FanimeCon 2012 Feedback

[renalcul]

Neutral/Oddity

My Little Pony Panels - I want to start off by saying that I'm actually a fan of the show, and enjoyed Friday's panel, so this is not a complaint directed at the panelists. I must question it's place at the con. While I could understand if the show had a very anime like flavor, it does not. The art style is very much classic cartoons, no companies or artists of Japan are involved to my knowledge, and the show hardly, if ever, references anime or Japanese pop culture. Simply put, it has nothing to do with the convention's theme outside of being animated. I know it's popular with anime fans, and cosplayed heavily this year, but I question whether that alone warrants it being highlighted at the con.

There are more than a few panels that don't directly relate to anime.

Fanime is a con for fans by fans, there are panels about videogames and dating and even a few improv panels, i don't see why ponies can't belong too :]. So i mean, it's not really "Highlighted" so much as just another panel where people can talk about things, make jokes, and have fun.

Also, i'm glad you enjoyed my panel, i've already kinda figured out what to fix if i do it again next year.

[Gunbuster]

While it's true that there are other panels not directly related to anime, most at least relate to Japan (Japanese video games for example) or convention culture (the dating panels tend to be specifically for fans). I'd just like that they all tend to tie in to the theme (though I'm sure there are those that don't, it's not like I can make all of them nor do I have a schedule). Sorry if I singled yours out as an example. 

[Eurobeat King]

Since I didn't pre-reg. I was fortunate not to wait in that cluster-cuss that was Day Zero, allowing me to be free to take pictures until it was time to head over to the Fairmont for the Swap Meet.  Throughout the day, seeing the lines stretch all the way to the Hilton side and Peet's Coffee, and then out the doors to Almaden Blvd., and then back n' forth inside the convention center, makes me reallllly glad I didn't pre-reg. 

I needed to do at-con registration, so after a long night selling stuff at the Swap Meet, I waited in-line for registration from 4:30am to 8:00am.  Then the servers went down, delaying registration from opening until 8:45am.  Got my badge within 10 minutes after things finally got started.  So total time waiting for me was less than an hour. :)  To clarify, I didn't mind waiting from 4:30-8:00am, since that was the time I chose to get in-line.  I myself count the time when registration opens to the time when I have the badge in my hand. 

I think for next year I will do this again.

[Maskenlav]

Also, not really something that Fanime itself can help, and it could just be that I haven't noticed it in my 9 Fanimes prior to this one, but I ran into a lot more drunk congoers than usual. I usually encounter some, but not quite as many as I did this year. It could be because the con is getting so large that there are more in number but the same in proportion, it could be that I just noticed it more, I don't know, but I certainly noticed more overt drunkeness this year for whatever reason. I have no problem with people drinking in moderation, but obviously drunk people at the con can pose an issue. It didn't really even put a dent in my con experience, let alone ruin it, not by a longshot, just an observation.

I'm guessing it's because the checkpoint to the dance was pushed up to the first double doors rather than inside the hallway so the ravers couldn't sneak in alcohol to get buzzed for the rave which led them to be wasted outside or drink beforehand at their rooms. They did a thorough search through each bag or purse also.


mini Feedback:

pros: extra security on hand, mini schedules, dandy gatherings and sexy as hell cosplayers such as there was this one gal who had only 2 flaps covering her boobs while wearing a revealing top, booty shorts and long boots.

cons: fountain removal really hit me hard when I saw that desert dry garden in person. Whats the deal with that??? The Hilton side tree bed was gone so shade was only on Marriott's side


MORE TO EDIT

Mod edit: its called a dance

[kimlikewhoa]

PLEASE mail us our badges if we pre-reg from now on. That way we won't have to wait in line. It'd be like a perk :)

[Rizumi]

PLEASE mail us our badges if we pre-reg from now on. That way we won't have to wait in line. It'd be like a perk :)

May I second this?

Anywho~

- Pros:

• I was thankful that registration allowed everyone in my group (there were me + 2 others in my group) to get my badge with my ID while I was group leader. I was very ill and sore from my graduation night on Wed night/Thurs morning playing laser tag and bowling. I didn't think I would end up getting restless legs as well as a terrible fever from that time to Friday morning. Next time I will let my camera-man be the group leader since he rarely gets sick.
  
