A response to Friday Registration Waits

Post by **Pham** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:52 am

To all of our attendees:

Everyone here at Anime Boston is deeply apologetic about the high wait times for Registration. After analysis of last years registration process, we attempted to optimize it but it backfired.

We under estimated the time it would take for our attendees to input data into the self serve terminals. In turn, this increased the wait times for anyone processing through that queue.

We kept registration open beyond its standard closing hours to process anyone who was left in the queue on Friday. We also allowed attendees to register for a Saturday-only badge, but still attend the convention on Friday.

To fix the immediate issues, the Registration staff, as well as a few valiant volunteers, reconfigured the Registration room until approximately three o'clock in the morning.

In response, we have:

1) Added 6 new registration terminals, increasing the efficiency of the room by nearly 66 percent.

2) Each terminal is now staffed and all self-service terminals have been removed.

3) Reconfigured the queue for registration.

4) Tripled the number of terminals dedicated to at-con registration.

5) During the day on Friday, streamlined and reprogrammed the registration system to increase its internal efficiency.

Again we are deeply apologetic for the waits and those that we had to turn away and we're extremely grateful for your patience with us as we attempt make Anime Boston the best convention in New England.

ramengumi · Post by **ramengumi** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 1:50 am

What about the Saturday people? I waited the line for 6 hours and there were only 5 registration comps in the room. >:O

Blackfire · Post by **Blackfire** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:05 am

I have nothing but sympathy for the people who had to wait on Friday and Saturday, but to be straight up honest, last year I came early and took care of registration on Thursday and was in and out in about 5 to 10 minutes. This year it took me just over an hour. I don't think it was just the self serve terminals, but the general setup and possibly (I don't know this) the lack of registration staff. I think the big need is for more people to volunteer to be on the registration staff so there are more people getting people they're badges and our little AB bags.

Curly Eyebrow · Post by **Curly Eyebrow** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:14 am

I was personally disgusted with, not only the excruciating line wait, but also how it was handled during and once I reached the front.

There were at least twenty people going up and down the line in that main hallway alone making sure we were against the wall. We are already being herded around like cattle and stuck waiting for inhumane hours, put these people to better use such as registration rather than constantly yelling at us. I'm sure THEY didn't want to do it either.

Once I reached the main room, I saw that there were FIVE computers for the thousands of people waiting in line. Then from the five computers, the people went to TWO people to pay and receive their badges. The pre-registration line was shorter, the people were waiting less, however they had FIVE registration people helping them out and they didn't have to deal with the completely scrappy doo step of registering on the computer.

Once the staff realized the complete failure of their registration process, it should have been IMMEDIATELY switched to a new method.

I arrived at 10:00am and did not get my badge until 7:30pm. By then, I had missed the dealer's room and several of the events I wanted to attend. I did not plan on attending on Sunday but when I reached the front of the line, I was still expected to pay full price for a weekend pass. Even if I HAD planned on attending on Sunday, I should not have had to have paid full price.

I spoke to two very unhelpful staff members at the front of the line who, I understand were probably stressed as well. However, I asked several times to talk to someone because I was not about to pay full price for a day of line waiting.

I spoke to the con-chair who was condescending, rude, unhelpful and told me that I could either buy a Saturday pass and not do anything on Friday or I could buy a weekend pass with no price mark-down. There were still things I wanted to do on Friday despite having missed practically EVERYTHING ELSE I wanted to do.

Even if I hadn't missed everything I wanted to do, waiting in line for that long in unacceptable. The person two spots in front of me in line COLLAPSED. However, I not only missed an entire day but I missed it due to the extreme disorganization of Anime Boston.

In the past, I have waited, at most, an hour and a half in a line like that.

