Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

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Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by midnightsiren182 »

Hi everyone!

Online registration for Anime Boston 2014 is now live, and we made a few changes for 2014 so please read carefully here-http://bit.ly/17897Tx
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Fetch »

So, either the whole weekend, or just Sunday?
Why no just Saturday passes?
I ask because isn't that the day that you've ALWAYS sold the most at the door?
It looks like you guys are trying to make the people who can only go on the Saturday have to pay for the whole weekend, and that's just not fair.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Anna-neko »

I'm gonna second the curiosity - why does only Sunday get a daypass, but not Friday or Saturday?
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Animelover4life »

If it keeps going up I have feeling people are going stop coming. Especially with how the economy is going.Like my self.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by silversora »

Fetch wrote:So, either the whole weekend, or just Sunday?
Why no just Saturday passes?
I ask because isn't that the day that you've ALWAYS sold the most at the door?
It looks like you guys are trying to make the people who can only go on the Saturday have to pay for the whole weekend, and that's just not fair.
Hi Fetch,

Thanks for asking these questions, change can be very confusing so I will help answer the questions you have.

1) That is correct

2) With business costs constantly rising, we work hard to keep the consistent level of production quality we offer and the ability to do more cool things, but sometimes that means we have to make changes or adjustments as we grow and evolve as a convention to do so. We are offering a convention membership with will cover the entire weekend. It also makes it easier on security on checking badges and for the safety of all of the attendees.

3) The Weekend Badge, which is now called a Convention Membership always sold the most at the door.

4) It would be very confusing if a weekend badge and the Saturday badge cost the same. We are still the best value con of our size in the United States when it comes to our prices. If price is an issue, we actually offer Convention Memberships for the following convention year when we have each convention. Therefore, at AB 2013, we sold a Convention Membership for $40. This was the price of a Saturday badge last year. I would call that a great value!
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by silversora »

AnnaNeko wrote:I'm gonna second the curiosity - why does only Sunday get a daypass, but not Friday or Saturday?
Hi AnnaNeko,

The reason we are keeping the Sunday day pass are for people who:

1) Have never been to Anime Boston before and want to try it out. It is also geared towards families. The Sunday Convention Membership has become cheaper compared to last year, making it much more affordable. So a family of 4 (2 adult and 2 youth) could check out the convention, if paid by cash, for $60. That is pretty cheap!

2) Want to just check out the dealers room and artist alley. $25, or $20 if you pay with cash, is a better value than the $30 it was last year.

The cost of the one day Friday and Saturday badge was going to be extremely close or exactly the cost of the weekend badge. So, instead of getting 1 day from either the Friday or Saturday badge, everyone gets 3 days!
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by gintoki653 »

Hi, I was an attendee for AB'13 and I preregistered for AB'14 at the dealers' room during that convention. When can I get my email confirmation of my badge and registration?
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by KariKessler »

'-'
Last edited by KariKessler on Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
~Music~
[/b]
!~Anime~!

~!>Sleep<!~

~!>^Food^<!~

These are the ingredients chosen to create the perfect meds for sadness
[/color]
But Professor Kessler accidentally added a chemical ingredient

P~!O~!W~!
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Reality ._. ......
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by KariKessler »

Wow ._. Uhmm...ouch. This bites
Last edited by KariKessler on Sat Nov 30, 2013 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
~Music~
[/b]
!~Anime~!

~!>Sleep<!~

~!>^Food^<!~

These are the ingredients chosen to create the perfect meds for sadness
[/color]
But Professor Kessler accidentally added a chemical ingredient

P~!O~!W~!
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Mosquito1945 »

gintoki653 wrote:Hi, I was an attendee for AB'13 and I preregistered for AB'14 at the dealers' room during that convention. When can I get my email confirmation of my badge and registration?
Now that online registration is up, we can start processing the pre-registrations. You should be getting your notification in the next few weeks.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by midnightsiren182 »

