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| Bata kun 3047th Post
 
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
    
    
    
    
     
|  "Anime Expo 2007 Rant" , posted Wed 4 Jul 16:21
I should be sleeping, but I want to vent out my frustration right now.
Though this is the first time I went to Anime Expo, this is actually the first time time I went to a con in about three years. You have to pick your spots carefully in regards of staff. While a volunteer was fine with me going in because my friend who was attending some event had my wallet, some of the others weren't. Not only that, some of them were lost in regards of locations.
Zepy beated me to the punch in regards of Momoi Haruko-san's visit to Long Beach. She was the reason why I went down south. (Yes, there's the S.O.S. dan too, but Momoi-san was "the" reason.) Yes, her concert did happen, but at the cost of her autograph sessions? Like Momoi-san, I am frustrated. I wanted an autograph from her and I wish there's a way I can make it up to her. (The people who waited in line for the S.O.S. autographs: I so feel sorry for them because I was torn apart between that and the Momoi-san panel.)
Oh! Now, next year's AX will be in Los Angeles? Uh, that's not a good place for "Fruits Basket" cosplayers, ne? Not only that, the resources are very limited. Why not Pasadena or San Diego?!
*sighs*
Okay. I'm done ranting. I'll place up pictures later. I want to sleep now, but Momoi-san's experience is making me have trouble now. --'
(I'm sure Shin will say something also?)
ふもっふ！
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| Shin ATproof 1220th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
|  "Re(1):Anime Expo 2007 Rant" , posted Sun 8 Jul 12:05:
quote:
(I'm sure Shin will say something also?)
YOU BET!
I sent you an E-mail earlier asking how was con for you and how I felt about this year...but let me share with everyone how I felt about AX this year...
I've been going to AX for about...5 years now. I have friends, some of whom are of the press and just regular fans that have been attending the convention for over 10 years. They agree: This was the worst AX ever.
My top 3 complaints:
1)The venue was too small for such a large attendance. It produced a problem that everyone complained about: The lines. You had lines to get into other lines. There were lines where there never was lines before...like industry panels. Seriously, going to panels to hear announcements and/or ask questions is one of the main things I do at con...some go for Karaoke, some go for cosplay and stuff like that, I'm interested in news and Q&A sessions. I had to stand in hour long lines just to get a seat to some panels and some panels I was denied entry on the grounds of "the room is full" AFTER I STOOD IN LINE! This has never happened before and was really annoying.
2)Everything was ridiculously spread out, even speaking to staffers, they called it "The walking con". I don't mind walking...I'm a fat guy, ask Bata, he'll confirm that. So I can use the exercise but my problem is that you have the Arcade, Movie screens, Tabletop/Console, concert hall, etc spread out and some inconveniently like across a busy city street. What should take 5 minutes takes 10-15 minutes because you have to wait for the light(and try not to get hit by crazy drivers) and/or you have to take the route to Robin Hood's outhouse to get to where you're going. This was especially true when going to the Exhibit Hall and trying to leave and go somewhere else HOW FUN WAS THAT!? For those that didn't experience that joy, it wasn't a joy!
When the con was at Anaheim, it was basically an Indoor convention, the heat didn't get to you and everything was close together so the need for water wasn't major. THIS year, water was vital for survival...and hardly a watercooler in sight! I saw some in the Arcades and inside the movie rooms(WTF were they doing THERE!?) were they anywhere else? What I saw happening was that there were more people going to food courts and kiosks for refreshments. Con goer wallets were seriously gouged this year. I felt it firsthand. My roomates and I relax, cook and drink in our room so we don't spend much cash at any convention outside of the Exhibit Hall...this year? Each of us spend at least $30+ on food and/or drink, freak'n nonsense!
3)Concerts and guests were handled poorly.
I stood in line the day before con for nearly 3 hours getting my premier ticket for the SOS-dan concert (3rdRow seats BABY!). Why? Because they were understaffed. I stood in line 3 more hours to get into the concert hall that supposed to seat 10,000 but it was delayed for potential fire hazard. Thats cool, "safety first" is great but the problem was that there was far less than 10,000 asses in line at at the concert. I know this because they were GIVING AWAY tickets for the SKIN and SOS-dan concerts and there were still empty seats!
I heard about the crap with autograph signings for for SOS and Momoi...and I heard it was a miscommunication with guest crews, volunteers and staffers than anything to do with schedules. Bugger.
In the end...if it wasn't for the SOS-dan concert(I REALLY REALLY REALLY loved that) and if I didn't score some choice doujinshi and swag from the big name booths I would have truly hated this years AX.