  
• The dealers hall was much more friendlier than last year! I don't know who were there last year and if this year they had some new vendors BUT I was pleased and more confident about talking to them more and about their products. Last year, while I was asking about a few items and their prices, a few booths got extremely mad at me because I would end up not wanting the said items and told me to just never come back to ask and just come back to buy instead.... wow! How rude! This year however, some vendors were ACTUALLY pleased to get some conversation. (Possible boredom from selling all day?) My best friend and I even became friends with 1 table and didn't mind helping them out for a bit.
  
  
• Gaming room was tons of fun! I'm glad that they had more tables out (at least I think they had more tables than last year). I really liked the computer area, please bring a few more computers! Also, I am very pleased with the staff in the game room because they were very nice and responsive (probably because a few were friends outside con). But they did help us fast when problems did occur. (which I will say in the con list)
  
  
• Artist alley I never have a problem with. They always have an amazing variety of things to buy and a lot of great spectrum of themes. I liked the fact you can buy anything cutesy to dark/scary to nerdy gamey to even shooting targets!
  
  
  
• I adored the schedule pocket books! I just wished they had more in it like the times for the gatherings and where.
  
  
• Stage zero had a LOT going for it. It was very fun to watch, even when you're just passing by. That's a really good thing.
  
  
• Although the Fountains are gone and there were a LOT of construction, I'm still glad there's still many other places to go take a few photoshoots.
  

- Cons:

• That line Friday for Pre-reg... please figure out a way to make that never happen again. Because of that I missed a LOT of panels I wanted to go to Friday. Possibly mail us the badges? Thank you!
  
  
• The Pikapika machine owners... PLEASE leave someone who knows how to run them at Fanime. A lot of people were displeased to find out that the Pink machine was out of commission for most of Saturday (from what I've heard from many people that hang out in the game room) and DEFINITELY all of Sunday. Thank god I stayed around Monday instead of left to go home because I did end up getting my print and was pleased they let us jump back on it first when they finished re-filling the paper. It made up for it. But those poor customers that payed and DIDN'T get their print, I feel sorry for. Let's avoid a problem with a simple fix please!
  
  
• The arrowed walk-ways... I can't quite grasp why people can't follow simple arrowed roads... I hope they don't drive!!
  
  
• People need to learn to NOT stop in the middle of crowded places and WATCH OUT for cosplayers when stopping to turn around. I am very upset that a LOT of people elbowed me and smacked me with their hand TO THE FACE!! I know the con can't do much but can Rovers at LEAST try to push clogged up hallways in the con AND dealers hall?! I can't express how aggravated I was when I would try to walk between the t-shirt booths and the rave/light-up booth to have random con go-ers stand in the freakin' middle of the walkway while others had to walk AROUND them/in front of the booths just to make it back to the middle again since other booths had people in the front of their tables. What??....
  
  
• A Rover told me I wasn't allowed to be on my friend's back when he was carrying me since I was extremely tired from carrying a guitar all day. The issue with that? We passed by over 10 rovers that have looked at us and let us by. All he said was we weren't allowed because of safety reasons... This was at like... 3am in the con. Nobody was really around in the halls. Funny part is, someone behind us a few meters away was being carried and running around with them in their arms while the same rover just walked pass by them without stopping them... excuse me for being a safety hazard while they weren't!
  
  
• PLEASE ENFORCE THE 6-2-1 RULE! Enough said.
  

Well, this is all I have got to say for now. I'll add onto it if I remember any more.

[le_momo]

Lots of positives to note, so I'll save time by bringing up concerns.

1) In the main book for Fanime 2012 it lists "flats" as an acceptable shoe wear for women at the Black and White Ball, and that shoes with heels more than 4 inches would be unacceptable. However, while in line, a Rover told my girlfriend that she would not be allowed to enter because her shoes (which were flats) did not have heels and thus would scuff up the dance floor.

Don't know whether this was fault on part of the Rover, whomever wrote the booklet, or even the ballroom owners. The point is that conflicting information was given, and we were denied entrance (or rather my girlfriend was and I didn't stand for it). It also doesn't help that whether or not a pair of shoes has heels or not is not the end-all reason whether or not shoes scuff good floors.

