FanimeCon 2026 Forums

Quote from: Mach5MotorsportAnd the first Fanime was at CSU Hayward in June for all you history buffs out there. :D

Neat!  Just for fun, here are some other ones:

1999 Mar 19-21 Santa Clara Convention Center / Wyndam Hotel, 2000 attendees
2000 Feb 24-27 Westin, Santa Clara, CA, 2300
2001 Mar 30-32 Westin, Santa Clara, CA, 3750
2002 Apr 26-28 Westin, Santa Clara, CA, ?
2003 Jun 20-22 Westin, Santa Clara, CA, ?
2004 May 28-31 San Jose Convention Center / Mariott, San Jose, CA, 5700 <-- Footnote 1.
2005 May 27-30 San Jose Convention Center / Mariott and Hilton, San Jose, CA

I was going to ask about the rest, but I had pulled out my program booklets to look up the dates and found a great article about Fanime History article in the 2002 program book:

1994 ? CSU Hayward, "almost 100"
1995 ? CSU Hayward, 350
1996 Feb, Foothill College, Los Altos, CA, 775
1997 ? Foothill College, Los Altos, CA, 1200
1998 ? Foothill College, Los Altos / Sheraton, Sunnyvale, CA, 1700

If people want to tell me how to fill in the question marks, that'd be fun.

Also, if anyone wants to tell stories of the early days or about their first cons or anything, I'd love to hear them.  Fanime is growing very quickly, and things have been changing to accomodate the growth.  Things that happened "back in the day" might not be able to happen in the future.  It'd be nice to keep alive the memories of past Fanime and Fanime lore.  Things like...  Armitage's slip... Chocolate Misu... Dieter and his funny impromptu monologues... things that happened on the dance floor or the cosplay... directors singing during live panels... and what is it with "horse" and "chair" anyways?

My story is from this year since I have a very bad memory.  One of the guests of honor was Hiroaki Inoue.  He gave a great talk about Japanese Sci-Fi books being the basis for a lot of anime.  At the end of the panel, he announced that he had a gift for us, and he pulled out this reel of film.  He went on to explain that the film contained Ah, Megamisama! when a pair of scissors appears in his hand.  As the audience started to line up, Inoue-san really started unrolling the film, cutting off strips of it, and handing the strips to the people in line.  I couldn't tell if I felt more honored to get a strip of that film or more shocked that the film reel was being destroyed like that.

EDIT Footnote 1:  From http://fanime.altimus-labs.com/viewtopic.php?t=2184&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=:

Quote from: TonyAt the lowest end of the spectrum, about 5700 total paid fans attended. This number excludes children, special badges, and people who didn't claim their badge.

At the highest end of the spectrum, about 7400 attendees visited FanimeCon. This number includes guests, staff, and so on.

Two of my favorite Fanime memories are back from the Foothill years.

1: Seeing Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa. (It's coming out on DVD in just a couple months! GREAT Disney Dub Cast! Yay!)

2: The very dedicated fan who dressed up as Ryoga from Ranma and literally wandered around randomly asking for directions to places (and walking off in the wrong direction) for the entire con. That was beautiful.

My fondest memories were from the Foothill days... I was there for both of them, and they were just after my first experiences with anime.

I remember - Mike Wright, was it? - in Captain Harlock cosplay... Justin Hernandez hosted the masquerade once too, I believe, and it was funny to end up running into him so often, albeit quietly... I remember my friend, exhausted and falling asleep in the masq, getting hit smack in the head by a beach ball and freaking out.

Seeing the Tenchi movie in Dolby... Big-screen Evangelion and Hyper Dolls... The $90 Ryo-ohki plushies, dealers selling hentai to minors... Dieter as a masquerade performer... =P (Urotsukidoji, anyone?) I loved the Foothill days.

Ahhh....


I remember Falling asleep during the first screening of Death and Rebirth in the Foothill days.

D'oh!

Quote from: Tonydealers selling hentai to minors...

Ah, yes. Those were the days.

Quote from: Zain

Quote from: Tonydealers selling hentai to minors...

Ah, yes. Those were the days.

I didn't know I started a new topic.  (sigh)  Life was so much simpler back then.  Just bring your VCRs and find enough rooms with 27" TVs.

Quote from: tenba1998 ? Sheraton, Sunnyvale, CA, 1700

Correction: Foothill College

Quote from: Inu_RanmaThe very dedicated fan who dressed up as Ryoga from Ranma and literally wandered around randomly asking for directions to places (and walking off in the wrong direction) for the entire con. That was beautiful.

