[Lina]

Alkaren Hyralt, on 04 May 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

I like how much people try to blame the dances for things. Room parties, drinking, etc? That's been around for a long time and the same things go down at every convention. That's just how cons seem to be heading these days as conventions and anime become more mainstream and a larger group of people come to them.

I'm also amused by how much people are talking about wanting the con to be more about anime yet say the masquerade needs to be the end all be all of saturday.

You all realize that cosplay isn't anime related right? It's part of japanese subculture just like lolita is.

You do realize that some people use anime as a general term for all the Japanese culture stuff, right? It's so much easier to type anime than type out anime, video games, fashion, etc.

[linlindesu]

Alkaren Hyralt, on 04 May 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

I like how much people try to blame the dances for things. Room parties, drinking, etc? That's been around for a long time and the same things go down at every convention. That's just how cons seem to be heading these days as conventions and anime become more mainstream and a larger group of people come to them.

I'm also amused by how much people are talking about wanting the con to be more about anime yet say the masquerade needs to be the end all be all of saturday.

You all realize that cosplay isn't anime related right? It's part of japanese subculture just like lolita is.

Now Alk I beg to differ sir.
Lolita (usually,minus adorable totoro girl) is not based off anime.
Cosplay ( again, usually, as this con also draws dr. who, ponies, homestuck, etc.) is based off anime series.
Now it might not be as direct of a connection as say, Anime Hell or the viewing rooms , but the Masquerade still has much more anime/manga influence than the Bubble.
But you know, Lolita totez has everything to do with anime and the dances clearly are just well disguised orgies. ( is orgies a PG-13 word? )
A lot of the people in here (besides myself) have not said anything against the amount of fashion guests this year.

Is there too much blame on the dances? Yes. I've copied and pasted the same rant in every thread that contains the phrase "why don't we just have 1 rave?".
And every convention does have a party aspect but this is getting to nuts. Having a good time is fine. Destroying things? Nearly Burning everyone in a 5 foot radius? Blocking off the whole area by main programming? Harassing anyone passing by?
There's a line that got crossed and to know there isn't much IRT can do about it is pretty unsettling.

[BakaBarbarian]

Alkaren Hyralt, on 04 May 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

I like how much people try to blame the dances for things. Room parties, drinking, etc? That's been around for a long time and the same things go down at every convention. That's just how cons seem to be heading these days as conventions and anime become more mainstream and a larger group of people come to them.

There's no way to eradicate the drinking, sure, but it beggars belief that someone could mistake what happens at ACEN for the level of drinking that goes down at other cons. Yes, most other cons are smaller. But there's something about them that encourages some sufficient personal responsibility that you don't have the degree of property destruction, mischief, young teens potentially making life-changing mistakes, people getting hurt, staff not calling police when necessary, people ignoring crime like people flagrantly abusing illegal substances, etc. I hesitate to say someone would be willfully blind to miss what a danger and what a poor "citizen" in Rosemont ACEN has become, because I've met blind people who would have no trouble spotting much of the trouble with the security situation at the con. Sorry, but I guess this is part of the "head buried in the sand" mentality I was referring to earlier.

[❤Mokyu❤]

Alkaren Hyralt, on 04 May 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

I like how much people try to blame the dances for things. Room parties, drinking, etc? That's been around for a long time and the same things go down at every convention. That's just how cons seem to be heading these days as conventions and anime become more mainstream and a larger group of people come to them.

I'm also amused by how much people are talking about wanting the con to be more about anime yet say the masquerade needs to be the end all be all of saturday.

You all realize that cosplay isn't anime related right? It's part of japanese subculture just like lolita is.

I don't see the other cons I attend heading in the same direction as Acen. Acen is significantly worse, and NOT just because it's larger (although that of course is a factor). Too many people come JUST for the raves to get drunk, high, and pick up girls. These people have NO interest in anime, so this has nothing to do with anime becoming more mainstream, in my honest opinion.

