[Bloo09]

PrinceAsh, on 03 May 2012 - 12:36 PM, said:

This might just be me, but I was really disappointed by the lack of anything AMV related at all. At other cons you see the AMV contest as part of the Main Programming, AMV dinner, and like a meet and greet/Q&A with the editors, or something. I understand about the problems this year but I feel like in past years AMVs have just been getting more and more pushed aside. Editors work just as hard as the cosplayers do for the Masquerade skits. Is there any way that AMVs can be brought back to life with more focus next year? As far as I remember, there was only one panel about it at all this year.

That panel was actual run by ACen staff because no one applied with an AMV panel and we wanted to make sure there was at least one. I will be adding AMV panels to our list of requested panels for people to apply to (they get an additional discount, added incentive, if they apply for requested panels)so hopefully more will apply next year.

[Unka Josh]

DEAR LORD YES I'M TRYING TO DO MORE WITH AMVS NEXT YEAR.

Ahem.

As I've been saying for a couple of months (roughly) now, I'm trying to get more things set up with AMVs. I sincerely hope that we can get some excellent things done with them; I will do everything I can to make this happen.

[Kiezer]

chainedbyroses, on 02 May 2012 - 07:53 PM, said:

....bar 2 IRT who were outside the "entrance door" for the dances/main events Sunday ~12:30am, one who said people smoking outside smoking areas, people smoking weed, and people selling weed et al was "not a problem and nobody cares anyway" & when strongly suggested to use his walkie to inform either IRT HQ or RPD directly of these violations/felonies I was told he's "not a badge and it's not [his] problem", and then the other on the street a few feet off from there who had insisted I walk through the crowd of smoke and weed despite my prior seizure, my informing her (I think? it was dark but they were ~5'6"ish & dark haired in a dark black/navy tee?) of my severe asthma and severe allergies to both smoke and weed, and me showing her(?/him?) my card/passes to prove I had a legit documented problem. When she/they insisted that didn't matter, rather than have ANOTHER seizure right on the street and possibly die due to the chaos and inattention, I ultimately had to ignore the yelling and just walk to the door in the street where I could safely breathe (*if I were to get hit or run over, I know it's my own fault and would willingly tell a cop or a judge that on the spot, taking sole liability for my own actions, and have that notecard in my wallet actually, just for the record*).

I would like to apologize to you on behalf of the IRT that weren't quite helpful at the dance entrance. At the very least, they should have radio'd it into dispatch so that either an IRT was sent or the police were notified. In order to make sure this is seen by IRT management, you should re-post this part, and add any more details you can remember, here: 2012 IRT Complaints

Again, if you do catch anyone from IRT not doing their job or whatever, do your best to get their callsign (which is on their vest in orange)[this is the best option] or remember the exact location and time so that we can fix the problem!

I would also like to note that it is very difficult to actually catch someone doing this stuff, as we have vasts on that clearly identify us as 'security.' It is always ALWAYS helpful and appreciated when someone informs us of illegal activity (especially if you can id the person) - for most IRT anyways (and definitely for the special events team) (and it should be all IRT).

@chainedbyroses - I know you shouldn't have to do this, but maybe next year you could bring some sort of air filter mask just in case? And I'm glad that most of your IRT interactions were positive and that you got help when you needed it most!

[Dark Spellmaster]

AMV issues were that the team quit so Video had to take over, they didn't have time this year to work out a good contest and according to the DH he asked at AMV.org and they said no contest rather then a crappy one.

Stamp system could work like this.

Main Events: Stamping here could work by having IRT have different stamps per group. Base it on the time the people come and base that by the hour. for straps for the raves' use an id and then color straps by age. youger ages have to leave early.

[Dark Kanine]

An apology in advance, if there was someone who wants to talk about an Ellis that smacked his wrist with a frying pan. That was mean and I'm sincerely sorry about that; I turned around while my frying pan was in my hand and smacked someone's wrist. Apologies in advance, it was unintentional.

[Jguy]

frzndaqiri, on 03 May 2012 - 12:09 AM, said:

This is why we constantly promote pre-purchasing your badge with mailing, or at the least for at-con pickup. Will Call was nearly empty all weekend that I came through. Registration was at FULL SPEED and we had not a moment of downtime Fri-Sun. Any wait times experienced were just the sheer volume of folks purchasing their badge on site. Beyond adding more staffers (which involves logistics that I am not part of and a Reg Staffer will likely officially address once they're conscious again ) I just want folks to understand we were processing everything speedily (as humanly possible).

That said - there is of course always room for improvement so I do appreciate the feedback.

Not to point the blame anywhere else, but this is entirely true. This year, albeit one small failure on Thursday that happens every year because of the logistics of the situation, we only had one small window of downtime, from myself rebooting the machine (the RAM usage from a zombie process when I woke up Saturday morning at 5:30am to check on things was causing concern so I just rebooted the entire machine from my phone and bed) and that downtime was not even long enough to cause the monitoring script kick in and send me a text message (the service must be down for a full 2 minutes for it to kick the warning text to me). Since Wednesday night when I made sure my monitoring script was working until Sunday at 2 when registration closed, the monitoring script was monitoring for a total of 90 hours, 42 minutes and 32 seconds, and we were online for 90 hours, 41 minutes and 52 seconds.

With that being said, I'll have to check, but if I recall correctly, we processed more attendees that bought their badge AT the convention this year than any other year, the majority of them being on Saturday. We always always always urge people to at least purchase their badge online, so that way they can walk into the EMPTY (honestly, I think I saw a total of 50 people in the line) will-call booths to pick up their badges.

But, as frzn mentioned, we're ALWAYS improving our systems, as you've seen from the success we've had this year with avoiding downtimes with the servers. We try something new every year, and what we did this year (less the issues on Thursday) have seemed to work very well. We'll be working on our system even more (not changing what already works, but changing and adding to it to ensure redundancy and to make sure it stays working) for 2013 and hopefully get people processed even faster. I'm sure reg will be working on something as well.

