[TheRabbi]

lmw_mcol, on 30 April 2011 - 06:13 PM, said:

Next is why the Soap Bubble closing at 3am this year? In 2009 I waited 3 hours to get in to the rave, with no success. I ask how will closing the rave early allow people to have a chance to get in? This is a theory, but many people will have to camp out a few hours before the party even starts, and that may be a problem for those who want to attend other events before the dance.

First, see this thread to assuage your fears about not being able to get into the Soap Bubble. The new system that we are using for main programming lines (including the line for the Soap Bubble) is almost identical to the one we used last year. That system got the entire line into the Soap Bubble in a fairly timely manner; I anticipate it will do the same this year. Also, you will not have to line up hours ahead, because we will not let a line form hours ahead. (If you have questions about the procedure itself, make sure to post them over there, not in here.)

To answer your question, the Soap Bubble is closing at 3AM this year because that's how long the event is scheduled for. It has to do with staffer availability, DJ availability, the hotel's wishes, the Fire Marshal's wishes, and a cavalcade of other reasons that I can't go into, but the end result is that that's the end time for the event. I'm sorry if that seems a bit tautological or a bit of a non-answer, but it's the best that I can give someone outside staff.

[OtakuAngelD]

I don't know if this has been addressed yet. So, it if has, I apologize for beating a dead horse.

My biggest gripe is smokers right by the revolving doors at all hours of the day and night. Is there another place we can put the smokers? Away from the door? My only reasoning for this is that in most establishments, smoking can only happen 30 feet away from any enternece. This is so that their smoke doesn't get into the building. This also limits the contact between smokers and those coming in and out of those doors. Some people are highly alergic or ahsmatic and that smell and heavy air is hard for them. Also, there tend to be a lot of smokers gathered. This closes off the walkway. This is very dangerous, especially at night. I can't count the number of times that I had to walk in the driveway instead of the sidewalk because they were blocking the pathway. We get yelled at for walking in the driveway, yet we can't use the sidewalks without encounting the smokers who are blocking that path.

A good way to fix this would be to move the smokers. If they must be at the front of the building, then perhaps placing them near the planter or across the driveway, but tree patch.

[TheRabbi]

The hotel has designated a smoking area halfway between the main entrance and the grand foyer entrance, which should be far enough away from both entrances.

We'll be keeping an eye out to make sure it's being used.

[OtakuAngelD]

Thank you for answering. And I just thought of something else, to do with the program books. Last year, the main book had only the information on the panals and meetings and not their times or locations. These were printed alphabetically. We, those who came on Thursday, had to wait to get the secondary sheet that had the rooms/times listed (this list did not come out until well into Friday as far as I am aware). To save on printing that second sheet, might I suggest that instead, listing the panals and events in order by date, time, and location. For example

Friday
Panal X in the Green room at 5:00
concert featuring x in main probramming at 5:00
Photoshoot for X at the Tree patch

This would go the same for Saturday and Sunday.

This way, those of us with the guide can not only plan out what we want to go and see via the descriptions, but also know where and when and what day these events are happening.

[Purplegodess]

This year they are listed as such

Title of Panel
Date Time; Location
Description of Panel

hope that helps

[TheRabbi]

^^ ...what she said.

[lmw_mcol]

I wonder who caused enough trouble for the dance to end so early?

I am a Firm Believer in the saying: "The actions of few affect the many!"

This post has been edited by lmw_mcol: 13 May 2011 - 09:54 PM

[dorkatlarge]

I know that Murphy's Law definitely affects ACen... if something can go wrong, it will. I did my best to be polite and patient at the con, and I will try to be polite and patient in this comment.

First, I heard that badge mailing in 2011 did not go well. The badge which I ordered in November 2010 never arrived. According to what I heard from other con attendees and people on the forum, this was a widespread issue. If the con staff has not already investigated what went wrong and how to remedy it, then they would be wise to do so.

Second, registration on Thursday did not seem especially organized. For quite some time, there was one line, regardless of status (buying at-con, pick-up, etc). Furthermore, according to what I heard, some of the IT staff had quit, and there were not enough skilled people left.

Third, according to other attendees, there was quite a bit of room re-shuffling and postponed panels. While this is probably inevitable, I also heard it was not communicated clearly. Attendees should know whether they can rely on the con staff for clear answers, or whether they should just look for update signs. There are a number of places around the con where even the best mobile devices don't get signals, so that may not currently be an option.

Finally, the single-sheet schedules were not distributed this year. I saw just a few copies of the white paper schedule, and they were all secured at staff booths. Yes, this cuts back on paper use, and like the full program books, they can't be updated. But it's also slightly more convenient than flipping to the right page of the program book...

