don't recall seeing any signs that had the list of cosplay gatherings downstairs.  Is that really the case or did I miss one completely?  (never went by downstairs info booth after buying badge but it would have been the first place to check)

There was one at the downstairs info booth. I feel like there should have been one closer to the entrance of the con as well (I don't remember seeing one, but a friend said that there was one earlier in the weekend, but it was removed by Sunday, so we had to go to the info booth to get our gathering info)

I was the one in charge of One Piece and Naruto but this is in response to the One Piece gathering.  I have become really good at hiding my frustration but I really do feel this needs to be put to light...

And if I am over stepping I am sorry... but I really disliked having this happen in my gatherings. To me ALL COSPLAYERS are guest of honors in my gatherings they have all put time, money and effort into their outfits/ wigs/ props. So when the cons guest of honor comes to join in I wish they would give the gathering leads respect so that everyone can feel special at the gatherings (it is one place 'regular cosplayers' can shine)...

The guest of honor I had was talking to the cosplayers and making it hard for me to call out the photo groups (and I have a megaphone) and I had been requested to make more group photos with her (so I did add in some more) but she would make me call out the groups many times. I was trying showing respect to her by adding a few a extra shots for her and by introducing and welcoming her but I was not given any respect back... I know she is one of the cons Guest of Honor but she did not even come over to me a say thank you or anything. 

I have been doing photo shoots at Fanime since 2010 and I was made to feel like I had no knowledge about the shoot that I was running and I also was being told to slow down my count downs and it felt like they kept being taken away from me. The way I do my count downs are to kept everyone with me and wanting to stay to the end because I know that if I go slow I lose photographers and cosplayers attention (oh squirrel)... plus I have an hour to do my shoots and with the larger groups (aka manga/anime that have many seasons/movies) I have figured out how long each group has so that I can get them all done on time and have room for request. Also I do not want the people that come to watch/ participate in the shoots to be burned or to get overly hot.

In the years past I have been told that I keep everyone on their toes and am able to run my shoots very well... this year though I did not feel like I did as well as I have in past.

I am just one of the 'regular cosplayers' that want to help others have a chance to show off their work. If the Guest of Honor wants to come to my gatherings next year I am open for it, but I ask that you guys mention that the gatherings are for EVERYONE and not just them... they have times for themselves to shine... The gatherings might be the only time some of the other 'regular cosplayers' get photos taken...

Thank you and see you next year,
DicePanda
#cosplayuplifting

This is interesting to me. I wasn't at the One Piece gathering, but I looked at who the guest was and they were scheduled to be at a gathering that I also attended. If they were there, I did not notice that there was a guest of honor there (at least, no big deal was made about that fact that I saw), and it seemed to run like a normal gathering. Either by Sunday they were acting differently, or they ended up not attending said gathering.

I think I mentioned it in another thread, but I had a badge check staff stop me because my badge was upside-down and she couldn't recognize what type of badge it was. Not sure which badge check stations people were going to, but in my experience, the badge check staff was very thorough with their checking. I also had the experience of most of the staff actually saying "weekend" out loud when checking my badge.

Besides, I agree with the above poster that just because one person is under the impression that badge check staff isn't doing their job doesn't mean that it's a good reason to dismiss feedback about badges entirely. I'm also not sure how much I buy the argument that one-day badges cost so much because badge check staff aren't actually checking badges. That makes no sense at all to me. There's other reasons, and I'm sure they have little or nothing to do with convention center staff doing their job or not. (As the badge check people are not con staff, but convention center staff.)

I haven't been to SVCC, so I can't speak to the strengths and weaknesses of the badge tap system, but I would like to say that if this is implemented, I would like the upstairs to remain the badges area and the downstairs to remain open, if possible. I know that SVCC badges at the doors, but I think that keeping the upstairs and the actual con-provided content behind a paywall as such but allowing people to check out the con and surroundings by entering the first floor is a good balance between preventing ghosting and allowing freedom.

Honestly I'd rather see the con step up its programming and other incentives to entice people to buy badges than see the con implement more and more draconian measures to keep people who aren't paying out. People who can't afford a badge would still be out of luck on seeing that content, but I have a feeling that most of the ghosters are people who no longer find Fanime content worth paying for when they can go to room parties and see cosplayers for free and spend their money on cons with more or better guests, larger industry presence, more exclusive merchandise, etc. Making sure that there's content that can entice these people to actually buy a badge would go much farther in boosting this con than keeping more non-paying people out would, imo.