Don't repeat this mistake. I've been to Anime Boston every year since it started and always been happy with it. However if this happens again, I won't be returning.

blueski3s · Post by **blueski3s** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:33 am

i only waited for 8 and half hours. i feel bad for the people that attended the con alone, how could they wait for that long by themselves. i was with my friend and his cousin had preregistered so he would get us food and what not. and to those parents who waited in line with their kids, all power to you, i respect the parents that did that for their kids. even though i spent all friday waiting, i was very pleased on saturday. peace

ramengumi · Post by **ramengumi** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:40 am

[quote=blueski3s]i only waited for 8 and half hours. i feel bad for the people that attended the con alone, how could they wait for that long by themselves. i was with my friend and his cousin had preregistered so he would get us food and what not. and to those parents who waited in line with their kids, all power to you, i respect the parents that did that for their kids. even though i spent all friday waiting, i was very pleased on saturday. peace[/quote]

I went alone and ended up talking to the random people around me. Wish I had gotten in a lot earlier though so I could've made some friends in the con itself to hang out with for the day...

ramengumi · Post by **ramengumi** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:44 am

Delete this one.

Kriz · Post by **Kriz** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:54 am

I waited in line for 9 hours (10:30-7:30), and not ONCE did a staff member say we could buy just a Saturday pass and still attend what remained of Friday's events.

A man in front of me asked if Friday's cost would be prorated, but he was told no, so if such a thing did happen, it certainly wasn't announced or made clear to attendees.

blueski3s · Post by **blueski3s** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:11 pm

good then i dont feel as bad, there was this one kid waiting near me who didn't talk at all for the first 5 hours, even after i offered him some cookies. but he showed me how to make a crane, which i never knew how to.

zipzap171 · Post by **zipzap171** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:14 pm

I waited 8 hours 15 minutes with a group of friends that were there which helped cause one or two could buy food for the rest we meet some people though that had waited for 10 hours (this was Friday registration). Two of my other friends waited 7 and a half hours to get registered and did not finish until 11pm. It was a very slow process and at one point a small group of 5 or 6 people, who for the most part did not no each other, were able to have a game of hacky-sack that lasted approximately 30-45 minutes without the line moving once the whole time. It was very disappointing to wait in the line all day Friday and miss some of the events and panels.

blueski3s · Post by **blueski3s** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:30 pm

there was one thing that i found odd, as time passed there were different people the only people i recognized still were the ones that were next to me and my friend since the beginning. so many people cut which really pissed me off

Mysterious_Shino · Post by **Mysterious_Shino** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 1:21 pm

I'm sorry but this line was sheer insanity. The nicknames Hell and Purgatory have been given to the lines. Hell being the registering at the door line, and Purgatory bing the pre reg line. My group arrived at the con at 11, and we didnt get our badges till 4. That is what I would call a serious failure... I know you did your best, which is why I'm not going to really throw around any blame or nasty words. But I ask that you take into consideration for next year the events of this year. I have never in my years here at the con seen a line which was so increadibly terrible as this one. Almost all of Friday was spent before even 3000 of the attendees cold even get there badges. I was bringing with my group several new people to conventions, and that huge line really ruined the first day for them. Luckily there were enough of us that we were able to purchase food and bring it back for everyone...

anyway, here's hoping greatly that next year goes a lot faster...

Saturday was very good though, so keep up the great work with everything else.

Mikazuki81 · Post by **Mikazuki81** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:52 pm

To the AB staff:

Can you tell me how I can get refunded for Friday's badge then??? No one told us we could do that and my fiance and I waited in line from 11:15am until 9pm. Close to 10 hours!

We were also supposed to get refunded for giving panels last year and that never happened either. I'm starting to get disillusioned with AB in general.

bentheunicorn · Post by **bentheunicorn** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:12 pm

FRIDAY'S WAIT WAS UNEXPTABLE!!! I waited for over 3 hours in line, and was looking at another 4- 5 hours! I am about ready to give up on this convention forever.

