[linlindesu]

Darkspawn, on 04 March 2012 - 07:08 PM, said:

I don't think it's at all unusual (or mean) that people who are going to be dropping anywhere from $200-400 to attend an event are "hounding" those who run it to announce at least TWO guests in time for people to pre reg. The con is next month already. I guess if I can't pre reg in time, I'll just save my money for a smaller con....or the Renaissance faire. Either way, Acen will be losing my money, as well as a lot of other peoples', from what it sounds like. No surprise there.

I don't know what Acen's problem is in regards to guest announcements, since I've encountered no other cons who have this issue year after year, and I doubt we'd ever get a brutally honest answer, but... Man.

I say hounding because we don't know why they haven't any more guests.Maybe it isn't because they haven't tried. Or maybe it is. I won't assume though. I'll just sit here and get frustrated. I don't think it is unusual either. ( see the entire "Is this you last year at acen?" thread. If there were sides , I'd technically be on your's )

This post has been edited by linlindesu: 04 March 2012 - 07:42 PM

[☆ MV]

linlindesu, on 04 March 2012 - 06:19 PM, said:

2009's ( or was it 2010 ? )line was fantastic but back on topic...

back on the whole guest and announcements thing...

I do feel a bit bad about the hounding people have done but I also feel terrible for them. People are clearly on the fence about buying badges for a nearly guest-less con. I'm not in that boat ( co-panelist) but I probably would have been otherwise. : / And I don't personally feel angry, I'm just frustrated. Because if I was angry I wouldn't even be sure who to direct said anger to.

I agree with you completely. Although I am also not in that boat (priority for me this year was gatherings, until they announced LM.C, so now that is, lol ) I can see why others are more than unhappy with this predicament. I feel bad that there's things that might be holding up GR from announcing certain guests because sometimes it really isn't their fault, but that doesn't change the fact there's only one guest announced. :S I doubt this will be my last ACEN and I am still looking forward to the announcements no matter what, but I hope(as always) that it goes smoother for you guys in the upcoming years and that there are less problems in the future. ;~;

[Sapphy]

mindue, on 04 March 2012 - 06:03 PM, said:

It was 2008 and I think they refer to the con as "Line Con" if my memory serves me correctly.

2008 was indeed Line Con. I've never been a huge fan of ACen's line management (Otakon does it much better and if I recall they pull in a heck of a lot more people per year), but 2008 was absolutely terrible due to a DDOS attack on the reg computers. I'm of the belief that the attack should never have happened in the first place because they should not have had computers connected to the public internet when their sole purpose was for people to enter in personal information, but that's another story and something that's now in the past.

My husband and I missed pre-reg that year due to us not knowing until the last moment if we could go, and we found ourselves waiting in the line for just over eight hours. It was absolutely terrible, and only after getting out of the line did I find out that, due to the wait, I had missed the big guest panel I wanted to go to that day. I think it was Kenichi Sonoda's panel, I believe, but I'm not positive.

2008 generated quite a lot of rage because of that and certainly left a sour taste in a lot of mouths, but it was certainly the exception to the normal wait times we've experienced at ACen. I doubt anything like that will ever happen again.

[wrexness]

DarkBebi, on 01 March 2012 - 11:38 AM, said:

lol, you cant compare soycon with acen, that is like comparing the Playstation Network with the Xbox Network, sure playstation is free but xbox offers so much more, everyone would rather pay 60 dollars a year to play on it. That is the same thing with this, I would much rather pay money to get a better service, what ever acen throws in afterwards is solely on them and an added benefit to me.

As an aside, that's a terrible comparison. ACen and Soycon aren't even in the same ballpark, while XBL/PSN are at least comparable. (And not to go to far since that's not the purpose of the thread, XBL is a ripoff anyway. Paying extra just to play games online? A game you already purchased separately? On a network connection you're already paying for independently? And you're not even getting dedicated servers? Laaaame. But hey, at least there's parties with voice chat...?)

Anyway, have to agree. I know things are a bit screwed up because of the earlier date for the con, but it's not THAT much earlier. You're going back a few weeks, not 6 months. It's way too deep into crunch time to still have ONE guest announced, and it's not even an industry guest.

This post has been edited by wrexness: 04 March 2012 - 10:29 PM

[Lina]

DavenEvanXaviour, on 04 March 2012 - 06:00 PM, said:

Sorry! I don't know the proper procedures for these things, and I don't want anyone to get in trouble.

