Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

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birdboy2000
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by birdboy2000 »

I would've liked to see a larger number of in-depth panels, felt like there were a lot that were either introductory or repeats and therefore (as someone who's been around quite a while, I did appreciate and learn a lot from that type when I was younger/newer) I had a fair bit too much downtime this year. Get a better balance.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Cave »

Star wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:58 pm
• Holy mother of as;dljfja the music from next room was SO LOUD, what was even going on in there??
If it was Friday night/Saturday morning, then that would be the AMV contest. :)
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by fancyduckie »

Hello hello! This is my 14th year at AB and the 10th year I've been in the Masquerade.

Security: Holy moly! Even the non-disability line was moving fast this year and the disability line was lightning quick. The one day I had a prop weapon the weapons check person was very sweet and gentle with my sword which I really appreciated.

Badges: Fastest pre-reg pickup I've ever had! Disability sticker folks were super kind as usual. Pricing is fine by me especially at the early bird pre-reg rate.

Crowds: Like everyone else has said already, Saturday was a little crazy - I was trying to head down to a meetup from my room in the Sheraton at 10am and couldn't get an elevator for close to an hour. I know AB doesn't have control over elevators in the hotel, but I'd gladly pay more money to have the con capped at somewhere below fire code to avoid this. Also, was the A/C on at all this weekend? I was roasting even in my sailor fuku on Saturday OTL

Maid Cafe: I'm prefacing this with the fact that I was overheated, overtired, and very hangry at the time of our booking. The donuts and macarons were great, but the boba in the bubble tea was weird in texture. I wish a menu had been posted outside or on the booking page so people would have an idea of what was available. My girlfriend has gluten intolerance and also can't digest meat well so there weren't really any options for her on the "maid" side of the food area - we weren't told that we had the option of going to the other side to buy food until the middle of the session so she ended up getting a burger for lack of options and getting really sick.

Masquerade: Y'all are saints! Like I said above, this is my 10th year in this show and I really can't thank Lyndsey and the team enough for being so supportive, kind, and encouraging each and every year. I really loved this year's cohort of judges; everyone was very respectful, kind, knowledgeable, and definitely helped me to be more relaxed. Roadie was certainly missed, but I loved how you all handled things with the recordings. And Weegie absolutely SLAYED hosting!

Idol Showcase: I know a lot of people have been complaining about the time slot but I think it's important to keep in mind that there are a number of other events that have set up, rehearsal/sound check, and room clear times that made it difficult to schedule it any other time. I think it's pretty awesome that we were given the Main Events Stage to perform on. I had an absolute blast! Staff in this event were also incredibly kind, encouraging, and made sure everyone had what they needed. Running a new event this smoothly isn't easy but from the participant side of things it felt really seamless. I really hope y'all bring this event back in the future!
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Saturday: Gwendolyn Valkyrie
Sunday: Pirate Kotori
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Star »

Cave wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:13 pm
Star wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:58 pm
• Holy mother of as;dljfja the music from next room was SO LOUD, what was even going on in there??
If it was Friday night/Saturday morning, then that would be the AMV contest. :)
Ahaha, I just remember at one point there was some sort of death metal screaming, and my friend and I had no idea what was happening
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by mylaluu »

~ Registration - lightening fast
~ Security checkpoints - fast lines (if any) & courteous staff
~ Awesome Concerts!

-- Congestion --
The main hallways tend to get clogged, but it's often due to lack of common sense - to MOVE ASIDE - don't just stop in the walkway. A staff presence to keep the crowd moving along would be great! Or announcements / reminders.

Artist Alley - while better than last year, still often a sardine can. This year seemed to lack staff asking not to take photos. At one point a cosplayer in a huge costume was blocking the entrance doorway having photos taken.
- While the selection of Art for sale may not for everyone, it is popular among most - every year there is always a plethora of fan art for currently popular anime(s). And while it all looks the same to some, reminder - art is subjective. That said, variety is nice.
Kudos to AB for continuing to bring in new & also returning artists.

Eatly - my new staple for meals at con, so the discount was appreciated.
Saturday am they had a tech issue, took getting the manager & 15 min to get my order paid.
I wasn't paying attention at the time, but I was charged full for Sunday lunch. Neither of these hindered my experience, just making a note.

Parking?
<I agree about the Prudential Parking promo idea that was mentioned - many cons cut a deal somehow to give a bit of a break - Boston charges a fortune for everything but in the business world there is always room for negotiation.>
Yes please.

<Could hours of operations please be listed in the guidebook?>
This. Despite many years in attendance, I always forget. I love the Guidebook app!

<more information on the panelists outside of the featured/guest panelists.>
<more helpful summaries for the panels>
This & this

Awesome job this year!
keep up the great work & see you next year!
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Master of NERV »

mylaluu wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:51 amEatly - my new staple for meals at con, so the discount was appreciated.
Come again? Discount? I went there twice and had no idea. Where was this info posted? And the server behind the counter didn't say anything either, though it was obvious I was here for con. Huh.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Mike Toole »

Eataly's discount was advertised on the back cover of the souvenir book. I think it was 10% off food, plus a breakfast special of a free coffee if you bought a sandwich.

Some quick feedback--
Lines: Excellent, excellent. Quick, courteous, and professional, even during the crowded bits on Saturday.

Movies: _loved_ the movie premieres. I got to see Geass, City Hunter, and Penguin Highway, and was really happy. One or two movie premieres is very good for a con to have, but three?? I was like a pig in slop! Hope you can get as many next year.

Sunday concert: I wasn't sure what to expect, but the session band Shota put together to do City Hunter songs was really tight and fun. The format of doing famous songs from the classic City Hunter, plus stories from the key staff, was surprisingly neat. I think you should look at doing this every year-- even though it's local session players, and even if the program just ends up being 4-6 songs, it's really cool to hear this stuff performed live.

Tech/panel: Big thanks to the staffer in Constitution 1 who found a VGA adapter for me. I usually have a DisplayPort-HDMI adapter but forgot it this time. They rushed out and found a way to convert their SDI cable to VGA so I could still get started on time for Anime Hell. Incidentally, Const 1 is the _perfect_ size for Hell, it was full at the beginning but the room breathed nicely over the 90-minute program and let people come in and out. I'll ask for this room specifically next year.

Guests: More guests is nice, but I feel like you struck a nice balance. Only thing that would've made it better is a second creative team of JP animators, or a seiyuu. I liked the City Hunter events best-- like the previous poster said, stuff like that, experiences you can only have here, are why I come to these shows.

Overall I thought this was a good show and had an excellent weekend, congratulations to you all on a fine job. :)
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by shinohara »

Cave wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:13 pm
Star wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:58 pm
• Holy mother of as;dljfja the music from next room was SO LOUD, what was even going on in there??
If it was Friday night/Saturday morning, then that would be the AMV contest. :)
More likely it was from the Miyavi concert in Auditorium. Hall-D and Artists Alley are separated by a real wall and several large doors. Artists Alley and the Auditorium are separated by a partition wall which is not particularly sound proof.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by kitty0513 »

So just a few things I would definitely give feedback on are the following.
1. The lines to get in were amazing. They moved fast, there was no waiting outside.
2.artist ally needs a better setup. The area when you first walk in through the doors from the con that goes straight across to the Sheraton is a crap show... It's not very wide. So for people in wheel chairs or with service dogs you can't really walk through there. I felt like a dick becuase I bummed into so many wheel chair people becuase it was so congested.
3.you need more voice actors/ cosplay people, there are so many awsome American voice actors or cosplayer you could have go. I understand the concert is a big thing but it feels like you blew the budget on just that.
4. Have more areas around the con for people to take pics.its super annoying to have someone taking pics in the middle of the hall blocking everyone's way. I always try to set off to a side.
5.also with photos make it to where with the meet up list people also have places where they can take pics. It's so hard when you want to have a photoshoot and there is like no where to do it with out getting in trouble.
6. Keep it awsome 😊

AB 12' & 13'....didnt cosplay
AB14' pinkie pie equestria girl
AB15' pinkie pie , Louis the zero
AB16' mei from another.... Tsukimi from Princess jellyfish.... Totoro
AB17' daria.. Velma... Junko from danganronpa...Kae from kiss him not me
AB18' Velma... Raven... Hipster Ariel...and Hotaru (dagashi Kashi)
AB19' Erza... Tsuyu... Louise...Ayame (blue snow)... Kagura
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by niku_sensei »

This was my 8th year at AB and while I had a nice time, there are areas necessary for improvement.

1) No real attempt was made to make the Gender Neutral Bathrooms inclusive. There was a "Gender Neutral Restrooms" sign outside the hallway leading to two basic restrooms with the Men's and Women's signs still displayed. Inside, it was still segregated. Most gender nonconforming people are likely going to feel just as uncomfortable in those bathrooms as any other gendered bathroom.

2) This has already been said, but the Dealers Room and Artists Alley merchandise was severely monopolized by the same fandom. I actually like that series, but I was so disappointed and turned off by it seeing how there was no variation with the vendors/artists. I hope this doesn't mean turning away artists especially, but some sort of solution should be made to provide better variety of items.

3) Many of the Staff at the information desks were clueless about simple questions, particularly on the 3rd floor. They gave my group and I the run around looking for the correct room we had to be in because of false information TWICE.

4) The panels were fairly repetitive and similar, also without a lot of variety. I do not think this is a personal taste thing, as I have been attending for almost a decade and have seen far more variety in the past. I DO however appreciate the attempts at inclusion for the LGBT+ community and the neurodivergent communities.

