FanimeCon 2024 Forums

Hey guys this is the official FanimeCon 2009 Feedback Thread!~@
How was Con? did you guys enjoy it? post what was good about the con and what was bad about the con!.
And all whatever that is considered as Feedback!
We need all the feedback we can get for improvements on Next Year
Thanks!
;D
also can Moderator or and Administrator Sticky This?
One more thing uhh , if this is in the wrong section
move this please!
For me
The Pros:
mostly everything was great!
most of the staff were really nice this yeaR!
ahah
The cons:
umm nothing at all for me?
haah cuz i was working at e-gaming most of the time.

Pros:
Lots of different things to try out.
Staffers did really well with getting badges to people quickly.
TWITTER FTW. Soooo useful. Please continue using it!!!

Cons:
It could be just on Monday, but the guy at the registration line didn't know where the pre-reg for 2010 was, even though it was right next to him...Although it didn't detract from the total experience of Fanime. :)
The Fanimaids didn't socialize with everyone...I can see how they're shy (but it's already Sunday when I went...I would predict them to be a little more outgoing)...but the performance was quiet... m(_ _)m But the bits I saw were really cute. :)

This year was better than last year, everything in e-gaming got all fxxked up and disorganized.
At least the sense of organization was better, but somebody kept missing up my Amish Check In/Out System. Next year I'll make a better one.

Dealer's room was kinda lame, just bought the same thing I did last year.. goggles.. pocky.. that's it.
It's like the Dealer's room NEVER changes. Although Lokisa just got added in last year, I can already feel the repetivity of their sales.

Artist Alley was where it was at though.  8)

this year has lacked much much more in comparison to all other years. there was nothing new or special that really caught my interest. I thought the new panel policies to be a bit more frustrating than organised and helpful. although i am glad panel descriptions were included in the booklet this year, which really helped me pick out what panels to go to, rather than wander in blindly, sit down, and then leave if i didnt like it.

the dealers room was pitiful this year- nothing at all caught my interest, and as usual, dealers let their prices run too high, and i wasnt able to buy a thing, unless it was something small. many dealers claimed that their goods were on "sale" at 30% off, but that 30% off was the same price as if i got it at a different store !

the arcade prices were ridiculous. sf 3rd strike was 50 cents a game, and that game is 10 years old !

the screening rooms had a really really poor selection of videos and anime this year. even the hentai screening rooms were boring and dated. hentai amvs with horrible music? UGUHhgh, never again.

i was staff this year, and another thing that really irritated me was the lack of organisation. i wasn't able to get my job done in proper order, and really do my best. everything was behind schedule (since i didnt even get a schedule for my duties til the middle of the second day) and thus, i ended up scurrying around and showing up late to many things .

uhhhhh hopefully next year will improve ! ???

Quote from: Xepherian on May 25, 2009, 06:48:29 PM
Artist Alley was where it was at though.  8)

Trudat. Lots of stuff was REALLY impressive.

As for Dealer's Hall...I bought a Gloomy pencil pouch. xD

Nothing really caught my eye at the Dealers Room this year, although that was offset by the awesome merchandise that was auctioned off at the Charity Auction. I came away with the 15th Anniversary Artbook with the exclusive sketches (I was the only one who actually put a bid on it).

I would agree with the anime selection, although then again I didn't really attend the anime rooms since there was so much else that caught my attention. Same goes with the panels and dances.

Also, Twitter yes!

More feedback to come

Oh ah, I remember talking to you in front of the tables about the Gurren Lagann autographed poster...I wonder who won that..~_~;

I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

Quote from: Tez Ryu on May 25, 2009, 09:32:50 PM
I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

i agree with the fan/real name on the badge thing. i mean, WHY even put a fan name if no one will notice it?? if you compare between the early and pre registration people, the fan name is more noticable on the early registration.

swap meet was good. although i would like to suggest someone to "enforce" spots. there was a big empty spot behind me so it would be easy just for someone to bring stuff, set it down, and start selling without letting fanimecon staff know.

not really a big deal but i think there should be more people "guarding" the artist alley. i left my artist alley booth early and left most of my stuff under the table. when i came back to get them there were 3 girls sitting at my table. i wasn't even at the end of the row and artist alley was still open. i really didn't mind them sitting there and if they stole something (they didn't, btw) i would of course blame myself for leaving it there. but it kind of showed me that the "only artists and/or their peers are allowed behind the table" policy isn't enforced.

at the stage zero today i thought one of the hosts wasn't really a "good" host. i'm sorry if you read this but this is what i think (feel free to bash me). i won't specifically say who but she kind of took things to the center and didn't really seem considerate about the people playing "jan ken pon". she wanted to use the players to demonstrate an example when they clearly didnt know how to play. when the other host said "no we should demonstrate it for them" she simply said "but it's funnier this way" or something like that. this is just one of the examples.

music selection at fanime ball. i already stated it in another post :P

i LOVE that there were so many kids and families this year. so many cute kid cosplays! (and no i'm not a pedo. haha)

so in general there were cons but they were for more "specific" things. i thought this fanimecon was a success :D

Quote from: Tez Ryu on May 25, 2009, 09:32:50 PM
I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

I pretty much joined to post this exact same issue. It would have made more sense if the real name/fan name position and colour were switched. I kept my badge hidden most of the time because it made me really uncomfortable how visible my real name was.

I would've appreciated an announcement on when preregistration for 2010 will end, especially in the artist alley. I cant exactly leave my table whenever I want to... And by the time I could, it was too late.

Yeah and as a mother with kids, do strangers REALLY need to know my under 12 year old daughters' full names? No thanks. At the very least, fix it for the minors.

Swap meet ran smoothly, but wow what a big different Friday was to Thursday. We were SO jammed together on Friday that there was no room to sit down or keep our stuff. I think a little space in between the spaces that are back to back would be nice to sit or leave our empty containers.

And keep doing the pocket schedules. LOVED them! Came in very handy!

One of the best FanimeCons to date, imo.
The pocket schedule was a godsend. Sooooooo much easier than carrying around the pamphlet or a large piece of paper.

I can only speak based on what I experienced at the con, but I thought everything was really organized. I agree that dealers room was pretty meh. The only thing I "bought" was a Yaoi-Con 2009 registration.

Had tons of fun with Momoi and crew. GR perks are awesome. I'd definitely like to see her come back. Unfortunately I missed all but the final 5 or so minutes of her concert since I was at the Yamaga Party, but from what I saw, everyone was really enjoying themselves. Momoi seems to really enjoy herself and that meant a lot. She's soooooooo otaku, it's hilarious. (While escorting her to the room she ran outside after Tales of the Abyss cosplayers.)

Cons... I'm trying to think of any but nothing comes immediately to mind 'cept the dealers room.

Let's see...

I'm in agreement on the badges.  I'd prefer the fan name to be bigger, the real name to be smaller.  I always kept my badge in a pocket or bag, and just took it out to get in to rooms, though I realize this is technically against policy.  (Of course, I would've taken it out if anyone wanted to see it.)  But the name deal was part of that.

All I can say is AWESOME!! to getting ahold of Sheva's actress.  Wonderful surprise.  Also, thanks to the con (or Sokodei themselves, whichever) for listening to the fan whinings of no Fanboy Bebop.  Getting to see that back to back with Nescaflowne was a kick.  And yes, it's still hilarious.

The pocket guide is great.  Should've shown up years ago, lol, but it's wonderful now that we've got it. 

On to the negatives...

Can something be done about the crowd around Stage Zero? I realize it's nigh impossible considering it draws such a huge crowd from time to time and there aren't enough seats, but bloody hell, getting around on the concourse when all the seats are full and there's 50 more people standing behind the chairs is stupidly hard.  Con management is adamant about throwing us out of a room or doorway if we're a so-called fire hazard, maybe something similar could be done in this situation?

I personally wish the food vendor information had been a bit more specific.  I don't know if the main vendor (directly to the left of stage zero) usually closed at night, but from the way the pocket guide was phrased, it sounded like all the vendors + Starbucks would be open all morning and night. At least one night that vendor in particular just packed up and left.  I wasn't out on the concourse nightly, so I don't know if they did everyday, but I doubt it, since they were there until at least 4 am and I never saw them *not* there, even on Monday.  It'll just simplify things a little, so you can plan your food detail more easily.  Maybe just a table with their hours, idk.

I'll post more if I remember anything else. I'm still in a post-con stupor.

Quote from: chifunii on May 25, 2009, 06:32:56 PM
Cons:
It could be just on Monday, but the guy at the registration line didn't know where the pre-reg for 2010 was, even though it was right next to him...Although it didn't detract from the total experience of Fanime. :)
The Fanimaids didn't socialize with everyone...I can see how they're shy (but it's already Sunday when I went...I would predict them to be a little more outgoing)...but the performance was quiet... m(_ _)m But the bits I saw were really cute. :)

I can answer this one. Sunday there was a scheduling conflict and a few of the schedules were misinformed within the cafe. So for a while we had almost every single maid in the cafe there, and at other times we were really short handed. Also there was a small mis-communication at times when maid shifts were changing. A few maids forgot to mention that they had Masters/Ladies waiting at a table they had just seated and that their shift was done/they were going to take a break, so no other maid took up the table as there own. For the most part this only happened I believe two times, and I apologize if you were one of those two(or more that I just didn't hear about).

Sunday was extremely hectic in other ways, as two of our maids were feeling ill, as well as our head maid was losing her voice(which is a huge deal since she was supposed to MC for musicfest) so I had to send 3 people to finish early as I didn't want to risk their health.

So once more, I apologize for this, and I have thought about this and will discuss with the head maid and her 2nd an efficient way to prevent this in the future.

First of all, thank you for the pocket guide. It is probably the greatest thing to come out of this convention. It was handy, very readable and overall a vast improvement to the daily newsletters and such. Bravo there.

Secondly, registration seemed to go very smoothly this year. However, I will request yet again that you bring group registration back. We'll have plenty of time to talk about it between now and then but I think that bringing back group reg would be great and simplify badge pick-up for groups significantly.

Third, thanks for all the AMV events. I know you had the top 100 last year too but I had a lot of fun going through those again, as well as AMV.org's best of 2009 and the AMV competition this year (which was pretty entertaining). If I could make a suggestion though, perhaps combine the 100-50 and the 49-1 into 2 large blocks instead of 4 2 hour segments? I understand it's to better spread it out over the weekend but showing on Saturday and Sunday so that the most people have access to it might be better then dragging it over the whole weekend, especially the top 25 because a lot of people usually take off by Monday afternoon. Also for next year's Fanime Music Video Competition could we have a couple new categories? I'm thinking "Trailers" and "Classics". Trailers is pretty self-explanatory, people take the audio from a movie trailer and make video with it. as for the Classics, you could screen some past Fanime Music Video entries or winners to see what the audience thinks and which videos still stand the test of time.