I will say though that I follow a few internet celebs who announce themselves(video announcments) if they are going/have a panel/are invited/or just showing up as reg con-goers to PAX, C2E2, and other cons around the country. I would assume that unless their contracts are finalized they wouldn't make such announcements. LK never said he was an invited guest just that he is going to be selling merch there. I really hope that he is and you guys will give him a panel(at night so I can go see him too)!

If you can, I would go to Youma where he is a guest and will have panels, etc. He also premiers his stuff at Youma as well so you get to see stuff before it hits the internet.

Speaking of Youma, they just announced another guest two days ago as well as today. Seriously ACen, what's going on with you? You've been going down hill for too long. :\

[linlindesu]

wrexness, on 04 March 2012 - 10:28 PM, said:

As an aside, that's a terrible comparison. ACen and Soycon aren't even in the same ballpark, while XBL/PSN are at least comparable. (And not to go to far since that's not the purpose of the thread, XBL is a ripoff anyway. Paying extra just to play games online? A game you already purchased separately? On a network connection you're already paying for independently? And you're not even getting dedicated servers? Laaaame. But hey, at least there's parties with voice chat...?)

Anyway, have to agree. I know things are a bit screwed up because of the earlier date for the con, but it's not THAT much earlier. You're going back a few weeks, not 6 months. It's way too deep into crunch time to still have ONE guest announced, and it's not even an industry guest.

As I already addressed with my response to him, he was simply saying that one of the reasons to pay 60 bucks at acen was to hang out with like minded , cosplaying friends. Which I simply stated that one could do the same at soycon for no money. : ]

I know they will eventually get more guests but I really do wonder what would happen if they really did end up getting no one but L. M. C . . .

[DarkBebi]

linlindesu, on 04 March 2012 - 11:37 PM, said:

As I already addressed with my response to him, he was simply saying that one of the reasons to pay 60 bucks at acen was to hang out with like minded , cosplaying friends. Which I simply stated that one could do the same at soycon for no money. : ]

I know they will eventually get more guests but I really do wonder what would happen if they really did end up getting no one but L. M. C . . .

If they did happen to only get L.M.C, then that would be a sad day, but my inner self would get the best of it, and I guess I would be drunk for the most of the 3 days (but not destroy stuff, lol). Can anyone say drunken hard gay? yep that's going to be me.

[chainedbyroses]

@ 1st Alk reply: Thanks for the quick and honest reply, Alkaren. I'd rather be told an honest I Don't Know than nothing at all.

@ linlin (and in turn DarkBebi): Linlin, I believe you're thinking 2010; 2009 was a nightmare that I saw (albeit only one out of the con's 72 hours, I admit), though not as bad as Ye Greate Computere Crashe Of Yore. As a panelist as well, I'm on the "pickup up at con" boat too, and have had 2 friends cancel for lack of guests (~$60 badge on minimum wage/waitressing, and literally no guest info bar L.MC = LOLnope), one bite the bullet hoping for the best, and one throw up their hands and decide they're moving on to other cons over the annual BS. Were I not doing a panel, and if my con buddy opted out of going, I'd either be working to save enough to buy a badge to be able to afford to volunteer again or seriously debating saving my funds for another con too. As for the "what if it's ONLY L.MC" thing, well, the at-con complaints and anger may just riot (especially among the "I don't read the forums and just blindly trust I'll get a good experience even though I'm driving cross country" crowd). People were raging about missing panels last year because of the Panel Planning Shuffle, so not having /any/ guests bar the band (or maybe even just a meager handful of like.... 2) would reasonably more upsetting to the people who, not using the forums, still don't know we have no "not the band" guests (not counting the DJs).

