[JujuFox]

linlindesu, on 29 April 2012 - 08:32 PM, said:

There were also program guides scattered everywhere. It was careless and disgusting.

n__n; Ya know we only used the skywalk in the early morning and after 7:30pm, so maybe the magic cleaning elves had gotten to those areas by the time we got there? Also we were only in the Hyatt side of it. I can see how the parts on the other side of the convention center could easily build up some con trash. That is really a shame.

[Lina]

linlindesu, on 29 April 2012 - 08:05 PM, said:

Also, this is a gripe to attendees.
Seriously, why are you going here to destroy and litter.
The skywalk last night was filthy. There was visible damage to the walls. This.Is. Disgusting
I don;t care if you drink or smoke, but nearly burning people with your cigarettes while drunk in a main walkway? Swearing like a manic and being clearly drunk OUTSIDE the hotel. Acen, you can do something. all you have to do is SAY you'll call the cops and they will hide! Why do you guys let this behavior slide?

Did you see the round tables behind the elevators on the entrance floor!? All of the ones that weren't being used had tons of trash. It was disgusting!

[Mari_Queen_of_Fools]

linlindesu, on 29 April 2012 - 08:05 PM, said:

Also, this is a gripe to attendees.
Seriously, why are you going here to destroy and litter.
The skywalk last night was filthy. There was visible damage to the walls. This.Is. Disgusting
I don;t care if you drink or smoke, but nearly burning people with your cigarettes while drunk in a main walkway? Swearing like a manic and being clearly drunk OUTSIDE the hotel. Acen, you can do something. all you have to do is SAY you'll call the cops and they will hide! Why do you guys let this behavior slide?

I second this. The amount of litter that was everywhere was horrible and uncalled for. Going to the Soap bubble after they just let everyone in, we got to see all the junk left over from the folks who had been waiting in line. Cups, bottles, million of glow stick wrappers. That is rude. beyond rude. This isn't your house, this is a public area that people have to clean up. Have some respect and either throw your wrappers away or hold on to them until you can, it's not that hard.

Also, again the smoking outside of the Hyatt was an issue and again IRT stood by and never said anything. It makes no sense to me how IRT are so fast to call out people from ducking under line guards but are blind to the groups of people not only smoking in door ways but BLOCKING off the doorways of buildings with hookas and such.

[linlindesu]

Lina, on 29 April 2012 - 08:52 PM, said:

Did you see the round tables behind the elevators on the entrance floor!? All of the ones that weren't being used had tons of trash. It was disgusting!

Yes and I wonder how it can be prevented. I mean, people will be jerks but is there anything acen will do about it? I'm sure it is costing them more money to keep cleaning up after these people

[ATICE]

Agreed with Lina that the one IRT member (I guess her name was Amazon?) was like "I am about to ruin your day." How about... you don't and you continue the freaking line."

If there is ANY policy I would like to be added for future years... I have ONE SUGGESTION/DEMAND, AND ONE ONLY.
Suggestion: IF a guest wants to show up as a guest, or the convention asks them... whatever... They are REQUIRED to stay for the whole autographing session.

Also uhm... no life stories or suggestions to new works... That's what panels are for. Say hi, have your autograph signed, maybe a photo, and move on. OMG! I was in the Vic M. line for 40 minutes and then that stupid IRT member was all "I'm about to ruin your day." Ugh! Seriously though, this is not the first time nor the first convention this has happened when I went to get an autograph from Vic Mignogna. He's done this at youmacon, and at last year's acen as well. STAY FOR THE WHOLE FREAKING AUTOGRAPHING SESSION! YOU HAVE FANS! OMG! I swear, if people don't want to sign a bunch of autographs, stop going to freaking conventions why don't you! That why I don't waste my time bringing crap. I don't even want his autograph anymore. He's pissing me off!!

Photoshoots: Most of the locations should be inside somewhere from now on, and also NEVER at the loading docks again. I went to a couple of photoshoots on Saturday, and some of the loading docks were obscured by security cars or whatever. I know I saw uniforms getting in to the cars. I know there are not a whole lot of places for photoshoots, but maybe you can use a panel room or 2 for them... or if the room is that big, have 2 photoshoots at one time in the same room... that way you only have to give up one room instead of 2.