Overall, I feel bad for those who paid the $75 or $80 (I registered early for $65) because the con this year was not worth that money based on the sheer lack of variety in merchandise and con content.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Xias »

niku_sensei wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:11 pm 4) The panels were fairly repetitive and similar, also without a lot of variety. I do not think this is a personal taste thing, as I have been attending for almost a decade and have seen far more variety in the past.
Speaking as a panelist, I do think it is important for people to remember that the AB panel staff can only schedule what is submitted to them. They have very limited control over what is on the schedule besides choosing based on the submissions; they can't schedule panels that no one has submitted! So if there's any areas you think are very undercovered, or things you've always wanted to see a panel on that you never see at Anime Boston, the best solution to this problem is submitting that panel yourself next year.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by lyssmariecosplay »

Hi there! This was my 10th year attending Anime Boston and the first time I'm leaving a review or it. I just wanted to touch upon some things that have definitely improved this year versus previous years, and areas that could still use some improvement!

Lines/Security: I was blown away by how fast pre-registration went this year compared to previous years. I was in and out within fifteen minutes which is the shortest amount of time I've ever waited. Even entering the convention this year I didn't have to wait more than a few minutes in a line at any entrance I went to.

However, if the lines had been as bad as they were previous years I would have probably ran into issues because the one time I tried to use the disability sticker on my badge (early Friday morning before I knew how fast the lines were going) the volunteer at the front of the entrance told me to get into the regular line and that it would split off inside. Which was confusing because I knew that the split off inside was just for those who had bags and those who didn't. In previous years I would have just been escorted to the front (I have a bad leg and some medical issues that prevent me from standing for long periods of time). Maybe for next year make sure that the volunteers are on the same page about policy's regarding disability and accessibility. While this wasn't a huge issue for me this year due to how fast the lines went it could have been an issue had the lines mimicked previous years.

Crowding: Personally, I don't feel like this year was as crowded as previous years. Of course Saturday was the most crowded of the three days but even then it wasn't as bad as previous years. However I do agree that having people stop in the middle of the hallway to take photos can be a pain. I always offer to move to the side out of the way if someone wants a picture but that isn't always the case. Maybe just as a friendly reminder to post on one of the screens of the con not to block the flow of traffic and to move over if you want a picture. There's no real way to enforce it, sadly, but even putting the idea out there might start a pattern that other guests will pick up on.

Also even with one of the escalators being down I didn't feel like it was hard to maneuver threw. The only time there was an issue with crowding is when the line for opening ceremonies/the premiers stopped the flow in and out of the Artist Alley and every volunteer was telling us to do something different (such as keep moving/don't block the entrance/stop let everyone else go first).

Artist Alley and Dealers : Dealers definitely didn't have as much variety as previous years. Which I get there might not be a way to control that but I remember at past AB's that the merchants, even if they were selling the same items (for example dice), they at least had different inventories and sold different types of products.

As for Artist Alley, a lot of artists are going to chose to sell merchandising from shows that are popular. They're going to want to sell goods that are popular because that means less stock to transport home and more money made over the weekend. So I wasn't too upset about that. I felt, personally, that the layout of Artist Alley was different this year? Like the aisles weren't set up like they usually were? Also, the far light aisle that leads into the Sheraton was the most congested of the aisles. Again, not to sure how this could be fixed but it made it difficult to maneuver.

Gaming Room: I felt like the most issues I had with the convention this year was in the game room. I feel like there wasn't as many games as there were previous years and the VR booths took up SO much space. Also, my fiance and I had an issue with people camping out at games and not moving. I feel like the game room should be monitored more. At least so everyone who goes there has a chance to play. I ended up going back a few times over the weekend and never once got onto a game. Usually I'd wait twenty minutes to a half our for a game before giving up and leaving.

Pricing: I paid only $65 this year to go to Anime Boston because I pre-registered at Japan Festival Boston and honestly I wouldn't pay more than that for this convention. If I would have paid the regular rate I don't feel like there was enough going on for me to get my money's worth. The panels this year weren't bad, but classics that I always tried to make it to were no longer being offered. I felt like there was more information based panels than "fun" panels, and I really wish that the gaming panels would be brought back on Sunday! Like Anime Name that Tune or Taboo! Those were so much fun to go to and also made the convention worth sticking around for on Sunday.

Guests: I feel like every year the guest list is getting smaller and smaller. Or I know less and less of the names of the guests attending. I get wanting to invite more Japanese guests but also why not try to invite more VA's and Cosplayers? I love Greg Ayers but I feel AB should reach out to other guests-- like ones they haven't had in years.


Overall, Anime Boston is my hometown convention and I'll be back for 2020 as long as I can snag that early bird rate.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by snailtec »

A few things that I think the con needs to take into consideration.

18+ venders need their own area, or room so minors can't get in and see the content. There was an amazing 18+ booth this year but you have to pull out the manga to see the cover, and the covers weren't censored at all. I pulled out a manga unknowing it was complete nudity and looked back to see a bunch of children behind me, and this booth in particular was near the entrance so anybody could see it if you pulled the books out.

Artist alley and dealers room were EXTREMELY boring this year. You guys need to accept a wider variety of art styles, fandoms, etc. Literally almost every booth was the same sort of art and fandom. I get it, popular fandoms sell, but this year was ridiculous with how similar both the artists ally and dealers room was.

The con really needs to keep up with securities new rules and update them. Security took my disabled airsoft gun and said ALL airsoft guns were banned from entering starting the day before, but anime boston never mentioned this.

security was awful but fast. I felt extremely unsafe at the con and spent most of my time elsewhere, the security didn't check anything in my bag, and I saw several not even bothering scanning or checking others bags. If it means holding up the line, I'd prefer safety over quickness.

asked several staff members literally basic questions "when does the dealers room close, where is this, etc," and NONE OF THEM KNEW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT. They just called over other staff members because they just didn't know. You'd expect someone guarding the dealers room to know when it opens, like for real.

I didn't have fun this year because of this and other factors not the cons fault. (Like my phone being stolen, rude people, etc.) and I'm probably not going to bother to attend next year from how unsafe and frustrated I felt.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Snowraven4 »

I forgot to mention these on my thread!

Why?:
I am a little disappointed that anime Boston allowed the selling of hats/masks/etc. with the word "trap" on it. I saw a number of dealers selling this. I also saw a lot of people with various paraphanilia with that word on it walking around the con.

I know people think it means an anime character that appears to look like a certain "gender", but is actually of an opposite "gender", but this can be a hurtful term to trans people IRL.

Museum:
Can I just say I love the Museum of Science Day you guys did in December? We should have more community outings like that!

Security:
While security was swift this year and the guards were nice, I do have one concern: why were some guards more...lax...than others? There was one time I was literally beeping under the metal detector, but the guard with the wand NEVER came up to me to scan me, because they were talking to someone else. And I know I'm not the only one; others on a Facebook AB group experienced the same leniency from the guards. I appreciate moving quickly, but in the world we live in, being safe is more important than getting into the con. Anything can happen from one small mistake.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Snowraven4 »

shinohara wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:21 pm
Cave wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:13 pm
Star wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:58 pm
• Holy mother of as;dljfja the music from next room was SO LOUD, what was even going on in there??
If it was Friday night/Saturday morning, then that would be the AMV contest. :)
More likely it was from the Miyavi concert in Auditorium. Hall-D and Artists Alley are separated by a real wall and several large doors. Artists Alley and the Auditorium are separated by a partition wall which is not particularly sound proof.
I think I was in the artist alley when that concert was happening and it was getting so loud the artist alley was shaking and the noise was getting to be so much that I couldnt focus on the art anymore and had to leave. I know noise sensitivity isn't an issue for a lot of people but gosh, it was starting to agitate me!
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Snowraven4 »

NanoZero wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:55 pm I think there are too many lackluster panels and/or the same kinds of panels running each year and hosting the con at the BCEC could actually "cut the fat", per say. It's a hot take, but I stand by it!
Nah, I think you are spot-on. I also attend PAX East and anime Boston is nowhere near PAX East levels of attendance, but the con would go by so much smoother if it were held at the BCEC. And if number of panel rooms was an issue, we could just put some panels in the Westin, and the rest in the BCEC, and then have dealers and artists in the expo hall. This is just wishful thinking, but I think it would be great...
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Xias »

Pretty amazed some people in this thread are actually complaining that the security theater didn’t take long enough this year. No one is coming to attack the anime con, the security is a farce demanded by the city of Boston, so I’m all for it taking as quickly as possible. Leaving people out in endless lines again so a couple very easily scared folks can feel “safe” would be a huge mistake. What’s stopping any would-be anime con attackers from just going after the people stuck outside in massive security lines?
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by milkykittentea »

I'm the person @voidgear was talking about in their post, so here's my con experience:

Registration: Took less than a minute. Fastest year by far; getting my disability sticker was quick and painless like the years before it.

Security: Never have I ever moved faster through a line. I don't bring a bag with me because I hate carrying things anyways, so I was never idling long in line. This was lovely and a godsend, as by the end of the day on Friday I was having pretty bad flare-ups in my knees and ankles.

Dealer's Room / Artist's Alley: Felt incredibly crowded compared to previous years-- it was difficult to move around (especially with my cane and the pace I had to keep), and I noticed loads of people stopping for pictures.