@ Registration comments: Sometimes the Ye Olde School paper-and-pen method with pre-printed paper forms can be a life saver. (PC fail? !! Take one down~, pass them around~, 99 reg forms are left on the wall desk.~~) Likewise, those sticky-printer ticker tape things work wonders for legible typed words made on the fly (ie, putting on badges bought at con), or for the low-tech equivalent, rubber librarian-style rotating-letters stamper and ink pad (oooooo). Hellk, even in a power failure, this/these tried-and-true-in-the-70s method(s) will be your very own Rick Astley (<- seriously read this hover text, reeeeead it loldon'tkillmeee).~~

linlindesu, on 04 March 2012 - 07:41 PM, said:

I say hounding because we don't know why they haven't any more guests.Maybe it isn't because they haven't tried. Or maybe it is. I won't assume though. I'll just sit here and get frustrated. I don't think it is unusual either. ( see the entire "Is this you last year at acen?" thread. If there were sides , I'd technically be on your's :P )

Lol assuming is baaad, yo.~ Better not to assume (it /does/ make an a55 out of u and me, after all! *herpderp*), and instead ask the hard questions. Be the mosquito, be the proverbial candle to the keister, be the loud buzzing that can't be drowned out. When it is forced to be a front-burner issue, it will eventually be addressed ......even if it feels like we're watching molasses race. This is possibly the most attention these issues have gotten in ever. (And linlin, yeah, they really should just make these two threads link to each other at this point, what with all the back and forth between them, lol. I almost posted my long-winded Are You Consid... post here, typing a good half my replies in here before looking and going, "oh wait..." 8'D)

@ wrexness -- Beyond well said (I was struggling to find words for that in my jello-brain). We're only about 3 weeks earlier than the average, and 1-2 weeks earlier than the "beginning of May" years -- in the past we've been as early as May 7th (that date always stood out in my head for some reason), and it's not like we got bumped up to early March or anything extreme, so.... :/

@ staff: One more question: If you can't say anything about /who/ we've got/are getting, can you maybe tell us the current numbers of "Yes! Booked" and "Still Working On It" we have? :3

[linlindesu]

chainedbyroses, on 05 March 2012 - 03:42 PM, said:

@ staff: One more question: If you can't say anything about /who/ we've got/are getting, can you maybe tell us the current numbers of "Yes! Booked" and "Still Working On It" we have? :3

I second this. they have, what, ten days til pre reg closes? I don't remember it ever being this bad. Guests haven't even been announced this late with the con in may not april x_X

No, I was thinking friday of 2009. Reg. was a ghost town x_X; I remember it was my buddy's first year and we kept telling him how awful it was, the wait... and then there was no line.

[KungPowKirby]

@chained by roses
If you are refering to registeration last year, we did use the envolope labels and wrote them by hand. We didn't even use the computers.

This post has been edited by KungPowKirby: 05 March 2012 - 06:13 PM

[mindue]

chainedbyroses, on 05 March 2012 - 03:42 PM, said:

@ 1st Alk reply: Thanks for the quick and honest reply, Alkaren. I'd rather be told an honest I Don't Know than nothing at all.

@ linlin (and in turn DarkBebi): Linlin, I believe you're thinking 2010; 2009 was a nightmare that I saw (albeit only one out of the con's 72 hours, I admit), though not as bad as Ye Greate Computere Crashe Of Yore. As a panelist as well, I'm on the "pickup up at con" boat too, and have had 2 friends cancel for lack of guests (~$60 badge on minimum wage/waitressing, and literally no guest info bar L.MC = LOLnope), one bite the bullet hoping for the best, and one throw up their hands and decide they're moving on to other cons over the annual BS. Were I not doing a panel, and if my con buddy opted out of going, I'd either be working to save enough to buy a badge to be able to afford to volunteer again or seriously debating saving my funds for another con too. As for the "what if it's ONLY L.MC" thing, well, the at-con complaints and anger may just riot (especially among the "I don't read the forums and just blindly trust I'll get a good experience even though I'm driving cross country" crowd). People were raging about missing panels last year because of the Panel Planning Shuffle, so not having /any/ guests bar the band (or maybe even just a meager handful of like.... 2) would reasonably more upsetting to the people who, not using the forums, still don't know we have no "not the band" guests (not counting the DJs).

