Feedback for Guests & Guest Relations

[Sheepy]

Hello all my awesome Fanime attendees!

This is your Guest Relations [GR] Head speaking.
Thank you all for a wonderfully successful Fanime 2008!

As this is my first year in charge, I would like to hear some questions and comments regarding the guests.

PLEASE KEEP WHO YOU WANT TO SEE AS GUESTS IN THIS THREAD:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,9915.0.html

This thread is for feedback on Fanime 2008 Guests.

Some things I would like to know:
1) Were you able to interact with our guests as much as you wanted to?
2) What did you think of the guest panels?

x) Anything else related to guests : P.

Thank you again for coming!
See you again in Fanime 2009!

**I will attempt to update this post as new questions come up**

[PacificPikachu]

I was mostly involved in going to the GAINAX events (panels, Meet and Greet), and I thought they went marvelously. The panels were interesting and well-organized, I loved that autographs were allowed after the panels (I got EIGHTEEN autographs and sketches!) and the Meet and Greet was absolutely amazing. I wish I had some suggestions, but I really can't think of any complaints. Great job! The GAINAX events really made the convention for me. :)

[Mew]

Very, very good line-up. Being a seiyuu fan, I was extremely happy that Fanime got Kiuchi Hidenobu. I'm hoping next year's guest lineup will include another seiyuu I love! GAINAX was awesome. A bit sad that no GL seiyuu could make it, but well, that can't be helped since they have their own schedules to keep.

Got to see Kiuchi a lot so I was very happy about that. Also got tons of autographs/sketches at the GAINAX Meet the Guests. (I was the one with the big Dai Gurren Dan flag.) Would have been nice if the Meet the Guests room had more tables, and since there were so many GAINAX people, it was a little hard finding everyone to get signatures. Their badges were marked Members too, which also made it hard to distinguish them from regular attendees. (Though I did see some of their numbers started with an X instead of F.)

I really enjoyed the Unlocking Gurren Lagann panel. I thought the series was good but not as spectacular as some others would say it is, but after the panel, I definitely had more respect for it.

Overall, a very good experience on my end. Thank you!!
As I predicted, this was the best Fanime yet!

[FanFicGuru]

Overall I was very pleased with the guests this year and the way that it was handled. A few minor complaints:

1) At the Gainax Meet & Greet, there weren't that many translators available. I think for the 35-40 staff and the 100+ visitors there were maybe... 5 translators? Luckily I'm taking Japanese and managed to get by with my level 3 Japanese (you may have noticed me, guy walking around with the Yoko clear file) but I think for next year, if there are going to be a lot of japanese guests like that, divert all the translators to that event.

2) This isn't so much directed at the staff as it is to my fellow Gainax fans, I noticed a lot of people being very rude to the staff as far as asking for their autographs. Granted you don't speak Japanese, shoving a paper and pen, or whatever you're trying to get signed, into someone's face and saying "Sign?" is pretty rude imo. I at least introduced myself as best as I could and asked them who their favorite characters and episode number was. Make small conversation, that sort of thing. It wasn't happening all the time, but I noticed a lot of it and it made me uncomfortable because that's a bad impression for Gainax staff to receive from American fans.

3) Putting the meet and greet tickets in the same box office as An Cafe was not a very good idea. I think that next time there should be two separate offices, or at least two lines. Having to wait over an hour for my meet and greet ticket when most everyone else was waiting for An Cafe tickets seemed silly to me.

That's about it. As I said, I had a great time and I was very impressed with this year's lineup. I'm hoping for more of the same next year! ^_^

[Mew]

3) Putting the meet and greet tickets in the same box office as An Cafe was not a very good idea. I think that next time there should be two separate offices, or at least two lines. Having to wait over an hour for my meet and greet ticket when most everyone else was waiting for An Cafe tickets seemed silly to me.