My friend complained about a similar thing with the ball. There were many contradictions in dress code than what they rovers said were dress code appropriate.

I apologize that you had such an experience. We will try to clarify the dress code better (in the dress code itself, as well as what the rovers need to know as appropriate/inappropriate attire) in the future. Thank you for the feedback!

- Rebecca

[Freeden]

I decided to be more active this time around and play sax, dance all over the place, and generally be more social. It has resulted in my best con experience yet.

You were awesome on that sax dude. It made the con more interesting.

[Pyrefly]

Obvious registration issues. Some of my friends waited 4-5 hours for their pre-reg badges, and this is simply unacceptable as too many badge-required events were missed. I waited all the way until sunday around noon to pick up my badge when the line had finally disappeared. However, even standing there with literally no one else in line, right at the desk, I had to alert the volunteers to my presence because they guy at the laptop was too busy showing his friend about some anime that had a kangaroo in it. Come on people, you're there to help the customers first, whether there's 5000 or 2 people in line. I literally stood there for a minute right infront of him looking at him and his co-workers and had to say "excuse me, can I please get my badge?" Unacceptable.

The staff photographer "in charge" of official cosplay gatherings... was extremely unpleasant to work with. He started off by telling us he was not at all familiar with our series so we should suggest poses, yet then went on to boss us around in a not-very-nice tone in poses and formations that didn't at all match our characters or what we were trying to do. Please let the cosplayers pose themselves unless they specifically ask for help.

Stage Zero - Our time performing was handled fantastically while we were there. However, the pre-organization and sign-ups MUST be handled much, much more in advance. Some of us plan our entire weekends around which slot we receive. We can't be waiting around until 3 weeks before the con itself to work everything else out. Also really wish they'd leave more spots open for fan-based stuff rather than official Fanime events. Use a panel room for those things for goodness sakes!!

Masquerade - One of the most organized I've participated in, though notorious for running into the late evening hours. Never heard of a couple of the judges that were described as seasoned cosplayers though. Will be sad to see Marisa Price and her crew go. Emcee's opening was a little stale.

[Dracil]

Badges: Either do what other big conventions do and give the option to mail out badges (I don't care if we have to pay extra, I'd do it to not spend 7 hours in line and miss the Thursday Swap Meet and then be given a paper badge because you didn't get our plastic badges till Monday) or double the number of people doing registration on Thursday/Friday.  Take some of those Rovers playing Move the Line and Make Them Think Things are Moving and get them to do registration instead.  If you were processing badges faster then you wouldn't have to keep moving people around.

[Bushido]

My main complaint is towards Head Rover Terrance. He wears glasses and has a buzz cut. This man should not be working again as head rover next year. He right off the bat very rude, smug and arrogant. I understand that staff says that he's military but I couldn't care less if he was. It gives no excuse for him to treat me the way he did. Basically this man ruined all of Friday for me as he outright denied my Stormtrooper blaster prop, which was made out of hyperfirm rubber with no working components and is a big piece of rubber, without giving me a chance to explain and prove that it's clearly a fake and ignoring other weapons that looked more real than mine. I also must point out that his examples as to trying to prove his point like when these snipers on the roof tops protecting Obama when he was in San Jose a couple of days ago wouldn't like my blaster, well what kind of idiot would even bring a fake gun or even a cheap $1 squirt gun when the President is around? And no sorry but I also have to call bullshit on police frisking Stormtroopers just because of our blasters. Even as going as far as going on the radio and essentially labeling me a criminal. What's funny is he claims to be a fan of the 501st Legion, an organization I'm apart of, while at the same time as I said treated me like a criminal which not only did he disrespected me but spat all over the good name of the 501st Legion as a whole. I am not the only person who this man had gave crap to. There are plenty of others who understand where I'm getting at. I spent most of my Friday trying to get this mess of a situation resolved so that my fellow garrison members wouldn't have to go through what I had to go through.

Also I think the staff can do a better job not procrastinating. Having per-registration, hotel registration, guest announcements come extremely late is not the way staff should run a con. I understand that there was a staff change but that's not enough to excuse such a poor job.

