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I also had trouble at Step 5 due to the secondary seller showing "Balance Due" but within a Group Registration. The primary group leader (who is also the primary seller), is showing as "valid".

Secondly, if changes need to be made to dates we chose (thurs/friday) is that possible? I selected to register for both nights but as it turns out I may end up not being able to attend both days. Is there a menu to cancel one night before or after making the last step's payment?

Are "gunshot" sounds okay to use? It would be between dialogue and music and stuff like that, but would it push the PG limit? I don't want to cause commotion with the audience.

http://community.livejournal.com/wcs_teamusa09/9672.html
"Just a heads up - I'm copypasting this from Elizabeth's LJ, so everyone knows what's happening!

'Hey everybody! Long time no post. They lost my luggage with all my costumes, I'm jet-lagged out the ears, and this Internet connection is slow as hell, but I wanted to drop in because I was talking to Ed this morning and they *just* inked the deal for the World Cosplay Summit US preliminaries to be held at Fanime in San Jose! Hooray! Good luck everybody. - Elizabeth'"

Is this true? If so, is it going to be a part of the masq, or a separate event? All the Masq groups are already determined and totally unprepared for this announcement. When did the staff plan on letting the groups know about this?

as a random suggestion, how would cosplayers feel about an unofficial "Masquerade Parade" around the Convention ?

Sorta like a kids costume parade on halloween where they all line up--- have a specific walking route around the convention center and then stop in a public place like the Fountains or the Park in front of the Fairmount and have MASSIVE photo ops.

would that be a better idea?

This doesn't apply to everyone, but some costumes just aren't the best to walk around in. Ones that are uncomfortable, big, or fragile. Also, It'd be hard to come up with a parade route because the Masq is held across the street from the con center, so the parade would have to cross traffic- and then try and go through the crowded con center- up stairs, through doorways, etc. Would be a long logistic process. Would require staff/volunteers to move everone.

It sounds like it is best that you do a walk-on entry. They'll give you 15-30 seconds to do some poses, and you can even give them a CD to play your own music. You'll have to register like every other entry, and come to sign in earlier in the day. Also you will probably have to be judged for craftsmanship earlier in the con, but if all you want is to show off on stage, then you shouldn't worry too much about winning/losing.

What is the con policy with regards to body armor made of steel? this would be leg armor, shoe armor, arm armor, and chest armor.

Although Fanime might be an appropriate convention to host such an event, WCS is neither reputable nor a legit competition, and I don't think Fanime should support it.

The details remain unclear, but the USA WCS Manager Anna stated that the japanese organizers were looking for "cosplay idols", such as people very popular on Cosplay.com, moreso than skilled craftsman. In addition, the judges are randomly selected audience members and some random unqualified japanese celebrities. As an example, Japan's team was selected by audience cheering (how loud they were) the very same weekend. That team went on to win the entire competition with tinfoil props.

The US team enjoyed their stay and managed to come out of the whole thing with the Brother Award, but there is something disconcerting about the US's selection process. American teams have been selected, in general, fairly (that is, based on craftsmanship and performance). These standards are not the same in Japan. Cosplayers in the US are being lead to believe that WCS is a competition worthy of their skills, and it is just not the case. The most important point is this- I don't think we should be getting cosplayers hopes up for a competition they are disfavored in. People will spend a lot of money and time to try and compete, and I don't think Fanime, or any other reputable con, should enable the bs.

Your videos are of great quality. Thank you so much for doing these!

hugs to all! Thanks for your feedback.

One thing that we will probably change next year is the length of the skit. You give people 3 minutes, and they ALLL want 3 minutes. It's just making the Masq drag in places. We are going to cut back to 2.5 minutes next year to try and keep the speed moving a little more briskly and to give us a little more time at the end to properly recognize the judges, the host, and the winners. We are set on time, and we really pushed it this year. We need to work a little more within our means :/

Thanks everyone :)

Marisa, Casey, & the Cosplay Staff

I am not sure that cutting the time down to 2.5 minutes is really the best solution to the problem. As a point of reference, I'm a member of Minna no Nur Puppy, and I'm actually very active in following masquerades nationwide (I've gone through every video set ACP has ever posted and reviewed all of the winning ones, if that means anything to you.)