Hall Congestion: It wasn't as bad on the third floor, but there was very heavy congestion on the first and second floors of the Hynes this year. Maybe it was just the times I chose to walk around the halls and peek into panels, but there wasn't much staff walking around to keep people from stopping in the middle of the hallways and causing blockages.

Photoshoots: I'm very pleased to see them listed on the Guidebook app! It made scheduling my time a lot easier, plus the locations being listed on the maps so clearly was a huge plus. I would have liked if we got access to the same rooms we did last year, though.

Guests: Holy cow, there were so many people that I wanted to see this year. This was a lovely lineup of people and I cannot express how happy I was to be able to attend a Miyavi concert! Never in my life would I have dreamed I'd ever get the opportunity to see him live!! I'm still feeling the vibrations from the reverb in my ribs.

Panels: I felt there was an incredibly good variety this year, including things that went in with the theme; I don't normally make a habit of going to panels or main events, but this year I'm very glad I made an active effort to attend as many as I could physically allow myself to. I would love to see the Idol Showcase come back next year! It was fun to watch and just he right amount of upbeat that I needed on my Sunday before departing.

Lines: I didn't have a problem with getting into the Miyavi concert (thank goodness because it was absolutely incredible) but other lines were confusing at best and detrimental to my experience at worst. For a while I was standing in line for what I thought was the Masquerade(3rd floor balcony), but it turned out to be an unrelated event that a different attendee had to tell me about (after asking about ten people or so around me) because there wasn't a single person of security or staff at the line to tell you what it was. This is a huge departure from last year where there was staff holding signs at the end of lines with loads of security checking tickets and making sure people stayed orderly.

Masquerade: I wound up running over to where another line was to be told it was half of the Masq. Balcony seating line, then I went over to the actual end of it to ask what I can do about getting advanced seating. I showed my accessibility sticker to the staff member very clearly, explained that I wasn't able to stand up still for more than maybe five, ten minutes at a time by now, and was told that the "guy who handles/does that isn't here," and that I could "maybe sit down on the floor?" if I couldn't keep standing. If I were to sit on the floor, I would not be able to get back up on my own. At this point I was feeling quite upset, but I stood in line anyway.

Now, on AB's Convention Policies page, under Accessibility http://www.animeboston.com/coninfo/conv ... essibility, it explains how advanced seating works-- and the staff member I spoke to clearly either didn't know of it, or didn't understand how it worked in the first place. I wound up waiting in line, and my knee gave and buckled for the entire duration until we started to be seated. When I got to the front of the line, the staff member I had spoken to made a sound of surprise, looked at me, and said. "Oh! You made it!"

I'm sure this wasn't their intention, but it made me feel humiliated; plus, on top of all the pain, I wanted to breakdown and cry. This isn't the first time someone has expressed surprise or disbelief at my ability to endure my own pain, but each time it feels condescending and makes me really hate attending events where someone can tell I am disabled. I had painful twitching, tenseness, and strained muscles in both my knees and ankles, plus engorged swelling in my left foot. It was extremely difficult to get around for the rest of the night and the whole of Sunday; I have just now on the 24th (5 days after waiting in line for the Masquerade) got the swelling to subside and the pain from my hips down to go back to the usual, bearable levels of pain.

I cannot stress enough how much I think both staff and volunteers (security has always been extremely good to me in terms of my disability status) need to be made more aware of the accessibility policies AB has in place so that this won't be as likely to happen in the future; I don't want any other disabled person to have to go through what I went through there. Sensitivity training would also be ideal-- being told that I can "just sit on the floor" if my legs hurt too bad isn't a solution and would have made the experience that much worse.

Overall I had an 'ok' time at the convention, but the lack of care put into the general knowledge of the staff on how to handle a disabled attendee made it much less enjoyable.
2019

* Yagi Toshinori (BnHA)
* Ochaco Uraraka (BnHA)
* Merle Highchurch (TaZ: Balance)
* Barry Bluejeans (TaZ: Balance)
* Naru Osaka (Sailor Moon)
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Painted_Outlaw »

Xias wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 7:13 pm Pretty amazed some people in this thread are actually complaining that the security theater didn’t take long enough this year. No one is coming to attack the anime con, the security is a farce demanded by the city of Boston, so I’m all for it taking as quickly as possible. Leaving people out in endless lines again so a couple very easily scared folks can feel “safe” would be a huge mistake. What’s stopping any would-be anime con attackers from just going after the people stuck outside in massive security lines?
It's like they think that if someone does actually attack that they're just gonna attack indiscriminately when as you said, they're more likely to attack big groups of people and keeping security blockaded is more liability towards that. :?
Setsunayaki wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 2:47 amConvention Environmental Settings: Friday it was really cool/cold inside. Saturday it was warm inside. I knew these because Friday my partner was wrapped up in her cosplay and was a bit cold. Saturday she was almost sweating all over the place.
Were you outside at any point on Friday? Because it was pretty warm out that day (71degrees according to my mobile Weather Channel app) and personally I was glad AB kept the air conditioner going. I would've been sweating like a faucet under my wig if they didn't. Saturday could've been a little cooler inside, I'll agree there.
kawaii&kowaii wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 10:55 pmThe Japanese translator also needs a bit more preparation next time, and they should NOT translate if someone spoke in English.
Do you mean the bit with Yoko Shimomura? I think that was meant to be a joke because of how she spoke in English at first and the translator kinda had a look on her face like "Oh, well, if you're going to be that way". Shimomura even laughed a bit too. I thought it spoke well for the translator's capabilities too that she could switch to speaking in Japanese and make it look so effortless. I wish I was that good.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Penti »

This is my 2nd year attending (I went in '17, but missed out on '18), and while I had a great time, there are a few things I want to bring up:

The good:
- I loved the promotion with Pin Bazaar; I'm fond of collectable pins and buttons, and these are very nicely made and remained a staple of my duffel bag for the duration of the con, even as I swapped out other buttons. I'd love to see this happen again next year.

- I like how the swap meet was in the Hynes this time around; it made it very easy to get to.

- The only film I saw at the con was Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer, but the location for it was perfect. It was in one of the quieter parts of the Sheraton, which kept the background noise to a minimum, making for a very pleasant viewing experience.


Major issues:
- It honestly felt overcrowded on Saturday; moving through the halls was a nightmare with how many people were there. I feel there should be something put in place to make sure foot traffic in the halls keeps moving.

- I saw @snailtec mention that 18+ vendors need to have their own area or room, and I personally agree with that; it'd make me feel more comfortable browsing the 18+ stuff if I knew I was in a place where there weren't minors around that could potentially see it.


Minor issues:
- I was honestly let down that Extreme Geek didn't return this year; given that one of my friends was excited for me to go with her to it.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Fetch »

milkykittentea wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:07 pm I'm the person @voidgear was talking about in their post, so here's my con experience:

Registration: Took less than a minute. Fastest year by far; getting my disability sticker was quick and painless like the years before it.

Security: Never have I ever moved faster through a line. I don't bring a bag with me because I hate carrying things anyways, so I was never idling long in line. This was lovely and a godsend, as by the end of the day on Friday I was having pretty bad flare-ups in my knees and ankles.

Dealer's Room / Artist's Alley: Felt incredibly crowded compared to previous years-- it was difficult to move around (especially with my cane and the pace I had to keep), and I noticed loads of people stopping for pictures.

Hall Congestion: It wasn't as bad on the third floor, but there was very heavy congestion on the first and second floors of the Hynes this year. Maybe it was just the times I chose to walk around the halls and peek into panels, but there wasn't much staff walking around to keep people from stopping in the middle of the hallways and causing blockages.

Photoshoots: I'm very pleased to see them listed on the Guidebook app! It made scheduling my time a lot easier, plus the locations being listed on the maps so clearly was a huge plus. I would have liked if we got access to the same rooms we did last year, though.

Guests: Holy cow, there were so many people that I wanted to see this year. This was a lovely lineup of people and I cannot express how happy I was to be able to attend a Miyavi concert! Never in my life would I have dreamed I'd ever get the opportunity to see him live!! I'm still feeling the vibrations from the reverb in my ribs.

Panels: I felt there was an incredibly good variety this year, including things that went in with the theme; I don't normally make a habit of going to panels or main events, but this year I'm very glad I made an active effort to attend as many as I could physically allow myself to. I would love to see the Idol Showcase come back next year! It was fun to watch and just he right amount of upbeat that I needed on my Sunday before departing.

Lines: I didn't have a problem with getting into the Miyavi concert (thank goodness because it was absolutely incredible) but other lines were confusing at best and detrimental to my experience at worst. For a while I was standing in line for what I thought was the Masquerade(3rd floor balcony), but it turned out to be an unrelated event that a different attendee had to tell me about (after asking about ten people or so around me) because there wasn't a single person of security or staff at the line to tell you what it was. This is a huge departure from last year where there was staff holding signs at the end of lines with loads of security checking tickets and making sure people stayed orderly.

Masquerade: I wound up running over to where another line was to be told it was half of the Masq. Balcony seating line, then I went over to the actual end of it to ask what I can do about getting advanced seating. I showed my accessibility sticker to the staff member very clearly, explained that I wasn't able to stand up still for more than maybe five, ten minutes at a time by now, and was told that the "guy who handles/does that isn't here," and that I could "maybe sit down on the floor?" if I couldn't keep standing. If I were to sit on the floor, I would not be able to get back up on my own. At this point I was feeling quite upset, but I stood in line anyway.

