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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 I had to go through several different very similar-sounding forums threads in order to find an outdated listing of the gathering locations with the number key, and even then, I had to guess where some of these actually were just based on prior knowledge.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

Panels:
Is it true that panels are only supposed to be 50 minutes, not the full 1 hour? If so, then please label panels that way in the guidebook, e.g. 3:00-3:50 pm instead of 3:00-4:00 pm. I think some panelists were unaware of the cutoff time and used up the entire hour, causing the next panel to start late due to the time needed for attendees to clear out and enter.

For the staff:
Do you share suggestions with the panelists that people write on the comment cards? I'm asking because I left criticism last year about the way a certain panel was run. The way they organized the panel was slightly unpleasant to the attendees, and the same exact thing happened again this year.

Panelists are told in the signup process and the check-in process about the time procedures. A staff member at the door or the back of the room holds up yellow and red signs to signal the end of the panel, though the timing of this seemed inconsistent, and didn't line up with the "start on the hour, end at :50" timing that panels were supposed to have.

As for the feedback, either my panels last year didn't get any feedback or it was not shared with me. No word yet this year on feedback. Do you have a way to contact the panelists more directly for feedback? I know that I give out my social media information so that people can find my Powerpoints after the show, and people tend to advertise their panels, and I know that at least I welcome feedback, so you might be able to find the panelists and contact them about it.

also, people checking badges are awful, i walked up with my badge in plain sight and he nearly grabbed me asking "BADGE?!?!" it was right in front of his face, maybe dont hire 90 year old staff members wtf.

Most of the facilities staff who were checking badges were great.  However, yes, there was ONE older gentleman who was an asshat.  Did the same thing, I'm holding my badge out in plain sight so he can see it easily, and he puts his hands on me.  I tell him very calmly, "Don't set your hands on me, brother" and he didn't know what to do except continue to look at my badge and move aside.  Everyone else was fine, and went as far as to complement me a couple times.

As for badge pick up, as was said, it really depended on how aware the person at the printer at your table was.  Overall I REALLY liked the self-service system and hope it comes back next year.  I'm sure if they keep it as it is and everyone is more familiar with how it will play out, then it'll be even smoother.

By any chance was this older gentleman in steampunk gear?

Nope, he was in the convention facilities stuff like most others.  Wasn't really a huge deal, but it was pretty damn unprofessional since I always wait specifically to give them a chance to verify my badge - not like I run through the gates.

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.

Enkai, I feel like your response is much more sensible about not wanting to pay the prices than OP's. (Congrats on the baby, by the way! :D) Not wanting to spend the money because it isn't personally worth it to you and/or very difficult, but also only going there for shorter periods and to socialize outside or otherwise not expect content without paying the price makes a lot of sense, especially with how expensive 1-day badges were this year. (and really I don't think that "not having/wanting to spend the money" = "wanting it to be free" generally, so I'd guess that the person you are responding to is more reacting to OP's entitled attitude in sweeping terms rather than actually meaning that...but who knows)

A shopper's pass is a great idea, though it would be harder to enforce. If it looks different enough from other passes, it would be easy enough to recognize at checkpoints, though keeping shoppers out of other areas would require extra checkpoints. I suppose the bare minimum would be to have another checkpoint at the entrance to the hallway where the karaoke room is, and have a checkpoint at the gaming room, and to not allow shoppers in after a certain time to prevent them from attending the dance (and/or checking badges again at the dance...don't they do bag checks and such anyway to make sure no one's sneaking in drugs or other dangerous items? I haven't been to a dance in well over 10 years haha), since these are the only areas upstairs in the convention center other than the shopping areas. Though, it would create a longer backup and more lines at these areas, so it would be a tradeoff. Panel rooms, video rooms, and the like are located in different areas and those already checking at the door would be trained to not allow shoppers in.

Really, though, I'm mostly for lowering the cost of a 1-day badge. I'm not sure how much profit these make the con vs. weekend badges, but it seems like at least Monday can be made cheaper if nothing else, since the price was far too high.

It really depends on what you want out of the con, and what kinds of costumes you are doing.

I'm the type to also do a lot of costume changes (I reached my personal record of 4 in one day this year), and that can get really hectic. I usually reserve evenings for hanging out, karaoke, and easy costumes that I don't have to worry about. It can be a bit much, though, so do so many costume changes, especially if they're really intense costumes.

One thing you can do is reserve one day of the con to not cosplay. Choose a day with programming you want to see, without gatherings for your major series, and where you can walk around and be comfortable, if possible. You can also reserve a half day for this. If you can't stand to not cosplay, you can wear a comfortable and easy costume that doesn't attract tons of attention and walk around in that. This year I did my intense cosplays on Saturday and did a super easy and comfortable cosplay on Sunday and mostly spent the day doing one shoot, a gathering, and then hanging out and walking around con with friends (and then hitting up the hot tub, changing into another fairly easy costume, and hitting up the hotel bar in the evening with a different group of friends), and it was really nice and relaxing to not have to worry about wearing something uncomfortable, or changing multiple times, or running to get from place to place, like I was on Friday (panels) or Saturday (intense cosplays).

