Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

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CJ Gren
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by CJ Gren »

RikkuX21 wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:17 pm Security this year was great. Maybe faster if they did bag checks randomly like Disney parks do it.
Disney checks bags for every person going into their parks, with Disneyland now checking before you go into Downtown Disney.

There are also bag checks AND metal detector checks to get on the monorails around Magic Kingdom hotels. A lot more places are implementing things like this.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by tetsujin »

It had been my understanding that the rooms would be set up for VGA and HDMI (maybe I misunderstood?) but at the con I learned this had changed to HDMI-only. Quite understandable from a tech perspective as it has really become the dominant standard, and fortunately I did come prepared (my laptop falls into the Displayport camp, but I'd recently bought an HDMI adaptor more or less just out of curiosity, to see if it would work... Luckily it did!) - I appreciate the difficulties that surround getting information about these kinds of changes to panelists in advance, and for panelists it really is best to just be prepared for these kinds of contingencies (I've gotten a bit lax in that respect, to be honest) - but to the extent possible it would be very nice to have correct information in advance...

That said I think the tech setup was great and the staff were very helpful as always. Thanks!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by NSilverwolf »

eternaltorture wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:43 pm
ASAKA/Masquerade:
Image
I sat in the back and it was amusing how only the 5th row or so was enthusiastic while the rest of the audience was just dead af.
Next time, if you're going to do more concert + masquerade events, maybe instead of having the AB logo on throughout the concert, have it change to the anime song MV so the masquerade crowd would know what's up and keep them entertained. Or change it to "ASAKA" like you guys did for FLOW.

I don't mind how this event was setup though, it was cool to give the masquerade goers a taste of Anisong live culture. Just wished that you guys gave out or sold lightsticks/UOs for people to cheer.
Thanks for the feedback, I’ll address the part I have some level of control over which is how and when you see video stuff on screen in Auditorium and D Hall. In regards to the use of imagery on the LED wall we defer to the performer and their management on what they would like on screen. We certainly make suggestions and have some examples for guests and managers to take a look at during rehearsal and sound checks but it’s ultimately their call.

So for something like Flow they had a specific logo, size and time they wanted it brought on the screen during their performance. Similarly Wada-san requested the titles of each of his pieces be projected during the concert on Sunday and Jeff Williams had a logo they wanted for their portion. Asaka wanted to use only that short video that preceded her performance. I’m always hoping to find more ways to use the LED wall creatively to enhance the audience experience but there are often other parties involved whose requests also need to be accommodated. Hope this was helpful!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Thrillho »

I had a blast at AB this year! Here's my feedback:

PROS
  • Security was a breeze, no matter what entrance I used at what time. I never spent more than 5 minutes in any line. And it seemed like at no point did the line ever seep out from the main entrance to outside. I know that everyone was nervous with the return of metal detectors, but I'm so glad it all worked out. Big props to AB staff and Hynes security for finding something that works.
  • I loved the new autograph policy, and I think it's a step in the right direction, though I think it needs some work (see cons). It was great knowing that people didn't have to spend 2+ hours lurking in the autograph area just to jump into a line once it was allowed to form. Great job coming up with this solution and I hope you stick with it.
  • I LOVED seeing the scheduled photoshoots in Guidebook. What a great idea to add those! I was concerned that I'd lose track of time and miss the photoshoots I was planning on going to, but it worked out because they were already in Guidebook (rather than me trying to have to create a custom event in the app).
  • I was very happy that a maid cafe was added. The line was a bit...insane, and I never got a chance to check it out. But I'm glad it was there and I hope to see it in the future. By comparison, the Hynes food area seemed somewhat empty when I walked by it. If that was a common theme this year, maybe it's work expanding the maid cafe space by taking over some of the Hynes food area.
  • As usual, the attendees were amazing, the staff was amazing, and all the cosplays were amazing. Thanks to everyone for sharing their fandom and being so accepting of everyone else.
CONS
  • The artist's alley layout just didn't work. I liked the "featured" area with more space (because some of my favorite artists were there), but the rest of the area suffered. I would suggest maybe eliminating that layout plan in favor of a more even layout that gives more space to all the tables. Additionally, I'd suggest making the row that lines up with the Sheraton entrance/exit even wider than the rest to accommodate the extra traffic flow (it seemed like it was a bit wider this year, but it didn't help enough).
  • The art auction was very anemic, and I saw that some artist's submitted works and refused to accept any sort of bidding process (for example, the minimum bid and buy it now prices were identical). I think that goes against the spirit of the whole thing. The art auction area was so phenomenal two years ago and has really gone downhill since. I know AB can really only work with what they're given, but maybe find some way to incentivize artists to supply more works.
  • As great as the new autograph policy is, there's got to be some way to make it easier for people to get tickets. As has been stated, 7 AM is just too early for some people to get autograph tickets.
  • We understand that some guests just cannot make their scheduled autograph sessions in the Dealer's Hall, but there should be some communication with the staff that are sitting there watching the tables because it can be frustrating to attendees to come look for a signing an hour after it was supposed to start, and the two staff members there just don't know what's going on. Please try to get guest schedule info to the staff that are dealing with congoers face-to-face.
  • Also not a fan of a concert before the masquerade. It creates conflicts of interest in regards to people trying to go to one or the other, and it doesn't seem like it's very fair to the performer either. I would suggest not doing that again.
  • The scheduling of panels was very disjointed. Dating Game was pushed up to 7 PM (which is way too early for a 21+ panel), and then there were panels that had no reason to be so late at night (like the travel hack one). This was the year that I went to the fewest panels in the past three years I've gone, and most of that is because the scheduling just didn't make sense. I understand the content is limited to what people are willing to offer, but that wasn't the issue. The panel schedule should make more sense based on content and interest.
  • Finally, while it's appreciated that the schedule is released on the website before it's uploaded to Guidebook (because Guidebook takes some time and effort), the posted schedule on the website was JUST AWFUL. Nobody is going to be able to really read a gigantic Excel spreadsheet in 8pt font. I think the website itself is due for a major overhaul, but the way the schedule was posted ahead of time was almost embarrassing.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Halloween Kitsune »

This was my 9th year attending AB and while some years were down hill, this year was...for lack of a better word, awesome. I took part in Cosplay events this year and had a HUGE blast. The security was on point, we got through very quickly, on all three days (we were running late on Sunday for Cosplay Chess and security got us through right quick). I have only one complaint. There were panels that we wanted to go to (upping your cosplay and other things that would have made our presence on stage that much better) but they were all during practices or events that we were part of. We missed every single one. If there is a way to coordinate when panels are, in juncture with events and practices...your cosplayers will help make your stage shows that much better. Aside from that, this year was awesome and can't wait to celebrate my 10th year of attending by being in more cosplay games!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Nemra »

AppleCherryPie wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 9:05 am I just wish the organization for taking the tickets at door was a little better.
Hi there!

Thanks for your feedback! :) can you elaborate more on this point? what do you believe can be different about it or what experiences did you have that led to that thought? is this about registration or just autographs? or do you mean getting session tickets for those that came in to register at the door instead of preregistering?
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Mirotic »

Sorry for making a second post, but I have a recommendation for autograph tickets.

