The Great Feedback Post of Anime Boston 2016

[guiiii]

The bad:

The Todd Habercorn (sorry about sp.) panel on saturday was held at the same time as the masquerade and in the same hall as the balcony seating. The line was getting crazy long so the ab staff told the balcony seating line to disburse. Not to move but disburse... Then we were told to go away and come back in a half hour. My bf and I left and came back and found the line growing stretching down the third floor hallway. I walked to the front of the line to say hi to a friend who was first in line and she was now about 35th in line. Not fair or cool...

Fangreaper,

Thanks for the feedback. There was a slight misunderstanding between our security staff managing the line for the Todd HaberKorn panel.
To begin with, some people who were waiting for a Crunchyroll panel were waiting in the Todd Haberkorn line, so we informed those people they could get into the room since the panel had started and there was no line. After removing those people from the Todd's panel line everything was fine and dandy until people started to line up for the masquerade in Todd's panel line. We decided to move those people to the opposite wall so the lines would not mix. However, when the information was passed down to the other AB security staff managing the line the information was reversed so instead of moving the Masquerade line to one side of the hallway, Todd's line was moved instead.
That is what happened. It is on us and I apologize for it. Next year we will do better.

Regards,

[ZeekdaPhreek]

Also looks as if you don't appreciate cosplayers or their work. I mean, I can remember a couple dozen cosplay where "wear a jacket you're stupid blah blah blah" just doesn't work.

There is only one way to wear a jacket. Were they doing it wrong?

I thing woman did consider the weather. I saw a lots of great looking full length dresses. I had to stop and talk to them, and tell them how great looking their dress was. I took pictures of them. I saw some men who were half naked. One guy had only boxer shorts on!!!! I didn't take a pic of him.


If possible cosplayers should wait inside. Non-cosplayers could wait outside. Maybe non-cosplayer would be required to use the Boylston street entrance.

The hell was wrong with that guy? Why would you willingly wear boxers in public as a costume and only that? This is why I have an incredibly hard time understanding cosplayers.

Also, you feel entitled to be on the inside of the building because your a cosplayer, while people like me who didn't have to stand outside regardless. Isn't that favortism and entitlement? There's no kind of equality in that. Either AB show equality in everyone getting inside quicker or no one does, its one or the other.

So please don't blame the cosplayer's choice to go as any character no matter how scantily clad they were-- because this year's security was pretty bad with handling the traffic without taking the congoers safety and comfort into consideration, and no one wants to lug a jacket around when they already have other things to carry-- like a bag or a heavy prop.

Thats my point, because I am "blaming" or pointing out the lack of common sense that im seeing on this thread that are considered "complaints." I am going to say it now, Cosplay is not a right, but a privilege. If it were me running a convention, then I would just outright ban cosplay, because at least that is one less headache to worry about, and then no one would have to freeze and complain about it. Lucky for you guys, I don't have that kind of power, and hope I never will.

If anyone chooses to cosplay, be prepared to put up whatever kind of backlash it might be: weather, people, etc. You should be praising about how much attention you get for doing it at the con than whining like it was a burden, which to me seems to be from what I am reading on this thread.

[Luscia]

Also looks as if you don't appreciate cosplayers or their work. I mean, I can remember a couple dozen cosplay where "wear a jacket you're stupid blah blah blah" just doesn't work.

There is only one way to wear a jacket. Were they doing it wrong?

I thing woman did consider the weather. I saw a lots of great looking full length dresses. I had to stop and talk to them, and tell them how great looking their dress was. I took pictures of them. I saw some men who were half naked. One guy had only boxer shorts on!!!! I didn't take a pic of him.


If possible cosplayers should wait inside. Non-cosplayers could wait outside. Maybe non-cosplayer would be required to use the Boylston street entrance.

The hell was wrong with that guy? Why would you willingly wear boxers in public as a costume and only that? This is why I have an incredibly hard time understanding cosplayers.

Also, you feel entitled to be on the inside of the building because your a cosplayer, while people like me who didn't have to stand outside regardless. Isn't that favortism and entitlement? There's no kind of equality in that. Either AB show equality in everyone getting inside quicker or no one does, its one or the other.

So please don't blame the cosplayer's choice to go as any character no matter how scantily clad they were-- because this year's security was pretty bad with handling the traffic without taking the congoers safety and comfort into consideration, and no one wants to lug a jacket around when they already have other things to carry-- like a bag or a heavy prop.

Thats my point, because I am "blaming" or pointing out the lack of common sense that im seeing on this thread that are considered "complaints." I am going to say it now, Cosplay is not a right, but a privilege. If it were me running a convention, then I would just outright ban cosplay, because at least that is one less headache to worry about, and then no one would have to freeze and complain about it. Lucky for you guys, I don't have that kind of power, and hope I never will.

If anyone chooses to cosplay, be prepared to put up whatever kind of backlash it might be: weather, people, etc. You should be praising about how much attention you get for doing it at the con than whining like it was a burden, which to me seems to be from what I am reading on this thread.

This makes it sound like you have everything against cosplayers. Yes, attendees were warned that some entrances were to go outside and yes we experienced this last year, but I am sure all of us who went in 2015 thought that the going outside issues would be handled better this year, not take even longer. You can't point fingers and blame someone for wanting to dress up as whomever they want. As some have mentioned, cosplay or not, no one really wants to carry around a coat throughout the convention center. Yes, there was a coat check inside, but that's an added cost that I am sure no one either factors in or wants to spend. We live in NE, complaining about the cold/weather is what we do. Cosplay is a big part of events like these and even the thought of banning it is over the top idiocy. It’s as if you would be stifling people’s creativity and a way to express one’s self. No one expected to not be able to use one of the entrances that we were told would be open. No one expected there to be miscommunication via social media on what was open/closed. No one expected there to be inconsistencies with security. Cosplayers and all attendees alike can’t prepare for everything, so don’t go pointing fingers at cosplayers for saying they were cold. On Saturday my husband and I were rerouted outside after being told the AA entrance was closed and guess what? I wasn’t about to spend another 30 mins trying to get an elevator to get back to our room to get my sweater and then another 30 to get back down and another hour to get into the con. And no, I wasn’t in cosplay.

[Anna-neko]

Thats my point, because I am "blaming" or pointing out the lack of common sense that im seeing on this thread that are considered "complaints." I am going to say it now, Cosplay is not a right, but a privilege. If it were me running a convention, then I would just outright ban cosplay, because at least that is one less headache to worry about, and then no one would have to freeze and complain about it.

you are just here to troll, aren't you?

Because by your logic... my outfit which was made up of 3 layers, with long sleeves, tights and knee-high boots is still wrong, because guess what... outside in the windtunnel is still COLD!

It doesn't matter if we're in cosplay or regular clothes - having to wait an hour outside in gross March weather when we're here for an INDOORS EVENT w/ overly zealous yet useless security checks is the issue someone needs to hammer into MCCA/Hynes thick heads

[THX1139]

Your not going to get ZeekdaPhreek to change his mind. You will only end up filling this thread up having a fire fight with him.

[ZeekdaPhreek]

We live in NE, complaining about the cold/weather is what we do. Cosplay is a big part of events like these and even the thought of banning it is over the top idiocy. It’s as if you would be stifling people’s creativity and a way to express one’s self.

Boston is in America if I recall, so by that logic, that means people can do whatever they hell they want too. I can also judge how I want too because TRUMP IS GONNA MAKE ANIMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!

I'm not bashing on creativity, im trying to get my point across that to solve a problem (like cosplay+cold=bitching), just don't cosplay period. Doesn't that solve the problem? Won't people cosplay more if the weather is a bit fairer, and just call of their costume for a con if the weather doesn't permit it? Is it going to hurt the attendees to a convention at all? Probably not.

So do NE people just like to complain period about every damn thing? Is that what your lives all amount too is not solving an issue but to complain complain complain complain complain complain complain.... you get the point. You can at least take my suggestions with a grain of salt, that's all im asking.

You know what, speaking of a ban on cosplayers at a convention (if I were in charge of my fantasy con), I might just have to institute a death penalty for those who show up. You know what, lets up that a bit through capital punishment, to make an example of what would happen if someone did cosplay. But hey, that wouldn't be very "fair" if that were to happen, which its all hypothetical. Lucky for you, am I right?

Excuse me for trying to point out an issue from a different perspective, which is the perspective of the attendees who are on this thread complaining. What could you have done to make your experience better than always leaving it up to the convention to save your "cosplay happiness?" Answer that one why don't yea.

[Shinden]

Also looks as if you don't appreciate cosplayers or their work. I mean, I can remember a couple dozen cosplay where "wear a jacket you're stupid blah blah blah" just doesn't work.

There is only one way to wear a jacket. Were they doing it wrong?

One way to wear a jacket... when you are wearing normal clothes.

