Attendee7000 18 Posted July 31, 2023 Report Share Posted July 31, 2023 The annual tradition of applauding and complaining! Although I have more complaints than compliments listed, I want to start by saying how great this convention really is. I've been coming back for more than 20 years for a reason! I really appreciate the effort the volunteers are putting into it. The Good: Otakon did a really good job this year of managing crowds. I hardly ever encountered lines, especially since I didn't have a bag and could use the quick entrance. Only place I really encountered backups was the escalator in front of the gaming hall entrance. I really liked the huge number of Japanese guests. I'm sure some of it has to do with the really really great exchange rate right now, but hopefully they can keep the guests coming. Speaking of guests, I also like that that they're going for more Korean guests now too. Going all in on the theme. I'm not particularly a train person, but I love how the con carried the theming through events, panels, the big standee in the lobby, etc. It makes the event feel more special for the year, rather than just being the cover of a program. The Bad: I set the convention bag down on the hotel table at night and in the morning the Otakon logo had transferred to the table surface and wouldn't wash off. Still not a big fan of Guidebook. I use it to flag things for reminders, but the grid schedule on the website (and at info desks) is still a lot more helpful. Otakon also used to do little updates (not the push notifications) about interesting things throughout the weekend, I miss those. Communication still seems to be lacking some. A lot of information doesn't come out until a couple days before the con starts, and people don't find out about some until they arrive (like the WEWCC not taking cash). Little updates through the year "Artists Alley registration should be live in about a month," "Guidebook will probably be up a week before the con," and things like that really go a long way. Unless I missed it, I guess Otakon isn't holding the "State of Otakorp" panel they used to do? I miss that. Please move con feedback earlier, it doesn't have to be in the last possible hour. Nearly everything ends at 3pm (and no one can get back in after 3pm) but feedback doesn't even start until 4pm. I'll bet by noon on Sunday most people who have feedback already know what it will be. The Ugly: This is probably more of a bad, but it's a bad that's slowly gotten worse and doesn't look like it will get better. Way too many panels are at capacity. It feels like Otakon should reconsider certain space uses so we don't have so many full events. One of the biggest halls in the Marriott is dedicated to bag check, The big main hall in the WEWCC is basically dedicated to gaming and it's really only half used. Registation and the Photo Suite use up two huge halls and neither really needs to be in the convention center at all, especially when offsite registration sounds like it's been successful so far. Hopefully Otakon is looking at better using space for next year. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CarolineAndJustine 3 Posted July 31, 2023 Report Share Posted July 31, 2023 The Good - I want to give a massive shout out to everyone running the photo suite this year. I know they were short staffed on photographers but they all worked really hard to make the experience good anyway, and were super transparent about how long things would likely take. Hats off to them. - Programming variety was much better this year (as was the panelist experience). There was a lot of variety in general, honestly, since the artist's alley and dealer's room also had good variety and weren't dominated by merch for the same 2-3 shows as it has been in some years. - Moving photoshoots to the video game hall was a great idea! The lighting is better and there's no need to deal with the escalator to the Marriott or the crowded hallway. The larger space made it harder to hear the organizers though, and whatever megaphones they have didn't help - I think only having a microphone and speaker setup would fix the problem. - The people, as always, are fantastic. I had an awesome time both as a participant and as a panelist, and made a bunch of new friends. The Bad - Accessibility was pretty good this year, but several people (both volunteers and red jacket staff) didn't recognize the accessibility ribbons on sight and needed us to explain what they were. We didn't have trouble getting accommodations in the end, but this happened enough to make us wonder if there's more training that needs to be given prior to the event. - The screens in Panel 5 and 6 were weirdly low and ended up with the bottom third being blocked by presenters and/or chairs. I don't recall this being a problem in previous years but as an attendee I couldn't read a bunch of info from a few of the panels I attended, and when paneling my partner and I had to keep moving out of the way of important pictures or text on the screen. - I feel like way more events and panels were cancelled or rescheduled last minute this year than usual? I get that stuff happens, but there was barely any communication from the con side of things (and none whatsoever if you weren't checking their Twitter/Insta). I was getting Guidebook push