The system now is better than the previous, but what about picking autograph tickets while registering online? We can pick our top choices and from there it can be a lottery as to who gets the tickets. Then, when we pick up our badges for the weekend we can pick up the tickets we got for autographs.

This is the way it works at other cons (lottery) and I was thinking perhaps it would work at AB as well.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by H. Guderian »

Mirotic wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:44 pm Sorry for making a second post, but I have a recommendation for autograph tickets.

The system now is better than the previous, but what about picking autograph tickets while registering online? We can pick our top choices and from there it can be a lottery as to who gets the tickets. Then, when we pick up our badges for the weekend we can pick up the tickets we got for autographs.

This is the way it works at other cons (lottery) and I was thinking perhaps it would work at AB as well.
I'd almost want to back that. Everyone likes them being early because this way you won't miss out on events and panels and meetups, which I can understand. The goal seems to be that we want everyone to attend more of the con by spreading out when some prep work occurs (ticketing) and don't want whole swathes of the population to miss out (too early). Registration currently works great, so maybe those side tables could handle that function, so it won't slow down the main operation.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Xias »

Mirotic wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:44 pm Sorry for making a second post, but I have a recommendation for autograph tickets.

The system now is better than the previous, but what about picking autograph tickets while registering online? We can pick our top choices and from there it can be a lottery as to who gets the tickets. Then, when we pick up our badges for the weekend we can pick up the tickets we got for autographs.

This is the way it works at other cons (lottery) and I was thinking perhaps it would work at AB as well.
The lottery idea has been suggested a number of times. The feedback from people who really care deeply about autographs has always been intensely negative, because they want some way to guarantee (whether it's waking up absurdly early like it was this year or standing in long lines as it was in previous years) that they can get it. If you ask thousands of attendees when they register if they'd like to enter a lottery for a "free autograph ticket", they probably will say yes whether they actually care at all about the guest or not. So I think that's probably a recipe for a lot of autograph tickets going to people who don't even bother to show up, which seems counterproductive.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by 1Imsrhaje »

The issue in selecting tickets when you register is guests are only announced a few months or even weeks before the con starts and I believe you could pre-register for 2019 during 2018 con. So, it is not going to work. Moving the time, IMO, best way, it has worked for the Masquerade and Concerts for a couple of years and hearing some guests only had 10 lined up breaks my heart.

Moving up even at 8am is way better than 7am.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by H. Guderian »

I used to line up for the Masquerade super early until they disliked that and did away with it.

Perhaps divide the tickets into batches. Send out a batch that latecomers can line up for, and then a different batch the ~following~ morning. So those commuters and people over 25 years of age can sleep and stress themselves to get to a midday ticket lineup. The other group that stays at the con and needs no sleep will be less likely to attack this set of tickets in the daytime, because they know they can line up early in the morning for the easier set of tickets.

As it stands either solution will completely exile the other group. So like ThursDay, or FriDay have set A, and then have the morning set the following morning. Doesn't even have to be a 50/50 ticket split, but at least gives the other group a chance. Instead of the current No Chance.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Skyebox »

Mirotic wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:44 pm Sorry for making a second post, but I have a recommendation for autograph tickets.

The system now is better than the previous, but what about picking autograph tickets while registering online? We can pick our top choices and from there it can be a lottery as to who gets the tickets. Then, when we pick up our badges for the weekend we can pick up the tickets we got for autographs.

This is the way it works at other cons (lottery) and I was thinking perhaps it would work at AB as well.
This is actually an idea that was discussed. I can't speak for GR, but from Registration's perspective we wanted to see if the system would work at all before we looked into making major changes to the pre-registration system. It appears that the new ticketing system has gotten quite a bit of positive feedback, so I highly suspect we will be revisiting this suggestion for next year. I can't make any guarantees, but I think it's worth looking into.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Master of NERV »

From where I'm standing, AB18 was arguably the smoothest-run con to date (and I've been to them all). I had no issues with lines, security, or staff--16 years of experience came together for the most carefree event I can remember.

The only issue I have involves the Sheraton, and even it isn't "responsible". The matter involved elevators on the 5th floor--especially if that's where your room is. ("Oh, crap" was my reaction when handed my key card.) I wasn't wrong, and I had to allow myself extra time to get anywhere during the weekend. I fully understand why the hotel doesn't want us on the 4th floor, but a staircase would be a big help.

Already pre-reged for next year. See you all there!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by chrisMcg80 »

Skyebox wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:50 pm
Mirotic wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:44 pm Sorry for making a second post, but I have a recommendation for autograph tickets.

The system now is better than the previous, but what about picking autograph tickets while registering online? We can pick our top choices and from there it can be a lottery as to who gets the tickets. Then, when we pick up our badges for the weekend we can pick up the tickets we got for autographs.

This is the way it works at other cons (lottery) and I was thinking perhaps it would work at AB as well.
This is actually an idea that was discussed. I can't speak for GR, but from Registration's perspective we wanted to see if the system would work at all before we looked into making major changes to the pre-registration system. It appears that the new ticketing system has gotten quite a bit of positive feedback, so I highly suspect we will be revisiting this suggestion for next year. I can't make any guarantees, but I think it's worth looking into.
I made an account to say that I will NOT support the lottery idea for autograph tickets
I can't believe this has been discussed among staff already, even AX does not pull that sh*t and they have over 100k attendees
Why would I leave it up to some random generator for whether or not I get autograph tickets?
This idea is worse than the policy you had before, at least that one had some sort of guarantee you'll get tickets even though you needed to line up early
DON'T RUIN IT FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT AUTOGRAPHS
AB is only once a year, I can deal with the lack of sleep and waiting in lines for 3 days
Sure, I am bummed that I didn't get JMT's but I blame it on myself for not going early, I still got KT and MR's though. If this was the lottery system, I might not even get any of the 3

As for times, whether it be 7 or 8, people are still going to camp out as early as 4, doesn't make a difference
I would just extend the distribution window to 11 or 12
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by BlondieSundae »

I have to echo the issue of the artist alley having bottlenecks, especially when the first aisle, the one where it makes most sense from the first door to take since traffic is going that way, is backed up and causing a traffic jam. I feel the issue was not photography in the aisles, but the size of the aisles themselves. Occasionally there were people clogging the aisles up just standing around and blabbing with each other, but mostly the aisles were so cramped if people were standing on both sides to look at art, you had the teeniest space to walk through.

I was in cosplay during my ventures to the artist alley (nothing huge, android 18 friday and ladybug saturday) but I felt people running in to me and shoving past me on more than one occasion while I was trying to view and purchase art (since artists are but one or two people you have to wait your turn and stand in front of of their table in order to make a purchase). This shoving definitely messed up my cosplay wig on multiple occasions, and I was sorely disappointed when I went back to my hotel room to find it falling apart. I can fix my wig, but I felt people's need to shove past in these tiny aisles and be slightly more disrespectful messed up something I worked hard on. Not to mention my friend was wearing a small back pack and was also shoved past multiple times, and almost over, because people were treating the backpack as something they could knock around, as if it wasn't attached to a person.