Now, on AB's Convention Policies page, under Accessibility http://www.animeboston.com/coninfo/conv ... essibility, it explains how advanced seating works-- and the staff member I spoke to clearly either didn't know of it, or didn't understand how it worked in the first place. I wound up waiting in line, and my knee gave and buckled for the entire duration until we started to be seated. When I got to the front of the line, the staff member I had spoken to made a sound of surprise, looked at me, and said. "Oh! You made it!"

I'm sure this wasn't their intention, but it made me feel humiliated; plus, on top of all the pain, I wanted to breakdown and cry. This isn't the first time someone has expressed surprise or disbelief at my ability to endure my own pain, but each time it feels condescending and makes me really hate attending events where someone can tell I am disabled. I had painful twitching, tenseness, and strained muscles in both my knees and ankles, plus engorged swelling in my left foot. It was extremely difficult to get around for the rest of the night and the whole of Sunday; I have just now on the 24th (5 days after waiting in line for the Masquerade) got the swelling to subside and the pain from my hips down to go back to the usual, bearable levels of pain.

I cannot stress enough how much I think both staff and volunteers (security has always been extremely good to me in terms of my disability status) need to be made more aware of the accessibility policies AB has in place so that this won't be as likely to happen in the future; I don't want any other disabled person to have to go through what I went through there. Sensitivity training would also be ideal-- being told that I can "just sit on the floor" if my legs hurt too bad isn't a solution and would have made the experience that much worse.

Overall I had an 'ok' time at the convention, but the lack of care put into the general knowledge of the staff on how to handle a disabled attendee made it much less enjoyable.
In regards to the Disability Advanced Seating: if this happens next year, show the staff person the AB website and tell them: It is part of your job here to know this. If you do not know this, you should look it up. I should not have to be needing to show it to you on my phone. You should have looked it up yourself.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by milkykittentea »

Fetch wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 10:27 pm
In regards to the Disability Advanced Seating: if this happens next year, show the staff person the AB website and tell them: It is part of your job here to know this. If you do not know this, you should look it up. I should not have to be needing to show it to you on my phone. You should have looked it up yourself.
Hopefully it won't happen next year, but if it does, I'll be kicking up a bit more of a fuss, since I was too incredibly anxious and in too much pain to really even think of pulling up the website. u~u
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Shiroikami »

Overall, I had a great time at this (my 13th!) Anime Boston.

I think if I had one complaint, it would be that on both Friday and Saturday there were a number of major events (concerts, premieres, and big-ticket panels) scheduled concurrently with guest signings and panels that I would have liked to go to.

Specific example: I wanted to go to the Yuri Lowenthal Q&A panel on Friday evening, however it overlapped with the end of the MIYAVI concert *and* was in the Sheraton, making arriving in time to get a seat impractical at best.

Also, slightly random, but I had a minor issue with the schedule format in that the columns for the two "main events" panels (Hall D and the Veteran's Memorial Auditorium) were on opposite ends of the Hynes rooms on the schedule, placing the latter column more or less in the middle of the schedule and making it difficult to find quickly. There also didn't seem to be any particular logic to the order of the listings for the rest of the panel rooms, making it even more confusing if one were trying to locate a particular panel on the paper schedule.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by mar141 »

Sincerely members of the Anime Boston staff, I am a huge fan of the convention, a lover of Anime, and a student of Japanese Culture and History. One of my biggest thrills is going to the convention and seeing a variety of amazing panels, orchestrated by talented artists, academics, and often just enthused members of the Anime Community at large. And this was the case for the majority of panels I attended at this year's Anime Boston, 2019.
However, there was an important exception which I must discuss in this forum today. A panel called, "The Boshin War: Making Japan Meiji", orchestrated by Haru Menna. At first I was interested greatly by the prospect of hearing about one of my favorite eras in Japanese history, and learning more about it with friends. Sadly, the presenter Haru Menna, seemed to not be the right person for this panel, neither to lead it nor participate in it at all. Not only was his overall presentation not engaging, his choices for story-telling bizarre and sometimes offensive. And claimed to have lived in Japan for years but without being able to pronounce some of the basic terminology of his material. I am not the only person that noticed this either.

Despite claiming expertise in the subject matter, he seemed to have little grasp as to what kind of impact this period in Japanese history had on the nation's culture, and social identity. He gave no examples of this era being portrayed in media; not in manga, anime, movies, novels, etc., even though it is a staggeringly rich time period to discuss and analyze.

All of this could be forgiven, were it not for the fact he made a joke out of a disturbing episode in the History of the Boshin War: The Byakkotai Incident. An event which saw 19 teenagers, members of the "White Tiger Force" or "Byakkotai" commit ritual suicide when they believed their side had lost the battle. It is an infamous and horrifying episode in the narrative of the Boshin War. These teenagers, barely old enough to grow hair on their faces, killed themselves because they believed that much in their own cause. I am not saying what they did was right, nor do people have to agree with what they did to respect their sacrifice. All I am saying, is that one should not make a joke out of this. People died, and it is a moment in history still fresh in the collective consciousness of the Japanese people, so much so that the names of those who died are forever etched on a memorial plaque on the hill where they committed suicide. Alongside their names reads,

"Ikutari no namida wa ishi ni sosogu tomo sono na wa yoyo ni kuchiji to zo omou"

"No matter how many people wash the stones with their tears, these names will never vanish from the world."

And the "talented" Haru Menna, decided it was alright to pull out his prop katana and mimic the violent act of committing ritual suicide, seppuku, with an overly comedic and dramatic tone. He made a mockery of a tragic episode in Japanese history, and if nothing else, he insulted the memory of these teenagers who a century and a half ago gave their lives for a cause they believed in. And Haru Menna made a joke out of it. I personally can never again go to a panel where he sits, knowing the blatant disrespect this individual showed to his fellow human beings in a public forum.

Thank you,
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Anna-neko »

~~ Pre-reg badge pickup is lightning fast, wow!! Was in and outta that room in 10 minutes flat

~~ Dalton St entrance is a blessing! Both Friday & Saturday got in thru there so quickly, it almost felt like my own private special entrance (shout-out to the only woman working there who understood my pain of zero pockets, and went off about serious lack of pockets in ladies clothes with me)

~~ SwapMeet was great. Made perfect sense to be in the Hynes, as my heavy bag of stuff was safely held in Hynes all day too

~~ Nobody ever mentions this, but I freakin LUV the little mini photo spaces on the 3rd floor. The decorated in con-theme spots perfect for cosplay photos. Never stop doing those!

....MaidCafe still needs tweaking. The room was unbearably hot (except on Sunday?), and the poor girls trying to simultaneously pose for photos AND sign the postcards created a bottleneck. Would keeping it to drinks & macarons/cupcakes only for food option cut down the line times thus letting everyone sit at tables sooner & giving the maids more time to mingle with the tables?

...can backs of badges print out hours of operations? Artist Alley, Dealers Room, etc...
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by enfleurise »

In general I had a really great time at Anime Boston, as usual!

Like everyone mentioned earlier, whatever security did this year that made it go so fast was great. Even on Sunday I had two suitcases with me and I didn't have much trouble getting through security at all.


I just have two complaints:

1) on Friday, I had NO idea where the Marriott hotel was, and I asked a Staff member, who then gave me directions to the Hilton. I was in a rush in order to make a photoshoot I had scheduled for that day (which, partly my bad for not getting there even earlier but I digress) and to be sent in the opposite direction, while having two suitcases on me, was really inconvenient. I dunno what happened there but I would hope staff would at least be aware of which hotels are in which direction.

2) I ran a panel on Saturday and it was on the 5th floor in Sheraton. You can only access this floor via elevator but it took me 40 minutes just to get down two floors to leave my panel afterwards. I really think having panels above the 3rd floor (accessible by elevator, and stairs) is really inconvenient because I just needed to go down two floors, and I would've just taken the stairs if there were any. I don't know what AB can do about this but it was really the only time this entire weekend I was really frustrated/angry at Anime Boston.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Kalyoth »

Nemra wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 7:21 pm
Eri Kagami wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 7:11 pm Really enjoyed AB this year! I only have one complaint:

Eataly Discount
I'm not sure if all of the staff at Eataly knew about the discount from Anime Boston. My partner and I showed our badges to the pizza place. Pizza cashier guy wasn't following us when we talked about the discount. We even showed the tweet. The manager came out and I explained to her the AB discount. She wasn't following either. She said she wanted to see the program book, but we didn't have ours, we thought we only needed to show our badges...? I just felt that Eataly needed to be on the same page as AB. I like this place, I want to support them and I do appreciate their sponsorship for the con, but even if it was 10% discount, I wish all of the Eataly staff knew.

FWIW, this was at 9PM on Friday.
Thanks for letting us know! I will forward this to the appropriate parties.

For the future, and this goes to everyone reading, please let us know by tweeting/emailing us so we can address it!

Has anyone else reading experienced this?

Shameless plug to fill remember to fill out the survey!
I was also denied. There were also others in line behind me that just walked away, after experiencing watching me go through it. Just so very much reinforces the fact that they totally screwed people with that marketplace vs. the food court community. Add to that their pricing being obsurdly high to start (their own fault) & we might as well partner with every other vendor in the PRU Mall as I know they all had lines waiting to purchase w/o much complaining. Want Italian, its actually cheaper with delivery via Grubhub from local italian restaurants to the hotel, more food for your dollar & more convenience as you can plan the delivery during your day. Maybe promo with Grubhub?
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by ChinVin »

I tend to always enjoy the experience and don't have much to really "complain" about. But there was something that rubbed me the wrong way on Saturday after the Masquerade.

