Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

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Nemra
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Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Nemra »

Please post feedback (good & bad) here regarding Anime Boston 2018.

Rules:
1) This is not the place to post criticism regarding previous years, but only for Anime Boston 2018.

2) Do not disrespect each other or staff. If you disagree with something, feel free to discuss, but we will not tolerate blatant disrespect for your fellow attendee or staff.

3) This is also not the place to post feedback for panelists. There is an entire section for panelists to use for feedback, so use those. However, if you have feedback regarding the way panels are handled by AB staff, this is the place to post it.

Don't forget that there is also a Convention Feedback Panel on Sunday from 4-5pm in room 202.

Please do not expect an immediate response from Staff even after the con is over. While the convention is over for everyone, for staff it is very much still being worked on and we're winding down and resolving many things on the back end. Be assured, however, that we are reading every comment and taking it in full consideration during the convention and after.

EDIT: We've created a super short survey for you to let us know what you think about the con! If you could take a moment of your time to fill it out, it would be super helpful!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Sayoria »

I originally had no intent to return after the last few years..... but I had to due to my 13 year commitment.

I felt this year was just phenomenal overall. Thanks for turning my feelings of the con around again.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by BladedAsh »

You guys did amazing this year. YOU FINALLY GOT SECURITY PERFECT! I remember waiting 8 hours in line to get my registration before way back in the day. This year everything seems like a very well oiled machine. So your security team was on point. Your staffers were amazing and very helpful and polite. Over all this was probably one of my favorite cons I have been to in a while, due to how well you guys ran it. Thank you for an amazing year, and I will see you next year!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by iloveanime »

My original post on several Facebook unofficial Boston Anime Groups

"I got banned from Anime Boston and almost arrested. Boston Police were actually very nice and even tried to convince the con security to let me stay. Convention security were running the show so they called the shots so there's nothing the police could do because is a private event. The lesson I learned from this is to NEVER lower my 360 video camera lower than waist high around crowds. You might end up like me last night getting accused of some random poopy you did not do (You get the idea). Never in my life I've felt more embarrassed and humiliated then last night. I was filming a 360 video inside the video game room when I see a beautiful super cute dog out of nowhere. I lower my camera to get a closer look at the dog while I passed by and then continued walking recording the rest of the video game room. Soon after I finished recording I had the pleasure (sarcasm) of having to deal with the security staff and their accusation. I was briefly questioned by Boston Police and I told them truth and they believed me. I welcomed them to look at their footage and introduce me to their accuser. I wasn't worried at all but I was super embarrassed because in today's world you are guilty until proven innocent. I am a U.S. Army veteran who honorably served in the Military Police Corp. I am an educated professional and not some random chump looking for cheap perverted thrills. A message to whoever was the accuser who is probably on my video: I wish you confronted me directly because besides the 360 camera I was wearing more than $7000 worth of camera gear and lenses and I was no threat to you wearing all that heavy stuff. We could've had a civil and mature conversation and given me first the benefit of the doubt by allowing me to explain what I was actually doing. I understand the impression that brief moment when I was recording the dog might have given you but you can also see on the video that my eyes and attention were exclusively only on the dog. I traveled 4 hours from New Jersey for this convention and spent hundreds of dollars between hotel, gas, tolls, food, con ticket, parking. I didn't get to attend Sunday because of you. You gave me the most sick embarrassing humiliating gut wrenching feeling I've ever felt in my life. I don't recent you but what you did had unnecessary negative consequences and it was uncomfortably f-ed up emotionally and financially. To the rest of you I hope that my experience serves as a warning to those who like to video record at convention and also to those who are quick to judge and make accusations. Overall except for the drama I think Anime Boston was very good. I am sure I'll get a green light to comeback again next year after I communicate with the organizers and clear the misunderstanding. Below is a link to the actual video."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuw8rH3 ... e=youtu.be
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Smashy_cloud »

As this only being my second year at this con, I feel it was really good! Although, I did have some problems.

My first problem was the ticket policy for signings. I get the reason for handing out tickets before the sessions, but I don’t understand why they need to be that early. As I couldn’t stay overnight in a hotel, I wasn’t able to be there in time to get any of the tickets that were available, which upset me because I was really looking forward to the My Hero Academia signing. I’m fine with tickets, it’s just they weren’t really available to anyone that arrived past 9:30.

My second problem was during the My Hero Academia season 3 premiere and panel. The panel was great and the episode was awesome, but I didn’t know you couldn’t record during the panel. I had figured the I couldn’t record during the episode, as last year I went to the Attack on Titan premiere and there wasn’t any recording then either, so I was fine with that. What I wasn’t aware of though is that you couldn’t record at ALL. Not even during the panel. I had recorded during panels in the past so I thought it was ok, until a man that worked with staff told me to stop recording and said he would take my phone away if I did it again. Now obviously I did what I was told, I didn’t want to get in trouble, I just wish they had made that clear before the panel had begun so I had known before hand.

Other than those issues I had, I honestly had a great time. Seeing all these different cosplays and having people think my cosplay was cool was really nice. I got to meet Josh Grelle and Monica Rial, who were super nice and I definitely want to see them again. The convention was packed, but not as packed as I thought it would be, which is good.

Overall, I had a great time this year at this con. Even though I had some gripes, I still enjoyed my experience and can’t wait to come back next year. Thanks so much for a great time.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Malikishtel »

Overall it was an Amazing Con, you guys went all oit on the guests this year. However, I would like to say that closing down the video game room several hours early on Sunday was not cool. Getting up there a little bit after 2 PM and seeing the staff already well into the process of packing everything up was really disappointing, not to mention seing several people, some with kids wearing sunday only Badges being turned away because of the early closure. If I had paid for a Sunday only membership wanting to check out the con, maybe for the first time, only to find thatone of the most popular rooms of the day was closed several hours before it's advertised closing time, I'd feel a bit cheated. It creates a Bad look not only for AB, but Tokyo attack as well
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by JosephW »

Even though I was only there on Friday due to being riddled with the usual Convention Flu, I had a wonderful time. Morning was a bit rough, but the rest of the day was much better. Being able to play my favorite silly dancing games (and see some of my silly dancing game friends there!) was great. The formal dance was absolutely fantastic, MUCH better than any other previous formal dance that I've been to.

Sadly I couldn't come on Saturday due to getting sick overnight. Ah well, always next year.

I have to say; tons of people were saying that I'd be waiting in hour+ lines to get into the con, but when I got there, there was....2 people ahead of me, for the metal detector. Nice. Whatever you guys did, you obviously fixed the line problems!
Malikishtel wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 3:32 pm I would like to say that closing down the video game room several hours early on Sunday was not cool.

only to find thatone of the most popular rooms of the day was closed several hours before it's advertised closing time, I'd feel a bit cheated.
The hours for the game room are clearly listed on the website:

http://www.animeboston.com/coninfo/hours_of_operation/

They did not close "several hours before the advertised closing time". The site says "9am - 2pm" and you got there "just after 2PM" and they were packing up and closing.

Even compared to other events, 90% of the convention's events on Sunday end at 2pm or 3pm. The closing ceremonies are at 3pm. So the videogame room only closed a single hour before the convention ended.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by draft37 »

I have been going to Anime Boston since 2009, and I have to say I think this was the smoothest experience I have ever had at AB!

Pros:
  • The longest line I had to wait in to get into the con all weekend was three minutes at most. Such a massive change from two years ago, and even compared to last year it was lightning quick !
  • Huge props to the social media team, who gave plenty of updates and information before and during the con regarding new policies, availability of tickets, and highlighting the multiple different entrances into the con.
  • Both the artist alley and dealer's room had a much wider variety of wares offered and there were a ton of new vendors as well. Quality without the sacrifice of quantity!
  • Implementation of the new autograph policy was executed near flawlessly. Awareness on social media was done significantly ahead of time, ticket distribution was fairly swift, and the volunteers in the autograph area seemed fairly organized.
  • The guest list (Steve Blum, FLOW) and special events (MHA Season 3 early debut) were huge gets!
    A maid cafe has been a frequent request for awhile, and I think it's fantastic that it was incorporated this year (unfortunately did not get to go, hopefully next AB!)
  • I don't think anyone in my group of about 20-30 had a complaint about the volunteers or security. Pretty much everyone I ran into was friendly and quick to provide the answers to these questions I had or advised where I could get them.
Cons:
  • The schedule on the AB website is fairly difficult to navigate. It seems like the website got a complete overhaul since last year, but the schedule seems to be stuck in Web 1.0. The text size is very small and it is extremely frustrating that you cannot right click a panel name and open it in a new tab. While the Guidebook app is a very useful option during the con, it is not as convenient to Guidebook to plan ahead of the con since the AB schedule is only loaded on there a couple days before the con (while the website usually has it a week earlier, but has a very poor navigation system)
  • The aisles in the artist alley were significantly more difficult to navigate this year. Whether that was because more people were stopping to buy things (due to first appearance at AB and/or higher quality artists), a change in the room layout, or foot traffic related to the Sheraton I am not sure. I don't know if there is potentially another space that the artist alley could potentially expand into to maybe alleviate some of the traffic jams (and also provide for more artists to appear). Overall, it is still nowhere near as bad as when the artist alley used to be in the other room!
  • While the volunteers do a great job at keeping people moving and not blocking walkways / entrances / etc, it is not uncommon to see someone in a significantly oversized cosplay in the dealer's room or artist alley that is blocking up traffic. This presumably is not great for the vendors / artists if one person is basically dominating their booth, and anything that can be done to potentially reduce pathway bottlenecks is ideal. I imagine most of these individuals have common sense to not go into highly crowded areas like the dealer's room or artist alley, but maybe a suggestion over the PA every now and then or recommending they not use the Sheraton second floor entrance in the artist alley would be ideal.
Overall, my cons are really just nitpicky at most. I am really impressed with how AB not only addressed issue items that have been brought up in these threads the past couple of years, but successfully dealt with them.