I remember that d00d!! XD

Test your knowledge of Fanime Con!

Q1. How many divisions does Fanime have? (trick question)

Q2. The anime music video event is a part of what division?

Q3. How many divisions has the info desk been "transfered" to within the last 4 years?

Q4. What is the total number of staff and volunteers who help out Fanime Con for this year or any year? (another trick question)

Q5. In general the founders of Fanime were memebers of what college anime club?

Q6. What is Fanime con's motto?

Q7. What is Fanime Con's "parent" company.

Q8. What year was it that Fanime first experimented with a 4 day venue?

Quote from: frumpy

Quote from: tenba1998 ? Sheraton, Sunnyvale, CA, 1700

Correction: Foothill College

Oh!  Thank you!!  (That makes a whole lot more sense.)  I wonder why the Fanime 2002 booklet said the Sheraton then...?  (Or did I read that wrong?)

Quote from: tenba

Quote from: frumpy

Quote from: tenba1998 ? Sheraton, Sunnyvale, CA, 1700

Correction: Foothill College

Oh!  Thank you!!  (That makes a whole lot more sense.)  I wonder why the Fanime 2002 booklet said the Sheraton then...?  (Or did I read that wrong?)

I'm glad someone corrected you on that already.  :)  I remember
1998 -- other than the hills,   ^_^;; the Foothill site was a lot of fun
for a con.  The rooms were all generally theatre style seating,
which was really cool--you never had to worry about being able
to see the subtitles.   :D  I'm trying to remember if that was the
year I ended up with badge number '666'...
Ah...*goes all natsukashii for a bit*

Quote from: tenba

Quote from: frumpy

Quote from: tenba1998 ? Sheraton, Sunnyvale, CA, 1700

Correction: Foothill College

Oh!  Thank you!!  (That makes a whole lot more sense.)  I wonder why the Fanime 2002 booklet said the Sheraton then...?  (Or did I read that wrong?)

The con was at Foothill.  The hotel was the Sheraton.  As a result, there was a lot of travelling between hotel and con that year.

Quote from: StormfalconThe con was at Foothill.  The hotel was the Sheraton.

Ah...  Thanks for the clarification!

Quote from: astroboyTest your knowledge of Fanime Con!

Astroboy, I'll take you on!!

1. FanimeCon has 3 divisions: land, sea, and air. "Space" is our next division, but won't be ready until 2010.

2. AMVs are under the jurisdiction of the game show. We do that as some legal tomfoolery, because as it turns out, anything related to a game show is legal, due to an act of congress in 1973.

3. Trick question! There's never been an infodesk, only an "informational-type kiosk and/or desk".

4. Approximately 10,000 staff and volunteers worked on FanimeCon this year. It didn't seem like that many, but that's because about 9,650 of them were for the Hentai and Yaoi nights.

5. Another trick question! The founders of Fanime never went to college. They were raised on anime, and were educated solely by the omake in Top wo Narae (Gunbuster).

6. FanimeCon's motto is "A Place of Things".

7. FanimeCon's parent company is ARG, which stands for "Armament Research Group". All revenue generated by FanimeCon is used for high-tech arms development and research. Like in Metal Gear Solid... exactly like in Metal Gear Solid.

8. FanimeCon's first 4-day experiment was in 1989, but it wasn't called FanimeCon then. Unfortunately, the 4 days of the convention were during Foothill college's finals week, and angry students barricaded otaku in the gymnasium. With only a small supply of ramen available to the imprisoned otaku, there was eventually a famine in the gym. The convention we now know was created in rememberance of that incident, but unfortunately no one spell-checked the logo - thus FanimeCon was born.

Quote from: Tony

Quote from: astroboyTest your knowledge of Fanime Con!

Astroboy, I'll take you on!!

ROTFLMAO!

Quote from: Tony

Quote from: astroboyTest your knowledge of Fanime Con!

Astroboy, I'll take you on!!

That whole posting (which I snipped for brevity) deserves a chikan sammich. ^_^

Quote from: KinFreon

Quote from: Tony

Quote from: astroboyTest your knowledge of Fanime Con!

Astroboy, I'll take you on!!

That whole posting (which I snipped for brevity) deserves a chikan sammich. ^_^

Or some especially good lovin! Rowr!

