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[JennyBunny]

sooo. yeah.. anime matsuri... where to start.
lots of things I can skip... b/c everyone else has covered them in abundance....

the main thing that I had the BIGGEST problem with was the general tendency of this con take full and total advantage of any and EVERYONE...

attendees - overcharged not to be able to do much more than wander around the halls not knowing what's going on.. OR pay more to get into rooms, where there STILL wasn't much more going on from what i heard.

vendors - put in hard to find places AND shut down at odd hours.....which for people who make their living, is a HUGE deal. I attended this con mainly to help my friend with her artist alley table... and shutting down an area that in ALL publications was advertised as 24hours... is COMPLETELY unacceptable.. even if it did open back up an hour later. the damage was done and ALL of saturday's crowd had gone back to their rooms. not cool.

cospalyers - b/c we didn't know where to go, or when, or ANYTHING, and were put in a room where hardly any of the attendees could clearly see what was going on, and FORGET about hearing any of the skits. the space was WAY WAY WAY too big. there was so much echo that even sitting right next to the stage, I STILL couldn't decipher what people were saying b/c with no audio it was too quiet, and with audio there was too much echo. how were people supposed to be entertained by an event that most people missed due to it being on FRIDAY, and then couldn't tell what was going on...

guests - put in positions that made them either look incompetent, indifferent, or just plain unorganized... b/c even the guests didn't know where or when their panels were. and then the con didn't even FEED them. that's not cool

volunteers - told to "do their jobs" with out actually giving them information. OR dumping tons of responsibility on them last minute (cosplay director AND the emcee of the show)...

and beyond all of that, there was no water to be found.. anywhere at the con. not even during cosplay..where I think they should expect the most need for water. that and there not beign food easily available. overall RIDICULOUS!

I don't see how they expect to have a next year.. and if they do i will certainly skip it. if i hear it's fixed its problems... then i'll be back for AM3, but i HIGHLY doubt it'll get that far..

BUT I really did manage to have tons of fun dispite the best efforts of the con itself... but only b/c of all the awesome fun and cool people who were there. <3 seriously.. beansalad, yaya, spacie, loserific & co., Split.Image., all the ACDFers... giant <3 !!! ^^ <3 <3 <3

[RikkuX]

Originally Posted by RavenSkies

i see. ok well then they should have started loading everyone to the bottom sides first then. still kinda makes me mad. i just don't like being moved.=[

I can't blame you >__< They should have just sat people differently in the first place rather than having to do it twice


And thank you Yaya for posting the winners - I can't believe they put it on you to collect the addresses and info of all the winners AFTER THE BANQUET >__< everyone was gone and scattered! Things woulda been easier to just have the awards ready at the contest.


I'm really sorry to see so many people so upset, and youtube rants O_o I hope that this con improves because it really has a lot to offer with good people behind it.

[CoolKidMitch]

Originally Posted by JennyBunny

BUT I really did manage to have tons of fun dispite the best efforts of the con itself... but only b/c of all the awesome fun and cool people who were there. <3 seriously.. beansalad, yaya, spacie, loserific & co., Split.Image., all the ACDFers... giant <3 !!! ^^ <3 <3 <3

Jenny, I really hope to see you at A-kon, you absoultly made my day, me and my friend Farasha both agree you were one of the SWEETEST people we have met at cons in a long time. I would love to hang with you at A-kon because you are just plain awesome

[Chibi Ice Wolf]

Wow, just read a few bits and watched some youtube rants. This was also my weekend before finals which is why I didn't go, and after reading this honestly I am glad I didn't. o.o

I feel really sorry for those of you involved in organizing and judging the cosplay contest with so little notice!

[yayahan]

Originally Posted by chisainekocat

Thank you, Yaya, for helping Michael and the other volunteer with the work. He certainly had a lot of work, but he had some great help, too. =) My previous post has been corrected once I cleared some details.

In the Friday contest, I know the Kairi and Namine were lil krn yuna and misaki chan7213, respectively.