You'd be hard pressed to use that "one way" when you have huge shoulder pads, arm guards, Megaman cannons, 18 foot wide wings, or virtually any other costume part that goes above the waist. Are you saying people must now not cosplay certain characters because they need to wear a jacket that they don't need inside the con? Most of the attendees at this con have been going for years and years where they never had to step outside a climate controlled area.

I could get by just fine bringing a Uniqlo Ultralight Down coat and keeping it in my pocket, but I'm not so ass headed that I think every other con goer should also dress and think like me.

I am going to say it now, Cosplay is not a right, but a privilege. If it were me running a convention, then I would just outright ban cosplay, because at least that is one less headache to worry about, and then no one would have to freeze and complain about it.

Enjoy your con with fifty attendees.

[skipper]

Excuse me for trying to point out an issue from a different perspective, which is the perspective of the attendees who are on this thread complaining. What could you have done to make your experience better than always leaving it up to the convention to save your "cosplay happiness?" Answer that one why don't yea.

I mean, some cosplayers knew about the weather and knew their costumes would not fit into a jacket. Therefore they prepared for it by shelling out the big bucks for the Sheraton hotel, thinking they wouldn't have to go outside. There's only so much you can prepare...

[Nemra]

User has been banned.

No more posts about this, quoting him or whatever. Stick to topic. Either give your feedback regarding AB2016, or dont post.

[Faceman]

If you have gripes about Anime Boston, our staff, the MCCA, or anything else about our event, please post it here. This is our event and we will take responsibility for what happens here. Whether we agree or disagree with what you say, no one from Anime Boston is going to take retaliatory action against you. But if you feel better making a burner account to post, then by all means please do.

What I will absolutely not tolerate is making threats, offensive remarks, and belittling other posters. It's not funny, no matter how hilarious you may think yourself to be. And it's not what Anime Boston is about.

The user account in question in this situation has been banned. If it happens again there will be further bans. There will be no additional warnings.

[Luscia]

I have a question concerning behavoir at panels. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate over zealousness and excitment, cause we are all there to have fun, but during the HAMV contest there was a group of people sitting a few rows ahead of my husband and our friends and during the sing-along they were standing up, dancing and what not to the point where anyone behind them could not see the video. This accured a couple more times as well. Again, I can appreciate the enthusiasim, but personally for me it made the panel less enjoyable because I couldn't see the videos. Is there any way to control that kind of situation?

[unclejeb1861]

I would like to start of this post by thanking AB staff for the post made earlier today in the General Announcement board. It really shows how staff does genuinely take issues raised in this thread and other mediums seriously and continues to work on them.

Personally, I was immensely impressed by the entrance guide that was posted a week or two before the con. As someone who was caught in a line going to the Hynes entrance at peak time in 2015, it alerted me to the Boylston and Sheraton entrances which I primarily used during this years' convention. I believe that more posts like this alerting con goers of other options is a great idea that helps everyone involved.

While there were a couple info posts ahead of time, such as one listing the food options around the convention as the food court was closed, it might be good for AB to make a few additional posts to address other important details of the convention that the majority of attendees may miss otherwise. One such example would be the policy towards how early you can line up for a panel or autograph signing.

One post that I think would be vital would be reminding attendees that New England weather in early Spring is still fairly cold, so they should bring proper clothing / plan appropriate cosplay outfits as they will likely have to enter the outside for some duration of the convention. As someone who has lived in New England for the majority of their life, I know what to expect from the erratic weather conditions here while those who have traveled from other areas of the country to this event may not. Although there were a couple characters I really wanted to cosplay this year at AB, I acknowledged that those characters would not be appropriate to cosplay in sub 50 degree windy weather and opted for different characters that would keep me warm.

Personally, I do not feel an ounce of sympathy for any attendee who was at the convention this year and complained about being cold. Even at peak times on Saturday, the Boylston and Dalton entrances were less than ten minutes and if you really can't stand in the cold for ten minutes or be bothered to bring a coat when the convention itself posted in multiple places saying you may have to wait outside. There is coat check at the convention center in addition to the Sheraton that is extremely cheap. I believe The Weather Channel (TWC) is still packaged with basic cable subscriptions, so there is really no excuse for no one to know what to expect last weekend weather wise...

------

Again, the response from AB staff year after year has always been positive. AB was my first convention and over time as it has grown bigger I have been impressed with how they have always quickly addressed and reacted to issues and concerns. Honestly, it is what continues to encourage me to come each and every year.

The post today addressed my main concern regarding the inconsistency regarding the status of the Sheraton and Dalton St. entrances for general con-goers. I hope next year that there will be a more consistent policy to how those entrances will be used, and possibly certain time frames where they will be open to convention goers in general.

[kiarrens]

The "Bad"
For all the cosplay games, none of them were advertised on the site or elsewhere, namely the window of time for submitting. I really loved being in Deathmatch last year, & the only reason why I knew it was a thing was because it was advertised on the AB site, but this year it seemed whomever handles it didn't really advertise it whatsoever on the web site, which led me to completely miss the window for submitting. So, for 2017, please have more posts on the site advertising the submissions being open for the cosplay games.

I'm going to address this since I was mostly taking care of sending in the announcements for masquerade and cosplay games.

I'm a little confused when you say that there is nothing on the website, since there was an announcement made on January 1st when applications opened. This announcement was also broadcast through social media channels.
http://www.animeboston.com/news/article/543
I am almost certain that we made another announcement on social media the day before applications closed, and the open/close dates were a stickied post on the cosplay section of the forums.

This said, I took a look through the cosplay games descriptions and you are correct that there is no open/close date there, so we will definitely fix that for next year, as well as adding it to the Cosplay FAQ!

[reaper527]

Can Anime Boston leverage the TSA Pre-Check card? People with the card are considered low risk. It does cost $80 to get one, once every 5 years. Plus you can use it at airports.

There could be an express lane for people with a members badge and TSA card. Maybe no bag check or metal detector. You can swipe the card on the way in.

as much as i hate the idea of paying the TSA bribe (and that's essentially what "pay us money to prove your not a terrorist" is), i'd definitely consider getting one if ab let people use the tsa pre-check card to bypass the security theater.

if we aren't able to make the useless metal detectors go away, this would definitely be the 2nd best best solution.

[Painted_Outlaw]

Yes, there was a coat check inside, but that's an added cost that I am sure no one either factors in or wants to spend.

It was only a dollar, though.... between this and the "overpriced" food, you people really don't want to spend any money at the convention, do you?
I'm sorry, that potentially came off as rude but at the same time, it makes little sense to me when people likely feel this way and then go into the Dealer's room and spend $70 on boxsets that outside of conventions would only be priced 20.

I understand budgeting your money, but at the same time, I go to conventions prepared to deal with their outrageous pricing. Maybe I'm just weird, though.

[Luscia]

Yes, there was a coat check inside, but that's an added cost that I am sure no one either factors in or wants to spend.

It was only a dollar, though.... between this and the "overpriced" food, you people really don't want to spend any money at the convention, do you?
I'm sorry, that potentially came off as rude but at the same time, it makes little sense to me when people likely feel this way and then go into the Dealer's room and spend $70 on boxsets that outside of conventions would only be priced 20.

I understand budgeting your money, but at the same time, I go to conventions prepared to deal with their outrageous pricing. Maybe I'm just weird, though.

I actually didn't know how much it cost for the coat check, I just assumed it was overpriced.

[lostphrack]

I've been attending Anime Boston for about 8 years no and I've generally enjoyed it each year. This year wasn't any different. I've been reading the horror stories about the lines and security here and feel like I went to a different convention. I sailed through the lines with no problems and had no issues at all with the security personal. I consider myself lucky, because between this thread and the feedback panel it's clear that something was broken this year. Hopefully it'll be taken care of by 2017 and things will be much smoother again.

Anyway, a few random comments and questions...

I've co-hosted a panel for around 6 years and the room staff has been fantastic every year. We had some minor tech issues this time around, a loose connection, but the staff member in the room had a few spare connectors and everything was peachy from there.

Regarding the closing and openings of the entrances, would it be possible to include some kind of notification in the Guidebook app about that? It seems like it might be a good way to get the info to folks not on Twitter and who can't see it on FB do to their wonky system. Also, would it be possible to include that kind of info on some of the hallway screens? It might not help folks who have already left the Hynes, but it might help people inside plan ahead if they know something will be closed for a few hours, or the rest of the night, etc.

Finally, I was a little worried about food this year because of the food court closing, but those pop-up food stands in the Pru were life savers. I don't know if the AB staff had anything to do with them, if it was the Pru's idea or what, but I really, really hope they come back again next year. They were fantastic, close by and fairly cheap too.

[THX1139]

Maybe we need a little positive stuff.

One of the reasons I go to Anime Boston is for the cosplay. I am always impressed by the creativity and the work they put into their outfits. I love it because it's like stepping into a Anime movie. If I recognize the character it always puts a smile on their face. When I tell them they have a great outfit, I alway get a thank you.

