FanimeCon 2012 Feedback

[Teca]

If you think you can help out, GR's an open department like all others. ;D

Considering I am out of state, I very much doubt that I would be of any use in helping out getting better guests to come to the con as the option for out-of-towners is to work volunteer time at the convention because staff members must attend staff meetings, unless I am reading the volunteer/staff application FAQ incorrectly. Even if there is another option, the implied problems that it sounds like you and your department ran into this years would have not been avoided by having a few more people anyway, since many of the reasons are about the timing of the con or the individual choices of the potential guests themselves.

[AR-99]

Organizing my feedback by topic in alpha order:

Autographs
I spent all of my Saturday and most of my Sunday in line for this so much of my feedback will be on this subject.

Having the signings at the Fairmont for the most part worked out. Because the line was in the Regency ballroom it didn't get as congested as it did the past 2 years thus it didn't create fire code issues. The big drawback was that it was separate from the rest of the con. It was also pointed out earlier that the projector in Regency was on and the big screen was down, but nothing was airing. I don't know if it this was done because something was supposed to be shown to those waiting in line or what, but staffing fell through. The projector was on and the screen was down for the entire time for both days. I'm not saying that something should have been shown but maybe at least turn the projector off? It was helpful though that the water coolers in the room were stocked. However I did hear that one of the restrooms nearby opposite the stairs and escalator were locked.

I was surprised to see that this year signings were only on Saturday and Sunday and not also on Monday as they were the past 2 years. I am making a big assumption that this was tied to being able to reserve the 2 ballrooms at the Fairmont from Thursday-Sunday only because that was where swap meet and the lines for the signings and the signings themselves took place. If it can be done next year, can the signings go back to being on Monday as well? There are some benefits to this:

-Less con-goers, which usually means shorter lines unless it is a major guest (IIRC LM.C from 2010 still had a massive line on Monday as it was their only signing).
-Spaces out the signings, especially if the guest is an artist who is also sketching. It would have affected the artist guests, all of whom were at Closing Ceremonies.

This ties into the scheduling, especially for the artists. Not enough time was given for all of them especially when all of them were doing sketches. Yokota did have a 2 hour window for one signing but Koyama and Asamiya otherwise each had an hour allocated each time for both days. The Yokota signing on Saturday was actually cut short because he had an interview to do at 2! Because of the time and effort they were putting into their sketches, those who were at the head of the line got the best quality ones when the guests were able to put in the time and effort and weren't rushed. As time went on they had to be hurried up by staff and eventually the autograph-only people would get pulled out of line and sent ahead, leaving everyone else who wanted a sketch waiting. When the hour was up it was tough luck and some people who had been waiting for hours in line got nothing whereas people who had not been in there for as long or were late at least were able to walk away with an autograph. For the Yokota signing on Saturday those of us who missed out were put on a priority list for Sunday and moved to the head of the line on that day. I heard that it didn't happen for Asamiya and am not sure if it happened for Koyama. So some miscommunication happened here. I talked to my fellow fans in line about why not have the artist just do a quick monochrome sketch for everyone so the process will go faster and maybe they will get through everyone in line instead of it taking 15 minutes for 3 people. However I'm not sure how feasible it would be to ask the guest to do this before the signing starts. On the first day Koyama initially took some requests but then switched to doing a specific drawing of Chuck from PSG that he then would personalize for each person so everyone got something different. He did this on the second day as well.

The only autographs I didn't get were Aizawa (her line was quite long and I prioritized Asamiya over her) and Chiba (no interest). Each of them only signed on Saturday as they left the following day. I support the idea of passing around a list if the artist is taking requests in order to filter out anything non-relevant. This was done on the second day for Yokota's signing.

I know that the staff handling the signings on both days tried their best and had to deal with both the guests and people waiting in line for hours. They also had to work with the guests' schedules and any conflicts that came up that may have prevented them from staying longer. On the second day Asamiya actually stayed beyond his allotted time, which was greatly appreciated. Scheduling too impacted what staff could and couldn't do, but the apparent lack of anticipation of things going much longer than expected and having to deal with things on the fly each and every time this happened could have been alleviated. Please keep in mind for next year especially for the artists guests to attempt to space out their signings and give them more cushion time (maybe 2 hours minimum or not have anything occurring for them right after) because the nature of their signings is different from the other guests. If Monday is available again, try to schedule things in the morning if possible because people will show up for the signing. Given the experiences noted above I hope that this years' experience will translate into and lessons learned and improvements for next year.

