[General_Iowa]

I just want to know if we get approved or not! That's all I want for Christmas!

[NiqueyDomii]

General_Iowa, on 08 December 2012 - 07:50 PM, said:

I just want to know if we get approved or not! That's all I want for Christmas!

I wouldn't say that all I want,but its on the list..lol

[NiqueyDomii]

NiqueyDomii, on 08 December 2012 - 08:24 PM, said:

I wouldn't say that all I want,but its on the list..lol

Thanks for letting me FINALLY know I got denied,now I can FINALLY buy my badge.

[GITS SAC Motoko]

I am extremely happy to see more panels are getting approved, but I have a question. Ironically, the panel I submitted in the 2nd tier was approved already, (and not that im complaining) but the panel I submitted on the first day of the launched application has no word of approval or denial. And I found my friend who submitted two panels the first day of application launch also has no word of approval or denial yet. So I am wondering, we're Panel applications submitted on the first day received or lost in transit or something? Or simply still just waiting to be approved? I'm just wondering since I thought it was kinda ironic haha! Thanks

[magishine]

I'm wondering this too. I submitted my panels dayone and they're not on either list

[nyanderful]

GITS SAC Motoko, on 09 December 2012 - 01:33 PM, said:

I am extremely happy to see more panels are getting approved, but I have a question. Ironically, the panel I submitted in the 2nd tier was approved already, (and not that im complaining) but the panel I submitted on the first day of the launched application has no word of approval or denial. And I found my friend who submitted two panels the first day of application launch also has no word of approval or denial yet. So I am wondering, we're Panel applications submitted on the first day received or lost in transit or something? Or simply still just waiting to be approved? I'm just wondering since I thought it was kinda ironic haha! Thanks />

I'm wanting to know about this too. I've yet to hear anything about the Ghibli panel I submitted.

[Zerox20]

We are constantly reviewing Panels from the master list as they are submitted. There are some topics or Panels that take a bit longer to review. The time it was submitted actually has no bearing on when it will be reviewed. We are constantly working the list, checking outlines, looking at different Panels etc. Some of the delays when reviewing a Panel are quite a few Panels may come in as the same topic, when this occurs we always try to check every single one and compare them, and communicate with those Panelists if they need to be re-worked etc. This is just one of the items that goes into reviewing the panel. We will be doing another large batch very soon most likely.

Keep in mind as long as the Panel was submitted during the time-frame, if it gets denied you will still be able to buy the badge at that price.

[rcallewaert]

Quick question. The panelist policy states "18+ panels will have their own specific rules emailed to them if their panel is approved." Any idea when we will be receiving our "specific rules?"

[Zerox20]

rcallewaert, on 10 December 2012 - 04:59 PM, said:

Quick question. The panelist policy states "18+ panels will have their own specific rules emailed to them if their panel is approved." Any idea when we will be receiving our "specific rules?"

We will be sending out rule reminders for 18+ Panels before the convention, their is not much "new" in it, its more clarifying our 18+ policies and rules to ensure all of our Panelists are on the same page for the adult panels. These will be sent out most likely once all Panels have been approved.

[General_Iowa]

Zerox20, on 10 December 2012 - 01:09 PM, said:

We are constantly reviewing Panels from the master list as they are submitted. There are some topics or Panels that take a bit longer to review. The time it was submitted actually has no bearing on when it will be reviewed. We are constantly working the list, checking outlines, looking at different Panels etc. Some of the delays when reviewing a Panel are quite a few Panels may come in as the same topic, when this occurs we always try to check every single one and compare them, and communicate with those Panelists if they need to be re-worked etc. This is just one of the items that goes into reviewing the panel. We will be doing another large batch very soon most likely.

Keep in mind as long as the Panel was submitted during the time-frame, if it gets denied you will still be able to buy the badge at that price.

I bought a badge for next year's con while the 2012 con was still going on. If the panel I am a part of, but not the lead panelist is approved, then what happens with my badge?

I ask because in 2011 I bought my badge, was then recruited for a panel, then the entire panel mess occurred with the panels and my badge for 2012 was comped for me, so I am very curious about this.

[Zerox20]

General_Iowa, on 12 December 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

I bought a badge for next year's con while the 2012 con was still going on. If the panel I am a part of, but not the lead panelist is approved, then what happens with my badge?

