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Anime Expo 2010 (Success!)

edited January 2010 in Conventions
It's way early to be making this thread, but screw it. I'm excited.

This will be my fifth AX, and they've gotten progressively better each year. Highlights from last year included Zelda Mythbusters, pick-up games of Ninja in the halls, and a "We're All Dudes" singalong with Kel Mitchell, just to name a few.

A few orders of business. If you haven't registered already, I highly recommend that you do so as soon as possible. AX is a few bucks more expensive this year, so definitely buy as soon as you are ready to commit.

Sonic, we should plan on taking over that same spot in the hallway again this year, except this time be armed and ready with more stuff to play than just the Pokemon theme and Caramelldansen. I'm going to try and start compiling all the well-known video game and anime songs I can, plus some OCRs and 8-bit Collective mixes that people will recognize. With any luck, it'll be even larger of a fire hazard than it was last year.

WindUpBird, any idea where you'd stay? Because it would be super cool if you stayed, say, the whole week so that you could see the area and maybe hang out at a show with me.

DJ_Jinnai and Alex Leavitt went last year but don't post enough to arrange a meetup beforehand, so maybe we can fix that this year. Also, there's a chance that Bunnikun will come out for it.

Who else is thinking about it?
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Comments

  • edited January 2010
    WindUpBird, any idea where you'd stay? Because it would be super cool if you stayed, say, the whole week so that you could see the area and maybe hang out at a show with me.
    No idea at ALL, man. Probably in the hotel for the duration of the con. Depends on my monetary situation.

    EDIT: Also, just be advised that everything I'm putting forth is very much a "best case scenario" type of thing. It's quite possible that this could fail utterly.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • We could split the room, the three of us. And I'll be looking to get permission from the con to bring my full DJ set with me for one of the days. Althought It would have to be for one of the days, because that stuff is heavy as all hell.
    *wanders off into the distance mumbling*...maybe just one speaker, the amp...
  • edited January 2010
    What would the cost be like per person?
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • edited January 2010
    Well, they haven't gotten new room blocks for the next AX, but if we assume the prices are similar and that it'd be just us three, it would come to 'bout $140 a head for friday-sunday.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • Well, they haven't gotten new room blocks for the next AX, but if we assume the prices are similar and that it'd be just us three, it would come to 'bout $140 a head for friday-sunday
    If I can do the trip in the first place, that's doable. As much as I'd want to spend the week with you, Sail, I'm not sure I can pull an entire week. Hell, I'm not even sure how I'd get out there without making several overnight stops on the way.
  • edited January 2010
    Looks like a plan is coming together.
    If we room, we should be each be dropped off (no parking costs) and bring our own food and drinks for the weekend (no need to buy, save money).

    Alternatively, if we can all be suave and cool, we wont need to room because we can find... other accomidations. *boom chicka wa wa*
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • Naw, it's cool. I'm used to the "crazy plans falling through" thing :P Seriously, don't sweat it.

    However, I'm not sure I have much incentive to get a hotel room, seeing how I live within easy driving distance. Sorry, guys.
  • However, I'm not sure I have much incentive to get a hotel room, seeing how I live within easy driving distance. Sorry, guys.
    -_-
  • However, I'm not sure I have much incentive to get a hotel room, seeing how I live within easy driving distance. Sorry, guys.
    -_-
    These crazy plans, I see them falling through!
  • That's what you get for factoring in my hard-earned dollars before they're offered up.
  • That's what you get for factoring in my hard-earned dollars before they're offered up.
    In my defense, Sonic did the actual factoring.

    Well, we'll have a meet-up somehow. Like I said in the other thread, I might go to Otakon, so if you're there, you might see me.
  • edited January 2010
    Honestly, the notion of me going to Otakon is in a similar realm of crazy. Taking any amount of time off isn't easy when there are only four employees and, even though someone offered, I would feel really bad if I let them actually pay for my ticket.

    I plan on meeting virtually everyone in this forum someday. It's only a matter of when.
    Post edited by Sail on
  • edited January 2010
    I plan on meeting virtually everyone in this forum someday. It's only a matter of when.
    Same here. Ah well, best laid plans.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • I plan on meeting virtually everyone in this forum someday. It's only a matter of when.
    As Do I. I have no doubt I could actually achieve this.
  • As Do I. I have no doubt I could actually achieve this.
    However, the difference between virtually everyone and everyone is quite large and quite expensive.
  • You could meet everyone virtually.
  • I already have.
  • RymRym
    edited January 2010
    I should warn you ahead of tomorrow night's show. Anime Expo is going to be a clusterfuck.

