I'm one of the CosMaid bread girls and helped organize/put together the event (or stunt, if you prefer) at Fanime. I take full responsibility for what happened at the convention being the oldest member of the club and a long time Fanime supporter. Thank you to everyone who helped our club members by donating and sticking up for us, on this board even!! We are so grateful for all of you.
We are a small club of around 35 members with a lot young junior high & high school kids and families. Many of our members have been saving up $$$ for Fanime, but this year Fanime raised its admission prices, so many of the kids fell short and some simply could not afford it no matter what the price. We thought it would be a great idea to help the kids and Fanime by getting some donations to help pay for their registration fee and reimburse some of the lower income family's travel / food expenses. Our club has no fees is completely non-profit and hopes to teach members more about anime/manga, Japanese culture and we're VERY big on cosplay!!!
Of course, what we did was ill-conceived and planned, so for that I would like to publically apologize to the Fanime Convention and staff if we have caused any problems or offend anyone. That was really not our club's intention as many of you know. I've been attending Fanime for the last 10 years and know how difficult it is to have cheap foods readily available for the fans during all hours of the day or night. We merely thought it would be a great service to the fans, artists, dealers and staff alike.
I have actually attempted to contact Fanime Con staff prior to the convention regarding selling food, but was referred to the Convention Center management and told thay they have the final word on such matters. The Convention Center Management were evasive about whether we could sell the food through them as an outside vendor (they had a sushi seller at the convention and we were hoping to obtain the same permission) and basically gave me the run around. In the end, the Convention Center Managerment said that they would let us know their decision, but I followed up many times, with no answer forthcoming. I decided with Fanime so close that we would just take the initiative and try it out for this year.
In regards to one of the younger girls crying, it was inevitable I suppose. She was really frighten when we got "pulled over" by the staff and given several stern warnings. I have to defend the staff at this point, they were very professional towards us. (We even gave them some bread at this point to try out which they enjoyed as well) The young girl with me had spent considerable time before the con helping with the bread making and packaging and was really looking forward to helping out. It just made her feel like all her hard work was for nothing. She was crying because she thought she was doing a good thing, but instead got "yelled" at for it.
After the discussions, we decided to stop because we didn't want to cause any trouble for Fanime. Our club supports and honors what Fanime stands for so we wanted to do as much as we can to comply by their rules and regulations.
For all these things it is mainly my fault for poor planning and not getting things cleared away before hand. Next year, if we still decide to do more bake goods, I will definitely have permits squared away beforehand as well as notifying Fanime Board and staff of our intentions and obtaining permission.
Thanks again for all your support and understanding. Please e-mail me personally if you have ANY questions or comments. I am open to any critism / advice regarding this matter.
-Yuuki ([email protected])
We are a small club of around 35 members with a lot young junior high & high school kids and families. Many of our members have been saving up $$$ for Fanime, but this year Fanime raised its admission prices, so many of the kids fell short and some simply could not afford it no matter what the price. We thought it would be a great idea to help the kids and Fanime by getting some donations to help pay for their registration fee and reimburse some of the lower income family's travel / food expenses. Our club has no fees is completely non-profit and hopes to teach members more about anime/manga, Japanese culture and we're VERY big on cosplay!!!
Of course, what we did was ill-conceived and planned, so for that I would like to publically apologize to the Fanime Convention and staff if we have caused any problems or offend anyone. That was really not our club's intention as many of you know. I've been attending Fanime for the last 10 years and know how difficult it is to have cheap foods readily available for the fans during all hours of the day or night. We merely thought it would be a great service to the fans, artists, dealers and staff alike.
I have actually attempted to contact Fanime Con staff prior to the convention regarding selling food, but was referred to the Convention Center management and told thay they have the final word on such matters. The Convention Center Management were evasive about whether we could sell the food through them as an outside vendor (they had a sushi seller at the convention and we were hoping to obtain the same permission) and basically gave me the run around. In the end, the Convention Center Managerment said that they would let us know their decision, but I followed up many times, with no answer forthcoming. I decided with Fanime so close that we would just take the initiative and try it out for this year.
In regards to one of the younger girls crying, it was inevitable I suppose. She was really frighten when we got "pulled over" by the staff and given several stern warnings. I have to defend the staff at this point, they were very professional towards us. (We even gave them some bread at this point to try out which they enjoyed as well) The young girl with me had spent considerable time before the con helping with the bread making and packaging and was really looking forward to helping out. It just made her feel like all her hard work was for nothing. She was crying because she thought she was doing a good thing, but instead got "yelled" at for it.
After the discussions, we decided to stop because we didn't want to cause any trouble for Fanime. Our club supports and honors what Fanime stands for so we wanted to do as much as we can to comply by their rules and regulations.
For all these things it is mainly my fault for poor planning and not getting things cleared away before hand. Next year, if we still decide to do more bake goods, I will definitely have permits squared away beforehand as well as notifying Fanime Board and staff of our intentions and obtaining permission.
Thanks again for all your support and understanding. Please e-mail me personally if you have ANY questions or comments. I am open to any critism / advice regarding this matter.
-Yuuki ([email protected])