Thanks to the staff and the forum mods for considering these thoughts.

[NinjaJedi007]

dorkatlarge, on 22 May 2011 - 11:32 AM, said:

Second, registration on Thursday did not seem especially organized. For quite some time, there was one line, regardless of status (buying at-con, pick-up, etc).

Totally with you on that. Biggest gripe I had. Absolutely loved everything about this ridiculously awesome weekend though.

[Gabichox]

There are two main gripes that I have that ruined the con for me :/

First, I waited in line for Whose Line is it Anime on Friday and was surprised at how long it took. Flow was on stage for 1 more hour than they were supposed to be and we all had to suffer for it. I understand they were delayed but they started at 6 and ended at 9. Not only that, the staff had the nerve to blame it on the panelists by saying they didn't show up. The panelists were right outside and what were they going to do? Tell Flow to get off the stage? When the IRT told us that the panelists hadn't shown up, I glanced inside and saw that Flow was still performing and it wasn't as if there was just an empty room waiting for the performers. I'm glad that the Whose Line is it Anime people were able to pull off an awesome show even though they had limited time because of that wait. I'm not blaming the guests at all. I'm just saying that acen should've managed it better, informed them of their time slot and did a better job of informing those of us in line of what was going on rather than blaming the panelists and mentioning nothing about how a band was going over their slot. [unless they suddenly changed the amount of time Flow had and didn't put it in the program book. I'm not talking the delay in the start time. I'm talking about how long they were supposed to be performing.]

Another thing is the game room and its ridiculous no bag rule. I never understood that rule. Are we going to stuff a whole DDR machine in our bags? Anyway, I think there should be more communication on the rules. On Friday we were able to leave our bags and a guy was sitting there to watch it. Everything was fine and dandy until Saturday when we went back to the game room. An extremely rude IRT staff member was there and yelled at me for even walking towards her with a bag. She curtly told me that I couldn't leave it when I asked. She didn't even give me a reason. I understand that working at a con can be stressful but you shouldn't take it out on attendees that did absolutely nothing to you. It put me off for the whole day and I was astonished at how unprofessional that lady was being :/
But I digress. Is there a better way we can handle the bag situation for the game room? It's inconvenient if you're walking around all day in a cosplay or outfit with no pockets and need a way to store your wallet, phone, and other necessities. It's hard for people to go all the way back to their hotel rooms and dump their stuff off just to appease a stupid rule. I feel bad for the people that don't even have that option and couldn't go to the game room at all.

This acen felt a tad unorganized. No, more than a tad. What with the dealers room closing early and all, I think there should be more clear communication on the management end. We couldn't even get an answer for WHY the dealers room closed so early on Saturday. It was ridiculous. I had the opportunity of speaking to someone that went to acen for the first time this year. He was extremely disappointed and I felt bad :/ This year wasn't a good year in terms of management.

[Doggeh]

My only real gripe is the line for main programming, though its more of a question I suppose.

Friday night I was aware Whos Line was delayed about an hour and Anime Hell was subsequently delayed an hour. I got a pretty decent spot in line for Anime Hell with my friends, we were ready to go in once we saw Whos Line was getting out. But then I saw those people getting right back in a line that was forming inside for Anime Hell. What gives?! I wanna give staff the benefit of the doubt and say these guys got front of the line privalages because of the massive delay.

Otherwise for me, everything went pretty well. I had a great, great weekend.

[ATICE]

It's not really something I was sad or mad about, but considering the fact that IRT was like... EVERYWHERE! I think they should have a map and maybe a schedule as well for photoshoots.

I asked like 3 IRT's where such and such exactly was, and they had no clue. The fourth one sort of did, but basically everyone else did not.

--

Also, I'd just like to say how smooth it was (no sarcasm, i'm really being serious) that the IRT prop checker... she was just very helpful, and told me what exactly NOT to do. lol. I'm very grateful for that, and it was a smoother process than I thought. Thanks again.

This post has been edited by ATICE: 22 May 2011 - 04:01 PM

[Ashori]

I had several gripes about the con this year.

1) I swore up and down and left and right that it was posted on here - and then was stated that it would be in the programming book - that there was a rule that you can only line up for a panel or main programming event a half-hour before it was began, and this was actually encouraged by the forum-goers. So imagine my disdain when I went to line up for several panels (Whose Line, Hetalia and History, Oregon Trail) a half-hour before and found the line stretching around the hotel and outside thanks to people already lining up 2+ hours before the event is supposed to happen, and no one was enforcing the rule. If this was a rule, why was there no one enforcing it? I really did want to go to some of these panels, but when I get down there and seeing already long lines, I kinda gave up.