Thank you all for a fantastic weekend, and hope breakdown goes smoothly!
Last edited by draft37 on Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Misterlee »

First off, thank you for making this year con. It was AWESOME and FUN. You brought some excellent guest to this year convention and never in my life I would meet them in a million years, yet alone come to Boston. Especially with the cast of My hero academia, Justin Briner, Clifford Chapin, J. Michael Tatum, Josh Verlle, and Monica Rial, THANK YOU!. Of course the legend of voice acting, Steve blum, thank you for coming.

My overall experience for this con was a 10/10, it was well manage, staffs were friendly and well trained to help us have the best experience in this con. Here is a list of the pros and cons about this year Anime Boston.

Pros: (There is so much that I keep it on point)
1. The Guests- what great refreshment of guest to come to Anime Boston that it has caught a lot of attention to meet them and that I hope you keep surprising us with newer guest to come next year.

2. The Dealers room - what great abundance of dealers to come to the con. They display a great amount of items on sale. Especially with Funimation and Crunchyroll thank you for coming to Anime Boston. Thank you for sponsoring with us.

3. The people - I have meet some unique people that they were all so friendly, fun, and above all I could call them family, that I can related with the love and passion of anime. Plus I'm got to meet some interesting and fantastic cosplayers that I love and praise for their hard work and dedication in putting their time and effort in creating these amazing costume. I hope to remember them and next year meet them again.

4. The staffs and volunteers - Overall, very friendly, fun and well trained that they manage this con very smoothly. Without their help and dedication, they wouldn't able to make this con happen. Thank for your help and hope to see you next year. Plus they wer super kind that in one instance in the autograph line, the staffs tells us if someone wants to get water they can go, and wanting to play the honest system, they should let them back in the same position in line. They don't want us passing out with dehydration.

5. Security - Most of the time they are put under the negative for their management and professionalism. Plus there were lots of past complaints for the long hours and lines just to get inside. BUT, for the second time this year, they were awesome, they manage to bring in the people much faster and smoother with the same procedure in where they put in the security. Plus their professionalism manage them to make excellent discretion in handling the props weapons brought to the con and didn't confiscate a huge amount of weapons. Keep up the good work.

Cons: There weren't that much problems only very minor issue I want to address.
1. The autographs - I must say that ticket procedure was well manage to keep a limit amount of people to come in for an autograph. But why should it be so damn early, twice I had to wake up super early to get one for steve blum and my hero academia that I find very exhausting. I know that it's first come first served but maybe you can suggest extending the time for other people to get a chance to get an autograph.

2. The crowds - as the cons become popular, the number of people would increase dramatically that overcrowding would become a problem. I hope to expand to another convention within Boston.

3. The food - I know we want to play and have fun, but we must eat to stay alive that and not get hungry. But why charge us with these outrageous price, I mean a hot dog for $4-5, I think. Try to tone the prices down, we want to eat but don't charge us with these outrageous price inside the con, so that we won't need go outside the con for something cheaper to waste time and energy eating somewhere far away the con.

OVERALL, excellent job for hosting this year Anime Boston, Thank you for this year fantastic con that I hope to see you next year. Keep up the good work, and lets make another one happen again.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by MyLifeAsTerri »

This year was my fourth year attending since moving from North Carolina and it went pretty smoothly.

I had issues because this con, nor any con can be perfect. It started when I went to pickup my badge and had some questions for staff and no one could answer my question and just proceeded to send me around to different people until a blonde woman told me to go outside to the information desk which had packed up 15 minutes prior to me getting there. I tweeted to Anime Boston and no response to any of my questions prior to the con. This was very upsetting because at least one person at the con on Thursday should have been able to answer the question, and secondly, if the social media accounts are being used to post in anyway they should respond to questions people have as well.

Most of the staff is great, there are some that I believe are just there to get into the con for free. Many of the volunteers I encountered this year couldn’t direct my anywhere. In particular, around the time I first fainted I was actually looking for a water fountain and asked a woman where the closest one was and all she did was shrug and run, and when I say run, she ran. I knew where it was after I regained consciousness, but I was feeling so lightheaded I couldn’t even tell where I was. That was very upsetting especially because I kept seeing the girl in a group of her friends I assume just doing whatever they wanted while an actual staff memeber wasn’t around.

The only other issue I had was regarding the ticketing process for autographs. I live in Brookline, so my may not seem long to some but it was very difficult to enjoy the con because my lack of sleep. I had to be up by 3:30/4 to shower, get dressed, and put makeup on. The closest T stop to me is about a ten minute walk and then I had to wait for the T which ranged from 5-15 minutes. I arrived around 6:30 both Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and then commute about 35-40 minutes. The con is enjoyable, and I participate in a lot of panels, so arriving home by 1 or 2 in the morning is normal. That’s what the con is supposed to be about, enjoying everything you want. This year it felt forced, I hardly could keep anything down and fainted twice while sitting down in between panels. This is not everyone’s experience but Anime Boston should realize that not everyone is staying at a nearby hotel so getting to the Sheraton at 6 a.m. is incredibly difficult. Not everyone can afford Uber’s, so paying for autographs isn’t an option either. I got a total of 6 hours of sleep this entire weekend, and I may look silly to some people doing this, but that’s how much I love these voice actors and this is maybe chance to meet them and talk to them. 6 is too early to be there, and referring to my other issue. No one told me anything about having to be there at 6 a.m. until Saturday after My Hero Academia tan out of tickets. This may have been great for your staff and the autograph sessions did run smoothly, but at what cost? I feel like the load was much easier for the staff and that’s great, but I felt that Anime Boston ignores the fact that a majority of us are from the Boston area and have to commute. By the time most people got to the ticketing most people had run out. The time should be moved.

I would just like to say one more thing, the guy who made my weekend was the man at the Maid Cafe this afternoon around 1. He was the most friendliest staff memeber I met this entire weekend. I hope to see him again, and thank you for the wonderful con!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Rosedust »

It would have been really, really nice to have some sort of announcement after the Wada concert today that another act was coming on after Kaoru Wada. They were just kind of like, "that's it, thank you for coming, bye!" And nothing was said after even as we were getting our stuff and walking out, so we missed the entire Jeff Williams concert and we had really been looking forward to it.i encountered another group who had also been confused and angry about this because they assumed there had been a mix up and Kaoru Wada was the only one playing.

Other than that, I have no complaints.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by JosephW »

draft37 wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:03 pm The schedule on the AB website is fairly difficult to navigate.
Yeah, the schedule was kinda...bad.

I'd like it if there was an alternate text-based view that was sorted by what time the event starts, instead of sorting by location.

Kinda like:
2pm
-Event -Event
-Event -Event
-Event -Event
-Event -Event

2:30pm
-Event
-Event

3pm
-Event
-Event
-Event
-Event
That way I can just look at each hour and see if there's anything that I'm interested in going on at that time. Another con that I go to does this; they do both a spreadsheet-looking view, as well as a text view like what I put above.

It's kinda possible to do that with the schedule we have, but it's way too wide, and the text is way too small.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by madhattr999 »

After autograph tickets have been open for a couple hours and there is no line, move the tickets to where the concert and masquerade tickets are sold and keep them open until they're all gone. There is no reason someone showing up at noon shouldn't be able to get a ticket if one is still available. You don't need a big room for this after the initial line is dispersed.