I get people occasionally need to get places fast, but I think to mitigate the issue of the artist alley aisles becoming to clogged and shovey, we should measure them all more properly and utilize the space with at least 5 feet of space between each so there is 1 foot on each side for bodies to stand still and view, and three feet of space (the bare minimum for emergency exists mind you) to walk through. There were definitely much larger aisles and very tiny aisles so I think the issue is how the space was allocated and everything should be measured exactly in order to give us the maximum aisle space without sacrificing artist tables.

Otherwise I had an excellent con, the security and getting in to the con was the fastest in years past since the stricter security was implemented, there were a few individuals of the prudential security which were more rude than others but this can't be helped.There will always be a few more rude apples in the bunch.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Master of NERV »

2pm
-Event -Event
-Event -Event
-Event -Event
-Event -Event

2:30pm
-Event
-Event

3pm
-Event
-Event
-Event
-Event
I too feel this idea should be given due consideration. My smartphone has a very limited data plan, so I don't download apps, and I rely on the Con Chowdah and displays by each room. Frankly, I walked into two panels 15 min/30 min late because of my misreading the lines on the Con Chowdah form.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Aurabolt »

Master of NERV wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 7:17 pm
2pm
-Event -Event
-Event -Event
-Event -Event
-Event -Event

2:30pm
-Event
-Event

3pm
-Event
-Event
-Event
-Event
I too feel this idea should be given due consideration. My smartphone has a very limited data plan, so I don't download apps, and I rely on the Con Chowdah and displays by each room. Frankly, I walked into two panels 15 min/30 min late because of my misreading the lines on the Con Chowdah form.
...I have the Guidebook App on my iPad (Wi-Fi). I didn't notice any changes during con this year personally but I learned a few years ago not to rely on Con Chowdah since there can be changes during con. It happened two years in a row with a panel I personally ran actually.

All that said, the displays are probably the safest bet if you don't have the Guidebook App.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Huntress »

As many others have stated, great job with the con entrance lines this year!

Room for improvement:

Clearly mark your VIP areas! On Sunday I arrived at the Wada & Williams concert at 12:30 and got a great seat at the end of the 2nd to last row in one of the middle sections (not the last row which was clearly taped off). After sitting there for 20min (T-10min to the start of the show), a staffer finally came along and said that that was a VIP row and I needed to move (actually, she never talked to me specifically, but to others who had come along and sat there as well). No where was there any indication of it being a VIP row. At the very least you should place a "VIP Row" sign on the seat at the ends of the VIP rows so we know to look elsewhere and not have to scramble for a seat last minute....

Do Not Start Programming Early!!!! Room staff knows the room's time schedule, please stick to that! On 3 separate occasions the panel/video started significantly earlier that was posted in the printed schedule, in the guidebook app, and listed outside the door:
1) I was in line for Friday's Crunchyroll Industry panel at 1pm, was let into the room at 1:20pm, and the panelist was just about done with the presentation part of her panel that wasn't supposed to start until 1:30pm because she had stared at 1pm instead and was leaving the 2nd half of her panel for conversation. There were a lot of other people that missed out on the panel because of this as well....
2) After attending the Inuyasha panel on Saturday morning I then went to the video room that was going to be screening the show. I arrived 10min before it was supposed to start only to walk into the last few minutes of the first episode..... (which they then replayed at the end because there was so much time left over until the next showing)
3) I went to watch Free Sunday morning, which did start at the posted time. However, when it ended 10min earlier than posted the room staff immediately started playing the next item.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Skyebox »

chrisMcg80 wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:47 pm
Skyebox wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:50 pm
Mirotic wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:44 pm Sorry for making a second post, but I have a recommendation for autograph tickets.

The system now is better than the previous, but what about picking autograph tickets while registering online? We can pick our top choices and from there it can be a lottery as to who gets the tickets. Then, when we pick up our badges for the weekend we can pick up the tickets we got for autographs.

This is the way it works at other cons (lottery) and I was thinking perhaps it would work at AB as well.
This is actually an idea that was discussed. I can't speak for GR, but from Registration's perspective we wanted to see if the system would work at all before we looked into making major changes to the pre-registration system. It appears that the new ticketing system has gotten quite a bit of positive feedback, so I highly suspect we will be revisiting this suggestion for next year. I can't make any guarantees, but I think it's worth looking into.
I made an account to say that I will NOT support the lottery idea for autograph tickets
I can't believe this has been discussed among staff already, even AX does not pull that sh*t and they have over 100k attendees
I should have clarified further - when I mentioned we had spoken about this idea previously, I meant we had discussed possibly allowing people select autograph tickets during pre-registration, *not* doing it completely by lottery.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kalyoth »

I first state this is not an attack upon an individual or group, just an expression of frustration having read this proposal from multiple communities, from multiple events world-wide, that seem to adore its usage...

~shakes head - Why oh why does everything wrong always come down to someone proposing a lottery to fix the problem? I find that just because it happens to be "claimed to work" for x parties that use them, I would likely be correct to assume that there is also the other half of a community that intensely dislikes that system. Every event has a similar, but different staff producing, mission statement to fulfill, audience to provide for & overall community expectation to be met. No one solution is perfect for everyone. The solution implemented must embrace the community that cares for the programming as it's main attraction.

For those who appreciate autographs as their main attraction (just as passionate as Artists, Cosplayers, Panelists, Gamers, Concert Goers & Dealer's Room), a lottery will definitely bring that faction's negativity raining down. It would also likely result in a significant group of people that will not utilize the ticket, even having a ticket from the lottery, because the timing doesn't work for their other main attraction activities. For those who feel for guests with short lines, the lottery nearly guarantees this will repeat & perhaps become worse over time.

Hypothetical - lottery exists & you have a ticket, timing doesn't work for you - black market autograph ticket sales begin from those looking to scalp the known demand for access. Yes, this occurs at many of those same events with a lottery. Many of those events are also produced by For-Profit organizations. Guests would likely require they benefit from their appearance & poof - free autographs now gone forever.

Add to this an additional fact - a severe hit upon preregistration due to the system being changed to award tickets - now being dependent upon knowing who the guests are before even registering - to make a selection for a lottery award system. Also leading into attacks upon the discount schedule over time - registration is non-refundable - ensures significant last minute preregistration - perhaps good to profit as an event, not beneficial to the community seeking to take advantage of discounts for planning in advance.

Do we have a community disgruntled over change? Yes - Do we have a community that also greatly appreciated the attention & effort put into the changes? Yes. I would propose this: let our friends at New England Anime Society (NEAS) meet, discuss & engage us with how they interact on the backside of production attendees are not a part of, present the issues they interact with prior to it reaching involving attendees & defer to their decisions because, in the end, they have access to the most significant amount of information to base decisions made & are always willing to listen to the community & revisit for future years. They produce this event for us all. Please let it continue to be their event & not just a clone of someone else's....Thank You.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by MistyKristiCosplay »

Most of my feedback is positive though since this was my best Anime Boston since my first Anime Boston in 2013....

PROS

-Security was perfect this year, I never waited in a line for more than 5 minutes, even on Friday morning, everything moved smoothly and orderly

- Security Staff, Hynes staff, and Anime Boston were very pleasant and polite, which is always a wonderful thing.

