WorldisYours

Let’s think about this rationally for a second. If I walk by a staff member entering a panel room or autograph session wearing my badge and the staff member checks it, I can’t suddenly not have a badge once I pass them. I either have a badge or I do not. On the other hand, I can be properly wearing a mask when a staff member looks at me walking into something and then not wearing one properly five seconds after I have been “inspected”. It’s just not the same thing. Truly vigilant enforcement of masking that would actually make a difference would require people to be constantly monitoring

I am not trying to be condescending here when I say this but: if you think it is “easy” to enforce mandatory masking of 40k people throughout an entire weekend, I really don’t even know what to say to that. Yes, you can visually tell if someone is wearing a mask or not. That still requires an awful lot of staff time and manpower to enforce to any real degree, especially again when many of the people who wear masks in a situation where they are “required” do so in a completely ineffectual way (go in to a doctor’s office or a hospital lately and count how many masks you see below the nose or eve

Again, the idea that the unvaccinated and the vaccinated spread COVID-19 at the same rate is simply untrue. Here is a link to a study done during Omicron: https://www.news-medical.net/amp/news/20230103/COVID-booster-shots-cut-Omicron-transmission-in-closed-environments.aspx The relevant passage: “In adjustment analyses, the Poisson regression model estimated that index cases vaccinated with ≥1 COVID-19 vaccine dose had, on average, a 22% lower risk of transmitting infection than unvaccinated index cases. Each additional dose further reduced the risk of transmission to close contact by an

If you require vaccination then by definition you’re getting people who are more responsible and likely to keep up with their boosters. Yes, someone can technically show up with just their primary series from two years ago, but that doesn’t mean everyone would. By the way, “the vaccine doesn’t prevent transmission” is a completely false anti-vax talking point. It literally does prevent transmission, it’s just not foolproof. But it’s certainly better than walking around unvaccinated (again, assuming people are keeping up with their boosters). Ultimately I don’t feel super strongly abo

I mean, technically when the post you replied to says “20%” of people at Katsucon were not wearing masks that means most of the people at Katsu were complying as well- 80% is definitely most. The problem with having a mask mandate in 2023 isn’t that most people don’t comply, because most people follow the rules in general. The problem is that you have a significant minority who will not comply (whether they feel emboldened by the fact that masks are not required virtually anywhere else in the US or they’re just rule breakers in general) unless there is heavy enforcement, i.e. staff member

I think vax yes, mask no was the way to go and I’m more than a little disappointed that Otakon landed on no for both. I think people underestimate how hard it is for these events to tell people they have to do things that virtually nowhere else in the United States is requiring (any sports fan can tell you that you’ve been able to pack arenas and stadiums with no mask or vax requirements for quite a long time now for instance), but I think requiring the vaccine at least would have been prudent given how long we’ll all be around each other. It’s also easier to enforce than masking, since it’s b

The song is called “White Surf Style 5” by late 90s/early 00s Japanese indie rock band Supercar. Highly recommend checking out more of their discography if you enjoyed that song- they combined rock music and elements of electronic music in a really interesting and unique way.

I thought this was a pretty weak year for fan panels, honestly. As theorized in the Good, Bad and Ugly thread this may have had something to do with the very unusual (and poor) way that the panel application deadline was handled this year. I will not single any particular panels out for this criticism because frankly I saw it over and over and over again this past weekend (including in some panels that I left so fast I didn't bother putting in my specific feedback below), but here goes: I always was taught that the proper way to use Powerpoint was to create slides that feature perhaps an

Yup, this happened to me and my entire friend group. I almost always submit panels for Otakon (usually I host Japanese Indie Music most often- last year I had two different version of it and filled up two different rooms), as do some of my friends, and none of us saw any deadline announced at any point. You say here it was announced, but I honestly have no clue where- it certainly wasn't ever up on the Otakon panel application page on the website, as I remember checking only days before the sudden cut off. We even tried e-mailing them explaining that we never saw any deadline and we were still

I've definitely gotten this question from attendees before too over the years. I take it as a compliment but I don't generally share it.

Yeah, I totally forgot that there was a missing room next to Main Events and that's where it's usually held. Hopefully Otakon has access to that room next year and it can return to being aired there along with the AMV Theater screenings.

