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61

Ideas and Suggestions / Re: Ouran High School Host Club Cafe!

« on: June 05, 2011, 07:26:58 PM »

You and about 500,000 other people have had this idea.

I have to repeat this speech nearly 20 times every year and I don't feel like doing it. Instead I will just hit key points.

The reason a Maid Cafe works is because the general premise is that it works for both males and females. It is welcoming and fun for everyone and the premise isn't sexual (although some people take it as that). It's very much about just enjoying your time, company, and most importantly comfort and joy.

A host club is nothing like this. Before you decide to continue on this idea please do your research on what a host club is. I won't cover it in detail, but I'll hit some basics.

Host clubs are very sexually oriented. The entire basis of a host/hostess(yes hostess clubs exist and they are more commonly known as cabaret clubs in the rest of the world). You go to one of these basically to get a person to be a temporary boyfriend. To flirt with you, to tell you how beautiful you are, and in some cases to try and sleep with you(off the clock of course). A good host is someone that can make someone believe that they love them. To trick the other person that they really do have feelings for them, without actually doing anything with them.

While I'm fully confident I could pull off a host club with a lot of work and finding the right guys, it's not something that should belong at Fanime. You're selling the idea of a sex. I've seen "host clubs" at different cons around the country, and they're a joke. First they're nothing like what a host club is... at all. Secondly, they guys fail. I mean this. Even the better looking guys fail at playing the role of a host, and out of the some odd 20 "hosts clubs"(or maid cafes with hosts, which do not belong together at all and I will rant on this for hours about how they are not even close to being in the same genre), not a single guy could pull it off.

Ouran itself downplays the idea of a host club, because you rarely actually see the host club itself. And when you do it's very snippety. All you see is each character flirting with a girl for a little bit using a charm point, and then it moves on.

So not even speaking about competition with the cafe, I'm dead serious in doing your research before you push this idea with staff (who will listen to you if you put in a legitimate proposal and idea of doing this).

But I'll tell you right now, if this idea gets more than "on the drawing board" I will hound whoever is doing it to make sure it is done correctly... and done correctly means it can't be at the con.

62

Ideas and Suggestions / Re: Suggestions for Fanime 2012

« on: June 03, 2011, 10:52:27 AM »

I have a serious, serious problem with the fact that I cannot find contact information to reach ConOps or even AA staff to share my concerns privately.

My studio will not be returning to Fanime and I really don't want to share my concerns publicly (not that I can't be nice in my wording, I can!, but I prefer to handle these conversations with staff before taking them to public areas), but there seems to be no way to do this. At-con, the people manning the ConOps office were very polite and helpful, and it's really distressing that they have made themselves completely unavailable during non-con hours in this way.

There should always be a method for sharing private/personal concerns, if only because not everyone cares to have their issues pasted all over the internet. After one con, a fellow artist was left to share her story of harrassment regarding her kidney dialysis appointment in a forum thread like this, because there was no discreet way for her to talk to con staff. (My story isn't this deeply personal, but the lesson remains)

Don't know why eric didn't post this but you can reach AA at artistalley at fanime dot com. I believe conops can be reached in the like wise manner.

63

Ideas and Suggestions / Re: Which kind of guest do you want to see most at FanimeCon?

« on: June 03, 2011, 08:41:32 AM »

Personally, I would love to see guests that represent an underappreciated and more unknown side of the anime/game/music industry: the foreigners who work in Japan as translators, composers, lyricists, English vocalists et c. (People like Tim Jensen, Lynne Hobday and Steve Conte...)

We did a panel about this some odd 5 years ago. It didn't go so well. We had, a translator, an editor, localization QA, and a VA director. Only about 7 people showed up and no one asked any questions.

64

Big Event Showcase / Re: Maid Cafe 2011 feedback thread

« on: June 02, 2011, 06:16:28 PM »

I missed Maid Cafe this year!!! D:

As far as I know it's only open Sat and Sun right? What is the reason behind the limited number of hours?

Eh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.

Well, on our side, we'd die. We had 57 maids this year and a good amount of them worked 11-6 shifts(their choice). On average a girl worked about 4 1/2 hours each day and we weren't over staffed but we had a little more than was "the perfect amount" A lot of it is that I really want the girls to be able to enjoy the con and not be stuff working every single day. So unless I have like 80 maids(i'm really surprised we had 57 to be honest) it's would be hard to do. Especially with Friday being a school day and many of our maids still in high school.

