bobn64

(Not to bring up old topics, but this thread has been discussed recently among staff, and we wanted to clarify the following) I think that Asrial Dune's message may have been interpreted the wrong way. Otakon presently holds no official opinion on a member-organized Twister meetup. This means that we do not officially approve of it (the cosplay.com thread refers to it as "Otakon approved"). We actually have serious reservations about such an event, mainly out of concern for member safety. Even though something like this could be done with no problems at all, all it takes is one or two

If this were to happen, it would likely be the Holiday ballroom, as it is in a separate building - away from any guest rooms by a good margin. I think it is safe to say that noise from the dance itself would not affect any other Otakon programming or any guests staying in the hotel.

As cool as the con-chair-cam would be, the BCC's wireless network can't reach a lot of spaces, like behind the scenes areas (not that we necessarily want to advertise all of that anyways), and the exhibit halls. It may be possible to stream more generic things, like shots of registration or the dealers room or something like that, but it will still cost money to implement, and I don't know how it would affect our contracts. Plus, nobody really tunes in to a live stream of a hallway. It is a good idea in general, I think, and if it turns out that we can do it, even if it is not live, then w

From what I understand, the new skywalk (the Hilton actually calls theirs the "sky bridge") should be open for attendee use. Of course, if anybody thinks that the traffic will be too much to handle, there is also an entrance at street level at the same location at the Hilton. I expect we'll treat it much the same as the bridge over Sharp St in the BCC - do not stop there!

Well, technically I guess it could be considered "through" the BCC. Although it is outdoors, it is under rooms 323-326 and over Hall E. It's surrounded by the BCC on 4 sides! I originally thought this post was about those guys driving back and forth in the back hallways on scooters. Not that I'd know anything about that.

And remember that Otakon does not want to penalize anyone who may have purchased these fraudulent badges (believing that they were real memberships), so please do not fear that. Any bit of information helps. If you saw anything suspicious that sounds like it might have been related to people selling fraudulent badges in line, please contact us. Even if you weren't involved--if you witnessed or overheard anything, we'd like to know the details.

There are little tables that jet off from some of the support pillars in the new side of the convention center on the 300 level. This includes the areas from Pratt St Lobby around to the right, all the way back to Camden St Lobby (though you'd probably have a difficult time placing fliers in there due to events). I also don't know how many there are, but I'd say at least 5 of which would be near pretty well-travelled areas that you'd want to drop papers on. I do not think there are any on the old side of the BCC, although there are "normal" tables around that may be useful.. but note that

Vandelesca, the easiest way for you to portray all of that information is to do something like: "characters portrayed" = your costume's character "costume designer and/or maker" = the person who actually made the costume that you will be wearing (if it's you, then just write "me") "group leaders/designers only" = the names of all other people in your group, and note that you are the leader Remember that each member of your group should fill out a separate form in the same manner (so we have all necessary information for all participants), and have them note that they are part of your g

I've moved your post to its own thread here, so it is easier to find and get answered. Unfortunately, I do not know the answers to your questions, so I will see if I can get the contest coordinator to check your post.

Masquerade is an event that can be watched by all attendees (held in the First Mariner Arena this year) that contains skits, performances, and walk-ons of people in costume. All participants are judged by a panel of judges and can win awards for their performance and costume. The Hall Costume Contest is a contest for costume creation alone (no performance is included in the scoring). Judging is held in a private room, so the general public cannot observe what questions are asked, etc. There are technically 2 Hall Costume Contests, one on Friday and one on Saturday, and you can only ent

The stage is approximately 40-50 feet wide (it is wider at the front).

Ah, I misread that to mean the ledge of the 3rd floor. Sorry Yes, the little wall-mounted tables scattered about the 3rd floor are popluar (and allowable) places to leave fliers.

You can send an email to Artist Alley or General Information via our Contact Us page if you'd like, but I do not think the information you are looking for is available for 2008 yet. Also, just to clarify, nothing may be taped to any vertical surface in the convention center, including doors, walls, pillars, ledges, etc. We do not have a policy available yet for banner advertisements for 2008.