This post has been edited by ATICE: 29 April 2012 - 09:20 PM

[moyahshi]

The main complaint I have is about the lines.... my sister and I JUST got cut off from the Madoka Cast autographs. They're where only about 10 people behind us too. They ended up letting us in, though.

Also, some autograph sessions were cancelled. I dont have a smartphone or whatever, so I was really disappointed when I got there and found out.

This was my first Acen, so I had NO idea we had to get our props checked xD 2 employees told me at around 9:00 pm that I HAD to go get my golf club check in the security office, even though I had been walking around with it for the whole day.... I ended up being able to keep it though.

I wasn't at the Masquerade when the fire drill happened, but I was heading to the Hyatt. I had no clue what was happening, and I was kind of scared. It really sucks that part of it was cancelled. People put a lot of work into the skits. I think they should've started the Soap Bubble a bit later.

I can't complare it to previous years, but I had a GREAT first Acen :3 I would love to come back next year. I think the lack of communication was the biggest problem...

[cactusmomma]

This is actually a Hyatt gripe.. we couldn't hear any form of fire alarm when it went off from our room. By chance, we had been preparing to head downstairs and heard IRT roaming the halls, giving the evacuation orders. Had that been a real fire, how many people would have been caught unaware?

[Scott]

I agree with others that the delays were an issue. Things happen though.


My main gripe is about Photography...

I understand that you are restricted based on your contracts with various guests or other events, and that's fine. My suggestion would be to put next to each item on the same page as the printed schedule "No Photography" or "Photography Allowed."

This year I saw an explosion of people with SLR cameras, so maybe it's even more of an issue moving forward than it was in the past. Some people don't take photos for personal reasons, but rather for the people who are in the photos or a way of documenting the convention. (on a side note, I'll consider applying for a press badge in the future, maybe that would make things easier at least a little).

For example, I waited quite a long time in line for the Angelic Pretty fashion show before the yelling announcement about no photography. I ended up not going to the other fashion show right after Angelic Pretty, but later heard that there was no ban at that one.

I asked an IRT staffer at the masquerade about photography and he had to ask two other people before getting an answer.

There appeared to be no staff photographer at the IRUMA RIOKA concert. When she wanted a photo of herself with the audience, no one/no camera was available. Eventually a random audience member pulled out a camera after she asked multiple times as best she could in English. With the camera ban everyone was reluctant to take their cameras out of their bags because of the threats of having the camera (temporarily?) confiscated and our badge taken away. I wanted to help her, but I didn't want to get kicked out of the convention either. So I guess if the individual who offered their camera eventually gets the photo to her, a poorly composed digicam photo will go up on her website as the banner (she talked about doing that). On another side note, there appeared to be no translator at the show and both her and the guitarist only have limited English skills, they really needed one and appeared frustrated. This was their first concert in the USA. I think they deserved better.

This post has been edited by Scott: 29 April 2012 - 10:02 PM

[BakaBarbarian]

Let's just call this con what it is: an excuse for a lot of people to behave really badly. In the past few years, I've experienced (and talked to others who have experienced) the same issues over and over. Girls and women getting groped, harrassed, and propositioned. Young teens making potentially life-changing mistakes. Room parties out of control. Tons of underage drinking. Endless property damage. Boorish, drunken behavior. The yearly drama, in this case the fire alarm. There's another thread going around where people are debating what to do about random glomping that causes physical harm and property damage. Why do we even need to ask this question? It's physical assault, and ACEN's response needs to be: it gets reported to the police, period, and after you get out of jail, you're never allowed back at ACEN again.

People will get away with what you let them get away with, and unfortunately, ACEN has been allowing bad behavior to go on year after year as the con gets bigger. There's a lot of hand-wringing and shaking of heads, and a lot of people saying there's nothing people can do about it. So what happens? The behavior gets worse next year as the con's reputation gets worse and worse.

