Messages

[Pros:]

I would love to see staggered hours of operation for dealers hall and artist alley for next year.
It would be a win win win situation where the vendors and artists would see periods of increased traffic [when the other is not open] and the con goers would have longer access to the exhibitors!

This, a million trillion times!  I had a table in the artists alley, which meant that 90% of my con experience was spent solely in that room... I got to shop in the dealer's room for a grand total of fifteen minutes before it closed on Monday.  And the lack of retail therapy makes me a saaaaaaaaaaaaad panda.

Pros:

• The Hyatt - This hotel was an absolute dream to stay in!  I've never stayed anywhere with such friendly and attentive staff.  The room was beautiful and spacious and while we had a little trouble getting the digital display for the thermostat to register our touches, any discomfort was negated by having a full, balanced $5 buffet-style breakfast each morning.  We will definitely stay in this hotel again!  The only real trouble we had is that one elevator remained out of service all weekend, but as my mother pointed out, the repair men were probably union and completely unavailable on a holiday.  The wi-fi was also slow and wouldn't stream videos without tons of buffering, but at least it was free.
• Clockwork Alchemy's Artist Bazaar - I'm gonna go into Clockwork Alchemy more in my cons, mostly because I really, really, REALLY wanted to go to this, but because of how far away it was and the lack of any real signage once you got there, the one panel I tried really hard to make it to (Resin casting), by the time I made it all the way to the double tree and spent twenty minutes wandering around trying to find it, the panel was mostly over.  So I decided to scoot into the Artist Bazaar instead and I'm really glad I did.  Yes, some things were expensive, but you just have to admire their beauty and move on to the more accessible things.  I got several really unique additions to my steampunk costumes and their prices were really affordable.  The vendors were also a real joy to talk to, I got tons of tips from them.
• Hentai Music Videos - My sister and I waited about thirty minutes in line to get into this gem, and all I gotta say is that I'm gonna show up early next year, because it was hilarious!
• Staff - This has been the first year ever where not a single staffer or rover was rude to me or to my family.  Good job.  :)  Of course, this could be because we didn't do any props whatsoever (it's too stressful trying to guess whether or not your gorgeous prop will be suddenly against the rules at the very last minute) and we had no free time to go to any of the major events.
• Artists Alley - I can't think of any better place to be stuck in for nine hours a day.  It was really fun, there was a great deal of variety and it was a complete joy talking to both the regular attendees and other artists.  I really hope that the AA registration happens on a weekend again next year, so that I can participate again! *hint hint*  ;)

Cons:

• Dealer's Room - I didn't get to go!  *sniffle whine*  And I really wanted to see if I could find some Tiger & Bunny gatchapon, too.  I don't care if I have to beg like a baby, please stagger the times so that the artists can get some shopping in, too!
• Crowded Entry - I know that there isn't much you can do about it, what with the construction, but it's really frustrating when you're hauling several VERY heavy boxes on a dolly and no one will move even the slightest bit.  Setup and breakdown were both nightmares because we had to try to get all our stock and displays through a sea of bodies.  Is a little politeness too much to ask?
• Clockwork Alchemy - It's too far away!  There were over a dozen panels and events that I really wanted to go to, but I couldn't because it takes a minimum of 30 minutes to get there and possibly even longer to get back.  Please, PLEASE either move it to a closer hotel, or put it on another weekend.  I will gladly pay a second registration fee and travel another four hours there and back to actually get to go to this gem and actually see something!  Also, the Double Tree is positively labyrinthine.  The Artists Bazaar was the only thing I was ever able to find.
• The lack of close-by food - My mother insists on real food when we go to conventions, which meant that this time we were constantly spending way too much time trying to find food, time which could have been better spent actually seeing stuff at the con.  ^.^;;

I would love this panel, mostly for the painting on fabric bits.  I'm always afraid any painting I do on fabric will crack off and look horrible.

@Lil Moon: I agree that non-paper crafts shouldn't be singled out, but I think most of the crafts found in artist alley tend to compete with licensed material (simply because the materials are cheap and easily available).  If you are doing a craft not officially available then I applaud you and hope it doesn't get banned/restricted.

I... don't agree with the cheap and easy statement at all when it comes to crafts.  A hand made plushy, just for the artist to make any profit at all for the materials and time involved, sell for around $40-$60... and that's not even if it's a truly intricate piece of work.  I once purchased a hand-made dragon plushy for $130.  Dealers can sell factory-made plushies for $15 because they were made by the thousands by wage-slaves in third-world countries.  That is really what craft artists are competing with, the fact that we can only make things in very small batches or as completely original works, but have to price to compete with a world used to buying stuff from Walmart.  Even little buttons, which can be printed in slight bulk for not too much isn't going to get you anywhere near the profit margin of doing a bunch of prints on paper that you sell for $10-$20.  I think the profit I make on each button is about $1, given that I only print fifty at a time. When I still did prints, the profit I made on each one was $5... and it was only that low because I printed them at home rather than using a printer to print in real bulk.