That's about it. As I said, I had a great time and I was very impressed with this year's lineup. I'm hoping for more of the same next year! ^_^

I definitely agree with this. I just wanted Meet the Guest tickets myself. In the end they gave me an An Cafe ticket too. I told them I didn't need it but the staffer working the ticket booth just told me to keep and "sell it off or something." .o_o; Should staff be saying that...? In the end I gave the ticket to a friend but I suppose I could have sold it off... ;D

Also, info desk and even con ops really didn't know what the deal was with the Meet the Guest tickets. I spent pretty much all Friday morning trying to find out info on how and when to get them. They told us noon but noon came and the ticket booth was still closed. It ended up being like 5 when they actually started giving out tickets. I'm not really complaining since it's not like I really missed any events because of this, but it would be nice if everyone had the information they need to have.

[Sheepy]

I believe we (all of us staff) realize that this year's ticketing system is very flawed.
I personally ran around looking for tickets since no one knew where it was and how to get them : /.
This will definitely change. I promise :P.

As for the translators, we did not need any more for other events, so we just kinda brought whoever we could.
I've heard it was 'fun' for some regarding the language barrier though, but thats just for some people : P.
There were only about 10~15 staff at that event, and most of them were busy working out other things ><.
However, comment noted, I'll make sure we have enough next time.

Thanks for the comments, keep them coming : ).

[Tony]

I believe we (all of us staff) realize that this year's ticketing system is very flawed.

I personally take responsibility for this. I didn't take good care of the ticketing, and it showed. We are definitely working on it for next year - both in scope and purpose.

As for the translators, I'm not trying to make excuses, but we didn't know we'd be getting so many GAINAX personnel until late... which, given the number, makes it an entirely different problem. Hopefully everyone could make do and enjoy things regardless.

[narutofan17]

Hello all my awesome Fanime attendees!

This is your Guest Relations [GR] Head speaking.
Thank you all for a wonderfully successful Fanime 2008!

As this is my first year in charge, I would like to hear some questions and comments regarding the guests.

PLEASE KEEP WHO YOU WANT TO SEE AS GUESTS IN THIS THREAD:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,9915.0.html

This thread is for feedback on Fanime 2008 Guests.

Some things I would like to know:
1) Were you able to interact with our guests as much as you wanted to?
2) What did you think of the guest panels?

x) Anything else related to guests : P.

Thank you again for coming!
See you again in Fanime 2009!

**I will attempt to update this post as new questions come up**

Well I didn't get to go to some of the panels that I wanted to go to (someone of them were canceled >.>) But what I heard from some of my friends, the panels that went to were pretty interactive.

[NerdyBirdAsh]

I went to the Beyond Wesker panel, and I gotta say it was pretty fun.
We got to do a lot of interacting with Richard Waugh (who I cannot thank enough for all the patience he showed when everyone and their mom wanted him to create some sort of Wesker message as the greeting on their voicemail and yet STILL had a sense of humour and was willing to make a 'Wesker kidnapping Ashley' video with me).

It was a little slow at first, but we all had a laugh, he was very approachable and friendly. I loved how the Resident Evil cosplayers got to go up at the end and explain their character and what RE meant to them and have a little side conversation with Mr. Waugh.

I don't go to many panels, but I would definitely go to another panel with Richard Waugh if he ever comes back. :3

[Calico]

 :'(

OMG - I was so busy that I missed Wesker panels!! I want him to do my voice mail!!!  :(

Fanime - PLEASE BRING HIM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nyxyin]

Speaking of Richard Waugh, he didn't look anything like his picture on the web.  I was expecting him to look somewhat like his web picture, so it confused me when this old guy was sitting next to Dan Southworth instead.  I felt a bit mislead.  (I'm teasing.  Kinda.)

Overall, though, it TOTALLY ROCKED that there were SO MANY guests from GAINAX!! who actually worked on the art and production side of things, and they were all WONDERFUL!  Netsu was awesome too!  Poitras and Meyers were interesting as usual, and the rest were neat too, but I'm not very into voice actors myself.  I hope they all had as much fun at the con as I had because of them.

[pockystix]

I had a hard time getting Meet the Guests reception tickets. All the info booths either didn't know where to get them or pointed me in wrong directions. I guess this isn't exactly Guest Relations fault, but there should be a reason why info booths weren't fully informed about this...