All things concerned the only major complaint is Terrance. He is the number one example of who not to hire back.

[Imagine]

Well, aside from the obvious registration problems, I really only have two complaints:

1) The concourse area is complete anarchy. At one point people were blocking off the entire area between exhibit halls 2 and 3 because there were some folks breakdancing, which is fine in itself, but really shouldn't be done in the middle of the busiest area. Also, people running up and down the area screaming for no particular reason is really getting out of hand, and I'm beginning to suspect that there were a lot of people around that area without badges when it got to later at night. Might want to think about checking badges at the entrances of the center, not just the halls/panels.

2) I don't know what happened, but on Sunday night music just started playing out of the concourse speakers. I'm not sure if this happened every night or not, but a few friends and I settled into the Stage Zero area to watch Time of Eve, when suddenly the speakers right above the seats started to go off playing random tunes. It was so disappointing and distracting that (after having complained about it to the staff at Stage Zero and just getting a huh, hadn't noticed that before and then a shrug) we just had to leave because it the show unwatchable.

Other than that, I enjoyed the con. Spent probably entirely way too much money which is always a good sign of enjoying one's self, and the people who I were with who are fairly limited in their anime knowledge had a ball too.

PS: As a personal suggestion from an editor, I'd love to see the FMV contest be moved into the Main Video room instead of having it split right next to each other.

[talisein]

My bag didn't have a pocket schedule in it, and the Info desk couldn't give me one. But what would have REALLY helped was placing a link to the online schedule on the front page of www.fanime.com! My cell phone didn't go to m.fanime.com and I had no idea there was an actual, useful schedule online with updates until Monday.

[sushisoap]

Pros

-Pocket guide was useful, even though I didn't make it to a lot of the events. It would have been nice to have the large events more noticeable in the guide, such as the black and white ball, masquerade, etc. I can't remember which ones, but some of the larger events didn't have times, and/or locations on the guide!

-The artist's alley was so awesome! One of the best I've seen, I loved the variety and it was pretty cool in there. Dealer's hall was a little hot, but still nice. I mean, what can you do about body heat, honestly. xD

Cons

-The registration line! My girlfriend and I waited over 3, almost 4 hours Friday morning for our badge. Please please PLEASE, mail them in advance! I went to a con last year that msiled the badges, and it's so nice! Fanime is large enough to merit this. At the time, the line for registering was much shorter than the pre reg line. The people who waited to register until they got to con were able to get in hours before thousands of pre reg attendees. Not saying they are to blame, at all, I just think the people who registered first should you know... be able to get in. And not miss some badge only events!

-Not sure how I felt about keeping the location of meetups under locks... you had to go to an info desk to unlock the abbreviations and understand where things are being held. I was in a hurry most con, and ended up missing several events I wished to photograph because it was too much hassle to keep checking the schedule, asking the front desk, and going to the location.

-Food was expensive. I mean not just con expensive, but way inflated. If my gf and I didn't need them so bad, we wouldn't have bought the two small energy drinks that were priced at 5 dollars a piece! They're normally 2 max, retail. It was nice to have a wide variety of food a short walk away, though. The location is fantastic, but there were just SO many people! I also didn't understand why no one could walk on those arrowed walkways either. xD I'm sure if they had worked, it would have been a very good idea.

-Hmm... that's about it. It was a really fun con, and I'd like to say that the organization was pretty good in terms of where each event was held. c: I didn't really have trouble with the rovers, there were one or two very rude ones that made us press nearly flat against the wall while waiting in line (pre reg mostly), which I understand. . . at least be polite, though.

The staff photographer "in charge" of official cosplay gatherings... was extremely unpleasant to work with. He started off by telling us he was not at all familiar with our series so we should suggest poses, yet then went on to boss us around in a not-very-nice tone in poses and formations that didn't at all match our characters or what we were trying to do. Please let the cosplayers pose themselves unless they specifically ask for help.