This says nothing about the lines, the lack of communication, the last-minute changes, and the staff who are apparently the last to be told about changes. ACEN has never run according to schedule, but that's a charming little conundrum compared to a lot of the larger problems.

If you go to smaller cons, you hear a lot about ACEN's reputation. It's not a good reputation, mostly because of the stupid behavior of many of the con-goers. I gave ACEN one last chance this year, after coming for many years. I think I'm done. I'm tired of worrying about being assaulted. I'm tired of seeing the grounds surrounding the Hyatt and convention center full of kids too young (either in body or in mind) to be out on their own and out of control. I'm tired of seeing this convention as a big frat party that happens to have anime as its excuse for existing.

If it's the rave that attracts the idiocy, then get rid of it. Please. People obviously aren't coming for the dealer's room, I saw way more people outside it than in, and half the dealer's room was a junk sale anyway. The other half was so overpriced, presumably because Rosemont is too expensive for most vendors unless they're really professional or don't care about professionalism at all. Many of the folks with Sunday-only badges had no business at an anime convention; some of them didn't even know what Hello Kitty was. The artist alley needs to be pared down by at least half, it's too overwhelming and I saw far too many people turning around and walking out without buying anything because they were so overwhelmed.

People aren't coming for content like the panels and guests, if all they are doing is trashing the place and getting drunk. The panel rooms are far too tiny in some cases, anyway. It's impossible to line up for panels without having to go through waves of people behaving badly, many of whom haven't even bothered to get badges because all they're planning on doing is meeting up with friends in the public areas and acting stupid. On Sunday, I heard a lot of complaints that the police presence was such that it killed all the fun. If that's the kind of "fun" ACEN is known for, count me out.

I want to come to a con in which people are primarily there to appreciate anime and Japanese culture, not the culture of "look at me." I want to come to a convention that is about quality, not quantity. I guess my only options are smaller cons, unless ACEN caps its attendance and severely cracks down on people acting stupid. Yes, it's possible to enforce a culture that is respectful of others while still allowing people their age-appropriate fun. I don't know if ACEN can do it without changing its name and other radical overhauls, because at this point, the reputation is going to be hard to fight. There are ways to get people to focus more on the anime and Japanese culture and less on one-upping each other in bad behavior, it's just a question of having the willpower to enforce rules, throw a lot of people out and revoke badges, call the police on those who are acting badly in both con and public areas, cap attendance, change the dealer room and artist alley policies, ditch the rave or radically change it, and make this con like it was years ago, when we were all getting together primarily in celebration of, y'know...anime.

[Goldeneyeuro]

Chalk up another individual who disapproved of the inconsistencies between the programming book, the schedule available online, the schedules outside the rooms, and the phone app. In my case, I wanted to go to the Importing Merchandising panel at 2:00 PM on Friday- the online schedule had it in there, ditto the schedules outside the room (which I was told were the most up-to-date from a staff member when I got my programming book on Thursday evening and informed him that the app might not work for me due to my phone going haywire last year and expecting it to happen this year) But... the phone app and the programming booklet did not have it in there. And I spoke to someone in line for the panel outside the room who said he spoke with the panelist waiting outside the room. According to him, the panelist was doing another panel in the same room as the panel I wanted to attend. So please, please- consistency!

And this complaint I'll direct at photoshoots although I vented and ranted to a staff member already (if I was too harsh, I apologize) after the incident. When a photoshoot gets moved to a different location, please please please have the group WAIT until the time of the actual photoshoot is supposed to begin to have everyone move rather than move everyone over 5 minutes before everything is supposed to start. If this isn't possible, at least have someone stand at the originally scheduled place or have signs up saying that the location has been changed with a new location posted. If there is a change in location, please DELAY the shoot so everyone gets a chance to get to the new location. This is what occurred at the Vocaloid shoot on Saturday, where a staff member had the entire group move from the loading docks area (originally scheduled location of the shoot) to the lobby right outside the dealer's room at the Convention Center around 5-8 minutes before 2:30, when the shoot was supposed to begin. I got there at 2:25 or so along with at least 15 more people and heard through other con attendees that the shoot had changed locations. We didn't get to the shoot until around 2:40 and the shoot was already over 2/3 completed.