2) Popular panels, like Vocaloid and CLAMP, being placed into very small rooms in the Hilton. These are extremely popular fandoms, but yet the rooms were so small for these fandoms. The rooms in the Doubletree or Hyatt would've been so much better for panels like these.

3) Lax in keeping up the prop rules. I hardly saw IRT tagging or looking at large props and tagging them if they were too large or whatnot (including, ironically, the gun my friend had for her Yoko costume). Like with #1, if these are rules, why not enforce them?

4) The line for registration. I have no idea what happened this year for A-Cen's registration lines and such compared to the last two, but this was semi-comparable to Linecon, and that was pretty bad. I mean, I was in the service desk line for an hour personally just to return an extra badge, a task I thought would've been done in about five minutes.

5) The typos in the program book and sudden changes of panel programming. I'd look in the book for the panels my friends and I would like to go to, but then when I go to the descriptions, I see a totally different time AND location. It was really irritating when we were trying to go the CLAMP and Hetalia Fan Panel, but they looked like they were coinciding, then turned out CLAMP was later in the afternoon and Hetalia was on Sunday. .__. I mean, a LOT of people rely on that book and inconsistent information makes it difficult for us to plan and time out everything, and not everyone will go to the information booth in the dealer's room just to check the updated schedule.

I seriously love this con, and did have a lot of fun, but I couldn't believe how much trouble and irritation I had this year when I usually never have problems.

[Mystline]

1. So much disorganization. Holy crap you guys.

I couldn't find anything and many things were moved, and almost all the staff members had no idea what I was talking about. - North Central? LOL WHO KNOWS!

Panels were cancelled or delayed. - I'm looking at you, FLOW concert. Nine hours of sound checking and you requested two more, AND GOT IT? The hell?

Their concert was more than an hour too after it started. I was with the panelists of "Whose line it is anime?", they were pissed off and they deserved to be pissed off! Guests should not be allowed to change the entire schedule. It's completely unacceptable and "Whose line is it anime?" deserved better. Waaaaay better. They had to perform on the floor at first and almost everything had to sit on the floor. :|

Policies and rules were changed at the last minute. - earlier this week I asked on here if bags and purses were allowed at the FLOW concert, I get to the FLOW concert and get told I can't bring it in? What? I was just told not even a week ago that it was allowed! Although now I'm glad I didn't go, because FLOW didn't deserve it.

Panelists - My friend was a panelist and got nearly no information about her panel. She didn't even get an email about her panel's time being switched.

Badges - Badges were lost, in the mail.

Information about guests and whatnot came at the very last minute. - It was April and there were barely any guests coming, the website was hardly updated. You only updated when someone on the forums complained.

Certain panels that nearly every con has weren't there. - Yaoi, yuri, shoujo-ai, and shounen-ai .... They were not there and I was disappointed. Overall I didn't like the panel programming much.

It was an average con overall.

ACen I love you. You're a great con, and the first con I've ever gone to. But Jesus Christ, I don't mean to be rude, I don't want to be rude, but get your crap together! I know you guys get a LOT of people a year, but that's no excuse to let so many things fall to crap! This isn't the first year either, ACen is notorious for it's disorganization.

[myrla]

"Another thing is the game room and its ridiculous no bag rule. I never understood that rule. Are we going to stuff a whole DDR machine in our bags? Anyway, I think there should be more communication on the rules. On Friday we were able to leave our bags and a guy was sitting there to watch it. Everything was fine and dandy until Saturday when we went back to the game room. An extremely rude IRT staff member was there and yelled at me for even walking towards her with a bag. She curtly told me that I couldn't leave it when I asked. She didn't even give me a reason. I understand that working at a con can be stressful but you shouldn't take it out on attendees that did absolutely nothing to you. It put me off for the whole day and I was astonished at how unprofessional that lady was being :/
But I digress. Is there a better way we can handle the bag situation for the game room? It's inconvenient if you're walking around all day in a cosplay or outfit with no pockets and need a way to store your wallet, phone, and other necessities. It's hard for people to go all the way back to their hotel rooms and dump their stuff off just to appease a stupid rule. I feel bad for the people that don't even have that option and couldn't go to the game room at all. "

The bag issue is because of Fire Marshals, I know that. I don't know specifics but I DO know that bags were not allowed b/c of Fire Marshal and such. Also, remember that staff by in large got treated like crap by a LOT of attendees who think that they don't have con funk, their poo will never smell, and that they are the best cosplayer in the world and if you tell them otherwise they need to go crying to mommy.