The idea has come been bouncing around about adding an extra day for the cafe and we're not against it, we just don't think it's really doable yet. The cafe continues to grow though and one day when it grows enough we probably will.

65

General Convention Discussion / Re: awesome fanime food

« on: June 02, 2011, 02:09:52 PM »

One of our staff members for Maid Cafe is a professional cook. So he cooked a big dinner for all the maids consisting of steak, spare ribs, garlic mashed potatos, squash and bok choy, his own special salad dressing for salad, rizotto.

By far the best thing I've ever eaten during any convention time.

66

Live Programming and Events / Re: Feedback on Momoi Live event; please no non-press taping

« on: June 02, 2011, 10:44:28 AM »

Don't get me wrong, I understand the point completely, and very much agree with him on a lot of the points. The factor though still isn't the recording itself though, and it's that of the behavior of a lot of people.

67

Ideas and Suggestions / Re: Suggestions for Fanime 2012

« on: June 01, 2011, 06:55:52 PM »

Improvements Over Past Years
I don't know where the maid cafe was, but wherever it was, it was out of the way and I liked it. I've had problems getting to and from places if the maid cafe is in the middle; the line for it is always disorganized and it takes too long to seat people.

The Maid Cafe was in the same place it has been for the past three years. It's located at the end of the concourse on the Hilton side. I don't know what you mean by disorganized line though, can you explain this? The line has always wrapped from the entrance of the cafe around and alongside the wall of the escalator/stairs.

68

Live Programming and Events / Re: Feedback on Momoi Live event; please no non-press taping

« on: June 01, 2011, 06:49:48 PM »

Words

And I think what Momoi doesn't mind is more important. She likes fan vids and people. And you have it backwards. They want to record... and participate at the same time. When you're just standing in the back recording you don't get to participate. When you're recording from up close you get to be a part of it at the same time. But hey, you can have your opinion. Your argument is basically like "I don't like when there's people taller than me in front of me at a concert". I know people may be in the way, but guess what, it happens. They're just trying to enjoy their time how they want, and the performer doesn't mind it (and encourages it) so why would the con do something that goes against their wishes (even if they are silent wishes).

Think of it this way, what if they banned the glowsticks. The con has very legitimate reason to ban them even if they don't want to, it would be in their best interest concerning the venue to do so. But it's not something any of us want, but if you start banning things because of issues like this, it kind of ruins things.

The issue isn't so much about the cameras, but people being idiotic and rude. And this becomes a touchy subject. How much should staff be allowed to cut in just because someone is being rude or dumb with their actions. With situations like this, sadly, the only thing you can do is kind of force things back, which I know isn't what you want to do, nor what you should do.

BTW, you should care who I am, as I'm going to be the one staff member that brings this up to rovers/security/GR. Not the camera issue, but the people with the cameras. Chances are if you banned the cameras, those idiots will still act the same regardless.

Just for reference, I'm Mikey, co-head of the maid cafe and Jun's boyfriend. I've been writing up issues I'm bringing up with the division heads and this will be one of those things.

69

General Convention Discussion / Re: Anyone else let down by this year's Fanime?

« on: June 01, 2011, 09:13:53 AM »

To address the maid cafe, I think it looked great and I wish I could have gotten a chance to sit at it. The maids looked cute, I saw plenty of smiles and laughter, and some seriously happy guests. I'm really inspired to be a maid now.

Please send an email to maidcafe at fanime dot com and you'll be put on a mailing list about tryouts when they start coming up sometime near the beginning of 2012. (UNLESS THE WORLD ENDS! In that case you may not get an email and I apologize).

70

General Convention Discussion / Re: Anyone else let down by this year's Fanime?

« on: June 01, 2011, 09:05:18 AM »

Lots of words

Yes I am co-head of the maid cafe. And my issues are clear. You claimed you worked at a 4star restaurant. A 4 star restaurant on yelp is not a "4 star restaurant". So excuse me for misunderstanding what you meant.