Con shirts
As someone said in another thread art is subjective, so this is purely my own preference. I wish that the same artist who did the mascot characters for the program book and badges had also worked on the shirts. If they actually did, I didn't notice this. I was all psyched up to buy my first con shirt when I saw the design, thought about it, and changed my mind. I like the number 12 as a player number, but didn't like the front design. Sorry.

Dealers' hall
Did all of my shopping on Monday. Was there a reason why it was open til 8 on Friday but only til 7 Saturday and Sunday.

Food
Not as big of an issue for me because I didn't starve and packed water, snacks, and had half a footlong for lunch and the other half for dinner Saturday and Sunday. However it would be helpful to those who may not know that there's a McDonald's a few blocks away or a Subway around the corner to have a list of local restaurants and markets within 3-4 blocks where they can get food and drinks and save more money for everything else. Such a list could be at the Info Desk and provided upon request. Even a food truck parked out front for a few hours would help out a lot, but I don't recall seeing any in the downtown area so maybe there's a reason why.

Guests
It was mentioned earlier in the thread that someone would like to see more domestic VAs. Personally I would love to see all Japanese VAs so I'm not sure how you could balance both sides of the fandom.

Personally I don't mind some of the same guests repeating each year (I think I've gotten used to the regulars), because this adds a degree of stability to the con year in and year out. E.g. Yamaga has been a guest since like forever and now hosts the Yamaga Party and even extended an invite to a tea party for people who attended his signing. I've seen Yokota for the past couple years and know what to expect when he shows up in terms of sketches, so for next year I need to watch something that he worked on other than Macross F. However variety of course is also good. Major props to GR in particular for landing Asamiya. He may not be familiar to many folks because 2 of the works that he is known for are older series (Silent Mobius, Nadesico), but for me he falls into the category of "I don't think they'll ever come to a con unless it's a big one like AX or something." I was really surprised to see him on the guest list and was also lucky enough to get 2 sketches from him. Good job as well on getting Koyama.

No comments on Aizawa, Chiba, or Vincent. The lack of musical guests this year was not that big of an issue for me.

Masquerade
I was expecting Ric Meyers as usual, but Tadao Tomomatsu did an awesome job hosting. The event continues to be one of the highlights of the con for me.

Pocket schedule
A big help since it saved having to pull out the program each time, and it was in color. I don't have a smartphone so lack of an online schedule didn't impact me as much.

Reg
I decided to pick up my badge on Day 1 instead of Day 0 this year and was told that if I had been there at 4 on Thursday I might have gotten my badge despite the blackout. If I had gone I would have arrived closer to 5 so maybe it was good thing that I didn't show up on Thursday. However I did get to spend 3 hours in line on Friday, which overall was tolerable and I had no problems other than the wait and being on my feet for that long.

I don't know how feasible this would be to implement or if it has been previously suggested but I'm throwing it out there, so please just bear with me. My impression is that one of the key reasons for in-person reg is to verify the identity of the badge holder. It has also been mentioned multiple times that people would be willing to pay more to get mailed their badges. For an extra $10 to cover priority shipping and processing I say hell yes since it beats 2-3 hours of being in line. If there is a way to verify identity electronically without someone needing to stand in line to show their ID to staff all the better, such as by sending them a verification code to their cell phone or email, similar to e-banking. They could then resubmit the code securely by logging into the Fanimecon website to verify identity. The badge is then mailed out via priority mail requiring both a signature for delivery and a proof of delivery. You now have proof that the badge didn't get lost and it was delivered.

Staff
Overall my interactions with staff were positive. I want to give a shout out to the dealer hall staff who helped me on Monday determine that Anime-Link was not in the hall although he was actually down on the list. Unfortunately I can't recall their names. The first person referred to a list which did list Anime-Link but his spot was taken by JS Anime. He then suggested that I ask the head of dealers room and he confirmed that Anime-Link had withdrawn at the last minute. Autograph line staff could have used a lot more organization and help (see above).