So don't fret, but over the past few years I have been listening to the complaints about line-con and such and hope that at least from the IT side of it we've done our best to avoid that this year...but I think the sheer number of people we had buying badges at the con contributed to the longer lines this year.

Thanks for the heads-up, however. We take everything that everyone says or posts into consideration, even if a staffer doesn't post or comment

[The Archfiend]

chainedbyroses, on 02 May 2012 - 07:53 PM, said:

My main complaint, however, should kind of be a no-brainer at this point:
HEAVY USE OF WEED/DRUGS AT AND INSIDE THE CONVENTION.

Geez. And to think that somehow I feel guilty when I buy a beer or two at Redbar (or any of the other hotel bars in the immediate area) during lulls in the action.

OTOH, I'm not surprised by this: practically every con I've attended - and I've gone to over 50 since I first went to an SF con in 1985 - has its share of idiots. Problem is, the share of idiots at a con that only pulls in some 1,000 people or so (Capricon, Windycon) is much smaller than the share of them that you get at something that goes over 20,000 - which, of course, Acen did last year. I'm going to avoid the Cranky Old Man rhetorical trick and state categorically that this has less to do with Acen being a (mostly) younger crowd than other cons I go to and more with the fact that certain events just draw idiots - who are usually around the same age as people who actually aren't going out of their way to be stupid. And if said event that's full of idiots is big enough in size...well, you get my drift.

[fentras]

Unka Josh, on 03 May 2012 - 12:45 PM, said:

DEAR LORD YES I'M TRYING TO DO MORE WITH AMVS NEXT YEAR.

Ahem.

As I've been saying for a couple of months (roughly) now, I'm trying to get more things set up with AMVs. I sincerely hope that we can get some excellent things done with them; I will do everything I can to make this happen.

Fixing the things that caused the old staff to quit. Or, hell, even acknowledging them instead of just pointing to the staff that quit and saying "their fault" would be a great step 1 to that.

[BakaBarbarian]

Siren Noel, on 03 May 2012 - 08:57 AM, said:

Anime Central (as I experienced and also, judging by other posts here) has become a FIASCO.

THE LATE NIGHT PARTYING IN THE HALLS OF ALL THE HOTELS (THERE ARE OTHER GUESTS AT THESE HOTELS WHO ARE NOT ACEN ATTENDEES WHO HAD TO PUT UP WITH ACEN ATTENDEES)

THE AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA AND ALCOHOL THAT WAS PRESENT THE SECOND THE SUN WENT DOWN

THE DESTRUCTION OF HOTEL PROPERTY INCLUDING THE SKYWAY, THE GARDEN AREAS, ETC. (NOBODY NEEDS TO BE STANDING AND WALKING ALL OVER THE STONE GARDEN WALLS. YOU ARE NOT ANIMALS. GET A HOLD OF YOURSELVES.)

THE HORRIBLE BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES I WITNESSED BETWEEN ATTENDEES AND NON-ATTENDEES

This has got to stop. IT HAS TO STOP.

I partially want ACEN to shut down for a year to ensure this is serious and unacceptable behavior.

The hotels can hardly stand us, and local law enforcement have to deal with absolute IDIOTS all weekend long.
It is OUT OF CONTROL. THIS is more important than Lines. Badges. Merchandise. Autographs.

Either a manual of behavior is written (re-written) and STRICTLY enforced...
or simply ensure that cops are ready to arrest.

It sucks that it has come to this, but I have had it. The whole convention area, hotels, staff, transportation services, and food services; when I asked them what they thought of us, there were NOT kind and compassionate things said.

Get. A. Grip.

DO SOMETHING. This is the focal point. Without solid and law-abiding attendees, the whole con will end up shut down by local law enforcement.
You are all lucky that they even ALLOW you to be wandering around at 4 AM. I am disgusted.

If someone would like to point me in the direction to where I can make this known and have this handled, whether by ACen staff or local law enforcement, I will certainly do so.

Judging by the lack of official response to people who have their heads in the right place, as you do, I have little hope. All this griping about lines is missing the forest for the trees. You're 110% correct that ACEN has a horrible reputation. I've had to explain to people over and over what my various fandoms are about--that they have real artistic merit. And then people see the kind of behavior ACEN brings and it just makes us all look bad.

We need to hear from the highest levels of ACEN that security at this con is going to be RADICALLY altered, that the police will be brought in by IRT at the slightest hint of illegality or that things are getting out of control, that ACEN will be working with hotels to proactively stop the out-of-control room parties and property destruction, that the raves and any other con event that tends to attract the debauchery are going to be overhauled (e.g. adding a cover, making it 21+, canceling it altogether, etc.). Otherwise, I suspect that the complaints about con-goer behavior and security are falling on very deaf ears.

As time goes on, if the con isn't shut down because of a serious crime or major accident, more and more of the people who don't want to risk their safety and sanity to attend will stop coming, leaving the proportion of people there just to destroy the place to get worse and worse. I didn't feel safe at ACEN. I know others didn't, either. I keep asking this, and I haven't heard anyone from the staff give a solid answer: what's it going to take to get ACEN to take security seriously? To stop burying their heads in the sand and call in the pros? To stop relying on volunteers to do the police's job? I'm really shuddering to think what the answer is, at this rate.

[okaonos]

I had an issue with IRT that could have very easily been avoided this year...

Just outside my hotel room's door, there was an elevator. There was no sign, and I didn't require a special key or something to operate it, so one would assume it was a normal elevator. When I got to the lobby floor, I walked out to discover an IRT waiting just down the hall. He stated it was a service elevator for staff only, and he would need to take my badge number. When I mentioned that there was no sign to indicate it wasn't for public use, I was told that the hotel wasn't letting them put up signs. I then discovered later from a different IRT that there WERE some signs posted, but not on each floor.

I have never had an issue in all 8 years I've been going to ACen. And I have certainly NEVER had my badge name/number taken down by anyone. If staff needs certain elevators set aside for themselves, that I completely understand. But common sense would tell you that you need to let the public know. Have signs clearly visible in and outside the elevator. Have the elevator require a key in order to operate, etc.