Cosplay, whether it be from anime or a video game, has a whole lot more to do with Japanese subculture than dubstep, which originated in the UK.

I find it extremely discouraging to read a comment like this from an Acen staff member.

This post has been edited by ❤Mokyu❤: 04 May 2012 - 10:25 AM

[Lina]

❤Mokyu❤, on 04 May 2012 - 10:24 AM, said:

I don't see the other cons I attend heading in the same direction as Acen. Acen is significantly worse, and NOT just because it's larger (although that of course is a factor). Too many people come JUST for the raves to get drunk, high, and pick up girls. These people have NO interest in anime, so this has nothing to do with anime becoming more mainstream, in my honest opinion.

Cosplay, whether it be from anime or a video game, has a whole lot more to do with Japanese subculture than dubstep, which originated in the UK.

I find it extremely discouraging to read a comment like this from an Acen staff member.

I second this.

They're just defending the Soap Bubble and don't realize how much of a problem it's becoming. To say that cons these days are becoming frat parties is just stupid. They aren't even discouraging the excessive drinking and parties. Only defending it. I'm fine with drinking, but to defend frat parties and drunks running around and acting like idiots is just nuts.

I go to quite a few cons. Many smaller, one much larger and there have been no problems with drunks and room parties.

[rondo]

I think I had a frat party next to me this year. Oiy, that singing and pounding. And those people tossing food on a lower roof for the seagulls.

[YoungBirdcall]

I'm just curious: how do you guys know that some of the people who come to ACen are just there to drink, and have no interest in anime, mango, or Japanese pop culture et al? Have you talked to people who've told you that? I'm genuinely curious here.

[Karmada]

YoungBirdcall, on 04 May 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

I'm just curious: how do you guys know that some of the people who come to ACen are just there to drink, and have no interest in anime, mango, or Japanese pop culture et al? Have you talked to people who've told you that? I'm genuinely curious here.

I know on my end (I'm usually in the Artists Alley), I overhear a lot of things.

And honest to goodness, I had a customer tell me that they was using their "I'm getting drunk money" to buy something from my booth. I appreciate the sale, but... yeah.

So yes, there ARE people who seem to come to ACEN with the intentions of getting hammered.

Whether or not it's soley for that, I can't really say for certain. I'm guessing they must like some part of the anime/Japanese culture to at least warrant looking in the dealer hall or coming to ACEN in general... (or maybe all their friends do and they just want to hang with them. I don't know)

EDIT: Whoever that customer was, I hope they at least drank safely and did not injure themselves. I'm not a drinker, but I can at least hope people will do it safely and with friends or assistance should they choose to drink (heavily).

This post has been edited by Karmada: 04 May 2012 - 11:15 AM

[YoungBirdcall]

Karmada, on 04 May 2012 - 11:13 AM, said:

I know on my end (I'm usually in the Artists Alley), I overhear a lot of things.

And honest to goodness, I had a customer tell me that they was using their "I'm getting drunk money" to buy something from my booth. I appreciate the sale, but... yeah.

So yes, there ARE people who seem to come to ACEN with the intentions of getting hammered.

Whether or not it's soley for that, I can't really say for certain. I'm guessing they must like some part of the anime/Japanese culture to at least warrant looking in the dealer hall or coming to ACEN in general... (or maybe all their friends do and they just want to hang with them. I don't know)

EDIT: Whoever that customer was, I hope they at least drank safely and did not injure themselves. I'm not a drinker, but I can at least hope people will do it safely and with friends or assistance should they choose to drink (heavily).

Right, I get that there are people who come to ACen with the intention of getting drunk, but my question remains: have any of you had an interaction with a person who made it clear to you that they were only at ACen for drinking, and had zero interest in anime, manga, and/or Japanese pop culture?