My claim was not that you were at the cafe for 10 minutes, but you made "observations" that are untrue and stated that a maid only has to check up on the table a few times. This is actually quite wrong and a maid should not do this. What they should do is sit down with the patron AFTER they have finished their food and converse/play with the patron for 20 or so minutes before they leave. I'll break down the basics. A patron takes about 8-12 minutes to eat on average if they get a full meal. This is rarely the case. Usually it's just a sandwich or a desert if they order food. In which case a desert is about 5 minutes, and a sandwich is about 7 minutes (these are estimations based on the general amount of time that I actually recorded for my own data).

After the meal is near completion the maid comes and takes their trash and throws it away and returns asking if they would like company. They then sit with the patron and talk for a good 15-20 minutes. A patron roughly stays for about 30 minutes. From the time they are seated at the table.

Your complaints don't match up with this at all. And my statement was that anyone that stayed in the cafe would have easily observed this. So while I want feedback on the negative(and trust me I do) your claims and complaints don't even sound legitimate. It sounds as if you weren't in the cafe at all, or you really did have absolutely no clue what the cafe was/is supposed to be like despite going.

So on that note, my questions are fully legitimate. On the case that you did attend the cafe, your maid sat you and never returned, I need to find out why this happened. In which case I need to know when/who your maid was/ and where you sat.

My statement about finding out who you are, is qutie simple. I know people. It's not hard for me to ask around who you are, because i'm 99% sure, I have a friend that knows who you are and will tell me who you are. This is about legitmacy.

You said that you don't just hate and aren't just trying to complain, but that's exactly what you sound like you're doing. I've gotten feedback on things that went wrong, and I know a lot that went wrong and have gone through changing up how I'm dealing with some issues.

Your feed back wasn't even criticism because it didn't address anything, it was just complaining. So I need legitimacy in complaints. If you do not want to tell me who your maid was, when you came in, and which table you sat at, that is fine, but that means nothing gets accomplished and you're no longer offering criticism. There's no way to prove legitimacy in your complaint and your words will just be ignored as trolling.

71

General Convention Discussion / Re: Anyone else let down by this year's Fanime?

« on: May 31, 2011, 11:38:57 PM »

Why must I even go into specifics or provide hardcore proof that it wasn't good? I'm not here to convince you that Fanime 2011 sucks, I'm here to Re:Anyone else let down by this year's Fanime? Lmao, suck it up. Can't handle handle the way I feel about things or what? I'm sorry but I don't feel like being optimistic about it since last year when it actually started getting bad.

Ok, so you're just complaining baselessly, offering no feedback and just whining like a child then. How does that help anyone? If you have complaints, then explain them so people can improve on them.

edit: However I did learn one thing, it is not the DJ to entirely blame for, it is the Con Management and their lame restrictions on limiting what people want to actually play.

The music sucks, my friends hated it, random people said they hated it, and other people on the forum said they don't like to dance to "techno" (Lol, it's not even techno). I personally don't hate it, but it just wasn't innovating, captivating, melodic, euphoric, dreamy, hard, or progressive. You think I'm the only one complaining about this? Wow, you'd be surprised bro!

Uh... the con management restricted them on what they can play? Says who? Oh, you of the all knowing obviously know better than the staff members of the con apparently... and the djs...

No I actually don't know what a Maid Cafe is. You didn't know that I didn't know? I went probably since it started, as I recall it was in its early awakening in 2009-present. (Not sure if it was there 2008-before though.)

I don't need to explain to you. If you don't agree with me then get off my nuts. If I don't like it, I'll say I don't like it. Just because it was good for you horny maid defending otakus in shining armor, doesn't mean that it's gonna be good for everybody. Some people just enjoy mediocrity, and some expect higher.

Actually you do need to explain it to me... because I'm co-head of the maid cafe. And how my girls act with patrons is important to me. So I will request some information. Who was your maid. Because I was in the cafe for a good majority of the time, and my staff was in there a good majority of the time.

When I went to the Maid Cafe, they didn't really smile, and the Maids looked rather pissed off and annoyed because of who-knows-why. Maybe it's because otakus like you keep trying to hit on them. I understand because they are in dresses, heels, being stalked/checked out by creeps, and are under pressure and stress from many other responsibilities. But who told the maids they had to be that busy? If they can't pull it off then perhaps they should tone it down.

