Fanime 2006-Feedback Thread

[Rey-Rey]

I appreciate the props, Wendell.  And kudos to everyone involved with Stage Zero and I know the shoutouts have been long overdue for you guys (that means all of you: Sean Barber, Oniko, Yuni, Eric, Seanie, Cheska, Rob Miles, Jason Ebner... if I missed any of you, apologies).

I also appreciate the fact knowing that I have a spot at Stage Zero for Fanime 2K7 but, truth be told, it's WAY TOO EARLY for me to even think about it.  And considering I'm only taking it one convention at a time nowadays, I'm not even sure if I can give a clear answer to that even two months before Fanime 2K7!  

Conventional wisdom tells me that I SHOULD give it one more try.  But, yeah, a lot of factors get in the way (such as the aforementioned having to travel all the way from Long Beach AND the waning interest of going to anime conventions).  

In any case, it was a pleasure working for y'all and I appreciate the hospitality Fanime gave me... despite the fact that I make fun of Northern California a lot. ^__^ v  Just trying to be hella funny for some of the peeps out there. ^__^ v

[Eurobeat King]

Mr. Wendell & Rey-Rey, this one's for you:



Rey-Rey: Your "$2 Vanishing Hand" looks cool in that pic. ;)

[Rey-Rey]

Man, how come I NEVER remember what I do in pictures?

It WAS a drunk-filled weekend for me, after all.

[Mach5Motorsport]

I appreciate the props, Wendell.  And kudos to everyone involved with Stage Zero and I know the shoutouts have been long overdue for you guys (that means all of you: Sean Barber, Oniko, Yuni, Eric, Seanie, Cheska, Rob Miles, Jason Ebner... if I missed any of you, apologies).

I also appreciate the fact knowing that I have a spot at Stage Zero for Fanime 2K7 but, truth be told, it's WAY TOO EARLY for me to even think about it.  And considering I'm only taking it one convention at a time nowadays, I'm not even sure if I can give a clear answer to that even two months before Fanime 2K7!  

Conventional wisdom tells me that I SHOULD give it one more try.  But, yeah, a lot of factors get in the way (such as the aforementioned having to travel all the way from Long Beach AND the waning interest of going to anime conventions).  

In any case, it was a pleasure working for y'all and I appreciate the hospitality Fanime gave me... despite the fact that I make fun of Northern California a lot. ^__^ v  Just trying to be hella funny for some of the peeps out there. ^__^ v

Hey Rey and Stage Zero Crew.

Major congrats on putting together and running Stage Zero.  From the looks of things, you turned into a very valuable resource for the rest of the con by having to adjust your schedule to deal with other programming emergencies.  

Rey, it was great to interact with you onstage and backstage at the Cosplay Spectacular.  I know my son Tyler now is wanting to hang with you from now on.  BTW, I know how a long distance relationship with cons can be on your personal time and finances.  (oh yeah...I know that very well)  Stay flexible.

[blue-kun]

What I really would like to see are more people to help Sean Barber and running the soundboards and technical stuff, because he was more overworked than us hosts (although it is a very draining experience).

Having operated my own (home) recording studio for about 4 years, I think I can volunteer for the PA/SR system operation, at least on a part-time basis. :D

(And yes, it indeed requires a lot of patience.  Many kudos go to Sean for that. :D)

Cheers,
Eugene

[lyricaldanichan]

Try some real rappers like Biz Markie, Del the Funky Homosapien, Beastie Boys, Mike Shinoda, Mountain Brothers and Chan.

YOU FORGOT BECK!  :twisted:

On Topic:

My friends who are in the mid-west/east coast area have a big following hosting Anime Hell. Which is one of the best run midnite madness show you will ever see (YES THEY ARE THAT DAMN COOL). They never brought it over to the west coast and I personally would love it they get invited and to see their debut at fanimecon 2007. Check out their website -> http://www.animehell.org

Good times good times!

[Mach5Motorsport]

Then explain the delays every year.  There are Union people running the board directly on stage right and I am certain there was a union person at table in the back.  Needless to say there were huge gaps in cues.  Have things changed?  Is it simply the vast size of the venue itself?  Headset coms were in short supply again this year.  Casey mentioned that to me. I am interested to know.