Anyways, here's what I think about a shorter time limit:

Pros:
-Can fit more skits in, if you really want to do so
-Groups with skits that "drag on" (from boredom or whatever) would be reduced.
-More time for awards, etc.

Cons:
-Groups with good skits become more limited in their presentations. Less time will make it more difficult to have skits with coherent, interesting plots. Time allowance for things like laugh pauses, moving from place to place, etc. must also be considered.
-Quality skits over quantity skits. Being able to fit 50 shorter skits is not as appealing as 30 fantastic ones. This year, when we hit skit 30 or so, it was very clear that the skit quality went more or less downwards. People who sign up later tend to be less prepared.
-Increased downtime:skit time ratio. It seems after this year groups focus more on their stage preparation than ever before (backgrounds, etc) and there will be downtime for that. Having increased downtime and a shortened skit time will make audiences impatient (waiting for prep, with only a short skit to begin with).
-If you cut 30 seconds from 45 3min skits (for a new 2:30 time limit), you gain less than 1/2 an hour of time. I'm not sure this will solve the issues.
-Audiences will leave the masquerade as soon as it gets dull for them. Even if it's a bit shorter, the people who leave early will always leave early, unless skit quality improves
-The pre-show is also very long! I was surprised the last few years, because most of the extra entertainment (karaoke, special performances) were before the show, not during the judging. Many of my friends were annoyed because they don't care for Haruhi. I think it leaves incentive for people to stick around if there are special performances later in the evening.

These are the biggest things I can think of. I know there are some things that are difficult to deal with (such as skit quality) but it might be beneficial for Masquerade staff to consider trying to mitigate some of these things. Can people deal with the 2:30 time limit? Probably. But will it make the masquerade better? I'm not so sure.

Anyways, thanks for putting this together, as always! We had a good time!


P.S. This has nothing to do with anything, but whoever decided prizes had a sense of... humor. PMX 2005 Program Guides? Manga volumes from the middle of a series? Really? (not that the prizes are what counts to me, I just find it hilarious)

I have one question about the Preliminary Round.

My song is pretty much 2:30 minutes, and there are a couple verses and choruses. Would it have to be cut off short?

Thanks

One question about cutting off intros.

My song has a 30 sec intro with a short repeating melody of "la la"s which are not sung by backups, not the main vocalist. Would I have to sing those anyways?

Thank you!

OH!smeCK is performing in the Masquerade

Ooh, is it going to be BB? Already in the thread people were requesting it, so it'd be a dream come true for them. :D

Masquerade day would probably be a bad day to do it. If a BB group were to enter the masq, they're probably too busy w/ that day to attend. Or perhaps they'd want to reveal their costumes at the Masq. Is there anything wrong with doing it Sunday?

(I'm a BB fan and photographer, but alas, I have other gatherings to go to for saturday. Yes, I do have a selfish agenda.)

I don't have much to say in the traditional "pro/con" way, simply because I've somewhat grown used to dealing with "con problems".

I've had a thought about the whole Staffer situation. It seems that most of the problems come from miscommunication or lack-of-training. What I'd suggest is to make the staff/volunteer hierarchy public domain (either in a physical tree-chart or some kind of table). Now, I realize the staffer's need for privacy, but I think a name/handle and perhaps an e-mail address would suffice (however, perhaps staff would be able to view things in greater detail, such as cell numbers). If that "staff" position has yet to be filled, just put TBD.

What this works to do is let people know who to talk to, and what to expect. It would be easier to forsee problems and react to at-con problems. Especially if this was on the Fanime site, it'd make communication much easier.

Whatever you do, practice it a lot. Also, perform it in front of some people who haven't seen Naruto, no family members either. Mess with comedic timing. Make sure your audio is good quality and has stable volume.