    Anime con staff always has crazy drama. It's amazing to watch. Katsucon imploded (we're still waiting to see the results of that), AX is imploding, Animazement is imploding, never mind the countless smaller conventions filled with petty, meaningless drama year after year.

    What is it about anime conventions that attracts petty drama?
    Post edited by Rym on
  • To answer my own question, it's obvious in retrospect. Anime conventions by and large treat their volunteers and even many of their staffers like shit. The ones that don't are the exception, not the rule. There's this strange sense of entitlement among the more senior staff, and this pervading attitude that low-level volunteering isn't or shouldn't be fun.

    The staff that stick around usually do so because they're all friends with eachother and possibly their department heads. Their primarily loyalty ends up being not to the convention, but to their friends within the staff (Rome had the same problem, really.). If the boat rocks too much, they'll bail en masse: no one of them would staff unless the others also staffed. This is why we keep seeing these mass resignations.

    The senior staff or board members always say the same thing, that the lower staff should have raised their concerns earlier and worked constructively rather than bailing. Usually, at least as far as I can see, however, this is effectively impossible, as senior staff at these conventions rarely seem to treat any of the "common staff" or volunteers as anything more than barely managed animals.
  • RymRym
    edited January 2010
    Wow. To quote the AX fail article:
    Other concerns raised by certain AX staff members also included a comment made by Lattanzio at a November 14 meeting in which he compared volunteers to "flies" that must be "shooed away" if they don't abide by his rules.
    Or, to quote that infamous Otakon staffer from last year:
    Gofering is not supposed to be fun. You're put where you're put. If you don't like it, don't do it. It's as simple as that. If working in the same department all weekend is undesirable to you, I wouldn't recommend becoming a staffer.
    It's the same across the anime convention circuit. It's also the exact opposite of the way PAX treats its staff. Note that PAX doesn't have "gophers" or "volunteers." If you're staff, you're staff, and that's that. Staffers have personal responsibility and reasonable personal authority. Anime convention volunteers have none of that, nor do even many of the staff.

    It's obvious why the drama is exploding more and more.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • It's the same across the anime convention circuit. It's also the exact opposite of the way PAX treats its staff. Note that PAX doesn't have "gophers" or "volunteers." If you're staff, you're staff, and that's that. Staffers have personal responsibility and reasonable personal authority. Anime convention volunteers have none of that, nor do even many of the staff.
    And that's why they're collapsing. You treat your staff like Disposable objects, you run out of staff really fast. You treat your staff like they have value, and take care of them, be good to them, and do right by them, then you end up with a situation like PAX, where you don't have to look for people to staff your con, you have to turn people away because you already have far too many.
  • then you end up with a situation like PAX, where you don't have to look for people to staff your con, you have to turn people away because you already have far too many.
    Except for PAX East, where they greatly underestimate just how many staff they will need.
  • Except for PAX East, where they greatly underestimate just how many staff they will need.
    Speaking of which, it is awesome to take up the Black, and I highly suggest that you try it this year!
  • edited January 2010
    Umm, haven't you noticed that the real issue that's been tearing apart conventions is conflicts with the Board of Directors of conventions. I mean look at Katsucon, they undermined the con-chair's power and anime expo seems to have similar issues. When a company in the business world fires a manager that was beloved by the employee's it's not rare to see many of them also jump ship. I don't think it has much to do with the treatment of the volunteers as you can read from the article it was a fight between the high level positions...


    My favorite part from this article.
    "One of the responses regarding this issue is that none of the previous SPJA CEOs have flown business class on AX's dime, to which Sabec responded, "That's probably true, but… you guys have may not have necessarily been in a professional enough organization to know the world from my perspective…. If you're asking a new executive to come on board that has a lot of experience in the entertainment industry… you know he's reasonably going to expect the same kind of treatment that other executives at his level receive.""

    It seems to me they picked a "CEO" that's a dick...
    Post edited by Cremlian on
  • edited January 2010
    Why I go to Anime Expo: It is the biggest Anime Convention within driving distance of my house.
    "One of the responses regarding this issue is that none of the previous SPJA CEOs have flown business class on AX's dime, to which Sabec responded, "That's probably true, butÂ… you guys have may not have necessarily been in a professional enough organization to know the world from my perspectiveÂ…. If you're asking a new executive to come on board that has a lot of experience in the entertainment industryÂ… you know he's reasonably going to expect the same kind of treatment that other executives at his level receive.""