Myself and my friends (3 of us), was on the balcony near Panel C watching the award ceremony for the Masquerade. As we walked out we were told to take a right only (we did) but noticeably there was line for Panel C. So we took that right, read the panel board and wanted to get in line for it. BUT we got a NO, we cannot get in line for the panel even though other Congoers were walking past us and the staff to line up. My friend asked why others can and we can't. Didn't get an answer and was basically told again just take a right and go. We had a stare off for a good 30 seconds as others continue to pass us to get in line. So we decided to grab a beer instead and that's how we ended the last night of AB....UPSET.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by oobedoob »

Registration/Badge Pickup Overall it went fairly smoothly, we went around 6 on Thursday evening and I only had to wait maybe 2 minutes to scan my code. I wish you would just move to a system where you mail the badges out rather than print them out right there. This will greatly reduce the wait time for a lot of attendees since we won't have to pick the badges up at the con. It would be nice if we could get day passes back, one though that I had was to just outright get rid of the weekend pass altogether and just have the day passes, but offer a package deal if attendees bought a weekend pack. This would avoid confusion of having multiple types of badges moving throughout the con. PAX made this change and I haven't seen any issues since. Also it would be nice to have something that would last longer than heat sensitive paper since I like to keep my badges as souvenirs and a lot of my older ones are starting to darken and fade.

Panels Great improvement this year from last year. Didn't feel like Saturday afternoon completely shutdown for cosplay meetups. There was enough going on to stay at the con. Would be nice to see more video room again though 3 just feel too little. Also the guy that you got to host the games shows this year was awesome, but the crowd was too loud and energetic that it was coming over into the video room next to it in room 309 (I think). Also panels on the 5th floor Sheraton are just a pain to get to.

Crowd Control I understand not everyone can be everywhere at one time, but at the absolute minimum there should be AB or Hynes staff stationed at both ends of each escalator at peak times. There are just too many people that congregate at the entrances and exits of the escalators that is becomes a hazard as you have to quickly navigate around these people so the people behind you don't get pushed into you. I think it was 2016 when there where the barriers on the second floor escalators by the info booth that made two lanes, one for the escalators and one for general traffic, this should be brought back. We didn't have much of any other issues with crowding though, although we were in live gaming for the first half of Saturday so most of that probably died down by the time we go there. For artist alley have you though of having the tables go the other way? So rather than having them go perpendicular to the security line have them be in parallel? The isles just don't make too much sense since there's more isles in the back than in the front and it gets confusing when you're trying to check everything out.

Overall it was an OK time no big issues just more of the same. Might be out last, we might just sit out next year. Quick, cheap and easy food options have dried up and just no innovation happening making it not worth the cost anymore. I echo what others have said that a venue change will most likely fix a lot of the issues that go on at AB.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Master of NERV »

enfleurise wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2019 2:22 am 2) I ran a panel on Saturday and it was on the 5th floor in Sheraton. You can only access this floor via elevator but it took me 40 minutes just to get down two floors to leave my panel afterwards. I really think having panels above the 3rd floor (accessible by elevator, and stairs) is really inconvenient because I just needed to go down two floors, and I would've just taken the stairs if there were any. I don't know what AB can do about this but it was really the only time this entire weekend I was really frustrated/angry at Anime Boston.
I'm compelled to address this from different angle. Last year, I had the great misfortune of having a room on the 5th floor, and it was awfully frustrating.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by MoxieMcRawr »

This was my 7th AB and it seems to just be getting better! Like everyone has said, the security and line situations have improved immensely. Controlling long lines for panels within the con could use a little work, but it isn't bad. Security is about as smooth as I could hope for, considering they're a contracted security group and not staff AB has much control over.

I would like to suggest again (I put it at the end of the survey already) that perhaps the Masquerade be divided into two events? There is a lot going on at the Masquerade now. This year the event itself was 4 hours long (!!!), not to mention the hour or more people stand in line to get a good spot. With all this happening right around dinner time, you have to eat right before you line up, say 4 or 5 pm, then either hope that tides you over for the night or have to get food again at 11 or 12. At the very least, it would be helpful to have a schedule of events during the Masquerade itself. Some people only come for the cosplay contest, some only for the skits, etc. It would be helpful to know if you can come late or leave early and not miss something you wanted to see, or at least know when its safe to make a run for the bathroom (again, 4 hours)

For the sake of improvement, I'd like to address the general handling of ticketed events. My boyfriend and I got up at 8am to get in line for tickets to both the Masquerade and the Yoko Shimomura concert, not knowing how fast they might go. When we went to go to the concert later that day, we were running a little late. We arrived only to be told that the room was at capacity and no one would be let in, ticket or not. We were also told that no one would be allowed to enter even if people left the room.

In hindsight, this was an orchestral performance, so certain etiquette makes sense, but a reminder of any restrictions to make people aware would have been helpful. It also confused us how this was listed as a ticket event, but having a ticket seemed to in no way guarantee you a seat in the room? Were more tickets given out than available seats, or were they allowing people in without tickets? Neither seems fair. It was a blessing in disguise though, because we definitely wouldn't have had time to eat and line up for the Masquerade.

When waiting in line for tickets, I also overheard the people in front of us in dismay finding out that the Code Geass premiere was not a ticketed event, despite a staff member telling them otherwise the day before, and that they had gotten up and waited in line for nothing. This just seems to reiterate the variability and sometimes unreliability of staff knowledge and awareness.

Ditto for the lack of variety in the dealer's room. I'm sure that is not something easy to control for AB staff, it probably depends more on who comes to you, but we spend very little time in the dealer's room at all, knowing that we can find 90% of the items available online for the same price or cheaper. Having Anime Boston exclusive items or deals would be much more enticing.

Finally: the themes. What's the deal? It's become clear that Anime Boston is learning hard into the Japanese culture thing, but let's be honest. Bento/food is a weird theme for an anime convention. And the announcement was so absent that it took me a minute to realize that was the theme for 2020. 2015 Mecha vs. Kaiju was the most exciting theme and the most exciting theme announcement, hands down. Just kind of curious about who suggests/chooses the themes and the direction they go in. We took bets all weekend on the next theme, and our suggestions of Superheros, Magical Girls, and Idols were way off.

Speaking of idols... the Idol Showcase was amazing and should absolutely be brought back and made a feature of AB! Super fun and exciting, and could potentially cut down on a tiny amount of Masquerade overlap.

But overall the convention was great as always! Definitely coming again and again for the foreseeable future! Thinking about maybe even volunteering myself sometime.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Cochise99 »

I only really work the Ota table at AB in Dealer's, so i see only a pretty small cross-section of the con; that said, I miss the ability to be able to skip the bag check lines as a dealer/partner at times when you have to go back and forth between the secure and unsecure areas (it appeared only AB staff were allowed to do that this year); at the same time, the speed of the security lines was WAY better than I've ever seen it, and it really didn't take us long to get through for things like food / supply runs etc. at the beginning and end of the day. In the middle of the day, however, the congestion is still a bit much. Would be nice if there was a way to have people with TSA precheck or other traveler pre-screening ID to skip the bag check or have a dedicated fast lane; We weren't allowed to use the Fast Pass lane with bags / luggage / booth supplies, so we ended up waiting longer to get back to the table.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Kusuguru Usagi »

I had a wonderful time at Anime Boston again this year: I got to go to 13 panels total, plus I got to see 2 movies ("A Silent Voice" and "The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl"), as well as see the "Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor" OVAs.

I was pleased with how smoothly badge pick-up went once again, as well as obtaining the disability sticker. The ladies at the Accessibility Desk were very helpful and friendly.

I don't know the names of the staffers who were so nice to me and made sure I had a chair to sit in while I waited to be let in and be seated for "A Silent Voice", but, I will say thank you to all of you!! ^_^ ^_^

I also once again was happy that the coat check lets you check luggage, which I did on Sun., as I stayed at a hotel that wasn't part of the convention hotel block. I found it to be VERY convenient, so as I wouldn't have to go back to the hotel to retrieve my suitcase before going to Back Bay Station to get the train to head home.

I was also happy that the vendor in the Dealers Room that I wanted to buy merchandise from was so easy to find. Many times I tend to lose my sense of direction when I'm in the Dealers Room, looking for the vendors that I want to buy merchandise from. In this case, though, I had no problem whatsoever. :) :)

If there's anything I wish, and I say this every year, it's that I wish I could clone myself so that I could get to see everything that I wanted to check out. LOL!! SOOOO many panels overlapped each other, and it was hard to decide which ones to go to and which ones to give up.

I'm looking forward to AB 2020. The theme for next year sounds YUMMY!! :D :D
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by masterofplush »

I love anime boston and for the most part it is a great con and I love that they are constantly trying to improve! However...

I have stated it elsewhere and will stated it again, The services for those with hearing disabilities are absolutely abysmal. The only services offered are CC on videos and advanced seating to assist with lip reading. Both of which I will take over nothing however they fall short in many glaring ways. Lip reading is hard, exhausting, and imperfect, now for smaller panels i get it hiring that many asl interpreters would be expensive but you should at least have them on hand for things that are considered main events. Or even consider a system like Boston Comic Con where as long as interpreters are requested far enough in advance they will show up to those events and those events only.