This. At the Hetalia gathering it was great that he kept calling for more attitude and more expression (which was fantastic, it did help), but some times it would be less helpful and more demanding, especially when the groups are groups that DON'T smile or have a lot of expression. At the old school gathering, he would put people in poses and absolutely NOT let some change, even though he stated several times he had no idea what the series was and what the characters did. If we ever find the photos from that shoot for us we'll never use/appreciate them, because he brought random people in different cosplay into the shot as props. Yes, props.


Overall, it was enjoyable. I know I have far more cons than pros on this list, but they weren't so traumatic that I didn't have a good time. There were a lot of good things, as well.

[OtakuMcGreevy]

Pros:
-All of the rovers I came across were extremely helpful! When we didn't know where the MusicFest was being held, a rover at the Fanime info desk walked us alllll the waaay through the con center, across the street, and to the end of the line(which, at that point, was curved around the Tech Museum).
-One staff member in particular was really helpful! My friend lost her badge, and after a while at the info desk, we were told to ask for a specific person at the registration desk.  We ended up being confused and going to the wrong place, but a staff member(I didn't catch his name, but he was handing out pixie stix) was incredibly nice and led us to where we needed to go(and gave us some sugary snacks).
-The con was AMAZING~

Cons:
-Registration line on Thursday. This was the only downside to the con, but even so I realize that it wasn't Fanime's fault that there was a power outage. The only thing is that they announced that early reg had to leave due to technical difficulties, but then, a little while later, they announced that they could process earl reg. But by then, all of the early reg had left, so a lot of people left the line for nothing(many of whom had waited for hours and hours)

All in all, I LOVED Fanime, and can't wait until FanimeCon '13!

[RitsukaUzumaki]

This was my first time to FanimeCon.... It was NOT anywhere near as fun as I had expected and was told by others!
Also several of my friends that have attended before said that it was one of the worst Fanime's they've been to.

I'm not sure if it's up to Fanime or the hotel but the Shuttle Bus service was just awful!
I missed almost all of the Cosplay gatherings I was gonna go to because the shuttle bus for my hotel always ran late and waited way too long even after it was almost full.
I'd show up super early sometimes and still it took longer than it said it would.
One of the drivers got out for 20 minutes with no explanation, then came back and sat there waited for another 15 minutes with an almost full bus for no one to show up.

Also the con security was: rude, obnoxiousness, acted like they were above every one and no one else mattered, pretty much on a total power trip. One of them even knocked my friend down and just said "be more careful" and left.

I know there was a problem with the power so the registration had been backed up, but there has to be a better way to organize things.
Putting both Pre-Reg and AtCon-Reg in the same line was totally unbelievable!!
I didn't Pre-Reg just to be stuck in line with all the people who were AtCon-Reg.

The only good things I found at Fanime was the Masquerade, the Black and White Ball, and the fact that I got to meet some amazing people.

I'll still be coming back next year in hope that this year just wasn't a good one and FanimeCon2013 will be much more fun and more organized.


Oh, but one more thing.. no chemical glow sticks in the rave....? Because some idiots decided to drink them?!? If they wanna be stupid, let them, don't ruin the fun for every one else because of some dumb-asses!  Just totally unbelievable..  >:(

[Junon]

Positives

- Panels. Many more of them were right up there with my personal interests, so I spent a great deal of time hunting them down and attending. I hope there are more next year.

- Clockwork Alchemy. I found this to be much better than Fanime itself, too bad it was so far away.

Negatives

- 6 hour line of the infinite. As I said in a topic that was locked, I know Fanime has no control over the power outage, but a pre-reg line can be avoided entirely if only badges were mailed out to people before the con starts.

- During the mega line, rovers were starting to break down, communications were not happening, and each one started to deviate from their coordination plans (as over heard many times). As such, a section of line was placed in front of ours, even though those people came in an hour after we showed up. That line added another hour of waiting for the rest of us.

- A Rover (in a makeshift Pikachu cap) allowed people to cut in front of us, not sure if they were his friends or not, but I was pretty ticked off about being in line for 6 hours and these clowns were there for 15 minutes. As stated before I would have stomped them down if only I could feel my legs. Normally I would have started a conflict considering I was already pretty upset about the delays, but fatigue saved that couple.