As far as the bad, I don't think it's necessarily Fanime's fault, but I just wasn't that into it this year. I had trouble finding programming that really jumped out at me. I enjoyed the Gurren-Hen movie a lot, but other then that all I really watched in the video rooms were AMV's. Then again, this year was pretty slow for new anime, not many great series came out this last year.

Here's hoping next year there's a better lineup of anime.

The Good:
-Badge handout went smoothly and quickly on Thursday.
-Restricted Rock Paper Scissors was excellent (and I won, too!)
-Momoi Halko was a great guest - extremely friendly, involved, and excited. She also turned out to be a very good performer, doing probably a better live performance of God Knows than Aya Hirano herself (who often seems to miss notes in her live performances)
-The classic anime viewing room had a cool selection of thing sthat you don't normally see at a con, especially including things that are actually harder to get ahold of than the newest fansubs.
-The mini-pamphlet schedule was really handy and convenient. Please bring back this format for next year!
-The Artist Alley was lively and busy. Unfortunately I didn't get enough time to browse it thoroughly, but I saw a fair amount of good stuff there.
-The Charity Wii is getting really epic. I wish I could've bought it, but I simply did not have $600 to work with. I'll have to remember to save up for next year.
-Forum Badges, as usual, came out pretty nice, although the lower print resolution this year was a little disappointing.
-Console gaming was pretty solid with all-around selection. It could've used more machines, but that's always the case and it's understandable as fans have to provide their equipment to the entire con at their own risk.
-The Visual Novels panel was surprisingly well-informed. The panelist supposedly running it didn't have a lot of informative and useful things to say, but he had the good sense to bring along a friend who knew his stuff. The audience, too, seemed surprisingly knowledgeable.
-AMVs at closing ceremonies again! I love this tradition, although next year the people in charge should make sure the sound and picture are working properly in advance.

The Meh:
-This year's AMV contest was pretty weak outside the action section, especially for drama. People really need to cut back on the Makoto Shinkai/Various stuff. I'd have put the Kodomo no Omocha video in that category, actually, and I'd've voted for it there, too.
-There wasn't a whole lot that appealed to me in the dealer's room. I did manage to find a couple things I wanted, but a large proportion of the things available were just overpriced.
-Similar for the swap meet. Kudos to the girl who sold me all 10 volumes of her Moon Phase manga for $25, but shame on the person trying to sell .hack//INFECTION for $35. I saw that game at GameStop for $12 not even two weeks ago.
-Stage Zero was once again largely filled with uninteresting and embarrassing programming. Come on, the Meme Game ("Replace a word in a song title with 'Yaoi' to make it funnier!") is just... dumb. Though, it was neat to see it going basically all night.
-Tabletop Gaming's selection of board games was initially very slim. It did, however, grow to quite respectable size later.
-Speaking of Tabletop, the number of tables available was thankfully large, but often still full. I think it could do with even more next year.
-Arcade prices were inflated as per usual. $.75 for one play on BlazBlue? Sad, especially when Aksys was offering free play on the console version in the dealer room.
-Badge checking seemed rather lax. I put my Forum Badge on the same clip over my actual badge, and I was only questioned on it like 3 times out of the, like, 50 that I went in and out of rooms.
-The Gurren-Hen movie was more rehash than I thought it would be. It felt like rewatching the series, except they gave us a montage instead of some full episodes. They even reused almost all the animation from the series.
-The Rock Band tournament was freestyle-only? How about an actual point-based tournament of skill?
-Makenai needs a new sound tech who knows how to turn up the right instruments at the right time. Also, their singers need to learn some mic technique, or better yet, how to sing. When a fan from the audience is better than you, there's something wrong.
-Guest Selection. If last year's Fanime felt a bit like GAINAX-con, this year's was Resident Evil-con. Unfortunately, RE has never really been my thing, so a good number of the guests involved meant nothing to me.

Things I (Regretfully) Missed:
-Asian Film. Just never managed to find an opportunity to check out any of the movies.
-The Dojo. The panels that seemed most interesting to me always ended up in a scheduling conflict with other stuff I was doing.
-Cowboy Bebop: The Song Remains the Same. For the second year in a row, I meant to go check it out but didn't manage to make it there in time.
-Yamaga-san Guest Party. Again, the time and admissions information for this event were kept so under-wraps that I was unable to go even though I wanted to.
-Maid Cafe. It was fun in previous years, but the lines were a little long this year and I was trying to be frugal with my lunch spending, so I missed out.
-Black and White Ball. Between Restricted Rock-Paper-Scissors and the Momoi concert, I couldn't make it.

Overall it was one of the smoothest Fanime cons I have yet seen. Staff generally seemed to have their stuff together and I didn't witness any major problems. If anything, the largest problem with the con is that, having been to so many, I'm a little blase about the whole thing and didn't bring my full enthusiasm to every minute. If that's all I have to complain about, then I guess you guys are doing something right.

P.S. I agree about real name/fan name sizing and text color. Of course, for finding badges during pre-reg handout, it makes sense for the real name to be larger and more visible, but fan names this year were almost illegible. Maybe just make both of them larger and easily visible.

All in all the con was great.  I liked the pocket guides, they were so much easier to carry around then in previous years.  As for the viewing rooms there were some good anime playing but there was nothing that made me really excitied to see.  I would have to agree though about the names on badges, i would like people to see my fan name not my real name.  

Quote from: foester on May 26, 2009, 02:33:00 AM
Can something be done about the crowd around Stage Zero? I realize it's nigh impossible considering it draws such a huge crowd from time to time and there aren't enough seats, but bloody hell, getting around on the concourse when all the seats are full and there's 50 more people standing behind the chairs is stupidly hard.  Con management is adamant about throwing us out of a room or doorway if we're a so-called fire hazard, maybe something similar could be done in this situation?

Maybe I can try to bring up Rovers coordinating something with Stage Zero so that we are called out when they noticed large crowds starting to form and blocking foot traffic. However, whenever a large crowd was seen by Rovers we sent staff to help clear paths for foot traffic.

I would have to agree with everyone about the badge thing. I would prefer my "nickname" to be larger instead of my actual name. Especially with weird stalker people lurking about... (from own personal experience)

Anime BS Panel - was AWESOME, but should have been longer. We didn't really start having great arguments and ranting until about 30-45 minuets into the actual panel.

Stage Zero - Same problem in 08 as what happened in 09 - Traffic jam when people are trying to get through that way. Granted it's called "Stage Zero" but on a more proficient level, it should change... either how it's placed or be put into a larger location so that way people have more seating and there wont be any kind of traffic jam during certain hours of the convention.

Dealer's Room - It was good, but not THAT good. A lot of the vendor's in there were price gouging their items, and there wasn't much of a variety.

Artist Alley - SO much better than last year, but one thing that is discouraging me is, there's a lot of people selling "fan" work from other anime's. Granted it's interesting and beautiful art work, but on a personal scale I would rather see more unique art, not a billion and one copies from anime's and manga I've already seen.

Momoi - was so cute and a really great guest, If only there was more artists (Film, Music, Manga, Anime, Voice Acting, ect, ect.) from Japan that would come over.

Pocket Schedule - Great idea. It came in handy on SOOO many occasions.

In general this year was really good. It would have been more of a blast if I didn't get a damn cold and had to leave Saturday... but the time I spent was awesome.

The Good
-the Hilton! god I love the Hilton: the renovations were awesome. My room was super nice and spacious. Only thing was that there wasn't a mirror over the desk (would have helped as my room was filled with cosplayers lol), but thats just a minor thing. Staff was super awesome and friendly as usual, and the huge room they had to hold luggage was a fantastic idea. I was completely reassured my Noitora scythe would be safe in there when they gave it its own wall space safe from others luggage XD Will definitely be staying with them again.
-photographers were great - got to work with a lot of different people and make friends with many photographers.
-the late night concession stand on the convention floor <3
-I had the most awesome roomies this year <3
-finally got to take a part in QuickDraw at Stage Zero XD
-Masquerade was awesome this year! really well done skits for the most part and definitely upped the level of competition from last year.
-doing cosplay pikapika photos with friends <3
-my Bleach gathering went super well

The Bad
-the line of "Hug Me" people. Seriously, it was annoying as hell to have people either jump in front of me and my friends with open arms being all "hug me" or just to call out for one whenever I walked by. There was a time when my friends and I were walking back to our room and when we ignored them when they called to us asking for free hugs, they called us racist which was completely uncalled for. We responded back to them saying "no, you're just desperate" and continued walking. I don't ever remember the hug me people being such a problem until this year.
-not being able to go into the dealer's room until monday because I was so busy - I missed out on the deals for the Kotobukiya DMC4 Nero figure and they were all gone by the time I got in there T_T
-didn't get to see some people I had hoped to hang out with
-missing the Bleach!Cosplay Chess game because I had to finish up a costume for the gathering later DX

I also agree with what others have said on the badge issue - I'd rather have my fan name be in white and in bigger lettering than my real name.other than that, I had a most awesome time. It went by too fast! I can't wait to do it all over again next year! =D

This year felt really crowded! Esp walking outside. But one thing that was annoying is the "hug me" people. They can't just sit around there and lining up to harass people. Wasn't there some rule on that before? No signs or something?

And people seriously need to shower!! The greasy hairs are disturbing. And the con goers in general felt dirty... *shivers*

I was wondering WTF!? happen to the water coolers from last year?

Oh yeah, the "hug me" line...what happened to the whole no signs thing? That was just really obnoxious imo.

As far as the gurren-hen movie: a rehash? You think so? I thought that for a two hour movie it did a great job of condensing the story with a slightly altered storyline in a manner that worked really well. Hell, the way that they combined his encounters with the generals into that one epic scene was a pretty good alteration.

Anyways, I pretty much agree with everyone else here: smoothly run, just had a bit of trouble finding things that jumped out at me.

Quote from: mDuo13 on May 26, 2009, 11:55:36 AM
-Yamaga-san Guest Party. Again, the time and admissions information for this event were kept so under-wraps that I was unable to go even though I wanted to.

IIRC, it was announced during the opening ceremony and information on when, where, and how were in the pocket schedule. Wasn't it in the program book too?