[❤Mokyu❤]

YoungBirdcall, on 04 May 2012 - 11:16 AM, said:

Right, I get that there are people who come to ACen with the intention of getting drunk, but my question remains: have any of you had an interaction with a person who made it clear to you that they were only at ACen for drinking, and had zero interest in anime, manga, and/or Japanese pop culture?

Some loser tried to buy my badge outside when I was walking back to my hotel after asking if the "party" was tonight or tomorrow (this was Friday). He didn't even know the name of the convention.

[YoungBirdcall]

❤Mokyu❤, on 04 May 2012 - 11:24 AM, said:

Some loser tried to buy my badge outside when I was walking back to my hotel after asking if the "party" was tonight or tomorrow (this was Friday). He didn't even know the name of the convention.

I'm sorry that this happened to you. I wonder if something could be done about people roaming the convention center area at night without badges, as in this person's case? I guess that the cops couldn't be involved, because the person could be just randomly staying in the hotel or whatever (not that I think this guy was; I'm just speaking hypothetically). Maybe have I.R.T. making sure that everyone walking around has a badge? But again, they could be a guest of one of the hotels. I'm not sure what can be done about people such as this person who accosted you. Again, sorry that you had to deal with that.

[Agatha]

❤Mokyu❤, on 04 May 2012 - 11:24 AM, said:

Some loser tried to buy my badge outside when I was walking back to my hotel after asking if the "party" was tonight or tomorrow (this was Friday). He didn't even know the name of the convention.

Same thing happened to me! He wasn't offering very much for it; I wonder if he got any takers...? XD

[Dark Spellmaster]

I think one thing that could be done is to pretty much find a way to reward good behavior and block people from coming for the "Parties". Make it that you can't advertise room parties here, tone down the bubble. Best bet, limit the age of the people allowed in and the number. Also you can have it where the Bubble only happens once every other year or something like that. This way it's a reward if people do well and focus on the Hardcore. Less ads on the raves more on the other events. For example since we had the VGO around sypmphoney center there could have been ads based on the musical guests, or focus on other aspects of the con, the sellers, the alley, etc.

[Bard-kun]

I don't think we could go down to 1 rave--people would raise hell. But I definitely think you could put one or both in another hotel. The Embassy's got a ballroom, right? Or hell, charge for tickets, cut down on some of the people coming to the con just to hit the raves and get F-ed up. I definitely think Anime Hell, Midnight Madness, and even The Masquerade have lost ground to these dances. Not a fan of that.

I don't think room parties are really the underlying problem. I've been coming to the con since 2001 and the room parties didn't seem to be an issue until a couple years ago. The problem is when room parties spill into hallways, stoned kids stumble out of raves, and of course, the fact that once you reach 15,000 people and a third of them are drunk, it's just harder to keep it all quiet and respectful.

[davebb]

Well from the EMRT standpoint, I don't understand why people get so drunk out of their minds. After we hand them over to Rosemont EMS, they will be waking up the next day usually in the hospital, probably with an IV if they needed fluids because they vomited all their fluids out, and depending on how they handle alcohol could be alcohol poisoning also. So their bill just increased a lot between the ambulance ride and the hospital visit. I don't mind people drinking and having a good time, but to the point of not knowing where you are, the day or time, or the contact number of your friends, it isn't worth it. Maybe because I don't really drink is why I don't get this concept of getting smashed at Acen. I rather be aware and remember my experience and have fun, which is what I did before I "sold my soul" as a staff member with EMRT. But I still have a good time when I go.

[The Archfiend]

Alkaren Hyralt, on 04 May 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

I like how much people try to blame the dances for things. Room parties, drinking, etc? That's been around for a long time and the same things go down at every convention. That's just how cons seem to be heading these days as conventions and anime become more mainstream and a larger group of people come to them.

I'll sound off from the SF/anime convention geezer end of things, here; room parties and drinking have been around for such a long time that I can remember going to them since the late 80's. It has very little to do with how cons seem to be heading "these days"; it's just that Acen doesn't have a room party block, even though one is badly needed.