Seriously attendees, take a VERY deep breath and have some patience. These people are WORKING. They are not there to just have fun. They have a job to do, and the respect is a two way street. There were people screaming at staff members that they simply had to have this or that or whatever and completely disrespecting them. Totally uncalled for.

I would like to give kudos to everyone that worked the game room last night with the medical emergency + all the EMS + all the congoers who let them do their job, though with a minimum of whining. It was great to see that.

~

1. I would also like to say as a member of a panel whose original time was changed last minute and never changed in the program, I got REALLY SICK of telling people "no, our panel is in this room, the other panels are in the other room" - where were ACen staff to do this?

It's highly unprofessional IMO to have a schedule book and then have last minute changes that aren't publicized. Either delay the printing of it, or make the cutoff dates sooner. I literally just didn't bother going to panels because seemingly no one really knew which schedule to follow! Which kinda... sucked. (even though I love people watching) I went to go line up for one panel 30m ahead of time and there were more people in line than could fit in the room (which is awesome for the panel!) but no AC staff around to help guide the masses.

It was really, really irritating for me because 1. I had no staff badge so 2. people wouldn't believe me much and 3. got really rude about it. (seriously? You're going to be rude to a Miwako?!)

2. Buy out the rest of the convention center, I'd gladly pay $10-20 more on my ticket just to not have to walk 20-30 minutes between places.

[spcake]

I have a huge issue with the way an IRT member was behaving. I reported it to the 'IRT Rabbi', but never heard back from anyone on the matter.

Sometime between 6:30pm and 6:45pm Friday, in the artists alley, one of IRT members offended me immensely with his inappropriate behaviour.
He shouted out, "Rape is just sex you don't know you want!!" as I walked past a booth selling perler bead art.
As a survivor of sexual abuse and attack, I was shocked and horrified at his behaviour. I'm sure other attendees were as well.
What sort of person yells that sort of thing in a crowded room? Especially a person in charge of keeping the peace and preventing incidents?
The man was portly, with a bald head. He wore goggles on top of his head, and had a dark blue furry tail. The tail did not have a black or white tip on the end, it was just dark blue fur. He may or may not have been wearing glasses as well. I didn't stop and write down his description, or purposely look for his name as I was not interested in having any further contact with this man.

I was disgusted by this, and considered not even coming back Saturday or Sunday.
I spent much of Saturday morning with my head down, in case that man walked by, so I would not make eye contact.
Saturday night, I had a panic attack just thinking about going back to the artists alley in the morning (Sunday).

I even went back to my room (Friday night) and purchased internet priveleges from the hotel so I could email irt@acen.org and report this right away.

Obviously, nothing can be resolved now that the convention is over. But what is going to be done about what happened?

[Lina]

Oh boy. Do I have plenty of gripes. This ACen was just absolutely disorganized and is making me rethink about coming back again next year.

1. Panel Programming Badges - The badges not being ready or most of them not being printed really made me mad. I don't understand why those weren't ready and why it took forever to get them. I had a lot of things to do Thursday night and the first panel I was doing was at noon on Friday. It was quite frustrating. I don't know what happened, but I hope that gets fixed. I think I wasn't even on the list of panelists even though I was co-hosting two.

2. Guest Relations - This was a pre-con frustration, but I need them to know that I am really frustrated that they ended up letting Michael do his Venture Bros. Panel while my boyfriend and I were denied for our Venture Bros. Fan Panel because it wasn't "Japanese enough" per se. While I love Michael and loved his panel, it was really frustrating that we were denied because it didn't fit in with the theme, but the comic book guests and non-anime guests get to have their own panels because they are guests. It is really hypocritical. Luckily the ADH and DH of Panel Programming were super nice and worked with us on getting it on the schedule and we had a great turn out for it not being on the schedule. I could only imagine what the turn out would have been like if it had been in the schedule since Michael's panel filled the room in a really big panel room.

3. Autograph Sessions - Don't make rules if you aren't going to follow them! The GR staff members working the first autograph session really frustrated me and broke their own rules. They punished those who followed the rules and rewarded those who broke them. They let people in prior to the one hour mark and I think it was more than an just a few minutes before because someone behind me said they stopped by around 11:10am I think (11:30 was the one hour mark) and there was no line. I was so mad about that because I followed the rules and got there about one hour prior to the autograph session and they were saying it was full. I don't care if people are forming a line. Tell them to go away and come back at the right time. They started doing that AFTER the fiasco. I was fortunate to stand my ground and wait because I ended up getting the autographs, but it was still very frustrating. And before you ask me why I ended up going on Sunday for the autographs, it's because ACen didn't have any of the paper sheets with the autograph sessions. I don't get why they weren't in the program guide. I'm not going to go to information booths if I don't have to.