Pros:

+ Yes yes yes to the pocket guide. While we'd previously gone over the schedule online to mark what we wanted to do to put on Google Calender with SMS reminders, it was great to not have to lug the entire program guide around to check things on paper.
+ Momoi was adorable and had great energy; I'm not usually that big a fan of J-Pop, but she was so cute and enthusiastic! The glowsticks were a great way of getting the audience involved, and I really hope she had as much fun as the rest of us did.
+ Artist's Alley had some excellent innovation and variety this year, I easily spent twice the money I spent in the Dealer's Hall while getting great deals on everything. It's great seeing more original art and stuff besides the usual prints and keychain chibis.
+ The Lolita Panel and Fashion Show was neat; I went since a couple of friends were on the panel (hi, Molina and Jeanine!), and it was quite informative and neat to see the different subfashions showcased as they were.

Cons:
+ The entries at the AMV contest were kind of disappointing, especially in the Drama category, and it was tough to sit through everything just to get to the Comedy ones, which were in general the best-done.
+ Dealer's Hall: same-old, same-old. Tons of merch on the new popular series like Hetalia, not much else, no good deals. I only bought a box of mikan-flavored pocky and a mystery-box of two Higurashi posters (featuring the two characters I least wanted, naturally).
+ I guess I can't really blame anyone else for this, but there just wasn't that much in the way of panels or video programming that really grabbed my interest, and when something did, it was usually two or three things happening all at the same time followed by hours of nothing. Maybe I just need to expand my horizons?
+ The signs, as other people have noted, seemed to be back with a vengeance this year. No, sir, you cannot be my bishie, and I will not guess your gender for a $1 "wrong fee." And absolutely NO HUGS. (Also, can people get over "the game" already?)

Maybe I'm just growing out of it a little bit; aside from a few select events and getting all dolled up in costume, I had a hard time getting as enthusiastic about things this year as I have in previous years. Kudos to everybody who made it run smoothly, though!

I felt overall this year was very solid. Things seemed to run smoother from my perspective as a con goer. I rate it at the top of the cons I've attended. So lets break it down.

Highlights for me:
THE POCKET GUIDE - Wow, this is the best thing next to sliced bread. It was so much easier to carry around and pull out. It contained lots of information on when rooms opened and closed and when guest events occurred. Keep it!
Registration - It seemed to move faster than last year. Great job all!
Momoi Halko - She was a awesome guest. And her fan's put on a fun panel. I was glad to be up there swinging my glowsticks.
Resident Evil 5 - Rueben, Ken, and Patricia were very cool people. And I was pleasantly surprised that Karen (Sheva) came along as well. I enjoyed their panels. Thanks all!
Old School Anime - There was a serious dose of older anime sprinkled in even, outside of the old school room. And that room seemed busy every time I went! I know that some people only want to see just the new stuff. But new does not always equal awesome (or even good). I felt it was a good ratio. heh
Video Room Layout - I liked how they were grouped together and the size of the rooms. There were times that video main could have been larger, but I think it averaged out just fine.
Panel Rooms - I liked where they were moved this year. Made them feel more part of the main action.
Autographs - Thank you for moving autographs to their own room. It made things calmer and went smoother than having them in artist alley in my opinion.
Day 0 programming - It is always nice that there is something going on on Thursday nights besides just the swap meet.

Lowlights (pretty minor):
Huggers Alley - Wow it got real bad real quick. We all are aware of the attention whoring nature of hug me signs and the traffic hazards they produce. I thought that signs had been banned unless they were part of a cosplay? Walking between artist ally and and the entrance to dealers room was really ugly.
At Con Food prices - I know you have no control over this, but the convention center pricing was really high. A cheese burger, bag of chips, and a coke totaled $17.50. Original Joes is cheaper than that.
Traffic around Stage Zero - It got tight a number of times. Maybe roping off a walk way would help? Or moving the flyer tables to a different part of the concourse. People tended to lean/sit on them during shows and moving them would free up the walk way.
Water Coolers - Seemed to scarcer this year. I saw them in the panel rooms and near the Dance but that was it.

And... Hmmm... Thats all I have got right now.

I have noticed a few posts about not being anything that they wanted to see or interest them this year. That sort of goes without saying. Every year it will be different and peoples tastes change. For every event or guest that someone says they didn't like or care for, this year, I know lots of people who did. So keep up the good work Fanime and thanks for trying new stuff every year.

Awesome job all!

I finally joined the forum after years and years of reading. I really hope to see more of the Swap Meet sellers and buyers prepared. Too many people I see asking for bags to hold their gear, and too many sellers with no bags or correct change. I don't know, I try to break my 100 if I'm going in to buy.

Quote from: elizacuts on May 26, 2009, 07:22:51 PM
I finally joined the forum after years and years of reading. I really hope to see more of the Swap Meet sellers and buyers prepared. Too many people I see asking for bags to hold their gear, and too many sellers with no bags or correct change. I don't know, I try to break my 100 if I'm going in to buy.

After running a booth at swap meet and meeting with some great success (I made a little over $350) I'll probably start gathering merchandise for next year. I made sure I had change but I didn't have any bags so sorry to anyone who bought from me and couldn't get a bag. >_<

I'm looking forward to next year. ^_^

Quote from: Yukari Kaiba on May 26, 2009, 02:51:22 PM

The Bad
-the line of "Hug Me" people. Seriously, it was annoying as hell to have people either jump in front of me and my friends with open arms being all "hug me" or just to call out for one whenever I walked by. There was a time when my friends and I were walking back to our room and when we ignored them when they called to us asking for free hugs, they called us racist which was completely uncalled for. We responded back to them saying "no, you're just desperate" and continued walking. I don't ever remember the hug me people being such a problem until this year.

i MOST DEF agree! i mean, i'm okay if you have a sign asking for hugs because, as you can see, some of them did get hugs so that means that some people actually don't mind the sign people. however, there's a difference between standing on the side and standing RIGHT IN THE AISLEWAY. like you said, if someone with a sign jumps in front of me and says "HUG ME!" i SWEAR i was gonna punch them. some girl tried to block my way by walking into my path but i just walked around her. someone else suggested this but they really should have rovers that at least keep sign-people under control.

this goes for the protestors too. i mean, i'm christian catholic and i believe in god/jesus etc etc but i mean CMON!! it's an ANIME convention! i see them mostly as annoying than trying to preach or whatever shit they're doing. they kind of make me wanna form a group of atheist cops next year to bring to fanime. now that's something interesting i'd like to see mwuahahahahaha

^ by the way i was just joking about that group of atheist cops.

FAnime is soooo much better when you rent a hotel.

This was my first year being there with a hotel, and it rocksssss.
Everything is just so convenient and it seems like FAnime is your home!

Ahem anyway
This year was great. I saw many great, cute, and beautiful cosplays this year. I swear, is it me or does FAnime get better every year?
The dealer's hall had so many great things this year as well!
What else, FAnime Cafe could use a little work though, perhaps some better food! Cold sandwiches? :( Come on!
Aside from that, the anime marathons could've been better too.
Masquerade was alright... I could've sworn 2007's masquerade was better. Much more diversity and better ideas IMO.

Other good things?
I WAS EXTREMELY glad there wasn't as much Naruto and Bleach cosplayers as there was the previous 2 years. I mean, talk about overload back then. It's better now, and I saw a lot more diverse cosplayers.

The Black & White Ball was EXCELLENT too. I had an extraordinary time there. Really, I loved it. I was also very glad that the music there wasn't Hiphop/Rap/RnB, yuck, I hate those genres. Will there be a B&W Ball next year? I hope so >_<

Anyways, overall, FAnimeCon 2009 was off the bat. It was worth my 72 hours there. And I hope next year gets even better.
Thank you fellow Anime Fans! ;)

Pros:
Almost Everything Single Thing.
Especially the Artists' Alley and the Karaoke room.
Those 2 made my Fanime Weekend.
And the cosplayers of course.

Cons:
The switching of panel rooms with the viewing rooms.
I liked the viewing rooms being in the Marriott a lot better.

And I actually didn't go and sit in any of the viewing rooms 'cause all the good stuff was during the day like Crows Zero and DtB, while stuff like Rosario and One Piece was at night when I had lots of "roam" time.
But I can understand since the majority of Con Attendees aren't insomniacs like me.

My hotel stay was pretty unpleasant but that isn't really FanimeCon associated.
Small room, lots of guys, one bed.
Luckily I switched rooms with my friend at the last minute. :P

I'm thinking of trying the Marriott next year.
Elevators from Hell anyone?

And lastly, having to wait 360+ days for next year's.
*Sighs*
See you all next year.

Quote from: Tez Ryu on May 25, 2009, 09:32:50 PM
I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

I feel EXACTLY the same way! If you don't put our Fan Name extra large, how are people supposed to recognize us? I mean if we're meeting up, or if I spot someone's name from the Boards, I need their Fan Name. Not to mention I don't really like my real name showing up much, and ESPECIALLY being the only one that really shows. The point of FanimeCon is we RARELY use our Birth Names, and go by Fan Names.
It was a VERY unwelcome change, and VIOLATED the "By Fans for Fans" since part of Fans, is FAN NAMES!!

Also there wasn't enough variety in the dealer's room. Over half of what was in there was Anime. Manga, Pocky, and Ramune. Granted selling the Pocky and Ramune was cheap, but still. As far as the Anime and Manga are concerned I can usually get it cheaper off Amazon or e-bay for most of them. There wasn't enough merchandising of other stuff like plushies and such.

I DO want to give you props for inviting Momoi Halko as I REALLY love her! I was also happy they were selling her DVD this year, since I managed to lose my old copy. I hope to see her again next year! ^_^

Oh and I also want to give props on having an all around better quality and selection for Artist Alley this year! You really outdid yourself in that this year ^_^

Oh yeah the food was TOTALLY over priced as well! That's why I ALWAYS went OUT to eat.

Quote from: Ayanami Rei First Child on May 26, 2009, 09:56:36 PM

Quote from: Tez Ryu on May 25, 2009, 09:32:50 PM
I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

I feel EXACTLY the same way! If you don't put our Fan Name extra large, how are people supposed to recognize us? I mean if we're meeting up, or if I spot someone's name from the Boards, I need their Fan Name. Not to mention I don't really like my real name showing up much, and ESPECIALLY being the only one that really shows. The point of FanimeCon is we RARELY use our Birth Names, and go by Fan Names.
It was a VERY unwelcome change, and VIOLATED the "By Fans for Fans" since part of Fans, is FAN NAMES!!

Word. I prefer the Fan Names too, not the real names. I would have liked to see my Mexica (Aztec) name in bigger letters, since I used that as my Fan Name.