Not being sarcastic...but being old and experienced...i can say these events have not happened in the bay area since 2005 ish...and never at fanime

You're taking it too literally.

The joke (at least, from how I'm reading the post) is that because Fanime doesn't have a rave (which is entirely true) and because the mods are very quick to swoop in and remove all mentions of the word from posts, it would be a fast way to get staff attention to a post to make a reference to said non-existent rave. (Why am I going to such lengths to explain someone else's offhand joke? That's the real question.)

Wouldn't this make it easier for predators to identify prey as well?

I'm mostly thinking out loud (out...text?) here, but

...though I can also see how predators might try to single underage people out...

I did already mention this.

I mostly don't see a need for this kind of demarcation, but if it were to be implemented, something unofficial and voluntary would make more sense to me than having official badges. I know ALA has historically had their "jailbait" ribbons, though I've never attended, so I'm not sure how well that has worked out or how it would work within the culture of a different con. Again, mostly just thinking out loud.

I can understand being uncomfortable meeting and chatting with people and then finding out they're half your age. It feels like it can get real inappropriate real fast, even if you're not making any sort of sexual advances. (I also have the problem of having to reject a lot of 14-year-old baby lesbians who are constantly hitting on me at cons, but I don't think that 18+ badges would help with that :P) Even though nothing salacious is happening, and I'm not a flirty person, I'd much rather chill with people closer to my own age, thankyouverymuch.

For something where it's just a social issue, something like ribbons might be a good idea -- not mandatory, and not something that would allow or disallow access to an 18+ event, but something where if you want it, you can stick it on your badge and indicate to others that you are above/below legal age. Might help parents feel a little more safe with their kids there, though I can also see how predators might try to single underage people out, and it might be an issue if someone under 18 gets a hold of an over 18 ribbon, but if people /are/ trying to hook up and are smart about it regardless of ribbon, that shouldn't be as much of a problem, since they wouldn't be official.

There's no way that badges or anything would be a good way to very age for official reasons, but if it's just the social aspect, it might be worth a shot to try unofficially.

Is OP afraid that she'll have a one-night stand with someone she meets at the con, only to find out later that he's under 18?

I do not see the purpose of this thread or the suggestion.

Not everyone who is uncomfortable with the idea of hanging out with people way younger is trying to hook up with them. Besides, OP literally said that she likes to meet women at cons. If you're going to suggest this (hey, nothing wrong with it between consenting adults), then at least get the gender right. ;]

Everything went generally smoothly for me as an attendee of gatherings, so thank you for that. :]

A few bits of feedback:

- Better signage, and better explanations of the locations. If you know where the locations are already, great, but if you don't, it's very hard to find that information leading up to con. I had to go through several different very similar-sounding forums threads in order to find an outdated listing of the gathering locations with the number key, and even then, I had to guess where some of these actually were just based on prior knowledge. I saw several people online leading up to the con asking things like "where the hell is G6??" and no one having a very specific map or list to point them towards. The maps at info tables this year were great (and saved my friend and I when trying to find the JJBA gathering and I was like "uhh...I think it's over in that area?" but thankfully we were able to find an info booth and just look it up) -- is it possible to post those maps online in an easy to find location so that people know where the gatherings are in the weeks leading up to con?

Also, I don't know how feasible it is to have with the myriad locations and the outdoor locations, but is it possible to have some A-frame signs or something at the locations themselves, especially up near the front where photos are usually taken? These would have to be kind of out of the way of photographers, and the first and last gatherings of the day (or an associated staff member) would need to be responsible for setting these up and taking them back inside for the night, but I think that it could be really helpful to have certain information on site at the gatherings. I'd image that these would have the name and number code of the location as the largest text, and then the ability to post a piece of paper with the list of gatherings for that day in that location with their times underneath that (so the signs could be reused year after year with a different set of gatherings). It would be helpful to know exactly where the gathering is, how much time the gathering has in that location, and which series is coming in after. I was at a gathering this year where the series in the adjacent location was done early, so people quickly checked their phones to find out when the next gathering was coming in and took over that space for the larger group shots at the end. Having that information handy would be great for those trying to find where the gathering they are trying to attend is as well.