As stated elsewhere, the main issue is that Acen is a much larger con than most. If there were a party room block, expect it to get filled up quick.

[The Archfiend]

BakaBarbarian, on 04 May 2012 - 10:23 AM, said:

There's no way to eradicate the drinking, sure, but it beggars belief that someone could mistake what happens at ACEN for the level of drinking that goes down at other cons.

Everybody who drinks has a crap moment or two, especially when they're younger. Thing is, there's just too many ways you can get into deep, deep trouble at Acen after you succeed in getting completely 'faced, both due to the size of the crowd and the area that the con's now spread over.

[The Archfiend]

Xantar, on 03 May 2012 - 08:16 PM, said:

Honestly if you want to have a more anime and friendly event get rid of Soap Bubble. At least Hardcore Synergy deals with Japanese culture and has people from Japan. Soap Bubble is just some dudes from the area playing dubstep.

...or at least reschedule the damn thing so that other, more anime-related events (Masquerade, anyone?) don't threaten to run on into their start time.

[Dark Spellmaster]

Could there be a way of curbing the drinking? I know you can't have a dry con, but maybe limit the drinks. Like for example, make it against the rules for drinks to be let in, and check the contents of people coming in to see if they're trying to sneak in booze. Another thing is put a cap on the number of people allowed in the rave. Lets say the ballroom holds like 15000 people, you put a cap on at 14000 and that's it. Once the room hit that number then until half or more then half have departed, then more can go in. Hopefully this will detour those that would want to just get in for the rave.

[arina_shirakawa]

Alkaren Hyralt, on 04 May 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

I like how much people try to blame the dances for things. Room parties, drinking, etc? That's been around for a long time and the same things go down at every convention. That's just how cons seem to be heading these days as conventions and anime become more mainstream and a larger group of people come to them.

I don't agree with the statement that bigger cons are heading towards that direction. Do cons have parties? Yes they do and of course the more the merrier. But the problem is, you have all these kids who are under 21 who are using ACen as an excuse to drink and do whatever they want (trashing the place, hooking up with random people etc). Just admit it, we all know for a fact that underage drinking and reckless behavior has been going on for years, and it seems to have gotten worse for the past few years at ACen. It's one thing to let kids be held responsible for whatever they are doing, but it's another thing when ACen has to make a moral decision of whether they should curtail this behavior.

If you're 21+, you are free to drink and engage any activity as you wish as long as you don't harm anyone and abide by the law. But if you are under 21+, please behave yourself and don't ruin ACen's reputation.

[Mullenkamp]

Bard-kun, on 04 May 2012 - 02:02 PM, said:

I don't think we could go down to 1 rave--people would raise hell. But I definitely think you could put one or both in another hotel. The Embassy's got a ballroom, right? Or hell, charge for tickets, cut down on some of the people coming to the con just to hit the raves and get F-ed up. I definitely think Anime Hell, Midnight Madness, and even The Masquerade have lost ground to these dances. Not a fan of that.

I don't think room parties are really the underlying problem. I've been coming to the con since 2001 and the room parties didn't seem to be an issue until a couple years ago. The problem is when room parties spill into hallways, stoned kids stumble out of raves, and of course, the fact that once you reach 15,000 people and a third of them are drunk, it's just harder to keep it all quiet and respectful.

This, exactly. I remember room parties going on my first year at ACen, in 2003. In 2004, a bunch of my friends came and had a room party themselves - after spending the day taking in the convention, and they kept their drinking in their room, no matter how drunk anyone got (and some of them were pretty drunk). This year, a couple of my friends went with the intention of spending pretty much all their evenings drunk - but they kept their drunkenness to themselves, did not do anything gross or obscene in public, and were not nuisances to staff or other congoers. Room parties and people who individually choose to get drunk with their friends in the context of winding down after enjoying a day at the con are not what's causing the problem.