I was innocently using an elevator placed directly outside my room, that wasn't labeled otherwise. As result, I get a strike against me. That is simply unacceptable by anyone's standards.

[mindue]

Now I have a few things that really ticked me off this year.

-Photoshoots being moved and having no indication of them being moved(like there was no sign or any people to let people know when a photoshoot had been moved indoors or anything)

-LINES We came a hour early for the rave and stood in line for about 3 hours before we gave up. Then the with the masquerade I came a hour early again, and we were told to hang out in the hallway until the line officially started. So I'm waiting in the hallway (towards the stairs because it was hard to tell who was in line and who was just chilling in the hall) and I notice the line had appeared to have shrunk, so thinking the line had moved up I stand up and go towards where the line begins. At this point I noticed that the entire line had been moved outside. No staff person walked down the hallway and informed people the line was being moved outside and that I would have to go to the end of the line. So at that point I just gave up and went back to my room. My main issues is there never seems to be proper communication in situations like this. This easily could have been avoided with someone just walking down the hall saying the line was being moved outside. I'm also lucky I decided to just go back to my room, because I would've been even more upset if I had gone to the back of the line, gotten into the masquerade only for it to be cancelled.

-The lolita panel, for the last 3 years I've been trying to go to this panel, but some issues always comes up (waiting for someone to get their badge, waiting to check into the hotel..) So this year I made sure I was there on time on Friday, only to find out the panel was cancelled.

I don't know, back up plans and stuff need to be made. Overall though this was the best year in a while, had tons of fun. The programming books were a huge improvement, same with the lines on Thursday and Friday.

[SaphiraRaworth]

I would like to state, that if we take IRT any more seriously, it will not exist. We will be replaced by real security guards who might or might not care for you, the attendees as much as we do. We have a huge Handbook that covers many topics and defines a lot of things. You guys need to remember, while we are ALL volunteers and they do screen us every year (we even take an hour test), not everyone is the same in action as they are in their interview and training. I know shy, untalkative people outside of con that become fierce leaders inside it. I also know people who seem normal but become full of themselves and don't give others the same respect that they would like in return. We do deny returning IRT ops if we feel they did not do a well enough job that year, but if we don't hear about it we can't make decisions like that. I would ask that you all make sure that if you ever have problems with an IRT op, take down their call sign. It's below our left shoulders in orange. And back to my original point. If ACen hired security, it will cost the convention and you as well. Badges would be well over $100. Security is not cheap, and they certainly do not hold the amount of love that we do for this convention.

[Inmate77]

Siren Noel, on 03 May 2012 - 08:57 AM, said:

ATTENTION

Not sure if anyone else is noticing this, however...

While everyone is voicing their concerns and many of you are coming up with excellent strategies to remedy them, there are so many posts on this thread and many of those posts are being unseen due to the constant flow of incoming posts! Where can we go, or what can we say, what can we DO to really make ourselves clear here? I see some staff are moderating/watching here which is excellent, however, some things are being looked over..

Lines are lines. They have been an issue since day one. THere ARE ways to remedy the line-up issues.
HOWEVER

Anime Central (as I experienced and also, judging by other posts here) has become a FIASCO.

THE LATE NIGHT PARTYING IN THE HALLS OF ALL THE HOTELS (THERE ARE OTHER GUESTS AT THESE HOTELS WHO ARE NOT ACEN ATTENDEES WHO HAD TO PUT UP WITH ACEN ATTENDEES)

THE AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA AND ALCOHOL THAT WAS PRESENT THE SECOND THE SUN WENT DOWN

THE DESTRUCTION OF HOTEL PROPERTY INCLUDING THE SKYWAY, THE GARDEN AREAS, ETC. (NOBODY NEEDS TO BE STANDING AND WALKING ALL OVER THE STONE GARDEN WALLS. YOU ARE NOT ANIMALS. GET A HOLD OF YOURSELVES.)

THE HORRIBLE BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES I WITNESSED BETWEEN ATTENDEES AND NON-ATTENDEES

This has got to stop. IT HAS TO STOP.

I partially want ACEN to shut down for a year to ensure this is serious and unacceptable behavior.

The hotels can hardly stand us, and local law enforcement have to deal with absolute IDIOTS all weekend long.
It is OUT OF CONTROL. THIS is more important than Lines. Badges. Merchandise. Autographs.

Either a manual of behavior is written (re-written) and STRICTLY enforced...
or simply ensure that cops are ready to arrest.

It sucks that it has come to this, but I have had it. The whole convention area, hotels, staff, transportation services, and food services; when I asked them what they thought of us, there were NOT kind and compassionate things said.

Get. A. Grip.

DO SOMETHING. This is the focal point. Without solid and law-abiding attendees, the whole con will end up shut down by local law enforcement.
You are all lucky that they even ALLOW you to be wandering around at 4 AM. I am disgusted.

If someone would like to point me in the direction to where I can make this known and have this handled, whether by ACen staff or local law enforcement, I will certainly do so.

I don't condone the weed use/underage drinking one bit but room parties are a part of ACEN. Asking to crack down on it will result in ACEN losing a part of itself. The lockdown mode you suggest will result in a sharp drop in overall attendance. In the end, it's all about the money for the con itself, hotels and resturants so the room parties will continue for the foreseeable future.

[Mika]

okaonos, on 03 May 2012 - 05:50 PM, said:

I had an issue with IRT that could have very easily been avoided this year...

Just outside my hotel room's door, there was an elevator. There was no sign, and I didn't require a special key or something to operate it, so one would assume it was a normal elevator. When I got to the lobby floor, I walked out to discover an IRT waiting just down the hall. He stated it was a service elevator for staff only, and he would need to take my badge number. When I mentioned that there was no sign to indicate it wasn't for public use, I was told that the hotel wasn't letting them put up signs. I then discovered later from a different IRT that there WERE some signs posted, but not on each floor.