- Artist's Alley this year had a ton of variety and selection, it was more apparent this year than in other years for me at least.

- Having photoshoots posted on the guidebook was a neat feature, especially since I tend to be a bit scatterbrained and I like to have reminders on thing such as photo shoots.

- The Cosplay Games, technically this is a pro for me every year but the games are always so entertaining that I had to include them.

CONS

- Even though I was happy to see more variety of art in the Artist's Alley, I felt that especially this year that the traffic flow in AA was worse than in past years, there were many times where traffic was brought to a standstill due to the narrow aisles.

- Please format the schedule on the website to be more legible, I know the guidebook app exists as I utilized it during the weekend but, since the schedule for the website came out a week before the Guidebook app schedule was out, a better format should be used rather than an excel spreadsheet with 8 pt font.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by chrisMcg80 »

Skyebox wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 9:43 pm
chrisMcg80 wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:47 pm
Skyebox wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:50 pm
Mirotic wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:44 pm Sorry for making a second post, but I have a recommendation for autograph tickets.

The system now is better than the previous, but what about picking autograph tickets while registering online? We can pick our top choices and from there it can be a lottery as to who gets the tickets. Then, when we pick up our badges for the weekend we can pick up the tickets we got for autographs.

This is the way it works at other cons (lottery) and I was thinking perhaps it would work at AB as well.
This is actually an idea that was discussed. I can't speak for GR, but from Registration's perspective we wanted to see if the system would work at all before we looked into making major changes to the pre-registration system. It appears that the new ticketing system has gotten quite a bit of positive feedback, so I highly suspect we will be revisiting this suggestion for next year. I can't make any guarantees, but I think it's worth looking into.
I made an account to say that I will NOT support the lottery idea for autograph tickets
I can't believe this has been discussed among staff already, even AX does not pull that sh*t and they have over 100k attendees
I should have clarified further - when I mentioned we had spoken about this idea previously, I meant we had discussed possibly allowing people select autograph tickets during pre-registration, *not* doing it completely by lottery.
V bad idea, majority of the guests aren't revealed until 1-2 months before con
Unless you want us to register late and pay more

Just distribute the tickets during the con, lining up for autographs is part of the con experience
Selecting tickets during pre-reg or having your fate decided by lottery just reeks of laziness
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by H. Guderian »

I don't think anyone is saying 'select your autograph months in advance for unknown persons.' I feel people are trying to insert the worst arguments for the other side because the current system is in their favor.yeah when I had no kids or pets I could say line up at 3am. This isn't like a one-time premiere. This is all of the autographs for now until the policy changes.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by animosc »

Mirotic wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:44 pm The system now is better than the previous, but what about picking autograph tickets while registering online? We can pick our top choices and from there it can be a lottery as to who gets the tickets. Then, when we pick up our badges for the weekend we can pick up the tickets we got for autographs.
I hope a lottery system doesn't get adopted. If you think it's hard to get autographs now, wait until you have to compete with thousands of other people. It's easy to click a button on a computer to choose to enter a lottery. Some people, who may even have no knowledge of who the guests are, may enter a lottery just because it gives them something to do and because entering is so easy. There are disadvantages to making things "too easy", and this is one of them.

Xias wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 3:17 pm The lottery idea has been suggested a number of times. The feedback from people who really care deeply about autographs has always been intensely negative, because they want some way to guarantee (whether it's waking up absurdly early like it was this year or standing in long lines as it was in previous years) that they can get it. If you ask thousands of attendees when they register if they'd like to enter a lottery for a "free autograph ticket", they probably will say yes whether they actually care at all about the guest or not. So I think that's probably a recipe for a lot of autograph tickets going to people who don't even bother to show up, which seems counterproductive.
Exactly. There are other logistical problems to lotteries too, like how to assign and disburse the tickets to the winners.

chrisMcg80 wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:47 pm I made an account to say that I will NOT support the lottery idea for autograph tickets
I can't believe this has been discussed among staff already, even AX does not pull that sh*t and they have over 100k attendees
Why would I leave it up to some random generator for whether or not I get autograph tickets?
This idea is worse than the policy you had before, at least that one had some sort of guarantee you'll get tickets even though you needed to line up early
DON'T RUIN IT FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT AUTOGRAPHS
AB is only once a year, I can deal with the lack of sleep and waiting in lines for 3 days
Thank you! This is so true. I've camped out for tickets at other conventions like AX and I would happily do so again in a heartbeat. Others around me all agreed. This was a convention experience that we bonded over.

Skyebox wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 9:43 pm I should have clarified further - when I mentioned we had spoken about this idea previously, I meant we had discussed possibly allowing people select autograph tickets during pre-registration, *not* doing it completely by lottery.
While I don't doubt that the registration system makes this doable, I don't think it would be successful unless you announced every single guest at the onset of registration. Now that would be undoable. Otherwise, how would people be able to select which autographs they wanted? Early registrants would miss out on later guest announcements.

Kalyoth wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:02 pm Why oh why does everything wrong always come down to someone proposing a lottery to fix the problem? I find that just because it happens to be "claimed to work" for x parties that use them, I would likely be correct to assume that there is also the other half of a community that intensely dislikes that system. Every event has a similar, but different staff producing, mission statement to fulfill, audience to provide for & overall community expectation to be met. No one solution is perfect for everyone. The solution implemented must embrace the community that cares for the programming as it's main attraction.

For those who appreciate autographs as their main attraction (just as passionate as Artists, Cosplayers, Panelists, Gamers, Concert Goers & Dealer's Room), a lottery will definitely bring that faction's negativity raining down.
Good point. The goals of the cons who use lotteries are probably different. If AB is going to consider lotteries, AB might as well consider the comic-con-style tables where the guests just sit there all day and sign for money. That's another system that works. But is this something that AB attendees want?
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by NutellaTurtle »

The Bad:
Super congested Artist Alley. Hard to get to some of the booths

Photo Suite ( Again) : This year the photo suite failed to deliver again. Except not with printing problems ( Like last year) but now an apparent glitch in getting people their photos according to the email they gave me. Still waiting for those photos I paid for.

Typo: Last day of the con in the printed schedule the Video Game Room was supposed to close at a certain time but it closed an hour earlier than what was on the printed schedule. However the guidebook app has the time that they closed different from the printed schedule. There was no sign saying that were closed so people still came only to get turned away. That typo in the schedule was bad.


THE Good:
Everything else.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Nemra »

while we appreciate the passionate debate about autographs, rest assured that there are several discussions happening regarding that internally and Skye only mentioned one. Many of the systems/ideas/tweaks suggested here were also brought up internally before/at-con and as of right now, we haven't had a big meeting to discuss what our next steps are or how to tweak the system for the better yet.

To respond to the "early registrants would miss out" fear, it would work similarly to how formal ball tickets are reserved online so no one would be missing out on anything even if you registered earlier than any of the guest announcements.

Now, lets get back onto the feedback discussion on what worked and what didn't at AB2018 and not derail the thread into an autograph system discussion. If anyone would like to start a different thread specifically for autographs so that staff can listen in to the discussion, please feel free to do so!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Faceman »

As far as the online schedule goes, we're aware it needs to be updated. As someone surmised, it is kind of a Web 1.0 version, whereas other portions of the website have been updated more recently.