I'm one of those who has the dubious distinction of having attended EVERY FanimeCon, though the first one was one of those things where a friend of mine called me up out of the blue saying that his mom was going to drive the two of us to Hayward for this anime thing. That was where I first saw Macross Plus and the Street Fighter II movie.

The first Foothill one was where we volunteered and got to watch the dealers room for a couple hours... and then another hour or so while they were finding relief for us. I think that was also the first time we encountered the proto-Deiter at con-ops.

It's just continually grown since then, though I've always found the crowd at Fanime much more pleasant to deal with than pretty much any other convention of any kind.

Quote from: neko ewenThe first Foothill one was where we volunteered and got to watch the dealers room for a couple hours... and then another hour or so while they were finding relief for us. I think that was also the first time we encountered the proto-Deiter at con-ops.

Oh gee!  Where you in the music room used by Con-Ops when I tossed that idea out?  It was a few years back.  1995?

Been to fanime for 6 years now. Thank god my first year I got on staff thanks to my step-bro and some Lincoln Anime Club connections of his. =) I had no money at all, so not having to wait to get into dealer's room was a mixed blessing. =( Got my ass handed to me playing xmen vs SF cause I was doing supers old school style. Watching my bro put like 10 posters with one thumbtalk to get rid of his stack. lol. Seeing cosplayers for the first time. And people playing Ani-mayhem(Holy shit!!!). Crazy good memories of a con noob. 2k3 is still my fave year so far though!

Quote from: astroboyTest your knowledge of Fanime Con!

Q1. How many divisions does Fanime have? (trick question)

Q2. The anime music video event is a part of what division?

Q3. How many divisions has the info desk been "transfered" to within the last 4 years?

Q4. What is the total number of staff and volunteers who help out Fanime Con for this year or any year? (another trick question)

Q5. In general the founders of Fanime were memebers of what college anime club?

Q6. What is Fanime con's motto?

Q7. What is Fanime Con's "parent" company.

Q8. What year was it that Fanime first experimented with a 4 day venue?

1) 4, I think. Live Programming, Video Programming, Human Resources, Dealers.

2) AMVs are a combination of Live and Video programming. Live, because they use the same theater as cosplay.

3) Maybe 2? I think it's Human Resources now, or it's own department.

4) The usual big-con attendant-to-staff ratio is around 50/1. If there was 8000 attendants at FC 2004, then there would be around 160 staffers. Just a guess.

5) Foothill College in Los Altos=Foothill Anime. Though other Bay Area clubs had a hand in the first Fanime.

6) "By fans, for fans"

7) Anime Resource Group. Popularly known as ARG, hence the pirates theme.

8 ) Fanime 2k was the first advertised 4-day event. The Thursday before the con is usually for advanced registering, but in 2000, it was considered an actual day. However, only 1 video room was open (it was showing trailers and 1st episodes).

Quote from: Otakuya

Quote from: astroboyTest your knowledge of Fanime Con!

Q3. How many divisions has the info desk been "transfered" to within the last 4 years?

3) Maybe 2? I think it's Human Resources now, or it's own department.

What!?!? You mean they moved it again? When I wrote that question the info desk had already been recycled thru

year
2001 - publications division
2002 - operations
2003 - marketing (that's when I was on board ^_^)
2004 - registration

I always like to joke with my buddies that info desk is the bastard step child department of Fanime.....right up there alongside with table top and console gaming.  *just joking*

But in all honesty it's not a bad dept. I met some really neat people there.  8)

Quote from: Otakuya

1) 4, I think. Live Programming, Video Programming, Human Resources, Dealers.

In recent years, there were 8 divisions:

Video Programming
Live Programming
Dealers
Marketing
Guest Relations
Registrations
Con Ops
Facilities/Hotel

However, these divisions have been restructured and fallen into new categories this year...

2) AMVs are a combination of Live and Video programming. Live, because they use the same theater as cosplay.

AMVs were always under Video Programming regardless of a shared venue.

4) The usual big-con attendant-to-staff ratio is around 50/1. If there was 8000 attendants at FC 2004, then there would be around 160 staffers. Just a guess.

