TELL ME ABOUT ANIME CONVENTIONS!
Um, so remember when my comm design professor gave me AnimeFest as my major client for the semester? I need to have three concepts about how to present it by Monday. And even though I'm there every year, I am pretty much glued to my table the whole time, so I would like those of you who go to tell me a little bit about what goes on outside the
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When it comes to entertainment in panels, I think it has the same problem A-kon does. There seem to be more random fanpanels, but at the same time you see more emphasis on art panels. A lot of the panels are How-To based so artist can learn new skills like Sumi-E or cell painting. There is always the cosplay based panels which can be helpful too, if run by experienced people. AnimeFest also considers itself a famile friendly con, so you see a significant number of less sex based panels, unlike A-Kon. A few popped up this past con, but they were pretty tame in comparison to some at A-Kon. Not to mention, as far as I know, AnimeFest doesn't have Hentaifest or YAOI/Yuri night. Which I personally am happy about because, as much as I love it, a room full of fangirls/boys watching porn is absolutely disgusting. People don't bathe and people have no sense of personal space. Not exactly where I want to spend my time.
Anyway, the gaming section seems to be fairly good for the con's size too. I believe they bring in DDR games, which A-Kon doesnt. They always have the excuse of not having the room for it. It upsets a lot of fans when they can't show off on the DDR machine. It's like a fanboy high. This year the gaming room grew at AFest. I only was able to visit it shortly, but it was usually pretty full. The board/card game room was usually pretty full too.
The Dealer's Room also had a lot of the same faces, but there were new ones as well. Merchandise was a bit so-so, but I think it's a trend right now. They don't seem to have what I'm looking for, and simply cator to what's popular. I can't say it's a bad business practice, but it sucks for many attendees. But that's what online shopping is for. Prices for both cons where about as expected. Too high for most people, but people bought things anyway.
Although Afest didn't have a band this year, and I do think it effected attendence, they have done well in the past. They actually listen to what the attendees want. Once of the con chairs starts a thread in the forums asking for opinions and actually checks the board at least once a week to update his list. Because of this, the bands are groups more people want to see. In the case of Maya Sakamoto, people bought day passes, travelled from various places across the country just to see her. I think that says something.
The artist alley has great artists too. The only negative thing, and this can be for the artist themselves, is that the alley is split up on two levels. I have has a table on both levels, and depending on location, you can really lose the traffic. We were lucky to have the table right in front of the Dealer's Room enterance. We had a lot more traffic this year than last year where we were right in front of the panel room hallway. It didn't seem like everyone did nearly as well as they did at A-Kon though.
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My experience as an attendee first started in 1999 I think. I have gone every year since. I have seen the con grow. It always seemed more organized to me. Plus the attendees themselves always seemed much more friendly. However, as I have gotten older I have noticed that average age of attendees is a lot younger than when I started going. You see a lot more unsupervived middle schoolers and a TON of high school aged attendees. This can make things a lot less fun for the older crowd. A lot of the time I have to ask myself, where are you parents? Do you know you're selling yourself for pocky? Do they know what you're dressed like and what random person you're making out with? It's kind of sad really.
The con itself has definately improved in my opinion. They always seem to have a Japanese guest or two, other than the band, at the con. Something A-Kon seems to refuse to do. I mean, not everyone is obbsessed with English Voice Actors. Most fans can't stand them. And the Japanese guests are usually well known in the industry. As a regular attendee I always left the con happy. It's a longer con (4 days) so it's easy to get all your fill of anime in. The con isn't rushed like 3 day cons. You can spread events out more, and you miss out on less usually. I'm usually really relaxed at this con and alwyas feel welcome.