It's something we're going to take time to figure how to best address it in the upcoming year. We do appreciate all of your feedback though!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Aurabolt »

Nemra wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:46 am If anyone would like to start a different thread specifically for autographs so that staff can listen in to the discussion, please feel free to do so!
Someone did: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22730

If possible, feel free to migrate comments that only talk about that to the new thread ^_~
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Xias »

Overall I thought this was another really good year. Last year was quite good as well so whatever AB has been doing lately, especially in regards to the security improvements, should require very little adjustments going forward. For the second straight year I had the security "fast pass" as a panelist and yet only had to use it a couple of times, and even then if I didn't have the fast pass I could have easily gone to a different entrance and likely gotten in pretty quickly. It was nice to have to skip the line the few times I used the main mall entrance, but I never even encountered a line at the front or Artist Alleys entrances that would warrant using it.

Speaking of the AA entrance, I saw someone else earlier complaining about people bumping into folks because they're trying to get where they're going and the lanes aren't wide enough. I would echo this minor complaint in that I think it would be nice to get at least one wide lane in the AA. People use it just to pass through between the Hynes and the Sheraton as it's very convenient, putting you right on the second floor of the Hynes from the third floor of the Sheraton, but I found a few times traveling through it with my laptop bag (which I needed to host my panels) that getting through the crowds of people who are slowly browsing the artists' alley was not always easy. I tried not to bump into anyone but I certainly see how that might have happened, given how many times I saw traffic jams of people trying to get by the folks who were trying to browse. I'm not sure if there's an easy solution to this but it's the only thing close to a negative issue that I experienced during the convention, so I felt like it warranted bringing up.

On the positive side again, wanted to give a quick shoutout to the panel room tech team for doing a great job this year, especially in pre-con preparation! The new upgrade to HDMI projectors in every room, even the Hynes (in previous years only the Sheraton panel rooms had HDMI) made things SO much smoother, as it became just hooking in two wires to my laptop and boom I was ready to go each time. That's a lot easier to set up than dealing with HDMI to VGA, and all my presentations and videos looked great in every room. Keep up the great work!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by midnightsiren182 »

Hey everyone, friendly neighborhood Vice Chair here.

Just wanted to pop in and say thanks to everyone contributing to the feedback. We're really pleased to hear a lot of you have noticed we've been working to improve your experiences with several things, and this thread and others are really instrumental to that so keep it coming!

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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by animosc »

Nemra wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:46 am To respond to the "early registrants would miss out" fear, it would work similarly to how formal ball tickets are reserved online so no one would be missing out on anything even if you registered earlier than any of the guest announcements.
I haven't participated in the formal ball before. How do those tickets work?
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by tehscribbles »

Schedule person here!

I'll give a little insight to the schedule. 18+ content has alot of rules that I have to follow in order to have it on the schedule. We are restricted to the 3rd floor of the Hynes and the Sheraton for 18+ content and I can't started before 8pm. (Cosplay dating game was an exception this year starting at 7pm). So you won't see 18+ content starting during the day because of that reason. Programming hears you on the Hentai Dubbing, we have it on our long list of fun things to add to the convention. :) As for rating of 18+ content, many people prefer to play is safe then not. So if there is discussing of mature content, 18+ is applied where there might not be hentai and gore actually in there, just mature themes and discussions that are not suitable for all ages.

As for panels, I follow what people want as preferred time slots as much as possible. If there is like content, it happens. There were a number of events and panels that needed to be switched around, so after switching and what times are free, sometimes you end up with like content against like.

For starting programming early, it's up to the panelists or presenter when they want to start their panel, so long as they end on time. I put 30 mins break between rooms so people have time to shuffle between panels that they want to see. (And to air out the room, give tech a break, extra wiggle room, etc).

Hope that helps!
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by runicmagitek »

tehscribbles wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:03 am Schedule person here!

I'll give a little insight to the schedule. 18+ content has alot of rules that I have to follow in order to have it on the schedule. We are restricted to the 3rd floor of the Hynes and the Sheraton for 18+ content and I can't started before 8pm. (Cosplay dating game was an exception this year starting at 7pm). So you won't see 18+ content starting during the day because of that reason. Programming hears you on the Hentai Dubbing, we have it on our long list of fun things to add to the convention. :) As for rating of 18+ content, many people prefer to play is safe then not. So if there is discussing of mature content, 18+ is applied where there might not be hentai and gore actually in there, just mature themes and discussions that are not suitable for all ages.
*raises hand* So what about some of the late night panels that aren't hentai or don't really seem like the mature themes type? Just from skimming the schedule on the website, there are things like, Japan, Ice Hockey, and the Asia League at 11pm or Breaking Boundaries in Video Games at 12:30am or More Japan Travel Tips! at 10:30pm. Was it just those panels drew the short straw in terms of timing or were they actually considered "mature" to some degree and thus given those spots?
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by lordofvt »

runicmagitek wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:44 pm
tehscribbles wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:03 am Schedule person here!

I'll give a little insight to the schedule. 18+ content has alot of rules that I have to follow in order to have it on the schedule. We are restricted to the 3rd floor of the Hynes and the Sheraton for 18+ content and I can't started before 8pm. (Cosplay dating game was an exception this year starting at 7pm). So you won't see 18+ content starting during the day because of that reason. Programming hears you on the Hentai Dubbing, we have it on our long list of fun things to add to the convention. :) As for rating of 18+ content, many people prefer to play is safe then not. So if there is discussing of mature content, 18+ is applied where there might not be hentai and gore actually in there, just mature themes and discussions that are not suitable for all ages.
*raises hand* So what about some of the late night panels that aren't hentai or don't really seem like the mature themes type? Just from skimming the schedule on the website, there are things like, Japan, Ice Hockey, and the Asia League at 11pm or Breaking Boundaries in Video Games at 12:30am or More Japan Travel Tips! at 10:30pm. Was it just those panels drew the short straw in terms of timing or were they actually considered "mature" to some degree and thus given those spots?
No one was "drew the short straw". Every panelist in their application says what their availability is, and these panels were given their time based on their availability. It wasn't that they were considered mature themes. In fact they were chosen specifically that they were not 18+.

Feedback in the past is there wasn't anything for an all ages crowd late at night. Adding in some non-adult programming for the whole night was to address these concerns from prior years where all there was to see was 18+ events.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Rosabelle3344 »

lordofvt wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 5:37 pm
runicmagitek wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:44 pm
tehscribbles wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:03 am Schedule person here!