KariKessler wrote:Wow ._. Uhmm...ouch. This bites :( I mean I normally plan going all three days every year(Although Sundays were low on grits this and last year) but If I recall correctly, I remember there was a start up cost before in every Annual AB. That's why everybody liked the way it was handled these past few years. I hope the price doesn't rise a lot more next year D': Also, there should be new events ._. something like Anime Olympics or a Maid Cafe (volunteers) and random background booths for people to stand in front of and take pictures. Just saying :D It'll be cool. Unless maybe its just me :|
Start-up cost? Can you please clarify what you think that is?
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by xSakuraChu »

I should be registering soon. ^^
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by StheStampede »

This feels like a silly question, but I just wanted to double check! This year, you're only having one option for one day badges available and it's for Sunday? I've always just attended AB just on Saturday because I could never get to Boston the other days, I've really enjoyed not having to buy a full weekend pass when I couldn't use it. There's won't be any one day passes for just Saturday available anymore?
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Post by striker923 »

StheStampede wrote:This feels like a silly question, but I just wanted to double check! This year, you're only having one option for one day badges available and it's for Sunday? I've always just attended AB just on Saturday because I could never get to Boston the other days, I've really enjoyed not having to buy a full weekend pass when I couldn't use it. There's won't be any one day passes for just Saturday available anymore?
Yes, this year we are offering Convention membership (Fri, Sat & Sun) or a Sunday Convention membership (Sun only). No one-day passes for either Friday nor Saturday. Convention memberships are $55 until the end of January and go up $60 February 1st. (Don't forget AB is earlier this year!) Sunday Convention membership is $25, or $20 with a discount for cash. Either way Sunday Convention membership is available at the door only, no pre-reg for that.

Hope this helps! If you want more details, here is the announcement.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by akatonbo »

For the record, I'm not sure if I'll be coming to AB this year or not because I can't get a single day badge for any day except Sunday. I don't have the money to do a full weekend at the con. I could afford a day at the con just fine, or so I thought -- most single-day badges I've seen have been a little bit more than half the cost of a full-weekend badge, so $35 or $40, plus $20 for the round-trip train fare means $55-60 for the day, plus T fare inside the city and money for whatever I eat. But if I can only buy a weekend badge, that means that even if I still only go Saturday, it's suddenly $80 plus T fare and food. If I decide that being forced to pay for the whole weekend whether I use it or not means I should go for an extra day (which would be Friday, because I have never seen a convention that had a Sunday worth going to on its own), then either it's $100 and I have the inconvenience of taking the train home at night and back again in the morning, or I have to figure out where to stay, which will cost more.

And that's just me. People who come on their own (including people who come in groups but everyone pays their own way) are one thing, but then you get into the families -- maybe two teenagers want to come and mom would be chaperoning them, and maybe they're even close enough that train fare or gas money or whatever isn't a big deal, but instead of $120 for all three to go on Saturday, it's $180. If mom says they can't afford the extra $60, she's not going to go on her own, or take just one of her two kids, or send the kids with no chaperone.

I know conventions cost money to run. When I'm not dead broke, I go for the whole weekend, I stay in the nice convention hotel with only two people in my room, not ten or even four, the whole nine yards. I've been to conventions that cost a couple of hundred dollars for the weekend (the tiny kind where that also buys all your food, not the huge corporate kind where you're paying for half the cast of Star Trek to be there). I also know that you'll get plenty of people showing up without me and all the other people who can't afford to pay for the whole weekend. But I really WANT to like AnimeBoston, because it's in my home state (even if I don't usually live here) and a lot of people I want to see go to it, and most years when I'm out in Michigan my partner and I give it a look and think about going even though it's usually too close to Anime Central or Katsucon or something, because it seems like it OUGHT to be a great con. But the experiences I've actually had at it have been pretty meh. And I want to give it another chance because I'm back here for a few months and I know that a lot of my friends who are in state but not nearby will be there, but it's going to eat up ALL of my fun-money for like a month and a half if I do. And Acen 2014 still has Saturday badges at the door for $35. So I'm pretty disappointed before I've even walked in the door, if I walk in the door.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Nosut »

Well I won't be there this year. While you do have costs maybe you forget that if you want people to feel like they are getting a value you shouldn't appear to rip them off.