Game room shouldn't be closing at 2pm on Sunday.

Out of 6-10 conventions that I attend per year, Boston is the only one with metal detectors. I recognize it's the convention center's decision but I still hate it and I may not come again next year. (I recognize that it was smoother than previous years though).

3rd floor down escalator breaking down multiple times per day was irritating. South Tower Sheraton elevators were awful all weekend and the weight limit of 8 people is pretty low. Again, I know this isn't directly under ABs control, but still a frustrating aspect of the convention this year.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by dragon0blood »

While I love going to Anime Boston every year, it really is one of the high lights. I am getting really tired of it being on Easter weekend. I work in a bakery where we are inundated every Easter with orders, and my not being there is becoming a drag on them, to the point where management is now blacklisting holidays. On top of that, I’m not able to see my family on the actual day, because Boston is not close to either side. I know that these thins are scheduled years in advance, but as the people that go and age and get families and get better jobs, Easter is going to become that much harder to miss for some people. And I don’t want to miss out on such a fun and inclusive convention because it happens on a holiday every year.

My second piece of feedback is that I wouldn’t do a concert and masquerade combo again. My sister and I came to see fantastic skits and the AMV winners, and we both ended up having to sit through a concert that we didn’t want to be at to see it. By the time we left just before the awards were being handed out, we had been in that room for close to four hours. Concerts are fine and dandy, but many people use the masquerade as their cherry on top to their con going experience, and time going home around it, and needing to leave during skits because there was a concert before hand puts a damper on things.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by resressrs »

I am overall pleased with the convention despite the few complaints I had with it this year. I made a list of my top pros, cons and suggestions for the future.

Pros
1) The security! I felt super safe at this convention and the security was nice yet professional.

2) The guest list this year was phenomenal, I met the my hero academia cast but missed out on Steve Blum :(

3) Good job handling the my hero academia premiere

4) I LOVED the space theme


Cons
1) The lines for the Flow concert, My Hero academia panel and the masquerade were very unorganized. I know there was a lot of people but people for the ticket events who had a ticket event weren't getting in for the events. Sometimes the staff let those without a ticket through with the crowd is what I noticed and I didn't get into the masquerade or flow concert at all and I couldn't wait for a seat to open due to train scedules.

2) The meetup list for meetups outside the Hynnes was a pain to understand and people often didn't end up in the right spot (For example those in the Hilton were a mess)

3) The 30-40 minute wait time in the maid cafe was not enforced and I saw some people waiting for hours to get a table

4) There was a lot of confusion around what counted as ids. For example I got into the autograph ticket pick up line with my qr code and school id while my friend who used his he was turned away. Making posts and updates plus having signs of examples of what count and does not count during pickup would be nice


Suggestions
1) Advertise the Guidebook app more! It made the convention so easy to understand! Maybe make signs like "did you know we have our schedule on guidebook?" And put them up as advertisements since it's so helpful

2) If the maid cafe returns I recommend having 2-3 staff members running a reservation list for the maid cafe. For example like all the tables are full and XYZ wants to sit for food, maybe they can put down a reservation for next available seat and the staff members can give an ETA and

3) Signs in front of where people are signing in the sheraton would be nice to help confusion

4)I love the new policy for autograph tickets but please push them back to 8 or 8:30 to help those who commute to the city
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Aurabolt »

iloveanime wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 2:20 pm My original post on several Facebook unofficial Boston Anime Groups

--SNIP--
Ok so I'm hearing "I was doing something anyone who's paying attention could interpret a certain way and was caught by Con Security, then kicked out of the Con. Now I'm mad because what I was actually doing and what I appeared to be doing were two different things. After being questioned by Boston PD, I wasn't arrested but was not allowed back into said Con and I think it's unfair. Again, I understand how my actions could be interpreted but I'm still mad because of how Con security reacted."

Having said all that, let me get this straight: Do you seriously expect even a professional photographer to believe you went to a Con that averages 25,000+ people a year with $7,000 worth of Camera gear just to video record a service dog from behind in the 3rd-most crowded room in the Con?

Even giving you the benefit of the doubt, you got what deserved and that was lenient compared to what I know some people think you deserved. You clearly didn't take how someone could react into consideration with what you did. What you SHOULD have done was asked the dog's owner if you could go to a less crowded area where folks wouldn't get the wrong idea about what you were doing. Since you didn't take how you would look into consideration, this outcome is to be expected.

Your best bet at this point is to try to contact AB Staff directly tomorrow since they are all Walking Dead right now more than likely.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by RikkuX21 »

Security this year was great. Maybe faster if they did bag checks randomly like Disney parks do it.

2nd. Maybe have the badges printed in both sides. Every second i look down my badge is flipped to the blank side and always had staff yelling at me to flip it around. Its not my fault it flips around on its own @_@

Maybe have more seating around the halls? The floor is very uncomfortable when waiting in a line or trying to rest.

Decorations in main auditorium this year with the stars were awesome!!!! Wish that was around the halls for a more spacey feel

I would love for Hentai panels to be available during the day :( lots of us get awfully tired towards the end of the day and its hard to stay awake.

Bring back hentai dubbing and find a host!!!!

Better hall decorations...

The random drop screens were cool.

Thats all i can think of now..
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Mad Dad »

This was our fifth year in a row at Anime Boston. Just like last year, we have already preregistered for 2019! Thank you for making it so easy to do while we are at the convention.

I wanted to commend the staff and security for the great job they did. It's not easy to have thousands of people dressed in cosplay to flow at a good pace. The few times we went through bag checks, it was at a good pace and handled well. Everyone was polite and understanding on both sides! Thank you fellow attendees!

Thanks for a great year and we look forward to seeing you April 18th to pick up our tags!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kimtana »

Don't want to make a huge novel of a post, so I'll get right to it:

PROS:
-security staff was so much better than years prior!
-huge shoutout to Steph who did security at closing ceremonies. I have damaged vertebrae and nerve damage and walk on a cane, and she helped get me a chair and helped me move the chair when we got shifted to the opposite side. She was extremely friendly while making sure everyone was being where they needed to be! THIS was AB security at it's finest!!!
-The food drive was a brilliant way to help our community with a massive attendance!

CONS (no pun intended):
-not that it was AB's fault, but the Hynes security kept tagging my cane like it was a prop, and the zipties cut into my hand over the course of the weekend. My cane is NOT a prop. An officer on Friday actually came up behind me and pulled it out from under my hand as I was walking with it to tag it, causing my knee and back to buckle. I saw very few canes getting zipties, why mine? Isn't there something we can do, like show them our accessibility sticker, to prevent this? It was a literal pain...
-speaking of pain, the Artist Alley was spaced horribly wrong. There were a few giantly spaced aisles, and some painfully thin aisles. I had a hard time getting through it at all, and there certainly wasn't much space for someone like me or on a wheelchair to easily get through. I was crushed with the rest of them most of the time I was there.

That's all I can think of for now, but if I remember anymore after a proper amount of sleep, I'll post it.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by eleanorluna »

Thank you to the artists! I and my daughter, who is 10 and a budding anime artist, came to the con for the first time this year and we were so grateful to talk to so many wonderful artists who gave her so much information on how to get started and keep going in her artistic endeavors. The con was so inspirational to us. Thank you so much!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Aurabolt »

lawless wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:45 pm
The food - I know we want to play and have fun, but we must eat to stay alive that and not get hungry. But why charge us with these outrageous price, I mean a hot dog for $4-5, I think. Try to tone the prices down, we want to eat but don't charge us with these outrageous price inside the con, so that we won't need go outside the con for something cheaper to waste time and energy eating somewhere far away the con.
Anime Boston has no control over this. You will need to dIrect crituque of this subject to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) specifically. AB has no control over food pricing whatsoever. The Hynes started introducing Food Vendors after the Food Court in the Prudential Center closed three years ago as an option.

See my thread here: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=22564
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Mana31 »

Absolutely loved the autograph ticket setup, much more organized.
I loved seeing Kihara-San again and his wife! But his autograph signing felt rushed since he had a panel at 4PM, last year we had time to really talk and enjoy time with him and this year it was obvious that he was upset that he couldn't talk to his fans like last year.
I hope you invite him back next year!
Meeting Steven Blum was amazing as well! He was so wonderful and a pleasure to meet.
How does the process for possible guest voice actors go? It would be cool to have John Burgmeier, Christopher Sabat, and Justin Cook as guests!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by H. Guderian »

I wasn't getting an autograph, but a friend was. He came to stay at my place and I drove him in every morning. We arrive for an autograph ticket and several names were struck out already. Now I'm reading here the tickets went up at 6am? I hoe this one poster was mistaken, but I am seeing many people complain about the issue anyways, so there must be some truth to it. I was getting home around midnight (Panelist), to make it to the convention center I'd need to leave a bit after 5am! So to eat dinner and breakfast on either side I'd have to sleep for four hours.

