Scheduling Suggestions

[Gremlich 0]

Great to see that the sched is available and that we can even plan our "weekend" and print it out. Awesome!

However, three items could be moved to more strategic times, I think.

"Parents and Anime" on Friday starts at 9 AM. With the way the lines move, I think many interested parents will not get in in time to particpate. I suggest moving that particular event later in the day to maybe 2 or 3 PM (after lunch and before dinner) when your attendance would likely be higher. Several of my counterparts at work have kids interested in Anime (and are planning to attend Otakon). They are a little ill-informed or ignorant of the medium and would eagerly jump at the chance to attend this event. I direct them to anime review sites, but that does not give them the more holistic exposure your panel would provide. Please consider a slight scheduling change on Friday for this particular topic (which could help explain the following two more unconventional subjects before the Con goes full bore).

Yaoi at 4 PM AND Yuri at 1 PM on Friday!!!! Whoa! Place those a tad later in the day, like 9 PM at the earliest. These "sophisticated" topics are something any parent would look askance at (Tommy/Sally, don't look!). Despite the subject's fervrent following, those topics are sooo not afternoon fare for the previous generations.(see above)

See you at the Otakon, my 11th.

[ithilienne 2]

Great to see that the sched is available and that we can even plan our "weekend" and print it out. Awesome!

However, three items could be moved to more strategic times, I think.

"Parents and Anime" on Friday starts at 9 AM. With the way the lines move, I think many interested parents will not get in in time to particpate. I suggest moving that particular event later in the day to maybe 2 or 3 PM (after lunch and before dinner) when your attendance would likely be higher. Several of my counterparts at work have kids interested in Anime (and are planning to attend Otakon). They are a little ill-informed or ignorant of the medium and would eagerly jump at the chance to attend this event. I direct them to anime review sites, but that does not give them the more holistic exposure your panel would provide. Please consider a slight scheduling change on Friday for this particular topic (which could help explain the following two more unconventional subjects before the Con goes full bore).

Yaoi at 4 PM AND Yuri at 1 PM on Friday!!!! Whoa! Place those a tad later in the day, like 9 PM at the earliest. These "sophisticated" topics are something any parent would look askance at (Tommy/Sally, don't look!). Despite the subject's fervrent following, those topics are sooo not afternoon fare for the previous generations.(see above)

See you at the Otakon, my 11th.

We worked quite hard on the schedule for this year. At this point, unfortunately, changes (excepting the last-minute changes for no-shows or drop-outs) are impossible - but if another "Parents and Anime" panel is submitted next year, we'll certainly think about scheduling it a little later in the weekend.

The yaoi and yuri panels in question are not 18+. The Yuri panel is run by several staffers from Yuricon, and has been all-ages and fairly popular for the past few years. The panelists are knowledgeable and mature and always willing to help explain something to a parent, if the need arises.

The Yaoi/Yuri manga panel is being run by Media Blasters; Yaoi Press is being run by the publisher of Yaoi Press. Both are industry panels, and neither panelist requested an 18+ designation. It is possible to discuss these titles and genres with an all-ages audience; of course, there are still two late-night yaoi panels on the schedule for those who'd like a "closer look," and those both have the 18+ designation and start after 10:30pm.

[Aresef 113]

I would put it on Sunday next year. With the $25 Sunday dealie, that's when parents may be more likely to be wandering the floor.

[calculusman 0]

Along the scheduling line...is there a reason for the huge holes in the Hall D schedule? Like, nothing before 11am on Friday, nothing before 1pm or between 6:30PM and 10:00PM Saturday, and nothing before noon on Sunday?

Is this just a sign that those times haven't been scheduled yet, or are those "secret" things that we'll find out about when we arrive, or is Hall D actually not having anything going on in it during those times?

[alabaster 0]

Hall D is being used for rehearsal for some of those times, don't know about the evening slot though.