Swap meet
I went on Friday. From a buyer's perspective I thought it went well. However whereas the Regency ballroom at the Fairmont was like a circus, the smaller Regency II was much quieter and when I set foot in there about a third of them had already left. This would have impacted the sellers in that room more because most of the foot traffic passed through Regency, from which didn't look like any of the sellers had left.

[chifunii]

Oh yes, though this is probably very trivial in comparison to the other feedback that's been left thus far, I was wondering if this would be possible for next year:

Every badge has a 'fan number', and some people make it a point to get as low as number as they can (I must admit, it's pretty cool to be like 00007 or something), and the faster you pre-register, the lower the number. But the people who pre-reg at-con the year before end up having the highest numbers because they're processed last in the registration process...Would it be possible for the people who pre-regged at-con to get the first few numbers this year? Considering those people DID register the earliest...Seems like it's only fair to those who reg that early to get a little something for supporting Fanime that early.

Again, rather trivial, but hopefully something worth considering...

[SOawesomeness]

Oh yes, though this is probably very trivial in comparison to the other feedback that's been left thus far, I was wondering if this would be possible for next year:

oh i was not aware of this. This is actually pretty important to me as well for you guys to have. Ill make a note of it and hopefully The system will have it implemented next year.

[bsan89]

San Jose local & SJSU student here! 5th year going to FANIME!
Went from Thursday to Sunday. :)

So, as you know the San Jose Mercury Convention Center is Expanding with the new $120,000,000.00 USD building.
Not sure if they going to re-innovate the rest of the convention. (double check, yes they are!)

ETA: FALL 2013. So it unlikely for FANIME 2013 but FANIME 2014!!!

Anyway one of the most noticeable thing is FANIME is getting larger EVERY year.
I will try not to repeat too much of what has already been said here.
Though this year does feel too much of the same thing, & a bit laggy than usual.
What's gets me through is the social aspect of FANIME, and a bit lacking in the actual anime department.

It grows and it goes. "Crescit Eundo"
With the new expansion and re-design, FANIME will be getting MUCH MORE attendee every year.
I hope FANIME will be able to change with the re-innovation. Not just more room to stuff attendee.
We need much more content, decals, tons of more vendors, moar! :)

P.S:

Oh, I don't I seen anybody post this yet.
But if you like to dance or break dance at the con.
DON'T BLOCK THE HALLWAY! I love dance, but its super hard when you have hundred of ppl funnel past your huge dance circle.
Upstairs or Downstairs. Outside I don't care.

[Shi_Musouka]

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.

I second this complaint.  My experience with Terrance in the peacebonding room was extremely unpleasant due to his condescending attitude.  As a paid attendee, I expect to be treated with some level of respect yet was essentially belittled out of the room.  This coupled with a 6 hour long registration line on Day 0 made this convention something I'd much rather forget.

This sounds oddly familiar...

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,5371.0.html
Not sure if it's the same guy though. Their attitudes seems the same.

Oh, and for clarification Terrence is actually not a Rover nor was he this year's Rover Head. I actually forget what he does >.>

[SSHPFan]

Cons (dun, dun, dun):

1. Not too many panels interested me. I was hoping for more "advanced" cosplay panels as opposed to basics. That's just my opinion though. ^^

Just out of curiosity, did you check out mine (Fabric Dyeing and Painting).  I'd consider it more intermediate-advanced than a lot of the cosplay panels I've seen at cons, but it'd be nice to see some outside feedback.  I'm thinking of splitting it up into two panels, beginner-intermediate and advanced next year, especially since I'll have an even wider range of experience with my next big project.

Feedback from myself--sadly, I didn't get to attend a lot of the con because I was locking myself in my house working on my masquerade costume, but *OTHER THAN THE LINES* I enjoyed what I saw.  The lines were ridiculous.  I came in around 8 on Friday to pick up my badge and left because the line was out the door.  I was told it should be lighter around 11-noon.  Hah, fat chance, I spent more than two hours in line.  Can we please mail out the badges?

I loved all the wig booths in the dealer's hall; it was very nice to get to see what certain colors actually looked like (because I'm super picky with what I want for my next big project).  I also had a really good time with putting on my first panel.  What little I saw of masquerade was enjoyable, in spite of the fact that I was crazy depressed up and till our actual skit.  I was exhausted, so after our skit I ended up going home.  