Not that the raves are either, in themselves, but the raves seem to have become an environment (from what others have said - the lines have been too long for me to want to go for years, and the couple of times before that that I stuck my head in, it was also full of drunk people and perverts - just presumably less of them) where it's apparently acceptable and normal to be so drunk/stoned you can hardly walk, and show it off in public. Long as you can still weave back and forth to the music, eh? If there was a way to keep the raves at least at a reasonable level of drunkenness, where people were kicked out for being obviously intoxicated or the like, I suspect that would help a great deal with many of the problems the convention has been facing over the last few years.

It also might mean a few less people come. But I'm a big believer in quality over quantity.

[rondo]

Dark Spellmaster, on 04 May 2012 - 03:05 PM, said:

Could there be a way of curbing the drinking? I know you can't have a dry con, but maybe limit the drinks. Like for example, make it against the rules for drinks to be let in, and check the contents of people coming in to see if they're trying to sneak in booze.

Limit drinks brought into an event (rave) or the con itself? If the con (which has to include the hotels), I'd say that is pretty much impossible.

This post has been edited by rondo: 04 May 2012 - 03:18 PM

[Dark Spellmaster]

Again maybe a stamp or band system. Rave goers show their ideas, and if they have an id that's under 21 they are barred from the rave and are given a bright colored band. Those that are of age get a darker colored band. Or again the hand stamps. You're not 21 or older, no stamp no entry. Simple and clean to deal with and get stamps that people can't copy.

[Dark Spellmaster]

rondo, on 04 May 2012 - 03:18 PM, said:

Limit drinks brought into an event (rave) or the con itself? If the con (which has to include the hotels), I'd say that is pretty much impossible.

Maybe not so much, two years ago my friend and I came in on thursday to pick up our badges and saw that a guy was hauling a keg in. I don't know if he actually got it into the hotel, but that much booze. What I'm thinking is that if someone on the forum mentions having a party in their room, the mods can write it down then check to see who that person's badge is, and when they come check to see how much booze they're bringing and keep an eye on that room and party.

For the rave, no booze at all, and a pat down before they come in? This way it can keep the drunks limited, and if you smell or seem drunk before you come in, then you don't get to come in at all?

[❤Mokyu❤]

A KEG? Are you kidding me? Geeze...

[Dark Spellmaster]

Nope, he came in lugging a keg and a six pack of bottles of beer on his shoulder. No idea if he got in or not, but he was headed for the hotel. I'm sure in this case they didn't let him in, but still. Not a good thing to have kegs being lugged in, this isn't a booze convention. There are those, and some are a big as Acen.

[STVO]

Look, I know that drunk/high people are a problem and yes maybe they should all step back and realize hey let's cool it a bit and yeah there are jerks that go to the Soap Bubble, but you know what? Not every con is safe. I won't name names, but a friend of mine told me at Kollision Con (a con I like and many many of you guys are praising here) told me had a get-together in his room adn there was a guy that came in and was wasted being mean and rude to everyone. He also told me this guy started punching hotel walls and was arrested later that night for doing so.

While this may be a small incident in compared to more of the ones that happen at ACen (and who knows, *I* only heard one story from Kollision, maybe there's more!), to say ACen is the only place that attracts this kind of rowdy crowd is kind of silly.

I don't think they're going to limit how much drinks are brought into the convention and let's keep in mind, the Soap Bubble doesn't allow bags let alone alcohol into the event, so it's pretty obvious most people are drinking and getting high before the event. Also, I don't think Red Bar or The O'H Grill is going to stop selling alcohol just because ACen is there, there's people not attending ACen also there too.

While I know it's hard, I think ACen should figure out someway to give the kids 11-17 their own dance event and then the 18+ (I say 18+ and not 17+ because 17 isn't the age of an adult, it's my personal opinion though.) Sure the kids will complain, but hey, lots of people have raised concern of underage drinking and other problems. I'm all for that being enforced. Will it eliminate the problem entirely? No. Could it reduce it? I think it's entirely possible.