@ Registration comments: Sometimes the Ye Olde School paper-and-pen method with pre-printed paper forms can be a life saver. (PC fail? !! Take one down~, pass them around~, 99 reg forms are left on the wall desk.~~) Likewise, those sticky-printer ticker tape things work wonders for legible typed words made on the fly (ie, putting on badges bought at con), or for the low-tech equivalent, rubber librarian-style rotating-letters stamper and ink pad (oooooo). Hellk, even in a power failure, this/these tried-and-true-in-the-70s method(s) will be your very own Rick Astley (<- seriously read this hover text, reeeeead it loldon'tkillmeee).~~


Lol assuming is baaad, yo.~ Better not to assume (it /does/ make an a55 out of u and me, after all! *herpderp*), and instead ask the hard questions. Be the mosquito, be the proverbial candle to the keister, be the loud buzzing that can't be drowned out. When it is forced to be a front-burner issue, it will eventually be addressed ......even if it feels like we're watching molasses race. This is possibly the most attention these issues have gotten in ever. (And linlin, yeah, they really should just make these two threads link to each other at this point, what with all the back and forth between them, lol. I almost posted my long-winded Are You Consid... post here, typing a good half my replies in here before looking and going, "oh wait..." 8'D)

@ wrexness -- Beyond well said (I was struggling to find words for that in my jello-brain). We're only about 3 weeks earlier than the average, and 1-2 weeks earlier than the "beginning of May" years -- in the past we've been as early as May 7th (that date always stood out in my head for some reason), and it's not like we got bumped up to early March or anything extreme, so.... :/

@ staff: One more question: If you can't say anything about /who/ we've got/are getting, can you maybe tell us the current numbers of "Yes! Booked" and "Still Working On It" we have? :3

I agree that there should be a back up in case something goes wrong with the computers again. Like maybe have a set of official stickers and stamps, or pre printing out badges. So that if the computers go down they can place the official stickers and or stamps on a hand written or pre printed out badge. I think pre printing out the badges though would save a lot of time. Also if they could only pull in L.M.C as a guest I doubt that this would be a anime convention. My husband and I discussed that if this con is to suck, like it has for us the last two years, we're just going to go to photoshoots and the dealer's hall and spend the rest of our vacation in Chicago.

[Gabichox]

mindue, on 05 March 2012 - 06:50 PM, said:

Also if they could only pull in L.M.C as a guest I doubt that this would be a anime convention.

I'm kind of confused by this sentence. Are you implying LM.C has nothing to do with anime? If so you are mistaken. They have done various anime openings and endings :/
If you aren't then just ignore me haha~

Also... for once in all my years of going to acen I'm kind of hurt by the people complaining about guest relations. I now know how it feels to have people acting as if the guest you have been waiting for acen to get for a LONG TIME is of little to no importance. >__> I remember years ago when I was doing the same as you guys and people got mad at me. Now I know why :I I know some of you guys may not care for the concerts or for LM.C's particular style....... but show at least SOME respect to those that are happy that we got them. Rather than making it seem like getting them is the same as pulling in some random hobo from the streets, just comment on the lack of guests in general. Not how if it's only LM.C suddenly the world is ending because then it just seems like you have something against them. Direct your anger at GR, not LM.C....
And this is not meant for every single person complaining [because I'm complaining about lack of guests too] just a few people

This post has been edited by Gabichox: 05 March 2012 - 07:41 PM

[wolfedragon]

mindue, on 05 March 2012 - 06:50 PM, said:

I agree that there should be a back up in case something goes wrong with the computers again. Like maybe have a set of official stickers and stamps, or pre printing out badges. So that if the computers go down they can place the official stickers and or stamps on a hand written or pre printed out badge. I think pre printing out the badges though would save a lot of time. Also if they could only pull in L.M.C as a guest I doubt that this would be a anime convention. My husband and I discussed that if this con is to suck, like it has for us the last two years, we're just going to go to photoshoots and the dealer's hall and spend the rest of our vacation in Chicago.

Please remember that this thread is about Guest Announcements. If you have any questions or comments for registration, please post them in the registration area of the forums. (I'm not intending to be mean, just make sure you keep on track please )

This post has been edited by wolfedragon: 05 March 2012 - 07:32 PM

[mindue]

Gabichox, on 05 March 2012 - 07:22 PM, said:

I'm kind of confused by this sentence. Are you implying LM.C has nothing to do with anime? If so you are mistaken. They have done various anime openings and endings :/
If you aren't then just ignore me haha~

Also... for once in all my years of going to acen I'm kind of hurt by the people complaining about guest relations. I now know how it feels to have people acting as if the guest you have been waiting for acen to get for a LONG TIME is of little to no importance. >__> I remember years ago when I was doing the same as you guys and people got mad at me. Now I know why :I I know some of you guys may not care for the concerts or for LM.C's particular style....... but show at least SOME respect to those that are happy that we got them. Rather than making it seem like getting them is the same as pulling in some random hobo from the streets, just comment on the lack of guests in general. Not how if it's only LM.C suddenly the world is ending because then it just seems like you have something against them. Direct your anger at GR, not LM.C....
And this is not meant for every single person complaining [because I'm complaining about lack of guests too] just a few people