White_Hawks · Post by **White_Hawks** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:35 pm

I spent over 8 hours in line 3:30(ish) pm to after 11:30 pm, the staff I don't have very many problems with, however some of the volenters I take issue with, being that they where rude. When I've been standing for 5 hours, guess what? I need to stretch my legs a little. By the time I got to a computer it was almost saturday and fridays events where all finished, I was greeted by a female staffer who basicly was thrilled with her power to determine who got into the con... So my options became pay for a weekend pass that was well... useless to me on friday as by the time i got to my hotel room with my bags it was after midnight, Or I could register for a friday badge, which would have been useless, Or a friday and saturday badge... So I paid my money figureing I'd atleast be able to attend saturday and sunday, only to discover upon looking at my schedual the events I'd wished to participate in all took place on friday. Aside from the Pillows concert... though by that point my feet where so blistered and bruised I really couldn't stand and figured It'd just be easier to go home. Now granted the decision to go home is mine, but why did I have to pay fridays rate if there was literaly less then half an hour left of friday. I think the staff needs to -seriouisly- reconsider testing new plans befor implementing them. I heard one parent waiting in line with her daughter commenting to a red shirt staff member (I'm not sure if they're security or not) that -We- should be paid to wait in the lines. To be honest I don't really dissagree with her. I spent 8 hours in line with a bit of water and some cookies, even when staff decided that people could hold their friends places in line, you couldn't leave the hynes to go get food because the hynes wouldn't let you back in. I like Anime Boston, I've been coming sence '05 but I'll have to seriously consider if it's worth it in the future.

gohan64 · Post by **gohan64** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:41 pm

When I got dropped of at the con I was told I had 6 hours total before I had to go home. It turned out I spent all 6 of those hours in line. Then I had to pull a lot of strings so I could stay for the 6 hours I agreed to with my ride to the Subway. Thank-You anime Boston, waiting in that line for that long developed my character! :thumbdown:

moonlight sonata. · Post by **moonlight sonata.** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:42 pm

This years ar-con registrationw as ridiculous. My friend decided last minute that he was going to come with me and another friend to the con so we were told where the end of the line was and 9 hours later he was registered.

The least that could have been done was give a discount on the cost of the badge. I was quite upset by it.

Mikazuki81 · Post by **Mikazuki81** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:44 pm

Oh, not to mention- we were supposed to be part of our friends panel on Friday at 3pm- which we missed due to the lines. He was almost in deep crap because of that- but luckily he met up with a friend who he hasn't seen in years who helped him run the panel. It was "Name that Tune", so it couldn't have been run easily by one person.

There was no way we could've gotten in earlier, either. It's tax season and two of our group members are accountants. In the past we've always been pre-reg and signed in on Thursday.

GirlNChainmail · Post by **GirlNChainmail** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:35 pm

I pre reg'd and probably ended up waiting in line for 3-5 hours... to tell the truth I stopped tracking it after 3 hours because it was getting depressing.

Something I don't understand is why can't Anime Boston MAIL OUT BADGES to people who prereg. No more missing half a day of already paid for vacation to pick up something you bought months ago. Then all the people who normally help us out are free to help non pre regs resulting in faster lines for them.

Roessen · Post by **Roessen** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:18 pm

[quote=GirlNChainmail]Something I don't understand is why can't Anime Boston MAIL OUT BADGES to people who prereg. No more missing half a day of already paid for vacation to pick up something you bought months ago. Then all the people who normally help us out are free to help non pre regs resulting in faster lines for them.[/quote]

This.

I understand that this con is trying to do whatever it takes to make everyone's experience more satisfying, but, not sound rude, but it's rather foolish to assume that whenever something new is tried, it will always work out positively.

And yes, I too fell under the waiting line curse (It's story time!). My friends and I had arrived at around 3 PM, and one of my friends had not pre-registered. My pre-reg friends and I had finally recieved our badges at around 7:30, making us miss quite a few things.

The train schedule had said that the last train in to Worcester left at 11:30, so we would've had to leave at around 11. My friend in the registration line got his badge at 11:30, so one of my friends had to call his mother to drive us back... so we had to wait an hour for her to arrive, and then another hour to get back to Shrewsbury. (While I was waiting, my friends abandoned me to go to the 18+ things, since I'm only 17; you might've seen me, cosplaying as Elk, sitting on a bench looking sad. Some people talked to me, took my picture, and hugged me though, so those things cheered me up a bit)

But yeah. It kind of is a bit of a waste, that some of us bought 3-day passes, yet the first day was mainly spent waiting. If a new idea is to be tried out, a thorough test should be done (Then again, you guys might've done "trial runs" and it worked out just fine)

Also, when I met up with 2 friends of mine there after I recieved my badge, one said that he only waited for 20 minutes, and the other 0 minutes, since they just sorta walked near the "final registration room", and they just sorta walked right in, not being stopped or anything.