Most of this is ranting, and I do acknowledge that I did not behave flawlessly in this situation either:  I had an unfortunate run-in with an extremely rude rover in the civic center when I was extremely stressed out due to my wings that I spent at least 50+ hours on breaking *during* masquerade rehearsal.  I know he didn't know about that, but he could have at least let me be for a minute when I told him I was waiting for my husband so we didn't get separated, which I don't think was at all unreasonable since the door we were leaving from wasn't clearly marked.  We were sticking around until the end of rehearsal period hoping that we could get a run through with some stage ninjas we recruited last minute to handle my wings, thank you very much.  I understand that they're under a lot of stress too, but anything masquerade prep related is one of the most high-stress areas for con attendees (besides possibly waiting in reg line).  A *little* bit of patience would be nice, kthnx?  We're not trying to make your life difficult, we're trying to handle our own emergencies as well.

I guess my overall comment is to try to screen a little better for patience, if you can do that at all, especially when it comes to the staff that are dealing with anything at all masquerade related.

I'm sorry about that! I should've explained myself a little better. >< I was more so talking about advanced wig styling and such. No, dyeing and painting I would consider advanced. ^^

[Aelia]

Food
Not as big of an issue for me because I didn't starve and packed water, snacks, and had half a footlong for lunch and the other half for dinner Saturday and Sunday. However it would be helpful to those who may not know that there's a McDonald's a few blocks away or a Subway around the corner to have a list of local restaurants and markets within 3-4 blocks where they can get food and drinks and save more money for everything else. Such a list could be at the Info Desk and provided upon request. Even a food truck parked out front for a few hours would help out a lot, but I don't recall seeing any in the downtown area so maybe there's a reason why.

Actually, there were maps in the past, and I know I saw them in the Marriott when I checked in this year. They're pretty nifty, listed by food type with coordinates on the map to tell you where it is. They just may not have been publicized very well.

[Firefury Amahira]

Just an oddball observation here:

I thought it was a really bad idea to put the big flyer tables right alongside the "do not stop" traffic lanes by Stage Zero. People are supposed to keep moving, meaning either they have to clog up the lanes or just get a brief passing look at the flyers on the table. Makes it hard to check for stuff people are interested in taking, doubly so when the tables are a completely disorganized mess by the end of Day 2.

I think it might be better for the flyer tables to be placed near the exits to stuff like the Dealer's Hall or Artist Alley; it seemed to me that the exit areas were generally much less traffic-intense overall and people stopping briefly there to check out flyers would be less of a traffic impediment.

[Bushido]

This sounds oddly familiar...

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,5371.0.html
Not sure if it's the same guy though. Their attitudes seems the same.

Oh, and for clarification Terrence is actually not a Rover nor was he this year's Rover Head. I actually forget what he does >.>

I don't think that's the guy in the picture. All I know for sure is that he wrote the rules for the peacebonding weapons policy, so he claims to have. And from what I'm told, he's a military sergeant? Regardless this man has ruined my Friday and has done something the most attendees would probably see as the worst, being labeled as a criminal when you did nothing wrong. If he is not a rover, then why is he walking around being one? His conduct towards me and towards many others cannot go unpunished or overlooked. I have been told that he has been told to fix his attitude towards the attendees but who knows if that actually happened. In any case the damage has been done. He should not be allowed to come back as staff for Fanime 2013. Even though Fanime does not request 501st Legion appearances, we still support Fanime by going every year. As someone who recently joined the 501st, I was happy to troop (show up) at this con with my movie accurate Stormtrooper costume. Only to have day 1 for me to be an utter disaster because of one man.

I sincerely hope that if more people had issues with this guy please speak up. Who knows what he would do next year if he returns.

[otakuya]

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this earlier, but it regards the registration rates. I don't want to have to pay around $60 for access to the same areas as someone without a badge can go to; which is about everywhere else: like outside the convention center, most of the ground and main floors of the convention center. With a badge, you can access the dealers room, panels, artist alley, video rooms, dance, and main events. But the majority of FanimeCon happenings occur in the general public where you don't need a badge to access. What can justify $60 registration value, versus where I can experience it for free and no one can notice? Of course I pre-register and attend FanimeCon for the last 12 years because I support everything the convention and the staff goes through and the fandom of otaku-dom and gamers.
Maybe better enforcement of badges and actual boundaries of events?

