[MH121]

"The Masquerade is one of our premier events at ACen!" This is from ACen's own Guidebook description.

"The purpose of the Midwest Animation Promotion Society is to promote the development of the animation industry in North America and to further the appreciation of anime and manga as valid art forms. The secondary purpose of the Midwest Animation Promotion Society is to educate people about Asian culture and traditions." This is from Midwest Animation Promotion Society's own web site.

Obviously, not premier or anime/manga enough to be cut short by a non-anime/manga related rave event.

I hate to be griping in one of the first posts I do here where I have been lurking for a while. But, the decision to cut the Masquerade short this year is just so ridiculously comical that it warrants this babbling.

First of all, I wish to say that the Masquerade Staff is SPECTACULAR! I have never seen a more professional, caring, and polite Masquerade Staff in any of my convention going years, from smaller cons to larger ones like Dragon*Con. You guys worked so hard throughout the year to prepare for this one event, and the clueless people pretty much pulled the rug out from under you and left you to crowd. If the decision makers had any backbone, they should have accompanied you to the Green Room that night to break the news to all the skit cosplayers. Instead, they hide behind their curtains in some unknown locale, speaking into their earpieces, and let you face the crowd of crushed cosplayers.

What is ACen? a rave party with anime/manga in name only? Like someone mentioned in another post, a Japanese musical guest from Friday was delayed for two hours, and we cannot delay a rave Saturday night? A rave in which there is no anime/manga theme whatsoever? Instead, let us trump Masquerade, where people have worked for weeks, if not months for, spending money and swear equity, practicing over and over again, so that we can entertain the crowd properly. And, then you just cancelled it so that a rave can start on time (when everything else on Friday and Saturday has been delayed left and right).

Sure, the fire alarm did not help. But, that is not an excuse.

For most part, masquerades at most cons, at least the ones I have been to, usually do run over its allocated time. It's an event with a lot of variables and hard to control. But, NO ONE anywhere else cut their masquerade short just so that a rave can start on time. This is simply amazing, bordering on comical. It's like the beginning of a bad joke.

Sure, not everyone goes to Masquerade at a con. Some people think it's a waste of time. A panel may get cancelled here and there. But, nowhere else in a convention where you have participants who have spent weeks/months on costumes and skits so they can entertain a crowd, only to be told in the last minute that they're not important enough to continue, but instead, some rave has to start on time. Again, when almost everything else in that Hyatt Grand Ballroom had started late in one way or another throughout Friday and Saturday. The decision is totally insane.

So, based on what others had experienced at Crystal Ball and what people experienced at Masquerade, one thing is certain. This is no longer an anime/manga convention. It's place where people come to party, get drunk, and try to pick up underage girls.

This post has been edited by MH121: 30 April 2012 - 07:04 AM

[Ramza Beoulve]

I waited in line 2 hours to get into the Masquerade, with my friends. We finally get seated, they roll the cameras around a little and then we have to be evacuated because the fire alarm went off. Then they cut it short? Really, they screwed up this year. If there wasn't any kind of fire I would have the culprit flogged and marched down River Road in stocks. We didn't even bother going back to the Masquerade.

[Iris]

I don't even GO to the masquerade anymore, but when I heard that this happened I was both really ridiculously surprised and dissapointed for the participants. I understand stuff happens, things get delayed or moved, but like MH121 said the masquerade is a CORE part of like... every anime convention I've ever known. I always hear people chatting about the Acen Masquerade afterwards, and I used to know people who got all excited to participate in it.

If I had spent hours of my time, lots of my money, and gotten all prepared to compete and perform I would have been absolutely devastated. Like tears of frusteration and unfairness and it ruining my entire con experience for the year.

I know a lot of people like the dances, but I very much agree. Anime/Manga/Cosplay/Japanese cultural events should always trump the less related programming.

[Mullenkamp]

This is the first year since 2005 I haven't been in ACen's masq in some capacity (health problems, or I would've kept the streak going), and finding out about this makes me all the more determined to be a part of it next year.