Our stage manager, Casey (the ONLY guy who had a full handle on what was needed onstage and backstage), was not given a headset. So we had to communicate any changes through the Fanime Tech person on stage, who communicated it to Fanime techs in the back, who then communicated it to the union staff. There's that 5 second delay. That really has to change next year, and that's something we need to obviously hash out with tech, because that was the core problem for any technical snafus was the "gap" time that Brian mentions -- as well as that having to communicate it through so many people ends up not getting the proper message out.

I was pondering things over the weekend and estimated the there were conservatively over 300 audio/light cues for cosplay.  It is a very deamanding aspect to coordinating and running a live event, which does put many people in stressful positions.  Factor the lack of a cue to cue rehearsal and new people this year for stage crew does add to the challenge.

The setup used for cosplay at the auditorium is set up ideally for the music event to handle/adjust the live bands (for the music concert program) and not for a more conventional performance event.  Indeed, a four hour program is a marathon by any measure and does test the patience of all tech/stage crews.   I'm not getting on anyone's case Tony.  Just noting how things have changed since Santa Clara.

[Eurobeat King]

Man, how come I NEVER remember what I do in pictures?

It WAS a drunk-filled weekend for me, after all.

haha That was taken early Friday morning, before Stage Zero had begun to set-up.  I think you two were jammin' to "Girl You Know It's True" and I was giving back-up with the "I!" that you hear often in that song..  :P

[yOna]

anybody likes to watch k drama here!!!
i got addict to one of the korean drama
is called "im soory, i love u"
its very good!
i l\really like the singer in the story, he reminds my friend!!!!

hahahah!
they look hella alike!!!!!

i second that. love that drama....so much that all my impulse purchases all go to "i'm sorry i love you" drama, ost, and accessories XD.

[Rey-Rey]

Hey Rey and Stage Zero Crew.

Major congrats on putting together and running Stage Zero.  From the looks of things, you turned into a very valuable resource for the rest of the con by having to adjust your schedule to deal with other programming emergencies.  

Rey, it was great to interact with you onstage and backstage at the Cosplay Spectacular.  I know my son Tyler now is wanting to hang with you from now on.  BTW, I know how a long distance relationship with cons can be on your personal time and finances.  (oh yeah...I know that very well)  Stay flexible.

The guys behind Stage Zero should really get most of the credit.  They kept it together when it was going haywire and should be commended for keeping cool heads.

It was also awesome to interact with you backstage as well, Brian.  And I guess the secret is out that I like kids. =P  Tyler is such a well-behaved kid.

And, actually, it was my first time back in Fanime since 2002.  I was originally invited there in the first place because... well, I told you about it backstage. ^__^ v

[PassingTheBuck]

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Okay... DeepBlueVibes...

Drumania was down graded, because the mother board got fired on Friday and the Vendor drove all the back to San Francisco to get another board that would work.  Better to be down graded than not to have anything at all.

I asked the board watchers for what type of games they would like and only a few wanted a shooter game.

The gaming machines were not breaking down right and left and the reason I know, is because I was managing the room.  The Vendor was on site.  Only the plushee machine had issues, which were correcting as they came up.

$3.00 for a bottle of Snapple, yeah, that's expense, but did you notice that the machine was empty on Monday, expect for the water.  You could have gone to the hotels and gotten it for half that price too.  We don't control the price on the vending machines, the convention center does, or should I say their vendor for food services does, Center Plate.  We already complained to them about it, but it fell on deaf ears.

Craige...

[Leishu]

Thanks for the info and sorry for the troll feeding, Craige. x.x

[PassingTheBuck]

Thanks for the info and sorry for the troll feeding, Craige. x.x

I pulled my thread post, because it just was feeding his ego...

Craige...

[Leishu]

I just noticed that... I guess I'm one of a lucky few who saw it, hehe. ^_^

Hopefully we can keep things learning towards constructive criticisms and awesome new ideas on how to improve our con. :D

[EternalMalachi]

Oh, I wanted to make a comment about the "Peace bonding = socialism" thing.

I think it is a little farfetched to try to claim that costume props are covered under "Right to bear arms."

Fanimé is a private organization, as in not government run, and so they have the option of curtailing such things as freedom of speech and right to bear arms.  If you disagree with their rules, then you can choose not to attend the con.  That is democracy in action.