I agree that craft artists shouldn't re-make already available licensed products... but how many do you think really do that?  I always loved artists alleys because there was the option of getting stuff that isn't the popular "flavor of the month."  Those of us who like stuff that isn't Naruto or Hetalia can actually find something to buy.  :P

It seems to me that the various emails that people have received have said nothing about fanart on paper... they're specifically targeting the craft artists, which is what makes me nervous.  Now, I'm 90% an original artist, but because I got REAL tired of people walking up to my table, asking me if I have such and such character... and when I tell them that it's all original, getting a disgusted look on their face and walking off.  So I swallowed my pride introduced a few pieces of fanart, telling myself that I wasn't totally selling out as long as they were of my favorite characters.  But here's the thing, I personally never buy paper art.  That stuff just sits in a drawer, gathering dust.  I pretty much only buy useful art, so I turned everything into badges, buttons, tiny charms, magnets, etc.  To think that something is fine as long as it's on paper, but suddenly NOT fine when it's on a button, that smacks of a certain unfairness to me.

Is lowering the font size of the legal name not good enough for a compromise? There's only so much we can do, but we're open to listening to ideas.

This is fine, as it's a fairly common fan convention standard to put the legal name smaller if it is going to show at all.  In fact, my badge for last year (the yellow paper one) was perfect, just do a switcheroo on the names.

But if you're feeling adventurous, as someone else suggested, having it on the backside of the badge is not a bad idea either. I can see where it could be a logistical issue for that, but if you're looking for other ideas that still keep identification in play, that's something else to play with.

Yes, lowering the font size is a compromise... but only if it's made small enough so that random passers by couldn't see it.  Making it an inch high instead of an inch and a half isn't going to do any good at all.  Putting it in 10 or 12 pt font in a corner or something would be just fine... easy enough to read if someone needs to check an ID, but not readable when standing at conversation-distance.

I'm sorry if I got upset, but I've been fighting this for the last couple of years, since I started going to Fanime... and it has always surprised me that more people aren't as upset about this as I am.  Being told that I have to sacrifice my right to privacy just because of "security and safety reactions for staff" (quoted from an email I received last year) and to keep kids from sharing badges doesn't sit right with me.  That being said, I don't object to Fanime staff being able to read my name if they need to... I just don't want every Tom, Dick, and Harry who happens to be wandering around the convention center to be able to see it.  Small font is fine, putting the names on the back is better.  You're happy because you can keep kids from sharing badges, I and everyone like me are happy because we don't have to walk around in fear that someone unsavory might take it into their heads to make victims of us.  It's a win-win situation and all you'd have to do is redesign the the back of the badges a tiny bit.  -.-

I actually really hope that something like this is done, I'd hate to miss out on the new Steampunk sub-con.

There has also been talk of placing masking tape on your badge. We have a saying among the staff and I think its time for us to share it with the members: "If you don't own it, don't tape it." The badges are FanimeCon property till we decide it isn't (the end of con) and so no taping. Note that if you do have any part of the badge obscured you will not be permitted to enter any convention programming and it may also be grounds for the forfeiture of your membership and confiscation of your badge.

Sorry guys, that's just the way it is....*ewu sadface panda*

So the official stance of Fanime is that it doesn't care about the safety of their fan's identities, then?  -.-  That means that I am officially giving up on this con.  The least you could do is put people's real names on the BACK of the badge, like Yaoi-con does.  But since you've just said that anyone who tries to protect themselves will be feeding you money to be discriminated against, I'll just keep my money and go to another con instead.  It sucks that N. California has so few choices, but I can go to three Sac-Anime's for the price of one Fanime, so I guess it's not much of a loss.

[DO NOT WANT THEIR REAL IDENTITY REVEALED]

The biggest "harm" about having people's real names on badges is that most medium- and high-profile cosplayers DO NOT WANT THEIR REAL IDENTITY REVEALED. As a result, they don't ever have their badge showing (or don't pay for one at all). This group is a minority, but is the highlight of Fanime (IMO).

There are all these hypotheses about why Fanime badges have real names, but can someone (maybe staff person) state the real reason? Or at least say why this is a secret? Or state that there really isn't a reason and real names on badges aren't an absolute must?

A thousand times, THIS.  >.<  I have to exist in the professional world, one where my job could be in real jeopardy if by place of work decided that I was engaged in anything "untoward" and unfortunately, some people have a rather skewed vision of the fan world.  I almost didn't come last year because Fanime refused to honor my request that they not print my real name in huge-ass letters across the front of my badge, and I refuse to walk past a line of crazy religious protesters with my real name practically plastered to my forehead.  After many weeks of truly upsetting email conversations, they finally agreed to only print my first initial along with my last name, which I only agreed to because it made my badge exactly the same as my sister's... and given that we're twins, I found that funny.  And if I have to fight as hard this year for even that much consideration, then I'll have to make the difficult choice never to go to Fanime again.

I don't like the wrist bands, either... I loathe them utterly.  But I'd take them over my legal name being on display for everyone.  I do absolutely nothing in the fan-world under my real name, it would be useless for identifying me in any way other than in a way that could hurt me.