notifications all weekend about autographs and dealer's room hours, so they were using that feature, but I would have appreciated if they used that to at least announce cancellations involving industry guests. The Ugly LGBT panels this year were fewer in number and were all initially scheduled late at night regardless of whether or not they were actually 18+. A few were either added off the wait-list last minute or rescheduled to earlier time slots, but at least one of them had to do extra lobbying to prove their panels were "appropriate" for general audiences despite having already clearly stated so on the application. I'm trying not to read too much into this, but given the current political climate this makes me very very nervous. Gender and sexuality are not inherently adult topics, and there are already rules in place that can be enforced if someone is inappropriate in an all ages panel. Treating LGBT content this way is both a new thing for Otakon and very concerning for a place that is traditionally full of celebrations of LGBT+ identity (and also a ton of crossdressing, which IMHO makes this futile). I sincerely hope this is either a fluke or a one-off. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LittleHobbit13 63 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 4 hours ago, CarolineAndJustine said: LGBT panels this year were fewer in number and were all initially scheduled late at night regardless of whether or not they were actually 18+. A few were either added off the wait-list last minute or rescheduled to earlier time slots, but at least one of them had to do extra lobbying to prove their panels were "appropriate" for general audiences despite having already clearly stated so on the application. I'm trying not to read too much into this, but given the current political climate this makes me very very nervous. Gender and sexuality are not inherently adult topics, and there are already rules in place that can be enforced if someone is inappropriate in an all ages panel. Treating LGBT content this way is both a new thing for Otakon and very concerning for a place that is traditionally full of celebrations of LGBT+ identity (and also a ton of crossdressing, which IMHO makes this futile). I sincerely hope this is either a fluke or a one-off. They explained at Con Feedback that a lot of this had to do with trying to accommodate when panelists were available. Many of them wanted time slots in the evening, and that created some scheduling challenges once you mix in available of spaces and trying to get panels into rooms of (hopefully) appropriate size for their expected attendance. There was absolutely no ill intention and they said they would be more mindful of this sort of thing in the future. As always, scheduling is one of the more complex activities they have to work out. If your gut is saying "this is unusual for Otakon", it's probably worth it to trust your gut and assume noble intent. Hard to argue malicious intent on this one when they were literally handing out pronoun ribbons for attendees to put on their badges. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CarolineAndJustine 3 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 That's good to hear, and I'm glad they're aware of how it looks. I helped run one of the panels involved in this and we did not request a late night slot (in fact we did the opposite) but wound up getting one anyway. They pushed us forward a few hours when we asked but it was still well after the typical room clear - that combined with hearing other panelists report getting grilled about 18+ content when requesting a schedule change didn't exactly bode well. It's possible that there's a few people involved making less than ideal choices (again, anecdotal grilling) but I'm extremely relieved to hear that the organization won't let it happen again. The space issues are a separate thing that I assume is at least partially on the WEWC's end (I swear we used to have more big rooms available? What happened to ballroom C?) so it's frustrating but understandable that it contributed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LittleHobbit13 63 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 3 hours ago, CarolineAndJustine said: They pushed us forward a few hours when we asked but it was still well after the typical room clear - that combined with hearing other panelists report getting grilled about 18+ content when requesting a schedule change didn't exactly bode well. It's possible that there's a few people involved making less than ideal choices (again, anecdotal grilling) but I'm extremely relieved to hear that the organization won't let it happen again. I understand it's frustrating and stressful, but again, I think this is a situation where "assume noble intent" should probably be applied. Remember that there are two sides to the story and you're jumping to implications about erasure and exclusion without knowing the other side of the story. Again, they were literally handing out ribbons -- something that costs money to produce, so they chose to spend part of their budget on it -- so people could identify their pronouns on their badges. That doesn't sound like an org that's actively trying to squash LGBTQIA panels to me. I've been attending for a very long time, and Otakon has generally always put an active effort into creating an inclusive space. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CarolineAndJustine 3 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 I was trying to explain why it had initially made me uncomfortable, not disagree. I'm very fried from this weekend plus the drive back home so sorry if I'm not the most coherent right now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Just a Lad 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 The Good crowd control was MUCH better than when I last came in 2019, staff did a great job organizing lines to and from the artist alley and dealers hall and preventing crunches at the escalators. Lines to get in the con if you weren’t goi g through bag check were minimal and we had no issue getting in which was a first. Moving photo shoots to the game room was a great call, the lighting is much better than at the Marriott and we all appreciated having more space to move and a backdrop Also on the game room, it was fantastic this year, the layout kept people moving, had a wide variety of games from arcade fighters to VR experiences and lines never got too long The Bad The schedule this year was a hot mess, it wasn’t finalized until two days before the event, and even then many panels still lacked descriptions and locations until the event started. I moved all my personal photo shoots to Friday because it was so unclear leading up to the event when and where panels would take place, and a lot of my friends missed photoshoots and panels entirely due to scheduling mixups. Some photo shoots were erroneously scheduled before the game room opened, halving the time attendees had to actually do a photoshoot and causing crowds to form outside the doors before they opened the dealers hall had at least two vendors selling bootleg nendroids/figmas and burned dvds, staff did not seem to care at all. The Ugly I don’t know what went wrong during the organization for the studio orange panel, whether it be a compete underestimate of how popular the studio was or just that security got overwhelmed but it NEVER should have gotten this bad. First, when we showed up an hour and a half before to line up for the panel, staff literally looked us up and down and said don’t you have better things to do and told us to go away, so we just kind of awkwardly sat around the Marriott until someone called in security once a crowd began to form to cue a line. Despite being a featured event, staff and security were blindsided by how many people showed up and did not know what to do or how to handle it in any capacity. Security also “forgot” there was a signing after the panel for about 20 minutes, leaving the guests to try and handle the crowd themselves. Second, while I understand how difficult it is to be a translator, why did no one brief this guy on the show or animation terms if they were hosting two panels, one going into nitty gritty show lore and the other a deep dive on their animation??? While my Japanese isn’t the greatest you could hear the staff mentioning character names in English and the translator completely missing it, it go to a point where one of the guests, Watanabe, who speaks fluent English was repeatedly jumping in to interrupt and correct him and he had to more often than not translate back into Japanese for the staff in the translators place. During sundays animation panel the translator had no idea what blendshapes, storyboards splines, cells etc were and it turned into a slow unbearable mess of the staff trying to get their points across to an English audience, and they were HEAVILY relying on Watanabe to translate. This should go without saying but your featured guest is there as a guest, forcing them to do impromptu real time translation is incredibly disrespectful to the guests and disappointing an an attendee who chose Otakon over other summer conventions specifically for this panel. a significant number of people on discord and twitter (myself included) had their cards scam tapped my someone with a square tap to pay reader and again security brushed it off as us forgetting we bought something. I’ve also heard a few reports of a figure vendor using squares tip system to tack on hundreds of dollars to transactions though it’s only been a handful thankfully. Regarldess, I would like to be able to use my card at a convention without the constant threat of being scammed, guess I’m going to be cash only if I come back next year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
windseeker 80 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 (edited) The Good: Barely any lines getting in to the con! I honestly thought we had less attendance this year due to how less clogged it felt. Spanish voice actors - having grown up in Central America and watching spanish dubs, this was very nostalgic for me! T shirt cannon! The Bad: Panels felt...lacking in content this year. I can't remember the last time I went so long between panels that interested me. Some popular panels being crammed into smaller rooms. Rumors of pickpockets in the dealer's room/artist alley? The Ugly: Personal one for me, I believe my badge got stolen on Sunday. It had been signed by a voice actor (and yes I paid for it) who wrote quotes and even did a drawing on it. Now its possible it fell I guess, but