I tend to keep schedules because I'm often doing photoshoots, giving panels, attending gatherings, etc., and because I tend to be a pretty organized person to begin with, but that doesn't work for everyone and can often be more tiring. If you see something you really want to attend on the con schedule, be sure to block out that chunk of time where you don't have a photoshoot or a gathering or you wait until after to change, etc.

Really, you need to make choices with what you do with your time at con, and if you are happy doing tons of shoots and gatherings and costume changes, that's fantastic! If you aren't happy, you'll have to reduce the number of costumes or costume changes or shoots and gatherings and find a way to attend the events you want to attend.

Glad that you aren't meaning to come across as rude or aggressive as I read you as! Sorry about the misunderstanding :D

Agreed that there could easily be classism going on here, though it's hard to tell intent when people aren't coming out and stating things in mind of keeping politics out of the thread as much as possible. The problem shouldn't be taken lightly, and it's obviously a much bigger issue than just a Fanimecon issue that involves a lot of very delicate and complex economic and political issues. I feel like the underlying structural issues would need to be solved rather than just getting rid of the homeless presence for a single weekend by forcing people to go elsewhere, but that's outside the scope of the con and this thread.

I'm also really curious about the attendance numbers for this year, but this con doesn't really give out solid attendance numbers to compare it to. AA was super crowded Saturday afternoon, but otherwise, it seemed like there were fewer crowds in the convention center itself -- were there fewer people, was there better crowd control, or was there the same amount or more but they were mostly in the outdoor and otherwise unbadged areas?

I think there should be a balance between "ability for newcomers to check out the con" and "not giving too much free content to people who are ghosting," and I think the con might be right near finding that perfect balance. I can understand the video rooms being badged for legal reasons (needing to purchase a membership to watch licensed content, as opposed to it being a public screening anyone could wander into), but I do somewhat miss karaoke being open, even if I always buy a badge myself.

I didn't have any issues with the presence of homeless people besides the previously-expressed slight surprise at how close to the con itself some of them were this year, so I won't comment on that (again, I never felt unsafe, but I was also almost always walking with a group), and I'm not OP, but I did mention that the homelessness is a bigger structural issue than just something with Fanimecon, and I feel like other posters before me were dancing around that point with the comments about "not getting too political" (blahblahblah structural inequalities and poverty being the issue etc. etc.).

As for the bacon hotdog vendors...I have no problem with them there generally, it was just a mild annoyance that there were so goddamn many, to the point where it was hard to walk along that sidewalk at times, especially in large and delicate costumes, as already expressed. The marketing that was "a bit aggressive" was mostly referring to those who would continue to try to convince me I needed a hotdog even after saying "no thank you." Easily solved by just continuing to walk away (as I did), but still not entirely pleasant to have to deal with along with dodging the carts in cumbersome costumes and already feeling nauseous from the smell. At least I didn't have anyone actually stop their cart in front of me while I was walking this year (has happened in the past with some ice cream vendors...not a big deal still, but it was clearly not a stop because someone wanted an ice cream or because of crowds). Honestly, my complaint about the vendors was pretty mild overall, and I feel like your post is seriously escalating things to a level of aggression and pettiness that wasn't in this thread before.



Re: increased police presence, I didn't notice that, but I did notice a lot of sirens this year, possibly more than previous years. Was there an increase in medical emergencies or other issues, or was I just taking more notice, I wonder?

I find the full weekend price reasonable, especially if you pre-reg early. It hasn't gone up /that/ much in price for pre-reg in the past several years, even as much as the at-con prices have risen. I think that there should be the ability to transfer or refund a badge, especially since housing is tied to registration so it's a huge gamble for a lot of people, but if you know you're going early, the price is very reasonable.

What I don't find reasonable? One-day badge prices. A friend of mine was only able to go on Monday and paid almost as much as I did for my weekend badge for a half day of con. Monday in particular, when everyone is packing up and there's little in the way on content, shouldn't cost so much.

I enjoy the badged upper area of the concourse. It really helps with traffic flows and saves a lot of time. I say that if you want the con content, you gotta pay the con prices. Be thankful that the badge checkpoint is just to go upstairs (or to the video rooms downstairs) and not to enter the convention center at all if you are ghosting. :P

Again, not to get into the politics and economics of the issue (which is a much broader structural issue than just Fanimecon, obviously), I was surprised at how close to the convention center some of these people were. I saw some panhandlers on the side of the Marriott in the front where a lot of people walk to cross the street to access the Fairmont/park/park/food/etc. Thankfully I didn't come across anyone who was aggressive or rude or seemed dangerous, but I also pretty much also only walked at night with friends (and usually my biggest, toughest guy friend...just by chance, not by design, but still). I also didn't wander terribly far from the convention center at night this year, so I missed a lot of the problem, but I am small and female-bodied and am often sensitive to potentially dangerous situations. I'm not sure what the con itself can really do about this, but I agree with the suggestions of people who live in the area getting involved in local government. It's a delicate and difficult situation.