    It seems to me they picked a "CEO" that's a dick...
    Yep. Seems so. I mean, look at this gem.
    Amongst his first actions as CEO was to terminate the SPJA's contract with BAM! Marketing, Publicity, & Promotions, the public relations firm which has been providing services to Anime Expo for the past six years. Prior to the termination of the contract, Lattanzio reportedly asked BAM! founder Chase Wang during a September 10 meeting for a list of his American and Japanese contacts, which was refused. An official letter written by Wang to Lattanzio at a later date discussed the denial further, citing their sensitive, proprietary nature. The contract was officially terminated September 25, 2009.
    Look, I cant say I'm a particularly good businessman, but I do know that the key to having a successful business is building long lasting relationships. These guys were doing the marketing and PR for AX for six years, and this shmuck comes in and
    A. asks them for private client information
    B. when the refuse (rightfully so), terminates their contract.

    That is not good business sense. Not AT ALL.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • That is not good business sense. Not AT ALL.
    Not necessarily. If a business relationship is sub-optimal, and you can do better, you should terminate it immediately. If a contract prevents you from doing this, you do something to force the contract to be re-negotiated or broken by the other party. For all we know, BAM! wasn't

    I note that, had the convention treated its staff well, the impact of the first resignation would have been massively blunted.

    As for the CEO, he's a bog standard uninspired corporate executive type. The problems with AX are far greater than one man. Remember, the anime industry in America is basically nonexistent, and AX is trying to act like it exists in the same space. It's trying to please too many markets, when the real money base for anime fandom right now is the fans themselves. They should kick the "industry" to the curb, raise prices, get more entertainment, and just be a convention.
  • As for the CEO, he's a bog standard uninspired corporate executive type. The problems with AX are far greater than one man. Remember, the anime industry in America is basically nonexistent, and AX is trying to act like it exists in the same space. It's trying to please too many markets, when the real money base for anime fandom right now is the fans themselves. They should kick the "industry" to the curb, raise prices, get more entertainment, and just be a convention.
    Having met some of the staff involved in Anime Expo, I wasn't impressed. At the Con staff meet and great at Otakon, I felt the AX staff was there just to attempt to 1-up everyone else there. Actually what your seeing on the east coast is a loose federation between all the major cons attempting to pool resources in order to save money and be more efficient. When that topic was brought up with the AX people to attempt to pool resources to secure bigger japanese guests AX scoffed at it since they were for profit and were connected to the industry already. Needless to say I'm not surprised at the shake up in AX, Rym is right in one aspect, if you are running a FOR-PROFIT convention and you rely on volunteer's to run your convention you should treat them a HELL of a lot better because your profitably in the long run relies on people who are working for you for free....Those volunteer's will quickly find it not worth working for you while you profit and they get hung out to dry...
  • Wow. To quote the AX fail article:
    Gofering is not supposed to be fun. You're put where you're put. If you don't like it, don't do it. It's as simple as that. If working in the same department all weekend is undesirable to you, I wouldn't recommend becoming a staffer.
    It's the same across the anime convention circuit. It's also the exact opposite of the way PAX treats its staff. Note that PAX doesn't have "gophers" or "volunteers." If you're staff, you're staff, and that's that.
    I just want to point out that the PAX Aaron Clark (me) is in no way associated with this guy, I think volunteers are awesome, since as an Enforcer I am one.
  • Was planning on attending Expo again this year, but given the obvious up-in-the-air-iness of the convention at the moment, any plans have I suppose temporarily been suspended.
  • We're still waiting to see if we'll be attending Otakon...

    The lack of communication among the staff, at least in the panels department, is amazing to me. The organization is so top-heavy that, as far as I can see, the majority of the staff are basically gophers with comped hotel rooms and longer hours. I don't believe any decision-making is possible, even for routine or emergent situations, for most of them.

    Case in point. We are staff. The head of panels (whom we'd worked everything out with months ago) disappeared. When I contacted him (CCing the panels department), someone else responded basically saying "Yeah, I'm in charge now, and have been for a while. I'm scheduling everything myself, so you don't need to do anything yet." At no point was anyone in the department informed of the change until we started asking around.

    The only updates we ever get are from the top level, and all information flow seems to be trickle-down. The one large meeting I attended was spent primarily in bickering over "disciplinary policy" and setting up panels logistics that were all swept by the wayside when the previous head of panels left.

    I'm worried that by the time our own damn department decides if we're going to let ourselves do panels for ourselves, it will be too late, and we won't attend at all.
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