[Harrison Bergeron]

I can imagine that this is a question that a lot of you are asking right now.

First off, we never had any intention of keeping any of you in the dark about anything that we are doing and we're sorry that you felt left out.

However there are a lot of things that are going on behind the scenes and some of it is difficult to explain, including a lot that is critical to our infrastructure. We have made a large number of changes in a very small amount of time, and as such, things appear to be standing still, when in fact, they are moving rather quickly.

Still, as we are nothing without you, the attendees, I will do my best to discuss what has been happening and tell you what I can. You all mean that much to us and for you all to be distressed means that somehow, we missed something.

"Being human, we will make mistakes when we try to do our best, but as a human being, we should try to do our best to make amends for those mistakes we make."

Please allow me to try to rectify that in the following post.

Website:
As you all may have noticed in the past year, our website and forums pages have been loading slower than in past years. The reason is that previously, our core server was being hosted in Virginia, where two members of our board lived. Recently, they have moved back to the Chicago area, and subsequently, brought the server with them, which has been running out of his house. Thus the reduced bandwidth and speed.
As of last Wednesday, we have moved a new web server into a new co-location site in downtown Chicago. It is a larger server and we will have significantly increased bandwidth and speeds with it. Tomorrow, we will be going back to put in a new database server to run in conjunction with it.
Because the current server is taxed, we haven't done anything with it, for fear of further straining the limited resources we currently have.
Our web-masters have a new site constructed and we are currently loading it on the new server. We should be ready to go very soon now. We just have to test things and make sure that everything runs the way it should.
It'll still be "ACen.org" but, you'll have to look twice to make sure it's us.

Registration:
Our registration team has been working ridiculously hard trying to improve a system that has worked remarkably well in the last several years. However, they are succeeding in tweaking our system to make it one that will improve registration times and reduce incidents of error, both by a significant margin.
As you all have noticed, we have been doing a few at-convention registration drives. The purpose of those were to keep us in the public eye and to test a few things out, not to disregard everyone else who may have been interested in registering for ACen.
With that in mind, we are days away from bringing 2007 registration online; literally.
When the new site goes up, you will be able to register as usual, but you will also have several new options:

Secure Web-based credit card transactions: You will be able to pay for your badge via secure web-based credit card purchase.

Badge Mailing: That's right; for an additional fee, you will be able to skip the registration lines altogether, as we will mail your badge out to you. (Terms will apply to this service.)

Anime Central Tenth Anniversary Commemorative Badge: This item will allow you to get in the spirit of our tenth anniversary celebration. This hard plastic badge will have our artwork with a lenticular finish over it, and will take the place of the regular badge. This item will be available for an additional fee to the basic registration fees.

Online registration options for artists and vendors: Potential vendors and artists will also be able to register online, assuring that they can get their spaces at ACen 2007. They will also be able to pay for their space via secure credit card transaction.

Anyway, the prices for this year are as follows:
Tier 1 Membership:
$40.00 until March 10th 2007

Tier 2 Membership:
$45.00 until April 21st, 2007

At the Door:
$50.00 (Express Registration will be available again for at the door registrants.)

10th Anniversary Commemorative Badge:
+$5.00 (in addition to membership fees)

Pre-registration Badge Mailing:
+$1.50 (in addition to membership fees- until April 14th 2007)

Artist Alley/Art Show and Vendor information will be available in the next couple of weeks.

Guests:
Let us not forget our guests; those wonderful people who add that "something special" to our convention.
Currently confirmed guests include:
Kirk Thornton
Travis Willingham
Brett Weaver
Kyle Hebert
Jan Scott Frazier
Robert DeJesus
Emily DeJesus
Greg Ayres
Chris Ayres
Voices For Peace

More guests soon to be announced.

Hotel:
As many of you may know, the Hyatt Regency O'Hare has been in the middle of a massive remodel effort. The hotel closed for business December 9th and will be closed through the month of January and possibly the first week of February.
What this means to Anime Central, is that a lot of our function space is being altered and as such, it has hindered our planning to a significant degree. However, they are working with us to help us factor the changes into our planning. As Anime Central will be the first big event on the property after the remodel, they are rightfully concerned about what impact the changes will have on our show and conversely, what impact our event will have on the property. This of course led to our having to renegotiate our contract with the Hyatt.