I'll give a little insight to the schedule. 18+ content has alot of rules that I have to follow in order to have it on the schedule. We are restricted to the 3rd floor of the Hynes and the Sheraton for 18+ content and I can't started before 8pm. (Cosplay dating game was an exception this year starting at 7pm). So you won't see 18+ content starting during the day because of that reason. Programming hears you on the Hentai Dubbing, we have it on our long list of fun things to add to the convention. :) As for rating of 18+ content, many people prefer to play is safe then not. So if there is discussing of mature content, 18+ is applied where there might not be hentai and gore actually in there, just mature themes and discussions that are not suitable for all ages.
*raises hand* So what about some of the late night panels that aren't hentai or don't really seem like the mature themes type? Just from skimming the schedule on the website, there are things like, Japan, Ice Hockey, and the Asia League at 11pm or Breaking Boundaries in Video Games at 12:30am or More Japan Travel Tips! at 10:30pm. Was it just those panels drew the short straw in terms of timing or were they actually considered "mature" to some degree and thus given those spots?
No one was "drew the short straw". Every panelist in their application says what their availability is, and these panels were given their time based on their availability. It wasn't that they were considered mature themes. In fact they were chosen specifically that they were not 18+.

Feedback in the past is there wasn't anything for an all ages crowd late at night. Adding in some non-adult programming for the whole night was to address these concerns from prior years where all there was to see was 18+ events.
I appreciated that I could go to a historical kimono panel at 9pm Saturday night! Don't care too much about hentai or game shows, or the masquerade... so definitely liked that there was late night variety.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kamica »

Getting down from the 5th floor of the Sheraton is truly a nightmare assuming you follow the 8-person elevator limit rule. No exaggeration to say that you could end up waiting 20-30 minutes. The only possible solution is probably to make one set of stairs available.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Thrillho »

Kamica wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 7:01 pm Getting down from the 5th floor of the Sheraton is truly a nightmare assuming you follow the 8-person elevator limit rule. No exaggeration to say that you could end up waiting 20-30 minutes. The only possible solution is probably to make one set of stairs available.
Dare I ask why the stairs are closed off?
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Kamica »

Thrillho wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:25 pm
Kamica wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 7:01 pm Getting down from the 5th floor of the Sheraton is truly a nightmare assuming you follow the 8-person elevator limit rule. No exaggeration to say that you could end up waiting 20-30 minutes. The only possible solution is probably to make one set of stairs available.
Dare I ask why the stairs are closed off?
There are signs around saying that the stairs are only for emergencies. So i'm guessing the stairs are closed off simply for safety reasons.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by H. Guderian »

I think they're staff-only stairs? I wind up going to those 5th-floor panel rooms a lot as I hosted up there twice this year. Getting down is much harder than getting up. If they even opened up the stairs for 1-way traffic to go down I think those rooms would get more use. Getting on the elevators as they empty on Flr 1-2-3 is easy peasy when you want to go up. But everything is always full if you're on floor 5 and want to go down. Sticking a rope out of a window and climbing down outside might need consideration to get off that floor.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Master of NERV »

Thrillho wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:25 pm
Kamica wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 7:01 pm Getting down from the 5th floor of the Sheraton is truly a nightmare assuming you follow the 8-person elevator limit rule. No exaggeration to say that you could end up waiting 20-30 minutes. The only possible solution is probably to make one set of stairs available.
Dare I ask why the stairs are closed off?
Stairwells down from the 5th floor lead to the 4th, which is off limits to guests except for emergencies. It contains the support facilities for the hotel: maintenance, laundry, etc. Notice the guest elevators go directly from the 5th floor to the 3rd.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Master of NERV »

H. Guderian wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:43 pmBut everything is always full if you're on floor 5 and want to go down. Sticking a rope out of a window and climbing down outside might need consideration to get off that floor.
Tell me about it. I'd try flying out a window, but gravity's a harsh mistress. :mrgreen:
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by H. Guderian »

After a dozen elevator cars full of people pass me by, the odds start looking better. "Maybe this time I'll bounce on the pavement and walk it off"
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by FiretoIce »

H. Guderian wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:30 pm After a dozen elevator cars full of people pass me by, the odds start looking better. "Maybe this time I'll bounce on the pavement and walk it off"
I was on the 25th floor and by Friday afternoon I figured out a trick. Go up one floor, either by stair or elevator, the cleaning staff were super friendly and understanding so long as it was only one floor, then take the 26-whatever only elevators fast line down to the ground floor. My longest wait was maybe 5 minutes when a wedding party were going out together and wanted pictures in the hall.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by runicmagitek »

lordofvt wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 5:37 pm
runicmagitek wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:44 pm
tehscribbles wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:03 am Schedule person here!

I'll give a little insight to the schedule. 18+ content has alot of rules that I have to follow in order to have it on the schedule. We are restricted to the 3rd floor of the Hynes and the Sheraton for 18+ content and I can't started before 8pm. (Cosplay dating game was an exception this year starting at 7pm). So you won't see 18+ content starting during the day because of that reason. Programming hears you on the Hentai Dubbing, we have it on our long list of fun things to add to the convention. :) As for rating of 18+ content, many people prefer to play is safe then not. So if there is discussing of mature content, 18+ is applied where there might not be hentai and gore actually in there, just mature themes and discussions that are not suitable for all ages.
*raises hand* So what about some of the late night panels that aren't hentai or don't really seem like the mature themes type? Just from skimming the schedule on the website, there are things like, Japan, Ice Hockey, and the Asia League at 11pm or Breaking Boundaries in Video Games at 12:30am or More Japan Travel Tips! at 10:30pm. Was it just those panels drew the short straw in terms of timing or were they actually considered "mature" to some degree and thus given those spots?
No one was "drew the short straw". Every panelist in their application says what their availability is, and these panels were given their time based on their availability. It wasn't that they were considered mature themes. In fact they were chosen specifically that they were not 18+.

Feedback in the past is there wasn't anything for an all ages crowd late at night. Adding in some non-adult programming for the whole night was to address these concerns from prior years where all there was to see was 18+ events.
Many thanks for the info! I had no idea how the process went in regards to panels and their assigned times, thus I was curious. I know one of my friends was really interested in the More Japan Travel Tips panel, but was put off by how late it was. Then again, I'm not the person to be asking for input when it comes to general panels, seeing my priorities lie more in the art and cosplay-centric bits. Thanks again!
1/4 of Curtain Call Cosplay

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

Post by Xias »

runicmagitek wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 7:49 am
lordofvt wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 5:37 pm
runicmagitek wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:44 pm
tehscribbles wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:03 am Schedule person here!

I'll give a little insight to the schedule. 18+ content has alot of rules that I have to follow in order to have it on the schedule. We are restricted to the 3rd floor of the Hynes and the Sheraton for 18+ content and I can't started before 8pm. (Cosplay dating game was an exception this year starting at 7pm). So you won't see 18+ content starting during the day because of that reason. Programming hears you on the Hentai Dubbing, we have it on our long list of fun things to add to the convention. :) As for rating of 18+ content, many people prefer to play is safe then not. So if there is discussing of mature content, 18+ is applied where there might not be hentai and gore actually in there, just mature themes and discussions that are not suitable for all ages.
*raises hand* So what about some of the late night panels that aren't hentai or don't really seem like the mature themes type? Just from skimming the schedule on the website, there are things like, Japan, Ice Hockey, and the Asia League at 11pm or Breaking Boundaries in Video Games at 12:30am or More Japan Travel Tips! at 10:30pm. Was it just those panels drew the short straw in terms of timing or were they actually considered "mature" to some degree and thus given those spots?
No one was "drew the short straw". Every panelist in their application says what their availability is, and these panels were given their time based on their availability. It wasn't that they were considered mature themes. In fact they were chosen specifically that they were not 18+.