Now, I will admit that part of the 2nd complaint was the group leader's fault- and since I didn't hear the exact conversation of what went on, I direct my frustration at whoever decided to have the move occur before the shoot began and did not officially inform some of the on-time participants of the change. Also, I direct my frustration at the individual who decided to have the shoot start without realizing that there would be people who wouldn't know of the change and then decided to still have the shoot end as scheduled. You disappoint me.

Didn't have any awful experiences with IRT staff myself.

Fire alarm- I can now say I've been to a con where this occurred. Photoshoots that I wanted to attend still ran on time, but I cringe at the Masquerade being cancelled.

[Lina]

Another gripe I had was IRT checking badges when LEAVING the Exhibit Hall. Why the heck did they need to check our badges when leaving? We had them when we came in, we are more than likely to have them when we leave. All it did was cause congestion.

[kenkendazo]

Lina, on 29 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

Another gripe I had was IRT checking badges when LEAVING the Exhibit Hall. Why the heck did they need to check our badges when leaving? We had them when we came in, we are more than likely to have them when we leave. All it did was cause congestion.

I could not figure this one out either.

[HiroEcks]

I never got checked while exiting the exhibit. Maybe it was just one of the particular doors?

[Lina]

HiroEcks, on 29 April 2012 - 10:26 PM, said:

I never got checked while exiting the exhibit. Maybe it was just one of the particular doors?

It was the doors at the Expoteria.

This post has been edited by Lina: 29 April 2012 - 10:28 PM

[Perfumer Ko]

Lina, on 29 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

Another gripe I had was IRT checking badges when LEAVING the Exhibit Hall. Why the heck did they need to check our badges when leaving? We had them when we came in, we are more than likely to have them when we leave. All it did was cause congestion.

A million times this. ^ I was really surprised when this happened. :S Why do we need badges to leave? Even if someone got in without a badge in the first place, what was IRT going to do? Take the badge away that they didn't have...? Plus... yeah... congestion... Those doors were stupidly crowded at all times.

[HiroEcks]

Ah, I was always exiting out the front probably why I never experienced that.

I think biggest thing that I notice from last year and also this year is lack of managing the sidewalks outside the Hyatt leading out towards River rd. Most of the time you were forced to walk onto the street but I suppose that also stems from people not understanding how single file works. However, it's fun when you get yelled at for stepping off the sidewalk or out of that small coned area.

[Smokey]

Lina, on 29 April 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

Another gripe I had was IRT checking badges when LEAVING the Exhibit Hall. Why the heck did they need to check our badges when leaving? We had them when we came in, we are more than likely to have them when we leave. All it did was cause congestion.

They may have been searching for someone. We had a couple of families with Autistic children who had a tendency to wander off.

[Lina]

Smokey, on 29 April 2012 - 10:31 PM, said:

They may have been searching for someone. We had a couple of families with Autistic children who had a tendency to wander off.

That could very well be it, but I doubt that is the reason because they weren't checking very hard. They just looked at the badge (not looking for a name or anything like that) and let people go through.

This post has been edited by Lina: 29 April 2012 - 10:33 PM

[Perfumer Ko]

Smokey, on 29 April 2012 - 10:31 PM, said:

They may have been searching for someone. We had a couple of families with Autistic children who had a tendency to wander off.

But I wasn't a child wandering off, so why would they check me...? I'm an adult (and I certainly don't look like a child by any stretch of the imagination..) so I don't really think that was the case. I mean, yeah, that makes sense, but why was in necessary to check even adults if that was the reasoning?

[Lina]

Perfumer Ko, on 29 April 2012 - 10:36 PM, said:

But I wasn't a child wandering off, so why would they check me...? I'm an adult (and I certainly don't look like a child by any stretch of the imagination..) so I don't really think that was the case. I mean, yeah, that makes sense, but why was in necessary to check even adults if that was the reasoning?