I mean, if you want an Early Bird Block of tickets and then a more general release, maybe do it that way. For people of middle age and higher, and/or commuting and/or with children/pets, this current system effectively locks them out of autographs. Only a spry youngster with a nearby hotel room has a chance to pick something up at 6am
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by draft37 »

H. Guderian wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:01 am I wasn't getting an autograph, but a friend was. He came to stay at my place and I drove him in every morning. We arrive for an autograph ticket and several names were struck out already. Now I'm reading here the tickets went up at 6am? I hoe this one poster was mistaken, but I am seeing many people complain about the issue anyways, so there must be some truth to it. I was getting home around midnight (Panelist), to make it to the convention center I'd need to leave a bit after 5am! So to eat dinner and breakfast on either side I'd have to sleep for four hours.

I mean, if you want an Early Bird Block of tickets and then a more general release, maybe do it that way. For people of middle age and higher, and/or commuting and/or with children/pets, this current system effectively locks them out of autographs. Only a spry youngster with a nearby hotel room has a chance to pick something up at 6am
Autograph Tickets were not handed out until 7AM, however the room itself opened at 6AM to begin the line forming. That being said, on Saturday there was a line of a couple hundred people right when it opened, and by 7:30 at least one panel had run out of regular tickets (but still had overflow)

That being said, most panelists had additional signings during the convention. While you do have to pay for those autographs, it is at least an option for someone who does not have the ability or desire to come in at 7AM.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by animosc »

Great con, no major complaints from me. Security was fine, autographs went smoothly, guests were friendly, there was plenty of water. No escalator mayhem afaik. Thanks for another great AB!

Smashy_cloud wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 3:03 pm My second problem was during the My Hero Academia season 3 premiere and panel. The panel was great and the episode was awesome, but I didn’t know you couldn’t record during the panel.

[snip]

I just wish they had made that clear before the panel had begun so I had known before hand.
I've made this exact criticism before. My recommendation is that they need to announce at the beginning of a panel if video/photos are not allowed.

H. Guderian wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:01 am Now I'm reading here the tickets went up at 6am?
The rules say 7:00 am, not 6:00 am. I could be wrong but I think they started ticket distribution at the correct time?

Nevertheless, I understand your concern. AB might turn into AX or SDCC where people have to line up overnight for autograph tickets.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by HP1307 »

My only real complaint I have is I accidentally lost my autograph tickets for the my hero academia cast and Josh grelle and I woke up so early to get them because I wanted them to sign my my hero academia poster but sadly I was turned away I wish there was a way to tell that a person got a ticket for that autograph signing even if they lost theirs. Other than that this was my first anime bost9n and I had a blast can't wait to go next year!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Fullmetal »

I enjoyed my time for the most part, I was most excited about the My Hero Acadamia event, I was one of the last ones to get a head band phew! So while I enjoyed most and many things about the convention I will just mention some things I think need improvement.

Firstly, the line to get into the MHA event was long which is fine and I was worried I wouldn’t get in, also fine. The issue was with the voltuneers that were staffing the line as we moved. They were not monitoring it closely and people could have easily jumped into line as they were walking around the line. I did get into the event but maybe if enough people wrongfully cut the line I wouldn’t have been able to get the headband I really wanted. Maybe some type of temporary rope to put up for the popular events so that people aren’t just shuffling through the rooms aimlessly trying to keep up with the line to get in.

Secondly and the most disappointing experience this year for me was the maid cafe. The description online got me so excited I wanted to order the yummy treats, interact with the maids, and pay for the decorated Polaroid picture as a keepsake. None of that happened. I waited 30 minutes in line only to be told once I was inside that they ran out of bubble tea (and I didn’t find this drink elsewhere in the convention, correct me if I’m wrong) the only maid interaction was them dropping off a picture of all the maids taken previously, the message they wrote on the picture smudged off with the wipe of a finger and I saw no opportunity to take my own picture and have it decorated. I basically waited 30 minutes to sit there while my friends ate burgers and then we left. I missed a really cool panel because I wanted to wait in line for this cafe that ended up wasting my time and leaving me feeling discouraged .

Also, not a big deal but by the end of Saturday night I saw that the one poster I wanted to take a picture with the entire con had been rolled up into the trash, the deku wall sticker on the second floor of Hynes. People were sitting in front of it all the convention so I went back at night for a pic. I can understand wanting to clean up the convention but there was still another day left and the other MHA stickers were still on the wall so not sure what happened here but that also was a bummer.

Someone else mentioned this but just wanted to reiterate that the artist alley rows were very tight and at times it was a stalemate and I was stuck in the middle of an unmoving crowd as I tried to leave for another event.

Lastly, counting the amount of people that enter a room for a panel, I waited in line and got into a room that had no seats, we took a spot standing in the back and then they made the announcement that everyone standing had to leave because of firecode.

Despite these criticisms I still love going to Anime Boston so otherwise keep doing what you’re doing, and see you in 2019!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Mirotic »

Overall, another good year.

Pros:
  • Security kept lines at a minimum, I never had to wait more than 5 minutes to get in.
  • Cosplay repair station and cosplay photo suite staff were 10/10. Helpful and friendly.
  • Cool to have a maid cafe this year, even though I was unable to attend.
  • Reserving and having set photoshoot/meetup locations was great
  • Decor was nice and well spaced
  • Artist Alley variety was great this year
Cons:
  • Dealer's room: too many artists in the Dealer's room when they should be in AA. Full booths selling or advertising non-anime/non-Japanese stuff. I think you should prioritize a variety of shops that sell official merch related to anime/Japan, then if there is room, allow artists in who create work related to anime/Japan to squeeze in to the dealer's room
  • Artist Alley spacing was bad this year, traffic flow was worse. I think we might need more staffers to keep people moving and keep people from taking photos in AA.
  • Not Anime Boston's fault but the Sheraton elevators were insane this year. The Sheraton had signs posted indicating no more than 8 people to an elevator. This is for safety purposes. Have common sense and wait for the next elevator. I had many con-goers squeezing onto already full elevators and testing the weight limits, which made me extremely uncomfortable.
  • Too many like panels this year. Would've liked to see even more variety, and more popular panels/events spread out and not just all packed into Saturday.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by H. Guderian »

animosc wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:49 am The rules say 7:00 am, not 6:00 am. I could be wrong but I think they started ticket distribution at the correct time?

Nevertheless, I understand your concern. AB might turn into AX or SDCC where people have to line up overnight for autograph tickets.
I was just driving in someone who went for them so I was quoting a previous poster saying 6. I was not heavily invested in autographs this time, but in the past I have greatly enjoyed them, so I'm worried my ability to get them is effectively over even if I didn't participate this time.
Dealer's room: too many artists in the Dealer's room when they should be in AA. Full booths selling or advertising non-anime/non-Japanese stuff. I think you should prioritize a variety of shops that sell official merch related to anime/Japan, then if there is room, allow artists in who create work related to anime/Japan to squeeze in to the dealer's room
I think there were less artists int he Dealer's room this year, and fewer random-plushie booths as well. Still a lot of those though. Because the artist I normally buy from I don't think I encountered at all this year. I think apparel is up this year. CDs are incredibly rare. But as long as the rare import booths survive, so shall I.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by karriachinoryu »

Had a wonderful time at con this year, thank you so much to staff!

Security did seem a lot friendlier this year which made my experience with them much improved compared to previous years.
I also appreciated having the bag/coat check inside a room instead of in the hallway this year- it was still easy to find and I felt like my stuff was much more secure.
Shout out to the social media team for posting about certain rooms and services in the days before the con! Good to know where the first aid room is and to have notices about events like the maid cafe.

I do wish the times for picking up autograph tickets were a little later, though. As others have mentioned, it's very difficult for people who commute to the convention to get there for 7am, especially since most events at the con do not start until 10.
I also wonder if one day the Artists' Alley could be moved to a larger room still. It is certainly crowded in there and of course I know there are always more artists who want to have a table there. As a consumer, I would be glad to see it grow again; it is one of the highlights of the convention for me and I spend more time in there than I do in the Dealers' Room.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by mylaluu »

Awesome time was had this year! This is becoming a well run machine.

- Great selection of Guests this year
- Quick entrance, no more long lines waiting outside. Security staff friendlier.
- Designated photoshoot location posted and marked in schedule was Awesome
- Super friendly, helpful staff!