What this means to you, the attendee is that there will be some increases in both room rates and other things within the hotel. To date, we do not have a detailed list of the changes that you should expect, but everything we know currently about the hotel can be found here on the forums on this page:

http://www.acen.org/...ead.php?t=14755

Now, with all of this being said, the above is only the tip of the iceberg, and a good deal of it has only been available for open discussion only in the last couple of days.

Nevertheless, expect to see a lot more information coming at you very quickly.

We'll have a copy of the flyer on our old website by tomorrow, and you can use it to mail in your registration now, if you wish. It has all of the info you need to register. But if you give us a few more days, you can do it online via credit card and know that you now have one less thing to worry about for your trip to ACen.

Well that's it for now. I've told you everything that I can tell you at this point...oops, one more thing- still no consuite. In fact, I know that the room that it was once in will no longer exist in the new redesign- neither will the pool. They are both gone.

Now, that is it.

I will not lock this thread, as the con staff, as well as I, will do our best to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you in advance, for your patience and understanding in our attempts to improve Anime Central for you, the attendee.

Beryl J. Turner III
Anime Central 2007

[excel excel]

BADGES MAILED TO US!!!!! HOLY MOLY!!!!
THANK YOU!!!
You dont know how long I wanted something like this done:heart:

[Cherry_Wolf]

I love the name of the thread =3~

But, quick question-
For credit card payment, can it be by Paypal?

[Ohki]

*excitement* I can't wait for CON TIME now ><. and prereg, and badges, and....*head explodes*

[wildcat83]

well i guess i will ask it here: how does pregistering work. I plan on paying for me, my mom and sister, so will there be an area for names to be placed and ages. And since i am ordering for more than just me, can i have like me and my sister for teh special badge and my mom for the regular one?

[excel excel]

Im sorry about the second question. Im glad that your staff is taking such a HUGE step in ths process. For this is something we all wanted done. And for that I commend you. But I do have a question

"Registration:
As you all have noticed, we have been doing a few at-convention registration drives. The purpose of those were to keep us in the public eye and to test a few things out, not to disregard everyone else who may have been interested in registering for ACen."

I registed me and my sis at reactor and we havent recieved a confirmation yet. I know this was just to see how it would work out but, when will those who pre registered in october get some kind of information as to whether we will get our confirmation number and can we also apply for the mail in badge fee as well?

Thank you so much!

[la1n 1w4kur4]

BADGES? COMING TO MY HOUSE?
NO MORE PRE-REG LINES?
YESSSSS.

and yay for Jan Scott-Frazier! I went to her yoga panel at Ohayocon and it was really nice.

[Nei]

First of all, in the name of all that's holy to otaku everywhere, thank you for updating us. I realize sometimes organizers can't say certain things until the time is right, but even a note saying "sorry guys, we have server issues and are still working out hotel issues" is better than the silence. Having not been to a con since last spring, and therefore not one of those who'd seen you guys at other cons, I'd about given up on making this my first ACEN.

That being said, your plans for registration rock. Badge mailed to me. Mailed to me. No line. (Moment of wonderous awe). Your guest list rocks already, and I'm sure there's more to come. And flying blind with hotel space has got to be scary. Yeah, schematics are all well and good, but it's not the same as standing in the space. Hang in there. Eat lots of Pocky.

Thanks again for the update. We await the pre-reg form.

Nei

[Anemone]

WOW! this is sooooo totaly AWSOME! now i won't be able to sleep until the Con! i'd better get a lots of coffe!
oh and 100+ points for Acen staff for doing all that hard work for us ppls! thanx a million!

[Ohki]

So, how does the badge mailing work? Like, is there going to be a line for at-con reg, one for people who prereged, and one for people who already have their badges? Or what?

[kaoru_myaku_kyo]

Thanks SO much for posting this news! There truly have been so many people in the dark and getting anxious about this, myself included! x_x

As for a question, is it possible to get the 10th anniversary badge, mailed out?