First year at Fanime, so I'll keep the feedback short:

Pros
*Pocket Guide (Evidently this is the first year? Truthfully, don't know how anyone survived without it previously)

*Layout: I thought the rooms were all set-up really well. Locations were great and made sense. And the Dealer's room/AA/Gaming rooms never seemed overcrowded (crowded, yes, but never too much--good traffic flow)

*Stage Zero is awesome!! It had wonderful scheduled programming, but it was also fun to just stop and see what was going on when you're in-between panels/videos/events. Great idea!

Cons
I don't really have any con-related complaints. As others mentioned, con-goer behaviours seemed to be the biggest issue (Hugger's Alley, lack of bathing, playing with elevators, etc.). But truthfully, I don't see how con  staff can entirely regulate these behaviors. Even with all the rules, actual enforcement would be a nightmare. Idiots will be idiots.

Conclusion
I'm just really impressed with how well-run Fanime is overall, considering it's a "volunteer" event. I've been on both sides of a convention (and those were "for profit" events), so it's mind-boggling to me that all the staff and volunteers can organize something like this on top of their regular lives.

Thank you for a job well-done.

Hi everyone. This is your friendly Steve.Young on the forums wishing everyone the best and hope everyone had a BLAST at Fanime 2009.

The staff works hard every year to provide the best con possible, but like the rest of the world, nothing is perfect.

Thus, in this thread I would invite you to comment about your good experiences and the bad experiences so that we may further improve the convention!

Thanks,

-Steve

Is this for any specific feedback? Because there's already an "The Official Fanimecon 09 Feedback Thread~" topic

I would say this would have to do with the events, programming, and facilities of Fanime.

I.E. I hated where Stage Zero is, BW and Musicfest at the same time = lame, etc.

-Steve

Having the panels with Momoi Halko was TOTALLY awesome!

Having that Rock Band thing at Stage Zero was pretty cool

Watching my friend play off against the Voice Actor of Ken Masters was pretty epic, although he should have been more tardy.

Also the idea of having a late night video game room with a large screen for video games sounded epically awesome, and I would TOTALLY go to that!

Dude I made con worth while <3

Quote from: Steve.Young on May 26, 2009, 11:19:49 PM
BW and Musicfest at the same time = lame

More like Yamaga-san Party, BW and Musicfest at the same time = lame

Quote from: salyu on May 25, 2009, 09:04:40 PM
this year has lacked much much more in comparison to all other years. there was nothing new or special that really caught my interest. I thought the new panel policies to be a bit more frustrating than organised and helpful. although i am glad panel descriptions were included in the booklet this year, which really helped me pick out what panels to go to, rather than wander in blindly, sit down, and then leave if i didnt like it.

the dealers room was pitiful this year- nothing at all caught my interest, and as usual, dealers let their prices run too high, and i wasnt able to buy a thing, unless it was something small. many dealers claimed that their goods were on "sale" at 30% off, but that 30% off was the same price as if i got it at a different store !

the arcade prices were ridiculous. sf 3rd strike was 50 cents a game, and that game is 10 years old !

the screening rooms had a really really poor selection of videos and anime this year. even the hentai screening rooms were boring and dated. hentai amvs with horrible music? UGUHhgh, never again.

i was staff this year, and another thing that really irritated me was the lack of organisation. i wasn't able to get my job done in proper order, and really do my best. everything was behind schedule (since i didnt even get a schedule for my duties til the middle of the second day) and thus, i ended up scurrying around and showing up late to many things .

uhhhhh hopefully next year will improve ! ???

I couldn't have said it any better myself! It was annoying going to the things I wanted to see, only to find out a completely different schedule was placed. Also I thought every game in the arcade was a dollar... So even games like the UFO catcher and really old games were priced higher than I thought they would be. I didn't really get to check out dealer's room, but the artist alley was amazing. This year wasn't as great compared to the last.

i would have liked the armormaking panel to be longer, be more hands on, and more of this is how you make armor for cosplayers who don't know very technical terms. it was more of weeelll jargon jargon blah blah method you've never heard of yap yap yap.

Con Pros
Pocket guide what more can I say? Awesomeness.
the booklet descriptions of guest, panels, and anime were a great help in making decisions on what to go to. Really amazingly put together.
James Currie from the Macaulay Foundry bring him back!
Artist Alley great stuff there this year!
Registration fast, smooth, efficient.
ReDeath really, thanks for moving this to a larger room. I had a panel to go to, and didn't get their 'till about two minutes before it started and was still able to find decent seating! In years prior if I hadn't gotten in line a half hour before hand I woulda been SOL.

Con Cons
Maid Cafe I'm sorry,  this seems to never have been run right, It's a great idea, but their prices are ridiculous, and the experience isn't all that worth it. Maybe if the maids had some more training, and they weren't leaving every two minutes to have pictures taken, they could actually spend time with the patrons. But their prices per portion and food selection were horrible.

Can I ask the headcount for this year?

Well there's a lot of things to keep in mind. Your statements of "worse than last year" are extremely subjective. Most of the reasons given as to why it wasn't as good, are things like "MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE OF THINGS WERE NOT MET"... which is perfectly fine, but I wish you wouldn't say the *con was worse because they didn't have topics I liked*. Merely that you didn't like the content of this year. The reason why this bothers me is because the content didn't make the con worse, because for every one person who said "I didn't like the anime this year" or "I didn't like the panels this year" there is someone that will say "I loved the panels this year compared to last" "I loved the anime shown this year compared to last"... and there is nothing that can be done about hthis.

You stating that "I hated the anime this year" doesn't give staff anything to work with. They can't listen to you say this, and go "okay, we know how to improve it!" So please think about what you are saying... I can answer a lot of the complaints in this thread though.

Water- Water tanks were cut for the reason that, the budget wouldn't allow for it. Here's something to keep in mind. Those water tanks with the cups are just fountain water. Although having them all over the place is nice, walking an extra minute to a water fountain won't kill you. To put this in perspective, if there was water every where... they would have had to cut in other ways. So let's put it like this... would you rather have a few water tanks all over the place, even though you could just walk to a water fountain an no B&W ball? Or would you prefer to have events like B&W Ball and have to walk a little extra to a water fountain?

This one is only my opinion but-
Stage Zero. It's not hard to bypass stage zero. There is a bottom floor you can use if you don't want to get caught up in the crowd. There are two sets of stairs around stage zero you can use to avoid the crowd as well. Come on guys, you guys are complaining about something that you can avoid with... an extra 30seconds of walking. Just in case you guys don't know what I mean... The stairs on the South side of the wall that goes down into registration and then back up right where artist's alley entrance is. Or on the N side the two sets of huge steps that lead around stage zero that go to the front of the CC. Both of which are never blocked can easily be used to get around. 90% of the time, I took the first floor when I needed to get to the other side of the CC. There was NEVER a crowd and usually it was pretty empty outside of the line for reg, which was no where near the walk way anyways.

It sounds like you guys are complaining because "there are people there getting in the way of you being able to check out stage zero while walking by". Or in other words "WHY IS THERE AN AUDIENCE AT THIS EVENT THAT I WANT TO SEE WHEN I'M WALKING BY?!?!?!? There should be no audience, so I can check it out on my own leisure, and if I'm not interested, continue to get where I want with no one in any way blocking me".

The dealers hall:

I have been going to conventions for about a decade ago. The dealers hall hasn't impressed me since my 2nd con. Why? Because essentially, they are all the same. They are dealers selling the same things. They restock with the new stuff that comes out all of which I can buy on the internet. The only appeal of it is that, you can buy it right there, right then, and it's in hand... instead of waiting for it to ship to you... which is fine. I'm not saying the dealers room is bad, and people do love it, but there's no point in complaining about it. I usually stop by once just to see if there's any rare goods, but it's not worth complaining.

But for the uninformed... this year did have a lot of new things. Things actually rather rare for an American con. Touhou related stuff at Toylets booth, and a few booths had actual exclusive items from different JP-cons. It's just a matter of knowing.

Once more, just because something doesn't carry what you want, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I hate Amber Combie and Finch... but I don't think it's a horrible store or anything.

I like complaints... that are legitimate. They help the con grow and become better. I hate when people complain about petty things though, especially when it's not legitimate to complain about. Think of it like this...

What if I complained about someone cosplaying as the same character as me, causing me to lose some attention? Or what if, I complained that the venues did not have RC cola. I don't like pepsi and coke, I only like RC cola and Shasta. You guys would say that is stupid, right??? A lot of your complaints are no different. Please put some thought about what you're complaining about.

The badge thing... is incredibly good. I actually brought this up with staff members and they are going to discuss this in the future.

The con itself cannot control the prices on food for the cafe. And you seem to not understand how restaurants work in general if you're complaining that the Maid had to do other stuff. The only time maids were pulled away from patrons for pictures was because of 2 things...

A staff picture was required, or for press. I was the one that pulled maids away from patrons, and I always ASKED the patrons beforehand to see if it was okay, and if any of them said they preferred not to, I would not have pulled her away. Most of the time, it was okay... maids were able to spend a lot of time with patrons, giving them some time to eat their food before talking/playing games etc. with them. I personally watched them, and there were very few times when maids couldn't do so.

Those times were, during shift changes which we've already thought about and will consider a way to do more efficiently, and during times when maids were short handed, if you happen to be one of those people during those times, I apologize, but there's really very little we could have done. It's the same as at a real restaurant. We were understaffed, realistically... because based on older numbers we believed that the cafe would not be filled to capacity 100% of the con. There wasn't a single moment where there was not a line, and where the cafe was not being filled. Our numbers were incorrect and we didn't have enough people. The maids actually put in up to twice as many hours as they needed to because of the popularity.

Food prices at the cafe were actually extremely reasonable compared to the rest of the con center. A sandwich, drink, and cake would only cost about 12-14$. Had you gone to any of the actual restaurants, the same thing would have cost you 28$. Sure, it would have been higher in quality, but you're at a convention center. Food is not cheap. But just to let you know... you'd be paying even more in Japan. 6$ cup of coffee? 14$ omlette rice that's the size of my hand?

Next year, I think we'll have more maids, and shift changes will be handled better, but even at real restaurants, shift changes are extremely difficult times. Having to organize it all and have each maid know where all their patrons are, to pass that on to the next maid, all while they're getting their things/packing their things is difficult.

Quote from: OGIGA on May 27, 2009, 01:17:06 PM
Can I ask the headcount for this year?

Wait a week or two. Numbers take a while to process... and staff is on a commadore64 trying to crank it out.

Pyron,

I understand what you mean. At least from my end I wasn't putting the blame on Fanime for not having a good anime lineup. It's just the way the season turned out for me. I think that logistically, everything that i attended and watched was handled very well, so props to the staff for a great Fanime.