I have never had an issue in all 8 years I've been going to ACen. And I have certainly NEVER had my badge name/number taken down by anyone. If staff needs certain elevators set aside for themselves, that I completely understand. But common sense would tell you that you need to let the public know. Have signs clearly visible in and outside the elevator. Have the elevator require a key in order to operate, etc.

I was innocently using an elevator placed directly outside my room, that wasn't labeled otherwise. As result, I get a strike against me. That is simply unacceptable by anyone's standards.

This set of service elevators has been an issue for the convention and hotel staff for years now. With the influx of thousands of people on this one weekend and the main elevators clogged, much of the time attendees go and use the Hotels Service Elevators. This is the set of elevators you rode down on.
Let me explain a little first. This set of Service Elevators are not for the ACen Staff to use, but for the Hotel Staff to use. It is how the room service and housekeeping get to and from the rooms so quickly and efficiently. In the last few years this was not able to be done very well by hotel staff because of the huge numbers of non-hotel staff using them because the main elevators were clogged with people and/or broken. The hotel asked us to man this set of elevators and keep a record of who was using it, or lose the use of it (for EMRT and all emergency situations) completely. They had also asked us to do something about the main elevator issue as well (that's why you saw IRT operatives manning the main elevators so much of the time). The signs that were posted are the sign placards that the hotel has posted (hard plastic ones like you see in the stairwells). ACen/IRT was not permitted to place more signage on each level however.
IRT was complying with the request of the hotel to make sure that non-hotel staff was complying with hotel policy and guidelines.
I apologize that the signage was not easily seen. I will be requesting that next year we are permitted to place more signage to make it more clear that these elevators are not for hotel guests to use.

[BakaBarbarian]

SaphiraRaworth, on 03 May 2012 - 08:55 PM, said:

I would like to state, that if we take IRT any more seriously, it will not exist. We will be replaced by real security guards who might or might not care for you, the attendees as much as we do. We have a huge Handbook that covers many topics and defines a lot of things. You guys need to remember, while we are ALL volunteers and they do screen us every year (we even take an hour test), not everyone is the same in action as they are in their interview and training. I know shy, untalkative people outside of con that become fierce leaders inside it. I also know people who seem normal but become full of themselves and don't give others the same respect that they would like in return. We do deny returning IRT ops if we feel they did not do a well enough job that year, but if we don't hear about it we can't make decisions like that. I would ask that you all make sure that if you ever have problems with an IRT op, take down their call sign. It's below our left shoulders in orange. And back to my original point. If ACen hired security, it will cost the convention and you as well. Badges would be well over $100. Security is not cheap, and they certainly do not hold the amount of love that we do for this convention.

So...the alternative is...what? It's as if the upper level staff figure nobody died, so we can just bury our heads in the sand till next year, then hold our breaths that that isn't the year the con is shut down.

The only direction I see the con currently going is down, and that's not the fault of a bunch of volunteers who are just trying to do their jobs, or even a bunch of volunteers who aren't really doing their jobs, as we saw with the drug situation cited elsewhere in this thread. You're not cops. The con needs cop-level intervention. You don't have the legal authority or training to handle some of the situations that have come up at this con, nor should you. I can't say strongly enough: it's time to call in the pros--whether that means working with a security firm, or Rosemont PD and the hotels to develop PROACTIVE security measures, not just reactive. If that means a lot less attendance, well, the people you'd lose are likely to be the kind of people causing the problems in the first place.

Getting call signs is sort of like the proverbial finger plugging up the breaking dam. People have been told this for years, it doesn't solve the problem. We're talking about people having their physical safety threatened, young girls getting groped by men twice their age, drugs and a ton of underage drinking, people destroying property. IMO, it's the result of a little TOO much love at this con--too much permissiveness for too long. I don't think it's the fault of the individual IRT staff, the adage fish rot from the head down seems to apply.

I'd rather have a little less love and a con in which everyone can have fun without worrying about their personal safety, than see someone's life ruined just because people were reluctant to do what it takes (hire security, get the police involved, renegotiate contracts with the hotels to force them to take better responsibility for security, whatever) to stop the madness.

[kitten.attack]

This was my 5th year attending ACen. ACen is always something I look forward to every year. It's the only anime convention I'm ever able to attend so I always get excited when it's that time. Every year no matter what I still always enjoy spending time with friends and enjoying all the costumes as well as walking around in my own costume. However this year I have two major complaints that didn't RUIN my weekend but made this year quite a bit less fun than previous years.

First, I have a major bone to pick with the karaoke line up. Last year instead of going to the rave my friends and I spent both Friday and Saturday nights at "Karaoke Madness". It was SO fun and the whole crowd was getting into the songs and the hosts were funny and polite and all around enjoyable people. Because of that all my friend decided to hit the karaoke rooms this year despite that "Karaoke Madness" was not on the list. We got there plenty early and waited in line for almost 2 and a half hours, almost having to fight with another line that had formed well after us over who got to go in first. When the doors finally opened we rushed in there to get a spot. It had been delayed because Norm(the guy running it) was LATE. We got ours seats and he explained the rules. He informed us that we were ONLY allowed to sing songs that were from anime or a video game. He then said that he had no lyrics and we would have to look up in our smart phones(which I do not own) the lyrics to the song. We were in a basement room so nobody had reception. I'm sorry but that entire thing REALLY ticked me off. I understand that this is an anime convention but not EVERYbody knows songs in japanese or knows all the words to the english versions of the songs. And for him to limit our songs then not even have lyrics at a karaoke panel. Absolutely ridiculous. My friends and I got up and left before the first song ever got sang. I noticed many people get up and leave as well so we were not the only ones upset. We did not attend karaoke the following night because we were told it was going to be the same requirements. I think if it's going to be strictly an anime themed karaoke it should have "Norm's karaoke(anime only)" to have so many people wait over 2 hours in line only to tell them they can't sing the songs they wanted to is unprofessional and rude. Next year, I would really like to see "Karaoke Madness" back to ACen. They had the whole room cheering and singing, had a HUGE binder of hundreds of songs as well as all the lyrics to the songs. Yes many people sang non anime songs but many people ALSO sang anime songs as well. People should have the right to pick. Norm was rude, insensitive, and LATE to his own panel. Bring back "Karaoke Madness" next year PLEASE.