I can only make it for Saturday. I work Friday and my girlfriend Sunday. We were planning to come for Saturday. At the normal rate we would have been spending around $60 or so on just the passes. With your new system or would be $120! Why should I who can only go one day be required to pay the same as those enjoying it for 3. Regardless of your response this simply seems like a rip off value and money grab. I hope you change it for next year and I won't be surprised to see a drop in attendance.

I'm sorry if you take this the wrong way I am just really disappointed.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by PyroGodFlameCosplay »

So , if we wait in line Saturday and pay there for our pass/badge, we have to pay for the whole weekend[$60], even if were only coming Saturday. :shock:
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by NobleMaestro »

silversora wrote: 4) It would be very confusing if a weekend badge and the Saturday badge cost the same. We are still the best value con of our size in the United States when it comes to our prices. If price is an issue, we actually offer Convention Memberships for the following convention year when we have each convention. Therefore, at AB 2013, we sold a Convention Membership for $40. This was the price of a Saturday badge last year. I would call that a great value!
The main problem with this is that you have to be willing to fork over the money for a weekend pass to get into Anime Boston to even GET the good deal for next year. This implies that you know a year in advance if you're available to go to the next year's Anime Boston, something adults with jobs who have to get time off don't know...not often do we know what's happening in a year.

Overall, I don't think this new system is very fair to people who can't afford, for various reasons, to pay for a weekend pass. The people who would happily pay the $35-$40 to be able to go to the convention on just Saturday (like in previous years) when they couldn't otherwise are being alienated...like myself and the people posting their stories above me.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Ani2014 »

This is frankly annoying and I know I WON'T be able to go now. I could only go on Friday and it seems I won't be able to enjoy a day I had been looking forward too since last year.
It's not helping a good amount of people who can only go one day. I think this is ridiculous and unfair. I believe your loosing money and credit within your attendance. You're not getting a lot of cookie-points for this. :evil:
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Princess_Kaylin »

Because of the way that they do not offer a pass for Friday it seems they lost my business.

I would have loved to pay 35 or 25 to go to just the panels and not any masquerade ((which I never do))

The way the economy is and the way that only sunday is the day for pricing I am going to just boycott going till it hits cheaper.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by tobiinpajamas »

Lol.

And here we see an already-struggling con introducing a policy sure to tank its attendance and make people feel like they're getting ripped off.

I was considering going on Saturday, but I'm definitely not paying $60 (the previous cost of an entire weekend) to access a convention I really am not a huge fan of anymore anyway just to see friends who I could see via hanging out in the sheraton just as easily.

Enjoy your lousy numbers this year.
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Post by silversora »

tobiinpajamas wrote:Lol.

And here we see an already-struggling con introducing a policy sure to tank its attendance and make people feel like they're getting ripped off.

I was considering going on Saturday, but I'm definitely not paying $60 (the previous cost of an entire weekend) to access a convention I really am not a huge fan of anymore anyway just to see friends who I could see via hanging out in the sheraton just as easily.

Enjoy your lousy numbers this year.
Would you be able to elaborate on us being an "already-struggling con"?
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by silversora »

NobleMaestro wrote:
silversora wrote: 4) It would be very confusing if a weekend badge and the Saturday badge cost the same. We are still the best value con of our size in the United States when it comes to our prices. If price is an issue, we actually offer Convention Memberships for the following convention year when we have each convention. Therefore, at AB 2013, we sold a Convention Membership for $40. This was the price of a Saturday badge last year. I would call that a great value!
The main problem with this is that you have to be willing to fork over the money for a weekend pass to get into Anime Boston to even GET the good deal for next year. This implies that you know a year in advance if you're available to go to the next year's Anime Boston, something adults with jobs who have to get time off don't know...not often do we know what's happening in a year.