Onto the highlights for the positives tho, I loved the fact that AB is including more inclusive panels in terms of both disabilities and lgbt+ stuff. Also for the love of god please keep bringing back the woman who does Yuri Approved! Ive went to the panel both this year and last and it was an absolute treat.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Aurabolt »

Fangreaper wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:41 am
Aurabolt wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2019 10:58 pm In taking away that option, they lost revenue from the 1 and 2-day passes they discontinued. A side effect to that is we have also seen increases in the price of the weekend pass. Anime Boston is contstantly looking for creative ways to meet its financial needs. This is a pretty obvious approach and you kill 2 bird with one stone.
Think about it like this if they reach max capacity how many people would get stuck in line or turned away from entering because there are too many people? If they reach max capacity the fire marshal would have to come down and supervise and potentially shut the event down.
Con Staff have repeatedly stated they actively monitor how many badges are sold and to date, the con has only barely approached capacity a few years back. I won't pretend to know the details but Capacity won't be an issue from this.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Sayoria »

Best year in the last 10 years for me. Already pre-regged for next year, and I haven't done a pre-reg for years now because I felt I was going to lose it. I had a lot of fun this year.

Only negative I got for you guys is the autograph policy. Last few years I did autographs, we were given tickets as we went to line up. As I went to the autographs, I was told that you had to get the tickets like the masquerade now, where you had to go into the convention center, find the place they were being given away at, and hope you get a ticket.

This is just so bad. I don't even see the point of trying to get autographs anymore. By the time I found out, tickets were gone. It should go back to how it was where if you get there, you are given a ticket on arrival. It's always a hassle hunting these things down.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Malak the Mad »

stokage wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 1:36 am Popular panels - Consistently-in-demand and popular panels need to be in larger rooms as every year they happen and yet being a veteran AB patron I've yet to ever get in, but then again, not willing to lose an hour to stand outside a room just for a possibility to get into a panel like that (the masquerade, I can understand, talking more about things like Bad Anime, Japanese Snacks, etc)
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While giving me the Main Events hall to perform would be amazing and do crazy things to my ego, I don't think I would come anywhere near filling a venue of that sheer size. Still, I appreciate the vote of confidence that I could use more space, but I and the programming staff agree that Hall D is pretty much my home for the foreseeable future. ;)
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Falchioff »

Hi! I had a great time at AB, but I was wondering if there could be tiered divisions in the AMV contest- it seems that most of the AMV contestants chosen this year are all veterans who take their AMV’s to a bunch of cons, racking up victories without even attending the cons. It would be awesome if there could be a rookies division, journeyman division, and masters division, just like the masquerade. Additionally, it might be helpful to make amv entrants attend AB, so that the community can get to know each other, and get new blood into the amv contest with the tiered divisions.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by arentyoutiredofeatingrice »

Positives:

1. No Vic or Todd Haberkorn - intentional or not, I'm glad to see neither of these creeps were invited this year.

2. Badges - pre-reg pickup was fast and had a very generous window of time to pick up on Thursday. One weird but insignificant thing though was that I recieved the Express Pass email several times throughout con weekend.

3. Masquerade staff - this was my second time participating in the masq and both times the masq staff have been phenomenally kind, supportive, and attentive. Much appreciated.

4. Security - very fast and good spirited staff.

5. Guidebook App - very handy and these days most people have a smart phone. It'd be cool if AB could start to go mote paperless by reducing the amount of printed program books and have them available when asked for instead of handed out by default.

Negatives:

1. Masquerade length - Dunno if I'm just getting old but for masq participants, getting in early and sitting through the entire masq is extremely exhausting. It also kind of sucks to miss out on half a day's worth of panels and programming. I'm not sure if all the filler content (the stuff with Rodi?Rody?, showing previous years' AMVs, the masq staff bloopers video, etc) is used for judging time but if that's not the case, it would be great to either cut down on filler stuff and have the masq dedicated to just masq content or rearrange the masq programming to reduce the need for extraneous content.

2. Masquerade judging - I found it rather off-putting that some of the masq judges would mention that they had personal interest in some of the winners they chose. It's probably unavoidable that judges may know or admire some masq participants, but perhaps they shouldn't be so blatant about it?

3. AMV judging - I found it disturbing that AMVs exploiting war and murder scenes were chosen to win the AMV contest. Grave of the Fireflies is about the very real tragedy of death and war. Leveraging this tragedy to win an AMV contest is tasteless at best. And then in another AMV, the use of scenes of children witnessing their mothers being murdered for comedic effect was also pretty horrible. As a granddaughter of someone who suffered because of WWII and as someone who lost their mother, I just wanna say that maybe AB shouldn't reward such tasteless exploitation?

4. Hynes center food - my orange chicken was barely palatable and my friend's tofu straight up tasted like garbage. Dunno how much control over this AB has but it needs to be said.

5. I've heard that AMV editors can submit videos and compete without even attending AB or buying a badge, and also that a lot of the winning video editors are AMV contest veterans who consistanly win at different cons with the same AMVs. The lack of necessity to attend just doesnt make sense to me. The lack of opportunity for new competitors maybe could be ameliorated with a skill tier system similar to the masq?

6. Panel variety - I feel like there's been a lack of variety of panels at AB lately. A lot seem to be 101 type panels that feel rather unnecessary in this day and age of Google and YouTube. Instead, more panel slots should be directed towards more diverse topics and generally just new content.

7. Artist Alley - felt rather lackluster this year? If it would be possible to curate AA tables to bring more variety to the AA content and maybe a higher standard of skill for artists, as a major con, I think the stakes could be a little higher than where they're at right now.

8. Karaoke room - people were literally screaming into the microphone

Suggestion:

Bookable photoshoot rooms with themed set-ups or even just backdrops with good lighting where small groups can take quick pictures in. Could help reduce hall congestion. Honestly, a lot of the current hallway setups with the face cutouts are lame.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by LantisEscudo »

arentyoutiredofeatingrice wrote:AMV judging - I found it disturbing that AMVs exploiting war and murder scenes were chosen to win the AMV contest. Grave of the Fireflies is about the very real tragedy of death and war. Leveraging this tragedy to win an AMV contest is tasteless at best. And then in another AMV, the use of scenes of children witnessing their mothers being murdered for comedic effect was also pretty horrible. As a granddaughter of someone who suffered because of WWII and as someone who lost their mother, I just wanna say that maybe AB shouldn't reward such tasteless exploitation?
Finalists for the AMV Contest are selected by a diverse panel of judges of varying tastes and experiences, so that we put together the best panel of videos that will appeal to the widest variety of attendees at the contest screenings. The majority of the winners for the contest are selected by audience vote, and this year, we got about 4000 ballots from attendees across the two screenings. What one person might see as tasteless, others might see as poignant, or heartfelt, or hysterical.

No video is to everyone's taste, which is why we have that variety.
Falchioff wrote:Hi! I had a great time at AB, but I was wondering if there could be tiered divisions in the AMV contest- it seems that most of the AMV contestants chosen this year are all veterans who take their AMV’s to a bunch of cons, racking up victories without even attending the cons. It would be awesome if there could be a rookies division, journeyman division, and masters division, just like the masquerade. Additionally, it might be helpful to make amv entrants attend AB, so that the community can get to know each other, and get new blood into the amv contest with the tiered divisions.
arentyoutiredofeatingrice wrote:I've heard that AMV editors can submit videos and compete without even attending AB or buying a badge, and also that a lot of the winning video editors are AMV contest veterans who consistanly win at different cons with the same AMVs. The lack of necessity to attend just doesnt make sense to me. The lack of opportunity for new competitors maybe could be ameliorated with a skill tier system similar to the masq?
Interestingly, for the first two Anime Bostons, the AMV Contest had a tiered system similar to the Masq. It proved completely unworkable for a variety of reasons. Where are the lines between Master, Journeyman, and Novice? Does a contest win at a 300-attendee con in the Midwest count the same as a contest win at a major event like Anime Boston, Sakuracon, or Anime Weekend Atlanta? If not, what events count as major? Do you consider online-only or international events like AKROSS Big Contest? Does non-AMV experience count (for example, a professional editor decides to make an AMV for the first time - are they a Novice or Master)?

Further, it proved incredibly difficult to police. Especially in the current age, get a new email address and YouTube channel, and you can pretend to be a brand-new Novice, even if you've been editing for years. Trying to do a deep background dive on every entrant to make sure they're actually of the experience level they claim is effectively impossible.

AMV contests worldwide almost universally do not require editors to be in attendance to compete, partially because the community is so scattered around the world. We received entries from 12 countries and 29 states this year, which is one of the reasons we can continuously put on a quality show.

I've been part of the AMV community for almost 20 years, and the only convention I can recall that required editors to buy a badge to compete (not necessarily be in attendance, just buy the badge) was JACON in Florida, which hasn't been held since 2009.

We don't want to put up additional barriers to entry, we want to make it easier for more people to submit so that we can continue to showcase amazing videos.

The bar to make the finals is high, yes. Some years, even the defending Best of Show winner didn't make the finals the next year. But the finalist selection is judged blindly, with the judges knowing only the video title and sources. Who made what video is kept secret until after the finalists have been selected. Everyone competes on a level playing field.