I know people will argue it until the end of time that Soap Bubble/Hardcore Synergy should be eliminated. Personally I don't think it ever will happen and people can either avoid it or just not go. I am all for them adding restrictions and regulations to the event as going back to the "family friendly event" argument, I agree that it is complete BS for most part that ACen is "family friendly" as well as "the Soap bubble." Personally when it hits night time, if it's possible I'd say, make one big dance for adults either 18 or 21+, have another one geared towards the kids (maybe the kids one in the Hyatt and the Adults' one in Embassy or wherever). They can either have both events one night only or have it two nights, I don't care either way personally, I just don't think dances should be eliminated.

Going back to the original topic of "It's not an anime con anymore", I still highly disagree with that statement. Sure it's not 100% anime but I feel there are plenty panels, photoshoots, video rooms, etc. featuring anime that they don't completely devoid you of it. As for people in cosplay, going back once again, there's lots of anime cosplay! Sure some think outside the box and go as something from a show/movie no one else would think of(or some think alike others and go as Storm Troopers, ;D). To me it would be like saying you can't do an FMA or Death Note cosplay at Wizard World or C2E2 because it's anime and it shouldn't be allowed at comic cons, that's just silly. Me personally, I'll admit I feel I have been doing more American cosplays than anime/Japanese video games in the recent years and have decided to at least make one anime cosplay for next year's event!

The day we see Virgil and The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase set for Anime Central, then okay, we can officially say this convention is just another Wizard World and C2E2. LOL

This post has been edited by STVO: 04 May 2012 - 03:54 PM

[Bard-kun]

The Archfiend, on 04 May 2012 - 02:47 PM, said:

it's just that Acen doesn't have a room party block, even though one is badly needed.

As stated elsewhere, the main issue is that Acen is a much larger con than most. If there were a party room block, expect it to get filled up quick.

Wait, what's a party room block? Like...an entire row of rooms dedicated to parties, officiated by the convention?

This post has been edited by Bard-kun: 04 May 2012 - 03:52 PM

[Sayuri-chan]

Dark Spellmaster, on 04 May 2012 - 03:05 PM, said:

Could there be a way of curbing the drinking? I know you can't have a dry con, but maybe limit the drinks. Like for example, make it against the rules for drinks to be let in, and check the contents of people coming in to see if they're trying to sneak in booze. Another thing is put a cap on the number of people allowed in the rave. Lets say the ballroom holds like 15000 people, you put a cap on at 14000 and that's it. Once the room hit that number then until half or more then half have departed, then more can go in. Hopefully this will detour those that would want to just get in for the rave.

Why not? The moment you mentioned the ability not to have a dry con, I began to like the idea of having one more and more. I actually don't know the rules as far as the hotel goes - are you allowed to have alcoholic drinks on the main floor of the convention? And I don't know what hoops the hotel (or the Convention itself) would have to go through to implement such an action. It sounds extreme, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I think there are already rules that no food or drinks are allowed in the dances. (Water was set up a couple years ago I heard, but beyond that no bags or food/drink are allowed in the ballroom, I think.) A lot of the suggestions to stop alcohol getting into the ballroom are nice in theory - it's the sheer number of attendees that would have to go through such measures (pat downs, etc) that is the problem. I remember policing the Soap Bubble a few years ago after working my Reg hours and after it was said and done, we found quite a few bottles of alcohol (some empty, some not) hidden all over the ballroom afterwards. (Under chairs, near the mini-stages, etc). People are going to do what they want, but if the con takes a stance of a dry convention, and these people who come just to get drunk, and get caught, can't get badges with the convention anymore,(hopefully ACen would implement their permanent banning system) as well as some harsh measures on those who are coming just for the drinking (the partiers who are just there to crash ACen) it might help curb the reputation that ACen has received over the past few years, and maybe, just maybe, the convention could be seen as going in a positive direction again.