[sammy-45]

Cherry_Wolf said:

I love the name of the thread =3~

But, quick question-
For credit card payment, can it be by Paypal?

I would love to tell you that it is going to be PayPal but most likely it will not be. PayPal charges hugh rates to use there system that the staff feels are too much because we would have to pass them on to you the fans.

As for other reg questions the forms will look much like they did last year. One form per person. So those of you doing groups or families please keep that in mind.

excel excel we are working on getting all the info from people who reg into the new system. It took some time to get the new system worked out. But I will ask at the meeting on Saturday.

With the mailing out of badges-Once you have your badge thats it!!! You will NOT have to stand in the REG LINE!!!!
There will still be lines for those who do not want their badges mailed to them. There will also be lines for at-con reg, and as Beryl said we will have the Express Reg back this year.

[Brightdreamer]

Since the official Hyatt thread is locked, I'll ask here. I was assured in an earlier thread that the suites were going to have a special rate as well. However, when I talked to a reservations person at the Hyatt tonight, they informed me that the suites were still at the regular rate. Two years ago, they were half-price. Is this, or any discount, going to be in effect this year at all? Because there's no way my friends and I can afford $600+ a night for a suite.

[neomiroku]

hi i never booked a hotel room b4 and I was wondering if someone could tell me how it goes?

also I wanna get a double-bed room. and i'll have 4 people in my room.

so like do i have to tell them I have 4 people staying in there?

and I don't have a credit card of my own, so I have to use my sisters'

besides the initial deposit , do i need it when I attend the con to give to the hotel?

[Nei]

I just booked hotel. The rep asked if I was aware the rate had gone up (very nice of him) and, of course, we are. What I didn't realize is that, according to the rep, our credit cards on file will be charged a one night's room deposit on the con rate cutoff date, April 19?

Nei

[psyco_chick32]

How do you plan to handle mailed badges that don't make it to their intended recipients?
It's a problem to be frank with, that things get lost in the mail... will people have to completely re-register and pay again?

[Zrana]

It is my hope that the mailed badges are done through some delivery method that requires a signature to help keep track and document if something really made it there or not.

[Inayashu]

no consuite again, ah well, those were good times XD lol. but wow! They're getting rid of the pool? O_o? Wah!?
Here's a HUGE question that I know a LOT of cosplay group shoots are gonna worry about eventually when they think about it! : Is that ummm tall cr.....umm.. That Statue gonna still be there? That was a HUGE meeting spot for TONS of shoots! XD I don't know WHAT the heck to call that brown statue thing, XD you all know what one I'm talking about XD :sweatdrop

[Loderian]

When will registration for the media, in order to obtain press passes, be available?

[stalking_sorrow]

neomiroku said:

hi i never booked a hotel room b4 and I was wondering if someone could tell me how it goes?

also I wanna get a double-bed  room.  and i'll have 4 people in my room.

so like do i have to tell them I have 4 people staying in there?

and I don't have a credit card of my own, so I have to use my sisters'

besides the initial deposit , do i need it when I attend the con to give to the hotel?

HI,

Well you call in and tell them that you want to reserve a room.
The operator person will connect you to the reserve ppl.
From there, you tell them that you want to reserve a room for Anime Central, you must mention that or you will get charged more.
They will ask you what day you will be arriving/leaving.
Then they'll ask you what time you think you will arrive, credit card number (I think you should give them your sister's name since the money will be charged to her card, even though the room is for you and your friends) etc...
oh and I think that no more than 4 ppl can stay in a room, but I'm not 100% sure on that
but they will ask you how many people are staying, smoking or non-smoking room.
They tell you what rooms are left for the con and I think there are plaenty of rooms with double beds.

From what I know I don't think you will need the credit card if you have the rest of the money with you for the room but maybe just for precaution you should bring it if they need to verify something or have you sign something. But if you don't pay for the room then I know they will charge the full amount for the room on the card. Because they want their money like everyone else.

I hope that helps, and they are usually very nice on the phone

[psyco_chick32]

Zrana said:

It is my hope that the mailed badges are done through some delivery method that requires a signature to help keep track and document if something really made it there or not.