Almost every year, we get first-time finalists. Sometimes, it's even their first finalist selection at a major event ever. They make the finals because they've made a video that appeals to a wide variety of tastes, not because of who they are.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Bailey545 »

Truly, you folks did extraordinary this year. The opening functions were incredible, the AMV challenge was extraordinary, I delighted in the hellfire out of City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eye, and I just wish I had more opportunity to go see voice on-screen characters and the Miyavi show among cosplaying and doing stuff with companions. My gathering and I saw that the sit tight time for security was routed down contrasted with earlier years - I never held up over 5 minutes or so to get past the metal finder territory the whole end of the week. Praise to AB staff, Hynes Security and those check-in great dogs doin' a bomb sniff for running everything so easily and guarding us.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by ArtestCosplayGirl200 »

Please please please bring back the idol showcase again that was very good and amazing and super fun. I also hope it comes back in the next years. I enjoyed it very much and girls who ran it did an amazing job.
Also what i loved is that everyone got to dance in it and what one of my fav parts and moments is that my daughter enjoyed it so much that she didnt want it to be over and she enjoyed meeting all the girls and enjoyed everything about it. I hope it comes back so she can watch it again.

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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by bananaspam »

Pre-registration is always very quick, and this year especially so. I walked straight in and got my badge. However, finding the table that had the ribbons for panelists was incredibly hard. The table that I got my badge from directed me outside of the registration room to the info desk. The info desk directed me back inside to the table giving out press passes and passes for people with disabilities. That table then directed me to the correct table, which was unmarked. If we can’t get a table with a sign, can we at least make sure that volunteers/staff know where to direct people?

Security lines were incredibly quick this year!

Having food available inside the con is nice, however the food on the second floor of the Hynes was incredibly unpalatable. Is there any chance that next year could have a different food vendor, or does that come from the Hynes?

It was pretty difficult getting to the panels on the fifth floor of the Sheraton, as there were no stairs (at least that I could find) and the elevators were crowded.

The schedule on the website is incredibly hard to read. Every year I have to wait until it comes out on the Guidebook app in order to actually determine what I want to do at the con.

I also like the idea of having bookable photoshoot rooms, or at least more rooms for the meetups. The one meetup space by the escalator on the first floor seemed to just increase the congestion/noise of the area, and it would be nice if that space wasn't used in the future.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Falchioff »

LantisEscudo wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:23 pm
arentyoutiredofeatingrice wrote:AMV judging - I found it disturbing that AMVs exploiting war and murder scenes were chosen to win the AMV contest. Grave of the Fireflies is about the very real tragedy of death and war. Leveraging this tragedy to win an AMV contest is tasteless at best. And then in another AMV, the use of scenes of children witnessing their mothers being murdered for comedic effect was also pretty horrible. As a granddaughter of someone who suffered because of WWII and as someone who lost their mother, I just wanna say that maybe AB shouldn't reward such tasteless exploitation?
Finalists for the AMV Contest are selected by a diverse panel of judges of varying tastes and experiences, so that we put together the best panel of videos that will appeal to the widest variety of attendees at the contest screenings. The majority of the winners for the contest are selected by audience vote, and this year, we got about 4000 ballots from attendees across the two screenings. What one person might see as tasteless, others might see as poignant, or heartfelt, or hysterical.

No video is to everyone's taste, which is why we have that variety.
Falchioff wrote:Hi! I had a great time at AB, but I was wondering if there could be tiered divisions in the AMV contest- it seems that most of the AMV contestants chosen this year are all veterans who take their AMV’s to a bunch of cons, racking up victories without even attending the cons. It would be awesome if there could be a rookies division, journeyman division, and masters division, just like the masquerade. Additionally, it might be helpful to make amv entrants attend AB, so that the community can get to know each other, and get new blood into the amv contest with the tiered divisions.
arentyoutiredofeatingrice wrote:I've heard that AMV editors can submit videos and compete without even attending AB or buying a badge, and also that a lot of the winning video editors are AMV contest veterans who consistanly win at different cons with the same AMVs. The lack of necessity to attend just doesnt make sense to me. The lack of opportunity for new competitors maybe could be ameliorated with a skill tier system similar to the masq?
Interestingly, for the first two Anime Bostons, the AMV Contest had a tiered system similar to the Masq. It proved completely unworkable for a variety of reasons. Where are the lines between Master, Journeyman, and Novice? Does a contest win at a 300-attendee con in the Midwest count the same as a contest win at a major event like Anime Boston, Sakuracon, or Anime Weekend Atlanta? If not, what events count as major? Do you consider online-only or international events like AKROSS Big Contest? Does non-AMV experience count (for example, a professional editor decides to make an AMV for the first time - are they a Novice or Master)?

Further, it proved incredibly difficult to police. Especially in the current age, get a new email address and YouTube channel, and you can pretend to be a brand-new Novice, even if you've been editing for years. Trying to do a deep background dive on every entrant to make sure they're actually of the experience level they claim is effectively impossible.

AMV contests worldwide almost universally do not require editors to be in attendance to compete, partially because the community is so scattered around the world. We received entries from 12 countries and 29 states this year, which is one of the reasons we can continuously put on a quality show.

I've been part of the AMV community for almost 20 years, and the only convention I can recall that required editors to buy a badge to compete (not necessarily be in attendance, just buy the badge) was JACON in Florida, which hasn't been held since 2009.

We don't want to put up additional barriers to entry, we want to make it easier for more people to submit so that we can continue to showcase amazing videos.

The bar to make the finals is high, yes. Some years, even the defending Best of Show winner didn't make the finals the next year. But the finalist selection is judged blindly, with the judges knowing only the video title and sources. Who made what video is kept secret until after the finalists have been selected. Everyone competes on a level playing field.

Almost every year, we get first-time finalists. Sometimes, it's even their first finalist selection at a major event ever. They make the finals because they've made a video that appeals to a wide variety of tastes, not because of who they are.
You can’t say you get first time finalists every year when I took a look at the list of entrants the past few years and usually all but one are experienced and have won about 15 awards for the amv’s they submitted. I’m sure you and your team are capable enough of working out a better system for tiering than you did 20 years ago. At least do something so that the amv contest is more than just the experienced editors only. I spoke with one of the staff about this, and we had over an hour long conversation about how this was a good idea, as the amv community is getting more insular. The whole reason why I signed up on this forum to give feedback (I’ve been attending this con for 6 years now) was because that staff member told me how receptive you all were to feedback and how you wanted to improve, but so far all I’ve seen is your online staff getting defensive about how they can’t change things. I know change is really scary, but I wouldn’t be suggesting this if it didn’t come from a place of genuine appreciation for this con.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by Dreamoflife »

For me, the issue with the AMVs isn’t the editors, it’s the AMVs themselves. Distribution is different these days than it was twenty years ago, and personally I’d already seen a fair portion of the AMVs this year online already. Even if tiering is too difficult, it might be worth trying out a “if this AMV has already won six major awards, please don’t submit it” restriction.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by arentyoutiredofeatingrice »

LantisEscudo wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:23 pm
Finalists for the AMV Contest are selected by a diverse panel of judges of varying tastes and experiences, so that we put together the best panel of videos that will appeal to the widest variety of attendees at the contest screenings. The majority of the winners for the contest are selected by audience vote, and this year, we got about 4000 ballots from attendees across the two screenings. What one person might see as tasteless, others might see as poignant, or heartfelt, or hysterical.

No video is to everyone's taste, which is why we have that variety.
So essentially, "War and trauma are entertaining"? Sorry my dude but it's 2019 and this is Boston. Pandering to the naive humor of teens? My suggestion would be perhaps you might want to rediversify your panel or get your team some sensitivity training because this is a big yikes response. I find it alarming that people think this is okay. Personal taste isn't the issue I bring up here.
LantisEscudo wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:23 pm Interestingly, for the first two Anime Bostons, the AMV Contest had a tiered system similar to the Masq. It proved completely unworkable for a variety of reasons. Where are the lines between Master, Journeyman, and Novice? Does a contest win at a 300-attendee con in the Midwest count the same as a contest win at a major event like Anime Boston, Sakuracon, or Anime Weekend Atlanta? If not, what events count as major? Do you consider online-only or international events like AKROSS Big Contest? Does non-AMV experience count (for example, a professional editor decides to make an AMV for the first time - are they a Novice or Master)?

Further, it proved incredibly difficult to police. Especially in the current age, get a new email address and YouTube channel, and you can pretend to be a brand-new Novice, even if you've been editing for years. Trying to do a deep background dive on every entrant to make sure they're actually of the experience level they claim is effectively impossible.

AMV contests worldwide almost universally do not require editors to be in attendance to compete, partially because the community is so scattered around the world. We received entries from 12 countries and 29 states this year, which is one of the reasons we can continuously put on a quality show.

I've been part of the AMV community for almost 20 years, and the only convention I can recall that required editors to buy a badge to compete (not necessarily be in attendance, just buy the badge) was JACON in Florida, which hasn't been held since 2009.

We don't want to put up additional barriers to entry, we want to make it easier for more people to submit so that we can continue to showcase amazing videos.

The bar to make the finals is high, yes. Some years, even the defending Best of Show winner didn't make the finals the next year. But the finalist selection is judged blindly, with the judges knowing only the video title and sources. Who made what video is kept secret until after the finalists have been selected. Everyone competes on a level playing field.

Almost every year, we get first-time finalists. Sometimes, it's even their first finalist selection at a major event ever. They make the finals because they've made a video that appeals to a wide variety of tastes, not because of who they are.
The honor system and self reporting system seems to work just fine for the masq imo. And it would probably help make organizing more manageable if, say, the contest was limited to actual AB attendees. After all, for the masq I'm pretty sure no deep dive into my background was necessary.

I mean, if you guys purposefully want this to be a global competition then that's that but for it to be a part of the AB Masquerade as it is now feels out of place. Perhaps it should be better advertised as a global competition? Or maybe the awards portion that's in the tail end of the masq could be taken out as a separate event?