A Mom · Post by **A Mom** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:31 pm

Tuan -

Thank you for putting in place some of my suggestions. Contact me and I'll help you next year do proper pre-planning for the registration process and other operational issues.

You need to improve on the health and safety aspect as well.

BTW...do you folks have written policies and procedures to address the operational issues?

A Mom · Post by **A Mom** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:34 pm

Customer services needs to be the first priority. There is no excuse for you being treated that way...other than his/her frustration. In the wake of their bedlam...they needed to become more customer friendly and put alternate plans to deal with the volume...which clearly they were not capable of doing.

Sad...when you think of all the money everyone spent to go??!!

elphaba · Post by **elphaba** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:43 pm

This didn't happen to me thankfully, but some of my friends, who didn't show up till later in the day, where actually told that the line was closed. Even though they had pre-registered, they were told they had to come back on Saturday.

meregeeks · Post by **meregeeks** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:50 pm

I waited for 6 hours on Sat. Missed my opportunity to go to the dealers room and the Pillows concert.

No one at the end of any of the "three lines" said "I am sorry" or "this line has a wait time of 6 hours" or "for the long wait take this discount since you waisted the whole con in line"

Not cool.

AND I personally saw 100s of people just leave and say "screw this". I wonder how much more business, not only to the con, but to the dealers, were lost .

freakypetachick · Post by **freakypetachick** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:09 pm

i know i pre=reg this year thinking 'oh well it will go faster for me this year!'

oh hell no. 5 flippn hours in line!!! my friends who wasnt pre-reg had to wait for 9!

IT WAS THE LINES OF HELL!!!

Ramen9 · Post by **Ramen9** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:38 pm

I only had to wait 4-5 hours but when I was at the last turn and saw someone who had to have been about another hours wait behind me walking out of registration wearing a badge I was ticked off.

fishie · Post by **fishie** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:41 pm

[quote=Curly Eyebrow]I was personally disgusted with, not only the excruciating line wait, but also how it was handled during and once I reached the front.

There were at least twenty people going up and down the line in that main hallway alone making sure we were against the wall. We are already being herded around like cattle and stuck waiting for inhumane hours, put these people to better use such as registration rather than constantly yelling at us. I'm sure THEY didn't want to do it either.

Once I reached the main room, I saw that there were FIVE computers for the thousands of people waiting in line. Then from the five computers, the people went to TWO people to pay and receive their badges. The pre-registration line was shorter, the people were waiting less, however they had FIVE registration people helping them out and they didn't have to deal with the completely scrappy doo step of registering on the computer.

Once the staff realized the complete failure of their registration process, it should have been IMMEDIATELY switched to a new method.

I arrived at 10:00am and did not get my badge until 7:30pm. By then, I had missed the dealer's room and several of the events I wanted to attend. I did not plan on attending on Sunday but when I reached the front of the line, I was still expected to pay full price for a weekend pass. Even if I HAD planned on attending on Sunday, I should not have had to have paid full price.

I spoke to two very unhelpful staff members at the front of the line who, I understand were probably stressed as well. However, I asked several times to talk to someone because I was not about to pay full price for a day of line waiting.

I spoke to the con-chair who was condescending, rude, unhelpful and told me that I could either buy a Saturday pass and not do anything on Friday or I could buy a weekend pass with no price mark-down. There were still things I wanted to do on Friday despite having missed practically EVERYTHING ELSE I wanted to do.

Even if I hadn't missed everything I wanted to do, waiting in line for that long in unacceptable. The person two spots in front of me in line COLLAPSED. However, I not only missed an entire day but I missed it due to the extreme disorganization of Anime Boston.