I've seen the masq staff, every year, work their butts off trying to make it a great experience for the participants and the audience. And so many times I've seen them running around frazzled and tearing their hair out because someone NOT INVOLVED with the masquerade decided to go over their heads and make decrees that such-and-such is more important/cool and the masquerade has to just suck it up.

This does not fly. As a cosplayer who has been helped tremendously and treated very well by the masq staff year after year - I stand with them. And if there's anything me or my group can do - giving feedback on how much the masq means to us, I don't know - to help the higher-ups get a clue and recognize that this is VERY IMPORTANT to many people, so that they'll stop jerking the masq staff around and interfering? Please let me know.

[magishine]

In my opinion, I would have just started the rave later and let the Masquerade go on. The rave is suppose to go till 4am anyway. What's wrong if it starts later? But Acen better make good on it's promise that next year's Masquerade will be bigger and better.

[OtakuAngelD]

This. Very much this.

I, for one, know a great many cosplayers that were IN the Masq and were greatly crushed and disappointed by the fact that all their hard work was for basically nothing. It is very very sad to know that ACen or perhaps the powers that be behind the scenes did not let the show go on as planned.

This is an Anime Convention. Cosplay and masquerade are a staple of such a con. To toss it away because they want to start a rave on time is an insult to every cosplayer out there. What this says to a veterin ACen attendee is this: Our non-anime related event is more important to us then your anime related event. This should not be this way. Ever.

As for a solution, I don't know how this can be fixed. I suppose one way would be to become Time Nazis about every event. So many things went over time that the Masq started late. End things when they are supposed to end. Start things when they are supposed to start. So what if the event/band/guest before wants to do an extra set, answer more questions, etc. There is a schedule. Stick to it.

[Jadante]

I agree with all of this whole-heartedly. The Masquerade is one of the core parts of ACen, and as a celebration of anime and manga, I feel that it is absolutely ridiculous to cut short what I (and I'm sure many other) consider to be the centrepiece of ACen. There is no other time during the year that I can be with such a large group of people and feel such a strong sense of community, and celebration of nerd-dom, and the people who worked hard on their skits and costumes deserve all the time that they can to showcase what they have worked so hard to prepare.

I don't know his name, but the guy who had to announce to the crowd that skits were cancelled and looked/sounded like he was going to cry absolutely broke my heart. I think he was as crushed as the rest of us, and for what? So a non-anime rave can go at an /anime/ convention?

I just really, really hope this doesn't happen again next year, because the Masqueraders, the hosts, and the planners deserve much more.

[MH121]

I know, as a parent, every life's obstacle can be turned into a life lesson for our kids.

But, try to tell that to a 9 years old, who loves to cosplay, who practiced her part over and over again for last few weeks, who participated in other con's masquerade with no issues and had extreme fun, and then being told she cannot go on the stage to do her skit because, well, some drunk people want to dance and party the night away. She took a nap that afternoon when she wanted to go run around. We wanted her rested as we know it will be a long night. She sat there in the Green Room patiently waiting with the rest of us. And then, wham, nothing.

Great way to keep a kid interested in the next generation to anime and manga. All she wanted was to get on the stage and make people smile, laugh, and happy.

[Washu Takahashi]

I've never even been to Acen's masquerade because of the long lines and wait time, but I have been to them at other cons. I'm really sorry for everyone who worked so hard for nothing :/ The fact that the rave trumped the masq blows my mind. I don't go to either of those events because the lines, but if I had to pick one it'd be the masq where I could admire other's cosplay and get a good laugh. That's really disappointing.

And I don't know what you've heard about the Crystal Ball, but it went fabulously as far as I was concerned. I didn't really like that they were serving alcohol, but maybe if I was 21 instead of 20 I wouldn't have minded haha. They put a cap on the amount of drinks you could buy, and I only saw one girl who was actually drunk, and even then she wasn't falling over herself drunk, she was just talking funny and not walking completely straight drunk. It was a great time though.

[MH121]

Washu Takahashi, on 30 April 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

I've never even been to Acen's masquerade because of the long lines and wait time, but I have been to them at other cons. I'm really sorry for everyone who worked so hard for nothing :/ The fact that the rave trumped the masq blows my mind. I don't go to either of those events because the lines, but if I had to pick one it'd be the masq where I could admire other's cosplay and get a good laugh. That's really disappointing.