Another thing about the autograph sessions is, don't have them in that little space behind the dealers. It was so hard to find because there were basically no signs and it created a lot of blockage because it was in between two booths. I asked where it was at the information booth and the staff member pointed in the direction and told me by a giant Magic the Gathering sign. There was no giant Magic the Gathering sign! Those were the worst directions ever! There wasn't a giant Magic the Gathering sign. There was a sign that had titles of a bunch of different card games, but it wasn't a giant Magic the Gathering sign. Please have autographs somewhere else!

4. Program Book - Not having autograph sessions listed was terrible. I almost ended up missing some of the VAs I wanted to see the most because it wasn't in the program book. Also, list exhibitors and artists alphabetically! It is so much easier to find them if you know the name of the artist/dealer. It took me like 5 minutes or so to find a dealer's name because it wasn't listed alphabetically. Not having photoshoots listed was another big thing. Not everyone has smart phones to look up the schedule or want to pay for the internet. Luckily I had a friend who saved it on their computer so I could figure out which photoshoots I wanted to go to.

5. OPEN BOTH DOORS!!! - This was so annoying. People are so lazy and just go through either the one door that is open or only open one door. Use the second door to increase efficiency! My boyfriend and I got so annoyed. It would create less traffic if people used both doors. This morning someone had a lot of stuff and was going out the doors in the dome. My boyfriend and I were walking in through that way so my boyfriend held the door open for that person and then everyone decided to go through that door. Are you that lazy that you can't open the other door yourself? I really wanted my boyfriend to just let go of the door and let it slam in their faces. They either had nothing in their hands or like a bag or something small. It's really sad and annoying how lazy people are.

That's all the gripes I can think of, but I'm sure I will post more if I can think of anymore.

[PrinceAsh]

Overall, I don't think it was bad. I had no problems with my badge, and only had one panel scheduling issue. My main problems were

1. The autograph sessions - Why on earth were they hidden in the back corner? My friend and I tried to go to the J.Michael Tatum one on Friday, and we wasted 40 minutes trying to find where it was (after asking 4 IRT and someone at the Info booth, which were no help) and we ended up getting there 8 minutes after it started and not being allowed in. (We made it on Saturday though! )

2. FLOW - The opening act just dragged on and on, and everyone was getting restless. Every time they'd start a new song after the 3rd one, I'd hear people around me quietly complaining.

3. This isn't ACen's fault at all, and I know you guys can't do anything about this, but it just annoyed my friends and me. While we were walking outside to one of the hotels, some "normal" lady in a car driving by was shamelessly filming everyone, like sticking halfway out of her car to get us, and we were just bothered by it, like we were there for her personal entertainment or something.

Otherwise, everything was seriously fun and I can't wait till next year!

[mer2329]

hello i had a wonderful time this year so just a few suggestions/gripes
gripes

• the schedules need bigger print they were near the font size of microprinting
  any smaller and it would look like one solid line
• the fact that there were only 50 copies of the schedule made (for 23,000 some attendies) is pretty sad
• air circulation inside the autographaera was horrible the lights were too hot
  i told the staff working the aera and nothing was done all weekend (it had to reach 75 - 80 degrees F. back there)
  the staff gave me a "reason" why nothing could be done: the con center was unionized and they are not allowed to do anything
  in my opinion that translates to lazyness becuse it was still hot on day 2 - 3 (i mentioned it on Fri)
  suggested Remedy: call the Con Center and have an engineer sent over (there is always a engineer on duty for mecanical issues) and have them send one of those "union workers" to fix it or put some stand up fans as a last resort

suggestions

• the schedule, booth, and room listings should be eliminated from the guides and handed out at con alongside the boklets. this would eliminate the wasted paper form the changed schedule, booh, and room pages and eliminate the confusion from the attendies swearing by the book and that it could not have changed
• alphabetize the booth lists (page 33 and 35) instead of sorting by booth number this will make it easier to find stuff in it
• put the map directly in the middle of the guide (right at the staple) then the guide will open right to the map due to the staple binding (this years book opens to the friday programming schedule
• an seperate exit to the autograph aera (1 enterance, 2 exits [1 for the guests and a seperate one for the attendees])
• for the video programming you could put all the dubbed stuff in one room and the subbed stuff in another, this way you dont have to get up every so often

words of praise

• the room changes killed my feet so i took advantage of the "quiet" rooms (or aeras depending on where where you are) so thank you for those
• if i were to continue i would exceen the character limit (or overflow the buffer if there is no character limit) so #3 is the last one promise
• thanks again for a wonderful con (it was my best yet, way better than last year where all i did was wander around aimlessly and the gripe session, i didnt go to the gripe session this year [didnt need to] and had a blast

[Isamu]

I had a few gripes but wanted to give a huge thanks to the IRT staff member Ricecooker. We had issues with the line for the masquerade and he gave us answers to all our questions.