I am a BIG RWBY fan. I got to talk to RWBY cosplayers about the death of Pyrrha and how sad it made us all feel. I was sad for two days. I did't think there would be many RWBY cosplayers. To my surprise there was more than one Team RWBY. Plus other teams. Plus the bad guys. Maybe 50 - 60 RWBY cosplayers.

Some of the young cosplayers are a little shy or nervous. Maybe my big pro camera makes them nervous. I say hi first, ask how are they doing before asking for a pic. I don't like doing hit and run pics. I would guess they would only do cosplay at a event like Anime Boston. Where people are cosplay friendly. For sure one young woman would not be there without her mom at her side. I have talked to con moms and taking a pic with her kids.

I meet all kinds of people. Some are trying to start a cosplay business. Some want to know if I will post their pics someplace. I always discover a anime group I did't know about.

I hope Amine Boston doesn't change and continues for many years. It would be best for everyone if it does grow every year. The AB staff are the best and I thank them all.

[MistyKristiCosplay]

Hello There! Just wanted to give my feedback on Anime Boston this year ^^;

The Good:
I just want to take a minute to thank all of the staff and volunteers of Anime Boston, you guys were incredible and did a great job in regards to the heightened security this year, and you guys were awesome in regards as to helping me when I had a few quick questions and you were beyond helpful, so I thank you!! The people that checked bags were also pleasant to me, and had I personally had no problems - but then again, I never had any problems with security in the past.

The Not-so Good:
I honestly don't have much to gripe about this year, I think the one thing (Which has been said above) was the line getting into the con on Friday, considering I was standing out in the rain for about 45 minutes, but it wasn't too bad, since I never really left the con after that.

[edisnted]

First year at AB but I've been going and volunteering at cons since 2001, (Anime Expo, SDCC, Long Beach CC, Wondercon, etc). After reading all the feedback here so far, I decided to give chime in from my perspective.

Good Stuff: The staff seemed really friendly and thorough with their tasks. Seeing the medical team around the lines was pretty cool. The AV teams seemed to have everything on point and never saw an issue they didn't immediately fix. Water everywhere was nice to have. The staff at the charity auction was hilarious and although everything was bought by the same half dozen people or so, the auction pieces were great and it was great to hear how much was made by end of show from donations. The giant banners were actually so spot on, I didn't notice they didn't belong to Hynes until Sunday.

General Stuff: As it was my first year, I had no clue about the layout of anything so I spent a good deal of time wandering and checking things out, never had a problem with lines except preregistration on Friday but that was just under an hour wait so no big deal. Convention center food is on par with how much it is at any other convention center so no complaints there. Surprisingly, convention was much more relaxed about over-sized props than others I've been to and it was quite refreshing to see people wielding large props or over-sized costumes without getting harassed by security about it. The convention felt very open to alternate gender lifestyles and everything in-between. The times for the artist alley and dealer room were surprisingly open quite late, it was great. The feedback panel was pretty good and the staff present there really made it seem like things were not falling on deaf ears. The parents room was nice to get a bit of quiet, but possibly can be space utilized better in the future since it was almost empty every time I went by.

Stuff to better in the future: Everyone says security but for the size of the con, it wasn't bad the times I was there and if I planned ahead a bit. Perhaps more consistent guidelines for props, clearer direction as far as efficiency for the detectors to make the bag/nobag wait times more equal, also a medical/special assistance specific line would probably a good thing. Maybe even make a small area in the Sheraton, near registration, for prop check. I did feel like there wasn't consistent communication to attendees in lines, maybe some signs to reassure attendees they are in the correct place or a person to relay holdups. I didn't feel your social media was branded or promoted in any meaningful way, I really didn't even think to check it for updates or to check issues, there was no clear message about where to check for updates or sudden programming changes. Of course I may have just missed it, in which case, my bad. The theme felt a bit lost, although the art for it was great, spreading it out over the whole show period and perhaps a themed parade or scheduled events (limited to avoid any hazards) throughout the convention would get people more hyped about it, next years theme looks awesome. A designated photo area would be great, although I did see some theme backgrounds that may have counted as that. The dealers hall and artist alley actually felt kinda boring, while there were a few outliers that were unique, most of the products and styles were almost the same things, I would love to see some different vendors approved possibly some with a small amount of alternate fanbases that overlap with anime (Gaming, comic, music, whatever). As far as panels go, while I understand the usual reasons to do only 18+ panels late night, maybe it would free up some general audience programming space at night if a single room had these panels going all day (with a thorough ID check of course), as well as make it easier for those who cant stay until late and still want a bit of adult humor. I didn't see many panels but it seems outside of a few starting issues, they were all hosted well and spread nicely. Video game room could use a small line sheet to keep track of who is in line, also helps gauge the amount of interest in certain games for next year.

Overall: Since this post has gone on long enough, I'll try to close quickly. I think it was a great, albeit a little lackluster, convention for it's size. I'm looking forward to next year, where it'll hopefully be bigger, as Boston puts on a pretty good anime con. Hope this all made sense.

[bulletdancer]

I've been letting this past week temper any of the highs and lows I had at AB this year to give as level a response as I can.

- I didn't have significant difficulty with lines during the convention, as I arrived Thursday evening to be able to pick up the pre-reg badge. I'm glad just the last name works as a backup measure, as my phone was totally misbehaving. I think the worst wait I had was maybe 30ish minutes around 2:00 or so saturday afternoon trying to get in from prudential center. As has been noted in the response, I was in the no-bag line that felt like it was crawling relative to the with bag line. I do think that additional bodies for the entrances if we are going to have this level of security.

- Having some way we can check queue times would be great for pointing us where is best to get into the con from, and so we can move between Hynes, Sheraton, Hilton, and anywhere else we need to go.

- I was somewhat fearful of my props over the weekend, especially victorious morgana's wings, as without those the costume wouldn't really be complete. Ironically it were the random pieces at the bottom of the skirt which were looked at that I had to explain to the prop checkers what they were for, and not the wings or other actually rather pointy parts of the costume which were looked at. It might help to have someone on staff who knows cosplay props aiding in prop check. This is more of a musing, but is there a reason for early confiscation, rather than if someone misbehaves with a prop confiscating it then? I understand trying to prevent dangerous props from getting into the convention center, but it really is on how the person uses said prop. Lawsuit prevention issues?

- The musical guests were amazing as always, I'm sad that we didn't fill the theater for Ali project, shame on all of you who didn't come to it. One thing that did slightly frustrate me was that initially I was told by the 3rd floor info desk that the balcony would not be open, but there was a small group of people who ended up there once seating was completed. Was this a conscious choice to open it later / was it overflow? I personally ALWAYS prefer a balcony seat to events like that, but regardless, it would have been nice to know it was "closed" either in the con booklet or on guidebook before I started looking for the line. Also even if it wouldn't be sold out, tickets would have been nice just for peace of mind to know I will have a seat.

- The masquerade was awesome as well, great times are happening there.

- I didn't get to many panels, but the two I saw were well run. I do feel like friday mornings are always so... empty. I'm an early waker, so when I see the con doors open at 8:00 but there's only 1 panel at 9:00... well what are we supposed to do, just get into the center and sit on our hands? I get that the people who arrive Friday will have issues reaching them, but... what should those of us who picked our badges up on Thursday do?

Overall this was... if not my best AB experience, close to it (last year maybe better?). Great cosplayers, great people, generally great community, keep it up AB.

Oh, and random side note. I looked up convention centers in New England. Unless I'm mistaken, the only center bigger than the Hynes is the BCEC, which I'm not convinced about for AB (glad to see the post about that on the forums). So gogo Hynes and figuring out these growing pains as we continue to grow as a community.

[Shiroikami]

- I didn't get to many panels, but the two I saw were well run. I do feel like friday mornings are always so... empty. I'm an early waker, so when I see the con doors open at 8:00 but there's only 1 panel at 9:00... well what are we supposed to do, just get into the center and sit on our hands? I get that the people who arrive Friday will have issues reaching them, but... what should those of us who picked our badges up on Thursday do?

Technically the convention doesn't "start" until after Opening Ceremonies. You could, I don't know, wander around the Pru mall or something until things start to get into full swing, I guess? Oh, wait, no! Breakfast! Breakfast is a thing, right? You could eat breakfast before the convention! Other than that, I guess you could bring a book or a video game or something? I mean, I bring those anyways and always find downtime even on Saturday to just sort of sit and play or read for a bit.

Personally I'm glad that the events don't really pick up until after Opening Ceremonies on Friday. If there were things earlier, then I'd be coming in a full day earlier and having to figure out where to sleep on Thursday night (I'm an annual out-of-town returnee) since the friends that I room with book the hotel room for only Friday/Saturday nights. It's bad enough that I'm always taking 6am flights to get to Boston in time to pick up my badge before the convention really gets moving!

