Before I blast you guys with some negative feedback, I wanted to say that I absolutely had a fantastic time at Fanime this year! I can't wait to come back next year. My hat goes off to everybody for their hard work in making it happen, and I appreciate all the hours and effort that it took. My negative feedback is just because I feel Fanime suffers from some poor organizational problems that hurt its reputation and experience for attendees. Fixing some of these things would really help make it an even better con and one that people can look forward to not only for the fun, but for being well-organized and responsive.
Swap meet: *Signs for swap meet at the convention center were vague/confusing. Would've helped a lot to have a clear indication of where it was and how to get there, especially considering signs for most other things were put right near where their events were.
*spread out the seller spots more? There was a lot of space in there not being used, and with the crowds of people looking at stuff, it was rough to get around at times.
*thumbs up to the bigger space and to getting people in there quickly after it opened. I don't know how it was on the seller end, but as a general attendee, I thought it seemed to be going really smoothly!
Guests: *Better moderation/enforcement of policies and behavior in guest panels. Making it clear to attendees at start of Q+A panels what is and is not acceptable. (should be common sense, but didn't seem to be...
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*Putting guest panels in the larger panel rooms, especially if they are a popular guest.
*I really want to see more Japanese guests, but if it's going to be mostly Western guests, I'd at least love to see more who aren't related to dubs or localizations of things so people like myself who aren't interested in dubs can still have guests to look forward to. Youtubers/Let's Players are a great potential group of guests, for example.
Guides:*Offer information on big events that aren't included in the time schedule more consistently and prominently. These seemed to be completely glossed over. Things like the swap meet, dance, casino night, cosplay spectacular, karaoke room, etc would be randomly mentioned in a small note somewhere, and that was it. Give them the space/mention they deserve in the pocket guide. These are major things, so why aren't they given any emphasis with their times and locations stated?
*don't force people to sign up for an account on some random site just so they can download the guidebook, if possible. The guidebook app is a great solution if the concern is that you need to be able to update it at the last minute.
Artist alley:*please be more put together, on time, and transparent with registration for the artists. I saw a lot of people freaking out and stressed out by the poor timing and organization, and I think the guidelines for judging people's entries need to be made more clear.
*more helpful signs for where the entrance is, as it was out of the way and hard to find. Or use a more prominent door as the entrance instead of a side door way in the back.
Misc thumbs down:*Cosplay hangout seemed kind of removed and maybe could've been in a more central location.
*Everything announced last minute, complete lack of updates until last couple of weeks before con, poor responses/lack of responses from Fanime staff regarding lots of things. It is really difficult to place any faith in the convention coming together when it seems like everything only gets finalized or announced at the last second, and the responses from Fanime never give good, factual information and just seem to be excuses or stock responses. I'm sure even if it's something unfortunate like a confession of something gone wrong, people would appreciate a genuine explanation rather than a, "When it's set in stone, you guys!" sort of line regarding concerns or questions.
Misc thumbs up:*Registration is awesome now, keep it up. Going through the empty lines felt like doing a victory lap.
*Stage zero stuff was great and entertaining to watch when I was killing time. Nice variety!
*LOVED that gaming hall was open Thursday night.
*Nostalgia video room had a great selection.
*Dealer's room had a huge selection and was spread out enough that it wasn't crazy trying to walk through.
*A lot of the staff members at the con were really friendly and helpful.
*actual convention seemed to be running well despite the poor pre-con organization!