[Doggeh]

Ashori, on 22 May 2011 - 04:34 PM, said:

1) I swore up and down and left and right that it was posted on here - and then was stated that it would be in the programming book - that there was a rule that you can only line up for a panel or main programming event a half-hour before it was began, and this was actually encouraged by the forum-goers. So imagine my disdain when I went to line up for several panels (Whose Line, Hetalia and History, Oregon Trail) a half-hour before and found the line stretching around the hotel and outside thanks to people already lining up 2+ hours before the event is supposed to happen, and no one was enforcing the rule. If this was a rule, why was there no one enforcing it? I really did want to go to some of these panels, but when I get down there and seeing already long lines, I kinda gave up.

As far as I know only main programming was supposed to start lining up a half hour early. Thats something else I can add to my rant. I only went to 2 of the main programming events, Anime Hell and Soap Bubble. I assumed because Anime Hell was starting late, it'd be the same procedure...just line up a half hour early. But I got in line an hour early because it had already started! Soap Bubble I went to later anyway so I'm not really sure when the line started. But I'm PRETTY SURE the line for the masquerade started at least an hour early.

I really do like the half hour line up rule, I really do. Just wish it was enforced better and attendees respected it more. I only lined up early because everyone else was!

[Smokey]

mer2329, on 22 May 2011 - 07:59 PM, said:

i didnt go to the gripe session this year [didnt need to] and had a blast

Well, we like to hear what we did right. It was Rosa's last session as Con Chair, too... And there were prizes.

[Lina]

PrinceAsh, on 22 May 2011 - 07:57 PM, said:

Overall, I don't think it was bad. I had no problems with my badge, and only had one panel scheduling issue. My main problems were

1. The autograph sessions - Why on earth were they hidden in the back corner? My friend and I tried to go to the J.Michael Tatum one on Friday, and we wasted 40 minutes trying to find where it was (after asking 4 IRT and someone at the Info booth, which were no help) and we ended up getting there 8 minutes after it started and not being allowed in. (We made it on Saturday though! )

2. FLOW - The opening act just dragged on and on, and everyone was getting restless. Every time they'd start a new song after the 3rd one, I'd hear people around me quietly complaining.

3. This isn't ACen's fault at all, and I know you guys can't do anything about this, but it just annoyed my friends and me. While we were walking outside to one of the hotels, some "normal" lady in a car driving by was shamelessly filming everyone, like sticking halfway out of her car to get us, and we were just bothered by it, like we were there for her personal entertainment or something.

Otherwise, everything was seriously fun and I can't wait till next year!

A prom girl take a picture of me and a friend from her car while we were waiting to cross the crosswalk to the Hilton. It annoyed me.

[milkis13]

My birthday was on May 21st, and I found ACen simply by looking for a con that was on that weekend. When I found out that ACen was one of the biggest conventions in America, with the largest artist's alley, I thought it was too good to be true.

It was actually pretty disappointing, and I don't believe I will be coming back to the con anytime soon.

1) The panels in the Hilton were in extremely small rooms, and most of the space was wasted with tables. Maybe next year rooms can be combined or the tables can be removed to maximize space? Some really popular panels like the FMA one were being held here, and the room could only hold about 1/3 of the line. I didn't even end up getting in and I got in line half an hour early.

2) I got into the pre-registration line and waited for three hours. That was ridiculous. I heard a lot of different things, but apparently the badges were organized by the badge name and the person's real name was illegible (some printer mishap?). I think it'd be a great idea to simply have blank badges and look up people's names on a computer. Everything would go much smoother then. Also, there were only two booths handling pre-reg when there were many handling no pre-registration. The other line was going faster than pre-reg. What's the point of pre-registering when you're going slower than the alternative? There should be more pre-reg booths next year, so the lines will run smoother.

3) Panels were being changed at last minute and this created a lot of confusion. There needed to be better communication.

4) Kind of goes along with the one above, but I waited in line for "Whose Line Is It Anime?" for an hour and a half. The FLOW concert was only supposed to go from 6-7, but instead it went over a full two hours more. That was extremely poor organization. Just because it's a guest panel doesn't mean they can change the entire schedule around them.

5) Usually at anime cons, AMV showings are in large rooms with many screens, but the AMV showings at ACen were packed away in a tiny room. It was hot and stuffed to the brim with people. I ended up getting seated in the back, and since there was a ton of people sitting in front of me, I could only really see half the screen. Please show it in a larger room next year.