[nurikowindchaser]

I would love to see staggered hours of operation for dealers hall and artist alley for next year.
It would be a win win win situation where the vendors and artists would see periods of increased traffic [when the other is not open] and the con goers would have longer access to the exhibitors!

This, a million trillion times!  I had a table in the artists alley, which meant that 90% of my con experience was spent solely in that room... I got to shop in the dealer's room for a grand total of fifteen minutes before it closed on Monday.  And the lack of retail therapy makes me a saaaaaaaaaaaaad panda.

Pros:

• The Hyatt - This hotel was an absolute dream to stay in!  I've never stayed anywhere with such friendly and attentive staff.  The room was beautiful and spacious and while we had a little trouble getting the digital display for the thermostat to register our touches, any discomfort was negated by having a full, balanced $5 buffet-style breakfast each morning.  We will definitely stay in this hotel again!  The only real trouble we had is that one elevator remained out of service all weekend, but as my mother pointed out, the repair men were probably union and completely unavailable on a holiday.  The wi-fi was also slow and wouldn't stream videos without tons of buffering, but at least it was free.
• Clockwork Alchemy's Artist Bazaar - I'm gonna go into Clockwork Alchemy more in my cons, mostly because I really, really, REALLY wanted to go to this, but because of how far away it was and the lack of any real signage once you got there, the one panel I tried really hard to make it to (Resin casting), by the time I made it all the way to the double tree and spent twenty minutes wandering around trying to find it, the panel was mostly over.  So I decided to scoot into the Artist Bazaar instead and I'm really glad I did.  Yes, some things were expensive, but you just have to admire their beauty and move on to the more accessible things.  I got several really unique additions to my steampunk costumes and their prices were really affordable.  The vendors were also a real joy to talk to, I got tons of tips from them.
• Hentai Music Videos - My sister and I waited about thirty minutes in line to get into this gem, and all I gotta say is that I'm gonna show up early next year, because it was hilarious!
• Staff - This has been the first year ever where not a single staffer or rover was rude to me or to my family.  Good job.  :)  Of course, this could be because we didn't do any props whatsoever (it's too stressful trying to guess whether or not your gorgeous prop will be suddenly against the rules at the very last minute) and we had no free time to go to any of the major events.
• Artists Alley - I can't think of any better place to be stuck in for nine hours a day.  It was really fun, there was a great deal of variety and it was a complete joy talking to both the regular attendees and other artists.  I really hope that the AA registration happens on a weekend again next year, so that I can participate again! *hint hint*  ;)

Cons:

• Dealer's Room - I didn't get to go!  *sniffle whine*  And I really wanted to see if I could find some Tiger & Bunny gatchapon, too.  I don't care if I have to beg like a baby, please stagger the times so that the artists can get some shopping in, too!
• Crowded Entry - I know that there isn't much you can do about it, what with the construction, but it's really frustrating when you're hauling several VERY heavy boxes on a dolly and no one will move even the slightest bit.  Setup and breakdown were both nightmares because we had to try to get all our stock and displays through a sea of bodies.  Is a little politeness too much to ask?
• Clockwork Alchemy - It's too far away!  There were over a dozen panels and events that I really wanted to go to, but I couldn't because it takes a minimum of 30 minutes to get there and possibly even longer to get back.  Please, PLEASE either move it to a closer hotel, or put it on another weekend.  I will gladly pay a second registration fee and travel another four hours there and back to actually get to go to this gem and actually see something!  Also, the Double Tree is positively labyrinthine.  The Artists Bazaar was the only thing I was ever able to find.
• The lack of close-by food - My mother insists on real food when we go to conventions, which meant that this time we were constantly spending way too much time trying to find food, time which could have been better spent actually seeing stuff at the con.  ^.^;;

[Freeden]

- Guests : Please, PLEASE tell me that some major parties fell through because that is the only way I can somehow justify how terrible the guests this year were. The music guests were extraordinarily disappointing; little known artists who did not have many songs released even in Japan. I was also disappointed that the other guests were mostly people who had already been to Fanime multiple times. The real frustration was how LATE everything was announced. I understand that the staff can't very well be like, "Everyone we wanted couldn't/wouldn't come so we're trying to get anyone we can" but if this WAS the planned Guest List, then I will probably not be returning to Fanime. Guests aren't everything but they certainly are SOMETHING and with the other problems the con is having, poor Guests just don't balance out the plane and hotel costs.