[Fangreaper]

The bad:

The Todd Habercorn (sorry about sp.) panel on saturday was held at the same time as the masquerade and in the same hall as the balcony seating. The line was getting crazy long so the ab staff told the balcony seating line to disburse. Not to move but disburse... Then we were told to go away and come back in a half hour. My bf and I left and came back and found the line growing stretching down the third floor hallway. I walked to the front of the line to say hi to a friend who was first in line and she was now about 35th in line. Not fair or cool...

Fangreaper,

Thanks for the feedback. There was a slight misunderstanding between our security staff managing the line for the Todd HaberKorn panel.
To begin with, some people who were waiting for a Crunchyroll panel were waiting in the Todd Haberkorn line, so we informed those people they could get into the room since the panel had started and there was no line. After removing those people from the Todd's panel line everything was fine and dandy until people started to line up for the masquerade in Todd's panel line. We decided to move those people to the opposite wall so the lines would not mix. However, when the information was passed down to the other AB security staff managing the line the information was reversed so instead of moving the Masquerade line to one side of the hallway, Todd's line was moved instead.
That is what happened. It is on us and I apologize for it. Next year we will do better.

Regards,

Thanks for the reply on that I just felt a little gypt (not sure how to spell that word...) on a decent seat but thanks for clearing up what happened.

[sprak]

After reading the executive team statement, here are my questions:

• What was it about the registration system that changed from last year to this year? Did the vendor change? Was it a different version of the vendor's software?
• When I arrived to pick up my pre-reg badge, I asked where the line was and was told "to the right". Not the most helpful instructions. Given the length of the line, having one staff member at the back of the pre-reg line would have helped people find it.
• Was the registration system crash the cause for the per-registered people to be herded into a small area and then basically left to run free to a kiosk? Previous years, the line was next to the at-con purchasers, and someone basically pointed you to the next open kiosk ahead of at-con purchasers. Seemed to work well those previous years. Curious why this was switched up.
• Again, not sure if the registration crash was the culprit, but the registration lines seemed to always be in front of the Sheraton ballroom panels. You had to wade through people to get to them. I don't recall this happening in previous years.

[qwop-pop-kyewkyew]

For this year, in addition to being forced to wait nearly an hour in frigid windy weather in a no sleeve thin shirt, and the no-bag line taking unforgivingly long compared to bag line, i also noticed that a good few of the staff didn't seem to know basic things regarding the masquerade.
every year i get a balcony seat for the masquerade, since previous years i've noticed that i'm rather short and floor seating makes that a problem. however, despite going in early to grab a masquerade ticket, balcony was 'sold out', forcing me to get a floor seat. i actually got an incredible seat thanks to chillin' in the 'pre-line' line, but that's not what i want to talk about. i went up to the third floor info desk on saturday and asked where to line up for it in advance. one staff member didn't know where the masquerade was held nor at what time, so we waited for the other staff to finish with their attendee, and asked them. after some shuffling with maps and vague directions about the second floor, i went off to find other staff and ask them. again, one didn't know, but this time one wonderful staff member walked me over and pointed out the area which people would start lining up, and around what time to do so.
later, once i was in line with another con go-er, i found out that someone at the masquerade ticket booth told her that 'she didn't need a ticket to watch', which is a lie, seeing as they were handing out tickets for seats still at the time she had asked. understandably she was confused, and waited with me in line. again, the day was saved by another staff member who had an extra ticket, and my new friend was able to join me. later still, when we had lined up in groups of three, another staff member asked if we had 'blue tickets, those are for balcony'. i corrected him, saying they were for floor, and once he went on his confused way, we noticed the blue tickets even say 'floor seating' on them.
i'm not sure what it was about this year, maybe you guys had a lot of new volunteers, maybe they were frazzled with the rest of the issues from this year, maybe they were previous staff but had never dealt with masquerade info before, but it's worrying when they can't answer basic stuff about one of the biggest events anime boston has? or even worse, seem to be misinforming con-goers by accident and causing more confusion.

[pisskiss]

Aside from getting into the con essentially being Airport Simulator 2016 (which honestly I understand why security was so tight, I just needed the opportunity to make that joke), I had a pretty distressing problem getting my badge on Friday.

First things first, I'm a trans dude. I go by a name completely different from my birth name and haven't had it legally changed yet. I had preregistered and where you had to put your name, I put my preferred name instead of my birth name. I've done that at other NE cons and have had no trouble at all, so I thought it would be fine here, too.

To get to the point, I go to pick up my badge, hand the guy my passport, and from the moment he looked at it i knew there was going to be an issue. He wouldn't give me my badge. Even though the passport photo was obviously of me (I wasn't wearing any sort of face-obstructing items aside from a flu mask that I had pulled down so I could talk), I was brought to customer service where they basically asked me every little detail of what I had put down on the prereg form. I know they would have access to that info anyway, but having to say it aloud in a room full of 100+ strangers was a bit anxiety inducing. Not to mention it was an embarrassment not only having to tell a complete stranger face-to-face about my gender identity while choking back tears.

Basically what I'm saying is that maybe on the prereg form next year there could be some sort of thing where you can make some sort of notice that the name you put is different from your birth name? I'm not 100% how it would work (helpful, right?) but I'm guessing I wasn't the only trans person who had to go through this (in fact I know a friend went through something similar).

(By the way, the two guys who were helping me sort this out were very nice about the whole thing. I'm thankful that they made an effort to get things straightened out instead of jumping to me having to fork over another $65 for a new badge.)

[drgnladysupreme]

The good and lovely:
It seems that every year, especially this year, all of the departments have been finding ways to make it easier to set up the bigger events! While in Hall D for the Death Match, we had a setup so that we could stay backstage and see what was happening. (Only request is maybe a bit of sound backstage, as the curtains muffle everything?) There and Main Events' back stage looked to be set up and prepared a lot better!

Overall, I think Anime Boston's side of the event has been doing better each year. Most of the hiccups seemed to be staff trying to figure out last minute things that the venue/security people put forth.

With the line on getting in, I actually had a bag so I was actually able to go through quickly. I was also glad to see that Operation Hammond was visible. They're a pretty big staple to the con, so I hope they're always around.


Now, the less happy stuff- It's what I've witnessed, not just what happened to me:
I will state right now that none of this is on AB's part. I'm guessing improving relations and having more meetings with the venue and security will be the only way to improve them.
As it was already mentioned- that bin where all the props were tossed. Going by it, I didn't really see any indicator to differentiate whose it belonged to or anything like that. If people are supposed to be able to bring it back to their room, what's to keep someone from claiming a really nice prop is theirs? It didn't seem safe, and this is what kept me from changing out of my costumes on Saturday; While not super sturdy or dangerous (I have to be pretty careful with it,) I didn't want to risk it just getting tossed in there.
The final thing happened when I was volunteering, which I'll preface with saying that it doesn't look like Hynes/Securitas/BPD are all being briefed properly? Like they do one big group briefing and that's it.
I was assigned to watch the mall-side entrance where the ramp was, to make sure that the only people were going down it were actually supposed to (either with staff, or with the disabled/VIP/Staff/etc badges themselves.) There were a couple of Hynes employees- one that would storm by and snap that they work there when I asked for their badge (one having no immediate indicator, not even the Hynes jacket, just dressed nicely.) This wasn't happening too much- just twice at the most? The other was pleasant and showed that they worked there.
The other major thing during this shift is that an older Securitas employee came up to me (while I was on this volunteer shift) and said that I had to move. It took a couple minutes to explain that it was my shift as a volunteer, because he wasn't aware of what the volunteers looked like? When pointing out that the volunteer panels on the front and back of my vest, I was brushed off with 'well, you could be cosplaying.' Then, a little later, either a Securitas or BPD (pretty sure the former, I'm near-sighted,) was assigned to watch the beginning of the ramp doing what I was doing.


To conclude this long spiel- I had a good time with minimal problems. Anime Boston's staff and volunteers were doing great (their worst problem I've seen/heard was repeated tech issues? Which happens.) My main suggestion is to try and meet with the other groups involved with running the event to improve relations and to make sure they're actually prepared and informed for the event on a consistent level.

[Gauron]

The "Bad"
For all the cosplay games, none of them were advertised on the site or elsewhere, namely the window of time for submitting. I really loved being in Deathmatch last year, & the only reason why I knew it was a thing was because it was advertised on the AB site, but this year it seemed whomever handles it didn't really advertise it whatsoever on the web site, which led me to completely miss the window for submitting. So, for 2017, please have more posts on the site advertising the submissions being open for the cosplay games.

I'm going to address this since I was mostly taking care of sending in the announcements for masquerade and cosplay games.

I'm a little confused when you say that there is nothing on the website, since there was an announcement made on January 1st when applications opened. This announcement was also broadcast through social media channels.
http://www.animeboston.com/news/article/543
I am almost certain that we made another announcement on social media the day before applications closed, and the open/close dates were a stickied post on the cosplay section of the forums.

