alabaster

We had twice the number of vendors this year as we had last….. and as a rule it’s first come first serve.

industry consolidation is the main culprit. That and the pandemic basically wiping out the convention teams means industry is still rebuilding. We are in the odd position of having very strong connections in Japan, which sometime makes it easier to get permission from the studio than the distributors.

No problem! Like I said, it could be one of a few things. We gobbled up pretty much all the available interpreters this year, including a few who'd been out of the scene for a while. One of our other panel interps is Toshi Yoshida, who is also a longtime industry pro; along with his wife Trish, they've been fixtures for decades and worked for Viz and Pokemon for most of their careers. They used to do a panel on the perils of translation and interpretation that talked about how difficult it is to translate and adapt jokes, idiomatic expressions, puns, and jargon. Another challe

We had a new contractor for A/V this year. There were some growing pains that I feel reasonably certain will be addressed. I've already passed along my own annoyance at certain setup issues. In specific, putting screens behind the panel tables needs to stop, and we never had enough working mics. But they had an adapter -- it just decided to conk out. I had the same exact adapter and sometime earlier this year it started getting dodgy with me too. If I hadn't had my own spare USB-C dongle, the BASTARD mature anime panel would have been a mess. Typically, we arrive and do a pre

These were both panels where I was MC, so I'll give a little insight. For Ikezawa: Typically, I'm able to meet with the people on the J-guest panels I do, and we both go over the scripted parts and talk about how things will go. Unfortunately, they arrived a bit late because of weather and I had to deal with a last minute thing, and we got interrupted a few times, so I didn't know she was going to put me on the spot quite so much; I'd have prepared differently if I had. We've chatted since, and I'll pass along your feedback; I think having some deliberately chosen SF for the west woul

Watanabe's a friend of mine (and a former Otakon interpreter of very high quality!), so hearing that his event had issues on that front is disappointing. I'll make sure to relay this feedback, but I suspect it has already been passed along appropriately. Both our Japanese Dept head and I were at Watanabe's wedding and we've all known each other long enough that we're comfortable giving frank assessments of things to each other. FYI: Otakon has basically two levels of interpreter: one for panels, and one for escorts. Panels interpreters typically possess high competence in Japanese and

There is, unfortunately, a long tradition of people claiming not to have inappropriate content, and then springing stuff on us at the last minute. Some have even gone on to brag about trolling us. If you felt like the suspicion was a little higher than seems immediately warranted, I'm afraid you have prior bad actors to thank for that. We are an all-ages event, and we carve out plenty of space for 18+ stuff, but that means we have to be careful about what we put pre-threshold.

Some of those reschedules may have been due to the disastrous weather. Flights were canceled and rescheduled, and a few guests got sick right at the last minute. Behind the scenes, the renovations at the Renaissance also had an impact on our ability to roll with the punches. (At one point our staff had been waiting nearly two hours to get food delivered, and nearly 35 minutes waiting for an available elevator!) Because our arrival schedule was a mess due to weather, and because so many other minor things cascaded (including wonky delivery of texts), communication was delayed or missed or got

Quick responses, with the caveat that I'm no longer in charge of any part of these -- just replying with some experience under my belt. Why is feedback so late? I know that as someone who has been there on stage for probably a dozen of them, Con Feedback is and always has been the last thing we do; it follows closing ceremonies and probably always will. One reason is that key staff have a TON to do and consistent scheduling is the only thing that really makes it manageable for some folks to attend. There's always a sunday concert and other major events happening up until th

You’re right in that Japanese guests in particular depend on relationships. And these days we continue to reap benefits of lots of outreach and friendships made over the last few decades. I am happy that my successors continue to build on those, and make new ones. But that is true of US based guests too — agents become much easier to deal with when the guests really want to come. I feel very privileged in the friends I’ve made, both on behalf of the con, and personally. And I help out where I can with connections and back door invites. This year we got particularly and unexpectedl

Typically this gets updated a few weeks or so post con, because it takes time to reconcile all the various systems, people who upgraded memberships, etc. it’s usually @MattTheMinion who does this, I think.. Most of us older staffers are still recovering!

