My AX rant... y'all suck.
Alright, not everything... but I do have a crap load of gripes to vent, seeing as I have yet to make an account at the Anime Expo forums. In fact, I may be compelled to make one just for the sake of telling AX staff what they did horribly wrong this year.
1. The staff.
First, the ones I witnessed were misinformed or did not make the effort to inform people. "Where's the (insert subject) panel? It's supposed to be in room (insert room number here)? Which direction is that?" "I don't know," anonymous AX volunteer says and turns away without telling the sad lost person. The least they could do is say "I don't know; try the information desk in front of the exhibit hall entrance".
Second, the complete lack of basic protocol and consistency. Simple instructions like "Line for the concert/panel/various event begins here! Form one line!" Not "Let me call six various people so we can figure out how to let people in who want to view this panel". Also, when it comes to rules and regulations, some people have a clue and some people don't!
Solution: Meet with the crew. Have a one-hour meeting at least for the basics, and then open the floor up for questions or comments. Hold another meeting and address said questions, comments on potential problems.
2. The venue.
The Long Beach Convention Center has only one good thing going for it and that is the Rainbow Lagoon, an awesome place to hang out, have photoshoots (as I did), and even take little paddle boat rides.
Even if they did build a new mall across the street, no one gives a crap, especially during the hot summer sun. Oooh, new restaurants... honestly, who cares if there's a new mall outside the convention center? Long Beach isn't exactly the safest of cities. I honestly felt scared to go past two blocks of the convention center.
Also, the closest hotels (the host hotels) were the Westin, the Hyatt and the Renaissance. Other than that, they other hotels are farther away.
Solution: This is a gathering of fans; AX really needs to listen to what fans want! I'm glad they considered this when picking a new center ("there's a new mall across the street for you all to eat at, blah blah blah"), but I felt safer walking the streets in MickeyMouseLand Anaheim than Long Beach. Also, they need an area where there are a lot of hotels, or at least easy access to and from the hotels and convention center.
3. The Layout.
Whoever decided on how things were laid out needs to be shot. I didn't have a problem with this (I registered as industry at the Hyatt), but the on-site registration was just too far from the actual convention building. Attendees were on the ground floor, registered, directed to the second floor and then told that if they want to go into the convention, they must trek down a staircase, and walk down two blocks to get into the convention.
And whose brilliant idea was it to have one entrance on one side and exits on the other side of the hall? What if someone from the dealer hall wanted to watch something in the viewing room, which were all located upstairs near the entrance? They were forced to exit the back of the building, circle to the front and then find their way to the room. Inconvenient, I tell you.
Solution: Alternate entrances and exits. And have registration as close to the exhibit hall as possible.
4. Miscellaneous junk I heard...
- SKIN concert tickets were handed out for free in front of the people who put down $$ for it. Whether they were the same seats, not sure. On top off that, some stuff happened, so they didn't start performing until two hours after scheduled time.
- A canceled event caused many unhappy fans to not get signed paraphernalia. Even though they were told "Come back tomorrow," they were limited to what they could sign and how long they could actually talk with this SOS Brigade.
- The anime music video contest was so short because someone stole/lost all the files.
- Disability access was not a problem in Anaheim, but definitely in Long Beach.
Honestly, Long Beach is not fit to hold Anime Expo in their city and venue; AX is far too big. Please AX, return to Anaheim.
Pictures and videos will follow on the next post.
1. The staff.
First, the ones I witnessed were misinformed or did not make the effort to inform people. "Where's the (insert subject) panel? It's supposed to be in room (insert room number here)? Which direction is that?" "I don't know," anonymous AX volunteer says and turns away without telling the sad lost person. The least they could do is say "I don't know; try the information desk in front of the exhibit hall entrance".
Second, the complete lack of basic protocol and consistency. Simple instructions like "Line for the concert/panel/various event begins here! Form one line!" Not "Let me call six various people so we can figure out how to let people in who want to view this panel". Also, when it comes to rules and regulations, some people have a clue and some people don't!
Solution: Meet with the crew. Have a one-hour meeting at least for the basics, and then open the floor up for questions or comments. Hold another meeting and address said questions, comments on potential problems.
2. The venue.
The Long Beach Convention Center has only one good thing going for it and that is the Rainbow Lagoon, an awesome place to hang out, have photoshoots (as I did), and even take little paddle boat rides.
Even if they did build a new mall across the street, no one gives a crap, especially during the hot summer sun. Oooh, new restaurants... honestly, who cares if there's a new mall outside the convention center? Long Beach isn't exactly the safest of cities. I honestly felt scared to go past two blocks of the convention center.
Also, the closest hotels (the host hotels) were the Westin, the Hyatt and the Renaissance. Other than that, they other hotels are farther away.
Solution: This is a gathering of fans; AX really needs to listen to what fans want! I'm glad they considered this when picking a new center ("there's a new mall across the street for you all to eat at, blah blah blah"), but I felt safer walking the streets in MickeyMouseLand Anaheim than Long Beach. Also, they need an area where there are a lot of hotels, or at least easy access to and from the hotels and convention center.
3. The Layout.
Whoever decided on how things were laid out needs to be shot. I didn't have a problem with this (I registered as industry at the Hyatt), but the on-site registration was just too far from the actual convention building. Attendees were on the ground floor, registered, directed to the second floor and then told that if they want to go into the convention, they must trek down a staircase, and walk down two blocks to get into the convention.
And whose brilliant idea was it to have one entrance on one side and exits on the other side of the hall? What if someone from the dealer hall wanted to watch something in the viewing room, which were all located upstairs near the entrance? They were forced to exit the back of the building, circle to the front and then find their way to the room. Inconvenient, I tell you.
Solution: Alternate entrances and exits. And have registration as close to the exhibit hall as possible.
4. Miscellaneous junk I heard...
- SKIN concert tickets were handed out for free in front of the people who put down $$ for it. Whether they were the same seats, not sure. On top off that, some stuff happened, so they didn't start performing until two hours after scheduled time.
- A canceled event caused many unhappy fans to not get signed paraphernalia. Even though they were told "Come back tomorrow," they were limited to what they could sign and how long they could actually talk with this SOS Brigade.
- The anime music video contest was so short because someone stole/lost all the files.
- Disability access was not a problem in Anaheim, but definitely in Long Beach.
Honestly, Long Beach is not fit to hold Anime Expo in their city and venue; AX is far too big. Please AX, return to Anaheim.
Pictures and videos will follow on the next post.