My second gripe is the same as many others, the Masquerade. I know a lot of things were delayed and that's why the Masquerade was delayed the first hour to begin with... and the fire alarm thing can't be helped. However there needs to be some type of organization here. People had been waiting in that line for hours then due to the fire alarm they had no way of proving they had already been let into the room so were forced to be at the back of the line. NOT fair. But nowhere near as unfair as erasing all the skits from the show. People work for weeks and even months on these skits and costumes. And the show had to be cut in half so the RAVE could still continue as planned? There was a rave Friday night AND Saturday night. The Masquerade happens only once and WAY more work goes into that. Being that one of the biggest things about an anime convention are the cosplays I feel the Masquerade should have been treated as more important than a dance. This is something for the fans. You can go to a rave anytime and that rave was going to last till the early morning anyway. So the Masquerade should not have been cut the way it was. The fire alarm was out of everyone's control but for future situations, the Masquerade should be held WAY up higher than a silly dance.

So in short, Masquerade deserves WAY more respect and please please PLEASE bring "Karaoke Madness" back. I've spoken to one of the guys who ran it and they said they'd love to come back if ACen would allow it. So ACen.... ALLOW IT!!!

This post has been edited by kitten.attack: 03 May 2012 - 11:40 PM

[FlyingElf]

STVO, on 30 April 2012 - 12:17 PM, said:

* This and the next few complaints might be for the people running the panels themselves, but I will include them anyway. First one, I miss Midwest Karaoke Madness doing the Karaoke panels. I have absolutely nothing against the people who ran them this year and I'm sorry if I may offend, but this group's layout and line up was amazing (I didn't attend Sunday, can't judge their group.) I understand you guys want to stick to the true message of the convention (anime, video games, etc.) but in the end in MY PERSONAL OPINION these conventions while are about anime the true spirit of the con lays in the laughs, the friends, and the fun of the convention! Admittedly I was only at the karaoke briefly (only peaked my head in Friday, was briefly there Saturday looking at a song list) to me the environment didn't have the enthusiastic crowd it had last year. Whether the groups want to agree or not, I think they should offer the Best of Both Worlds (not the Hannah Montana song) by offering video game, anime, and popular American songs. I'm not a good singer and it may sound funny if I botch Japanese lyrics, but I personally prefer to be somewhat familiar with the song. If Midwest Karaoke won't return next year, I just make this request to whatever group who runs it next year should consider.

kitten.attack, on 03 May 2012 - 11:39 PM, said:

First, I have a major bone to pick with the karaoke line up. Last year instead of going to the rave my friends and I spent both Friday and Saturday nights at "Karaoke Madness". It was SO fun and the whole crowd was getting into the songs and the hosts were funny and polite and all around enjoyable people. Because of that all my friend decided to hit the karaoke rooms this year despite that "Karaoke Madness" was not on the list. We got there plenty early and waited in line for almost 2 and a half hours, almost having to fight with another line that had formed well after us over who got to go in first. When the doors finally opened we rushed in there to get a spot. It had been delayed because Norm(the guy running it) was LATE. We got ours seats and he explained the rules. He informed us that we were ONLY allowed to sing songs that were from anime or a video game. He then said that he had no lyrics and we would have to look up in our smart phones(which I do not own) the lyrics to the song. We were in a basement room so nobody had reception. I'm sorry but that entire thing REALLY ticked me off. I understand that this is an anime convention but not EVERYbody knows songs in japanese or knows all the words to the english versions of the songs. And for him to limit our songs then not even have lyrics at a karaoke panel. Absolutely ridiculous. My friends and I got up and left before the first song ever got sang. I noticed many people get up and leave as well so we were not the only ones upset. We did not attend karaoke the following night because we were told it was going to be the same requirements. I think if it's going to be strictly an anime themed karaoke it should have "Norm's karaoke(anime only)" to have so many people wait over 2 hours in line only to tell them they can't sing the songs they wanted to is unprofessional and rude. Next year, I would really like to see "Karaoke Madness" back to ACen. They had the whole room cheering and singing, had a HUGE binder of hundreds of songs as well as all the lyrics to the songs. Yes many people sang non anime songs but many people ALSO sang anime songs as well. People should have the right to pick. Norm was rude, insensitive, and LATE to his own panel. Bring back "Karaoke Madness" next year PLEASE.

Want to go ahead and address things brought up here as I was the guy running karaoke Friday.

Unfortunately, there was a communication problem between ACen and myself. All the panel descriptions I sent in that outlined the show I was running was apparently lost. There should have been a clear description in the program guide that stated exactly what the karaoke was. By the time I actually got a hold of someone in panel programming, it was too late to change any descriptions in the program guide. So for that, I apologize. If I were to add a gripe of my own real quick it would be that I never actually did get any confirmation from panel programming that any of my panels were approved. Had I not checked the schedule and clearly saw Norm's group written on karaoke, I'd have no idea I was even supposed to do it. Alex was great at communication once we knew there was a problem along those lines, unfortunately it was too late to get all the issues resolved.

I do take slight offense to your accusation of my being late. I arrived pretty promptly at 10pm. You are absolutely right in that I was not early for my event, however I already had multiple members of my staff on the scene.

As for most of your other issues, I really wish you had communicated with me at the event. I was pretty lax in letting people do songs that I may not have at my other shows. I understand that ACen has had a standard of karaoke and that I'm running a different show than usual. I tried to respect that while still making the show my own. I think at most I turned down 3 requests and most of those found other songs to perform. Also for example, your phone issue. I had a phone with internet access that I lent out to multiple people over the course of the evening. I pride myself on finding solutions to issues rather than simply turning people away. Which is why I also take some offense to your saying I was rude and insensitive when you have not dealt with me on any personal level. You did not even ask if I had a possible solution to your problem, you simply assumed I did not.