No I meant if we only have one guest it would hardly be a anime convention. I feel this way because I think the main part of a con experience is to be able to talk to voice actors, directors, and other parts of the anime industry. Everyone comes to a anime convention for different reasons, personally I like to see the voice actors and sometimes the directors and etc. I have no issues with L.M.C, prior ACEN announcing about them I had no idea who they were, and so I looked them up on youtube and I have no problem with their music. I have the all the respect in the world for musical guests, I can't imagine how long it takes to learn and perfect their craft. Nor could I imagine how hard it is to perform in front of tons of people. I think people mainly are upset about how few guests we have, or are upset because they may not be interested in the concerts or music at all for that matter.

[Gabichox]

^ That's what I suspected but had to be sure XDD And I agree. With only one guest that's a musician it seems more like a hang out place with a concert attached. I was also hoping for some seiyuu to meet or mangaka DX Even a director... anyone.

And oh, I know. Believe me I've been barking up Guest Relation's tree for A LONG time when it comes to lack of guests. It's why I said years ago I was doing the same thing. Even now, I'm still complaining about the lack of guests even though I'm perfectly happy with LM.C. For people who don't like music, it sucks that there's no one else. I just said that because some people were throwing around their name in a way that made it seem like they were a crap band. Instead of saying "only LM.C?! What gives man!?" say "only one guest?! What the heck is going on!?" is what I meant.

This post has been edited by Gabichox: 05 March 2012 - 08:23 PM

[Washu Takahashi]

It seems this happens every year. Acen is always terribly late at announcing guests, whereas some other cons I attend have guests listed for the next year 2 weeks after they end. Wish Acen would put up guests as they're confirmed :/

[tsukeru]

Maybe other cons like Acen, should follow Matsuricon or Youmacon's examples. They already have 3+ guests listed for 2012....

[Voxx]

Any news on when you can release any info about the fashion show or guests?

[Dark Stranger]

Ok. I know that this is a fairly popular thing but, didn't we already have a big guest/fashion show last year? If this is somewhat due to the delays in guest I would be kinda peturped. I would rather not have another big fashion show be the headliner again. There should always be something different as the headliner each year. Just voicing my thoughts.

[mindue]

Dark Stranger, on 06 March 2012 - 10:51 AM, said:

Ok. I know that this is a fairly popular thing but, didn't we already have a big guest/fashion show last year? If this is somewhat due to the delays in guest I would be kinda peturped. I would rather not have another big fashion show be the headliner again. There should always be something different as the headliner each year. Just voicing my thoughts.

I think in the future there should be a deadline for negotiations so that guests aren't announced too late. I'm thinking maybe around January or December at the latest would be a good deadline. Would that be possible for the future?

[Lina]

mindue, on 06 March 2012 - 04:46 PM, said:

I think in the future there should be a deadline for negotiations so that guests aren't announced too late. I'm thinking maybe around January or December at the latest would be a good deadline. Would that be possible for the future?

This this this!!! I completely 100% agree. If there could be a deadline, that would be fantastic. It would help prevent these extremely late announcements year after year.

[Darkspawn]

Voxx, on 06 March 2012 - 02:09 AM, said:

Any news on when you can release any info about the fashion show or guests?

My guess is no. Only that an announcement's coming. Soon. Apparently...? At this point I have no idea what in the world is going on.

Getting closer to the pre reg deadline. My frustration is morphing into some serious anger at this point. Everyone keeps asking WHY this is happening, but at this point, in my mind, there is no excuse.

[rondo]

Ah, good times in the guests incognito thread.

[chainedbyroses]

KungPowKirby, on 05 March 2012 - 06:11 PM, said:

@chained by roses
If you are refering to registeration last year, we did use the envolope labels and wrote them by hand. We didn't even use the computers.