Overall, I don't think this new system is very fair to people who can't afford, for various reasons, to pay for a weekend pass. The people who would happily pay the $35-$40 to be able to go to the convention on just Saturday (like in previous years) when they couldn't otherwise are being alienated...like myself and the people posting their stories above me.
You would be able to get a Sunday Membership to check out the convention to get a good deal for next year. So for $25 you can get a Convention Membership for next year for $45.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Wasianegg »

Damn. This sucks. Me and my group of friends won't be able to make it either because we all planned to go for 1 day. Anime Boston really has been going down in quality. It already took a big hit when it lost the dance at night. That alone already made us not want to go for the whole weekend. Now that we only have a Saturday off it's a big rip off to pay $60. I will be having fun at PAX this year.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by NobleMaestro »

silversora wrote: You would be able to get a Sunday Membership to check out the convention to get a good deal for next year. So for $25 you can get a Convention Membership for next year for $45.
Sadly, I (and I'm sure others) can only make it for Saturday, so getting into Boston to go for a few hours on Sunday to get the deal for next year is a moot point. Adults with jobs who'd love to go don't always know a year in advance what they can do and can't do. It still feels, to me personally, like you're not trying to cater to the attendee.

I know sometimes policies and rules need to change, but they should be done for the better of the people who will be at your convention! I hope that this policy changes next year, as it's the only reason keeping me (and again, I'm sure others) from going.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by tobiinpajamas »

Oh, I don't know, the:

1. ridiculous amounts of disorganization over every aspect of the convention

2. repeated refusal to listen to concerns voiced multiple times by convention patrons over multiple years

3. refusal to keep up on the most basic things (like the game room, which is why it hasn't been good since 2012)

4. staff infighting

5. price hikes

6. inability to monitor high-risk events such as the dance so they don't get shut down by the city (seriously, a little foresight would have prevented that entire thing from happening).


Basically AB is poorly run, poorly staffed, and now wants people to pay $60 for one day with the promise that you'll now get some kind of membership and it'll be cheaper next year. Because we all know what we're doing a year in advance for a weekend that also collides with Easter. Lol okay.

I'm quite sure you'll respond to this post with a list of reasons why it's "not that bad" or "I'm just jaded" because that's what forum staff literally always do whenever someone (or multiple people) complains. It's fine, I'm over it, I just probably won't ever attend AB again unless something major happens in terms of organization.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Xias »

tobiinpajamas wrote:It's fine, I'm over it, I just probably won't ever attend AB again unless something major happens in terms of organization.
So you're just, what, posting on the message board of an event you self-admittedly have no actual plans of attending? Um, lol?

Also Anime Boston isn't even the first con to do the "only allow weekend badges" thing. In fact, it appears to be a trend at this point for any reasonably large-ish convention. So I'm sorry it makes some of you sad, but personally if it means Saturday is less overly crowded compared to Friday it sounds pretty good to me, actually.
Last edited by Xias on Mon Mar 17, 2014 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Flemtee »

I have to be honest, for the people who are coming on all up in arms towards Anime Boston telling them they are failing and they're a lousy quality con need to stop. It's incredibly immature and childish. If it's not worth it for you to go a full day for $60, then just simply don't go, that's life. But, realistically it's just extra $20 you won't be spending in the dealer's room. I understand that you might be upset that you can't go if you can't afford it, but Anime Boston is running a business that has costs so quit being ridiculous and taking it out on them, people! I attend lots of conventions throughout the year and Anime Boston is actually one of the best run conventions out there, they keep events interesting and deliver on a variety on content. If you're this miserable and easily set off by some bad news, then yes I would maybe recommend staying away because all of us ready to have fun simply don't want to hear it because this is certainly not "fixing" anything. Everything that happens at this convention is for us and they don't have to do it at all... and if they don't do it, nobody will.