I think all the big rooms (gaming, Artist alley, etc) need to have one exit door and one entrance door.
For some reason, only the Dealer's Room did that.

To go off of PyronIkari's post which was very well worded - thank you - please give us a better idea of what type of anime you'd like to see and specific changes that you would find beneficial.

If the anime that was shown this year was not to your liking, please list specific titles you would like to see next year.

It is true that we were working off of a budget so we could not have as much water available as we had in previous years. Since we did have water fountains throughout the convention center as well as the hotels, we figured that rather than spending $10,000+ on more water bottles, we could put that money toward the actual programming for our attendees to enjoy such as MusicFest, Black and White Ball, etc.

We are in negotiations with the convention on the food prices, but what with the economy, you can only do so much to bring prices down or have special deals for the attendees. We're trying our best since the attendees and our own staff would benefit by not having to pay astronomical prices for food. Again, we're trying to negotiate on everyone's behalf but we cannot control the outcome.

Thank you everyone for the feedback and I hope to be able to provide additional programming that you all will enjoy in 2010!

Uh, I merged the two feedback topics and it came out half-baked. Sorry! Anyway please post your comments for FanimeCon 2009 in general here.

@Tony:
For a second there, I thought the internets were flipping out!  :D

@hentaifreak:
PyronIkari's response to your statement was very well said, and I wanted to add a few more things:  Having been to several Akihabara maid cafes, I can honestly say that Fanimaid Cafe's maids spent much more time overall and interacted a lot more with their goshujin-sama than maids do in "real" Japanese maid cafes.  At every crowded cafe I visited in Japan (and even the ones that didn't have a line out the door), the maids didn't spend more than a few minutes with the patrons with the exception of special guests/regulars.  My party was usually left to chat amongst ourselves, eat, and watch the show on stage.  I've even had one maid called away from my table mid-conversation never to return!  I'm not quite sure what standard it is you're holding the Fanimaids to exactly, but I think they went above and beyond the goal of providing an Akihabara-style maid cafe to con-goers.

As for the prices, as stated previously Fanimaid Cafe had no control over pricing, but it was actually cheaper than the rest of the con (sandwiches $4.50/ desserts $5, whereas I paid $6.50 for a little 6-pack of sushi rolls down the hall).  Also keep in mind that at an Akihabara maid cafe everything would have cost twice as much.  Imagine paying $8-9 for an ice cream parfait that only has one scoop of ice cream, while the bottom of your parfait cup is stuffed with corn flakes for filler.  Not to mention that many of those maid cafes have door fees of $3 to 5 just to get in.  @_@

My only problem during Fanime was the horrible lines of several people soliciting 'Hug Me' or 'Glomp' or other random signs and yelling they have. There was even one night that my friends (they stayed up late to finish their commissions) told me that there were people asking for their paper so that they can make signs and there's no way my friends will let them used their art paper for something that is going to used and tossed away. Even bad when I had to avoid a nice canal of those people to get through Artist Alley or Gaming Room.

I hope not to see this next year. It was utterly ridiculous and quite annoying.

From a DJ point of view (I played the Eurobeat music Sunday night at the dance BTW :D)

The Good:

- Hilton! WILL be back there again!
- Mini schedule guide!
- Artists alley! I spent a lot of money in there!
- The cafe in the Hilton! Loved your boxed lunches!
- Guy selling those out of print tenchi muyo/el-hazard concept art books for $5!! FREAKING WIN!
- Seeing a dealer cuss out a stupid annoying fanboy troll. Made my day.
- STAGE ZERO. Nuff said.
- Seeing people play the Ninja game in the dealers room.
- The dance. That strobe was soo crazy!

The Bad:

- I only found water dispensers near the dance. Would be nice to have it spaced out all over the con.
- Dealers room seemed smaller than artists alley. Still had some nice things tho.
- Drunks wandering in the con at 3am with no badges. Where was staff? o_o

The Ignored:

- Hug line: I just kept walking.
- Crazies protesting about something... ehh...
- Solicitors with signs. At least my signs were ">.>", "^.^" and "<3"

Good year! I missed having cool weather during an anime con!

Special thanks to Rob Miles, DJ Reign and Strider Hanzo for their help!

Quote from: Xanreo on May 26, 2009, 08:14:53 PM
I'm thinking of trying the Marriott next year.
Elevators from Hell anyone?

Uh, the Marriott elevators SUCK.
They make you really dizzy and you feel like you're still on the elevator even after having gotten off.

I'd stick to the Hilton if I were you.

Quote from: GokuMew2 on May 27, 2009, 07:24:10 PM

Quote from: Xanreo on May 26, 2009, 08:14:53 PM
I'm thinking of trying the Marriott next year.
Elevators from Hell anyone?

Uh, the Marriott elevators SUCK.
They make you really dizzy and you feel like you're still on the elevator even after having gotten off.

I'd stick to the Hilton if I were you.

Yeah, the Marriott elevators have a reputation of being horrible.

I've been hearing great things about the Hilton ever since I've gotten back from Fanime so the Hilton is an option too.
The only weird problem I have with the Hilton is that it's on the left side of the con as opposed to the Saint Claire & Marriott being on the right.
I'm just used to heading in that direction when returning to my room.
It's just me and my stupid nitpicky-ness.

Oh well, luckily I have almost a year to review things through.

I think this might have been my favorite con yet. C:
I experienced a lot more this year, and had a great time. The staff seemed to improve quite a bit this year too, but the people in front of E-gaming Friday night should have been more on top of knowing what to do and tell that Stand-By Swap Meet people, as we asked and they told us registration was ready and we could go in..
Only to find out that registration wasn't ready for us, and we ended up just swarming and clogging the room.
I felt bad for the lady who seemed to be in charge of Swap-Meet registration though.
It wasn't her fault that we were sent in before-hand, and she was shaking like a leaf as she did her best to sort it out. D:
Besides that, everything was smooth. And I thank the Rover who went out of her way to stop the Dealer's room line-up people from mashing into my waiting spot at the front of Swap-Meet. XD I know I was there really early and probabally a little obstacle, but I really appreciate it.

Besides that, the only other down-side I had this year was something that Fanime staff itself would have a really hard time controlling.
"Glomping" or in my own painful experience, "Unannounced Plowing"
:(
I was Crossplaying this year, and only doing lolita and stuff in the past, I had no idea how aggressive some Fan-girls of the character you cosplay could be!
Me and my Twin sister did a Crossplay pairing from Hetalia, and as girls, we wore 4-5 inch heel boots instead of combat boots.
Needless to say, after 8+ hours, the last thing I needed was to be tackled in a busy Dealer's room or Artist Alley.
My sister was nearly plowed right into a booth in the artist alley. I had to help steady her, as we didn't need to be paying for a bunch of ruined prints on top of everything else.
I was even pulled out of my car Sunday evening in the pick up line by a girl who wanted to take a picture with us.
D:
I was fine with people who asked for hugs, but yelling my characters name across the convention is not enough of a warning,
I don't really think there is much you can do, as I think 'No-Glomping' is already a rule.
But just my 2 cents.
:)

Quote from: PyronIkari on May 27, 2009, 01:46:17 PM

Quote from: OGIGA on May 27, 2009, 01:17:06 PM
Can I ask the headcount for this year?

Wait a week or two. Numbers take a while to process... and staff is on a commadore64 trying to crank it out.

Yes, the commadore64 called Milton (jk). We'll have a press release on it soon. We actually had an idea right at the end of con but we just want to make sure.

I had a problem with the con not handing out lanyards this year compared to last year. I know that Nvidia sponsored last year's lanyards, but could there at least had been a plain black lanyard? I got lucky to bring mine, that way I didn't have to use the clip which I thought equaled a higher probability of losing my badge.

Lines just to get into the Maid Cafe discouraged me to go this year. I remember in 2007 the Maid Cafe was held on the Marriott side...maybe there should be two spots - the existing spot near the Hilton in addition to the old spot near the Marriott - where the Maid Cafe is so that more people can be part of the cafe without having to wait. And yes, the prices...my god.

Quote from: HeeroYuy135 on May 27, 2009, 11:49:39 PM
Lines just to get into the Maid Cafe discouraged me to go this year. I remember in 2007 the Maid Cafe was held on the Marriott side...maybe there should be two spots - the existing spot near the Hilton in addition to the old spot near the Marriott - where the Maid Cafe is so that more people can be part of the cafe without having to wait. And yes, the prices...my god.

Sorry, but the amount of man power to do this would be way out of control. We had about 40 people working on just that one maid cafe, and it nearly killed Jun and Mizuki just managing that one. In addition to that, a Maid cafe loses a lot of its charm if it grows too big. I've really been thinking about a way to solve this, but I really can't think of a way. More maids will allow the venue to grow a little bigger, but I really don't think it should get too big, because it loses the comfort. If I find a way to make it bigger, I'll discuss it with Jun and Mizuki, but as for now, the three of us think that it should stay relatively the same size. At best, we'll only want it slightly bigger.

It'd be like turning a mom and pop store into a super market. Sure, it serves more and stuff, but it's not the same.

Quote from: PyronIkari on May 27, 2009, 01:27:05 PM
This one is only my opinion but-
Stage Zero. It's not hard to bypass stage zero. There is a bottom floor you can use if you don't want to get caught up in the crowd. There are two sets of stairs around stage zero you can use to avoid the crowd as well. Come on guys, you guys are complaining about something that you can avoid with... an extra 30seconds of walking. Just in case you guys don't know what I mean... The stairs on the South side of the wall that goes down into registration and then back up right where artist's alley entrance is. Or on the N side the two sets of huge steps that lead around stage zero that go to the front of the CC. Both of which are never blocked can easily be used to get around. 90% of the time, I took the first floor when I needed to get to the other side of the CC. There was NEVER a crowd and usually it was pretty empty outside of the line for reg, which was no where near the walk way anyways.

It sounds like you guys are complaining because "there are people there getting in the way of you being able to check out stage zero while walking by". Or in other words "WHY IS THERE AN AUDIENCE AT THIS EVENT THAT I WANT TO SEE WHEN I'M WALKING BY?!?!?!? There should be no audience, so I can check it out on my own leisure, and if I'm not interested, continue to get where I want with no one in any way blocking me".