From what I read, they are sending through the USPS... which, in my history (I used to order college books online and have them sent that way) is extremely prone to "What item? You were never sent an item!"
Unless MAPS is biting some of the cost, $1.50 is definatly not enough for tracked packages...
And trust me... even when they're tracked, they have major issues. One of my books ended up in CA (As you can see, I am in Michigan) and they insisted that there was nothing that could be done about it, and that I had to have recieved it.

[Brightdreamer]

That's probably why it's an option, not a requirement, to have your badge mailed. You don't have to trust the USPS if you don't want. :sweatdrop

And hopefully they'll have a backup plan in case badges are lost. Surely, those who choose to have them delivered wouldn't just be screwed in case something got mixed up!

[DJ OpM]

Policy has always that if your badge is lost or stolen, you need to go and pay for a new badge. The policy was instituted to prevent people from ghosting the con by passing their badge to someone else and just obtaining a new one.

The modification to this policy will be announced when the new site goes up. And as BrightDreamer stated, it's an option, not a requirement. And our model for this decision mimics other conventions that mail badges to their attendees.

[R1KKu]

[QUOTE=Nei]I just booked hotel. The rep asked if I was aware the rate had gone up (very nice of him) and, of course, we are. What I didn't realize is that, according to the rep, our credit cards on file will be charged a one night's room deposit on the con rate cutoff date, April 19?

Nei[/QUOTE]


Yup, the hotel does that. If I recall last year, the hotel said it was policy due to the convention or something like that.

QUOTE=neomiroku]hi i never booked a hotel room b4 and I was wondering if someone could tell me how it goes?

also I wanna get a double-bed room. and i'll have 4 people in my room.

so like do i have to tell them I have 4 people staying in there?

and I don't have a credit card of my own, so I have to use my sisters'

besides the initial deposit , do i need it when I attend the con to give to the hotel?[/QUOTE]

You may need your sister to come with and have her sign for the credit card. Im sure the hotel can refund the cc deposit and you pay cash up front, but you need to let the hotel know when you make reservations. Also the limit is 4 total for a room. Another thing, you need to be 21+ to reserve a room (unless the hotel changed that which I doubt) so if neither you nor your sis are 21 or older, you may need to have a parent with you at time of check-in.



I personally dont mind the badge mailing, but what if it gets lost or doesnt arrive on time? What then?

[Michi-Chan]

Is the program book going to be mailed with the badge? I am just curious.

[Brightdreamer]

R1KKu said:

You may need your sister to come with and have her sign for the credit card. Im sure the hotel can refund the cc deposit and you pay cash up front, but you need to let the hotel know when you make reservations. Also the limit is 4 total for a room. Another thing, you need to be 21+ to reserve a room (unless the hotel changed that which I doubt) so if neither you nor your sis are 21 or older, you may need to have a parent with you at time of check-in.

The hotel will not refund the deposit. At all. I found this out the hard way.

You'll have to give the cash to your sister to cover her credit card bill for the deposit. You should be able to pay the hotel in any form of payment you want, though... besides the deposit. My friends and I have paid in a combination of several credit cards and cash in the past years.

[meef]

I was always pissed that the big fancy Hyatt had no Jacuzzi, but now there's goig to be NO POOL???? What the hell???

Please tell me they're adding a new one plus a Jacuzzi or something.

[dchan]

riversoblood said:

I was always pissed that the big fancy Hyatt had no Jacuzzi, but now there's goig to be NO POOL???? What the hell???

Please tell me they're adding a new one plus a Jacuzzi or something.

Yeah. Disappointment. We asked about jacuzzi suites a few months back and the receptionist talked at me like I was stupid. I mean seriously - no jacuzzi...entire hotel.

[Brightdreamer]

riversoblood said:

I was always pissed that the big fancy Hyatt had no Jacuzzi, but now there's goig to be NO POOL???? What the hell???

Please tell me they're adding a new one plus a Jacuzzi or something.

Seriously, do people go to Acen to swim in a pool?

[stelu-chan]

Well no, but it's a good way to unwind and show off your new swim suit! XD