- Already mentioned, but signage for the repair room. I knew generally where it was (at least, in terms of "it's in one of these rooms over on this side of this particular hallway" and still had a hard time finding it when I was specifically looking for it, until I just poked my head in and happened upon it. Also, I was only in there briefly, but there seemed to be different "stations" for different tasks (at least, I was pointed towards the table with sewing supplies, and noticed other tables with things like wig work going on), and if this is the case, having these clearly marked would be a benefit, so that they would be easier to find if you need something specific.

- The photo room. I never actually went in, but I poked my head in a couple of times (including during some very busy times of con, like Saturday afternoon), and it seemed pretty empty. It's a great idea, but if there's only one photographer in there, it seems like a bit of a waste. Maybe it was just the perfect weather where all the photographers were lined up outside still, but I feel that more can be done with this space. Maybe some photo sets like AX has, even on a much smaller scale? Some props or backdrops at the very least? Something that can entice people to want to visit that room rather than standing outside in front of the cement wall.

Otherwise, everything seemed to go very smoothly. :] Thanks for all your hard work!

[rave]

5. Lying bout the history of pass price increases doesn't do any favors for one's credibility, especially when some of us like to keep our old paperwork and can fact-check all of this stuff.

Maybe if I mention how much I loved the rave this year. :)

No such event has ever happened at Fanime...nice reach tho

LOL
Pretty sure they were making a joke about how there seems to be very little in the way of contact with staff on these forums, yet the mods will instantly swoop in and remove the "r-word" from posts.

Unless you are also being sarcastic and I'm falling victim to that "lack of tone over the internet" thing ;]


Also, I saw that post before it was edited. Not sure why I was lumped in when I literally said a few posts above that I disagreed with that point, but clearly OP is just salty for the sake of being salty at this point and not worth my time. :]

Last year I had an issue with an older gentleman checking badges (one of the con center staff) who made an inappropriate comment to me as he was checking my badge. I told the con about it (thankfully I remembered to note the time and location of the incident at the time) and was told that appropriate action was taken against the employee. I hope it wasn't the same older gentleman. If you can remember the time and location of the incident, they may be able to locate him, since touching attendees is very much inappropriate.

Ah, it really didn't irritate me enough to pay it much mind once I got to the top of the stairs.  It was Sunday sometime, at the main convention center entrance.

Well, if it didn't bother you that much, that's good. I still would have reported it, since you never know who else the employee might have touched without permission. Hopefully it was just you he didn't touch anyone else.

I didn't have any problems with the badge checkers this year, thankfully, but the ones over on the Hilton side were /really/ scrutinizing my badge, which is fine when it's slow, I guess, but looking back it seemed excessive. There was a point where I took my badge out of my bag and held it up in one single motion, meaning that the badge was upside-down as I was holding it (as I did pretty much all weekend), and I was stopped because the checker couldn't figure out what my badge was until she realized that it was upside-down. Not a big deal (nor a complaint), just something I noticed.



Reading through the thread, I see some complaints about the crowds in AA, and i would have to agree. It was very difficult to navigate at times, especially around intersections. Either creating more space between the rows of booths somehow (get rid of a row and spread it all out more maybe?) or creating spaces marked out with tape directly in front of the booths so that people know that there's a walking area and a standing area for buying things might help. Intersections were the worst because there were people trying to come from all four directions at once and it caused everyone to come to a standstill, though I'm not sure how to improve these.

Overall, though, this is one of the better-organized Fanimecons I've been at, so props to the staff for that! :D Reg went off without a hitch (went early Friday morning), and everything seemed very smooth. Some improvements can still be made, of course, but I have no real major complaints this year.

Aww, looking at the photos, I'm sad that I missed it. :[ (My panel at that timeslot went well though)

Well, there's always next year! Glad it went well this year, and I hope everyone had a good time :D

No problem InsaneDavid!

Anyway, my Day Two shots are now up on my SmugMug!

https://stormfalcon.smugmug.com/CosplayPhotography/FanimeCon-2017-5-27/

You got a few of my Ultimecia at the gathering! Thanks! :D



It's not much, but here's all the pictures I took: 1 2