Not in reference to any particular year, no; I was just saying in general, since almost every/every other year the systems wind up down for some reason or other & chaos/slowness/stuff ensues. Back up old school method that gets entered in later could automatically kick in until the system quits derping, then send someone to put the paper forms into the system when it's back up. Just a thought from a person with frequent technological troubles.~ (If you need me to copypast this to a Reg thread, just point the way.~)

-----
As for the rest of points, I've heard of the fashion show thing as well, though we won't know for sure 'til/if announcements are made or the con happens, and we'll likely not get an answer as to the "why" (or whys) until after the con is over and the traditional "what is your gripe over [YEAR]" starts up, and probably only if we don't manage to pull a magic rabbit out of a hat and get more than a minute handful of guests. (We'd probably need 10 or 15 or so pages of complaints about it though, since 6 pages has only gotten us 'don't worry, we have guests' and varying 'can't let you do that, starfox'. :/)

Though this may be beating the nail over the head, I don't see how saying the number of or genders of the guests we already have signed on would negate anything important in negotiating or violate the Prime Directive; numbers and genders and other incredibly vague details shouldn't be problem at all. It may very well prove us wrong in assuming the worst, that ball was dropped and we're scrambling at the last second to finalize and/or find guests; maybe we really have a bunch that for some reason all want to be announced together, or maybe we have the cast of a whole series that would be silly to announce one by one, or maybe just doing 1 big guest dump is preferred to lots of little posts -- for all the lack of info we have, we could be sitting on a silent mountain of people. (Well, unless we have none bar L.MC, that is. Don't get me wrong - L.MC is great, but they're the band, not the sole con guests........unless they are. :/) Or maybe not.

At the very least, work with Reg --or whoever is needed to contact/work with-- to extend Pre-Reg 'til at least one week after guests have been announced, or at the very least another week or two, considering all the emotions being riled here and the people being put on a very VERY short notice, especially considering those waiting on guests to decide whether Pre-Reg, or even attending, is even worth it to them. Otherwise, we're not only slow to act and report, we are (or at least come off as) inconsiderate and rude to boot. Which, needless to say, isn't a good thing.

[opimus.rm]

The odds are the band and the DJs might be the only Japanese guests the con get. Golden Week in Japan starts the day ACEN ends. Golden Week is the most likely reason why there is a lack of guests from Japan this year.

This post has been edited by opimus.rm: 07 March 2012 - 01:23 PM

[Alchemyempress]

I'm sure I know of at least one U.S guest but I won't say who because I don't want to get anyone's hopes up if I'm wrong. I missed Acen the past two years I think because of work and finance issues. Also I attended other cons those years as well. I pre-registered on the hunch this particular guest will be there and if I'm wrong I'll get three fun days off from work.



Acen 2012 cosplay

Tezuka Kunimitsu 100%
Kaoru Hitachiin: 30%

[linlindesu]

opimus.rm, on 07 March 2012 - 01:10 PM, said:

The odds are the band and the DJs might be the only Japanese guests the con get. Golden Week in Japan starts the day ACEN ends. Golden Week is the most likely reason why there is a lack of guests from Japan this year.

See, but that makes very little sense. The reason golden week is a big deal is that japanese businesses give their workers a vacation. Entertainers are still working and many people go traveling during this holiday. (domestic and abroad)

[KungPowKirby]

chainedbyroses, on 07 March 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

Not in reference to any particular year, no; I was just saying in general, since almost every/every other year the systems wind up down for some reason or other & chaos/slowness/stuff ensues. Back up old school method that gets entered in later could automatically kick in until the system quits derping, then send someone to put the paper forms into the system when it's back up. Just a thought from a person with frequent technological troubles.~ (If you need me to copypast this to a Reg thread, just point the way

As far as all that goes, thats Ever's territory. I wasnt speaking as staff, but as an indivdual. Im sure that she'd be happy to help you though!

This post has been edited by KungPowKirby: 07 March 2012 - 02:30 PM

[Roark]

linlindesu, on 07 March 2012 - 01:47 PM, said:

See, but that makes very little sense. The reason golden week is a big deal is that japanese businesses give their workers a vacation. Entertainers are still working and many people go traveling during this holiday. (domestic and abroad)

It's like asking someone from the US to do an international business trip Thursday December 21 through Sunday Dec. 24 when they have planned vacation December 25-29.

[YoungBirdcall]

Roark, on 07 March 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

It's like asking someone from the US to do an international business trip Thursday December 21 through Sunday Dec. 24 when they have planned vacation December 25-29.

That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying that.