In the past, I have waited, at most, an hour and a half in a line like that.

Don't repeat this mistake. I've been to Anime Boston every year since it started and always been happy with it. However if this happens again, I won't be returning.[/quote]

I would also like to agree with this sentiments, as I'm sure this person was probably one of my line buddies and we discussed this very thing. Now I do understand that the staff are only human and we do all make mistakes. But even so there really is a point where it becomes ridiculous. This really was ridiculous, and when I did politely speak to a staff member at the desk when I finally got up there at close to 7:45 ( I'd been there since 10:30 ) if there was any way that I could get a discount on a wasted day, and was really rather rudely brushed aside.

The sad thing is, is even if I had pre registered I would've been in line for just as long. In fact, my friend who did prereg got into the room just a little before me!

It was just very dissapointing after the amount time and resources that were put into to planning the trip to come down for the weekend. Not to mention a 3 hour drive. Especially considering that since starting to come to AB several years ago ( which was a blast), the other cons I've been to have always been compaired to this con and fallen up short.

All and all It was a major dissapointed, not including the way the con attendees in general, including myself, were treated by both the Hyne's security and the staff belonging to the Marriot ( Which is a whole other can of worms to be sure)

So I really do hope you take the time to listen to what everyone is saying and correct these things for the future because I would hate to have to write this con off completely as in the past I've had a great time.

Thanks for your time.

name pending · Post by **name pending** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:47 pm

[color:red]to look on the bright side of things; no normal line will ever feel 2 long again[/color] :content:

xxdivineknightxx · Post by **xxdivineknightxx** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:02 pm

haha suckers, we walked right up to the front of the line and cut. mwahaha

Fetch · Post by **Fetch** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:08 pm

I thankfully didn't have to experience the Fri Reg hell, but the masq line was nearly as bad. Had to go up to the 3rd floor, back down to the 2nd, walk almost the entirety of the 2nd floor, then go up the stairs to the balcony and walk the width of the balcony just to get to a seat.

Line control for Main Events needs work. If the line has continued up/downstairs, there should be an orange shirt or a sign there to communicate that fact. And please, if at all possible, figure out a way that people on the far side of the building don't have to walk down both hallways twice to reach the door.

Also, a large number of the Hynes security was treating AB attendees like they were inmates at Cedar Junction. Previous years, there were NEVER that many of the Hynes security roaming the halls. It felt wrong.

guardianhunter · Post by **guardianhunter** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:08 pm

[quote=xxdivineknightxx]haha suckers, we walked right up to the front of the line and cut. mwahaha[/quote]

THIS behavior is actually highly unaccaptable and will not be tolerated.

Ratica · Post by **Ratica** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:12 pm

[quote=xxdivineknightxx]haha suckers, we walked right up to the front of the line and cut. mwahaha[/quote]

That's not a very nice thing to say around here.

Curly Eyebrow · Post by **Curly Eyebrow** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:12 pm

[quote=fishie]I would also like to agree with this sentiments, as I'm sure this person was probably one of my line buddies and we discussed this very thing. Now I do understand that the staff are only human and we do all make mistakes. But even so there really is a point where it becomes ridiculous. This really was ridiculous, and when I did politely speak to a staff member at the desk when I finally got up there at close to 7:45 ( I'd been there since 10:30 ) if there was any way that I could get a discount on a wasted day, and was really rather rudely brushed aside.

The sad thing is, is even if I had pre registered I would've been in line for just as long. In fact, my friend who did prereg got into the room just a little before me!

It was just very dissapointing after the amount time and resources that were put into to planning the trip to come down for the weekend. Not to mention a 3 hour drive. Especially considering that since starting to come to AB several years ago ( which was a blast), the other cons I've been to have always been compaired to this con and fallen up short.

All and all It was a major dissapointed, not including the way the con attendees in general, including myself, were treated by both the Hyne's security and the staff belonging to the Marriot ( Which is a whole other can of worms to be sure)

So I really do hope you take the time to listen to what everyone is saying and correct these things for the future because I would hate to have to write this con off completely as in the past I've had a great time.

