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I was also wondering this. More specifically, will it be open to all on Friday as well? I'm getting there after registration closes on Friday, so I won't have my badge on time. >.<

Swap Meet on Friday will be a badged event.

worst fustercluck ever. Power failed and it took them forever to figure out how to handle it. 4 hours in line, most of it entirely stationary.

We apologize and appreciate peoples understanding. We are attempting to deal with the situation as best we can. The swap meet tonight does not require a badge so please enjoy it!

We apologize for the power outage at the SJCC. The reg line is currently moving with our amazing staff taking care of your registration by hand. You will still need to show your electronic postcard in order to pick up your badge.

The swap meet in the Fairmont Hotel is currently unaffected by the power outage and we are not checking badges tonight for the swap meet.


Thank you for your understanding.

Yes there will be a MusicFest again this year. I have linked press releases regarding MusicFest guests below.

http://www.fanime.com/2012/05/08/voice-actress-and-singer-mai-aizawa-to-entertain-fans-at-fanimecon/
http://www.fanime.com/2012/05/03/igaguri-chiba-to-appear-and-perform-at-fanimecon-2012/

Ah my mistake. I should have looked for the individual guests rather than going through my archive.

yeah a little worried but at the same time they do something great every year. i'm more curious now of who is coming if it's taking this long to announce.  ;D

I checked my emails from last year and at this date there had been no international guests announced. We got the website launched much earlier this year which makes it seem like guest announcements are taking longer this year but they are in line with years past.

If it is a panel I am interested in attending it doesn't matter what time of day it takes place

You will probably have a little better luck looking through and posting this in the stickied Roommate thread. Also for the hotels further away from the convention center the plan is to have a shuttle running and a tentative schedule for the shuttle is available in the Hotel FAQ sticky.

So, selfish question first, since I still haven't come across anyone that could give me an answer to this: if I am given a volunteer badge for helping out with a Fanime event, I'm assuming I won't have a specific member ID number like I would if I had a regular weekend badge.  Will this be a problem in signing up for a spot at swap meet?

According to the Main Volunteer Page Volunteers need to purchase a regular badge and will be reimbursed for this at a later date. I'm not sure if you used volunteer in place of staff but volunteers are required to have a regular badge.

There is the "older series" meetup that you should look into happening this year

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,16564.0.html.

Where could I get CHEAP GOOD Asian food? (Sorry, I pretty much only like Asian food)

Pho 69 is only about a block away from the convention center and if you are willing to travel ~1.5 miles you can walk down to Japantown which has a variety of good places to get food.

I updated my post with a few more events but figured I'd link you to:

Exhibits
Events
Programming
Guests of Honor

[conditionally]

Well for starters, Fanime doesn't allow signs unless they're pre-approved (if I recall correctly) and don't solicit "services" etc., which includes hugs.

Secondly, this would 1. probably be fairly difficult to organize and 2. it would probably cause a huge inconvenience for non-con-goers who are just trying to get around downtown. Not to mention there would be plenty of people who wouldn't be very fond of "crazy music." It'd be wise to avoid irritating those in the area who are (generally) very nice to and tolerable of us as we return each year!

According to the Costume and Props Rules signs are allowed conditionally if they fulfill the requirement that the

Signs which are an integral part of a cosplay, and which an actual series character carries may be peace-bonded. Sign standards or poles must be of plastic or light wood.

[Before Con]

Ok I've been coming to FanimeCon since '99 and been to ~75 anime conventions in total so lets see if I can help you out here.

Before Con

1) My convention starts about a week PRIOR to the convention when I will look at the schedule that is posted on the website. I would suggest printing out the schedule and sit down for a few hours with a highlighter and try and figure out what you want to go to. I use several colors of highlighters to differentiate the priority events have to be - this is because I know that I will face certain burnout (and a first time con-goer would probably face more) so I can ensure that I will take my breaks during lower priority events I wanted to attend.

2) The second pre-con event I perform is setting a budget. This is VERY IMPORTANT because whatever budget you set expect to go 15-20% OVER it. Food around the convention center is not cheap and it is hard to realize exactly how much you are spending just wandering through the dealers hall/artists alley/swap meet.

3) The last pre-con activity I partake in is packing. Make sure you pack enough clothing and toiletries. If you are sharing a hotel room with people talk with them to make sure everyone knows what the sleeping arangments are (ie bed sharing vs air matresses).

FanimeCon Badge Pickup

Badge pickup at Fanime takes place on the lower floor of the main convention center concourse and is pretty easy to find. I would expect to spend a bit of time in the registration line so bring a book/ds/etc to keep yourself entertained while you wait in the line.