And I don't know what you've heard about the Crystal Ball, but it went fabulously as far as I was concerned. I didn't really like that they were serving alcohol, but maybe if I was 21 instead of 20 I wouldn't have minded haha. They put a cap on the amount of drinks you could buy, and I only saw one girl who was actually drunk, and even then she wasn't falling over herself drunk, she was just talking funny and not walking completely straight drunk. It was a great time though.

I was just reading some post from other people, not from my personal experience with Crystal Ball. I am sure some people had good time and some didn't. This would be for every event. But, at least the event happened Glad you enjoyed it though!

[Lina]

It's obvious the rave is much more important. They pushed to start it on time, and it did and they even EXTENDED it to 5:30am! I am so disappointed in ACen. They need to get their priorities straight.

[Lunarex]

I participated in the Masquerade for the first time ever this year, and I was really sad when the skits couldn't go. I saw everyone backstage working and getting ready, and all the staff organizing everything after the fire drill. (I loved the fire theme though) I get really sad now thinking about how everyone must've worked so hard on the skits and couldn't even perform them. Just for a party that lasted to the wee hours of the morning. I am going to come back next year though, because I had fun with it being my first year and all and I made a couple friend.

Everyone who was at the feedback panel, get your soap sock ready.:0

[kotomichi]

Man, oh, man. I feel for you guys. I avoid all big crowd events so I wasn't going to go to the Masq anyways (couldn't anyways...had an emergency call at work and had to leave Saturday night) but I roomed with someone who came in from DC to participate in the Masquerade.

[Grimby]

Speaking as someone who has never been interested in the masquerade (yet attended ACen's rave last year---NEVER AGAIN) I have to say I am astonished to find out that the masquerade was cut short. While I understand that there was the fire alarm fiasco and that any decision would have gotten bad feedback, I think that because the rave goes so long already that it wouldn't have hurt anyone to let the masquerade continue.

I can't even imagine how hard people work on costumes, writing scrips, practicing, etc... And to have their opportunity to shine taken away from them had to be heartbreaking. The rave, on the other hand, takes no preparation or time/effort... and delaying it would have not stopped anyone from still going to dance. Even if the rave was delayed for two hours... There would still be plenty of time for people to get their dance on, especially if the hours were extended to 5:30.

I know it must have been a tough call to make... (I'm sure if the masquerade had continued on, we would see ravers on here complaining about it cutting into their timeslot) But when it comes down to it, priority should be given to events that 1.) Actually pertain to anime/manga/Japanese culture, and 2.) Events that take a lot of time, effort, and skill to prepare for.

I really hope that everyone who did not get a chance to preform in the masquerade this year will come back to give it a shot next year. My heart goes out to those who didn't get a chance to show off their hard work.

[flyingcabbit]

Thank you to the person who started this thread and beat me to it, because this was the last straw for me.

I have attended this convention since 1999 and blown a few thousand dollars on it, and in my heart I'm pretty sure I'm not coming back next year unless there is truly some spectacular guest that I am dying to see.

The masquerade was the epitome of the clusterscrew that was this whole weekend when it came to programming and just showed how little Anime Central is about anime anymore. One, main programming was consistently running behind at least two hours behind the whole weekend. Every event I lined up for or tried to get into was behind because of the one before it. Because once again, as lovely as some as the staff is, it's apparent that crap is still not together after 15 years. This of course led to the masquerade being late as well. An event that should have started at six.

You can lay blame on the fire alarm all you want, but that doesn't fix the lateness for all the other events this weekend.

But what really got me was the decision to shorten the masquerade for the Soap Bubble, which is imho and over blown, over hyped event that should have moved off site off the main hotel at least 3 yrs ago. And I have attended the Soap Bubble before, and it was fun, but it's a monster event that needs to be dealt with accordingly and keeping it in the hotel is not even safe anymore and cost more damage and aggro then I believe it's worth.