Michael and Thea did all the work, trust me. I just mainly cleared with them that we judges need a list of the awards so we could be somewhat prepared.
Thank you for the super yummy shrimpy snack <3

[yayahan]

Rocieru - I added your names to the winners' list, and the others that were mentioned as well. I am so sorry that you guys didn't receive your awards before leaving. You guys really looked amazing and we wanted to recognize your efforts. Thank you for being so kind, it was very nice to spazz over Nana for a bit hehehe.
Beansalad - eep I am so sorry I was weird when we met... jet lag and lack of being informed turn people into interesting beings.
Maybe it's a common misconception that cosplay contest judges are part of the organization. Trust me, we are not. We have nothing to do with how a contest is organized. EVER. Judges simply come in and judge the contestants according to the guidelines and rules of a con and contest, which can vary tremendously from event to event.
At Anime Matsuri, all of us judges were terrified that we would not have enough time to craftsmanship-judge all the contestants before the show started, so we were running around like headless chickens trying to give everyone at least a close-up glance. Of course all entries were supposed to come by a table and be craftsmanship-judged, but because the number assigning and other things took a long time, and we had bad lighting at the table, we decided to walk along the line of cosplayers and at least get a brief idea of how the costumes were made.
I apologize if I didn't devote enough time to you, we were seriously desperate and very stressed out, scared that we would not get through all the entries in time.
loserific - thank you for mentioning the website and how it indeed seemed to encourage cosplay O_o... I was wondering about that as well.
After all, they invited 4 cosplay related guests, and we all were excited to really help out with that portion of the event. We were very surprised that 90% of all cosplay related programming was on Friday, a common slow day. Add to that the wait in registration, and it's no wonder all Friday cosplay panels were empty/canceled.
JennyBunny - I'm so sorry no water or food was provided at the contest. That is pretty darn grueling, to stand through all that waiting without any beverage >_<. I was trying to explain to some of the organizers later that weekend how cosplayers can't simply up and go grab food somewhere, if they're in an elaborate costume. Especially if they're stuck in an event either competing or judging ^^;...

[CoolKidMitch]

I understand now how stressful things were. And I am sorry that yall were so stressed, we the cosplayers, were just as confused as you guys were with the whole reference picture thing and pre-judging. The con seemed to just skip over us cosplayers and you judges. I personally think they were more concerned about making a profit out of us. Hopefully next time we meet it wont be under such stressful circumstances

[HanakoWings]

I also forgot to mention that I lost my i-pod at this con. No one returned it. It made me sad inside. At first i was too happy with my new friends to care, but now I feel depressed.

Yaya, I saw you at the con. you were a lot shorter than I imagined. Also, did you get your money back for your table? i heard you were so busy you coudn't set up.

[Etsu]

Originally Posted by angelicstar

loserific - thank you for mentioning the website and how it indeed seemed to encourage cosplay O_o... I was wondering about that as well.
After all, they invited 4 cosplay related guests, and we all were excited to really help out with that portion of the event. We were very surprised that 90% of all cosplay related programming was on Friday, a common slow day. Add to that the wait in registration, and it's no wonder all Friday cosplay panels were empty/canceled.

My thoughts exactly. My friends and I came fairly early on Friday so that we would have enough time to find the costume and wig panel. After an hour of looking/waiting/asking around, we gave up, which was a bummer since a couple of them came mainly for the cosplay events.

[skypirate]

Not to discount anyone else's experience, but I had a great time, mostly due to some fantastic cosplayers. For me, a con is a venue for me to be with friends. Lots of new cosplayers, as well as, familiar faces. Great costumes. It was especially nice getting to see Yaya for the first time in years.

My experience with the Anime Matsuri was very good. Correspondence leading up to the con was prompt and adequately detailed. Honestly, at least as good or better than other cons I've attended. I don't think I could have been treated any better. I'll be back in 2008.

The pros
There was lots of room to take photos.

No hassles or rules on taking photos. Nobody telling us to move etc.

Decent ambient lighting.

Lighting for the events was better than most cons I've attended. Most importantly, there was enough light and it was kind of white and evenly lit. Most other cons keep the lights dimmed until the very last moment then surprise photographers with a whole new set of lights. The first few acts suffer as I try to adjust the camera on the fly.

Breathing room in the dealer's room.

Better lighting for the rave than I've seen at other cons.

Getting to photograph the bands was a nice perk. Wish I had thought to bring my ear plugs. I was pretty close to the speakers.