And for those people who are still using the informal dance as an excuse to complain, that was not their fault and an unfortunate mishap. That kind of thing happens in life too. If the MAIN reason you go to the anime convention is for the dance, there are plenty of other places around Boston you can still do that, but I personally go to visit with the fandom and the culture... and it would be pretty hard to cancel that. Can't wait for this weekend! Please let's have some fun!
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by tobiinpajamas »

Xias wrote:
tobiinpajamas wrote:It's fine, I'm over it, I just probably won't ever attend AB again unless something major happens in terms of organization.
So you're just, what, posting on the message board of an event you self-admittedly have no actual plans of attending? Um, lol?
I would love to go again. I attend conventions frequently in other places and AB is no holds barred, without a doubt the WORST run con I've been to for at least the last two years. It wasn't always like that but the staff can't get their asses in gear and organized and so yeah, no, I won't be attending. Would I like to attend? Sure. But AB is now the ONLY con I've seen that doesn't offer day passes and I'm expected to pay $60 for one day of hanging out with friends? I Don't think so.


As for the informal dance being "not their fault", how the hell is it not their fault? They are the ones RESPONSIBLE for security and making sure that the children at the convention don't get in trouble, and that people aren't bringing drugs into the dance. They failed in that duty. It's absolutely their fault.

But yes, sure, let's pretend that NOTHING EVER is the staff's fault so they have absolutely 0 reason to improve on anything and the convention can continue to get shittier and shittier every year. Lol alright.
Last edited by tobiinpajamas on Mon Mar 17, 2014 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Xias »

tobiinpajamas wrote:
Xias wrote:
tobiinpajamas wrote:It's fine, I'm over it, I just probably won't ever attend AB again unless something major happens in terms of organization.
So you're just, what, posting on the message board of an event you self-admittedly have no actual plans of attending? Um, lol?
I would love to go again. I attend conventions frequently in other places and AB is no holds barred, without a doubt the WORST run con I've been to for at least the last two years. It wasn't always like that but the staff can't get their asses in gear and organized and so yeah, no, I won't be attending. Would I like to attend? Sure. But AB is now the ONLY con I've seen that doesn't offer day passes and I'm expected to pay $60 for one day of hanging out with friends? I Don't think so.
AB is the only con you've ever seen that doesn't offer day passes? Uh, you ever heard of a little con called Otakon? Cause they haven't offered day passes for at least two years now, maybe more than that.

As far as all this "worst-run con" garbage goes, whatever, I just don't see it. I can say personally as a panelist the scheduling system is the best of any con I've presented at (and I've presented at multiple different cons), just because of the 30-minute breaks between all the panels. Panels actually start on-time at AB and without someone counting down the seconds until your panel has to end. It's really quite well-organized, actually.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by tobiinpajamas »

Xias wrote:
tobiinpajamas wrote:
Xias wrote:
tobiinpajamas wrote:It's fine, I'm over it, I just probably won't ever attend AB again unless something major happens in terms of organization.
So you're just, what, posting on the message board of an event you self-admittedly have no actual plans of attending? Um, lol?
I would love to go again. I attend conventions frequently in other places and AB is no holds barred, without a doubt the WORST run con I've been to for at least the last two years. It wasn't always like that but the staff can't get their asses in gear and organized and so yeah, no, I won't be attending. Would I like to attend? Sure. But AB is now the ONLY con I've seen that doesn't offer day passes and I'm expected to pay $60 for one day of hanging out with friends? I Don't think so.
AB is the only con you've ever seen that doesn't offer day passes? Uh, you ever heard of a little con called Otakon? Cause they haven't offered day passes for at least two years now, maybe more than that.

As far as all this "worst-run con" garbage goes, whatever, I just don't see it. I can say personally as a panelist the scheduling system is the best of any con I've presented at (and I've presented at multiple different cons), just because of the 30-minute breaks between all the panels. Panels actually start on-time at AB and without someone counting down the seconds until your panel has to end. It's really quite well-organized, actually.

Otakon also has an attendance cap and is at least three times the size of anime boston.