- the Kings 21+ lounge was fun, Space Dandy at a bar :D but the Kings staff there seemed a little overwhelmed & understaffed.
- Introduction of Maid Cafe (I never made it due to long lines, and heard it needs some fine tuning, hope it will return next year)

- Artist alley congestion. While the assortment of artist was amazing, the aisles were too narrow.
Especially with the entrance from the Sheraton being promoted to use more, at peak times the aisles were near impassable.
- Sheraton elevators. I've never been to the 5th floor for panels before. Had to add extra time to account for the elevator in order to make panel on time. Was a little confusing and way far apart from most the other events.

-Promote the guidebook app, all the info in easy to access form. If for nothing else but the easy to understand schedule.

Out of AB control - the Midtown apparently had some hot water issues, so no hot water on Saturday am, and the staff there was extremely discourteous (guessing because I was in costume). Needless to say, despite the reasonable rates won't be staying there again.

Keep up the great work!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by 1Imsrhaje »

It was a great con overall.

Lines moved very fast; I needed to go to work during Sunday's morning very quickly and from that direction, I took the E line, hence tried to enter through the Pru entrance. There was some line, for a couple of mins I imagine. I decided to enter through the Artist Alley entrance with no issue. I always enter through Boylston and always, always been easy, even during that year there was a big complaint, but I think it was mostly for the Pru entrance.

Dealers had more variety compared to last year where many plushies vendors were there but honestly the Artist Alley was the big winner. Loved it this year!!!! The artists were very talented and loved the variety and their talent. Keep up with the good job Artists!

Autographs: I voiced my opinion in the "Policy Change" thread. I think the timing was very unfair for those who commute. I had a very tough week at work, one day I even slept 3 hrs! So I decided to bail out in trying to get the ticket for Rachel Robinson because I really needed to sleep. I am OK with paying a fee in the Dealers Area but she wasn't in the map so I imagined she wasn't going to offer them. Comes Saturday and through Twitter I saw she was going to sign in. I was happy but disappointed at the same time. Happy because she was going to be there but sad because I didn't bring my Final Fantasy poster. I asked her if she was going to be on Sunday and she said most likely no because even for today her table was all over the place (she didn't know until the very end as well). So, after I had an item signed by Stephanie Sheh I decided to keep it to faith and return to my home in Brookline and see if I have enough time. I made it 28 mins before she leaving the booth! So, happy camper by the end of the day but this needs organization, I appreciate social media did a decent job with the announcements but maybe for next year in the AB program state all the guests doing signing with their dates at least, time can be posted later but knowing the dates is a big help so we can bring our items. Plus consider moving the time a little later for the tickets distribution, heck even 8am is better than 7am!

Thank you AB and looking forward for next year :)
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by H. Guderian »

mylaluu wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:08 am - Sheraton elevators. I've never been to the 5th floor for panels before. Had to add extra time to account for the elevator in order to make panel on time. Was a little confusing and way far apart from most the other events.
As a panelist who presented up there twice, those elevators sap my interest especiayyl when I need to leave the Hynes, go to that 5th floor, and then run back to the Hynes. I know many people speak of the "unofficial" staff-only stairs. I've known people to take them, but I think they're offlimits to guests. Maybe in the future AB can negotiate usage of these staff-only stairs? Getting up to the 5th floor panels is easy enough as the elevator has to stop at floor 1-2 and you can ride them up. But any downward elevator is almost always full so leaving the 5th floor is man elevator cycles longer than going up. Maybe get 1-way stairs going down?

If people could leave the AA into the Sheraton and take stairs and vice versa, it might help attendance. By late Saturday and Sunday I lost my willpower to keep making the trek.

Also if none of that could be done, maybe offset Foundation panels by 30 minutes? If you are in a panel that exits at 3, and the next panel you want to attend is at 3 in the Hynes, you're essentially missed it already. I know one of my panels started at 330 up there, but iirc many were parallel to hynes timeslots.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kanechan »

Okay, my two cents on what I thought was good or bad about this year's con:

Line flow into the Hynes was by far the quickest and easiest it's been in years. Didn't have to wait in line outside the building at all. Security procedures at the entrances were also rapid enough.

My only major gripe was the whole business about getting the autograph tickets. As I said in the Policy Changes thread, I was concerned that I wouldn't make it in time to the drawings, and I was right about that to a certain extent, as the sessions actually began as much as 20 minutes earlier than 7:00 AM (but only because the ballroom had filled to a capacity, that the staff thought was sufficient for them to begin ticket distribution). I almost didn't make it in time to the Sunday session, because my train left Wonderland Station much later that morning than it did other days.

And that leads me to my other complaint about the ticket distribution system: Having to get up before the crack of dawn to be eligible for those tickets. I used to wake up no earlier than 5:00 AM to get into town, if only to secure parking at Wonderland (especially on Friday), but because of the new system I had to wake up around 3:30 AM instead. That eventually took its toll on me, and left me nodding off in hall chairs in the Sheraton because I could no longer stay awake. I've done 24-hour in-and-out train trips to New York, but by comparison this was a sustained series of days which left their mark on me.

Beyond these things, I had little or no problem with the con this year (indeed, I didn't blister my feet so much this year walking around as I have done before). I look forward to the next con with great anticipation.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by ConDadJeff »

Overall my experience at Anime Boston this year was pretty good. I got to see most of the panels and the big events I wanted to see, and I woke up to the realization that I spent way too much at the Dealer's Room (a lot of mix emotions there). I probably can't compare to most other people, but from the handful of years that I did go to Anime Boston, I can tell that the organization has done a lot of work in improving the security checks and lines. I don't remember even waiting that long to pick up my badge on Friday!

However, my experience at the convention this year was bruised by one bad experience with a staff member on Saturday. I was waiting assumingly in line for the Masquerade holding onto my daughter, but in the middle of the crowd and confusion of moving people, and at one point overhearing that I may be in the line for Bad Anime Bad, I wasn't sure if I was in the right line. I tried to get the attention of a passing staff member (short, had darkish brown-black hair, I think I saw her leading a small group of staff in orange vests earlier) about 3-4 times before she turned to my attention and bluntly said "Yes what is it?!" Whoa, ok. I politely asked with a schedule in my hand (while still holding onto my daughter) to see if this was the Masquerade line, and she replied with "Don't you have a schedule in your hand?", and takes the schedule from my hand. At this point I admit was getting irritated. She goes on to tells me that I was in the correct line. I thank her but also mentioned that she needs to watch her attitude and to treat her customers with a little more respect. She rolls her eyes, practically throws the schedule back at me, and walks away. I could have sworn that she blurted out "Men!" as she stomped off. I stood there in shock of this staff member's attitude towards a paying customer. I wanted to get out of line to talk to someone, but I didn't want to lose my place and I was waiting for my friends to show up. I later told my friends what happened, and they were shocked as well.

The show as well as the remainder of the night helped get my mind off of the incident, and I decided to let things go. I decided against coming back on Sunday however, and honestly I doubt I'll be coming back next year. I understand that running a convention of this size is chaos, and the staff have to go through a lot to make such an event happen. Most of my experience with security and other staff members have also been pretty good, so maybe that's why I reasoned with myself to just let it go. However my goal for this trip was to start a tradition with my daughter that she can look forward to year after year. If Anime Boston have staff members who are not trained to treat their customers, I'd rather take my money and my family's time to another convention.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Xias »

ConDadJeff wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:58 pm Overall my experience at Anime Boston this year was pretty good. I got to see most of the panels and the big events I wanted to see, and I woke up to the realization that I spent way too much at the Dealer's Room (a lot of mix emotions there). I probably can't compare to most other people, but from the handful of years that I did go to Anime Boston, I can tell that the organization has done a lot of work in improving the security checks and lines. I don't remember even waiting that long to pick up my badge on Friday!

However, my experience at the convention this year was bruised by one bad experience with a staff member on Saturday. I was waiting assumingly in line for the Masquerade holding onto my daughter, but in the middle of the crowd and confusion of moving people, and at one point overhearing that I may be in the line for Bad Anime Bad, I wasn't sure if I was in the right line. I tried to get the attention of a passing staff member (short, had darkish brown-black hair, I think I saw her leading a small group of staff in orange vests earlier) about 3-4 times before she turned to my attention and bluntly said "Yes what is it?!" Whoa, ok. I politely asked with a schedule in my hand (while still holding onto my daughter) to see if this was the Masquerade line, and she replied with "Don't you have a schedule in your hand?", and takes the schedule from my hand. At this point I admit was getting irritated. She goes on to tells me that I was in the correct line. I thank her but also mentioned that she needs to watch her attitude and to treat her customers with a little more respect. She rolls her eyes, practically throws the schedule back at me, and walks away. I could have sworn that she blurted out "Men!" as she stomped off. I stood there in shock of this staff member's attitude towards a paying customer. I wanted to get out of line to talk to someone, but I didn't want to lose my place and I was waiting for my friends to show up. I later told my friends what happened, and they were shocked as well.