I ask because in 2011 I bought my badge, was then recruited for a panel, then the entire panel mess occurred with the panels and my badge for 2012 was comped for me, so I am very curious about this.

Please review the Panelist Policy, for the year you are referring too, we made some mistakes with our policies and comp'd all Panelist no matter what, the new policy was better re-written. You do not want to purchase a badge once you apply for a Panel, as we will not refund that Badge. If you apply for a Panel and get denied, you can then buy a badge for the price during that time when the panel was submitted. You can still use your badgde you bought and can still be a Panelist, you just will not get a refund for the badge you purchased already.

[pyrrhicvictini]

Ah, I can agree with the feeling of suspense, especially since lot of panels already have been accepted. > <;; It would be such a great opportunity for me as a future Chinese teacher to be able to present on the cultures behind A:TLA. I really hope it makes it!!

(... WELP THIS WAS ME REPLYING TO A PAGE AGO.

Ignore me as I slink away with my terrible internet.)

This post has been edited by pyrrhicvictini: 18 December 2012 - 02:36 PM

[Pau-chan]

OMG there's a Digimon Panel and a Yugioh Panel?! SINCE WHEN?! OMG!!! Haha, sorry...die-hard Digi fan and Yugioh cosplayer.
Gimme a hint as to what they're about? Please?

[Bloo09]

We're working on the website code to put the descriptions and panels on our website so they will be up soon but please remember it's the holidays and all staff are volunteers so it probably won't be up until after January 1st. Happy holidays everyone!

[Dark Spellmaster]

I have a question, in regard to panels about games that have violence but not cursing, where would that fall under the age requriements? There's also the issue of a more recent game in the series that has curse words placed in there, but we're not showing video of that, but given the games are rated Mature (17 and up by the ESRB) (and this is more for next year since submission has already taken place) would the panel need to be rated 18+ due to the graphic nature of the game (blood, some gore, some really ugly monsters and mature situations, and some booze being drunk)or does it fall into a "it's okay for teens to consume" catagory?

[General_Iowa]

Just wondering when the next round of approvals will come down? I don't need a firm date just a general idea if possible

[Bloo09]

As for video game panels I would say ¹⁴ and up in most cases if graphic content isn't actually being shown. If content is shown then stick with the rating from the game, 18 and up etc.

More approvals will come in January.

[TaiyakiOni]

Really hoping to see some more updates soon, especially for the larger panels that are still in the dark as to what's going on.

I've got two panels waiting on approval or denial still. :<

[Bloo09]

We're only a few days into January, it's going to be a bit longer. We're doing some prelim scheduling over the next few days before we approve more so we know how much space we have left in certain style rooms. This does not mean we are full, it's just us being careful not to overfill a room type.

[pyrrhicvictini]

Bloo09, on 04 January 2013 - 05:42 AM, said:

We're only a few days into January, it's going to be a bit longer. We're doing some prelim scheduling over the next few days before we approve more so we know how much space we have left in certain style rooms. This does not mean we are full, it's just us being careful not to overfill a room type.

If a room type becomes full, is it possible to contact the panelist to see if other room types would work? I know mine doesn't need to have the type I submitted to run, that type was just the most convenient.

[Gaynor79]

Why do I get the bad feeling like something must have went wrong when I submitted my panel info and now I'm going to be completely screwed? I applied the first friggin day the submissions were open, and I have yet to hear anything.

[Bloo09]

Yes, we contact panelists. Like if an Empty room was requested, which we have 1 of and it's full we will ask if a chaired room is alright, it just means they come in 15 minutes early to stack the chairs. It's not a bad thing really, it's just something we need to check with them. We are not full, and yes there are panels from Sept that are not approved or denied yet. We will get to those ones first, but our rule was to get to 100 and schedule before we do more. You can check the status of your panel in your profile page in the registration system. 2 years ago before I took over they over approved panels which caused a HUGE problem, this is just to ensure that that does not happen again. If anyone is denied please remember your badge will be rolled back to the price it was when you applied. You are not missing out on discounts. Email us and we will roll back the price, we do not do it automatically because our system doesn't let a badge sit in your cart for more than 24 hours.