Hey guys, I am sorry I haven’t been around. I apologize for neglecting my duties here. I joke that I am semi-retired after 20+ years on staff (my first year on staff was when Cousin Sue was chair!), but that mostly means that I am not involved at the leadership level. There are a few reasons. First, the organization needs a steady influx of new blood, and I was deeply involved for more than a decade between the board and various convention roles. I was Chair and president over 15 years ago now, and stopped heading GR before we left Baltimore, though I never stopped being involved

Scored one from a friend who camps on the sites hoping.

Didn't you make it to Vegas? Or maybe I ran into you in Panel Ops or something? Honestly, I've met so many folks over the years who knew me from being on stage or from here, the data is often left untagged in the hard drive of my brain. Especially because at con I'm so exhausted....

I remember that! I miss going to NYCC and variations thereof. Nice to have fun at a con with. none of the work. I've run into quite a few of you here and there over the years.

In 1987 through the mid 90s, the bustling harbor place pavilions were packed every weekend and busy most weekdays. I even worked there over a summer or two. I say 1987 because that was my first real solo trip down there after high school graduation. Now, when I say packed, I mean every retail and restaurant space and then some was filled — all the shops, plus carts and temporary setups. One major cause of mall death across the board is obscene rent costs and rules that make it nearly impossible for anything but big stores to operate without losing money, in “tourist” areas li

I have a copy of every program. I also have a copy of all the primary t shirts from 2000-up, except one I think.

Short answer: some of the earlier ones are complicated by copyright issues, which we discovered when we tried to arrange something cool for our 10th. At least one of the early ones is probably not reprintable at all, if memory serves because it uses a character we don't have rights to. In other cases it's likely that either we don't have access to quality version of art, or don't have the correct agreement in place for reprint -- it was a few years before we got the hang of that stuff. But I've seen the odd shirt show up on eBay.

The short answer -- and remembering I do NOT currently speak on behalf of the organization -- is that we've generally followed the recommendations and requirements of the venue, because what choice do we have? And the venue follows city guidance. Everyone does. Just like we're stuck with the required food vendors and security contractors, and required to scan bags and restrict costumes. (Further disclaimer: there are a LOT of Ota staff connected with health care, public safety, and government, and we're pretty vocal when such things are discussed. It would be impossible to "go rogue" for som

We know the routine by now, right? They are almost certainly waiting until things are legally in place for them to cancel without being on the hook for the contracts. Like every other con.

Actually... it's probably worth looking into. Depending on the year and the concert and the specific terms involved, we might be able to do it. It would be a private screening for members only, and thus *may* be covered (for some of the shows) under existing usage rights -- but it would probably require a little digging to make sure we don't trip any surprises. I think we have even done it before, but each agreement may be different on those rights.

Just so you're aware: Guest suggestions have their own thread. Were you aware that we have *the* best Lip Sync show? Lip Sync For Your Cosplay? Jez created it and it got rave reviews.

Oh, I think it was probably spent on developing the game, because there were some prototypes and some functionality on display at the time. At a guess -- and it's purely a guess, I have no insider knowledge about it -- I think they may have lost a key partner on the dev side OR just underestimated what it would really take, and people only work for you for so long on promises and fun.

*Nods* Just to clarify, there really isn't any new information, so the old statement stands. As I understand it, It's on Studio Nasu and Kickstarter, legally and ethically, to deal with any remaining fallout. That's just a risk of crowdfunding, really.

I feel ya. But I don't think any of that money is coming back. That's the risk of kickstarter and other crowdfunding. You don't know if the projects will come to pass, and you may not see your investment pay off. That's simply how it works. The money was spent, and the project failed to produce. We said what we could legally at the time and the statements are on record. There was no sweeping under the rug. Let me clarify something here to the best of my understanding, and with the disclaimer that I'm NOT making a statement on behalf of the corporation here -- this is my personal recoll