Feedback in the past is there wasn't anything for an all ages crowd late at night. Adding in some non-adult programming for the whole night was to address these concerns from prior years where all there was to see was 18+ events.
Many thanks for the info! I had no idea how the process went in regards to panels and their assigned times, thus I was curious. I know one of my friends was really interested in the More Japan Travel Tips panel, but was put off by how late it was. Then again, I'm not the person to be asking for input when it comes to general panels, seeing my priorities lie more in the art and cosplay-centric bits. Thanks again!
As the panelist for said travel panel, I do want to note that we actually got a pretty good turnout. Not a full room by any stretch but way more people than I expected for a travel panel that ran from 10:30 at night till midnight on Saturday. I have to admit that I was skeptical too when I first saw that timeslot, but it worked out pretty well.
Panelist, Anime Boston 2014-2019
Presenting 3 panels at AB 2019
-New Japan Pro Wrestling
-Japan Travel Tips: Planning Your First Trip
-Bemani: From DDR to IIDX to SDVX
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Nemra
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Nemra »

I've edited the opening post to include a survey. If you could all also participate in it, that would be grand!

Be sure to spread the word to your friends! The more people we have responding, the better we can be at putting on this show for you all!
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tetsujin
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by tetsujin »

Thrillho wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:31 am CONS
The art auction was very anemic, and I saw that some artist's submitted works and refused to accept any sort of bidding process (...). I think that goes against the spirit of the whole thing. The art auction area was so phenomenal two years ago and has really gone downhill since. I know AB can really only work with what they're given, but maybe find some way to incentivize artists to supply more works.
If you'd like to see more art in the art show, the most straightforward solution would be to make some art and bring it to the art show. :) Though I guess if you're thinking of incentives for other people to participate in the Art Show - maybe if the sale commission were smaller? (I appreciate the value of selling work at a big venue like the con, so I don't personally begrudge them that 20%, but money is a simple and effective "incentive"...)

The thing about the auction system is, it doesn't really work in sellers' favor unless multiple bidders get in a bidding war. Smart bidders will wait until the end of the auction to avoid contributing to the increase of the sale price, and then try to snipe the auction. So sellers can get seriously low-balled if they don't set a starting price they'll really be happy with.

And then there's the question, if the seller is happy with the starting price, is it really worth having an auction to see if someone will pay more? If it's sold at auction, it's not sold until Sunday, which means nobody who can't attend on Sunday can even consider buying the thing. It also introduces the risk of a buyer either accidentally or intentionally failing to show up to pay for the thing, most likely derailing the whole sale process. So I think there are big natural incentives for sellers to avoid the auction process altogether, frankly!

I had stuff in the art show this year and last, and it was all not for sale. I've been told that some people expressed some frustration about that... And if people really would be willing to pay a good price for what I make, then I would like to try my hand at selling something at some point. (I actually was going to do so last year, but the piece I'd planned to sell wasn't finished in time.) But the Art Show does give artists the option to show their stuff in the art show and not sell it - and I hope that continues to be the case. I want to show my art. (It's an Art Show, right?) Right now I honestly just don't get a lot done, so when I do get something done I don't part with it easily. I'm skeptical that there would be buyers willing to pay what I'm likely to ask (plus 25% to cover that commission). But I want people to see my work, I want the kind of work I do to have more of a presence at the con, and I want to contribute to the overall vitality of the Art Show, so I make the effort to participate.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Pywackett-Barchetta »

I'm gonna have to concur with people on the sheer difficulty of reading that schedule. Even across the web posting and the Guidebook app and the actual physical guidebook, there were a ton of events that I entirely missed, not even realizing they existed until the AB Tumblr did a write-up about them afterwards.

Getting in and out of the convention was brisk and easy, and the bag check staff were super considerate and helpful. That is absolutely a massive plus.

Photoshoots were more easily organized than ever, at least from the Touhou Project fandom. The actual shoot locations on the schedule weren't at all helpful, though; "Location: Venus" gave me no information, but a random guess that it was the same place as previous years led me to a sign reading "Venus". I heard one friend mention attending the Ace Attorney photoshoot and finding absolutely nobody, so I wonder if that was disinterest or just location confusion. Either way, just having the photoshoot sign there did help clear out non-photoshoot people, which is major.

The Dealer's Room and Artist's Alley were completely confusing to navigate and an utter mess in that regard, but the actual wares within were consistently pretty nice. Not much I was looking for, but that's more an issue of the stock the vendors chose to bring than the choice of vendors. Absolutely a fun time there and I loitered there a lot.

Games Room felt... sparse, this year. A good few arcade cabinets, always occupied. Felt like there was more of the Touhou Road Shou than, like, most other things. I might be biased from Otakon 2017's overkill variety, though.

I dunno. It might just be fatigue from attending on-and-off since Anime Boston 2008, but both the biggest negatives and best positives of my weekend didn't happen at the convention, so it just felt kinda... existent. The "to the stars" theme got somewhat muddled by the sheer amount of My Hero Academia advertising everywhere, so it didn't feel consistent. I feel like can't really point out much that made this con unique, but I will very, very gladly note the logistics for getting in and out were very, very nice this time, so that bodes well for the future.
Host of Human Kaiju: Giants and Fetishism at Anime Boston 2015.
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by toasty-coconut »

A little late to the party, but here to offer my con feedback for AB 2018! Had to make a new account because I couldn't figure out my old account information haha. Anyways, here goes!