We had about 350-400 staffers for 2004. Video Programming had about 70 staffers alone....  :shock:  

Fanime '05 will be my eighth Fanime.  My first con experience was 1998 at Foothill College.  I went with my friend Claire and met up with SpazMegami there too, by coincedence.  I saw the latter episodes of Sailor Moon R for the first time and discovered new hatred of ChibiUsa.  
 It's because of Fanime that I learned to sew (for costumes) and it's how my friends and I get together every year from all over CA.
 Favorite Con experience: Fanime 2K.  It was four days of cosplaying, anime and mind altering insomnia.  I think I slept all of 25 hours in four days, plus CHAIR!  Yeah.

'04 was my first time going to FanimeCon...
and it was awesome! I am going to FanimeCon '05 no matter what! It was so great and i have never been to a ny anime convention before. Going gave me some good memories and I can't wait to get some more good memories...

man, I hate being new lol. '05 will be my first, and there's NO stopping me from going. 8)

'05 shall be my fourth con.  Gone every year since '02.  I'm looking forward to it... Though I still miss the old con center... XD

Yay I am new, it'll be my 3rd con, and I love it! Fanime is the best thing ever! I've cosplayed every year! My favorite parts were fending off fanboys with nunchucks (Selphie) and the man dressed up as a tentacal monster last year :)

I've been attending since '01, and evey year has been better than the last!  I kind of miss the old con center to, but at least there are more rooms available, more space, and lots of places to eat near by.   I wonder how many years it will be until Fanime takes up the entire convention center.  :?

Woohoo this'll be my 3rd year at Fanime. It's been great and it keeps getting better and better! Can't wait to see what's going on this year. Oh and it'll be my first time Cosplaying...YAY! :D

This is my second year, my first time going for all four days, and my first time cosplaying. It's also a celebration of sorts for me cause I'll have graduated college (took me five years but I finally earned my bachelor's degree in english-creative writing being my focus) so I can't wait.

I've been going to Fanime since 2001 (well, I couldn't go in 2003...).

2001: If anyone saw a half-Asian girl on Saturday going to Misao (Rurouni Kenshin), that was me...lol! I was only 12 back then!

2002: On Saturday I was Fatora (El Hazard), so if you saw a Fatora, it was me ^^

2004: On Friday, I was Aerith...YAY! Im on cosplay.com somewhere, I think. Late afternoon on I was what I like to call "Evil Battousai" (I sort of made it up...) from Rurouni Kenshin. Basically, I just bought a hakama set from the dealer's room. It was kind of coolies 'cause I already had the long hair...well, it was shorter but I still liked it! ^^
Sunday was the day I walked around as some random schoolgirl with loose socks and neko ears (not really cosplaying, just me fooling around) and then later I changed into a purple kimono (someone thought I was supposed to be Sumire from Sakura Taisen...surprisingly, I wasn't. I was just walking around.)
----

2005 will be my fourth year at Fanime. I'm gonna be Shia from Pitaten. As for any other characters? Hmmm, that's a bit TBA right now. I can't wait 'til FC05, this'll be the greatest year EVER! ^^

Second con. First was Fanime '04. And damn, that was fun. <3

Thou shall not disappoint us with Fanime '05. ;)

2005 will be my first year at Fanime. It shall be quite exciting, I'm sure. I've heard so much about it already, I feel like I've already gone! Though I'm sure all I've heard is only a mere taste of what the real con will be like. %^D

Oh, trust us...to quote, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Fanime is too...overwhelming to describe. :D

Hello!  Maybe I missed it under some other topic, but has there been a count of how many people were at Fanime 2005?

Quote from: G.I.RI wonder how many years it will be until Fanime takes up the entire convention center.  :?

(posted March 6, 2005)

Wow, that didn't take long, did it?  :D (May 27th, 2005...fanime takes over the entire SJCC)

Quote from: astroboyTest your knowledge of Fanime Con!



Q5. In general the founders of Fanime were memebers of what college anime club?

Q6. What is Fanime con's motto?

Q5. Fanime 1 -Chabot college (you never would have thought that eh?!)

Q6. It used to be by the fans, for the fans (this was in response to the break up of anime con into Anime America and anime Expo and all the ill will it caused, and the people that got hurt the most were the bay area fans)

Quote from: tenbaHello!  Maybe I missed it under some other topic, but has there been a count of how many people were at Fanime 2005?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FanimeCon

also

http://www.anime-cons.com/events/info.shtml/623

8)

Quote from: tenba...Fanime is growing very quickly, and things have been changing to accomodate the growth.  Things that happened "back in the day" might not be able to happen in the future.  It'd be nice to keep alive the memories of past Fanime and Fanime lore...

