Yeah, we at AB had no illusions over what our strengths were vs. those of PAX. We actually scaled down our gaming somewhat and tweaked it to feature more Japanese games since we figured people who were most interested in gaming would probably be over at PAX and not spending as much time as at AB.
One thing I do like about AB is that we are also willing to adapt as needed and are willing to admit our mistakes. When we had the horrendous issue with registration lines back in '08, we adapted to that problem by outsourcing reg to ExpoLogic. Between the manpower, technology, and expertise they provided for us, I think we were able to reduce the average badge pickup time for someone who was pre-registered to under 30 minutes.
See that's cool. Admitting your weaknesses/mistakes and making changes to improve it. The thing from what I've seen with SC from the past, I don't know how it is know, is the opposite.
I just noticed the attendance stats: 22,065 (53,007 turnstile). That's about 3,000 more unique attendees than last year, right? Plus also if I understand right that the Hynes capacity is ~26,000 (based on something said in the panel on 10 years of AB from the Guest perspective), I'd think that means that AB's either gotta think about switching venues, or end up selling out of badges again like I seem to recall from the early days. (I could see either as a reasonable decision . . . sometimes it's good for cons to not grow beyond a certain size.)
Well, we have a bit more breathing room than just the Hynes's capacity since we also use space in the Sheraton, but yeah, I do see your point about maybe needing to move or cap at some point in the not too distant future.
Well, we have a bit more breathing room than just the Hynes's capacity since we also use space in the Sheraton, but yeah, I do see your point about maybe needing to move or cap at some point in the not too distant future.
I don't think it's a concern. You will grow, but it won't grow that much. There aren't that many new anime fans being made, and they all get older and outgrow the con.
What really concerns me is that maybe the growth is lots of incoming people who don't care about anime or manga. What if you grow by 1,000 and it's all kids who only like Homestuck? Yes, your programming is all anime, but they don't attend the programming. They just cosplay and hang out with each other, and it doesn't matter what the con does.
I'm not an expert by any stretch of that sort of thing. Some of it may be due to folks from PAX coming over to check us out, some of it may be just to general growth of the fandom, etc. Who knows?
Well, we have a bit more breathing room than just the Hynes's capacity since we also use space in the Sheraton, but yeah, I do see your point about maybe needing to move or cap at some point in the not too distant future.
I don't think it's a concern. You will grow, but it won't grow that much. There aren't that many new anime fans being made, and they all get older and outgrow the con.
What really concerns me is that maybe the growth is lots of incoming people who don't care about anime or manga. What if you grow by 1,000 and it's all kids who only like Homestuck? Yes, your programming is all anime, but they don't attend the programming. They just cosplay and hang out with each other, and it doesn't matter what the con does.
If they pay for badges, it doesn't matter, does it?
Okay, getting a bit more serious for a bit, all of us on staff are aware that we may need to adapt again and perhaps be more inclusive of other "nerderies" (for lack of a better term) at some point in the future, but we're delaying that decision until we get to that point. Part of it is that Anime Boston's parent organization, the New England Anime Society, is chartered to spread education and awareness of Japanese culture. I'm not sure if said charter would need to be changed in any way whatsoever if we decide to branch out.
I'm afraid of the veteran staffers that don't agree with my points of view in regards to what makes a convention successful. I've already butted heads with certain individuals because I debate the merits of PAX and how I prefer it over SC and they get all defensive.
That was why, in the end, Otakon kicked us off their staff I was once told by a senior staffer there that I "shouldn't bring up how other cons do things" and "shouldn't rock the boat." It was a frustrating experience to say the least.
I'm afraid of the veteran staffers that don't agree with my points of view in regards to what makes a convention successful. I've already butted heads with certain individuals because I debate the merits of PAX and how I prefer it over SC and they get all defensive.
That was why, in the end, Otakon kicked us off their staff I was once told by a senior staffer there that I "shouldn't bring up how other cons do things" and "shouldn't rock the boat." It was a frustrating experience to say the least.
I think Otakon may be changing that opinion, though. They actually had some folks representing Otakon in official capacity visiting AB this year to see how we do things. This may be prompted by the large number of people who staff both cons as well.
It is possible to run a good event while being in costume. However, for the vast majority of events, the mere fact that the presenters are in costume is a sign that said event is likely garbage. Correlation, not causation. ;^)
I'm afraid of the veteran staffers that don't agree with my points of view in regards to what makes a convention successful. I've already butted heads with certain individuals because I debate the merits of PAX and how I prefer it over SC and they get all defensive.