No smiles, no friendly vibe, and they didn't even check my table after they seated me. I don't want to go more into details, so shut up.

OH PLEASE DO GO INTO MORE DETAILS. Because this is my cafe and I need to know what's going on it. Again, please tell me who your maid was. She tells you her name when you enter the cafe and almost all of them wore name tags. Also, I'd like to know what time you were in the cafe and what day. I need to take these complaints seriously as I absolutely do strive for perfection.

Restaurant and Cafe is nearly the same thing. Actually, it is even easier to do a Cafe than it is to do a restaurant. So really, it shouldn't be that hard at all for them. You still have to have customer service skills, social skills, common sense, friendliness, and lots of patience. How many tables are at the Maid Cafe anyway? How many Maids were even working?

There were 12 tables with the capability of seating 10 people each. There were a total of 59 maids including the staff maids, not all at the cafe all the time of course. What time were you asking about and I can tell you how many maids were working. Almost all of my girls were rather competent, all of them are sociable and friendly.

LMAO is this guy serious? I'M A COOK IN A HIGH CLASS RESTAURANT, I MAKE FROZEN MEDIOCRE FOOD AND OVERCHARGE BECAUSE I GOT CUTE LITTLE MAIDS WHO WILL MAKE UP FOR MY MEDIOCRITY! THOSE IDIOTS WILL NEVER KNOW!

please, you're a sick joke. get out of here

And you seriously need to learn to read. You're comparing a restaurant with a small catering stand in a convention center. CURIOUS... where do you work? You don't have to answer this of course, but if you have any balls at all you will.

Lol, how hard is it to just check up on tables 2-3 times, talk to the customers nicely with a smile, show a passion for the work, walk back and forth and bring frozen sandwiches and cold drinks out of a fridge, ignore annoying creeps that harass, or better yet, take the harassment lightly and just joke around with them casually. I get harassed or hit on by girl customers at work, and I just take it lightly and play along or make jokes with it. It really isn't that hard. Either the maids are shy, or they just don't have those kinds of social skills. What I do notice about the Maid Service at the Cafe is they give me a vibe that they just want to do their work, finish us off, and get us the hell out of here so they could finish. I get a vibe that they just want it to be over with, so they could leave.

If you knew anything, and actually were at the cafe (yes at this point I'm calling you out straight forwardly now) you would know that girls don't "check up on tables" at the maid cafe. It was absolutely more than obvious that the maids sat down with patrons. WAIT WAIT WAIT... you work at a 4-4.5 star restaurant and are saying that harassment of the wait staff is common? This doesn't happen in high class restaurants sir. And now you're just making crap up that they want you to get out of there. But hey, you're obviously the expert despite almost everything you saying not adding up.

If you don't wanna accept feedback, and you like to face the wall of ignorance, then just ignore what I have to say. I wasn't directing toward you anyway in the first place anyway.

No, I love feedback. Did you not notice how I put up a thread for feedback? What I want is GOOD FEEDBACK legitimate feedback about what went wrong and what went right. What you wrote doesn't make sense. You state things happened and that the cafe was a certain way, when it wasn't, and just observing the cafe for 10 minutes you would know those things. So please explain what happened in detail. And strangely you were directing everything towards me, because again... I'm co-head of the maid cafe. Everything you said was DIRECTLY TOWARDS ME.

But, it's ok, I understand, if I complain and make feedback, it is my fault, not theirs.   Kinda ironic,   because at restaurants/cafes if something is going bad, it is usually the workers that should take the blame. (Even if it wasn't the worker's fault. The customer will feel better that they are not responsible.)

Anyways.... just for the record, I'm an otaku too... kind of, not as much as before, so no need to call me a hypocritical person. (Look at my sig yo!)

Yes, it is the workers fault usually, but sometimes it's not. And quite frankly, I have a few guesses as to who you may be, and with some slight digging, I can probably figure it out, but again, if you have any integrity, you'll answer the questions I asked so I can get to the bottom of what happened during your visit to the cafe and fix this problem for next year. I have a good memory, but i'm terrible with names. So I'll make it easy and list out the information I would like and you don't even need to tell me who you are \o/

What time you came into the cafe.
Which table you sat at.
Who your maid was.

Thank you.