Another possibility would be to have non-attendees submit only as exhibition pieces. That way you could have the best of both worlds. Honestly, I would have thought AB would actively want to foster more local Boston community - it's called Anime Boston after all.

I won't pretend to know how hard it is to organize this sort of thing, but your mansplanation response only tells me you don't actually care for feedback and don't want to change the AMV contest at all. If that's the case, you could save your breath and just say so.
Last edited by arentyoutiredofeatingrice on Wed May 01, 2019 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by basharoftheages »

It isn't just that tiering is difficult, It's counter-productive. The goal is to provide entertainment for the audience. Handicapping the field and showing worse videos weakens the contest and makes it less entertaining. The playing field is level, everyone is held to the same standards no matter who they are. AB has a world stage contest and requires world stage contest level of skill to compete.


That said, the number of new editors that make finals at AB is actually higher than at most cons of similar size. (The salt I hear about in the greater AMV community because our finalists choices are often so different from other contests is pretty high sometimes too).
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by arentyoutiredofeatingrice »

BasharOfTheAges wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 9:58 am It isn't just that tiering is difficult, It's counter-productive. The goal is to provide entertainment for the audience. Handicapping the field and showing worse videos weakens the contest and makes it less entertaining. The playing field is level, everyone is held to the same standards no matter who they are. AB has a world stage contest and requires world stage contest level of skill to compete.


That said, the number of new editors that make finals at AB is actually higher than at most cons of similar size. (The salt I hear about in the greater AMV community because our finalists choices are often so different from other contests is pretty high sometimes too).
If tiering is difficult, how does it work so well for the masq? As long as their skill level is properly advertised, people should understand that hey, this video might not be on the same level as someone considered a master but we thought it was good work for someone who's never made an AMV before! The point here is to foster growth and level the playing field for newcomers and young people, but if that's not a goal then I understand not wanting to implement such a system.

For me, this isn't so much about how many new editors win or what other cons are doing. It's more of the principle of the matter - could AB do better to engage its con-goers and create a community that wants to see its people grow? I personally don't wanna pay $80 to go to Anime Boston and go to the Anime Boston AMV Contest and Masquerade to watch a video some schmuck from Finland made win the Anime Boston AMV Contest but maybe that's just me. If I wanted that I'd open up YouTube.

I'll be fully transparent - I've never cared for AMVs and I've never made an AMV in my life. But I think AB could do better to be Anime Boston and not just another con that wants to make it big but never will because we're stuck in the Hynes and goddamn is it crowded. But perhaps that's not so much a priority for AB and they want to be Anime Global and that's fine too. Just, I wish I hadn't been fooled these past years thinking my fellow con-goers had made those cool AMVs when actually it was some schmuck from Finland.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by cpuwhiz11 »

Dreamoflife wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 9:32 am Distribution is different these days than it was twenty years ago, and personally I’d already seen a fair portion of the AMVs this year online already. Even if tiering is too difficult, it might be worth trying out a “if this AMV has already won six major awards, please don’t submit it” restriction.
I like this idea (refereed to as anti-trolling from what I can find) a lot, even if it is difficult to enforce. As to having seen most of the entries already online, I do think Editors should keep things under wraps until after they have been shown at the Convention, but different people have different working ideas so it is not really my place to criticize.
arentyoutiredofeatingrice wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 9:45 am So essentially, "War and trauma are entertaining"? Sorry my dude but it's 2019 and this is Boston. Pandering to the naive humor of teens? My suggestion would be perhaps you might want to rediversify your panel or get your team some sensitivity training because this is a big yikes response. I find it alarming that people think this is okay. Personal taste isn't the issue I bring up here.
I get the sentiment here that we should use a deft and thoughtful hand when dealing with historical subject matter, but I do not think the coordinator should limit entries in this way. Certainly you are correct that there is a line somewhere (perhaps this entryhttps://www.animemusicvideos.org/member ... p?v=142962 which I loved back in the day would not be appropriate anymore), but in general I trust the judgement of the organizers. Personally I thought the Grave of the Fireflies AMV was very well done. I cannot speak to your experiences as art influences us all differently, but I do not see this entry as a cheap attempt to exploit a tragedy. I honestly think we need more entries like this as it sparks an interest in history by using a familiar medium.
arentyoutiredofeatingrice wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 9:45 am The honor system and self reporting system seems to work just fine for the masq imo. And it would probably help make organizing more manageable if, say, the contest was limited to actual AB attendees. After all, for the masq I'm pretty sure no deep dive into my background was necessary.
I think its hard to compare the masquerade to the AMV contest in this regard. It is true that both contests are shooting for the highest quality, but the Masquerade has (in my estimation as I do not speak from any experience here) an easier time with figuring out the skill level of the contestants. I am no seamstress, but I suspect a skilled judge could see through a master level dressmaker attempting to enter as a novice. I do not think it is as easy to judge an AMV editors skill level based on their submission. Watching a lot of AMVs online I have seen what appear to be first time editors deliver masterful works while seemingly more experienced editors drop duds. There is also the matter of scale to consider. It already seems (from the outside looking in) a Sisyphean task to organize the entries in the current system. To add yet another layer of complexity to produce a result that would make a weaker contest (because the objective is to produce an entertaining product not necessarily to insure equal representation from differing skill levels) seems unwise.
arentyoutiredofeatingrice wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 9:45 am I won't pretend to know how hard it is to organize this sort of thing, but your mansplanation response only tells me you don't actually care for feedback and don't want to change the AMV contest at all. If that's the case, you could save your breath and just say so.
This is an unfair response in my view. Having attended the AMV contest since 2007 the contest has evolved greatly since that time both in its structure and the kind of entries has garnered. I cannot speak to knowing any of the organizers, but their goal as long as I have attended has always been to solicit feedback and improve the contest. Look at the great responses I got the other day to my feedback viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24190 to see them in action.
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Re: Anime Boston 2019 Feedback Thread!

Post by arentyoutiredofeatingrice »

cpuwhiz11 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:59 am
I get the sentiment here that we should use a deft and thoughtful hand when dealing with historical subject matter, but I do not think the coordinator should limit entries in this way. Certainly you are correct that there is a line somewhere (perhaps this entryhttps://www.animemusicvideos.org/member ... p?v=142962 which I loved back in the day would not be appropriate anymore), but in general I trust the judgement of the organizers. Personally I thought the Grave of the Fireflies AMV was very well done. I cannot speak to your experiences as art influences us all differently, but I do not see this entry as a cheap attempt to exploit a tragedy. I honestly think we need more entries like this as it sparks an interest in history by using a familiar medium.
My response here was more in criticizing the responser's flippant disregard of my feedback. A mere, "Thanks for your feedback we'll try harder to define the line between thoughtful and exploitative". Instead their response was telling me, "Your opinion doesnt matter and actually we thought these videos were entertaining so they're fine". Telling me that they've been in the industry for 20 years and fact dropping me is a flex and not anything productive to my points that I found their judgement lacking in some aspects and that the contest as a whole seems rather limiting.

It's a fine line between sparking conversation and using material for gain and in my view, using such sensitive material for an anime music video contest with awards at stake is a cheap way to garner interest. Perhaps instead such pieces could be presented as exhibition pieces instead of competitve pieces. And further, I'd like to reiterate that it wasn't just the Grave of the Fireflies AMV I found offense in. The AMV that won Comedy with the clips of children witnessing their mother being murdered? It seems like a whole panel missed how bad this was and I found it way more offensive than the Fireflies vid.
cpuwhiz11 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:59 am I think its hard to compare the masquerade to the AMV contest in this regard. It is true that both contests are shooting for the highest quality, but the Masquerade has (in my estimation as I do not speak from any experience here) an easier time with figuring out the skill level of the contestants. I am no seamstress, but I suspect a skilled judge could see through a master level dressmaker attempting to enter as a novice. I do not think it is as easy to judge an AMV editors skill level based on their submission. Watching a lot of AMVs online I have seen what appear to be first time editors deliver masterful works while seemingly more experienced editors drop duds. There is also the matter of scale to consider. It already seems (from the outside looking in) a Sisyphean task to organize the entries in the current system. To add yet another layer of complexity to produce a result that would make a weaker contest (because the objective is to produce an entertaining product not necessarily to insure equal representation from differing skill levels) seems unwise.
This is true - comparing apples and oranges, but I'm not suggesting skill level be judged but only self reported as yes it would be very difficult to make that call. The system as it is right now calls for the honor system and as the editors don't need to be badge holders, I don't see much accountability or regulation in the way things already are. Which is why I think that people submitting to the contest should be badge holders and should be con-goers. It would reduce the numbers of entries, presumably, and make the contest more meaningful to AB. I propose challenging the idea that the AMV contest is merely for entertainment and can be both fun and meaningful. This isn't colossalcon afterall.
cpuwhiz11 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:59 am This is an unfair response in my view. Having attended the AMV contest since 2007 the contest has evolved greatly since that time both in its structure and the kind of entries has garnered. I cannot speak to knowing any of the organizers, but their goal as long as I have attended has always been to solicit feedback and improve the contest. Look at the great responses I got the other day to my feedback viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24190 to see them in action.
I'm happy for you that you got good responses to your posts but my posts challenging the status quo and pointing out flaws only got me a mansplanation and being told that actually the exploitation of war and murder for an anime music video contest was entertaining. And also the strong pushback response from only the AMV-related portions of my post is feels like someone got personally offended that I dare bring up their brainchild.
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