That was why, in the end, Otakon kicked us off their staff I was once told by a senior staffer there that I "shouldn't bring up how other cons do things" and "shouldn't rock the boat." It was a frustrating experience to say the least.
I kinda wonder do these people have real jobs? Cause if some other company does something better than us we naturally want to do it too. That's what's called good business.
How would you guys explain the increase in attendance?
Looking at the historical attendance stats (either at Anime Boston or Wikipedia), this year's growth isn't all that different from past years. It just struck me that A) people had been saying that PAX was going to kill AB attendance this year, which didn't happen at all, and that 26,000 capacity number mentioned in that panel no longer seems impossible to hit, even though there aren't many anime cons of that size. The combination of Boston's massive college-aged population and AB's growing reputation as a place to hang out and be weird even if you're not that into anime is a powerful combination (note that I'm not necessarily saying GOOD just powerful).
We were talking this weekend and someone did point out something this weekend.
Anime is cartoons from Japan. It's a really specific sub-set in the broader medium of animation, in the broader medium of film.
PAX is gaming. Every country, every kind of game, ever. That's really broad.
Considering that Anime Boston most likely has at least 2/3 the size of PAX in terms of people, that's pretty crazy right there considering the differences in specificity of subject matter.
That is great that AB's attendance increased. I was worried it wouldn't because of PAX.
I think we can all agree that the increase in geeks in Boston was fairly exponential. Also, I'm sure the increase in eateries sales helped because of the hungry geeks. I bet local Bostonians were like "Fuck, no place in the city is safe."
Considering that Anime Boston most likely has at least 2/3 the size of PAX in terms of people, that's pretty crazy right there considering the differences in specificity of subject matter.
But! PAX sells out completely, and very early. I still wager that attendance at East would push 40-50k uniques if there were unlimited 3-day badges to sell and hotels weren't a problem.
I think that there was a crossover, and that people simply chose one or the other, rather than going to both.
Likely, many of the locals chose AB, for the same reason some of my friends did: "I've been going there for years". Most of the people who came to PAX traveled to get there.
I found it fascinating that everyone thought there was a massive cross over between the groups that wasn't there. :P
I expected more AB attendees to be interested in also attending PAX than vice versa, but there was no way to know (as PAX sold out long before the con).
I'm afraid of the veteran staffers that don't agree with my points of view in regards to what makes a convention successful. I've already butted heads with certain individuals because I debate the merits of PAX and how I prefer it over SC and they get all defensive.
That was why, in the end, Otakon kicked us off their staff I was once told by a senior staffer there that I "shouldn't bring up how other cons do things" and "shouldn't rock the boat." It was a frustrating experience to say the least.
This is why the Geek Nights con needs to happen sooner. :P
Comments
One thing I do like about AB is that we are also willing to adapt as needed and are willing to admit our mistakes. When we had the horrendous issue with registration lines back in '08, we adapted to that problem by outsourcing reg to ExpoLogic. Between the manpower, technology, and expertise they provided for us, I think we were able to reduce the average badge pickup time for someone who was pre-registered to under 30 minutes.
What really concerns me is that maybe the growth is lots of incoming people who don't care about anime or manga. What if you grow by 1,000 and it's all kids who only like Homestuck? Yes, your programming is all anime, but they don't attend the programming. They just cosplay and hang out with each other, and it doesn't matter what the con does.
Okay, getting a bit more serious for a bit, all of us on staff are aware that we may need to adapt again and perhaps be more inclusive of other "nerderies" (for lack of a better term) at some point in the future, but we're delaying that decision until we get to that point. Part of it is that Anime Boston's parent organization, the New England Anime Society, is chartered to spread education and awareness of Japanese culture. I'm not sure if said charter would need to be changed in any way whatsoever if we decide to branch out.
It is possible to run a good event while being in costume. However, for the vast majority of events, the mere fact that the presenters are in costume is a sign that said event is likely garbage. Correlation, not causation. ;^)
Anime is cartoons from Japan. It's a really specific sub-set in the broader medium of animation, in the broader medium of film.
PAX is gaming. Every country, every kind of game, ever. That's really broad.
Considering that Anime Boston most likely has at least 2/3 the size of PAX in terms of people, that's pretty crazy right there considering the differences in specificity of subject matter.
I think we can all agree that the increase in geeks in Boston was fairly exponential. Also, I'm sure the increase in eateries sales helped because of the hungry geeks. I bet local Bostonians were like "Fuck, no place in the city is safe."
Likely, many of the locals chose AB, for the same reason some of my friends did: "I've been going there for years". Most of the people who came to PAX traveled to get there.