Elevator access was above average.

I got to eat at Chi's on the way home. :¬j

The Cons
That registration line did look a little long.

Convention center food was slightly pricey (Ushicon 2006 had the best food at the best prices, hands down. No other con has ever come close).

The convention center could be a confusing maze, the architect and designers need to take a lot of blame for that.

Signs would have been helpful and I'll bet there will be signs the next time.

The dealer's room had really weird lighting. I still haven't figure out what was going on there. But that was just a strange quirk.

Next year
I'd encourage everyone to email or PM Anime Matsuri with your thoughts and more importantly solutions.

Event and room signs

I'd like to see the cosplay competition in the auditorium.

It would be great to see that large video display list events, times and rooms, occasionally.

[yayahan]

Beansalad - I hope by next year the con will realize the benefit to having cosplay related events, and put them more in the foreground as well as spend more time on preparing them. I think it's great that the con chair herself cosplays.
HanakoWings - lawlz XD yesh I am uber short... it was kind of funny how all three, Space Invader, RikkuX and I, all were told the same by various people throughout the con.
We were given the artist alley tables for our use, but since no one notified us beforehand, we didn't think to bring anything to set up with ^^;. That was really a shame... Space Invader and I decided it would be better to just walk around in costume talking to people instead of sitting behind empty tables T_T.
skypirate - it was such a great pleasure to see you again, after looking at your awesome photos online for so long. That was a real treat and thank you for working so hard all weekend!

[yamibakura03]

The only thing i liked about the con was tht i spend time with my friends and saw old friend online like chisainekocat ^^ for example.
but blah it was unorganized.
Thurs- i went to pick my pre-reg badge and 7pm was the time to pick up badges, and i saw them barely placing the stuff and took them like awhile to have it done. and then they didnt had the cables and no color for the badges so had to wait awhile for them to get the stuff done. not to mention the badge look like a easy way to break instead of the laminated ones i get. I got out of the GRB around 10:30 just to pick up a badge and my friend was going to buy one. oi ><

Fri-Sun Got to hotel and got my room. the hotel staff were nice folks and all and then went to the con. well i got dissapointed in realising that my badge was good for some room and not the ones i wnated to go. then the trasnformers trailer went on and on, sorry i like it but after seeing that trailer all three days i was getting annoyed by it. I was also confused on the runaway contest that was held and i though it be on saturday but yeah confused. ask volunteers to help me find dealers room, non knew where it was until i ask a person who just happen to walk by and told me.
The dealers room was alright, just that i didnt like the part where people were selling cellphones ^^""
my bro got mad and dissapointed that he couldnt go to the gameroom without a waistband. so we spend mostly in the room watching movies or playDS people. we did however roam around the con just wasn;t like i expect or least heard from my friends who go to Pz all the time.

This was more of PZ time and Game place then an actual con.

[+Ao+]

Hey did anyone get any photos of me in my Blue Rose Lolita cosplay?

[strange_mikoto]

I loved going with friends to the "House of Guys" and being inside a karaoke room (even if they did just play a lot of the guest bands videos....-_- ). It was cool playing hide and seek Saturday night....until the security yelled at us for not having badges on while walking around..... (during the concert, when no one was at the con anymore....) and I'm glad I finally found someone to be my Namine. ^-^ (it's dangerous to cosplay Roxas with just an Axel, so I've learned....eh.)

there were MANY problems, but that's what venting on little online journals is for. Here, I will just say it was really great to see everyone and I DID have fun- even if I did pay $40 to play hide and seek and make plans for OTHER conventions and cosplay picnics. On the up side, our next cons and picnics are nice and organized now......-_-;;;

Also, this con and others are making me look forward to A-kon. lol. How abnormal.

[Rocieru]

Originally Posted by +Ao+

Hey did anyone get any photos of me in my Blue Rose Lolita cosplay?

Eee!! its..you! I keep forgetting your name...eeeT_T
I am the kitty which continuesly rubs your shoulder^^" remember me?
If still don't have idea, give my gallery a shot please^^~
Please give me a headon about how you would like to be called(when we meet next time I mean) if not convenient, send it thru PM, I won't forget this time(hopefully I won't..) XD^^

I don't know you were there! where were you?