the way I tie it its not likely. I hate to think someone cut through my lanyard while I was browsing (dealer's room) but I can't make much sense of it any other way. I've never lost a badge before. Edited August 1, 2023 by windseeker Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brainchild 1 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 The Good: Line Management. The staff clearly learned the right lessons from last year, which was doubly important considering the dangerously hot weather this last weekend. Most of the time I could waltz right in through the front door, even with the bag check, and never get stuck waiting. I was absolutely incredulous to learn that attendance was another 2k higher than last year because it absolutely did not feel like that, not even at the height of Saturday. The choice to bring in some Spanish-language dub actors was an inspired choice and a welcome bit of variety as far as guests go The downstairs food court is vastly improved from how it was in 2019 when it was last open: bigger, brighter, better ventilated, with a nice overview of the artist's alley to boot. The free pronoun ribbons were a nice touch. The Bad: TOO. MANY. GUESTS. That might sound like a bizarre complaint for an anime con, but it was absolutely true this year. Otakon had nearly 70 different guests and were announcing new ones literally days before the con. It was simply too many to keep track of, and I have to imagine there were a lot who went largely unnoticed because there was no time for Otakon to promote them before they threw a few more on the pile. This is a situation where quality (and focus) beats quantity. The guest overload also meant that a lot of regular panelists didn't get any panels approved this year. For me, the fan panels are one of the strongest elements of Otakon as a whole. The panels we got weren't necessarily bad but they could have been even stronger with more variety. Speaking of that downstairs food court, a friend of mine got food poisoning from one of the poke bowls served there. Thankfully it wasn't severe enough to require a hospital, but it made his Saturday night distinctly Not Fun. I realize that's an issue with the con center itself versus Otakon proper, but I did want to let that be known. I will note that I and others I knew ate other things there (such as smoothies or pizza) and were just fine. For god's sake, will Otakon please get some megaphones or something for the poor staffers managing the dealer's room/artist's alley hallway? They have to shout the same instructions over and over for hours at a time, and some of them had clearly blown their voices out doing so by the end of the day. I felt really bad for them. The Ugly: Otakon should have not gotten rid of their Covid vax/mask mandate. I don't care if the government doesn't require them to do so anymore, it's simply not safe to gather 40k+ people in the same space and not do so, especially since the system they had set up for it last year worked very well. I and many of my friends continued to mask up within the convention center, but we were definitely part of a minority of people who did. Sadly, I already have one friend who tested positive for Covid. It is NOT too late for Otakon to reverse this change for next year. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattTheMinion 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 17 hours ago, Attendee7000 said: Unless I missed it, I guess Otakon isn't holding the "State of Otakorp" panel they used to do? I miss that. No, you didn't miss it. Between Covid and other life events, I haven't been able to pull it off for a couple years now. Although, I was thinking if there was enough interest I'd bring it back next year for the 30th. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
windseeker 80 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 3 hours ago, Brainchild said: The Ugly: Otakon should have not gotten rid of their Covid vax/mask mandate. I don't care if the government doesn't require them to do so anymore, it's simply not safe to gather 40k+ people in the same space and not do so, especially since the system they had set up for it last year worked very well. I and many of my friends continued to mask up within the convention center, but we were definitely part of a minority of people who did. Sadly, I already have one friend who tested positive for Covid. It is NOT too late for Otakon to reverse this change for next year. On an Otakon FB group I'm already seeing people reporting positive covid results. I did come wearing a mask, while I get they can't require masks forever I agree it was a mistake to drop vax requirements. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alabaster 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 21 hours ago, Attendee7000 said: The Bad: Please move con feedback earlier, it doesn't have to be in the last possible hour. Nearly everything ends at 3pm (and no one can get back in after 3pm) but feedback doesn't even start until 4pm. I'll bet by noon on Sunday most people who have feedback already know what it will be. The Ugly: This is probably more of a bad, but it's a bad that's slowly gotten worse and doesn't look like it will get better. Way too many panels are at capacity. It feels like Otakon should reconsider certain space uses so we don't have so many full events. One of the biggest halls in the Marriott is dedicated to bag check, The big main hall in the WEWCC is basically dedicated to gaming and it's really only half used. Registation and the Photo Suite use up two huge halls and neither really needs to be in the convention center at all, especially when offsite registration sounds like it's been successful so far. Hopefully Otakon is looking at better using space for next year. 