Thanks for your time.[/quote]

We probably WERE close to each other in line. Singing Disney songs in the main room and wanting to die as we scooted along on the floor because we couldn't stand any longer. I was lied to several times when I asked staff members of how long the wait would be. I was told an hour to an hour and a half several times.

The staff, while seeming willing to help, were useless and only pretended to do someone when I asked to speak to someone. The con-chair only snapped at me and basically told me I'd have to pay for a day of line-waiting and missing things I wanted to go to. She brushed me off rudely and unapologetically rather than owning up to her obvious failure. Anime Boston should have immediately started marking down the prices for EVERYONE when this happened.

The most hilariously horrible part was that when I got to the front and saw that the pre-registered people had several more people registering them, I asked and the woman helping me told me that they had "threatened to riot" so they had five people helping them while the non-registered people had two. That is utter crap.

Something else that frustrated me was that once I earned my badge through nine and a half hours of waiting, it was not checked ONCE. I even had it shoved under my jacket for half the day and NO ONE called me on it. I could have easily bypassed the line and gotten in for free.

I wonder if they are even listening. Their customer service was abysmal and they should know this.

[quote=xxdivineknightxx]haha suckers, we walked right up to the front of the line and cut. mwahaha[/quote]

Yeah. Well. Some of us aren't douchebags and people like you made the wait longer for people who actually deserved to be up there.

kathy1meme · Post by **kathy1meme** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:19 pm

my daughter tried cheering up her friends by pointing out that this was not the worst line she'd ever been in.
In '03 My family and I (including a 3 month old) were in a traffic line for 16 hours to get into a week-end long Phish festival. And that was at the end of an 8 hour drive.
But unlike AB, the concert didn't start till the next day... so we didn't miss anything.

Next year I'm picking up badges on Thursday!

blueski3s · Post by **blueski3s** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:22 pm

when we first got in line, the guy said the wait was about 2 and half hours, and he was right, but that was just for the first line in the big room. this girl in front of me and my friend told us that a staff member siad the rest of the wait would be like 5-6 hours, and we were both like "there's no way," unaware of the line outside. we told her that he was probably lying, but we were wrong.

Curly Eyebrow · Post by **Curly Eyebrow** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:25 pm

At least he was being honest with you! If I was told that I'd be waiting nine hours upfront, I would have probably walked right out!

Mysterious_Shino · Post by **Mysterious_Shino** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:32 pm

My groupd doesnt even have that option... we come from Maine all 40 of us, and we cant go on thursday, the costs for us would just be too great, not to mention that we'd have to take more time off from School...

Several of the people in my group are seriously considering never coming back to anime boston again. I will be there... but I really am hopeful that something is done to prevent another catastrophe like this again, I only had from 5 on friday till 10 on saturday to have any fun myself, thanks to the line and what having to have to bring people to the train station.

I dont know what can be done to help make this all go better, but there has to be some way. Maybe mailing the badges would be more efficient to those who pre register far enough in advance, chrage a little more and mail them out. Sounds like a nice idea to me. Anyway I hope we get to hear a little about what they plan to do that will make sure that nothing like that happens again... At least in any other massivly long lines at the convetnion, you were going to events you decided were worth using up that much time to attend. With this you had no option, if you wanted to go to anything you had to go through this.

Kino · Post by **Kino** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:38 pm

I know a line that gets on everybody's nerves... everybody's nerves...

It's good to hear that AB will try harder next year but it's kind of confusing to think that 5 computers would've worked... that and the knowledge of the amount people that preregistered...
But whining won't change much of anything right now... I just hope something this terrible won't happen again.

Anime Boston did seem wayyyy too overcrowded for it's own good all three days though ... I don't remember seeing so many people last year.

Curly Eyebrow · Post by **Curly Eyebrow** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:40 pm

It won't change anything at this point but I think it's kind of important to let them know the general dissatisfaction with how things were run. I mean, if they're just going to post "how they will fix things" and then not reply to anyone or even say anything, the least we can do is let them know.