This said, I took a look through the cosplay games descriptions and you are correct that there is no open/close date there, so we will definitely fix that for next year, as well as adding it to the Cosplay FAQ!

I checked the site multiple times starting at the beginning of the year & never saw anything about the deadline ending, maybe 1 thing about it opening & that's it. Honestly, there should be way more than just ~2 posts made about it seeing as they're easily going to be buried by other posts on various other things relating to the con. Additionally, the only thing I check the forums for is for filling/finding a hotel room & cosplay meet-ups, when there are forums at all (due to other con experiences). I never use them to find pertinent information regarding the con. That should all be on the web site, I shouldn't have to use secondary sources to find that information (*insert obligatory "back in my day, there was no social media" statement*), which also will have any relating posts buried by other more recent ones.

All I know is I found the information about the deadlines w/ little to no effort last year whereas this year I was actively looking & didn't find anything. I mean, it's only my 2nd year, so I'm still getting used to AB's site, but I find it remarkable I found hardly any advertisement for it despite actively looking for it. For panels, an email was sent out to those that submitted, both this year & from prior years, that the deadline was approaching, maybe they can do the same thing with the cosplay games.

[Maydog]

I felt the need to make an account specifically to post in this thread because I've never given feedback to conventions about the process of working with them before. I'm one of the the co-owners of the Touhou Road Show, which has been in AB's games room since 2014. We're a group that furnishes PC gaming equipment to the con and provides supervision of said equipment to run free plays of the Touhou Project games all weekend. This is a labor of love, and we don't charge a dime for our services. This year, we had 15 PC's, our biggest setup at any con to date. AB isn't the only con that we bring this equipment to, but it is the largest con we bring it to.

Let's talk about the good things that happened this year:

-We got a few Staff Associate badges this year for the two co-owners and two of the people who help us out. These badges allowed us into the room to set things up when it was closed and allowed us to skip the security lines each morning, and both of these privileges were critical to us running our show successfully. Major thanks to our staff contact for setting this up for us.

-As always, the other organizations in the games room were a pleasure to work with. Nexon is great every year, and the Tokyo Attack guys were super accommodating and let me play on their DDR cab when the room was closed.

-Con security was much easier to work with this year than in previous years. They presented me with a form asking me where and when someone would need to arrive and what they should do once they got there. Confirming that things were set up was as easy as going to their office and looking at their whiteboard. We go out for a major group dinner every year on Saturday night for a few hours, and we've asked for someone from con security to help us out each year to get things set up with that. We can't leave $10K in equipment totally unattended for three hours while the room is open to the public!

Let's talk about what happened that was not good:

-At the other cons that we regularly work with (Katsucon, Portcon Maine, Nekocon), the cons make email contact with us several months before the con. Usually the exchange goes something like this:

Con: Will you be back this year?
Us: Yes, we will be bringing X setups and we will need Y tables and Z chairs and W power drops. If we can run tournaments, we will run them with these games with these descriptions for printing in the con schedule.
Con: Great, we will give you V staff associate or contractor or staff badges, and you may/may not run tournaments in the games room. Please give us the names of people who should get staff associate/contractor badges.
Us: OK, we'll see you on Thursday at T O'Clock for setup. These are the names.
Con: We will get you those badges and T O'Clock is fine to set up.

That's a pretty simple thing to do to set up something that would cost several grand for the con to contract out to a private company. But at Anime Boston, things worked like this this year:

Us (Three months before con): Hey AB, it's three months before the con, would you like us to come back and set things up?
Us (Two months before con): Hey AB, it's two months before the con, would you like us to come back and set things up?
Us (One month before con): Hey AB, it's one month before the con, would you like us to come and set things up?
AB: Sure, you can come and set up again, we're not sure if we can get you staff associate badges or not but give us a list of people and we'll see what we can do.
Us: List of people.
AB (A few days before con): Here are your staff associate badges for the first X people on your list.

So, I'm not sure if we have the contact info for the wrong person or if that person is so overloaded that he can't respond to an email for two months, but this kind of thing has been going on for all three years we've brought our equipment to AB now.

This process is actually an improvement over both previous years that we have brought the show. in 2014, we just showed up on Thursday with our equipment and asked where we should set up because we were unable to get any response at all from the con staff. In 2015, we were not given any staff associate badges until Friday afternoon, which made things tough to set up that morning (can't go into the games room to get things set up without a staff badge of some type until the room opens to the general public). So things are on an improvement track and AB may be able to match the pre-con organization of its peers next year with a little extra effort from our staff contact next year.

To clarify here, our staff contact did apologize that he was so late in getting back to us. However, I would also like to draw attention to the fact that everyone who has gotten a staff associate badge in 2015 and 2016 had to pay for prereg badges as well because we had no idea if we would get staff associate badges before prereg closed. This makes AB the only con that the show is brought to where we ran the show and still had to pay for tickets.

-The security staff were easier to work with, but as far as I can tell, the security staffer I requested never showed up to help us out. That's a big deal. If two people hadn't skipped out on the group dinner to go play on the setups, they would have been unattended for three hours on Saturday evening. This is totally unacceptable. I can understand if the staffer had to leave to go do some other event or if there was a major problem and this person had to leave deal with it, but if that's the case then I need to know about it so that I can make other arrangements for supervision of the equipment.

This is equipment that a buddy and I own and that we bring to the con without any expectation that the con will reimburse us for stolen equipment, and if things get stolen en masse while someone from con security is supposed to be there watching it, that's a real show stopper for us. So if the con security organization can't spare someone to come at a given time, the correct answer is not to agree to do it and then not do it. The correct answer is something like "We don't have the staff to do that at that time." That's OK. I will make other arrangements. But I have to know to make those arrangements before I can make them.

-On the subject of giving correct answers to questions, after looking through the schedules on the website and in the printed schedule, I found two different times for the games room opening on Friday. I knew that the correct time was probably 2 PM because I asked the Nexon guys next to me in the room and they told me that was the correct time for opening. But I was skeptical, so I asked a con staff member to confirm and got a different answer from both of the other two times that were listed. I continued to poll staffers to see if I could get an answer by majority vote. I got all of these times as answers to my question.

-9AM
-10AM
-11AM
-Noon
-1PM
-2PM
-3PM

I'm not sure what was going on here, but I have to stress that the correct answer to a question that you don't know the answer to is to say "I don't know, you should go ask the folks at <location>. They can tell you the correct answer." This specific event didn't affect me much because I was set up by the time that the room opened anyway, but it speaks to an underlying problem of staff training or communication.

None of these problems are at the point where they would get us to stop coming to AB in future years, and I look forward to working with you again next year. These are areas that I see for improvement over the current experience of working with AB. I hope that we can get these things ironed out for next year's convention.

In my opinion I believe your comments should have been reviewed in a well organized post mortem and discussed at meetings with the Anime Boston Executive team instead of posting in a general forum. This is not the professional business standard any way you slice it. Anime Boston should reconsider their business relationship with you.

[JasmineDragon92]

I just read the article that AB staff wrote to address the issues with security and lines. While usually I don't enjoy being confrontational or negative, I have to say that I was disappointed by that response. I can understand that errors occurred, and that the lines got ridiculous. It sucks, but that's something that we can have better planning for next time. But what I find absolutely unacceptable is the treatment of the con goers by the security. Not only were they unorganized, which caused much confusion as to where the line actually was, but after waiting in the rain for god knows how long the security accused us of cutting the line because we didn't look wet enough! In addition to this I both overheard and was on the receiving end of rude comments and sarcasm from the security as response to questions regarding the line and where we should be standing. Not okay! Also, the way they handled the prop check was just ridiculous. Cosplayers are excited about this event ALL YEAR and it crushes us to lose props that both add to the cosplay and are our labors of love. Of course large fake weapons have the danger of smacking into people, but nobody is going to run around trying to cut people with a fake sword or shoot the little rubber tipped bow and arrow. I can truly respect the addition of extra security measures in light of recent public crises, but it needs to be done in a manner that is reasonable and respectful. This was not the case this year. Bless the AB staff and volunteers for always being helpful and kind. You truly make this con worth while. But please, something must be done so that all of the partners you hire treat the con goers with respect. For many people this is the one time all year where we can truly find acceptance and be around the sort of people who understand our hobbies and passions. Don't ruin that with toxic, condescending, and downright rude interactions with security.

[NewEnglander]

Having attended AnimeBoston for 9 years now, I have seen how the security at the Hynes has steadily increased to the point that many will not go back until things change. Paying for three days, and spending a good amount of your time being shaken down and going through metal detectors doesn't seem worth the price of admission. Yes, we are all reminded of global terrorism and the incident with the two young people trying to smuggle guns into a Pokémon tournament at the Hynes, but the organization and implementation of preventative measures of this year's festivities was overzealous and badly setup. It seemed easy for black clad guards in combat boots to order young people and families with small children to wait outside in bad conditions, and poor cosplayers having their costumes ruined because of the wet weather....something has to change! Also, the Pru dropped the ball for closing the excellent foodcourt many of us have enjoyed over the years....forcing many to eat convention center food, because leaving the con meant more line waiting, or taking reservations at the few local eateries left in the mall and waiting an hour or more just to have dinner later in the evening. Luckily, there were a few independent food stalls set up outside the Hynes entrance.....it's not AB's fault entirely, but the venue has to step up or its time for the con to leave for greener pastures!