Please see my post above.

Please don't think we don't try to get some big names. Heck, there are a lot of big names even I would like to get. However there are several factors that affect both sides and things will not work out for both of us most of the time. But hey, we try again the next year. Keep in mind the timing of FanimeCon as well. The end of May is when the industry is either wrapping up spring series or working on upcoming summer series. That means many people are busy and can't add the con into their schedule. (Some of our guests this year had to bring their work with them!)

Sorry if it seems like we let you down, but we do the best we can with what we have to work with and it's hard to satisfy everyone. If you think you can help out, GR's an open department like all others. ;D

Please also keep in mind that every con operates differently and has different resources. Oh, and I work with international guests so what I write doesn't always apply to domestic guests.

I believe I read, before Fanime, that there was a common contracting company many major cons use to get guests, specifically music guests, from Japan. I think it would benefit Fanime to use something like that. I've said it before, but I will say it again, Fanime is huge now. In 2011, it was the 8th largest anime con in the U.S. That big of a con comes with expectations, including certain expectations towards the kinds of guests we will see at the con. I hope, for next year, you will consider looking into what cons like Anime Expo and Otakon do to get guests. I realize that Fanime is smaller, but it's also big enough that it should be able to bring in major guests. Heck, if a smaller con like Animazement can get Kotoko, then I have no doubt Fanime can repeat the fantastic musicfest of 2011 with Yuya and FLOW.

[PyronIkari]

The lack of close-by food - My mother insists on real food when we go to conventions, which meant that this time we were constantly spending way too much time trying to find food, time which could have been better spent actually seeing stuff at the con.  ^.^;;

I don't want to reply to this thread but this one bothers me. There's like 18 restaurants all withing 10 minutes of walking. Price ranging from 3$-150$. All kinds of food of all kinds of types. I am honestly baffled by this comment. I ate Pita Pit, Iguana's, Subway, Pizza My Heart all for under 6$ a meal and all of them were filling and good for me. I also went to a number of nice sit down restaurants for dinner. Do a little research, there are a lot of places to eat around the convention.

[Gunbuster]

I forgot to add another positive; I love seeing full art on the front of the con shirts this year like 2003 and 04. I've never been fond of the chest logo types that have been common of late.

Still wondering whatever became of the Nightmare/Megumi merchandise. Did it ever actually go on sale?

[lilfry14]

Pro:
New Black and white ballroom was awesome!
The extra game stations and tables in the gaming room were great.

Con:
I didn't see the martial arts/weapons demo in the schedule, so I missed out on that.
Too many west coast swing songs at the black and white ball. I guess it's everyone's favorite, but I'd like to see more Waltz, Tango, and Samba. I think there were only 2 samba songs.

It was very crowded in the walkway between stage 0 and the dealers room entrance. Maybe we could NOT put a food vendor at the entrance. Maybe put the directional tape  on the ground (not that people seem to follow it, but it'd hopefully prevent stopping, or encourage people who want pictures to step to the side.)

I didn't understand that clockworks alchemy was at another location which you could take a shuttle bus to. Maybe there could be a little explanation in the pocket schedule. It said there was a shuttle, but didn't say where it was picking up from, that it was for con goers. i thought the shuttle was for people who were staying at the double tree/ holiday in hotels, not for people trying to go to clockworks alchemy.

I missed having intermediate dance lessons, there were only beginner ones.

Suggestions:
Maybe we could have recycling for the cups at the Black and White Ball. I noticed the cups were recyclable, but were just getting thrown in the trash cans.

For the video game tournaments, maybe we could get a projector on a wall/screen, or a TV placed above everyone's head level so that spectators can easily watch, at least for the final rounds.

[Eurobeat King]

Pros:
-And now speaking of the swap meet.  Thursday went off without a hitch, it was perfect.  But Friday was a disaster.  The information desk told me that swap meet check in was at 6pm.  It was at 5pm.  Luckily, I was still able to get a spot.  The head of the swap meet was incredibly rude, when I brought up the change in time, she snapped at me that the information was in the program guide.  I read through the whole program, as did my friend.  It wasn't. 