But to cut the masquerade for an event to start on time that is as the program book says. 7.5 hrs long. WTF?!?! So not only did you just disappoint everyone who waited for four hours to actually get in to see the masquerade and came back after the fire alarm, but also everyone who worked hard on their costumes and skits, and basically said Soap Bubble is more important.

And I know this was a hard decision for the DH for the masquerade and he did the best he could, those of us who where there could tell. But how flipping ignorant this decision was is beyond belief. Especially when the convention had two other dances already. The soap bubble could have waited. In fact staff could have been stacking the empty chairs while the skits where going on and running prep in the background. And I honestly feel that this decision isn't to blame on the DH solely but other higher up staff as well that lead to this decision.

And as for anyone who says, all cons have these kind of problems and etc etc. No, they don't. I have attended other conventions of all sorts and Acen is the only one I come back to that continues to have these problems year after year and makes excuses and feels like they never did anything wrong.

I am saddened by this, because many of my friends quit coming because these continuing problems and I always cheerleader-ed acen on to them, and was like "things are going to get better!" and I just can't do it anymore. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

This post has been edited by flyingcabbit: 01 May 2012 - 12:23 AM

[MH121]

I think the Masquerade DH, ADH, and Staff have 0% blame in this situation. The decision was made for them, as far as I can tell from my viewpoint in the green room.

It's really chicken of the decision makers to hide behind walkie talkies and send the Masquerade DH and his staff into the green room to tell us that the skits are cancelled. If they have any backbones, they should have accompanied the Masquerade DH and Staff into the green room and deliver the message themselves.

I wish I can say I will go back next year to support the Masquerade DH and his Staff. But, given that they canceled Masquerade this year for a rave, what is to say they will not do it again next year? Why spend all the time and money and energy to work on something when it can simply be waved away.

Heck, my group was even willing just to go to a small ball room and perform for a smaller group of people, if just to make couple people smile and laugh.

[Perfumer Ko]

Grimby, on 30 April 2012 - 10:39 AM, said:

The rave, on the other hand, takes no preparation or time/effort... and delaying it would have not stopped anyone from still going to dance. Even if the rave was delayed for two hours... There would still be plenty of time for people to get their dance on, especially if the hours were extended to 5:30.

I know it must have been a tough call to make... (I'm sure if the masquerade had continued on, we would see ravers on here complaining about it cutting into their timeslot) But when it comes down to it, priority should be given to events that 1.) Actually pertain to anime/manga/Japanese culture, and 2.) Events that take a lot of time, effort, and skill to prepare for.

I want to preface this by saying I totally agree that the masquerade shouldn't have been cut off. The masquerade is a huge event at ANY CON, and it's definitely way more relevant than the Soap Bubble when it comes to events at Acen..

But my hide is getting super chapped by these comments about how the Soap Bubble takes no time to prepare for... And it's not just this post, I've seen similar comments on other communities and groups of friends who are discussing the events of Saturday night at Acen.

The DJs and MCs for both Hardcore Synergy AND Soap Bubble put a ton of effort and time in to practicing their sets and preparing a great party for everyone at the con. I hurt a little for them when people say they're just run around wasting precious event time when these events really mean a lot to the people who organize them.

Like I said, it's a shame that the people who put so much effort over the last year in to their skits and costumes were let down, but let's not assume that other events don't put just as much effort and care in to their events too. It's really easy for someone to say "Oh well they just don't understand how hard we work~" when you don't think about how the other party feels too.

/end rant

This post has been edited by Perfumer Ko: 30 April 2012 - 01:04 PM

[Grimby]

Perfumer Ko, on 30 April 2012 - 01:03 PM, said:

I want to preface this by saying I totally agree that the masquerade shouldn't have been cut off. The masquerade is a huge event at ANY CON, and it's definitely way more relevant than the Soap Bubble when it comes to events at Acen..

But my hide is getting super chapped by these comments about how the Soap Bubble takes no time to prepare for... And it's not just this post, I've seen similar comments on other communities and groups of friends who are discussing the events of Saturday night at Acen.