Next year its being held in LA convention center? Thats okay I guess since its only 30 minutes from my house and I got like 3 ways of getting there so Hotel room money stays in my pocket and if I'd need a drink I can just go back home but I can't wait for AX to go back to Anaheim...maybe if they didn't feel it was required for it to happen around or near the 4th of July and just doing later in July (or even August) that would be possible...but that would be too easy of a solution.
Sí mon con langosta y camarón
[this message was edited by Shin ATproof on Sun 8 Jul 12:13] |
| Bata kun 3052th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Anime Expo 2007 Rant" , posted Mon 9 Jul 13:12
quote:
I sent you an E-mail earlier asking how was con for you and how I felt about this year...but let me share with everyone how I felt about AX this year...
I got it and I responded.
quote:
1)The venue was too small for such a large attendance. It produced a problem that everyone complained about: The lines. You had lines to get into other lines. There were lines where there never was lines before...like industry panels. Seriously, going to panels to hear announcements and/or ask questions is one of the main things I do at con...some go for Karaoke, some go for cosplay and stuff like that, I'm interested in news and Q&A sessions. I had to stand in hour long lines just to get a seat to some panels and some panels I was denied entry on the grounds of "the room is full" AFTER I STOOD IN LINE! This has never happened before and was really annoying.
Lines, lines, lines! AX 2007 was all about lines. You had to do some sort of waiting, even if there wasn't some line. Bleh!
quote:
2)Everything was ridiculously spread out, even speaking to staffers, they called it "The walking con". I don't mind walking...I'm a fat guy, ask Bata, he'll confirm that. So I can use the exercise but my problem is that you have the Arcade, Movie screens, Tabletop/Console, concert hall, etc spread out and some inconveniently like across a busy city street. What should take 5 minutes takes 10-15 minutes because you have to wait for the light(and try not to get hit by crazy drivers) and/or you have to take the route to Robin Hood's outhouse to get to where you're going. This was especially true when going to the Exhibit Hall and trying to leave and go somewhere else HOW FUN WAS THAT!? For those that didn't experience that joy, it wasn't a joy!
When the con was at Anaheim, it was basically an Indoor convention, the heat didn't get to you and everything was close together so the need for water wasn't major. THIS year, water was vital for survival...and hardly a watercooler in sight! I saw some in the Arcades and inside the movie rooms(WTF were they doing THERE!?) were they anywhere else? What I saw happening was that there were more people going to food courts and kiosks for refreshments. Con goer wallets were seriously gouged this year. I felt it firsthand. My roomates and I relax, cook and drink in our room so we don't spend much cash at any convention outside of the Exhibit Hall...this year? Each of us spend at least $30+ on food and/or drink, freak'n nonsense!
Yup! Food was problematic. One of my friends pretty much spent about 90% of his free money on food. I felt sorry and I bought something for him.
quote:
3)Concerts and guests were handled poorly.
I stood in line the day before con for nearly 3 hours getting my premier ticket for the SOS-dan concert (3rdRow seats BABY!). Why? Because they were understaffed. I stood in line 3 more hours to get into the concert hall that supposed to seat 10,000 but it was delayed for potential fire hazard. Thats cool, "safety first" is great but the problem was that there was far less than 10,000 asses in line at at the concert. I know this because they were GIVING AWAY tickets for the SKIN and SOS-dan concerts and there were still empty seats!
I heard about the crap with autograph signings for for SOS and Momoi...and I heard it was a miscommunication with guest crews, volunteers and staffers than anything to do with schedules. Bugger.
Oh man. Momoi-san and everyone else. I already mentioned Zepy's entry.
quote:
In the end...if it wasn't for the SOS-dan concert(I REALLY REALLY REALLY loved that) and if I didn't score some choice doujinshi and swag from the big name booths I would have truly hated this years AX.
Yeah, the con didn't give me as bitter a feeling as many people because I did get an autograph from Circus. It wasn't that bad. I know it could have been better.
quote:
Next year its being held in LA convention center? Thats okay I guess since its only 30 minutes from my house and I got like 3 ways of getting there so Hotel room money stays in my pocket and if I'd need a drink I can just go back home but I can't wait for AX to go back to Anaheim...maybe if they didn't feel it was required for it to happen around or near the 4th of July and just doing later in July (or even August) that would be possible...but that would be too easy of a solution.
As good as it sounds, having the con in Los Angeles is NOT a good idea because like I said, it's Los Angeles. It has a notorius aura. I fear for cosplayers, especially those that aren't 18 yet.
I never liked the scheduling of AX or Fanime's for that matter. They ruin the experience for me overall. I can understand not having them on Golden Week and there are those other major con dates, but still, I'm sure there are better dates.
ふもっふ！
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