Mewohkie · Post by **Mewohkie** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:44 pm

[quote=Curly Eyebrow]The con-chair only snapped at me and basically told me I'd have to pay for a day of line-waiting and missing things I wanted to go to. She brushed me off rudely and unapologetically rather than owning up to her obvious failure. Anime Boston should have immediately started marking down the prices for EVERYONE when this happened.[/quote]

We need Patrick D back calling shots FTW!

I had a couple friends who missed their train out after picking up their badges in some 9 hour line so they slept out infront of the hynes mall enterance.

Mewohkie · Post by **Mewohkie** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:45 pm

Server Error Doublepost FTL

Astro · Post by **Astro** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:48 pm

Actually, the money is put towards the con itself. The Hynes isn't free, nor are the hotel rooms for staff members, guests of honors, and volunteers to name a few expenses cons have. The staff members and volunteers are not paid for what they do--they go through more stress than we realize and they do it because they believe in the convention.

I'm trying to see everything that happened this AB from an optimistic point of view:

There were new ideas applied towards registration that proved to not work as everyone hoped. That's what happens with ideas: you try them, and if they don't work you improve on the idea until it's perfected. AB started off different than most cons with over 4,000 attendees at it's first year and continues to grow in attendance. Other large cons have more years on AB and can keep up because of their long expierence. In a case where you have a con that rapidly grows each year you must apply new ideas to accomadate the mass amount of people that attend.

I still agree that the line situation could've and should've been handled better than it was, especially if speculation was made on how many people were going to attend. Mark downs on Friday and weekend badges would've been good, not to mention staffers or volunteers passing out water or even handing out the program guides so people can see what's going on for the rest of the con. I feel it's better to give good service and cut down on the rates and offer some sort of relief. Isn't it better to lose $25 on the full price of a weekend badge for one year and gain a regular attendee rather than lose out on the full $50 every year after because the attendee was unsatisfied? Let's hope the reg staff has learned from this year from what didn't work and make the right improvments for next year.

Consider that if you don't like what you see and want to make an impact on how the con is ran the following year that staff members and volunteers are welcomed and you also receive a free badge for your good work. A free badge means you don't have to wait in line, and you get to help out other attendees and make the con better.

I made the best con-related decision in my life and pre-reg'd back at AAC for myself and my boyfriend. After waiting twice in line--once for my badge on Thursday and again on Friday with him--I was in line for a total of no more than 3 hours. I had friends who waited from 7 1/2 to 9 1/2 hours for their badge and wasted all of Friday. Some won't be back for another year, but for those who do return for AB 09 will probably pre-reg and not go through the hassle of waiting in line for an entire day again.

xxdivineknightxx · Post by **xxdivineknightxx** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:49 pm

[quote=Curly Eyebrow]
Yeah. Well. Some of us aren't douchebags and people like you made the wait longer for people who actually deserved to be up there.[/quote]

You call it being a deuchebag, I call it being smart. You waited 5 hours and I didn't, correct? Only laws I follow are the ten commandments, and I don't believe "thou shalt not cut in line" was one of them.

jpmeyer · Post by **jpmeyer** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:50 pm

Fortunately for me, I lined up on Thursday afternoon so it "only" took me 90 minutes to pick up my pre-reg badge. I was in the artist alley this weekend, and Friday was absolutely dead. There were very few people coming in there and a lot of tables weren't even set up until the afternoon. I basically lost an entire day of sales from that. Saturday's sales were decent, but I sold exactly 1 doujinshi on Friday.

[quote=xxdivineknightxx]haha suckers, we walked right up to the front of the line and cut. mwahaha[/quote]

I would frequently ask people that stopped by my table on Friday and Saturday and asked them how long they were waiting in line. At least three people said that they've just been sneaking in because they gave up after 3 hours on line. One of them said that every time someone caught her, she just walked right back in. Personally, I think there was only one time when someone checked my badge.

http://www.minaidehazukashii.com/?p=504 and http://www.minaidehazukashii.com/?p=505

KÂªRL Kornfeld · Post by **KÂªRL Kornfeld** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:02 pm

I'm one of the people who wouldn't wait 6 hours on Saturday. Actually, there were four of us all together. Three of us do the BostonGeek podcast and right now we all feel like giant asses for mentioning Anime Boston on the podcast and recommending it as something fun to do.

