Quote from: cutiebunny on April 10, 2015, 06:44:34 PMQuote from: Dracil on April 09, 2015, 02:44:11 PM
What kind of complaints did people have?
Largely that the con is heavily micromanaged, with a lot of stuff happening behind the curtains in the autograph room. There used to be a hard rule of no one being allowed in the area until half an hour before an autograph session, but that seemed to have been relaxed this year (minus the one idiot female staffer who kept trying to get people to move). I have personally witnessed some not so kosher stuff happen in the autograph area, including particular guests having complete breakdowns in front of staff and attendees over simple requests. Another big complaint is that SakuraCon nuked their forum because they didn't want an area where people could complain and SC actively deletes any 'complaint' posted on their Facebook page. This seems to be the new mentality when it comes to conventions; If you delete the criticism, attendees are obviously happy.QuoteI attended Sakuracon just recently, and it seemed fine. Generally good organization, one of the best concert setups (NO CHAIRS in the front, all chairs in the back/side, which is really the proper way to do it for most anisong guests), and the guest reception was pretty amazing for getting to talk to guests, even though the one I was *most* interested in didn't end up attending. For my group of friends who're generally willing to travel around (and out of) the country for music/seiyuu guests, the general sentiment is we'd be willing to go back next year as long as the guests keep coming.
Having attended the guest reception for the past few years at SakuraCon, this one was the worst. At prior venues, no one was ever kicked out because the venue shut down at 9pm. Or 10. Or 11. I've usually hung around and stayed until 11-ish during previous receptions, which was great because some of the guests will stick around and tell you some interesting stories about their experiences. I was hoping to see Mori get all liquored up; He's an entertaining drunk. This year, SakuraCon opened the autograph area as a place for panel overflow, which was new and was appreciated. As for the concert concern, it really depends on the con. When AX holds concerts at Club Nokia, the entire bottom floor is standing only. When AX holds it inside the LACC, everything is seated. Animazement and Fanime have seats, and PMX is front row seats for VIPs while everyone else stands behind them. IMO, having the option of sitting down is nice; bouncing up and down for a good hour can take it out on even those in good shape. One thing I do like about SakuraCon is that they usually provide earplugs (there have been some years where it was not given). Not that I expect a concert to give me earplugs as I bring my own, but it is appreciated.
Ah yes the nuking of forums. My response to that is I just end up moving my complaints to twitter, where it's open to anyone searching on twitter, as opposed to a relatively closed off space they could manage instead. I guess if they would rather we air our grievances in an even more open area, *shrug*. I don't mind the micromanaging too much personally.
I did hear complaints about guest reception this year vs. other years but that seems to be an issue with the Fairmont being more strict.
As for seats, seats cause the audience to sit, which is a big no-no. Especially when the guest wants people to STAND and stupid staffers still keep trying to make people sit (AX is really bad at this, and apparently Kawaiicon staff is just as ignorant). We've made it a point to let guests know that if they want the audience to stand (which is almost always the case), they need to tell the audience to stand. People here *really* don't understand Japanese live culture.