PROS:
  • Security was a total breeze this year! Getting in and out of the con was simple and quick. Security has definitely improved by miles since Line Con 2.0 of 2016, and I really appreciate it. I know some people take issue with bag check and the metal detectors, but personally, I'm incredibly grateful to Anime Boston and the Hynes for doing everything in their power to keep us safe. I was actually at the Pokemon World Championships back in 2015 when the gun-threat incident happened. It was really scary to know that something like that could have happened at an event like a Pokemon tournament. In the day and age we're living in I don't mind the extra precautions of bag checks and metal detectors. It makes me feel really safe when I'm inside the convention center and lets me enjoy my time there without anxiety! But I'm also glad that staff is able to do it so quickly and efficiently! I can't imagine it's easy! So thank you for that!
  • Badge pick-up moved so quickly this year! Thanks for being efficient at all hours of each day!
  • In 2017 I noticed there were a lot of vendors in the dealer's room selling knock-off/bootleg merch and stolen artwork. This year though, I didn't notice any! (Not to say there weren't any, I just didn't happen to see them if there were.) So good job weeding out the sellers who may have been trying to rip people off or were attempting to sell stolen art. It made my move around the dealer's room a lot more enjoyable.
  • I felt like the lines for big events like the Masquerade and AMV Contest weren't as overwhelming this year. In past years, I've needed to get in line for said events nearly two hours in advance to guarantee a good seat, but this year I was able to get in line around a half hour before seating began for all of the big events I went to, and still got good seats! I'm not sure if that's on part of Anime Boston or if there are maybe just fewer people going to these events/lining up for these events early? But regardless, it was nice to know I didn't have to worry about wasting time sitting in line for over an hour. On that topic, it seemed like staff did a better job handling long lines this year, too. In past years, I've had issues with staff being a little too strict about line policies, making it nearly impossible to get out of line just to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water without losing your place. But staff seemed a lot more lenient this year, while also still enforcing the 2/3 people side-by-side rule (which is totally understandable). Not needing to worry about getting chewed out by staff to run to the bathroom really quick while in line took a big weight off my shoulders. One suggestion I might have for major event lines would be to have a start time on the schedule for when people are actually allowed to start lining up? It would prevent a lot of hall traffic that lines cause, as well as giving people a general idea of when they should line up for a big event to get a good seat.
  • Anime Boston's social media team did an awesome job of making things clear to convention-goers this year, especially on Twitter! Definitely keep that up!
  • I really appreciate you guys moving Anime Unscripted to being an afternoon event instead of it being right before the AMV Contest on Friday. Having two events back to back in the same hall was always kind of a pain for me since I liked attending both. Scheduling things like dinner and line-up time before said events was pretty stressful, so now that they're separated there's more breathing room. Thanks for that!
  • Am I totally crazy, or did the Dealer's Room and Artists' Alley have extended time frames this year? I never remember them being open that late before? But maybe my memory is just foggy. But if that is the case, the extended hours were really nice and gave people something to do/a place to walk around during most hours of attendance at the con. If I am just crazy though, then disregard that lol Regardless though, I love the Dealer's Room and Artists' Alley hours!
  • Just a little thing, but I loved the decorations in the main auditorium to fit the space theme! The starry curtains were beautiful!
  • It's not really a convention technicality, but I was able to meet up with about 13 of my friends who came from out of state! For many of them, this was their first con/first major con, and Anime Boston was able to provide them with a really wonderful convention experience that I know they're all going to treasure for many years! Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to meet, and providing them all with such a fun and memorable time!
CONS/THINGS THAT COULD USE WORK:
  • I know I'm beating the dead horse, but the scheduling format really needs a revamp. It's always been fairly difficult to read, and I think simplifying it a lot could be of great help to con-goers. I also see people discussing an app, and I wasn't even aware that one existed for Anime Boston? Making that clearer to people and putting a big emphasis on it next year would definitely be useful! I have a lot I could say about the schedule, but I don't wanna harp on it too much since people on here have kinda already said what needs to be said about it.
  • Also another topic that I'm seeing a lot of discussions around is the set-up of the Artists' Alley. It definitely needs work, as it was really difficult to move around in--especially on Saturday. Is there possibly a bigger room that it could be moved to? Especially since it's such an essential piece of the con. But if that isn't a possibility, some remapping in its current room is totally doable, I think.
  • It might just be me, but I felt like there wasn't as much variety in the Dealers' Room this year as there have been in past years. Of course, that could be a part of the process of weeding out the people selling bootleg/knock-off/stolen merch/art, in which case it's completely understandable. But I felt like I was seeing a lot of the same thing over and over again at different vendor booths (pop figure, after pop figure, after pop figure, after pop figure...). Again though, that might just be me. There were a lot of really great booths I hadn't seen at the con in past years who offered some awesome stuff. I loved that a few of the booths had gacha machines! Nice touch! Stuff like that is what really gives a booth variety I like seeing. More of unique things like that would be spectacular.
  • Also on the topic of the dealer's room, it would be nice if the booths in there were labeled a little more clearly? Like, if the signs for each booth were a bit more obvious and provided clear names/numbers issued by Anime Boston. It seemed like some booths neglected to put up signs at all, or had them kind of hidden/covered. It would make navigating the dealers' room and checking off which booths you've already been to much easier.
  • I have mixed feelings about the concert prior to the Masquerade. On one hand, I looovvveedd Asaka, and I'm grateful to AB for introducing her to me! She was an amazing singer and an adorable personality! But at the same time, I know not everyone goes to the Masquerade for a concert, and as a result, it kinda lacked the concert atmosphere it needed. I don't think there's anything wrong with an opening song or two performed by a guest, but 6 songs is a lot for people who might not be interested in that kind of thing. It was a little sad to see staff needing to go around and explain to people that they should make a lot of noise. The Japanese concert atmosphere (especially with idols) is really intense, and people who aren't into that can't totally understand how to be a part of it if they have no experience with it/interest in it. I went to AniSong World Matsuri at AX this past summer, and the atmosphere is completely different than what I experienced at the Asaka concert, and that's because of the difference in crowd intensity and behaviors. It made me feel bad for Asaka since there were only a handful of people with KBs and UOs making a lot of noise. I think if AB were to do something like that before the Masquerade again, giving the audience a heads-up on how to act would be appreciated. I hadn't realized Asaka would be giving a full concert (I actually forgot she was even performing since it wasn't heavily emphasized), and had I known I would have brought my KBs so I could support her better. Also, over 5 hours is a long time to expect a crowd to sit in one place versus the usual 4 hours the masquerade takes (and that's not even including the time it takes to wait in line). A lot of my friends had a hard time organizing their schedules since the Masquerade took up such a big portion of the day.
Over all, I actually think this is the smoothest the con has ever gone for me! Over the past few years AB has improved by miles, and I hope it continues to grow larger and attract more attention, because it definitely deserves it! Thank you for giving us such a great experience this year and for continuously listening to feedback and working so hard on this convention!
Anime Boston attendee since 2009
25 | Idol Trash | Pokemon Master
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Thrillho
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Re: Anime Boston 2018 Feedback!

Post by Thrillho »

tetsujin wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 1:04 pm If you'd like to see more art in the art show, the most straightforward solution would be to make some art and bring it to the art show. :)
Yeah, sure. Let me get right on that. You got about $60K I can have for art school? ;-)

Joking aside, My comment was meant to be taken in comparison over the past few years. As I stated, back in 2016 that Art Show was full of pieces for sale (as well as on display), and I didn't notice anybody balking at the bidding process by listing the minimum bid and buy it now as the same dollar value. And back in 2016, I actually bid on a few different items.

Last year, the number of items seemed to drop off, but not by a whole lot. I just didn't bid on anything because there was nothing that interested me.

This year, however, the display areas were at least 60% empty. I was shocked. Not to say the quality of the works that were on display was sub-par, but I was amazed not only by how few items were there, but how many of the items that were there didn't give attendees the chance to bid.

So, I guess it's a question more towards the volunteers who coordinate the Art Show: Has anything changed since 2016 that may have turned artists away?

Though, a good question for you tetsujin: If AB took a smaller commission, would that incentivize you to provide more artwork for sale? What if the proceeds were for charity?
Joe aka Gustav
1/4 of Curtain Call Cosplay


AB 2018
Haruko Haruhara (FLCL) / Zant (Legend of Zelda) / Professor Port (RWBY) / Rintarou Okabe (Steins;Gate) / Wario (Mario Franchise) / Over Justice (Space Patrol Luluco)


AB 2017
Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop) / Haruko Haruhara (FLCL) / Oscar Pine (RWBY) / Zant (Hyrule Warriors)


AB 2016 (First Time!)
Professor Ozpin (RWBY) / Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop) / Kouta (Elfen Lied)
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