Never got around to doing my own Good/Bad/Ugly so here goes: Good: How Otakon handled COVID. I've kind of been over this already in my replies to someone else, but I think they hit the exact right mix of precautions that were reasonable and still allowed the convention to proceed as close to normal as possible. A mask mandate was absolutely the right call- even if it only reduces transmission a very small amount, it's worth the minor inconvenience. Physical/social distancing in programming rooms would have destroyed the convention experience for a benefit that was, at best, extremely

They haven't had attendance caps that were either as low as people were asking for here or a year after a convention had to be cancelled entirely, though.

Well, whether or not the con should have been capped for attendance is a different debate. I don't think it was possible if you want the convention to survive, for simple financial reasons, but I understand why people wanted it to happen. My whole point is that people who are mad that Otakon didn't enforce physical/social distancing in programming rooms once they already decided not to cap attendance, which again isn't just coming from you but was a complaint that I heard a lot throughout the convention on Twitter/at the live feedback session/during this thread, aren't really thinking through

I'm singling this post out as an example of something that's come up repeatedly in this thread already (and a couple times during the live con feedback session as well)- frankly, I do not understand how people think Otakon could/should have enforced any kind of social distancing in panel/screening rooms, ONCE THEY DECIDED NOT TO CAP ATTENDANCE. If they had decided to cap attendance at a certain level before the convention, okay, you can probably spread chairs out inside the rooms and try to enforce physical distancing (though I think people are still vastly underrating the logistics of this- i

Good: -Pretty much every panel I went to this year was at least pretty good, which isn't always the case every year. Panelists at Otakon have gotten better at the basics of presenting, or at least I got lucky and the ones I went to have. -As a panelist myself, Otakon continues to have the highest quality technical staff and tech set-up in general compared to any other convention I present at. Makes setting up before my panel so quick and easy, you almost feel tempted to take it for granted, but I'm sure a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to make it work so smoothly. Bravo t

Thank you for calling people out on this! I played a lot of Chunithm and Sound Voltex in the game room this year, and twice I saw a guy try to immediately start a second game in a row despite having a line of people behind him waiting to play (one time actually just one person waiting, which is still one too many people to be doing that crap, but the other time a line of at least four people!). Both times we successfully shamed the person into giving up the machine (and especially when I was the only one waiting for SDVX I thank my neighbors for joining in on telling the person to learn how to

I think the concert in 2017, the first year in DC, was Anisong World Matsuri and did cost extra. I didn't go that year so I'm not entirely sure, but I remember hearing that there was a massive backlash from the fans on having to pay extra for a concert, which probably had a strong effect on Otakon's opinion on the subject. I asked one of the Board of Directors members about this topic specifically- paying extra for concerts and other special events- at the Otakorp Financials panel on Sunday. He basically said that while they're comfortable charging extra for VIP and preferred seating (as

It's perhaps worth noting that the anime industry does turn out heavily on the east coast for Anime NYC now, if people haven't been to that con yet (it's only two years old). If you're looking for a large industry presence without traveling all the way to AX (or dealing with the extreme crowds of NYCC), that seems to be your best bet at the moment. On the other hand, ANYC features almost no fan panels to speak of (they're even more extreme in this aspect than AX, which does have a few) and certainly no fan-created content like the AMV Theater and Workshops. It also charges extra for certain ev

Normally there ARE hosts sitting at that front table who do provide some commentary and setup (although sometimes they don't anyway; honestly some of these videos are funnier if you know nothing). But according to the AMV Theater folks, apparently the hosts couldn't make it to the con this year (or couldn't be there Friday night at least? Not sure) and were kind enough to send their videos so the panel could still take place without them.

I walked in on Friday and Saturday mornings holding one of those Starbucks cold drinks from the convenience store and nobody said anything to me either. To be clear, I wasn't trying to test any policy, I just had no idea said policy existed! I came in both mornings through the Marriott tunnel and there were no signs or anything. Later on Saturday I did see a big No Food and Drink sign by the main entrance (from outside), but I never saw one entering through the Marriott tunnel.

Add me to the list of people who got my badges today (before any tracking number was ever e-mailed or added to our members page, it should be noted). My friend just called to say the three badges we ordered together arrived this morning. He did NOT have to sign for them, they were simply left there, but there was a tracking number attached. Also he lives in New Jersey, in case anyone asks. I think the bottom line at this point is: yes there might be a slight issue with the tracking numbers, but the badges are coming. I don't think there's much reason for anyone to worry at this point.