Please explain to me why none of the staff ever knows where anything is being held. I had to ask SIX DIFFERENT STAFF MEMBERS last year where the formal dance lesson was before one was able to point me in the right direction.

Also please explain to me why the person organizing the con didn't contact bemani invasion back in 2013 regarding the game room. It's my understanding that they sent AB MULTIPLE emails and were ignored, and that's why we don't have any bemani equipment at AB anymore.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Xias »

tobiinpajamas wrote:Otakon also has an attendance cap and is at least three times the size of anime boston.
Actually this year is their first year with an official attendance cap, they stopped offering day passes for years before that. So again, you're wrong.
Please explain to me why none of the staff ever knows where anything is being held. I had to ask SIX DIFFERENT STAFF MEMBERS last year where the formal dance lesson was before one was able to point me in the right direction.
I don't know, perhaps they didn't know where it was? Did you really need to go around asking six different staff members when you could have just looked at the schedule and a map?
Also please explain to me why the person organizing the con didn't contact bemani invasion back in 2013 regarding the game room. It's my understanding that they sent AB MULTIPLE emails and were ignored, and that's why we don't have any bemani equipment at AB anymore.
This one I have no idea about, and I love seeing bemani stuff in game rooms too. But yeah, I dunno, it does still feel like you're quivering with little things.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by tobiinpajamas »

Okay so you have the day passes removed two years ago and an attendance cap this year. That's one year before the attendance cap was instated, Otakon is also much larger than AB and also known for poor organization.

I did have to ask a staff member because I was told by the first staff member in this whole snafu that the event was no longer being held in the room it was scheduled to be in. It's staff's responsibility to know where things are. If you don't know where stuff is, don't be on staff because it's your JOB to deal with this kind of thing.

Well yup, that's what happened.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Xias »

tobiinpajamas wrote:Okay so you have the day passes removed two years ago and an attendance cap this year. That's one year before the attendance cap was instated, Otakon is also much larger than AB and also known for poor organization.
Nope, I'm almost certain they didn't have day passes going back further than 2012. I vividly remember a friend who wanted to attend for a day in 2011 who found out she couldn't just get a day pass. It was disappointing for her, sure, but she didn't go on their message board and trash the whole con like a spoiled child over it, either.
I did have to ask a staff member because I was told by the first staff member in this whole snafu that the event was no longer being held in the room it was scheduled to be in. It's staff's responsibility to know where things are. If you don't know where stuff is, don't be on staff because it's your JOB to deal with this kind of thing.
You know they're all unpaid volunteers, right? Like seriously, the amount of just plain entitlement in your posts is kind of insane. No one is getting rich off of Anime Boston or any other convention. They're putting this on for us because they're passionate about Japanese culture and want everyone to have a good time, and I'm sure when they read posts like this from people like you they wonder why they even bother.

Just put yourself in their shoes for a second: they're trying to do the best they can, as volunteers, working for free, and this is the thanks they get? If you don't think it's worth your money anymore, great, don't go. But I'm just not sure what coming on here and trashing people really does for anyone.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by basharoftheages »

The only people that should be expected to know where stuff is happening are the folks at the info desk. That's why they exist.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Faceman »

tobiinpajamas wrote:Please explain to me why none of the staff ever knows where anything is being held. I had to ask SIX DIFFERENT STAFF MEMBERS last year where the formal dance lesson was before one was able to point me in the right direction.
As for the Formal Ball dance lessons, I'm sorry if you had to ask multiple staff members where the it was. However, with a staff of over 400 people, we cannot expect each of them to know the answer to every question every attendee may have.

That is why we have a Con Chowder with a printed schedule and Program Guide (with maps) given to you at badge pickup, a real-time schedule on our website, an app for iOS and Android that has the schedule, and digital room signage. On top of that, we have Info Desks in the Sheraton hall and the Second Floor of the Hynes. If they don't know the answer off the top of your head, they will find it for you. We make these resources available to you to improve your convention experience. It is up to you to use them effectively.