The problem with weapon props is that some are so realistic as to pose a problem for the public and law enforcement.  That is the whole reason why airsoft have orange tips and all toy guns come in wild and crazy colors instead of standard gunmetal black/silver.  If some cosplayer is waving a prop weapon in a menacing fashion, then it puts any law enforcement present in a tough situation as to whether to react as if it was a toy or a real weapon.  If its not a toy but they do not react, the cop failed to respond.  If it is a toy and the cop blasts you in half, its excessive use of force.  Peacebonding is a simple way to avoid such serious issues.

Also, the local residents and businesses have a say in what goes on at the convention center.  If they do not like the idea of a bunch of teen through adults walking around town in costume wielding weapons that may or may not be seen as props, then they can complain and Fanimé can get booted from the venue.  In order to avoid such a situation, Fanimé puts rules in place to keep any disturbances to a minimum which in turn allows us to have our convention.  

And now a question for the staff:  I know last year there was the Sasuke Thief and the missing hotel sign letters incidents, so was there anything like that this year?  Were there any complaints from the town or hotels?

[deepbluevibes]

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[astroboy]

OK here is a LARGE STRETCH suggestion. but damn if done, it would prove very nice.

I personally am the type of person that CAN handle browsing the web on my little phone with a 2 inch display.

SO with that said.  would it be possible to create a mini Fanime Con website made for mobile web users, and this page be constantly, by the half hour, be updated with current changes?

Funny, I actually flirted with that idea way back in 2003 when I was working the info desk. I even created a prototype dynamic webpage (now defunct) that had the entire Fanime 2003 schedule stored in a mysql database. The project was a pure exercise for me to practice my skillz and I knew that if it was ever going to be implemented it won't be till 10 years later. I even joked with Tony (the webmaster) "When are we going to get a dynamic webpage with real time updates?" He laughed knowing full well that I knew that he knew that I was obviously joking.

Fast forward today. Sorry milkmandan, the timing is not right. There's not enough people with mobile internet access to justify such a project. However I am absolutely convinced that their will come a day (maybe 7 years from now) when Fanime has a dynamic webpage for schedules.

In the future you will be able to check for Fanime schedule updates on your cell phone much like how you can check stock quotes on websites today. When there's a change in scheduling, say video programming. A VP staffer will simply use a cell phone to log into the Fanime server and make schedule updates. A record of who made the update, what time, and exactly what event was updated will be recorded. Anybody with mobile net access (basically the majority of the population) will have access to real time information.

Who's going to design this system? Don't look at me, I'll be retired in 7 years. If I do decide to go to Fanime 2013, I'll go as an attendee and not a staffer. I'll sit back, relax, and reminiscence of the good old days when Fanime didn't even have an online schedule!......let alone a dynamic schedule.
:wink:

[Pimpstress Rei]

In response to having a dynamic webpage for schedules:

We were, and are currently understaffed. All of the people who have the skills and ability to do what you're asking are really swamped with trying to make necessary changes (e.g. programming the webpage so that members can pay via credit card).

If you would like to help implement these changes, then by all means become staff and help out! I'm sure all the other members out there would greatly appreciate your contribution.

[PassingTheBuck]

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What you didn't see about the Drum game was that while they (the vendors) were there it continued to fail, I was there, watching it start losing its mind, as the game couldn't recover from a failure in the logic processor and finally the motherboard attempted several reboots only to reveal an error code in the start up sequence.  Hence the reason that the motherboard failed.  As for the other products that you pointed out, seven people I questioned about whether it interfered with their performance on the game, said no, not really to it made little difference in the actual performance.  You experienced a different level of performance than what they experienced.
 
As for next year, I will make the request of the vendor to supply more shooter games and a different variety of them too.

As to the issues of the games being down and not working, now you point out that they were working, but there were issues with specific function keys, okay, but who did you report them to?  I wasn't me!  Eric and his partner didn't get the reports either, so who were you reporting them to?  I'm interested in knowing who was holding all these reports.

Next year, the decision, which was mine, is to assign someone to walk around the room, have a table there and await the reports of down machines.  They will keep the Plushee machine filled, check the coin return machines and ensure that everyone is playing nicey with the games and those waiting.  When issues are brought to their attention they will upchannel those reports to Eric, the Vendor and hopefully we will have a list on site that will state the nature of the issue and a resolution time.  That's about the best that I can offer.

[deepbluevibes]

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