Most every room at Fanime will have a door "guard" making sure that everyone entering has a badge so the first thing you should do (after checking into your hotel) is picking up your badge.

Event - Dealers Hall

One of the largest attractions is the Dealers Hall which is located on the 2nd floor of the convention center about half of the way between the Hilton and the Martiott (it will be clearly marked). This is a large room of vendors selling anime or related merchandise. It has traditionally been a cash only room but with the advent of smart phones more and more vendors seem to be accepting credit cards but don't be surprised if the vendor is cash only. Some dealers will lower their prices as the convention progresses because the don't want to transport their merchandise back to wherever they came from.

Event - Artists Alley

This is similar to the Dealers Hall but is comprised of a mix of amatuer and professional artists selling their original work. Artists will sell everything from buttons, to prints, to cel phone straps, to plushies, to jewlrey and more. While vendors have moved towards accepting credit cards assume that you will need cash to purchase stuff from the artists alley

Event - Swap Meet

People have extra merchandise that they don't want anymore and need a few bucks. This is a great area to just browse and see if anyone has some hidden jem they don't want anymore. I try and hunt here for hard to find items rather than good deals on common items but to each his own. Sellers at the swap meet are usually the most open to negotiating the prices they have listed.

Event - Panels

There are several rooms on the 2nd level of the Marriott that will have panels running in them. Panels range from meet-up style panels (like "Ask a Hetalia Character", etc) that I don't go to so I won't comment on them to informational panels to GoH panels. Informational panels (ex "The Rise and Fall of the OAV") will be much like a college lecture where people will have researched a subject and share their findings with the audiance - these are my favorite panels but that is not usual. GoH (or Guest of Honor) panels usually take the form of a Q/A where you can ask the guests questions about their work - sometimes guests are ok asking more "personal" questions but generally a scope of what questions are appropriate is given at some point during the panel.

Event - Autographs

The Guests of Honor will also hold autograph sessions throughout the convention where you can wait in line to have them sign your merchandise or program guide. The main thing I will say here is DO NOY ASK A GUEST TO SIGN A BOOTLEG ITEM. If you have doubt whether an item is appropriate ask a staff member at the autograph session prior to reaching the front of the line.

Event - Black & White Ball
The black and white ball is FanimeCon's formal dance. I have never been but you can see what information has been posted for this years B&W Ball here.

Event - Masquerade
The masquerade has been on Saturday evenings in years past but moved to Sunday evening last year (it has not been announced when it will be this year) and is also known as the cosplay spectacular. Groups ranging from 1 person to 10+ will put together a skit or performance that they will put on in a 2.5 minute window. One thing to note about the masquerade is that you will probably need to get in line prior to the event actually taking place.

Of course, it would likely be less popular than a meetup-type panel, and might be difficult to put together, since it would seem more like a lecture in a college class than an anime con activity, and thus would require a lot more thought from both the panelists and the audience, but it would be a really interesting subject to explore.

A lot of people really enjoy these panels. I was recently at ALA and a lot of the more lecture/informative panels that I went to were completely full.

examples: "The Rise and Fall of the OAV", "How Technology has changed the Anime Industry", "Buried Treasures of Anime", "Manga as High Art", and "The Secret History of Gainax"

Don't think just because there aren't a ton of requests/suggestions on the forum for the lecture type panels you won't get an audience.



If a LGBTQA panel was put on at Fanime I would try and attend but I would have to see what time it took place to balance against staff duties/other events I want to attend.

Room assignments are generally done upon check-in. I would try calling the hotels a week or so before to try and request adjacent rooms.

I think having an extension is perfectly fine, seriously if people want to stay longer they have the option to and if they don't they can just leave but I agree that the groups don't have a lot of time to create something.

You are assuming FanimeCon has the option of running longer in the venue.

I agree with the others, I can't find a link or email anywhere to learn more about applying for staff or what positions may be open. I'd really like to help out with the at con registration or badge pick up but I can't figure out if that is part of the staffing or if I could volunteer I (I have lots of customer service experience and would like to get some Thursday hours). I also can't find any info about any staff meetings that might be scheduled.

Staff meeting times/locations are posted on the FanimeConStaff twitter account. You could try emailing Registration to figure out whether what you are interested in helping with is a job for staff or volunteers.

;_; I'm sad that Masakazu Katsura was listed but only for Tiger and Bunny... Not I"s, Video Girl Ai, DNA^2, Zetman, and Shadowlady(even if this sucked).

Well quite a few of those shows were pretty bad but Video Girl Ai and I"s were better than Tiger and Bunny (which he did a smaller portion of)

Last year the we were able to get notifications published on the website within 10minutes of getting the ok for it. Checking the website should give you the same advance notice that twitter/facebook would.