I realize that this would be really hard to do, but I like the suggestion, even if it's nigh impossible to actually implement.


EDIT: Reading the posts above me brought up a valid point - I spaced that ACen isn't the only convention going on at the time (there are a lot of guests there not for the con) and this idea would infringe on them as well. :/ I still like the idea though. xD

This post has been edited by Sayuri-chan: 04 May 2012 - 04:03 PM

[XenoBlade]

STVO, on 04 May 2012 - 03:52 PM, said:

Look, I know that drunk/high people are a problem and yes maybe they should all step back and realize hey let's cool it a bit and yeah there are jerks that go to the Soap Bubble, but you know what? Not every con is safe. I won't name names, but a friend of mine told me at Kollision Con (a con I like and many many of you guys are praising here) told me had a get-together in his room adn there was a guy that came in and was wasted being mean and rude to everyone. He also told me this guy started punching hotel walls and was arrested later that night for doing so.

While this may be a small incident in compared to more of the ones that happen at ACen (and who knows, *I* only heard one story from Kollision, maybe there's more!), to say ACen is the only place that attracts this kind of rowdy crowd is kind of silly.

I don't think they're going to limit how much drinks are brought into the convention and let's keep in mind, the Soap Bubble doesn't allow bags let alone alcohol into the event, so it's pretty obvious most people are drinking and getting high before the event. Also, I don't think Red Bar or The O'H Grill is going to stop selling alcohol just because ACen is there, there's people not attending ACen also there too.

While I know it's hard, I think ACen should figure out someway to give the kids 11-17 their own dance event and then the 18+ (I say 18+ and not 17+ because 17 isn't the age of an adult, it's my personal opinion though.) Sure the kids will complain, but hey, lots of people have raised concern of underage drinking and other problems. I'm all for that being enforced. Will it eliminate the problem entirely? No. Could it reduce it? I think it's entirely possible.

I know people will argue it until the end of time that Soap Bubble/Hardcore Synergy should be eliminated. Personally I don't think it ever will happen and people can either avoid it or just not go. I am all for them adding restrictions and regulations to the event as going back to the "family friendly event" argument, I agree that it is complete BS for most part that ACen is "family friendly" as well as "the Soap bubble." Personally when it hits night time, if it's possible I'd say, make one big dance for adults either 18 or 21+, have another one geared towards the kids (maybe the kids one in the Hyatt and the Adults' one in Embassy or wherever). They can either have both events one night only or have it two nights, I don't care either way personally, I just don't think dances should be eliminated.

Going back to the original topic of "It's not an anime con anymore", I still highly disagree with that statement. Sure it's not 100% anime but I feel there are plenty panels, photoshoots, video rooms, etc. featuring anime that they don't completely devoid you of it. As for people in cosplay, going back once again, there's lots of anime cosplay! Sure some think outside the box and go as something from a show/movie no one else would think of(or some think alike others and go as Storm Troopers, ;D). To me it would be like saying you can't do an FMA or Death Note cosplay at Wizard World or C2E2 because it's anime and it shouldn't be allowed at comic cons, that's just silly. Me personally, I'll admit I feel I have been doing more American cosplays than anime/Japanese video games in the recent years and have decided to at least make one anime cosplay for next year's event!

The day we see Virgil and The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase set for Anime Central, then okay, we can officially say this convention is just another Wizard World and C2E2. LOL

By the time people are in line, the alcohol is already IN their bodies. lol No need to bring it in. lol

That also reminds me, I think at acen 2010's soapbubble, one of the IRT members who was guarding the door seemed pretty drunk himself. I remember passing by and he was stumbling somewhat, and smashing cups with his head. Old story, and not complaining about it, but I found it rather funny that the person guarding the door seemed rather out of it himself. lol