I guess different people remember different things. Strangely some of my most vivid memories were the major changes in how Fanime runs.

2001 - The concept of a 24 hour info desk is tested. It was not a success.

2002 -  Con-ops (headed by Jeanne) and the operations department make a big entry. A lot of staffers from Baycon come on board.

2003 - Online schedules is introduced by Tony, the webmaster, and "Gakufest" is invented by Lorrayne (the predecessor to "Musicfest")

2004 - A centralized HR (human resource) system is attempted, with failure.

2005 - A new hotel system for staffers is created. Basically the "old" days of stacking 10 bodies into a room and not knowing whether you had crash space until 24 hr before con time are over.

2006 - The HR system (remember that?) is finally implemented with success. Once again the hotel system changes. You can now sign up for your rooms through the website.

Speaking purely in terms of how well Fanime runs or how well it makes the attempt  :wink:  I think we've gotten a lot better. IMHO

To give an example:
When I first started if you wanted to become staff all you had to do was walk into the con on the first day and ask. Somebody would of thrown a staff badge with no name at you!

Now all staff must sign up through the website and there's a deadline. When you enter your info it gets stored in a centralized database which is made available to the relevant departments. These days as a staffer, when you walk into the con on the first day to pick up your badge, the nice person sitting behind the table at con-ops has all your info: name; contact info; emergency contacts; your division; ect...

quite an improvement huh?  8)

*bump in the name of epic research*

So when I was thinking back to when I first joined/attended Fanime circa 1998. (when I was a 'kid') So I could start on my article submission for the Fanime Con Reporter. :)

and I was doing research on my 'Fanime mentor" -> Brian aka Dieter from the Der Cosplay Masquerade circa 1999 ~ 2005 I found this MEGA old thread. and this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu0fZgA2z_w

Heck, I didnt even realize Fanime had a Wiki Entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FanimeCon


Again just amazes me how this Con started from its humble beginnings and how its expanded to what it is today :D

Just ironic to think how many of you were KIDS back around circa 1994... and now 10+ years you're all raging, angsty -> fanboy & girl teens and how anime in general has become mainstream... :P

how ironic. 
15 years and weve gone from an attendace of 100 to almost 10,000+ 
EPIC doesnt even begin to describe it.

(https://forums.fanime.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ftbn2.google.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AATJCSQraQ8oLaM%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogtalkradio.com%2Fpics%2Fhostpics%2Fb79f4942-4f60-483b-b86a-1cfe63fc1d91Over%2525209000.PNG&hash=6d8ac9a0766ec9a09b6b2057bd922af24dba44dc)
ITS OVER 9000! :D

the information on the wiki for 1999 is wrong.  It was at the wyndham hotel on 1st street.  I can't believe this year will be my 11th fanime.

Quote from: Lady_Hoshi on January 16, 2009, 01:24:15 AM
the information on the wiki for 1999 is wrong.  It was at the wyndham hotel on 1st street.  I can't believe this year will be my 11th fanime.

This year will be my...6th? Yeah...6th.

Cripes.. I have been going since 1996 and joined staff in 2001. It is weird when time flys
by that fast!

Quote from: Jerry on January 15, 2009, 04:33:13 PM
how ironic. 
15 years and weve gone from an attendace of 100 to almost 10,000+ 
EPIC doesnt even begin to describe it.

Last year, attendees alone were over 13,000. With industry, press, guests and staff, we were well over 14,000.

FYI.

Quote from: Pimpstress Rei on January 16, 2009, 09:29:40 PM

Quote from: Jerry on January 15, 2009, 04:33:13 PM
how ironic. 
15 years and weve gone from an attendace of 100 to almost 10,000+ 
EPIC doesnt even begin to describe it.

Last year, attendees alone were over 13,000. With industry, press, guests and staff, we were well over 14,000.

FYI.

It's going to be interesting to see how many we get for 2009 =)

This is Fanime proprietary info, but I predict 300,000,000.....it may be a bit optimistic though....more than 12?

Quote from: ewu on January 16, 2009, 09:50:21 PM
This is Fanime proprietary info, but I predict 300,000,000.....it may be a bit optimistic though....more than 12?

Surely! Surely more than 12!

Quote from: ewu on January 16, 2009, 09:50:21 PM
This is Fanime proprietary info, but I predict 300,000,000.....it may be a bit optimistic though....more than 12?