The DJs and MCs for both Hardcore Synergy AND Soap Bubble put a ton of effort and time in to practicing their sets and preparing a great party for everyone at the con. I hurt a little for them when people say they're just run around wasting precious event time when these events really mean a lot to the people who organize them.

Like I said, it's a shame that the people who put so much effort over the last year in to their skits and costumes were let down, but let's not assume that other events don't put just as much effort and care in to their events too. It's really easy for someone to say "Oh well they just don't understand how hard we work~" when you don't think about how the other party feels too.

/end rant

Sorry, it seems like I wasn't clear enough when I said that it takes a lot of prep... I was just talking about the attendees of the rave--not about the DJs or the people working on the setup/etc. I just meant that people in the masquerade generally put much more effort and time into it than people who wait in line at the rave, who only throw on rave attire... So I'm really sorry if what I said was misunderstood. I was strictly speaking in terms of the con-goers waiting in line for the rave, not any of the IRT/DJs/etc.

I completely understand that a lot of time goes into the music behind the rave--something many people take advantage of, and the entertainers would have been just as upset as everyone else if the rave were delayed.

That being said, there's a difference between simply delaying something and canceling it outright. If the rave were to be delayed it would be skimming off a couple hours, sure, but nothing would really be lost besides some patience. The masquerade on the other hand... Well, from what I can gather, many people didn't get to preform, which wouldn't have been the case had the rave just been delayed.

But, that's just my opinion.

[MH121]

We should not try to turn this into rave vs. masquerade. That's not where the problem is. Rave folks were not beating down the door to be let in. At least not what I saw when looking into the hallway.

The problem comes, from an outside observer's view point, is that whoever did the Hyatt Grand Ballroom did not do a good job and did not leave enough time in between events or even a slot of time in the middle of the day for overran events to catch up. For a normal sized panel room, maybe, but not a huge ball room where you may be trying to seat thousands of people at once. Also, Grand Ballroom typically hold top billing guests. So, those people may be delayed by previous events or have an extra longer Q&A session. As you may not want to offend your special guests, it's understandable you don't want to cut them short. This is where pre-planning and having a time slot in the middle of the day for the schedule to catch up helps, rather than waiting until the end of the day when you're hours behind schedule.

Then the final problem is whoever decided to tell the Masquerade DH that he has to cut the show short. That is simply a bad, bad call.

A friend warned me about Acen before we left and how he's not going. I just laughed it off and said every con has problems. I am a staff member at another anime con, though much smaller, and we have similar issues. But, I can't imagine ever cutting Masquerade short, even when it overran seriously into the dance party afterwards. I guess i should have listened to my friend.

[Perfumer Ko]

Grimby, on 30 April 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

Sorry, it seems like I wasn't clear enough when I said that it takes a lot of prep... I was just talking about the attendees of the rave--not about the DJs or the people working on the setup/etc. I just meant that people in the masquerade generally put much more effort and time into it than people who wait in line at the rave, who only throw on rave attire... So I'm really sorry if what I said was misunderstood. I was strictly speaking in terms of the con-goers waiting in line for the rave, not any of the IRT/DJs/etc.

I completely understand that a lot of time goes into the music behind the rave--something many people take advantage of, and the entertainers would have been just as upset as everyone else if the rave were delayed.

That being said, there's a difference between simply delaying something and canceling it outright. If the rave were to be delayed it would be skimming off a couple hours, sure, but nothing would really be lost besides some patience. The masquerade on the other hand... Well, from what I can gather, many people didn't get to preform, which wouldn't have been the case had the rave just been delayed.

But, that's just my opinion.

Oh well, yeah, definitely. There's way more con-goer participation and investment in the masquerade than Soap Bubble. Why it was cut, I'm not really sure, since the Soap Bubble did run a little later than it was scheduled. I'm seconding the idea that the masquerade and Soap Bubble be held in different ballrooms in the future...

[MH121]

The Masquerade DH, ADH and his staff are just a bunch of incredibly nice people put into a crappy situation by people who make questionable decisions.

http://www.youtube.c...=5&feature=plcp

This post has been edited by MH121: 30 April 2012 - 05:35 PM

[SprinklePuff]

I agree with everything you said.