At first I thought it was just a bigger than expected crowd, but after reading these comments I'm just...I don't even know what words to use. The situation described is way beyond unacceptable and deep into the realms of completely stupid. Are things going to be better in 2009 or should I recommend that fans not get their hopes up and waste their time?

BTW, after we decided not to wait, we did get some pictures of fans in the common areas here.

Astro · Post by **Astro** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:13 pm

It may not be word from God that you're not going to hell for cutting in line, but it's still a pretty asinine thing to do to everyone who waited longer than you did and then brag about it. Besides, stealing a spot in line because you covet a badge DOES break two of your codes, so maybe you should rethink your actions in the future.

Mysterious_Shino · Post by **Mysterious_Shino** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:18 pm

The crowd was far larger then expected. Last year in total the con only got what 12000 people to come to it in all three days, this year I know that at least 13000 showed up on the first day (Met someone with a badge in the 13,000),meaning that they had to process everything they had in years past, in one days time.... I'm betting the con probably had between 15,000 to 20,000 people there this year. We'll have to wait a few days to find out the official numbers, but if its over 24,000 then its a little more understandable how this all came to happen... I mean no anime convention would ever count on there atendees doubling in number from one year to the next. But yeah, we'll just have to wait and see if the numbers passify us any. Thats the only reason I'm as calm about this as I am.

ChrisNH · Post by **ChrisNH** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:22 pm

The only way that literally thousands upon thousands of disgusted 2008 visitors will EVER consider the 2009 show is if preregistration also means that they pre-mail credentials to you. This whole nonsense about 'pre-registering' is a farce if it means you STILL have to wait in a line. Not everyone going to this show can get out of bed at 6am and hop over to the convention center, fresh as a daisy, for 7am. Thousands drove a distance, or took a train, and (like us) were just totally let down by the experience. My 12-year-old daughter and I came down from New Hampshire; we were right behind a mother and two daughters who also came from NH. We all left in disgust after suffering through a 3+ hour wait in the main room from 11:15 to 2:15, only to realize that we had another three hours (at least) to go. My little girl and I had little stamina left, and we knew that another three hours would sap us totally. Plus, my daughter had a schedule of things she wanted to do and see; all would be over and done with by the time we got our badge. So, we kept the money in our pockets and left...pretty bitter at the whole thing. Many in the line behind us didn't even last as long as we did; the line behind us kept getting shorter...not longer...which meant simply that people gave up.

I see nothing in either of the Boston newspapers that suggest we missed anything really great. In fact, there were no stories whatsoever on 'Anime 2008.' Clearly, it was much ado about nothing and we spent our money elsewhere.

ChrisNH · Post by **ChrisNH** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:34 pm

[quote=GirlNChainmail]I pre reg'd and probably ended up waiting in line for 3-5 hours... to tell the truth I stopped tracking it after 3 hours because it was getting depressing.

Something I don't understand is why can't Anime Boston MAIL OUT BADGES to people who prereg. No more missing half a day of already paid for vacation to pick up something you bought months ago. Then all the people who normally help us out are free to help non pre regs resulting in faster lines for them.[/quote]

EXACTLY. This idiotic show management had two registration processes and SCREWED THEM BOTH UP. What plausible reason could they have for NOT mailing out the badges? That it 'costs money to mail them out?' BFD! Their wanton greed just gave these rodeo clowns a huge black eye. Besides not wanting to spend for postage, what plausible reason could they have for not mailing in advance??

Mikazuki81 · Post by **Mikazuki81** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:41 pm

My guess is they're afraid people will try to duplicate them and make fake badges or they think it's too much hassle. I don't know of any con that mails them out (anime expo mailed out a voucher with a bar code that they scanned to give you the real badge), but I have seen cons that were waaaaay smaller that had more live bodies taking your money or your name etc. to register you.