As for the bacon hot dog vendors...there were way too many this year. I understand that you gotta make money somehow, but it was getting hard to walk through that front area on the sidewalk where they were all congregating, especially in large or delicate cosplay where you may not want to have to walk around a bunch of obstacles covered in grease. Some of the vendors were also a bit aggressive in their marketing. (Never mind that the smell of those things makes me feel a bit nauseous, but that's a personal issue I suppose)

The convention was very well run and everything that I saw went smoothly (actual convention events).

I agree that this is one of the better-run Fanimes in a long time, at least at the con itself. Reg was super smooth, everything I saw seemed to run like clockwork. Pre-con organization can still use improvement, but the con itself was pretty good at this. Good crowd control, the badged upstairs area worked very well for the second year, etc.

Might as well.



Friday: Mink (Dragon Half); Utena Tenjou (Adolescence of Utena)
Saturday: Ultimecia (Final Fantasy VIII); Harle (Chrono Cross); Pearl [tuxedo variant] (Steven Universe); Utena again
Sunday: Lisa Lisa [red zoot suit variant] (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure); Lady Oscar (The Rose of Versailles)

I think a panel like this is potentially a great idea. I'm always happy to see more in the way of cosplay panels that tackle interesting topics.

As someone who also gives cosplay help panels, I would agree that 2 hours is a bit long. Pare down the content a bit, since you aren't going to be able to keep people's attention for that long. I've given 2-hour panels, and while some people stayed for the whole panel, it was a lot of people moving in and out of the panel as it went, and there tends to be a smaller turnout than with 1-hour (or even 90-minute) panels, probably because people are intimidated by the length. If you wanted to give two 1-hour panels and felt you had enough content for that, you'd have to find a way to split it up so that each panel is unique somehow and now just a continuation of the other panel. I'd say a 2-hour panel is better than a 2-part panel, but that's also up to panels scheduling and what there is time for.

The other issue with this is determining how to teach these things -- teaching color choice can be done (in my panels where I talk about color choice it's only one or two slides on how to make colors cohesive, so going into how to make colors cohesive /and/ work with your skintone could easily expand into more slides, if doing a Powerpoint), and teaching proportion can be done to a point, but a lot of this type of thing, at least I've found, takes experience and a bit of intuition to know what looks right. I suppose teaching about general guidelines of proportion and body type would be good for people who are new, but knowing what looks good on your particular body seems to take a bit of an eye that isn't really teachable in the same way. It's not impossible, but you'd have to be really careful in how you actually go about teaching these concepts. I would focus on fit in this case.

I give panels on fabric choice, and I have to say that covering types of fabrics can easily eat up a TON of time that you maybe shouldn't use in a panel like this. If you cover what types of fabrics are used for particular garments, I'd try to keep it as brief as possible, and focus on how to choose fabrics based on a cartoony vs realistic look. I've given 2-hour panels on just fabric choice, so believe me when I say that it can take up a TON of time.

Honestly, I have a panel that covers a lot of similar ground (but more in a "here's things you may not think of that would really help take your cosplay to the next level" way), and it's my least favorite panel to give, so if this is something you are passionate about, please, go ahead and do it far better than I can! Though, if you want or need a co-panelist or any sort of input on structuring the panel or content or anything like that, let me know.

Actually...probably the best Fanimecon I've ever had. I had a fantastic time. Sorry that yours was such a terrible experience. :[

Though, mine also had very little to do with the con itself, and mostly had to do with the social situations that the con enabled. I gave my panels on Friday, which was fine, but then the rest of the time I did little in the way of actually scheduled programming and more in the way of cosplay and socializing. Sadly I only got around to one karaoke song this year, but I didn't want to stay up too late. Lots of cosplay gatherings, shoots, and hanging out, for the most part, and it involved some great people and fandoms. :D

Broke my personal record and wore 4 cosplays in one day. That was a bit much, but in my defense, one could only be worn for a few hours because it's painful (Ultimecia), one is only somewhat more comfortable, and the wig on my "comfy" cosplay was bothering me after wearing heavy things on my head all day so I threw on the most comfortable cosplay I have.

Got asked by a stranger to step on her for a photo as Lady Oscar, and that was one of the highlights of my con tbh. Best photo request I've ever gotten.

My first JJBA cosplay went super well and I had a lot of fun rolling around con with Jojo friends. I had a great first experience with the fandom and can't wait to do more cosplays from the series.

I've always felt like this con can be a letdown in terms of programming/guests/etc., but the cosplay scene and the social scene make it really worth it to me, and that can easily make or break the con.

I called the helpline about this and they said it was a widespread issue and that they'll be sending out a corrected email in the next couple days.
The fan name that appears in the registration portal will be the one on your badge!

Cool, I'll keep an eye out for the corrected email :D Hopefully it's actually correct this time.

My boyfriend also had this issue, and he was able to fix it by taking the apostrophe out of his fan name.

Same as InsaneDavid -- I have no special characters, and this is something that seems to have happened to everyone because it's a system issue.

Good to know that it's just an email issue and not a system issue.

The different QR code thing is troubling, though -- I wonder if the con will be accepting either/or?