The show as well as the remainder of the night helped get my mind off of the incident, and I decided to let things go. I decided against coming back on Sunday however, and honestly I doubt I'll be coming back next year. I understand that running a convention of this size is chaos, and the staff have to go through a lot to make such an event happen. Most of my experience with security and other staff members have also been pretty good, so maybe that's why I reasoned with myself to just let it go. However my goal for this trip was to start a tradition with my daughter that she can look forward to year after year. If Anime Boston have staff members who are not trained to treat their customers, I'd rather take my money and my family's time to another convention.
While I ultimately don't disagree that the staffer could have certainly been nicer to you in this situation (if your account of the incident is indeed accurate), I do think that the "customer/staff" viewpoint that you've clearly expressed here is not really accurate. It is important to remember that all AB staff are unpaid volunteers; while that doesn't give them license to be mean to you, it also means that it's not the same thing as going to an amusement park and dealing with people who are paid a salary to deal with customers. A convention is a group effort and is better thought of as a collaboration, not a business. Each individual staffer, guest, vendor, panelist, and even normal attendee is all doing their part to put it on, whether through volunteering their time to help the convention run smoothly, providing programming or merchandise, or (of course) paying for a badge to fund the convention. It's better thought of through this lens than the lens of "I am their customer and I deserve respect", which is clearly how you seem to view it in the above post.

Again, nothing I'm saying here should be taken as saying you should have been treated the way you were if indeed your story was accurate. But personally when I'm dealing with convention staff at any non-profit anime con and very occasionally deal with a grumpy staff member, I try to remind myself that they are volunteers who are doing the best they can to make the convention run smoothly and probably are going through something completely unrelated to me that's putting them in that mood. I don't think expecting people to be cheerful and ready to help 100% of the time for an unpaid position is necessarily realistic, and that's a huge reason why I think it's more productive to think of yourself as an attendee and part of the convention, rather than as a customer. But that's just my two cents.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by eternaltorture »

1Imsrhaje wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:13 am
Autographs: I voiced my opinion in the "Policy Change" thread. I think the timing was very unfair for those who commute. I had a very tough week at work, one day I even slept 3 hrs! So I decided to bail out in trying to get the ticket for Rachel Robinson because I really needed to sleep. I am OK with paying a fee in the Dealers Area but she wasn't in the map so I imagined she wasn't going to offer them. Comes Saturday and through Twitter I saw she was going to sign in. I was happy but disappointed at the same time. Happy because she was going to be there but sad because I didn't bring my Final Fantasy poster. I asked her if she was going to be on Sunday and she said most likely no because even for today her table was all over the place (she didn't know until the very end as well). So, after I had an item signed by Stephanie Sheh I decided to keep it to faith and return to my home in Brookline and see if I have enough time. I made it 28 mins before she leaving the booth! So, happy camper by the end of the day but this needs organization, I appreciate social media did a decent job with the announcements but maybe for next year in the AB program state all the guests doing signing with their dates at least, time can be posted later but knowing the dates is a big help so we can bring our items. Plus consider moving the time a little later for the tickets distribution, heck even 8am is better than 7am!

Thank you AB and looking forward for next year :)
I understand that feeling! I went early for Friday and Saturday and tried to go early for Sunday as well but just couldn't make the effort in waking up (sleep deprived) so I went around 9. I don't think any autograph sessions sold out that day.

I think most of us at the Policy Change thread worried needlessly over the availability of autograph tickets at hours later than 7am. There were still a lot of regular and overflow tickets remaining at 9:30am. Even the Rachel Robinson free autograph sessions on both Fri & Sat that you wanted were still available then. Only the super popular ones sold out like Steve Blum, FLOW and MHA cast.

So I agree with madhattr999 above that they should move those remaining tickets to the events ticket booth for distribution after 10am. I don't see why they can't, I went to several autograph sessions where the # of people who showed up was less than 40, one had less than 10!! Great way to make the guests feel unappreciated and drill it into them that they have few American fans.
Last edited by eternaltorture on Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kamica »

I would like to thank the AB staff for allowing the Jeff Williams concert to go over time. I have never seen RWBY before and yet this concert still ranked up there at the very top among my favorites things I did at the convention.

Internally, I imagine that it must've been a difficult decision to not cancel the concert early. You had guests participating in the Closing Ceremonies that probably needed to leave shortly and a bunch of impatient people waiting outside the door wondering what the delay was all about (there was even someone sitting right behind me at closing ceremonies grumbling about how they didn't even let people in until 3 P.M.).

After the concert ended, I heard at least several people around me talking about how awesome it was. It truly was. So once again, thanks to the AB staff for making the right call.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by icyfox22 »

Just wanted to jump in and give some feedback of my own. This was my 4th year attending AB and overall, it was a positive experience.

I too had voiced some concerned about the new Autograph Policy and my friends and I ended up waking up at 4:45AM to be at the session on time on Friday. It worked out fairly well though as we were about 15th in line. I will agree that the time should be pushed later for commuters, but also understand that it was the only time-slot available for ticketing.

That being said, I did have some complaints regarding security and changes to the autograph policy regarding accessibility.

This was my friend's first year attending. She severed a tendon in her foot and spent the weekend walking around in a boot. We had gotten an accessibility sticker for her since standing in long lines for long periods of time was going to be hard on her injury. On the first day when we finally got through security, my girlfriend went back to help her on the other side of the metal detectors. This prompted a staff member (presumably security but unsure) to tell her to keep moving. When my girlfriend tried explaining that our friend needed help because of the boot she proceeded to say that since she spent 6 months in a boot then our friend would be fine. The lady also proceeded to rush both of them out of the area despite our friend moving as quickly as she could with her injury.

I understand that they need to keep the area clear and keep people moving but we all found this to be rather rude and inconsiderate.

Fast forward to the autograph sessions. We had been walking around all day and when we went to get in line, I brought up the accessibility sticker to the a staff member. He then informed us that the policy had changed regarding accessibility and autographs. This was something that had not been clearly stated to us and the pamphlet we were only further confused us. The guy was nice, however, and offered to get a chair for her to sit in while we waited which my friend ultimately turned down.

We later went to another autograph session, though, where someone in a wheelchair was able to line up first despite there being a line already forming and showing up after we did, and while I don't know the story, I feel that there was a bit of discrimination going on given that our friend was in a boot rather than a wheelchair or something.

On that note, the lady that was running the autograph sessions came off as very rude and impatient. I'm unsure if she was just trying to project her voice, but I was given the impression that she had little time for any of us waiting to meet a guest and was already in a bad mood despite it only being Friday. It also felt as if she was yelling at us rather than trying to be heard by everyone. I spoke to her for all of five seconds while waiting my turn and it seemed like she was being inconvenienced having to speak to me despite initiating the conversation herself. The conversation ended with her just walking away from me without saying anything. It was a very unpleasant moment.

On another note, regarding guest signings in the Dealer's Room. I find it frustrating when I hear they are doing signings but can't figure out where or what time they will be in the Dealer's Room. I met Eric Vale, last time he was at AB and the only reason I knew when to see him in the Dealer's room was because I attended one of his panels and he told me he was heading there himself.

Can we please have this more clearly stated on the website or in the guidebook/program? I can never figure out where to find this information.

The AMV contest was also great ( I go every year), but I was sad to see the ballots had been changed to black. I usually keep the ballots and make notes on them during the contest to find my fave AMVs later on youtube or mark the anime to watch that were featured in AMVs. Since they were black I was unable to do so which made me sad.

All that being said, I LOVED having the chance to meet Monica Rial. She was a very pleasant person to interact with and I wish I had made it to some of her panels.

I loved that photoshoots and meetups were more or less organized through the con this year with designated locations and times. It made everything feel less chaotic and more enjoyable. I was not, however, a fan of the fact that it was in the Hilton and we had some trouble finding the photoshoot we went to.

Artist Alley was great, but I also feel that the location needs to be moved to allow for more artists to attend. (Especially since that is now an entry point so room had to be made for security).
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kusuguru Usagi »

I wanted to say that I was very pleased with the Bag/Coat Check room. I didn't stay at the Sheraton this year, so I checked my jacket on Fri. & Sat., and then on Sun., I checked both my jacket and my suitcase. I felt very comfortable leaving my things there, I had no worries.