Eric, there are times I could beat you with an ugly stick.... 300,000,000?!?!?  What are you thinking...  It's a curse for anyone on staff to predict the numbers, especially, anyone in a high position within Fanime.  The last person to tried it was me and I predicted 12,000 for last year and we getting closer to 15,000.  Now you're predicting 300M, OMG, what are you thinking... The entire fracking USA and part of Japan and Europe will be coming to visit, that means the hotel rooms will be going to $5,000 a night, a stale sandwich will go for $125.00 and the convention center will only handle about 50,000 bodies, which means there will be 299,950,000 people looking to get in, wandering around downtown, mugging our attendees to get a badge, registration lines will really be days long and no one gets a break...  Even you...  Just because you cursed us...

C.

Quote from: PassingTheBuck on January 22, 2009, 11:48:35 AM

Quote from: ewu on January 16, 2009, 09:50:21 PM
This is Fanime proprietary info, but I predict 300,000,000.....it may be a bit optimistic though....more than 12?

Eric, there are times I could beat you with an ugly stick.... 300,000,000?!?!?  What are you thinking...  It's a curse for anyone on staff to predict the numbers, especially, anyone in a high position within Fanime.  The last person to tried it was me and I predicted 12,000 for last year and we getting closer to 15,000.  Now you're predicting 300M, OMG, what are you thinking... The entire fracking USA and part of Japan and Europe will be coming to visit, that means the hotel rooms will be going to $5,000 a night, a stale sandwich will go for $125.00 and the convention center will only handle about 50,000 bodies, which means there will be 299,950,000 people looking to get in, wandering around downtown, mugging our attendees to get a badge, registration lines will really be days long and no one gets a break...  Even you...  Just because you cursed us...

C.

That's ok, we'll just add 3 more years to his tenure. That'll show him. Keep pressin that button, Eric...

Quote from: Pimpstress Rei on January 24, 2009, 11:53:52 PM
That's ok, we'll just add 3 more years to his tenure. That'll show him. Keep pressin that button, Eric...

you'd be lost if I didn't...I'll wait till May to let you know I have stopped:)

3 more years, sweet. I'm excited for 3 more years =)

well according to this site, we had 13,000, making us #9 of the big ten cons of the US of A.

http://www.animecons.com/news/article.shtml/800

Quote from: Lady_Hoshi on January 25, 2009, 12:47:59 AM
well according to this site, we had 13,000, making us #9 of the big ten cons of the US of A.

http://www.animecons.com/news/article.shtml/800

Lady Hoshi,

I might be able to provide you with some insight as to the numbers...

Registration, meaning Pre-Reg, Early-Reg and all the At-Con Reg's came to 13,685.  If you count Press, Staff, Industry, Guests, Dealers and Comps, the final number is 14,926 or just short of 15,000.  The URL that you quote hasn't been given these numbers and frankly I don't know why they haven't, but they should get them from someone official at FanimeCon.

Craige...

then by those figures we should be in the Top 5 in the country. Wootz :D

Quote from: Jerry on January 26, 2009, 11:27:24 AM
then by those figures we should be in the Top 5 in the country. Wootz :D

Yeah, except if the website in question didn't take into account the extra attendees, chances are they didn't do it for the other conventions either.

Still, it's a very large convention, nobody's arguing against that lol.

Quote from: FanFicGuru on January 26, 2009, 04:07:49 PM

Quote from: Jerry on January 26, 2009, 11:27:24 AM
then by those figures we should be in the Top 5 in the country. Wootz :D

Yeah, except if the website in question didn't take into account the extra attendees, chances are they didn't do it for the other conventions either.

Still, it's a very large convention, nobody's arguing against that lol.

Actually, if you read it, some of them did. Warm bodies count staff etc, paid = registration only.

Oh my gosh, this thread makes me feel old!  My first Fanime was 1998 at Foothill college.  I found out about it by accident when a friend of mine from Anime Club said she had an extra wknd pass for Con.  I discovered two things very quickly:
1. Some cosplayers have no shame.
2. I did not bring enough money!
          2009 will be my 12th CON! I can't believe it!  And next year will be the last year I cosplay.  I'm getting to the age where cosplay is no longer cute, it's sad.  ::cry:: 

I discovered two things from Fanime 98 as well:

1. People want subs (I never saw a subbed episode until then)
2. Tapes are (were) expensive

2009 will be my 11th Fanime! Damn me! (I missed 99)

It's going to be my 7th this year of going to Fanime