The Swap Meet check-in time for Friday was 5:00pm.  It was posted on the convention website , and on the forums in this thread for a while before the convention:

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,16971.0.html

If you checked this thread like most of the sellers did prior to Fanime, you would've known ahead of time of the check-in time rather than wait until the con and rely on asking the information booth or what was stated/not stated in the program guide. 

[Wiccat]

Pros:
-And now speaking of the swap meet.  Thursday went off without a hitch, it was perfect.  But Friday was a disaster.  The information desk told me that swap meet check in was at 6pm.  It was at 5pm.  Luckily, I was still able to get a spot.  The head of the swap meet was incredibly rude, when I brought up the change in time, she snapped at me that the information was in the program guide.  I read through the whole program, as did my friend.  It wasn't.

The Swap Meet check-in time for Friday was 5:00pm.  It was posted on the convention website , and on the forums in this thread for a while before the convention:

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,16971.0.html

If you checked this thread like most of the sellers did prior to Fanime, you would've known ahead of time of the check-in time rather than wait until the con and rely on asking the information booth or what was stated/not stated in the program guide.  

Sure, it was posted around before the convention, but if the information desk at the convention told me 6pm and I don't have internet access, how was I supposed to know they were mistaken and there wasn't a last minute change in check in time?  There were many at-con changes that occurred this year, such as the swap meet allowing in non-badged attendees on Thursday.  I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't specifically asked one of the rovers/volunteers, so I am thankful for them that I didn't have to spend hours in line and miss the swap meet.  As someone who is selling in the artist alley from 10am to 8pm, I rely on volunteers and the information desk to keep updated information like that.

[Eurobeat King]

Pros:
-And now speaking of the swap meet.  Thursday went off without a hitch, it was perfect.  But Friday was a disaster.  The information desk told me that swap meet check in was at 6pm.  It was at 5pm.  Luckily, I was still able to get a spot.  The head of the swap meet was incredibly rude, when I brought up the change in time, she snapped at me that the information was in the program guide.  I read through the whole program, as did my friend.  It wasn't.

The Swap Meet check-in time for Friday was 5:00pm.  It was posted on the convention website , and on the forums in this thread for a while before the convention:

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,16971.0.html

If you checked this thread like most of the sellers did prior to Fanime, you would've known ahead of time of the check-in time rather than wait until the con and rely on asking the information booth or what was stated/not stated in the program guide.  

Sure, it was posted around before the convention, but if the information desk at the convention told me 6pm and I don't have internet access, how was I supposed to know they were mistaken and there wasn't a last minute change in check in time?

I got there a little after 5:00pm on Friday.  With my spot being in the 20's, I knew I wasn't going to be checked-in until probably 5:20-5:30pm.  I personally would rather get to an event early, and if there were any changes I'd rather let the staff of that event tell us, rather than trust the Information Booth of a convention in-case of any mis-communications. :)

Also, you said in your previous post that the head of the Swap Meet was very rude to you.  Are you referring to Maryssa, AKA AngelJibrille?  She's always very busy running the Swap Meet each year (as-well as the Masquerade.)  My friend, who was also selling on Friday showed up later to check-in around 6:00pm.  My friend had to attend a funeral that morning, and by the time she got to the con, she had to wait in-line for badge pick-up which took a few hours.  Maryssa was very kind to allow her to check-in.

[Mew]

I believe I read, before Fanime, that there was a common contracting company many major cons use to get guests, specifically music guests, from Japan. I think it would benefit Fanime to use something like that. I've said it before, but I will say it again, Fanime is huge now. In 2011, it was the 8th largest anime con in the U.S. That big of a con comes with expectations, including certain expectations towards the kinds of guests we will see at the con. I hope, for next year, you will consider looking into what cons like Anime Expo and Otakon do to get guests. I realize that Fanime is smaller, but it's also big enough that it should be able to bring in major guests. Heck, if a smaller con like Animazement can get Kotoko, then I have no doubt Fanime can repeat the fantastic musicfest of 2011 with Yuya and FLOW.

MusicFest is a different entity within Guest Relations and I'm not part of the MF group, so I wouldn't be able to comment. It sounds to me like your concerns are mostly over music artists rather than general guests?