Lastly, to address the most common issue, why do I run things this way? Because karaoke is about you. My job is not to be entertaining. I leave that to the singers. So why do I restrict my song list? Because music is about expression and for the majority of these people, this is the only opportunity they will get to sing the songs that they know and love. You can go to any karaoke bar in America and sing "Don't Stop Believin'", but ask to do "Simple and Clean" and they'll stare at you funny. However these songs are still very important to the ones performing them. They have meaning and I want to give these people, a lot of which who are shy and awkward, the chance to express themselves through the music. Whether you get up and dance around like an idiot while singing poorly or have a beautiful voice. ACen might be their only anime con this year. This may be their only chance to express themselves in front of a group like this. So while I won't ask you to agree with the way I do things, please at least understand the reason.

[Bard-kun]

I spent most of my ACen babysitting a too-drunk friend, so my con experience is somewhat limited. Still, a few things I noticed:

PROS
-PanelOps were rock stars. I know we had problems with late panels, canceled panels, etc, but every interaction I had with the PanelOps staff was helpful, polite, and in good humor despite the chaos which must have been going on around them. My panel's room was perfect, and despite Saturday night's delays they got Hentarmageddon started within minutes of when we were supposed to. Awesome people, awesome work ethic, somebody needs to send them a fruit basket.

-I really liked the Guidebook app! It wasn't perfect--panels were sometimes listed incorrectly, etc--but they kept updating it throughout the con and I imagine it'll be implemented more effectively next year.

-The BattleTech line seemed to move much faster this year. Maybe just because it was in a larger room?

-The Will Call system for badges was great! At-con registration didn't seem too bad either. And moving in and out of the dealers' room was easier than ever.

CONS
-I'll start with my whiniest complaint. This isn't a knock against any of the staff, really, but I'm not a fan of this year's panelist badge policy. I get that we had to combat bloated panels after last year, but it's a bit unfair to turn to people who really did work their butts off on two-hour-or-longer-panels, really did make sure they had enough content to fill those hours, and tell them "you have to do an extra panel if you want a comped badge because some jerks just artificially stretched out their panels last year." Paying half-price for my badge is not the end of the world; hell, it's a pretty good deal. But my panel involves a lot of audience prizes which I pay for out-of-pocket, and I usually include my comped badge cost in the prize budget. $30 won't break the bank, but it was kinda upsetting. Not really sure what could be done about this, as the new policy makes plenty of sense on paper; I just wanted to voice my frustration. I do think if someone's unscrupulous enough to game the system when we comp badges by the hour, they'll be unscrupulous enough to do two shoddy panels if we comp badges by the panel.

-I didn't mind the video gaming rooms being in separate buildings; it gave us more basement space in the Hyatt, and lord knows my panel benefitted from that. But when I went to console gaming, this is what I saw:
A group watching two guys play Street Fighter
A group watching two guys play Tekken
A group watching two guys play KoF or somesuch
ONE SINGLE GUY playing Smash Brothers Brawl by himself, declining any offers for a match
Two rhythm games
Assorted other fighting games

Now, I went late at night (see aforementioned note about babysitting drunk friend), so if there was more variety earlier in the day somebody let me know. But how about a shooter or two? More four-player games, maybe a Rock Band setup? If it's down to a lack of volunteered consoles, I'll be sure to bring my stuff next year.

-We gotta stop riding elevators up to go down. It's unfair to the folks who actually wait their turn, it's unfair to the folks who need to get bags to their rooms, it's unfair to the folks with injuries or handicaps who need an elevator, and if you're an able-bodied human being who decides to stake out a space in an elevator for 10 extra minutes rather than walking down some flights of stairs, I'm astonished at your laziness.

-There's fun drunk and there's annoying drunk. I haven't always been the best about noticing the difference, but coming to the con stone-sober this year was an eye-opener. I sympathize with ACen about enforcement but something's gotta change. Maybe just more cops called more often? Under-21 badges? I definitely don't think the answer lies in hiring a security company. We don't need higher prices and fewer attendees.

-I'm kinda confused about the Karaoke thing. Would there have been lyrics available if you'd been given more warning? Because, no offense meant but, if you ask guests to provide their own lyrics or borrow a phone to do so, I don't think you're offering Karaoke so much as you're offering a set of speakers and a microphone. I'm not trying to dismiss your work, it was really badass of you to step up and do a karaoke panel, but you don't even need anything high-tech. A few years back they just had binders full of printouts from AnimeLyrics.com. No problems with the "restricted" song selection, though--it is an anime convention, after all.

I hope this post doesn't sound cranky or anything. I'm still waiting for my coffee to kick in. I know you guys work your asses off on this con, and I always have a good time.

[myrla]

frzndaqiri, on 03 May 2012 - 12:09 AM, said:

This is why we constantly promote pre-purchasing your badge with mailing, or at the least for at-con pickup. Will Call was nearly empty all weekend that I came through. Registration was at FULL SPEED and we had not a moment of downtime Fri-Sun. Any wait times experienced were just the sheer volume of folks purchasing their badge on site. Beyond adding more staffers (which involves logistics that I am not part of and a Reg Staffer will likely officially address once they're conscious again ) I just want folks to understand we were processing everything speedily (as humanly possible).

That said - there is of course always room for improvement so I do appreciate the feedback.

I would have loved to have my pre-paid panelist badge mailed. This will probably be the #1 reason I don't come back to ACen next year, if they can't be mailed. Or I'll just pay full price for my badge, and not give a crap about the four possible panels I'm considering of doing.

SaphiraRaworth, on 03 May 2012 - 08:55 PM, said:

I would like to state, that if we take IRT any more seriously, it will not exist. We will be replaced by real security guards who might or might not care for you, the attendees as much as we do. We have a huge Handbook that covers many topics and defines a lot of things. You guys need to remember, while we are ALL volunteers and they do screen us every year (we even take an hour test), not everyone is the same in action as they are in their interview and training. I know shy, untalkative people outside of con that become fierce leaders inside it. I also know people who seem normal but become full of themselves and don't give others the same respect that they would like in return. We do deny returning IRT ops if we feel they did not do a well enough job that year, but if we don't hear about it we can't make decisions like that. I would ask that you all make sure that if you ever have problems with an IRT op, take down their call sign. It's below our left shoulders in orange. And back to my original point. If ACen hired security, it will cost the convention and you as well. Badges would be well over $100. Security is not cheap, and they certainly do not hold the amount of love that we do for this convention.