If you did go to the Info Desk and had a bad experience, please give us specific information and we'll do our best to improve that aspect of the convention.
tobiinpajamas wrote:Also please explain to me why the person organizing the con didn't contact bemani invasion back in 2013 regarding the game room. It's my understanding that they sent AB MULTIPLE emails and were ignored, and that's why we don't have any bemani equipment at AB anymore.
I'm sorry that you find the video game room unsatisfactory because we didn't have Bemani Invasion's equipment. I don't know where you get your information from, or whether it's accurate or not. The video game room is not my department. What I do know is that there are many factors that go into the planning and business decisions of Anime Boston. And sometimes we can't make everything work that we'd like to.

We want to do whatever we can to appeal to as many people as possible and give everyone a good experience at Anime Boston. Unfortunately we'll never be able to please everyone. Sometimes we have to make decisions that you may not like. Sometimes you'll get an explanation, sometimes you won't. We can't go into detail about every business decision that someone questions because, frankly, we'd be busy all year long with it.

What this ultimately comes down to is if you find that Anime Boston is worth your money. If you don't, because your schedule doesn't allow you to attend for multiple days, or our programming isn't to your liking, or whatever reason, that's within your right.

We (Anime Boston and the New England Anime Society) are a non-profit business, but in the end we're still a business. We have to make decisions for our business that we feel will best ensure its success and its longevity. You may not agree with some or all of those decisions, and again, that's within your right.

But in the end, you have to decide for yourself if Anime Boston is worth your money and Anime Boston has to decide what's best for the convention. If all of those decisions line up, that's terrific and we'll see you there. If not, we'll try our best again next year and maybe things will change.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Mamacass »

I just wanted to put in My two cents worth and say, my family and I love Anime Boston. We live in Ct (& there's a con there in July) but we prefer Anime Boston.
Just our opinion.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by AniDex »

I wonder how many angry attendee's and parents you're going to get at the door, because not everyone who shows up on Saturday is going to know this.
This just smells of a bad idea; unless the purpose IS to have less people come in.

But seriously guys, it's really coming off as "LOL u can't afford all three days? 2 bad."

Hopefully you won't have too many angry parents who traveled to bring their kid(s) only to be turned away at the door, or find out they have to pay for three days for just the one day.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by midnightsiren182 »

We are not trying to come off as "LOL u can't afford all three days? 2 bad." That has not been said or implied by any staffer in this thread. What HAS been said is that if someone is so unhappy with our convention that they don't want to come anymore, that is their decision and the best we can do is hope they'll return sometime and continue to do what we can to grow as a show and keep going forward.

As has been pointed out by Chris I believe, we unfortunately cannot make everyone happy with some situations, as best as we try to make everyone happy, it's sadly just not a reality sometimes. We will certainly be taking this feedback into account post-con when we take a look at how the year went, but please understand we are NOT trying to be rude and are doing our best to provide tactful, respectful answers.

We will do our best to handle incoming questions onsite Saturday for those who aren't aware of this change, and hopefully they decide to stay and buy a membership, but if not, we understand as well.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Mamacass »

Um, not to be mean or anything, but
This information Has been on the Anime Boston website since September 27, 2013. That's almost 6 Months!!
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by AniDex »

;P Well, since I'm just hearing of it now, I think that just kinda proves the point that a lot of people are going to show up on Saturday going.."Wait...I..can't get a badge for just today?"

But yeah no, like, I've seen cranky con parents say and do horrible crap to their kids when something happens, so I just have this literal fear of some poor kid getting screeched at by mom, dad, etc for not telling them there was no one day badge. >_>:;;
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by fuyuzora »

I'd like to toss my two cents into this thread, since I'm also a bit affected by this change in policy and I've been keeping an eye on the discussion. I haven't attended AB since 2011, and while I plan to attend this year, I realized that I couldn't make it on Friday or get to pre-registration on Thursday. A Saturday-only pass would have helped me out, but I'm not going to complain about that, because the Sunday pass is affordable for me, and this year I'm only attending to check out the merchandise for sale.