[Master of NERV]

This would be a nice change to the Con Chowdah, especially for first-time attendees:

At the top of the schedule, create one new row at top showing which building the room is in (see in red below). And if there's space, add this row along the bottom.

[waynoinsano]

If you do the special badge thing again like you dis with crunchyroll this year could you please open the dealer room earlier than 15mins. I've been to other cons that do this via vip passes and usually the standard is 1 hr that actually gives you time to look around before they open the floodgates.

[Cerebrum]

In my opinion I believe your comments should have been reviewed in a well organized post mortem and discussed at meetings with the Anime Boston Executive team instead of posting in a general forum. This is not the professional business standard any way you slice it. Anime Boston should reconsider their business relationship with you.

This did cross my mind when writing this post, but I foolishly ignored it. I let my anger at the situation get the better of me and posted my gripes in a public place instead of through a more appropriate private channel. I didn't even consult the other owner of the show before doing it, and that was super uncalled for.

In any case, the con staff have contacted us back through other channels and have made strides toward addressing the issues that were discussed here. As I stated in the original post, we'll be back next year, and I don't see that changing in the foreseeable future.

[Alcor]

You dropped the fracking ball on security this year. I'm just going to put out questions that should very well show you why you fucked up.

1. Why was the bag line shorter wait than the normal line? I hear it was due to fewer metal detectors, and if so, WHY DID YOU DO THIS.
2. Why did you make us stand IN THE fracking COLD RAIN? That is not okay in any way, shape or form. Didn't you learn anything from last year's outdoor-line debacle and the response to it?
3. Why did you close the Dalton St. entrance midway through Saturday? The Sheraton's advantage is that it's connected to the Pru/Hynes. It's like you *wanted* lines to be longer.
4. Why did you take your frustrations out on us? If you have angry staff, get them off the floor and don't put them at the entrances where customers of yours are going to be. Your rage is not our problem. I got bitched at by staff for asking basic questions and that's not okay.
5. Why did you have staff at the entrances that didn't even know the way to the other con entrance? Come on, basic competence. I had to ask like four staff members before someone could tell me how to get from the Dalton entrance to the Boylston entrance.
6. Why did you waffle so hard on when the game room opened? This is a noob con mistake. Get your staff on the same page.

And if none of this is your fault...tell the Hynes that you're taking your IMMENSE AMOUNTS OF BUSINESS AND MONEY elsewhere unless they deal with stuff.. Because the BCC is there, and I'm sure you can figure out how to get in if you must.'

As for other things:

- Look, not everyone has a Twitter. Please make your announcements public in some other way.
- I'm a little worried that AB made no announcement about how Boston has recently banned realistic prop weapons. Does that apply to the con? Is there any grandfathering etc going on that makes, say, Persona players able to bring evokers? I was kinda freaking out looking over the website and wondering whether this was a thing we could still do.
- Look, guys, everyone knows about Ninja Artist Alley Entrance. Either decide you want it or decide you don't. But please don't close it part-way through. In general, "run-time patches" are bad because not everyone gets the message, confusion happens, etc.
- What is going on with the Sheraton? Do you have a hand in that? Because their "security" feature of needing a card key for the elevator was a classic example of a useless inconvenience that doesn't stop either stalking or overcrowding but annoys congoers anyway.
- Guys, you did so well on the theme last year. Backdrops around the con, cosplayers from your staff...this year was NOTHING. Why'd you just decide not to even do a theme really?

Good stuff:
- Thanks for dealing with the food issue. The food court closing was serious business to us, and putting up stations is a good stopgap.
- Aside from security theater crap, the con was good as usual. I have high expectations from AB because AB usually meets them. Not sure what there is to say other than yeah, the con features are good.
- Thank you for not having dumb escalator lines this year! They were my least favorite part of last year.


Edit: The censoring here is crazy. Poopy? Really?

[sylphyyy]

Code: Select all

im sure this has been said before but I want to address the having people wait outside while it was raining part. 

I was in a cosplay that had water soluble paint on it and there was no way that any amount of seal would have protected this. I asked the security guard if I could wait inside until he deemed it my turn and he guilt tripped me how all of these other people were outside. Yeah all the other people outside were also not happy to be in the rain???

There is 0 reason to make us wait in the rain. Even though the local weather channel predicted no rain, it still rained, and the reason the con cold was so bad this year is because we were made to wait outside in the cold, in the rain. It was March, not May. No not make us do this next year. 

Moving on, part of the reason why the lines took so long is because moving down the path, only two of the FIVE metal detectors were visible, clogging the lines. Security was also amateur in doing their job, as with the amount of people there, there should have been more allocated bag checks, they didn't attempt to fix this the following days. The artist alley door had 1 bag checker. The line would not have had to have been closed if one of the two people with hand detectors were bag checking instead. Furthermore security was constantly distracted with making snide comments with each other or picking out cosplayers and being extra scrutinous even after they had passed the metal detector. 

What is the point in putting a cosplayer through a metal detector, by the way? Especially ones with tight fitting outfits that cannot hold their essentials let alone hide anything. I had a clutch with only my cellphone and makeup inside, it was the size of my hand, and everything was still pulled out.

[tkim]

You dropped the fracking ball on security this year. I'm just going to put out questions that should very well show you why you fucked up.

1. Why was the bag line shorter wait than the normal line? I hear it was due to fewer metal detectors, and if so, WHY DID YOU DO THIS.

Hynes in charge of metal detectors, or lack thereof.

2. Why did you make us stand IN THE fracking COLD RAIN? That is not okay in any way, shape or form. Didn't you learn anything from last year's outdoor-line debacle and the response to it?

Ghod made the rain. Not much to do about adverse weather.


And if none of this is your fault...tell the Hynes that you're taking your IMMENSE AMOUNTS OF BUSINESS AND MONEY elsewhere unless they deal with stuff.. Because the BCC is there, and I'm sure you can figure out how to get in if you must.'

AB is contracted to the Hynes until 2020 or 2025, I keep seeing. Doesn't matter, as BCCE is under the same management as the Hynes, and subject to the same security measures. As indicated upstream, AB has considered BCCE and it's not the right setup. I've been in conferences at BCCE, and the problems that immediately come to mind are the lack of affordable hotels, food choices, and parking.


As for other things:


- Look, guys, everyone knows about Ninja Artist Alley Entrance. Either decide you want it or decide you don't. But please don't close it part-way through. In general, "run-time patches" are bad because not everyone gets the message, confusion happens, etc.

That was closed, I hear, because it lacked a metal detector, then it became overcrowded and thence a fire hazard. That wasn't closed on whim.


- What is going on with the Sheraton? Do you have a hand in that? Because their "security" feature of needing a card key for the elevator was a classic example of a useless inconvenience that doesn't stop either stalking or overcrowding but annoys congoers anyway.
- Guys, you did so well on the theme last year. Backdrops around the con, cosplayers from your staff...this year was NOTHING. Why'd you just decide not to even do a theme really?

Good stuff:
- Thanks for dealing with the food issue. The food court closing was serious business to us, and putting up stations is a good stopgap.
- Aside from security theater crap, the con was good as usual. I have high expectations from AB because AB usually meets them. Not sure what there is to say other than yeah, the con features are good.
- Thank you for not having dumb escalator lines this year! They were my least favorite part of last year.


Edit: The censoring here is crazy. Poopy? Really?

[takenogundam1]

So far, the only issues I have read that I agree with are were the security personnel's rudeness. I have worked security for the past 6 years, varying from venues like distribution centers, to the Comcast Center, and Patriots Stadium. Under no circumstances would my employers ever tolerate the total disrespect some of these guards show towards patrons. Beside general rudeness, I overheard SO's making derogatory comments about how one male cosplayer looked "like a Takei", how another female cosplayer looked "mad f#$ckable". The way the security staff (not the AB team) spoke, directed, and interacted with con-goers was wholly inappropriate. I noticed most of the metal detector checkpoint staff had Securitas badges on. Perhaps AB needs to have a sit down with this group and the staff hired by the Hynes about how SO's should be speaking with patrons. I had my own personal run in with one of these Securitas officers while attempting to go back into the Sheraton. Needless to say, the exchange was unpleasant and ended when I asked him if he would like me to speak to his immediate supervisor. The most striking behavior, however, was the general rudeness of these SO's. From acting annoyed when a question was asked to them, or speaking to people as if they were stupid when unsure where lines went, I have never seen behavior like this from security personnel.