Just wanted to point out that we (in Registration) tried to keep people from taking the stairs down and back up through Registration.  This is why the stanchions were put up while the escalators were turned on.  The main reason we do this is because in previous conventions, people would use the Registration area to go from one area to another then would eventually "settle" in the area since it was open.  We have limited space in that area and when people start congregating, it can lead to fire hazards (and we do tend to receive many visits from our friendly neighborhood fire marshal).  The other problem we have is that people think it's okay to use the Registration area as an exit and so will head down the stairs and cross-traffic with members who are trying to register.  Sure, one or two here and there isn't a problem but at some point the Registration area gets crowded (as more and more people think it's okay to exit) and we end up needing to grab our already limited number of staff to try to usher people out.  Our general rule of thumb is that when Registration is open, we try to keep people going one way into the con; even during slow times as we want to make sure we are consistent with our rules.

Quote from: PyronIkari on May 27, 2009, 01:27:05 PM
The badge thing... is incredibly good. I actually brought this up with staff members and they are going to discuss this in the future.

I'm just quoting you because you also mentioned it (otherwise I would have created a separate post :P).  I do agree that this year, the Fan Name was hard (almost impossible) to read but there is a security reason for having the real name easily discernible from a distance.  I will see about making the Fan Name larger for next year but one thing I can be sure of is that the Real Name will most definitely remain discernible from a distance.

I'm sorry to say but generally speaking, at least from a Registration perspective, things that some people may find "annoying" or "troublesome" have all risen from situations involving those few "rotten apples" that happen year after year at the convention.

Quote from: HeeroYuy135 on May 27, 2009, 11:49:39 PM
I had a problem with the con not handing out lanyards this year compared to last year. I know that Nvidia sponsored last year's lanyards, but could there at least had been a plain black lanyard? I got lucky to bring mine, that way I didn't have to use the clip which I thought equaled a higher probability of losing my badge.

That is indeed a hope for Fanime 2010.  Nvidia sponsored the 2008 lanyards but the cost of the lanyard isn't from the imaging, the cost is the lanyard itself.  I'll be fighting for a bigger budget to hopefully be able to bring you and everyone else lanyards!  If you happen to know of a place that'll give us a good deal on lanyards, I would most definitely love to hear it (registration at fanime dot com).

Quote from: derivan on May 28, 2009, 12:12:22 AM
I do agree that this year, the Fan Name was hard (almost impossible) to read but there is a security reason for having the real name easily discernible from a distance.  I will see about making the Fan Name larger for next year but one thing I can be sure of is that the Real Name will most definitely remain discernible from a distance.

I'm sorry to say but generally speaking, at least from a Registration perspective, things that some people may find "annoying" or "troublesome" have all risen from situations involving those few "rotten apples" that happen year after year at the convention.

Hmm...can you elaborate on what kind of security issues there are?

If you don't want to discuss it in public, send me a PM or isn't there usually a staff BBQ or something later on to discuss issues?  We can try and find a compromise then.

Just curious as a rover staff member if there's anything we can do to reduce the need for a large official name.

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on May 27, 2009, 05:53:33 PM
- Drunks wandering in the con at 3am with no badges. Where was staff? o_o

Did you report them?  If you see someone violating the rules, please don't just stand by, watch, and wonder why no one is doing anything about it.  Report them to the nearest Rover.  If you cannot find a Rover, find a staff member and they will find you a Rover.

And sans the drunk part, as long as they were not trying to enter any of the halls or rooms that required badges (ie, gaming room, video rooms, etc), then they technically didn't have to have their badges on.

Quote from: Kender on May 28, 2009, 12:31:23 AM

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on May 27, 2009, 05:53:33 PM
- Drunks wandering in the con at 3am with no badges. Where was staff? o_o

Did you report them?  If you see someone violating the rules, please don't just stand by, watch, and wonder why no one is doing anything about it.  Report them to the nearest Rover.  If you cannot find a Rover, find a staff member and they will find you a Rover.

And sans the drunk part, as long as they were not trying to enter any of the halls or rooms that required badges (ie, gaming room, video rooms, etc), then they technically didn't have to have their badges on.

Also look around. Rovers and staff tend to stalk a target and wait for a less public area to speak to them.

Sat night, I saw 4 rovers, 2 ranking rovers, 2 division heads, SJCC facilities and 2 cops following a drunk guy at a distance. It was awesome

This year was my first yeaaar at Fanime, and I thought it was really fun.

A lot of the stuff was expensive, but I guess that's just inflation.

Overrall I had a great time  :)

Quote from: derivan on May 28, 2009, 12:12:22 AM

Quote from: PyronIkari on May 27, 2009, 01:27:05 PM
The badge thing... is incredibly good. I actually brought this up with staff members and they are going to discuss this in the future.

I'm just quoting you because you also mentioned it (otherwise I would have created a separate post :P).  I do agree that this year, the Fan Name was hard (almost impossible) to read but there is a security reason for having the real name easily discernible from a distance.  I will see about making the Fan Name larger for next year but one thing I can be sure of is that the Real Name will most definitely remain discernible from a distance.

I'm sorry to say but generally speaking, at least from a Registration perspective, things that some people may find "annoying" or "troublesome" have all risen from situations involving those few "rotten apples" that happen year after year at the convention.

Well that may be true, and you may have to keep it larger...but why is it that for pre-register badges we got TINY Fan names, while people who paid for a Weekend badge got it their Fan Name the SAME SIZE as their REAL NAME? T_T

we'll take that in account and see if we can design appropriately.

do you want the fan name to be more predominant than your real name?

Quote from: ewu on May 28, 2009, 06:54:12 PM
we'll take that in account and see if we can design appropriately.

do you want the fan name to be more predominant than your real name?

I would LOVE for my fan name to be as large, or larger, then my real name. A lot of people on here like myself go more by our fan names then our real names ^^;

I appreciate you all looking into this.

Quote from: ewu on May 28, 2009, 06:54:12 PM
we'll take that in account and see if we can design appropriately.

do you want the fan name to be more predominant than your real name?

I second Rei's opinion: at least the same size if not larger.

Fan Name

Real name

Something like that.

Quote from: ewu on May 28, 2009, 10:27:41 AM

Quote from: Kender on May 28, 2009, 12:31:23 AM

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on May 27, 2009, 05:53:33 PM
- Drunks wandering in the con at 3am with no badges. Where was staff? o_o

Did you report them?  If you see someone violating the rules, please don't just stand by, watch, and wonder why no one is doing anything about it.  Report them to the nearest Rover.  If you cannot find a Rover, find a staff member and they will find you a Rover.

And sans the drunk part, as long as they were not trying to enter any of the halls or rooms that required badges (ie, gaming room, video rooms, etc), then they technically didn't have to have their badges on.

Also look around. Rovers and staff tend to stalk a target and wait for a less public area to speak to them.

Sat night, I saw 4 rovers, 2 ranking rovers, 2 division heads, SJCC facilities and 2 cops following a drunk guy at a distance. It was awesome

1: it was 3am. As freaking tired as I was, I couldn't tell if they were attendees or just drunk clubbers from some club.

2: They were in the gaming room, messing around and heckling. They were smoking and drinking tons of beer. It was amazing that they actually got past whoever was supposed to be watching the door.

3: I did let a staffer know. He didn't do anything.

Quote from: Barnes on May 27, 2009, 02:59:08 PM
I think all the big rooms (gaming, Artist alley, etc) need to have one exit door and one entrance door.
For some reason, only the Dealer's Room did that.

I actually would have preferred the dealer's room to have more than one entry. As an artist in the alley, I did like the fact that there were two entrances to the AA. (:

What I think the AA can improve on are several things:
You don't need one person to check in artists, one person to tell them where to sit, and one person to put a sticker on their badge. This makes the process of checking in way too inefficient and is why the check in line for AA took really long and by the time we got to the tables, the alley was pretty much almost opened up the the public with very little time for setting up (despite the two hours exclusive for checking in artists).

Another thing. People who don't have their paperwork, go make copies, and get back in line so that people who are prepared can check and and the process can be streamlined.  It's stated specifically what you need to bring/have with you when you check in. That's why you sign a contract, to ensure that you have read, know and agree to the terms of being allowed into the alley.

Can we open the alley at 9 and close at 6? By the time we clean up and get out to the restaurants, half of them are closing/have closed. ;o;  

I thought there was a limit to how many tables you can have at the alley, but I see the same person every year with at least four tables, selling prints at two different locations. (I don't know how this is legal).

There are just some inefficiencies in the alley that I think can be better addressed. I would volunteer and help (because that's the usual response i've gotten) but living more than two hours away makes that not very plausible.

Quote from: KyraEnsui on May 27, 2009, 05:46:28 PM
My only problem during Fanime was the horrible lines of several people soliciting 'Hug Me' or 'Glomp' or other random signs and yelling they have. There was even one night that my friends (they stayed up late to finish their commissions) told me that there were people asking for their paper so that they can make signs and there's no way my friends will let them used their art paper for something that is going to used and tossed away. Even bad when I had to avoid a nice canal of those people to get through Artist Alley or Gaming Room.

I hope not to see this next year. It was utterly ridiculous and quite annoying.

Uh. yeah. that hug/glomp line along the hallway to the dealer's room makes me very uncomfortable. Some actually get kinda of aggressive. I'm sorry if I'm not a fan of sweaty/weird/random strangers, least of all having them touch/hug me.

Other than that, I love Fanime. I really come for the fans and to hang out with friends. The alley is a way for me to make some spending money and I really like that you are within walking distance of whatever you may feel like eating. To avoid crowds, walk a little bit farther. 8D; go subway! I thought the con ran pretty smoothly. Picking up my bad on day 0 wasn't too bad at all. (Although I must say, people, please shower sometimes? 8D;; - that's not something fanime can control XD )

edit:

Quote from: ciNNo on May 26, 2009, 12:49:17 AM
I would've appreciated an announcement on when preregistration for 2010 will end, especially in the artist alley. I cant exactly leave my table whenever I want to... And by the time I could, it was too late.

Ditto.

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on May 28, 2009, 11:22:36 PM

Quote from: ewu on May 28, 2009, 10:27:41 AM

Quote from: Kender on May 28, 2009, 12:31:23 AM

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on May 27, 2009, 05:53:33 PM
- Drunks wandering in the con at 3am with no badges. Where was staff? o_o

Did you report them?  If you see someone violating the rules, please don't just stand by, watch, and wonder why no one is doing anything about it.  Report them to the nearest Rover.  If you cannot find a Rover, find a staff member and they will find you a Rover.

And sans the drunk part, as long as they were not trying to enter any of the halls or rooms that required badges (ie, gaming room, video rooms, etc), then they technically didn't have to have their badges on.

Also look around. Rovers and staff tend to stalk a target and wait for a less public area to speak to them.