In a nutshell, the Hall Costume Contest involves judging based on craftsmanship, while the Masquerade involves judging based on craftsmanship and performance on stage. For both contests, the costume you enter should be made by you. Anything that is not actually made by you will not be eligible to be judged. Basically, if you want to do a judged walk-on, skit, or performance on stage, the Masquerade is what you want to enter. If you just want to make a costume and have it judged, the Hall Costume Contest is what you want. The Hall Costume Contest will also have a Catwalk during the M

It sounds like there may be some confusion on that note. I think what Lady is referring to is the difference between the Hall Costume Contest and the Masquerade. The HCC is mostly craftsmanship-based judging. The Masquerade involves skits, but also has some craftsmanship judging in it. They are two entirely separate events. Now I'm not the authority on Masquerade, but I believe /viewtopic.php?p=142721#142721">this ruling would apply to allthatsgeek's question about certain members not being judged for craftsmanship.

I am sorry that the check-in times are early. The convention is in full swing by noon on Friday, however, so it really isn't unreasonable for such events to start at that time. On the bright side, if you manage to grab one of the early judging time slots, you'll have almost the entire day free to spend doing other things without worrying about making it in time to be judged.

Regarding the Friday HCC and Masquerade: Yes, you CAN enter both. That is an unfortunate typo on my part, and it should be fixed soon. There is no automated response to the pre-registration, because I review all entries and check to see that they are registered for the con. This might take a couple of minutes to get a response, or it might take a couple of days. Contact me via the contact page if you do not receive a response within 5 days. You do not need to be in costume when you check-in for the contest.

First, the check-in times are accurate. I highly recommend all participants get to the convention registration desks Thursday night to get your badges if possible. If not, being in line early on Friday should get you in in time. If you know for sure that you won't be able to be inside the convention center by noon to claim your slot, I suggest that you enter the Saturday contest instead. If you still prefer the Friday contest, contact me via the contact page and I will review your case.

You should expect a response within 5 days. If you have registered but have not received a confirmation email within 5 days, please send an email to me via the contact page.

If you are entering the Masquerade, you cannot enter the Saturday Hall Costume Contest, because of scheduling conflicts. If you would like to enter the Masquerade and the Friday Hall Costume Contest, that is perfectly ok, and it shouldn't take very much of your Friday (and none of your Saturday).

If the character is only modified in small ways, such as changing props, etc, to portray a particular version of the character, then the costume should be alright for entry. Keep in mind that accuracy to the original character is a factor in judging, so be sure to bring as much reference material as possible regarding your variations. If a costume depicts a totally different look than what the character looks like, especially to the point that the character is unrecognizable, it runs the risk of losing points during judging, or even disqualification due to it becoming an original costume.

I moved this question to its own thread, since it deals with Masquerade, not Hall Costume Contest. They have different rules and coordinators, so what's acceptable for one contest may not necessarily hold true for the other contest. I'm not the authority for Masquerade, though, so I'm sorry I can't help any further than this.

(since I don't know what Achtung!! means in reference to this thread, I will note for future reference that the Neopets costumes were allowed this year's hall costume contest.)

He is right though.. we did not have certificates for Hall Costuming this year, but we did realize that we should have had some, and I think for next year we will correct this. I will make sure all of these issues (no 2nd place prize, no certificates, no photoshoot) are brought up at the appropriate staff meetings, if that is any consolation. Can't guarantee that all of these will change, but they will be addressed at the least.

For 200 badges to be free, that would take over $10,000 away from the con's budget. There's really no way that's feasible from an accounting perspective, because no matter how you look at it, it's gonna come out of some other department and is going to hurt the con. If it were possible to do so, I would say maybe alot $100 off of admission per group or something. If there's 2 in the group, that's $50 each. If there's 10 in the group, that's $10 each. It's much more fair than having a set prize per person, IMO. But again, we don't even know if the system can accomodate discounts or thing