72

Live Programming and Events / Re: Feedback on Momoi Live event; please no non-press taping

« on: May 31, 2011, 10:08:20 PM »

PyronIkari: There are clauses in the performer's agreement with the con.  I was only made aware of a few of them.  The fan-taping piece was mentioned to me, but I didn't feel that I was the one who was supposed to control that (until afterwards it was made clear that I was..-still not sure why).  whether the original poster has a right to say something, i'm simply responding to a formal complaint made to me by her on-site managers.

E-Hash, I know about it. I'm just curious who this OP is, to speak on behalf of her and her staff. Because the clauses are specific so randomly speaking about things and claiming what the guest wants is... ... ...

73

Big Event Showcase / Re: Maid Cafe 2011 feedback thread

« on: May 31, 2011, 09:53:46 PM »

I went to the Maid Cafe on Saturday (I was dressed as a maid, hurr llD;; )

It was very entertaining! The chocolate mousse was very chocolatey llD and the maid who served us was very nice :3 She even came by to my table in the Artist Ally and commissioned me ^^

I have to admit I was a bit flustered when one of the maids announced to the entire cafe that I was going to play Hare Hare Yukai >>;;; But it was a good memory ^^;;

Actually, me and my friend were worried about some maids who are left alone with one guest. I thought about it and was wondering if it would be better to have two maids for a single customer so a maid has a witness when things get dangerously personal and/or newer/younger maids have someone to rely on for emotional support.

Just a suggestion ^^a

Ah, the violinist! It was nice to have you.

The problem with having multiple maids per guest is actually a hard issue to deal with, but your concerns are known and thought about rather deeply. The girls' safety is the absolute first thing on my mind and by far the biggest priority I have. I have put a lot of thought into protecting from things like this, and we actually talk to all the girls about their safety and what to do in situations. So thank you for your concerns. They have training in what to do if they feel uncomfortable or if a guest does something inappropriate.

74

Live Programming and Events / Re: Feedback on Momoi Live event; please no non-press taping

« on: May 31, 2011, 04:40:29 PM »

words

I'm curious as to why you think a lot of the things you said.

Momoi encourages video/streaming/pictures etc. She can give permission to people allowing them to post videos of her in face book, and once again, encourages it.

So I will ask you, who are you to speak on behalf of what Momoi would and would not like, and what she would find best for her fans?

75

Ideas and Suggestions / Re: Vocaloids Live!

« on: May 31, 2011, 04:37:01 PM »

I have a legitimate question concerning this and I want to know why.

Ok, let's say a guest cost 10,000$ to bring to the conevention (made up number). And Miku's 3-d concert costs 8,000$ to hold at fanime. Would you rather the money be spent on getting a different guest of honor, or the miku 3-d concert?

Now let's continue with that.

Miku cost 15,000$, would you rather the money be spent on Miku? Or another guest + maybe going towards the dance or b+w ball?

I know people would like to see the Miku concert, but I'm curious if logistics would play a part into it in their decision.

76

Big Event Showcase / Maid Cafe 2011 feedback thread

« on: May 31, 2011, 04:31:09 PM »

Hi hi, I'd like to hear feedback good and bad(mostly bad so I can improve for next year). Tell us opinions on the live, the cafe, the girls, the staff, etc. Tell me what I can do better, and what you want me to keep.

Please keep in mind, I only have power over the cafe itself, not the venue, the catering, etc. So please try to keep it on topic, but if you want to rant, about that stuff, I guess you can, just know I can't change it.

77

Big Event Showcase / Re: Official 2011 Fanimaid Cafe thread

« on: May 31, 2011, 04:29:38 PM »

i'd have to say...once again i was dissapointed by the food offering at the maid cafe.  I know it's union, I know it's stuck with their rules, but can't you guys negotiate something better? I do give you guys props for negotiating substantial items under $5. Many people don't realize this, but the venue determines what and how much the food is.

We gets what we can, sorry man. Realistically though, if we're talking only in the con center, the prices aren't that bad and the food isn't that bad. The deserts are actually quite good, but the sandwiches and everything are just normal sandwiches.