I also wanted to share that I was pleased at how well things went when I went through security when I had my suitcase w/me. I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to that, but I was happy to see it was all so well taken care of (the process).

I overall had a fantastic time (I went to 14 panels total, got to make sand art at the PopCult Anime Con table, got a cute doggie sticker from another attendee on the elevator at the hotel, and made a couple trips into the Dealers Room), and am looking forward to next year. *gives thumbs up*
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by KaiGuyLove »

My big complaint this year was the autograph tickets. If you werent staying at the con hotel there was no way to get a ticket for an autograph you wanted. It basically cancelled a whole block of scheduling for certain con attendees.
I was trying to get FLOWs autograph on Sunday, I went down early in the morning to get my ticket, and the people said there was no autograph session that day. I showed them the schedule and they said they had no tickets or anything. They wouldnt even let me in the room to see if they had oveflow tickets. Which turns out they did. So I messaged the Anime Boston page to get answers and thats when I learned that they were giving out tickets, and overflow was available, so I ran down to grab a ticket but then they were gone. If the two people at the door knew what was going on I might of been able to get the autograph. They were both very rude to me and had no clue what was going on. I was not happy about it at all.
2017 Cosplays:
Friday: Kanon Umineko
Saturday: Klaha Malice Mizer (Gardenia PV)
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by AppleCherryPie »

Rosedust wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:47 pm It would have been really, really nice to have some sort of announcement after the Wada concert today that another act was coming on after Kaoru Wada. They were just kind of like, "that's it, thank you for coming, bye!" And nothing was said after even as we were getting our stuff and walking out, so we missed the entire Jeff Williams concert
There was definitely an announcement right after, I heard it. It said to stick around while the stage was changed over to the next concert. People were getting up while the people on stage were still talking, so you might have missed it.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by runicmagitek »

Ah man, post-con depression is hitting me hard (as is the sleep deprived headache hahaaaaa). I had a blast this year, as always. Now onto the feedback bits.

PROS
  • "I don't like that question, but here are some facts about dolphins."
  • I'm still internally screaming since it was announced that Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Steve Blum were showing up to AB this year. It was beyond delightful to meet them and my signed copy of Cowboy Bebop is forever on display on my bookshelf. Thank you for having them as guests. I'm more of an old school fan when it comes to anime shows, so having these two was a treat. Also special shout out to Steve Blum who took the last 15 or so of us even though it was already 7pm on Saturday. You're the sweetest!
  • I must say, I initially dreaded lines with security when I heard metal detectors were back, but it was painless. I must've waited in line for maybe five minutes tops if that. I was happy/relieved to see prop check front and center through the Sheraton entrance, seeing that was a hassle for my friend and I last year. The prop checkers in the Hynes on Sunday were also VERY NICE and allowed me to have the zip tie on the handle of my sword instead of outright closing it so I could use it in cosplay chess.
  • I can't remember if this was a thing last year, but having the different photoshoots pop up in Guidebook was AMAZING.
  • While I never went, I was thrilled to see a maid cafe! I overheard the wait was ridiculously long on top of some people staying longer than the allotted time, but I'm sure kinks will be ironed out for next year.
  • I already wrote feedback for the cosplay programming, but I loved being able to participate in cosplay chess. Thank you for the opportunity AND for putting that event together! So much fun! Also, I don't know if this was the first year it was implemented, but the "VIP passes" for those participating in cosplay games was great. Thank you for that. It was a relief not to have to worry about getting there on time due to line waits.
  • Was great to see variety in the Artist Alley. Last year, it felt like I had already seen a lot of the same artwork from 2016, so this year was a breath of fresh air in terms of different art.
  • This is more a general thing than directed at staff, but I truly love how welcoming AB is of cosplay. Doesn't matter the quality or who's wearing it - people are doing what they love and others (at least in my experience thus far) are so respectful and loving. I forgot to pack the hair clips for my Satsuki Kiryuin cosplay, had a panic attack the night before, and almost cried Sunday morning while getting ready. I was so worried I was going to overhear someone be all, "Ugh, look at that Satsuki without the hair clips. What an idiot. What are they doing? Don't they know she has hair clips???" But I didn't. Everyone who came up to talk to me or ask for pictures was so sweet and thankful that I just forgot about it. And I know I've been to some conventions in the past where that might not not have been the case. So again, thank you AB for being amazing.
And nothing's perfect, so onto me being nitpicky as hell:

CONS
  • I thought the ticket process was a good idea on paper. Then when I found out semi-last minute on the forums that lining up would start at 6am and nothing was stopping people from camping out (or at least that was the impression I got), I figured screw it and pay money for said autographs. I get up at 4:45am for work; I'm not going to do it on my days off. That and on top of cosplays that require time to get ready and stuff, the timing wasn't really in my favor and I was IN the Sheraton. My heart bled for those commuting or just couldn't make it. And from the sounds of it, there were a lot of overflow tickets. How were any of us to know that? Maybe pushing the tickets to a later time would benefit everyone.
  • On the topic of autographs, I went to the dealer's room for Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's autograph Friday. She was listed as being there from 12pm - 2pm. I showed up more or less at 12. She wasn't there. Staff told my group to come back in 10-15 minutes. We did. Still no sign of my Queen. We went off and did some other bits and came back at around 1:30ish. She still wasn't there. Staff was polite, but more or less told us that no one had told them anything. It would have been nice to have more communication, even if it's outright "hey, she can't actually make it today." When I did see her Saturday, there was a staff person standing at the end of the line to show where the end was. Then when I came back for Steve Blum, there wasn't and considering how long that line was, it really felt like there should have been one.
  • I wasn't a fan of there being a concert before the masquerade this year. I'm sure some people really loved it, but it became the deciding factor as to whether or not I went, thus I skipped it. I've seen a couple people post on social media also being upset about this.
  • I know the dealer's room and AA can get super congested, but the row right before the Sheraton entrance in AA was forever blocked up with people. Don't know if it needs to be wider or what not, but it was a pain navigating through that particular area.
  • I didn't pop into the art show, but one of my friends said it was very small, which is disappointing.
  • Was sad to see no Iron Cosplay in the schedule :( I loved that last year.
  • The schedule on the website. Please. For the love of everything. We are not ants. I don't know anyone who can read that with ease. And the inability to right click anything is tableflip inducing.
Lastly, nothing in relation to AB staff, but WOW, was going to California Pizza Kitchen on Saturday afternoon a Bad Idea. Thankfully, their gluten-free pizza didn't kill me (THANK YOU TO MY CELIAC FRIEND FROM LAST YEAR ON THE FORUMS FOR SUGGESTING THIS PLACE!), but oh man... it was a nightmare being in there after a while.

This was such a great con and so damn memorable. Thank you, staff, for making this a success!
1/4 of Curtain Call Cosplay

2019
N/A
2018
Twili Midna (Legend of Zelda) | Canti (FLCL) | Satsuki Kiryuin (Kill la Kill) | Neptune Vasilias (RWBY)
2017
Julia (Cowboy Bebop) | Twili Midna (Legend of Zelda) | Canti (FLCL) | Glynda Goodwitch (RWBY)
2016
Julia (Cowboy Bebop) | Squall Leonhart, SeeD ball uniform (Final Fantasy VIII) | Nicolas Brown (Gangsta)
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by eternaltorture »

Autographs:
Your current autograph policy is perfect (I like ticket distributions in the morning, leaves more time to do other stuff afterwards instead of wasting an hour waiting on each autograph session line in hopes of making the cut).

Please promote more on social media of the lesser known Japanese guests. It was shocking that less than 10 people showed up for Yuji Muto's free autograph session and I felt so bad for him.

Speaking of the 2 autographs a day rule, you should allow people who want a 3rd ticket (or more) to wait in the back until the end or have them come around 9:15am to get them. So many tickets leftover, it's not even funny. And please consider madhattr999's suggestion of moving all the available regular + overflow tickets to event tickets booth so people who couldn't make it to the morning distribution can obtain them after 10am.

Autographs at Dealer's Room:
Please communicate more with the Japanese guests on their booth hours. I asked multiple staff on Friday for them but no one knew. I came to the dealer's room at 1:35pm on Sunday, hoping to purchase some autographs but they were already packing up leaving for another schedule.

ASAKA/Masquerade:
Image
I sat in the back and it was amusing how only the 5th row or so was enthusiastic while the rest of the audience was just dead af.
Next time, if you're going to do more concert + masquerade events, maybe instead of having the AB logo on throughout the concert, have it change to the anime song MV so the masquerade crowd would know what's up and keep them entertained. Or change it to "ASAKA" like you guys did for FLOW.