Sat night, I saw 4 rovers, 2 ranking rovers, 2 division heads, SJCC facilities and 2 cops following a drunk guy at a distance. It was awesome

1: it was 3am. As freaking tired as I was, I couldn't tell if they were attendees or just drunk clubbers from some club.

2: They were in the gaming room, messing around and heckling. They were smoking and drinking tons of beer. It was amazing that they actually got past whoever was supposed to be watching the door.

3: I did let a staffer know. He didn't do anything.

What night was this? Was it a staffer or a Vol?

This was my first year at Fanime ( I had LOTS of fun)  and having been to many cons over the years I'd like to throw in my 2 cents;
Over all I thought the con was great.
As for pros....
Lots of anime to watch
Stage zero was fun
The Asian cinema was good too.
he con personel tried very hard to keep things running smoothly.
And the cons...
The pocket guide is only good if you know about it and it falls to the bottom of the bag. Why not staple it to the front cover of the larger guide?
For those of us that are newer ( to anime), how about more info about the anime that's playing? Some plot background would be very helpful.
And I vote for a giant robot room next year. Or maybe some old school live action like Ultraman?
And the peace bonding... Always a good idea but maybe you should call it weapons registration for those people that might not think they need it since thier weapon is soft/ultralight( AKA not very weapon like)/no moving parts etc?
I do like the idea of having the characters name large ( and maybe the anime it's from) on the badges. I might even pay extra for it. And how about a chioce of lanyard or clip to hold it ( I prefered the clips).
And yes the hugging was a little wierd for a first timer like me at the con.
High food prices? Deregur at a con. I stepped out to one of the many resturants and had a great cheap meal.
And the panelist louge needs a couch, TV and coke. Chips would be nice too ;)
Thanks and I hope to see you next year.

Quote from: macaulayman on May 29, 2009, 11:38:49 AMAnd how about a chioce of lanyard or clip to hold it ( I prefered the clips).

I second this. I know a lot of people are big fans of lanyards, but this year I was actually glad that we were back to clips. At the very least, it'd be better if the lanyard weren't required as part of the "authenticity" like last year. As long as you continue with the hologram-things like this year, that shouldn't be a problem, right?

Fanime was a great experience again as it always is.

One suggestion I have is about the cosplay chess. While I understand that it's a time to mingle with other cosplayers, I feel like the game kind of dragged on longer than it needed to. I was thinking that maybe the chess board could be labeled with the chess tile names (I'm thinking like in Harry Potter) and the moderator could just call out which piece goes to which square instead of having to weave all around the board and telling that person where to go after the players make their move on the actual chess board. This way, the games might go faster and maybe more than one game can be played.

Quote from: deonchan on May 29, 2009, 11:28:19 AM

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on May 28, 2009, 11:22:36 PM

Quote from: ewu on May 28, 2009, 10:27:41 AM

Quote from: Kender on May 28, 2009, 12:31:23 AM

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on May 27, 2009, 05:53:33 PM
- Drunks wandering in the con at 3am with no badges. Where was staff? o_o

Did you report them?  If you see someone violating the rules, please don't just stand by, watch, and wonder why no one is doing anything about it.  Report them to the nearest Rover.  If you cannot find a Rover, find a staff member and they will find you a Rover.

And sans the drunk part, as long as they were not trying to enter any of the halls or rooms that required badges (ie, gaming room, video rooms, etc), then they technically didn't have to have their badges on.

Also look around. Rovers and staff tend to stalk a target and wait for a less public area to speak to them.

Sat night, I saw 4 rovers, 2 ranking rovers, 2 division heads, SJCC facilities and 2 cops following a drunk guy at a distance. It was awesome

1: it was 3am. As freaking tired as I was, I couldn't tell if they were attendees or just drunk clubbers from some club.

2: They were in the gaming room, messing around and heckling. They were smoking and drinking tons of beer. It was amazing that they actually got past whoever was supposed to be watching the door.

3: I did let a staffer know. He didn't do anything.

What night was this? Was it a staffer or a Vol?

EARLY Monday morning. It was a staffer. That's all I remember.

Quote from: idontknow on May 25, 2009, 09:51:56 PM

Quote from: Tez Ryu on May 25, 2009, 09:32:50 PM
I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

i agree with the fan/real name on the badge thing. i mean, WHY even put a fan name if no one will notice it?? if you compare between the early and pre registration people, the fan name is more noticable on the early registration.

swap meet was good. although i would like to suggest someone to "enforce" spots. there was a big empty spot behind me so it would be easy just for someone to bring stuff, set it down, and start selling without letting fanimecon staff know.

not really a big deal but i think there should be more people "guarding" the artist alley. i left my artist alley booth early and left most of my stuff under the table. when i came back to get them there were 3 girls sitting at my table. i wasn't even at the end of the row and artist alley was still open. i really didn't mind them sitting there and if they stole something (they didn't, btw) i would of course blame myself for leaving it there. but it kind of showed me that the "only artists and/or their peers are allowed behind the table" policy isn't enforced.

at the stage zero today i thought one of the hosts wasn't really a "good" host. i'm sorry if you read this but this is what i think (feel free to bash me). i won't specifically say who but she kind of took things to the center and didn't really seem considerate about the people playing "jan ken pon". she wanted to use the players to demonstrate an example when they clearly didnt know how to play. when the other host said "no we should demonstrate it for them" she simply said "but it's funnier this way" or something like that. this is just one of the examples.

music selection at fanime ball. i already stated it in another post :P

i LOVE that there were so many kids and families this year. so many cute kid cosplays! (and no i'm not a pedo. haha)

so in general there were cons but they were for more "specific" things. i thought this fanimecon was a success :D

My apologies about that... this year @ Stage Zero, us original four hosts from the last 4-5 years were doin our best lol... we had A LOT of new on stage personalities being tried out this year. It's not their fault as they're new and were tryin out the ropes so to speak ^^; A lot of them aren't used to bein on stage  yet but hopefully they learned a lot and continue to grow with experience in with interacting with us original hosts/crew and the audience better :D

On the subject of lanyards.  Last year (2008) we were told that we HAD to wear the lanyard, without the lanyard the badge was invalid.  That made cosplay really difficult. I had to take my badge off and hide it in my pose every time someone wanted a picture. If you bring the lanyards back please make them optional. 

Quote from: KitsuneOniko on May 30, 2009, 09:44:06 PM

Quote from: idontknow on May 25, 2009, 09:51:56 PM

Quote from: Tez Ryu on May 25, 2009, 09:32:50 PM
I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

i agree with the fan/real name on the badge thing. i mean, WHY even put a fan name if no one will notice it?? if you compare between the early and pre registration people, the fan name is more noticable on the early registration.

swap meet was good. although i would like to suggest someone to "enforce" spots. there was a big empty spot behind me so it would be easy just for someone to bring stuff, set it down, and start selling without letting fanimecon staff know.

not really a big deal but i think there should be more people "guarding" the artist alley. i left my artist alley booth early and left most of my stuff under the table. when i came back to get them there were 3 girls sitting at my table. i wasn't even at the end of the row and artist alley was still open. i really didn't mind them sitting there and if they stole something (they didn't, btw) i would of course blame myself for leaving it there. but it kind of showed me that the "only artists and/or their peers are allowed behind the table" policy isn't enforced.

at the stage zero today i thought one of the hosts wasn't really a "good" host. i'm sorry if you read this but this is what i think (feel free to bash me). i won't specifically say who but she kind of took things to the center and didn't really seem considerate about the people playing "jan ken pon". she wanted to use the players to demonstrate an example when they clearly didnt know how to play. when the other host said "no we should demonstrate it for them" she simply said "but it's funnier this way" or something like that. this is just one of the examples.

music selection at fanime ball. i already stated it in another post :P

i LOVE that there were so many kids and families this year. so many cute kid cosplays! (and no i'm not a pedo. haha)

so in general there were cons but they were for more "specific" things. i thought this fanimecon was a success :D

My apologies about that... this year @ Stage Zero, us original four hosts from the last 4-5 years were doin our best lol... we had A LOT of new on stage personalities being tried out this year. It's not their fault as they're new and were tryin out the ropes so to speak ^^; A lot of them aren't used to bein on stage  yet but hopefully they learned a lot and continue to grow with experience in with interacting with us original hosts/crew and the audience better :D

that's fine, hopefully her and any hosts auditioning for stage zero next year will improve :D i believe in you guys!! :D :D haha

Quote from: idontknow on May 31, 2009, 04:30:25 AM

Quote from: KitsuneOniko on May 30, 2009, 09:44:06 PM

Quote from: idontknow on May 25, 2009, 09:51:56 PM

Quote from: Tez Ryu on May 25, 2009, 09:32:50 PM
I REALLY dislike how our names are in bright white, large and on the top of the passes. Then our fan names were tiny and blue at the bottom? Does everyone really need to know your name? A bit of privacy would have been nice...

I got harassed a bit much (especially by this one really drunk guy) and I'd hate to think that anyone got away with my name...:/

i agree with the fan/real name on the badge thing. i mean, WHY even put a fan name if no one will notice it?? if you compare between the early and pre registration people, the fan name is more noticable on the early registration.

swap meet was good. although i would like to suggest someone to "enforce" spots. there was a big empty spot behind me so it would be easy just for someone to bring stuff, set it down, and start selling without letting fanimecon staff know.

not really a big deal but i think there should be more people "guarding" the artist alley. i left my artist alley booth early and left most of my stuff under the table. when i came back to get them there were 3 girls sitting at my table. i wasn't even at the end of the row and artist alley was still open. i really didn't mind them sitting there and if they stole something (they didn't, btw) i would of course blame myself for leaving it there. but it kind of showed me that the "only artists and/or their peers are allowed behind the table" policy isn't enforced.

at the stage zero today i thought one of the hosts wasn't really a "good" host. i'm sorry if you read this but this is what i think (feel free to bash me). i won't specifically say who but she kind of took things to the center and didn't really seem considerate about the people playing "jan ken pon". she wanted to use the players to demonstrate an example when they clearly didnt know how to play. when the other host said "no we should demonstrate it for them" she simply said "but it's funnier this way" or something like that. this is just one of the examples.

music selection at fanime ball. i already stated it in another post :P

i LOVE that there were so many kids and families this year. so many cute kid cosplays! (and no i'm not a pedo. haha)

so in general there were cons but they were for more "specific" things. i thought this fanimecon was a success :D

My apologies about that... this year @ Stage Zero, us original four hosts from the last 4-5 years were doin our best lol... we had A LOT of new on stage personalities being tried out this year. It's not their fault as they're new and were tryin out the ropes so to speak ^^; A lot of them aren't used to bein on stage  yet but hopefully they learned a lot and continue to grow with experience in with interacting with us original hosts/crew and the audience better :D

that's fine, hopefully her and any hosts auditioning for stage zero next year will improve :D i believe in you guys!! :D :D haha