I've been a trained security guard at conventions, at amphitheaters, privately, and to be perfectly blunt, the best security guards are ones that have no vested interest in anything going on aside from being a security guard. "my buddy's in IRT" was a common thread I heard for some drunk in public people.

My training was almost 100 hours, and i'd have been happy to have an hour test. I also within that 100 hours took personal defense classes, and I've taken down guys that were 3 times my size. But I know how to, safely, and I know how to disarm people as well.

I have mad respect for most of the IRT crew, but I'd gladly pay more for a badge if it meant a lot of the hooliganism was taken care of.

(before anyone says it, the reason I am not on IRT is because I can't cosplay. Cosplay is one of the three big reasons I really come to this con.)

I would gladly pay more in a badge to have security people who can arrest the underage over the influence, the of age over the influence, and the general screwing creepy people that were around (that I reported to the hotel security, as their badge was not visible, not to IRT, and hotel security was right on it).

I guess it helps that for me, I have a con that's the same size as ACen, not as much photoshoot/cosplay stuff organized, but many more guests I would see, and is only 3 hours away instead of a plane ride. I have easy alternatives. I know some people might not.

This post has been edited by myrla: 04 May 2012 - 09:33 AM

[SaphiraRaworth]

myrla, on 04 May 2012 - 09:23 AM, said:

I would have loved to have my pre-paid panelist badge mailed. This will probably be the #1 reason I don't come back to ACen next year, if they can't be mailed. Or I'll just pay full price for my badge, and not give a crap about the four possible panels I'm considering of doing.



I've been a trained security guard at conventions, at amphitheaters, privately, and to be perfectly blunt, the best security guards are ones that have no vested interest in anything going on aside from being a security guard. "my buddy's in IRT" was a common thread I heard for some drunk in public people.

My training was almost 100 hours, and i'd have been happy to have an hour test. I also within that 100 hours took personal defense classes, and I've taken down guys that were 3 times my size. But I know how to, safely, and I know how to disarm people as well.

I have mad respect for most of the IRT crew, but I'd gladly pay more for a badge if it meant a lot of the hooliganism was taken care of.

(before anyone says it, the reason I am not on IRT is because I can't cosplay. Cosplay is one of the three big reasons I really come to this con.)

I would gladly pay more in a badge to have security people who can arrest the underage over the influence, the of age over the influence, and the general screwing creepy people that were around (that I reported to the hotel security, as their badge was not visible, not to IRT, and hotel security was right on it).

I guess it helps that for me, I have a con that's the same size as ACen, not as much photoshoot/cosplay stuff organized, but many more guests I would see, and is only 3 hours away instead of a plane ride. I have easy alternatives. I know some people might not.

While I'm sure these drunk peoples lead themselves to believe that knowing someone in IRT makes them special, it really doesn't. Usually, they get punished more severely. But like I have said before, if no one tells us what's happening, how are we to know? We can't walk upon every incident.

Another note, we are not regular security. We call ourselves security, but its really customer service with a smile. We are not allowed to touch congoers in any sort of legal or defensive capacity. If we get into an altercation with a congoers, by either words exchanged, they or we struck first, or they're drunk/high or mentally unstable, we are at risk of being sued and banned from ACen. I thought I would make you aware we are actually very limited in what we can and can't do, as per RPD and state and federal laws.

And most people already think ACen badges are too pricey, and would hate to have to pay more. Although you might be willing to pay over $100 for a badge, I'm sure no 13 year old would. But I believe that I might be done discussing all of this, I would rather not reveal anything that shouldn't be or cause a disagreement that turns into an argument. Thank you for reading.

[SailorDeath]

fentras, on 03 May 2012 - 03:36 PM, said:

Fixing the things that caused the old staff to quit. Or, hell, even acknowledging them instead of just pointing to the staff that quit and saying "their fault" would be a great step 1 to that.

I don't think it's fair to say they pointed the finger at me or anyone else who was amv staff last year and said "this is your fault." Despite my departure I do have an interest in what is to become of the amv events at acen. For that reason I've worked with Josh as well as my Old ADH to provide a copy of all the amvs we've archived. There's over 1tb of videos. Since Josh had this dropped in his lap (essentially at the last minute) there was no possible way he could have organized anything for this year. The issue that caused amvs to fall so far behind was that nobody else wanted/knew how to run the department. WHen I left I sent all my records saved over the last few years to help them plan, but really to do an amv contest you need someone skilled with amvs and the accociated technologies involved.

[frzndaqiri]

Agreed

A loss of staff without an identified replacement (as stated, no one offered to step up until Unka Josh finally said "I don't want this to just die, if it comes down to it Video will just take it on") was the reason that AMV was unable to be presented as in years past, but it was more a reason for an unfortunate circumstance rather than "they quit and that's why it sucked". And it wasn't (from my understanding) a "the entire department is fed up and left" but more of it was a small compact department and for various reasons those in charge decided to step away. Everyone has a point where they have to evaluate where their time goes and sometimes ACen just has to be dropped.

[Angel's Kiss Cosplay]

Well, I was told by staff that the Masq and other events from Saturday were pushed back so late to begin with because Vic's panel went AN HOUR AND A HALF LONGER THAN SCHEDULED. Now, mad props to this guy for being here, he's a huge draw for the fans, but not stopping his panel on time is a HUGE issue. I know he's a pain to deal with and no one wants to risk him not coming back or whatever (I wouldn't be heartbroken, just sayin'...), but the fact that his panel went so long pushed back all consecutive programming. The masq didn't start seating til 7:30 (scheduled to START at 6!!), and low and behold, 10 minutes into the start, the fire alarm was pulled. Unfortunately, had things been on time, the masq would have almost been finished by then, the fire alarm would have interrupted, but things could have resumed as they did after, and nothing would have been cancelled. The dances would have been decently on time, and all would have been a bit better. Enforcing scheduling would be a big improvement, as well as other suggestions of allowing for more time between panels for clean up, potential overages, etc.