I don't mind how this event was setup though, it was cool to give the masquerade goers a taste of Anisong live culture. Just wished that you guys gave out or sold lightsticks/UOs for people to cheer.

Musical Guests:
Please consider having a booth outside the auditorium with the artist's CDs or merch after the concert. I know a lot of people who wished they had ASAKA or FLOW's CD to bring to the autograph session.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kohikari »

This was my fourteenth Anime Boston! I've officially been attending for half my life & I couldn't be happier. Thank you all so much for such a wonderful con. ♥︎

This year the security & registration lines were great, I never had to wait very long. Artists' Alley was pretty crowded but I understand why. (The Lasik booth in the Dealers' Room was a bit odd though — what, are they trying to tap the nerds-in-glasses demographic through AB?)

I don't suppose anyone has any idea why the Pru didn't have any food carts near the central plaza/Hynes entrance this year? Since the food court was demolished to make room for that celebrity chef's gourmet market thing, the carts have been my last best hope for getting some kind of quick cheap filling food without having to leave the building.

(Also I would like to second the comment about printing the AMV ballots all in black, it was impossible to take any notes on them this year. The contest itself was fantastic, though! Even with the Best of Show winner making me weep into my pocky every single time...)

Thank you so much! ♥︎♥︎♥︎
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Deany Kong »

This is my 10th year (oh god) at Anime Boston and I felt like this was one of the smoothest I've been to. I had only two minor complaints:

1. The artist alley is always pretty crowded to navigate but for some reason this year felt especially bad. Did the rows get slightly smaller? It didn't look like the security line took up too much floor space but yet it felt more constricted than usual this year.

2. No disrespect to the crew that makes the pre-show content for all the Main Hall/Hall D stuff but it felt like this year's Emergency Evacuation video was waaay too long. I know the video usually has some humor built into it but it is usually focused on the instructions themselves whereas this year was a really long fluff piece for a very short instruction set.

But yeah, other than that, good stuff this year!
2008: Rob Lucci | 2009: Rob Lucci | 2010: Walter
2011: Gary Oak | 2012: Gary Oak | 2013: Tony Stark
2014: Space Dandy | 2015: Space Dandy | 2016: Crocodile
2017: Grown-up who feels to old to cosplay. | 2018: Grown-up who feels to old to cosplay.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kalyoth »

Have attended AB since 2004 & this was my 26th anime convention overall attended. Awesome overall convention. The energy, the positivity of the staff & attendees, just bottle & repeat this annually PLEASE! For the stuff I experienced:

Pro's: I have voiced critique over a decade for changes needed to Autographs. Most of what happened this year was awesome & quite fair to the largest possible group of convention attendees as possible. There is no way to make any ticketing system 100% accessible, convenient or timed FOR ALL attendee demands/needs. There is also no way to guarantee EVERYONE can obtain what has & shall always be a LIMITED opportunity item. The timing, no matter when it occurs, will always have attendees upset. Timing it so that attendees do not miss out on other convention programming to obtain tickets was a very fair consideration.

Two things that I have yet to see mentioned in feedback: 1)THANK YOU for the new tickets! These are a wonderful keepsake that enhances the signed item providing time & location for the event & memories. Please keep the stadium style tickets for future years. Maybe offer ticket protectors at the AB merchandise booth for those appreciators of these tickets to protect them? A good repeat stock item w/o expiration (hint, hint) 2) The stress removed from losing hours of time waiting for an autograph session line - these tickets, at least for me, added the convenience of allowing me to have control of my autograph experience - arriving when my schedule permitted during the session timing, avoiding the discomfort of the Sheraton as long as possible (See Cons for more) & obtaining meeting the guest. Memories are personal and providing the attendees room to help craft them are very important.

The room for the distribution of tickets was not only centrally located, but also accessed through one of the easiest to locate entrances THANK YOU! The Security Staff, Guest Relations Team & Volunteers handling seating & distribution for all three days acted professionally, handled seating & distributed tickets with no drama & those hand stamps thankfully did wear off by the am each day. The environment in the distribution room from the attendees was social & peaceful. A far cry from the huddled lines & hurd mentality of prior years in the cramped third floor hallways. I walked into the room easily, was directed to my seating & had no problem obtaining tickets for those guests I wanted to meet, even after being seated with 100-150 other attendees ahead of me each day. I later learned that Overflow ticket holders also were able to obtain autographs thanks to our wonderful guests graces. Please keep the efficiency train moving!

Cons: What does still continue to be an issue, are the water stations not being maintained by the Sheraton in the waiting rooms & the horribly uncomfortable waiting rooms in general. Guest Relations, Accomodations & Security again were quite helpful in both of these regards. I have seen other conventions have limited seating available along the perimeter walls for those that do need them. Having the environmental controls always malfunction during the weekend makes those waiting rooms a roller coaster of hot hot hot, cold cold cold or HUMID! The rooms remain a nightmare by design & its something only Sheraton can address.

Something AB possibly can address, the session line staging rooms w/ or w/o directional barriers to line up. While we all are "guaranteed" with a ticket, a blob forming in a room becomes an emergency/safety hazard. Even with the security barriers up, the rooms remain an emergency/safety hazard where there are only the two doors as exits to small confined rooms. There needs to be, if not previously made, dialogue with Sheraton on the use of directional floor aides (i.e. tape or adhesive aides) that Sheraton provides for use of their space that avoids the security barrier maze traps in those rooms.

Cons: The horrible lines/crowding in the Dealer's room & Artist Alley. As others have said, flow design needs to be examined. aisles were quite narrow & the Sheraton exit from AA was very narrow approaching security & the hallway. Perhaps also have a major push to discourage photography of cosplay & those with obstructive cosplay accessories in both rooms? It's tight & narrow enough w/o the sudden blockage due to multiple staged photographs. This also would help with accessibility for our attendees requiring accommodation to expand equal access to the greatest possible extent in these two rooms. Traffic flow if a definite area for redress.

Cons: The AA Entrance from Sheraton very clearly is in need of directional signage ad I witnessed & assisted dozens of attendees lost in the balcony overlooking the Sheraton/Hynes mall entrance. perhaps relocate or place an information booth there?

Thank you to all the staff & fellow volunteers for another AWESOME AB! See you all again next year!
"You mustn't let mistakes weigh you down. Acknowledge them and take what you've learned to move on. That is the privilege of being a man."

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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kimtana »

One thing my brother and I were talking about was that we noticed this year adult panels started around 8pm. I know many people enjoy them, but that meant non-adult (NOT read "childish" but without the inappropriate-to-many of us) panels dropped off after 8. I also found it strange since AB has usually had adult panels later at night. It just seemed odd to us that adult material was available during "prime time".
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by mrae895 »

Pros:
- Lines/security checks were much faster than in previous years
- There were a lot of awesome panels; some of my favorites were Homosexuality in Japan (parts 1 and 2), Before Madoka, and Lesser Known Magical Girls
- The merch at the dealer's hall (esp. the plushies) was great

Cons:
- Event locations would be listed in the wrong locations (e.g. for a Dragon Ball photoshoot I went to, Guidebook listed the correct location but I was told by some others who arrived late that on Facebook the location was incorrect, thus the delay in starting the photoshoot
- It felt like there were a lot less LGBT panels this year, which was disappointing to my fiancée and I (I myself am a cis lesbian and she's a trans lesbian, and we like having more LGBT representation at panels)
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by AppleCherryPie »

This was my first AB so I don't have much to compare it to, but I just have a few notes.

-Artist Alley space. It was crowded and incredibly difficult to walk through.

-Security bag check lines were really good. I've heard horror stories so I was worried but I never saw it overly long!

-Like I said above, I heard the announcement for the second concert on Sunday, but maybe one should have been made before the concert as well that there would be a intermission? So many people got up to leave before the first concert was officially done (I was always taught it was rude to leave while people were still talking, but that's just me) so people probably missed the announcement that they were going to set up for the second concert. I'd say about 1/4 of the people walked out.

-I had no issues with staff or crew this year. Being my first time around the con I had to ask alot of people where things were and they always pointed me in the right direction!

-I had no problem finding something to do at all times. The only issues was TOO much good things going on.

-I know people have problems with the Autograph times being so early, personally I liked that it was early. That way it didn't cut into my con time. I was still able to make the panels I wanted to make after I got a ticket. My ideal con is not waiting in a line all day just so that I can attend one thing. I know it gets harder the larger a con gets, so offering tickets for the larger events so I can attend more panels is a super bonus! Thank you! I just wish the organization for taking the tickets at door was a little better.

If I can think of anything else I'll let you know. One thing I know is I'll be back next year!!!
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