My main issue is that I personally disagree with the image of the convention as presented by the staff posts in this forum. I understand that you're all volunteers, and that you'd like to avoid conflict and arguments here. I'm not looking to cause any conflict or arguments, but I'm just frankly confused by what's been said.

Before people tell me that I may not be seeing the big picture because I haven't attended in a few years - that's true. I don't know the current situation at AB. My info's almost 3 years out of date and all the current info I have comes from checking this forum. However, what I do know is that Anime Central, which I personally attended last year, is
1) a larger convention (i.e. several thousand more attendees and a venue spread out over two hotels and a convention center);
2) still offers single-day passes for all three days, at $35 for Friday and Saturday and $25 for Sunday;
3) offers equal and sometimes better prices for both online pre-registration and at-the-door registration.
(Examples: At AB, a child at-the-door weekend pass costs $55, and at ACen costs $15. AB's online pre-reg prices start at $50, while ACen's start at $43, and both peak at $60.)
All of this info comes from ACen's website, and AB's website, so I'm simply comparing figures.

Please understand that I'm not trying to insult AB's staff or anyone else involved with it. As I said, I understand that you are all volunteers, and I can't imagine the amount of effort and work that goes into making this convention. However, given the fact that ACen is a larger convention, and that their pricing is, as I said, equal and sometimes better, I simply don't understand the claim made in this thread that AB is "still the best value con of our size in the United States when it comes to our prices." If the prices are necessary, then I completely understand, and am willing to attempt to pay them. I would by no means begrudge the only convention in my area the money that it needs to keep running. But I honestly can't understand a claim that they're a good value when they don't seem to be, and that's been bothering me slightly, hence this post.

In any case, this is mainly a rhetorical post, and by no means a demand for staff explanations. I'm just pointing out what I've observed with time, so please feel free to correct me if I've made obvious mistakes as well. And I'll close by saying again that I certainly don't mean to sound offensive or ignorant.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by tobiinpajamas »

So are they available or not because multiple people have t's me they purchased one.
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Re: Anime Boston 2014 Online Registration is Now Live!

Post by Bemani Invasion »

tobiinpajamas wrote:Also please explain to me why the person organizing the con didn't contact bemani invasion back in 2013 regarding the game room. It's my understanding that they sent AB MULTIPLE emails and were ignored, and that's why we don't have any bemani equipment at AB anymore.
Hello tobiinpajamas,

Thanks for your support of us, and we're sorry we weren't able to attend AB this year! That being said things aren't as cut and dry as "they contacted you multiple times" or "you ignored them".

AB's gameroom is run in conjunction with the convention as well as a third party vendor for consoles (much like how we are a third party for arcades). The one year we did attend AB it was with that third party vendor Nexus Gaming Alliance. The second year (2013) we were asked to come back, once again with 6 machines, much like 2012. However we had another event ask us to bring all 12 of our machines to their convention on the same weekend that year. We chose to do that convention, which was a hard decision as that was the first AB I had missed since I started attending in 05.

I have a feeling this is part of the reason we were not contacted directly by the con for 2014 (although I cannot speak for them). I did chat with NGA a few times, but they were themselves unsure what AB's plans were for arcades games as it was too far out at that time. The only time we directly attempted to reach out and contact AB was about a week before the con, we had a gap in between shows and thr truck was packed so I said "what the heck: and emailed them. I did not receive a response to that, but honestly, I never expected to. It was one week before the show, everyone was busy, and I only sent it since we had a truck packed.

We have no idea what the future holds, and would love to return to AB sometime in the future, but please don't be upset with them about our absence from the gameroom for the last few years. A lot goes into a convention, and not everything will always pan out perfect for everyone, but I assure you there are a LOT of great things to do at AB besides just the gameroom!

I hope this explanation helps everyone understand a little bit more of the backend of these things, at least from our perspective. And thanks again for supporting us!

-Anthony Capobianco
Bemani Invasion Co-founder
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