6) Please state the photoshoots in the program next time. I was cosplaying as Hetalia and ended up missing both photoshoots because I didn't know when or where they were... I would've loved to take more pics of other cosplayers in a group as well.

In the end, I did have an awesome time. Not the best, but it was still really fun. I met some really fun people, and the panels I did end up attending were hilarious. The Dealer's Room and Artist's Alley certainly lived up to my expectations and I had made a lot of great purchases.

Also, I had no problems with the staff. I could see how stressed they were and how hard they were trying to make ACen a great con. All of the ones I encountered were polite and generally helpful.

For the most part, I really think ACen needs to expand. Every panel I went to was packed with people (and I didn't even go to many panels because they reached maximum occupancy before I could even get inside). I wouldn't mind paying extra for a larger space. Maybe a larger portion of the convention center next time? I'd rather be in a large spacy room than a hot, cramped hotel meeting room. Plus, people wouldn't have to commute to four other hotels for panels.

In the end, ACen was a fun one-time thing, and I definitely made some great birthday buys, but I'd much rather go to Colossalcon. It's a much smaller convention, but all the panels are in one place and all the rooms are much larger.

[Ashori]

Doggeh, on 22 May 2011 - 08:16 PM, said:

But I'm PRETTY SURE the line for the masquerade started at least an hour early.

I really do like the half hour line up rule, I really do. Just wish it was enforced better and attendees respected it more. I only lined up early because everyone else was!

Eh, I swore it was for all the panels, not just main programming.
However, I had two of my friends going to the masquerade, only to see the line stretching out already due to people being out for an hour or two.

I thought the half-hour rule was nice, and was really great for the panels, especially for the main programming events and the popular panels (like CLAMP, Vocaloid, Oregon Trail, etc.), but not when it's not enforced by anyone.

[Sir Gibby]

One gripe about ACen this year. One, BIG, gripe. Registration. It was disorganized as all get out. My fiance' and I waited in like for five hours Friday afternoon. FIVE...HOURS! We waited in three different lines, and by time we got to the actual registration line we were both miserable. Actually we were ready to go back to the room midway through the second line because my lady was ill. It was miserable. And then when we got to the home stretch and we had split off into two different lines (one for cash one for credit) the cash line moved significantly quicker than the credit line. We stood in that one section for about twenty-five minutes. It was horrible. We got passed up by people who got in line thirty minutes AFTER we did! After we got our badge both of us were so incredibly flustered and aggravated that we we went back to our room for most of the evening, and were even ready to go home! In line I actually snapped on the guy in front of us. I didn't blame him for the line, he was just unfortunate enough to catch me in that mood (if you're reading this dude I apologize for the snapping; I was the guy dressed as an R.P.D. cop Friday). After that though the rest of ACen was a blast. It was just that damned line! It was enough to potentially ruin the whole con for us! And until recently we were lacking in an internet connection or access to one, as well as funds, so we had no choice but to register at con. That was just cruel punishment for lack on internet. What happened to the thirty minute waits from the last two cons? Imagine my surprise when I walked up to the convention center at 12:05 Friday afternoon and saw a massive line out the door and down the street, to find out it was for registration.

I will beat children in the face to pre-reg next year, but please fix this issue for future generations of con goers, that was just horrible. The last two years were so organized and smooth, what happened this year?

This post has been edited by Sir Gibby: 22 May 2011 - 08:41 PM

[Voltaire30]

Gabichox, on 22 May 2011 - 03:22 PM, said:

What with the dealers room closing early and all, I think there should be more clear communication on the management end. We couldn't even get an answer for WHY the dealers room closed so early on Saturday. It was ridiculous. I had the opportunity of speaking to someone that went to acen for the first time this year. He was extremely disappointed and I felt bad :/ This year wasn't a good year in terms of management.

I am the only one who closed the Hall, and at NO point in time did the hall close early, because I kept everything in time with the times we gave attendees. I am at a loss as to why people thought it was going to close at 8pm, and why staffers got yelled at and spit on because of it, when the program book clearly stated that the Vendor Hall closed at 6:30pm and the Artist Alley closed at 7:00pm (along with our website http://www.acen.org/...hours-operation ). If anyone can point out where the confusion was, I will gladly fix that for next year, and work on making things easier to understand.

I know we are all looking at this thread to see where we can improve, so if everyone can continue keeping the comments constructive, it will help us address the complaints and get our act together for next year
I hope everyone had a great time here at Anime Central, and I can't wait to get planning for the next one, to make it better for all of you

[OtakuAngelD]

Only three and one has already been touched on. We need a printed out list of where and when photoshoots are going to be when we are giving our program book. I went to where the shoots were posted at the info desk to find that they didn't have them up and that I needed to go to the Hilton for that. I missed quite a few photoshoots due to the fact that I don't have net access at con and couldn't look online each day for when it was supposed to happen. In the future, it would be good to have the schedule printed and given out to everyone.