- Rovers. I didn't have any problems with any of them during the actual con, but just a few during pre-reg. By the front of the line where the next 1+ hour delay hit, rovers started eating food in front of people. A whole group of them. I understand the need to eat, but considering many of us were in line for 6+ hours, it doesn't help to smell food and see them having a jolly good time eating -- as if we were being teased. Surely there was another place to eat.

- Shuttles didn't seem to have a scheduled time on when they would arrive and depart. It was a mess.

- The pocket guide didn't specify that Clockwork Alchemy was at the Double Tree. The panel room names at the Hilton (such as Santa Clara, San Jose, etc) were the same as Double Tree, so we spent a lot of time hunting them down at the Hilton! That caused not only confusion, but even made us miss a panel we really wanted to go to. Asking a rover and showing her the pocket guide, she had no idea what it was either (so I know it wasn't just us). She did point us to someone else who did know, so at least we were helped, by then it was too late.

Suggestions

- I don't see why pre-reg/early-reg badges can't be mailed out to people before the event. Live Nation does it all the time, and they host more people per event than Fanime does. The convention grows in size of attendees, but the registration process remains the same. Even the same amount of registration booths remained the same. Your staff is simply not able to handle the huge load of people in a reasonable amount of time. Standing in line for hours before the con wears me down to the point to where I almost no longer want to be at the con.

- Pre-reg line. The line is huge, but I think it's more to do with the fact that group leaders are tagged along by non-group leaders, standing in line with their friends. I think you guys should check to see if only the group leader is in line to pick up badges and kick everyone else out. It would probably shorten the line significantly.

The actual convention however was fine, it was just getting things going that was really bumpy and those fixes aren't that difficult to implement.

[HiroNoHiro]

Hmmm, i want to put out there that it would be pretty cool to set aside a space or corner in the EDM dance rooms for people who want to do stuff like freehanding or stringing with LED sticks without having to worry about smacking people with things. 

[BobMakihara]

I decided to be more active this time around and play sax, dance all over the place, and generally be more social. It has resulted in my best con experience yet.

You were awesome on that sax dude. It made the con more interesting.

Thank you so much! I am glad I was able to contribute to the experience. ^__^

[arcadiapandora]

Pros:
- Artist Alley let people enter and exit from both doors. When wearing a costume that is extremely limited in mobility, this saved me several precious minutes of walking.
- Lots of costumes this year - more so than I've seen in previous years.
- AA Staff was amazing. Thanks for all your hard work. :)

Cons:
- Pre-reg wait line was...insane on Friday. Can we try mailing badges next year?
- Dealer's hall exit and entrance - only one way while Artist Alley - just 10 feet away - had both open. Also, the Rover who was guarding the exit on Monday was rude. If you have something be an exit, exceptions should not be made - for staff, or anyone. I saw 6-7 people walk through while this Rover was busy texting on her phone, and when I tried to walk through and pointed out the huge group that went in before me when stopped, her answer was "they were staff". Yea, bet you could tell that while staring at your phone, couldn't you. Be fair, Fanime. It's conflicting to people when you let some people go through and not others.
- Elevators in the Marriott. Every year, someone thinks its funny to throw a dance party in an elevator, and then they break the elevator. We had two shut down from Sunday night through Monday. It was ridiculous. Props to the Rover who let us know what was going on - it didn't solve the problem but at least we didn't sit there frustrated.
- Oblivious attendees. Seriously folks, how do you not know you are standing and talking in the middle of the walkway? Is it really so hard to move a foot over to the left? I had numerous "run-ins" with people who just stopped in the middle of a walkway to talk to people or take a picture. It literally takes one second to move slightly aside.
- After hours behavior. I get it - you're at Fanime, you're having fun, and many of you are clearly drunk. I don't really want to be exposed to some of the indecency and over-friendly things that I ran into a couple of nights. No, I do not want to -insert sexual innuendo here-. I'm okay with people having a good time, but it'd be nice - at least on the elevators - for staff to keep regular checks for people having fun at other attendees' expense. Particularly with the breaking of elevators thing. :(

Also - if you're below the 10th floor, realize that there are stairs. Those stuck on the 20th+ floor sort of hate you when you take the elevator up to or from the 5th floor.