[Maydog]

In my opinion I believe your comments should have been reviewed in a well organized post mortem and discussed at meetings with the Anime Boston Executive team instead of posting in a general forum. This is not the professional business standard any way you slice it. Anime Boston should reconsider their business relationship with you.

This did cross my mind when writing this post, but I foolishly ignored it. I let my anger at the situation get the better of me and posted my gripes in a public place instead of through a more appropriate private channel. I didn't even consult the other owner of the show before doing it, and that was super uncalled for.

In any case, the con staff have contacted us back through other channels and have made strides toward addressing the issues that were discussed here. As I stated in the original post, we'll be back next year, and I don't see that changing in the foreseeable future.

I am truly pleased to learn that it worked out for you. Best wishes and see you at Anime Boston 2017

[foreverfinn]

I would like to start of this post by thanking AB staff for the post made earlier today in the General Announcement board. It really shows how staff does genuinely take issues raised in this thread and other mediums seriously and continues to work on them.

Personally, I was immensely impressed by the entrance guide that was posted a week or two before the con. As someone who was caught in a line going to the Hynes entrance at peak time in 2015, it alerted me to the Boylston and Sheraton entrances which I primarily used during this years' convention. I believe that more posts like this alerting con goers of other options is a great idea that helps everyone involved.

While there were a couple info posts ahead of time, such as one listing the food options around the convention as the food court was closed, it might be good for AB to make a few additional posts to address other important details of the convention that the majority of attendees may miss otherwise. One such example would be the policy towards how early you can line up for a panel or autograph signing.

One post that I think would be vital would be reminding attendees that New England weather in early Spring is still fairly cold, so they should bring proper clothing / plan appropriate cosplay outfits as they will likely have to enter the outside for some duration of the convention. As someone who has lived in New England for the majority of their life, I know what to expect from the erratic weather conditions here while those who have traveled from other areas of the country to this event may not. Although there were a couple characters I really wanted to cosplay this year at AB, I acknowledged that those characters would not be appropriate to cosplay in sub 50 degree windy weather and opted for different characters that would keep me warm.

Personally, I do not feel an ounce of sympathy for any attendee who was at the convention this year and complained about being cold. Even at peak times on Saturday, the Boylston and Dalton entrances were less than ten minutes and if you really can't stand in the cold for ten minutes or be bothered to bring a coat when the convention itself posted in multiple places saying you may have to wait outside. There is coat check at the convention center in addition to the Sheraton that is extremely cheap. I believe The Weather Channel (TWC) is still packaged with basic cable subscriptions, so there is really no excuse for no one to know what to expect last weekend weather wise...

------

Again, the response from AB staff year after year has always been positive. AB was my first convention and over time as it has grown bigger I have been impressed with how they have always quickly addressed and reacted to issues and concerns. Honestly, it is what continues to encourage me to come each and every year.

The post today addressed my main concern regarding the inconsistency regarding the status of the Sheraton and Dalton St. entrances for general con-goers. I hope next year that there will be a more consistent policy to how those entrances will be used, and possibly certain time frames where they will be open to convention goers in general.

About the people being cold thing... We paid for an indoor event being forced to wait outdoors in the rain and the cold was not expected. Also, some cosplays cannot be worn with coats and sometimes it's very difficult or impractical to carry one. Even people dressed appropriately for the weather were cold. Cosplay is a very important thing to many congoers and if someone has been working on a cosplay and planning to wear it for months before the con, they're not going to suddenly decide the day before the con that it's too cold to wear it. I was in a bunch of the Cosplay Games and I wasn't going to miss out on being in Chess just because I had applied a month earlier and all of a sudden I learned it would be cold for me to wear shorts and a half-shirt. People coordinate their costumes with friends too, and don't want to let their whole group down last minute. It's considered rude. So there are reasons for people who were cold to be annoyed. Just saying.

[unclejeb1861]

About the people being cold thing... We paid for an indoor event being forced to wait outdoors in the rain and the cold was not expected.

This is not the first year where the line for Anime Boston was filtered outdoors. In case this was your first year at the convention, on Anime Boston's website you can see a post entitled Entering The Hynes. As you can see, it notes how the line "will be filtered outdoors". This information is additionally found elsewhere on the site.

Temperatures during the weekend were admittedly below average according to accuweather, but only off by a few degrees at most. If you were expecting temperatures to be in the 60s or 70s in Boston in March then you are sorely mistaken.

It has recently come to my attention that Anime Boston does not control the weather and therefore cannot know if it is going to rain or not. I believe it only rained on Friday in any case. Based off what I have read, I have seen very few complaints about people waiting in line in the rain on Friday anyway.

Also, some cosplays cannot be worn with coats and sometimes it's very difficult or impractical to carry one. Even people dressed appropriately for the weather were cold. Cosplay is a very important thing to many congoers and if someone has been working on a cosplay and planning to wear it for months before the con, they're not going to suddenly decide the day before the con that it's too cold to wear it.

I was in a bunch of the Cosplay Games and I wasn't going to miss out on being in Chess just because I had applied a month earlier and all of a sudden I learned it would be cold for me to wear shorts and a half-shirt.

Unfortunately, you made the personal decision to sacrifice personal comfort in favor of dressing up as that character. If you choose to neglect the fact that you are dressing up in an outfit that is impractical for New England during a time where snow is often still on the ground, that is not the convention's fault in the slightest. YOU made that choice.

It should not take you a couple days or a couple months before the convention for you to determine that your cosplay is inappropriate for the weather. You should be prepared for the possibility the weather will be freezing / raining / windy. You could have acknowledged that the weather was going to likely be poor before you signed up for those cosplay games. Again, nothing that is the convention's fault.

People coordinate their costumes with friends too, and don't want to let their whole group down last minute. It's considered rude.

As I said in my previous post, I would have liked to join my friends' group cosplays or cosplay as certain characters, but I acknowledged that maybe doing that in late March in Boston is not a great idea. I will save those cosplays for conventions that occur in the Summer because I do not want to let cold weather affect my convention experience. If you would prefer to succumb to peer pressure, then that is your own decision. Maybe talk to your friends and suggest how the show / game you want to cosplay from would not be suited for the timeframe this convention occurs. Just a suggestion.

====

In short, I do not see how convention goers can attempt to blame the convention that they were cold or be shocked that they would have to actually go outside. AB gave ample advance warning people they may potentially have to stand in line outside. This was not a Houdini act, this should not have been a surprise to anyone. Because of the convention location, there is simply no other place to bring convention goers to the Hynes entrance without disrupting other businesses who are not affiliated with the con and passerbys who are trying to walk about the Pru. Capping attendance below the current amount is not a feasible solution as it would jack registration prices higher. Pushing back on MCCA to lighten up security measures is largely going to be a fruitless effort, thanks to the external events and the Pokemon World Championships incident that occured at the Hynes last year.

I have nothing against cosplay and appreciate the wonderful effort my friends and others put towards it. That being said, you cannot complain about being cold if you chose to wear an outfit that does not cover your body. You cannot also complain if you think it is too hot and you wear an outfit that completely covers your entire body. That is PERSONAL choices you made, and you cannot blame the convention for being unable to play God.

If you are unable to handle a convention that is in the earlier months of the year, I hope you find other conventions that occur during the Summer or Fall months that will be more amenable to your needs and result in one less negative voice towards an event that for its' size is impressively well run

[takenogundam1]

About the people being cold thing... We paid for an indoor event being forced to wait outdoors in the rain and the cold was not expected.

This is not the first year where the line for Anime Boston was filtered outdoors. In case this was your first year at the convention, on Anime Boston's website you can see a post entitled Entering The Hynes. As you can see, it notes how the line "will be filtered outdoors". This information is additionally found elsewhere on the site.

Temperatures during the weekend were admittedly below average according to accuweather, but only off by a few degrees at most. If you were expecting temperatures to be in the 60s or 70s in Boston in March then you are sorely mistaken.

It has recently come to my attention that Anime Boston does not control the weather and therefore cannot know if it is going to rain or not. I believe it only rained on Friday in any case. Based off what I have read, I have seen very few complaints about people waiting in line in the rain on Friday anyway.

Also, some cosplays cannot be worn with coats and sometimes it's very difficult or impractical to carry one. Even people dressed appropriately for the weather were cold. Cosplay is a very important thing to many congoers and if someone has been working on a cosplay and planning to wear it for months before the con, they're not going to suddenly decide the day before the con that it's too cold to wear it.

I was in a bunch of the Cosplay Games and I wasn't going to miss out on being in Chess just because I had applied a month earlier and all of a sudden I learned it would be cold for me to wear shorts and a half-shirt.

Unfortunately, you made the personal decision to sacrifice personal comfort in favor of dressing up as that character. If you choose to neglect the fact that you are dressing up in an outfit that is impractical for New England during a time where snow is often still on the ground, that is not the convention's fault in the slightest. YOU made that choice.