My second is the lack of a swag bag. It was just strange to me. I don't want free stuff, I get how much that costs. However, a small bag to carry my probram book/whatever in it would have been lovely. Some of my costumes I didn't have the for-thought to put pockets into.

My third...the alcohol use at con. I will get on my bully pulpet now. I saw people walking around drunk of Friday morning. I saw people carrying huge boxes of booze in when they were checking into the hotel. This is a family friendly con. It's only 3 days. And less distruction happens when people are sober. Just saying.

[sourstrawroxors]

Quote

3. Autograph Sessions - Don't make rules if you aren't going to follow them! The GR staff members working the first autograph session really frustrated me and broke their own rules. They punished those who followed the rules and rewarded those who broke them. They let people in prior to the one hour mark and I think it was more than an just a few minutes before because someone behind me said they stopped by around 11:10am I think (11:30 was the one hour mark) and there was no line. I was so mad about that because I followed the rules and got there about one hour prior to the autograph session and they were saying it was full. I don't care if people are forming a line. Tell them to go away and come back at the right time. They started doing that AFTER the fiasco. I was fortunate to stand my ground and wait because I ended up getting the autographs, but it was still very frustrating. And before you ask me why I ended up going on Sunday for the autographs, it's because ACen didn't have any of the paper sheets with the autograph sessions. I don't get why they weren't in the program guide. I'm not going to go to information booths if I don't have to.

Another thing about the autograph sessions is, don't have them in that little space behind the dealers. It was so hard to find because there were basically no signs and it created a lot of blockage because it was in between two booths. I asked where it was at the information booth and the staff member pointed in the direction and told me by a giant Magic the Gathering sign. There was no giant Magic the Gathering sign! Those were the worst directions ever! There wasn't a giant Magic the Gathering sign. There was a sign that had titles of a bunch of different card games, but it wasn't a giant Magic the Gathering sign. Please have autographs somewhere else!

THIS!! This, this, this! I adore coming to ACen, I always considered it my home-away-from-home. This is my 8th consecutive year coming to the convention and it just feels like, starting three or four years ago, the whole organization thing is coming unraveled with each progressing year.

Our group showed up for the 12:30 autograph session today (Sunday) at about 11:25 AM. There were roughly 6 to 7 people standing in line ahead of us and I could already tell the location was all wrong. Why on earth wasn't a space blocked and roped off like there had been just a few years ago? It was out of the way, each guest had his/her own table, and lines did not have to just get cut off simply because there was no more space. The ACen staffer responsible for allowing attendees into the line not only let people in early, but *lied* about the time she let them in. She changed it three times within her 5 minutes of explaining why she had to cut the line off. I can understand the need to put a cap on the line, but they counted 80 people. 80! We were told to leave and try to come back later and *maybe* we would be able to get in for an autograph. IRT was called as well, and while none of us were particularly upset with the two very calm IRT guys trying to subdue an ever-growing (and irate) crowd of disappointed fans, I was personally upset at the lack of organization for autographs. What really got me was that we had arrived to form a line at the time told: One hour before an event is scheduled to begin, including autograph sessions. This group of people clearly had arrived far too early and, instead of being told to kill some time and come back when they were *supposed to*, they got to go in ahead of those of us who actually followed the rules ACen had made.

I know that there are plenty of fans and that some of these guests are extremely popular, but honestly I find it more than unfair that attendees who did not follow the rules were rewarded while those of us who did basically got snubbed and turned away. In my near-decade of attending this convention this is really the biggest disappointment I've had and felt the need to *really* complain about. I do not mean to sound harsh or whiny, but it really upset me and plenty of other people who had their hearts set on getting in. My suggestion is to rearrange the layout of the Exhibit Hall and return to roping off areas that are set *away* from booths/vendors/tables so that there is not a space issue and the lines can be clearly defined. I also stress that con staff should follow their own rules- it is really off-putting when they seem to lack the backbone to tell people that they need to return at the appointed time instead of allowing attendees to somehow finagle their way around erected rules and end up disappointing others who made an effort to stick to them.

[saiyajinimport]

so i've created a Soapbubble discusssion and suggestion thread here's the link. Soapbubble discussion thread please go to it and tell me and acen how you feel about the party this year. i especially wanna know what you guys thought of the 3am stop time.

thank you for your time and thanks for the continued support of the Soapbubble.