Agreed! I don't look like a child so why should my badge be checked?

[Ashori]

Lina, on 29 April 2012 - 10:27 PM, said:

It was the doors at the Expoteria.

They've done that pretty much every year I've gone and used that exit. It never did make sense to me.
Although I never really complain about it since I figure, in this case, IRT is just doing their job and just let it go. Pretty much treated it like going past the door greeters at Walmart: take the few seconds to stop, show the badge, and move on. XD

[linlindesu]

Ashori, on 29 April 2012 - 10:51 PM, said:

They've done that pretty much every year I've gone and used that exit. It never did make sense to me.
Although I never really complain about it since I figure, in this case, IRT is just doing their job and just let it go. Pretty much treated it like going past the door greeters at Walmart: take the few seconds to stop, show the badge, and move on. XD

I didn't really care but a few people in front of me looked very angry. This is the first year I remember badge checks going in that direction, was a little strange.

[Smokey]

I only mentioned that as a possibility, I never said that was definitely the case. One of those children was in her 20's. You can't know everything about someone just by looking at them, or reading their posts, but if they get instructions to look for a white female (again, this is just an example,) named Bealzabub, a quick glance at a badge can be sufficient.

As for the use of the term "child", I'm an old fart. To me, you're a child even if you're in your 30's.

[AndrewSP]

sailormoon846212, on 29 April 2012 - 04:53 PM, said:

Also there was this other panel "Tea Cups and Puzzles: A Professor Layton Panel" that was scheduled for Saturday that I wanted to see, but was not actually happening and had me all confused, cause i took the time to see this panel and it ruined my day of planning. Please Acen all I ask is that the schedule be matched and corresponds correctly throughout the whole book.

As a co-panelist for that panel, I can explain what happened there. When ACen came out with the "Final" schedule, they made some major scheduling conflicts with our head panelist, and fixing that caused "Top Hats, Tea and Puzzles" to move to Friday at 11am. I'm really sorry you ended up missing it. It's amazing how much the schedule had to change between the program book's printing and the convention.

On that note, a big gripe I have is actually about the Hyatt failing to unlock the DaVinci room before the panel was supposed to start. Props to ACen staff for their help in getting our panel up and running in another room, despite it being a half-hour late.

[Soy Sauce]

Can someone tell me the logic of badge checks when leaving the dealer's room? They were doing that by the restaurant exit.

[Jadante]

Soy Sauce, on 29 April 2012 - 11:16 PM, said:

Can someone tell me the logic of badge checks when leaving the dealer's room? They were doing that by the restaurant exit.

Smokey, on 29 April 2012 - 10:31 PM, said:

They may have been searching for someone. We had a couple of families with Autistic children who had a tendency to wander off.

[kenkendazo]

Jadante, on 29 April 2012 - 11:32 PM, said:

I don't feel that was the case. When I was there, they were just checking to make sure you had a badge.

[chompzie]

I exited and entered the dealer's room from that entrance the whole weekend and my badge never got checked once while leaving (and I left quite a few times)... maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones? It doesn't seem like such a big deal to me, it takes a second to flip your badge around and show people. I never noticed any congestion in that area that was any worse than any other area with high traffic.

[linlindesu]

chompzie, on 29 April 2012 - 11:46 PM, said:

I exited and entered the dealer's room from that entrance the whole weekend and my badge never got checked once while leaving (and I left quite a few times)... maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones? It doesn't seem like such a big deal to me, it takes a second to flip your badge around and show people. I never noticed any congestion in that area that was any worse than any other area with high traffic.

unless you are a cosplayer that puts your badge away after showing it ;o

[solanis]

The indie lolita fashion show was given a panel room that was WAY too small. The line for the show snaked all the way from the door down through the hall and to the escalators. Literally hundreds of people were turned away because the panel room was so small. Next year, the show needs a MUCH bigger room!

This post has been edited by solanis: 29 April 2012 - 11:56 PM