[Bloo09]

All panels that applied by Nov. 1st are now approved or denied. Many panels submitted after Nov. 1st have also been approved or denied but there are panels left that have not been approved/denied. We will be doing our prelim schedule before we approve more to make sure that we don't run out of space. Don't worry! We are not full, we are being careful to not overbook our panel rooms.

We are full on Homestuck panels, we will not consider any more applications for that topic.
We do not approve unrelated panels such as My Little Pony, Dr. Who, American Comics/Super Heroes, Star Wars, etc. Anime Central is an Anime, Manga, and Japanese Culture convention, not a Pop Culture convention. We do accept a very small amount of web comic panels, video game, and American Cartoon panels if it is STRONGLY influenced by Anime or Japanese Culture and that can be discussed in the panel.

An updated panel list will be posted soon.

[GITS SAC Motoko]

Thanks for all of your hard work and keeping us updated. . Now regarding the "prelim scheduling" you mentioned earlier is this what you mean as a schedule "draft?" Will this draft be shown to us soon, or are you all waiting until panel submissions are full and will schedule then? I'm just curious. It's no big rush really. ;

[Bloo09]

This first one is mostly for us managers to see what kind of space we have left after our current 110-120 ish panels are scheduled. Once we know we'll approve more panels and many will shift around until we find a balance so we won't be releasing the first one. Hopefully later this month we'll be able to release the first public draft for panelists to review and tell us if they need to move. It's going to be much like last year with many updates and the head panelist needs to watch the schedule, while we do alert people they've moved, they may have a conflict with a similar panel, event, etc. So it's important for lead panelists to watch the schedule.

AND I just realized I can announce our changed function space! We are no longer renting the Double Tree or Embassy panel rooms. The Embassy was only used for 1 panel anyway, and the Double Tree rooms were 30-50 chairs and waaaay too small for us. We've added a conference room in the Convention Center, splitting it into 3 rooms which are MUCH larger than the rooms we dropped from the double tree. One will seat over 1000, 2 will seat around 400. This is not like what ACen had a few years ago. It isn't a convention hall split, it is a ballroom split and meant for panels. It is the ballroom through the glass doors in the front U shaped Driveway area. So very easy for attendees to get there and with it being near our vendor hall and 3 panel rooms next to each other it will have a good traffic flow for attendance. We are also adding 2 rooms in the Hilton on Friday only. Since this is our gaming hotel we will most likely be scheduling the majority of the gaming panels in those 2 rooms which seat around 400. It will have the majority of the attendees interested in those panels already in the building so it should be convenient. We have also added the other side of the international ballroom in the Hyatt basement (where half of video gaming was last year) which is another 400-500 person room, and 1 other 75 person panel room in the basement as well. This brings our total to 18 panel rooms this year! It should be a lot more comfortable this year since we have so many larger rooms.

[Bloo09]

And yes, that means Anime Central has no events in either the Double Tree or Embassy. We are now located in 3 buildings, the Hilton, Hyatt, and Donald E. Stevens Convention Center.

[Gaynor79]

Finally got approved. Now to start the real work!

[GITS SAC Motoko]

Bloo09, on 06 January 2013 - 12:50 PM, said:

And yes, that means Anime Central has no events in either the Double Tree or Embassy. We are now located in 3 buildings, the Hilton, Hyatt, and Donald E. Stevens Convention Center.

Eeeeeeeeeek! Very cool. It's nice we are more focused now and not so spread out. Makes it easier on panelists and most importantly the panel goers!

[zuka_versailles]

When will the list be updated again? I have one panel that was submitted later that I'm still waiting to hear on. I'm in no rush but am merely wondering.

[Musashi219]

zuka_versailles, on 01 February 2013 - 07:40 PM, said:

When will the list be updated again? I have one panel that was submitted later that I'm still waiting to hear on. I'm in no rush but am merely wondering.

Same here. I'm one of the guys from Turn-Based Critics (we run the popular and ever-growing "RPGs That DON'T Start With Final Fantasy" panel and this year we've submitted an additional panel dedicated entirely to Final Fantasy) and we've been awaiting on approvals for awhile. I'm almost positive one of our submissions was made when panel submissions opened in the fall.

Really hoping we hear from you guys soon because we'd love to provide more great entertainment while celebrating our 5th anniversary!