I had a lot of conversations with one of the cooks and he actually talked to me about how he doesn't like making food like this, because it's not "good food". It's just simple catering food and to him that's not "cooking". I complimented the deserts and said that a lot of patrons love the new chocolate mousse cake(which was pretty good). He said and I quote "This isn't cooking. I wish this was a real restaurant that I could cook for all your patrons, because then I'd show you cooking".

78

General Convention Discussion / Re: Anyone else let down by this year's Fanime?

« on: May 31, 2011, 03:15:41 PM »

Words

You do not have a single legitimate point in anything you posted at all. Every single thing you complained about either, didn't apply, or was you basically stating how you don't like people. "I don't like crossplayers" "I don't like the music they played at the dance"... etc. Seriously? Then you go off on a rant like Fanime is terrible because of things like this? Are you serious?

But here's the fun one, not because it's my department because it makes absolutely no sense.

Ok... service. What do you mean by service? You don't even explain anything in this, you just complain about the food and say you don't get anything from it. Again, what kind of service did you expect? Do you even know what a maid cafe is? Seriously... first off, it's a cafe... not a restaurant. So if you're going to whine that it's not a 4/4.5 star restaurant you really need to get your head out of your ass. It's not about being blunt, it's about knowing what you're talking about and making an appropriate comparison. It's fine if you don't like the cafe, I honestly and truly do not care if it's not your kind of thing. What I do care about is how you're attacking it totally off base. Just so you know, one of the staff members of the cafe is a cook in a high class restaurant. So please give me legitimate complaints instead of just "It sucked". And this goes for pretty much everything you said.

While I appreciate reasonings of opinion, opinions are just opinions. For every opinion of "I don't like crossplayers" there is one of "I love crossplayers". So stating that as a reason is quite pointless and accomplishes nothing. Give me some legitimate weight in things that were actually problematic that are imrpovable.


ZeroElement: Please stop replying like you have any idea what you're talking about in concerns to a lot of these things. You're kind of replying back like you're staff and you have good knowledge of what is going on, when it's clear you do not, as a good amount of what you said has been completely false.

79

General Convention Discussion / Re: Anyone else let down by this year's Fanime?

« on: May 31, 2011, 10:20:02 AM »

I haven't read stuff and I only have like 2 minutes while I'm printing stuff. Yes I'm staff, no I'm not talking on behalf of staff as I only take care of my dept and the conjoining issues of my dept.

Mayhem: You got screwed, I was talking about you with some other staffers actually and we thought your idea was awesome, I wonder what happened.

A lot of your complaints are kind of dumb. Dealers hall prices? Really? Do I need to explain economy to year? The Yen's value and the dollars value were at some extreme highs for a majority of this year. You realize that when dealers import items from Japan, the value of said item may not change, but the value of the dollar does. So a dollar may have been 98 yen last year, but this year, it was as low as 70 yen to the dollar. This means things that were 9000 yen in Japan costed 100.00$ but now 7000 yen items are now 100$. That's not even including exchange fees or taxes/shipping etc. So of course prices went up, that's how economy works. So complaining about prices at the dealers hall is quite... dumb. Have you looked online recently at prices for imported goods? They went up pretty much every where. My local Marukai charges an extra 40cents now for canned coffee. My local Mitsuwa charges and extra 4$ for the shampoo I buy.

THIS IS ECONOMY... It's not Fanime nor the dealers fault that stuff is more expensive.

Something to learn about rovers, crowd control etc. There are always bad and good staff members on the lower level(or any level). If you get a bad staff member, get their name and description and report them. Upper management does care about this stuff. They do not want bad staff members, but they don't know they're bad unless people report them.

I'll write more, but my files are done printing.

80

Serious Business / Re: Everyones least favorite cult is stopping by the Bay Area again.

« on: May 25, 2011, 05:05:52 PM »

ok what the hell.

i looked threw the events and was like "oh metal, pop icons, fanime.........

Sesame Street?!?[/u][/i]"
why are they protesting at Sesame Street show....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9DGhfDrLK4

What I'm more baffled about is what made them picket a Kenny Chesney concert, I mean I thought churchie hicks were into all that kunchree mewsick crapola and vice versa.

And there's the blatent irony of you being just as judgmental and the hypocrite I said you were. To not even make the obvious statement of prejudice, but to go out of your way to mock it. Congrats at being what you supposedly hate.