When it comes to being a guest, it's a lot like being a regular attendee. I'm jsut a DJ for Keiichi.net Anime Radio. We get invited each year as Event Guests. We certainly aren't as important as actual guests that people line up autographs for. But we still get special previlages. Sometimes we get treated like a regular guest, depending on the con, but AFest we just do our DJ thing and that's about it. We run at least one of the 'raves' each year. Sometimes we run two. And really we don't get the same attention as real guests do until we are on that stage screaming at the crowed to dance and have fun. It's a great feeling. It's short lived, but it's great. And really no one is going to remember me, no one knows who I am, and right now, that's ok. I have to work my way up the ladder just like any other person and actor. What is important is the con-chairs know me by name and face. Some of the actors know me. And hey, I'm sure that counts as something. Maybe. When you're a guest you do get special previlages as I stated earlier. We don't have to tay in line for big events like concerts or cosplay. We just go in and get seats that are reserved. I don't think I have ever had a bad seat at AnimeFest. We always get a table in the artist alley for free, although we have been restricted on music volume this year. It's relly the biggest downer when it comes to the con. It's hard for us to advertise when we can't do what we do. And occasionally, we get a free hotel room. Not all the time, but occasionally AnimeFest gets super generous. We really aren't THAT important...we just do the rave. So I don't mind. I end up getting my own room anyway because of MEK and that's alright. I had a giant suite this year and that was a hell of a lot nicer than a regular room AnimeFest might have given us. Really the VIP or guest thing has a lot more to it dependong on the con. Some cons we have access to the green room, the priivate area for guests only to get away from eveyone else. That's always fun.
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Finally, since I became the president of Mu Epsilon Kappa, I have made it a mission to go to local cons and bring entertainment in the form of panels and other activities. I have been fortunate in the last 2 years to have fantastic officers that are willing to help.
We ran a number of panels at AnimeFest this year:
Sumi-E
Anime Jeopardy (3 different games)
Ani-Idol (3 rounds)
Anime Club How-To
Karaoke
It doesn't seem like much, but it was when you factor the amount of rounds or different games in there. Still, we often to more than that if we have Sweet Tea, the North Texas Lolita Group, with us.
One thing I can say is that AnimeFest is a hell of a lot more easy to work with when it comes to scheduling panels. I can basically give them a time range I would like to see something, and we can usually get it. They will shceudle us extra time for set-up if we need it, provide us with all teh extra eqipment we need, and is really makes my life easy. A-Kon...well...that's a headache like you wouldn't believe. Not to mention we can get our panel schedule about 2 or 3 weeks in advance where A-Kon we are lucky if we get it a day before. The panel volunteers that volunteer through AnimeFest are usually pretty good. Sometimes you get unlucky and they can be extrememly unhelpful or even get in the way. This happened this year when a volunteer screwed with the projector and our Final Jeopardy Question for the Hard Game was revealed and people yelled out the answer. She didn't appologize...hell...she could have cared less. And here we were freaking out because we didn't have a final jeopardy question. I had to run downstairs, pay money to use the stupid internet kiosk, and find a question that would work. Not exactly fun times.
Still I think all the work we put in is worth it. The conchair knows who we are and even thanked us for being there. Since they didn't have a band, there wasn't as much entertainment. We brought entertainment. And all of our rooms were always packed. We made a lot of people happy. Hell, thtough Ani-Idol, the singing contest, all the contestents ended up becoming friends. I think that says something.
Overall, as I'm getting older and I have had the con experience growing up, I find that unless I'm part of the con doing something, I'm less likely to go. I suppose it's the been there done that attitude maybe. But really I have been there and done that, and I can't really hang out with high schoolers and have fun.
It's the providing of entertainment that keeps me going and having a blast. And really, we do have a blast. Not only do we have fun, but make it fun for others, and the can be the most rewarding feeling of all.
Sorry for spelling! But if you have anyother questions I can answer them ASAP. Hope it helps!
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I know Caroline came by your table. I didn't simply because who your table neighbors were. It was group that REALLY hate me and MEK for stupid reasons. I didn't want any confrontations so...yeah.
Well good luck with your project! If you need anything else or need me to elaborate just let me know.
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