I pretty much gave up on the weekend in terms of guests panels/events and had more fun with friends instead.

[mDuo13]

I definitely think that information about the time and location of Meet the Guests was far too hard to get.

I also think that the translators for some panels were not nearly enthusiastic enough - Maika Netsu's first panel, especially, the translator seemed really bored. I understand that this is a hard quality to judge, but it makes a huge difference. Baindai's Gurren Lagann panel was really great in that regard - the guy who was translating really cared, and he knew the show inside out. Of course, that's probably because he was heading the translation project or whatever, but still.

[PyronIkari]

I definitely think that information about the time and location of Meet the Guests was far too hard to get.

I also think that the translators for some panels were not nearly enthusiastic enough - Maika Netsu's first panel, especially, the translator seemed really bored. I understand that this is a hard quality to judge, but it makes a huge difference. Baindai's Gurren Lagann panel was really great in that regard - the guy who was translating really cared, and he knew the show inside out. Of course, that's probably because he was heading the translation project or whatever, but still.

I'm actually glad someone brought this up, because I totally forgot. Which is bad seeing that I worked in translation for a long time.

I hate bad translators. I absolutely despise it, when very unqualified translators are translating. Just because you know two languages does not qualify someone to be a translator between those two languages.

I know Fanime doesn't have that many resources but this is seriously a pet peeve of mine. Translation is more than just giving what you believe the equivalent words are for the desired language of translation. Understanding the context, the basis, and origins of what is being said all need to be conveyed from the original language to the translated language. AX was a good example. The translator for the Momoi panel and the SOS panel was actually pretty decent most of the time. But he didn't understand the contexts of certain things and instead of fessing up to it, he tried to pretend he did and covered it up. Zettai Ryouiki... Momoi said it was her favorite "moe type". The translator had not a damned clue what this meant. So he was like "Her favorite type is... Absolute territory". And then when questioned and called out for it he was like "Uh I'm not sure how to translate that".

The "translator" from Bang Zoom for the SOS concert I wanted to punch in the face. She was perhaps the WORST translator I've ever seen. Instead of translating things, she went into conversations witht he guests, and then didn't translate everything that was said, only what she felt was important. She mistranslated hella different things because she was extremely literal with what was said, didn't explain jokes, didn't explain what was being said at all.

Then there's how they translate. A lot of translators are almost robotic in there translation and don't capture the emotion of the words being translated. They just repeat in almost monotone what was said. I've seen this in other cons a few years back. The question being asked to the panelist would be extremely enthusiastic and full of wonder, and the translator would monotonely translate it. The guy said he likes you and was wondering what major event in your life steered you towards music. Who is your biggests influence and what gift did they give you to pursue your talents?

When the original was more on the line of. I'm a huge fan of you. I've loved your work and have been following it for a very long time. What part of your life was when you decided to chase music as your dreams. Who or what was the big things that helped you choose the career? What did you get from your experiences and what did you learn from these things, say that you would like to share with others who are also thinking of pursuing music?(this is a real example)

The answer was quite long where she told a short story about her childhood and how everything she saw and did felt musical to her. Her dad was against the idea of her chasing music, but her mother supported it. She found a lot of influence just from the every day world and wrote mostly by herself. She shared it with friends but kept it rather secret for the most part. It wasn't until high school where her teacher helped her pursue the career because he recognized her talent.

The translator translated it so badly it annoyed me. "As a kid she really loved music. She wrote a lot and in high school her teacher showed her how to pursue music as a career".

That was it. Everyone was sorta confused as she talked for a good five minutes, and to get a 30 second translation felt out of place, but then he just stated "Next question please". I sorta felt sorry for everyone who didn't understand a bit of it, so they got nothing out of it.

[KyraEnsui]

I definitely think that information about the time and location of Meet the Guests was far too hard to get.

I agree on this. I had a hard time finding out when and where it was and even that, I was given wrong information. I didn't know there was a signing for Hidenobu-san until a day after being told from a friend.

Other than that, the guests were surprising awesome especially for Gainax. That's a lot. Thank you Fanime!