Thanks ^^ After the craziness and seeming TONS of trial and error this past Fanime I think us OC Stage Zero hosts will probably be a lil more tougher with future try outs n what not... most anyone can just get up on stage n talk (or not XD) but it's the fact that CAN they entertain people? Are they exciting and engaging the masses? Are they able to work well and feed off of the original hosts like me and Wendell and Seanie AND our stage crew? Basically are they a crowd pleaser AND a team player? ^^

Even as Stage Zero host/staff I have to agree with everyone on the crowd control issue @ our stage... With each year n more and more programming @ our stage I've noticed a massive increase in the numbers of people we attract and who want to see the craziness we have to offer @ Stage Zero. Of course us @ Stage Zero always welcome the masses to come and enjoy the con with us but it has been becoming even slightly also a safety issue lately huh? I remember @ one point during the Lokisa Fashion show we hosted last year that we had to rope off the back because the walkway was becoming crowded and impassable, which is also a fire hazard should there be any mishaps and/or accidents to happen (knock on wood we've been very lucky that no such serious event has ever yet happened @ our beloved con). Just to let everyone know it hasn't gone unnoticed by us and our fellow con staffers and logistics and such... it's a constant work in progress and if you guys have also noticed while the stage has remained mainly in the same place, over the last few years we've been rotating it slightly/turning off center/changing view facings in different directions to try to see what works best for maxium use of spacing for our stage set up, equipment, and audience sitting space... if you guys have any other suggestions please send them over to Wendell NacNac or Sean Barber of our Stage Zero producing crew... it be much appreciated... tho also keep in mind we too are also under budget and convention space union rules and etiquette so not ever suggestion might be doable ^^;

Another thing I have to agree with all of you is the signage soliciting and the hug me/glomp me lines and ppl... We want everyone to have a good fun time @ con but remember ppl that safety, consideration/respect is always a must despite! While most of the staff usually don't mind the every so often friendly joking signs, remember that the city of San Jose does...and depending on what the signage says, can be considered soliciting.

A lot of us staff were talking about signs over the years that @ first seemed harmless but did amount to a few union rules and safety issues being brought up... the "What would you do for Pocky?" signs were silly fun... until we had catgirls and catboys suddenly suggestively dancing ON TOP of con tables and equipment... I have to bring up this matter because the space and equipment we use @ con actually belongs to the convention hall management ppl... NOT US... so we are liable for any damage and accidents that may occur due to such incidents... so for your safety please if you must "dance" for Pocky, preferably on solid safe ground? lol Please respect their convention hall space and equipment... They are nice enough to let us use and rent it every year so we can have our wonderful convention ^^ That also being mentioned... please NEVER tape or use stickers for your signs up on any of the column posts and/or walls of the convention space because like I just said... that's the convention hall's property... as we say in the staff meetings... If it ain't your's and especially if it's not union approved... don't put tape or stick anything on it please!

Also on the topic of hugging and glomping... it's all good natured fun for most but remember to be RESPECTFUL about it too! Just because someone or a group of people also REFUSE to hug/glomp back doesn't mean you should be rude and insult them back... This con is meant to be a fun and comfortable environment for all who attend it. Tackle glomps were also a safety issue on many occassions... Need a remind some fellow con goers and fellow staffers of a few small incidents we've had throughout past years? Was talking with some of my friends who are also staff and we were reminded that one year a random otaku tackle glomped a Yuna cosplayer out of no where (no, they didn't know each other) which caught her off balance and her staff prop hit another group of people & cosplayers who just happen to be walking past at that same moment? A lot of our extremely dedicated cosplayers often carry heavy props and put A LOT of hard work into their costumes to proudly show off and share with us all every year and I am sure would be very upset if it were to get ruined in one blow by an infamous flying tackle glomp... Not just cosplayers but regular attendees also get bothered by inappropriate glompage... Now I know A LOT of people want to say that they got to hug/glomp a bunch of cute girls and guys during con but remember to be considerate of the "receiving" person and/or party... I get several complaints and concerns from many of my younger new staffers and friends that attend these cons (especially if it's their first time @ a con) that they feel uneasy about these kinds of things (especially because they're new to this high "hug/glomp" environment guys!). In fact... my friend Steph, whose 1st Fanime Con was this one was just walking around and trying to find me as she borrowed my sunglasses earlier that day, wanted to return them to me and right before she found me @ my stage, out of no where a "creepy fat" otaku came flying out and pretty much tackle glomped her from behind or the side from what I was told... Now she is a very cute asian girl and I know a lot of guys want to hug cute asian girls @ this con but please be mindful of how these things can be taken! Not only was she made uncomfortable but also my E3 sunglasses were broken/crushed in his "embrace"... NOT COOL... While she was a little more lenient and let this one slide... other people @ our con don't let things like that go as easily... in fact during another incident I had to step in because it involved some of my younger minor new staff we had to eventually call in the San Jose PD to ban this guy off the con site because he had made my staffers very uncomfortable to the point that the girls were nervous and near scared to tears. I know many glompers/huggers are quite persistent to get their glomp hugs but YOU DO NOT pursue the "target" if they are obviously not feeling comfortable.... This guy FOLLOWED my girls all the way to their hotel room and floor! He kept trying to talk to them and engage them in conversation when they obviously were busy and trying to walk away... what's more he then reached out to grab and held one of the girls, hugging/glomping her and wouldn't let go of her even after her repeated "please let me go"... Turns out later also he didn't even have a badge at all of any sorts, was telling ppl he was "press" when he wasn't and taking random shots of people throughout con (which he tried to show the girls too)... I am going to stress this:

INAPPROPRIATE AND UNWANTED TOUCHING OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING GLOMPS AND HUGS) CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS SEXUAL HARASSMENT

I am not saying there is anything wrong with glomping and hugging... Heck, even us friends and staff like the occassional glomp n hug ^_^ BUT please be respectful and considerate... as much as possible, especially if you don't know the other person or persons, please ASK if it's alright with them ok? We want everyone to enjoy their time @ Fanime Con so in order for that we need to look out for each other and everyone around us too. Remember that Fanime is "By Fans, For Fans"... We can have our fun but be safe and mindful and remember that not everyone will respond to certain things the same way... you wouldn't want your con time ruined and cut short because someone made you feel violated or because you were accused of sexual harassment by another attendee(s) despite your good intention and good natured joking...

I want to say while I don't really mind the signs...I DO agree that NOBODY should be FORCED to participate! ALWAYS ask about hugging/glomping people FIRST! I remember seeing one guy who would hug people on sight, WITHOUT anyone's permission! That is NOT cool and it makes people FEEL BAD! This Con is about FUN! So if you have a sign, USE COMMON COURTESY!!

Also I'd let to give a shout out to Mr. Wendell for making an AWESOME Stage Zero!

I also want to give a shoutout to the staff that did an UNofficial Cosplay Jesus panel. That was rather interesting with the Q&A and I'm curious to know about the suggestion made about making it official for next year...

Quote from: Ayanami Rei First Child on June 01, 2009, 01:20:24 AM
I want to say while I don't really mind the signs...I DO agree that NOBODY should be FORCED to participate! ALWAYS ask about hugging/glomping people FIRST! I remember seeing one guy who would hug people on sight, WITHOUT anyone's permission! That is NOT cool and it makes people FEEL BAD! This Con is about FUN! So if you have a sign, USE COMMON COURTESY!

Next year, I'll just have a sign that says "No."

Simle as that. :3

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on June 09, 2009, 02:58:03 PM

Next year, I'll just have a sign that says "No."

Simle as that. :3

sounds like something Registration that should put into the bag of goodies when you get your badge...

i could see it now, everyone carrying little speech bubble like signs that basically say [ Yes , bubble says DO WANT ] or  [ NO, bubble says DO NOT want ]

i wonder if publications as the budget for throwing that into the fanime goodie bag :P

Quote from: Jerry on June 09, 2009, 03:20:10 PM

Quote from: jinnai_animexcalibur on June 09, 2009, 02:58:03 PM

Next year, I'll just have a sign that says "No."

Simle as that. :3

sounds like something Registration that should put into the bag of goodies when you get your badge...

i could see it now, everyone carrying little speech bubble like signs that basically say [ Yes , bubble says DO WANT ] or  [ NO, bubble says DO NOT want ]

i wonder if publications as the budget for throwing that into the fanime goodie bag :P

IIRC, this was discussed before and was shot down because it would imply some level of approval of the huggers/glompers on the part of Fanime, and thus inviting a legal mess as a result.

Only complaint I really have is that the panel descriptions were in alphabetical order. I wish they would have been put in the order that they were happening. Also, it seemed like not all the panels even HAD a description in the program...

I also kind of wish that people could enter the masquerade even if they didn't make their costumes (as long as they didn't try to get a workmanship award) I know some other cons that allow this...

Quote from: souseiseki on June 25, 2009, 07:34:23 AM
Only complaint I really have is that the panel descriptions were in alphabetical order. I wish they would have been put in the order that they were happening. Also, it seemed like not all the panels even HAD a description in the program...

I also kind of wish that people could enter the masquerade even if they didn't make their costumes (as long as they didn't try to get a workmanship award) I know some other cons that allow this...

The issue with this is that they only have so much time for the masquerade and by allowing "anyone" to enter the already limited slots... it may cause people that want to enter for craftsmanship to not be allowed to enter. This is one of those things that exist so that the people that really do work on their stuff can be recognized over someone that just wants to enter. Doesn't always work out like that, but that's the idea.

I know this has been mentioned in the thread, but I want to put extra emphasis on it....

nickname should be larger than your real name on the badge!  I don't like people knowing my real name because I'm paranoid about it... >w< so the fact that my real name was so large and my nickname did not like overpower it.. yea... ;w;...

Pros: First Con Expirence: Excellent!
Allowed to stay overnight in convention center floor XD (NO SLEEP FTW!)

Cons: Initial D 4 Systems Kept Crashing!

Huh. I looked for this topic after the convention last year, but couldn't find it. Obviously I've found it now, so I'll go ahead and voice my single complaint:

In the Friday reg line, there was one particular staff member who was waddling around barking orders and snapping her fingers for attention at just about everyone in line (one guy she snapped at looked like he was seconds from decking her). I'm sorry, but that is just flat out inappropriate behavior, especially so when a hostile environment is being created. As a staff member, you are there to help things go as smoothly as possible, ensuring that everyone (including yourself) has a great weekend....not power trip.