It should not take you a couple days or a couple months before the convention for you to determine that your cosplay is inappropriate for the weather. You should be prepared for the possibility the weather will be freezing / raining / windy. You could have acknowledged that the weather was going to likely be poor before you signed up for those cosplay games. Again, nothing that is the convention's fault.

People coordinate their costumes with friends too, and don't want to let their whole group down last minute. It's considered rude.

As I said in my previous post, I would have liked to join my friends' group cosplays or cosplay as certain characters, but I acknowledged that maybe doing that in late March in Boston is not a great idea. I will save those cosplays for conventions that occur in the Summer because I do not want to let cold weather affect my convention experience. If you would prefer to succumb to peer pressure, then that is your own decision. Maybe talk to your friends and suggest how the show / game you want to cosplay from would not be suited for the timeframe this convention occurs. Just a suggestion.

====

In short, I do not see how convention goers can attempt to blame the convention that they were cold or be shocked that they would have to actually go outside. AB gave ample advance warning people they may potentially have to stand in line outside. This was not a Houdini act, this should not have been a surprise to anyone. Because of the convention location, there is simply no other place to bring convention goers to the Hynes entrance without disrupting other businesses who are not affiliated with the con and passerbys who are trying to walk about the Pru. Capping attendance below the current amount is not a feasible solution as it would jack registration prices higher. Pushing back on MCCA to lighten up security measures is largely going to be a fruitless effort, thanks to the external events and the Pokemon World Championships incident that occured at the Hynes last year.

I have nothing against cosplay and appreciate the wonderful effort my friends and others put towards it. That being said, you cannot complain about being cold if you chose to wear an outfit that does not cover your body. You cannot also complain if you think it is too hot and you wear an outfit that completely covers your entire body. That is PERSONAL choices you made, and you cannot blame the convention for being unable to play God.

If you are unable to handle a convention that is in the earlier months of the year, I hope you find other conventions that occur during the Summer or Fall months that will be more amenable to your needs and result in one less negative voice towards an event that for its' size is impressively well run

So aside from your obviously condescending, dismissive, and ignorant tone, allow me to educate you on a few things:

Everyone, and I mean everyone understands AB has no control over the weather. We also all understand AB gave advanced warning. This however does not change the fact that standing out in the rain inconvenienced people via being cold and damaging cosplays. People, I may add, that are paying for this experience. The whole point of this thread is feedback. You understand that, no?
Blaming a person for making a "personal decision" to wear cosplay to a convention is like saying a person who gets sick from drinking stream water when they are dying of thirst made a "personal decision" and the consequences are their fault.(not a great analogy, but its the point that counts). People go to these kinds of conventions to have fun, dress up, and enjoy time with friends. For many, going outside of cosplay isn't even an option. This means they have to cosplay, their friends are doing, they feel compelled to do it ect ect ect. So maybe, try being less dismissive of their concerns. Instead, try to see it from their perspective no? Maybe in the future, if people who are in cosplays will need to stand outside, perhaps the lines can be situated so they are under some sort of cover. Or perhaps assemble the lines into the Sheraton rooms somehow. Again, these are people bringing up legitimate concerns and don't need you to lecture them about your point of view or belittling their concerns.

I hope this helps you understand where their point is coming from, and in the future, if you have no actual feedback please don't make posts like the last one you did. It helps no one, except maybe to make you feel superior.

[striker923]

Please keep things civil and on-point. No other warnings will be given, thank you.

[stargazera5]

Yes, we are all reminded of global terrorism and the incident with the two young people trying to smuggle guns into a Pokémon tournament at the Hynes,

One quick comment as this is a common misconception. The two idiots who bragged about buying weapons on the way to the Pokemon competition never tried to bring them into the Hynes. When they tried to enter the Hynes, they were unarmed. The guns were left in the trunk of their car. While they certainly earned their brush with the law who acted appropriately in arresting them, it's quite possible they never intended to do anything other then run off with their mouths and brag about the guns they bought. It was blown up to be a much bigger thing then it was.

You can get more information, including copies of their comments, here: http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/2- ... 29442.html

[Kalyoth]

Something that perhaps AB Executive Team could look into for future cons - 100% ID badge compliance upon all security personnel so attendees / AB Staff can clearly identify an individual for reporting issues. Doesn't need to be real name (likely contracts / law on this), but there should be something similar to police shield numbers that are clearly linking that person uniquely. Not just a generic badge that says security / etc. This should help with accountability upon the source of the person for discussion / corrective measures. This would also help combat potential situations where they flip out over having their picture taken etc. & the resultant increase in aggression resulting from being publicly identified.

[Stefon_Carpino]

I freaking loved it!! I loved how the convention ran smoothly!! The people there were so nice and I ran into a lot of my old friends that I haven't seen in a few years!! I loved the artists and their work!! All of the vendors were really pleasant and eager to help!! It was all just wonderful!!

[Shiroikami]

I'd like to address one item from Victor's general response that might not work out as planned.

2) Be more proactive in letting our attendees know about our average queue times to get into the Hynes. Please follow @ABQueues on Twitter before Anime Boston 2017.

There are two major problems that I can see with asking people to follow a particular Twitter account (however well-intentionedly) designed to keep people updated on line queues.

1.) Not everyone has a smart phone.
I know, it seems tantamount to sacrilege in this day and age, but the fact is that there are still a number of people using "dumb" phones or who just don't have cell phones to begin with. And some of us who do have smart phones just don't want to use up our data plans checking social media for details on lines all the time.

2.) Not everyone has (or wants to have) a Twitter account.
And to follow someone on Twitter, one must first have a Twitter account. I don't have a Twitter account. I do not want a Twitter account just for the purpose of knowing how long reentry lines at a once-per-year event are going to be. I'm certain that I cannot be the only one in this particular boat.

Being proactive about letting attendees know about queue times is great. I wholeheartedly endorse any and all efforts made by the AB management as a whole to do so. But an analogue solution (in addition to the digital one) might also be in order. Like a well-informed staffer or staffers (with radios) by each line with "estimated wait time" signs (I believe something like this was suggested in an earlier post). If you'll have the capability to provide that information via Twitter, I see no reason that the same information couldn't be provided via velcro signs as well. These same staffers could also serve as a safety net for everyone in the line, keeping an eye out for anyone who seems to be having physical difficulties and having the authority to expedite their movement as appropriate.

Just my thoughts.

[basharoftheages]

2.) Not everyone has (or wants to have) a Twitter account.
And to follow someone on Twitter, one must first have a Twitter account. I don't have a Twitter account. I do not want a Twitter account just for the purpose of knowing how long reentry lines at a once-per-year event are going to be. I'm certain that I cannot be the only one in this particular boat.

FALSE. A direct link to a twitter account opened in a web browser will show you everything that has been said by that account in reverse chronological order (i.e. newest post first). There is no account required. There is no app required. It can even be embedded in another web page as a widget.

[THX1139]

I am not trying to blame anyone for anything. I’m just reporting what I saw. These two guys were in the Haynes. Except for the blue on the AR15 both firearms are realistic looking. I would think a plastic rifle would be just as good as a light saber to club someone with. I took this pic.

Sorry I could not get the image to display. Please click the link or copy and past into a browser.
https://instagram.com/p/BDvjLOIQY7V/

[Shinden]

I'd like to address one item from Victor's general response that might not work out as planned.

2) Be more proactive in letting our attendees know about our average queue times to get into the Hynes. Please follow @ABQueues on Twitter before Anime Boston 2017.

There are two major problems that I can see with asking people to follow a particular Twitter account (however well-intentionedly) designed to keep people updated on line queues.

1.) Not everyone has a smart phone.
I know, it seems tantamount to sacrilege in this day and age, but the fact is that there are still a number of people using "dumb" phones or who just don't have cell phones to begin with. And some of us who do have smart phones just don't want to use up our data plans checking social media for details on lines all the time.

2.) Not everyone has (or wants to have) a Twitter account.
And to follow someone on Twitter, one must first have a Twitter account. I don't have a Twitter account. I do not want a Twitter account just for the purpose of knowing how long reentry lines at a once-per-year event are going to be. I'm certain that I cannot be the only one in this particular boat.

Being proactive about letting attendees know about queue times is great. I wholeheartedly endorse any and all efforts made by the AB management as a whole to do so. But an analogue solution (in addition to the digital one) might also be in order. Like a well-informed staffer or staffers (with radios) by each line with "estimated wait time" signs (I believe something like this was suggested in an earlier post). If you'll have the capability to provide that information via Twitter, I see no reason that the same information couldn't be provided via velcro signs as well. These same staffers could also serve as a safety net for everyone in the line, keeping an eye out for anyone who seems to be having physical difficulties and having the authority to expedite their movement as appropriate.

Just my thoughts.

If you have a texting plan (which I am sure you do),

Send "FOLLOW @ABQueues" to 40404. No account required, all you need is a phone capable of texting, and Twitter will SMS all tweets made by that account to you.

Had I known about this account, I would have done this. Unfortunately I did not.