[Mullenkamp]

MH121, on 30 April 2012 - 04:32 PM, said:

The Masquerade DH, ADH and his staff are just a bunch of incredibly nice people put into a crappy situation by people who makes questionable decisions.

http://www.youtube.c...=5&feature=plcp

...I'm not an emotional person, but that video makes me want to cry. What a awful thing to have dumped on them, and yet they're STILL thinking of the cosplayers backstage and trying to do what little they can to make it less awful for them. I love our masq staff. I really do.

[DaphHime]

I don't know how much I can say when it comes to this. But I agree that they totally dropped the ball on this one. Cancelling the masquerade in favor of a rave that goes into the wee hours of the night anyway just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't go to the masquerade this year but I was in it as a walk on a few years ago. I would have been devastated if something like this happened.

I still love the con and will continue to support it, but I don't think I like where this is going.

[ThatOneChick]

I just wanted you guys to know that my DH and myself are keeping track of this thread, we are just still really shaken up over what happened. We are going to make a big post in the next couple of days. Nothing either of us can say will take back what happened or convey how much it broke our hearts to break the news, but we feel you guys deserve way more than what you received.

[Ramza Beoulve]

Iris, on 30 April 2012 - 08:01 AM, said:

I don't even GO to the masquerade anymore, but when I heard that this happened I was both really ridiculously surprised and dissapointed for the participants. I understand stuff happens, things get delayed or moved, but like MH121 said the masquerade is a CORE part of like... every anime convention I've ever known. I always hear people chatting about the Acen Masquerade afterwards, and I used to know people who got all excited to participate in it.

If I had spent hours of my time, lots of my money, and gotten all prepared to compete and perform I would have been absolutely devastated. Like tears of frusteration and unfairness and it ruining my entire con experience for the year.

I know a lot of people like the dances, but I very much agree. Anime/Manga/Cosplay/Japanese cultural events should always trump the less related programming.

It was a pain for everyone. >_<

Mullenkamp, on 30 April 2012 - 08:42 AM, said:

This is the first year since 2005 I haven't been in ACen's masq in some capacity (health problems, or I would've kept the streak going), and finding out about this makes me all the more determined to be a part of it next year.

I've seen the masq staff, every year, work their butts off trying to make it a great experience for the participants and the audience. And so many times I've seen them running around frazzled and tearing their hair out because someone NOT INVOLVED with the masquerade decided to go over their heads and make decrees that such-and-such is more important/cool and the masquerade has to just suck it up.

This does not fly. As a cosplayer who has been helped tremendously and treated very well by the masq staff year after year - I stand with them. And if there's anything me or my group can do - giving feedback on how much the masq means to us, I don't know - to help the higher-ups get a clue and recognize that this is VERY IMPORTANT to many people, so that they'll stop jerking the masq staff around and interfering? Please let me know.

I dunno what I can do, but if you write up some demands I'll sign xD 'cause I haven't been to the masquerade in 3 years...so I was pretty pissed I didn't get to see it.

magishine, on 30 April 2012 - 08:51 AM, said:

In my opinion, I would have just started the rave later and let the Masquerade go on. The rave is suppose to go till 4am anyway. What's wrong if it starts later? But Acen better make good on it's promise that next year's Masquerade will be bigger and better.

Hell, the Dance usually lasts til like 8-9 AM on sunday...all the times I've been there. I usually dance for a few hours, go do some other stuff then go back when its less crowded and dance the rest of the night.

OtakuAngelD, on 30 April 2012 - 09:13 AM, said:

This. Very much this.

I, for one, know a great many cosplayers that were IN the Masq and were greatly crushed and disappointed by the fact that all their hard work was for basically nothing. It is very very sad to know that ACen or perhaps the powers that be behind the scenes did not let the show go on as planned.

This is an Anime Convention. Cosplay and masquerade are a staple of such a con. To toss it away because they want to start a rave on time is an insult to every cosplayer out there. What this says to a veterin ACen attendee is this: Our non-anime related event is more important to us then your anime related event. This should not be this way. Ever.