[Dark Spellmaster]

Regarding the issue with Karoke, last year the complaint was that there wasn't enough Japanese music, this year there's a complaint of not enough english songs. Any way we can strike a balance with this?

[Bard-kun]

Maybe anime only the first night, full song catalogue the second?

[❤Mokyu❤]

Angel, on 04 May 2012 - 01:10 PM, said:

Well, I was told by staff that the Masq and other events from Saturday were pushed back so late to begin with because Vic's panel went AN HOUR AND A HALF LONGER THAN SCHEDULED. Now, mad props to this guy for being here, he's a huge draw for the fans, but not stopping his panel on time is a HUGE issue. I know he's a pain to deal with and no one wants to risk him not coming back or whatever (I wouldn't be heartbroken, just sayin'...), but the fact that his panel went so long pushed back all consecutive programming. The masq didn't start seating til 7:30 (scheduled to START at 6!!), and low and behold, 10 minutes into the start, the fire alarm was pulled. Unfortunately, had things been on time, the masq would have almost been finished by then, the fire alarm would have interrupted, but things could have resumed as they did after, and nothing would have been cancelled. The dances would have been decently on time, and all would have been a bit better. Enforcing scheduling would be a big improvement, as well as other suggestions of allowing for more time between panels for clean up, potential overages, etc.

Haha, really? If that's what happened, then yeah, that's not acceptable. He needed to be told - not asked - to vacate the room with his horde of fangirls! I know on Friday everything was pushed back because the VGO started SO late. Speaking of which, did no one find out how long of a prep time they needed beforehand? Or did something else go wrong? Because the situation really screwed up Friday's schedule BADLY. Praying that never happens again... But they were running late again on Sunday and pushed back Eyeshine's concert, so I'm kinda curious what was up with that.

[kotomichi]

JimTacticZ, on 29 April 2012 - 07:31 PM, said:

The gripe I have was simply the fact that it seemed that the registration staff was not trained well! I got my badge on Thursday and I paid the full $60 no problem seeing as I planned to go to the con Friday - Sunday. My cousin didn't get to my place till Friday night so I was expecting him to come to the con with me on Saturday + Sunday. He is 12 years old and I remember correctly that the official site's registration page it said the child badge for ages 6-12 is $15. The staff was going to charge him $60 for both days. I questioned them about it and they said that he is considered an adult. His birthday is May-4th-1999 he is 12yrs old obviously, I hope they don't give me bs like "Oh we round it". So he got charged $35 instead of the original $15 and he didn't get to attend Acen on Sunday which means I had to stay home because I didn't want to leave him alone at my house while I go off and have fun. I'm pretty sure that when the site says (6-12) = $15 it means AGE 12 IS INCLUDED in there! The reg staff even went on to say "Yay you are an adult at ACEN now" What jerks. I'm going to order online from now on because some reg staff obviously don't know what they are doing.

Dude, I'm sorry. This really should not have happened AT ALL. What you need to know is that most of the reg staff was trained and trained very well. I say MOST because this happened. What they should have done was grabbed a ADH or an officer to change the year in our system. (Mod edit: This was a one time glitch with the system and I'm working with the poster to make amends)

Again, I'm sorry this happened. To anyone else who has an issue next year, please remember to ask (politely) for an officer with admin privileges or an ADH to help you out, because obviously, like you said, that staff member did not follow protocal.

[kotomichi]

FlyingElf, on 04 May 2012 - 01:48 AM, said:

You can go to any karaoke bar in America and sing "Don't Stop Believin'", but ask to do "Simple and Clean" and they'll stare at you funny. However these songs are still very important to the ones performing them. They have meaning and I want to give these people, a lot of which who are shy and awkward, the chance to express themselves through the music. Whether you get up and dance around like an idiot while singing poorly or have a beautiful voice. ACen might be their only anime con this year. This may be their only chance to express themselves in front of a group like this. So while I won't ask you to agree with the way I do things, please at least understand the reason.

I had fun. :X Thanks for letting me sing the Utena song even though I didn't have a karaoke file!

[kitten.attack]

Dark Spellmaster, on 04 May 2012 - 01:23 PM, said:

Regarding the issue with Karoke, last year the complaint was that there wasn't enough Japanese music, this year there's a complaint of not enough english songs. Any way we can strike a balance with this?

Well last year Karaoke Madness did Friday and Saturday night. This year there were 3 different karaoke panels. It seems the easiest way to fix it seems to be that since there are multiple karaokes. Have one karaoke panel strictly do japanese songs. But LIST on the schedule sheet (anime only) to prevent people from waiting in line forever only to be disappointed. And then have "Karaoke Madness" return with their giant binder of mixed songs so everyone can pick what they want. That way people can choose which songs and which panel. Seems the most fair way to do it in my opinion.

[Dark Spellmaster]

❤Mokyu❤, on 04 May 2012 - 01:59 PM, said:

Haha, really? If that's what happened, then yeah, that's not acceptable. He needed to be told - not asked - to vacate the room with his horde of fangirls! I know on Friday everything was pushed back because the VGO started SO late. Speaking of which, did no one find out how long of a prep time they needed beforehand? Or did something else go wrong? Because the situation really screwed up Friday's schedule BADLY. Praying that never happens again... But they were running late again on Sunday and pushed back Eyeshine's concert, so I'm kinda curious what was up with that.

Vic is an "interesting person" some love him some dislike him...alot. I remember an issue that was had in 09 where Greg Ayres was there, ready to do a very cool panel but he got thrown out half way because of the Gundam group needed to get set up. I was like...um...wait he had to start late and now you're punishing him because someone before didn't want to vacate the room.

Perhaps with Vic put a limit time on him, and have it where no requests are asked, no questions, or have the questions pre made before so that he can answer based on cards.