As for a solution, I don't know how this can be fixed. I suppose one way would be to become Time Nazis about every event. So many things went over time that the Masq started late. End things when they are supposed to end. Start things when they are supposed to start. So what if the event/band/guest before wants to do an extra set, answer more questions, etc. There is a schedule. Stick to it.

Yeah, that's another main issue. Lot of people got their acts cut short. *Hugs everyone* I dunno how much that helps, but hugs for everyone.

ThatOneChick, on 30 April 2012 - 05:49 PM, said:

I just wanted you guys to know that my DH and myself are keeping track of this thread, we are just still really shaken up over what happened. We are going to make a big post in the next couple of days. Nothing either of us can say will take back what happened or convey how much it broke our hearts to break the news, but we feel you guys deserve way more than what you received.

I don't think anyone really blames you guys. I hope they find out who pulled the alarm and tell them to get lost.

[MH121]

ThatOneChick, on 30 April 2012 - 05:49 PM, said:

I just wanted you guys to know that my DH and myself are keeping track of this thread, we are just still really shaken up over what happened. We are going to make a big post in the next couple of days. Nothing either of us can say will take back what happened or convey how much it broke our hearts to break the news, but we feel you guys deserve way more than what you received.

Thanks for all that you and DH and masquerade staff did that night. Our 9 years old asked again today "why did they cancel our cosplay?" I jokingly said that because she did not practice enough. She said casually "well, they could have just cancelled ours then." Then she bounces away to play. Kids. They bounce back quicker than us adults ....

[Ramza Beoulve]

MH121, on 30 April 2012 - 06:08 PM, said:

Thanks for all that you and DH and masquerade staff did that night. Our 9 years old asked again today "why did they cancel our cosplay?" I jokingly said that because she did not practice enough. She said casually "well, they could have just cancelled ours then." Then she bounces away to play. Kids. They bounce back quicker than us adults ....

d'aw XD yeah they do. That's why I never grew up ^^;

[Dark Spellmaster]

I feel so bad about this. While I didn't attend the masq this year, got sick and it was hard for me to be in crowded rooms. I really feel bad for the Heads. I only hope that in the future there is a way for such an event to not happen again. Maybe it's time to move the dances to another place? Like the Hilton's larger ballrooms?

[MomoKurumi]

I agree with trying to have two main programming rooms, the concert before the masquerade only had a 6th of the seating filled up anyways. It definitely could have been held/moved somewhere else if this event had been anticipated. Hindsight is 20/20 though...

There should be less events with longer breaks in between events in the Hyatt ballroom. By the time I got to the rave around midnight, there was no line to get in hardly, and was somewhat disappointed in the turnout. I mean, it was just a really big rave, not really living up to the hype that people make it out to be. There wasn't much to look at, and I was too tired to dance any, so I left after two songs. KollisionCon had probably 800 people at their rave and it was a heck of a lot cooler and more exciting. Even the ravers at Kollision put more effort into their glowstick and rave outfits than pretty much everyone at Soap Bubble. Aside from that, you guys are right. They both have just as much planning involved, but the masquerade is *actually* anime/manga related. Raves and dances are applicable to any con. You go, you wear glow sticks, you dance, you put up with drunk people and sexual harassment. Nothing against ravers, but the culture is so hedonistic that it is offensive to say that it is more important than a show of skill, passion, and dedication. So, really, nothing against raves, I always try to check them out, but cutting the masquerade short for the rave is like cutting breaking news of some horrible national disaster for a Justin Bieber concert.

I'm not that mad about it, but I wasn't the one running the show or doing a skit. I was a walk-on who waited patiently through all six hours. Despite it all I am glad I went, I had a blast, and my friends who didn't want to wait in the masquerade line admitted that they wish they would have gone since all the panels they went to filled up or were dumb anyways. In fact, I WILL be going back to ACen next year and I WILL be competing in the masquerade. I haven't lost my respect for ACen, but this is only my third year there. They really stubbed their toe, but I think with some thoughtful planning that it can be recovered and the bumps can be smoothed out for ACen 2013.