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 the last moment, and the whole time staff are packing out the convention center as quickly as we can behind the scenes. I don't foresee that changing ever, if I'm honest. I see zero advantage in moving it earlier, and it's always decently attended. Building Space Optimization Panels at capacity is *great* news. But a bit of insight here: 1. What gets scheduled where in Panels is a mix factors that changes every year. A lot of it is guest scheduling logistics, but expected draw and space considerations play into a lot of this as well. It is, frankly, always going to be partly guesswork, and sometimes we're caught off-guard with what pulls a crowd. (If you'd told me 10 years ago how popular our culture panels like Ikebana would be, I'd be both happy and full of disbelief.) The draw for any particular panel in a given year is maddeningly unpredictable. 2. The rooms themselves are pretty much as optimized as they can be - but every year we tweak and make some improvements. So please don't take my words as shutting down your ideas, but rather providing some insight into why we make certain choices. We have had 7+ years to work on the space usage, and the people making those calls have been working with Otakon for, in most cases, more than a decade. They've wrangled with folks who make very strong cases for specific locations (ie, advocating for things that they are passionate about). A good example is that we moved our on-site green room for guests from its old location because it was too public and because the space was better used by Makerspace and other stuff. We keep all our ops stuff in the rooms with low ceilings that aren't in major trafficways. There are "invisible challenges" in some of these spaces (especially in the Marriott) due to things like ceiling height, rigging options, lining space, and lack of backstage areas. Some spaces don't have enough soundproofing to make them viable for certain things. Our events tend to draw lines that almost no other event really does, and having space to manage those is critical. Moving guests around through that crowded tunnel is also a little rough and there are really no backstage options to do so. The Gaming hall appears only half used but it has been steadily growing to fill the space; it's also a space where the dreaded gamer stink has had room to waft out of range. With photoshoots moving there, it has reduced some of the hall-clogging locations of the past, and that makes it a good use of the space. If you've been to Awesomecon, they use the backmost hall on the 2nd level for registration -- but most of their model drives people immediately into their one main events space or to the dealer hall....and they run registration lining through areas of heavy traffic for us. ) Part of Hall E is where the dozens of pods of our stuff are stored and where the packing and unpacking and distribution are managed. For Awesomecon, the entire Hall E is used for managing lines for reg or main events, and that would not work for us at all; we need space for Dance as well. For the registration areas, they're literally designed to work for that purpose and not much else -- but photo suite was a great fit there; it was too big for any of the other rooms we'd considered and it's heavily trafficked. Those spaces really don't work well for any of our other needs, and are too noisy to work for programming space. What you do not see is the sheer volume of *stuff* that needs to be moved around within the WEWCC behind the scenes to make registration work -- it simply isn't possible to move all of that offsite. What we already have tried and are doing has been challenging to figure out. Event space costs a lot of money and logistical demands mean that while it's fine to shift some resources out of the WEWCC, no other location has the space to manage the volume efficiently AND handle resupplying as needed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xenoglossy 1 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 (edited) Good Not sure if this goes here but not sure where else to put it, since there's no dedicated space for photoshoot feedback - I really enjoyed the Nintendo photoshoot on Friday and thought it was well-run and fun! The other photoshoot I went to was a bit chaotic so I appreciated that that one went smoothly. I was very glad to have Sword Lesbians in a room that was big enough for its audience this year (and I'm totally fine with having to be in a later slot to make that happen - the original 12:30am slot I probably couldn't have done without being incapacitated on Sunday, but that's on me for not making it clear that that was a health concern and not a preference). Bad There were still some panels in Panel 5/6 that I think shouldn't have been; the ones I noticed were Anime Protagonists Over 30 and We Rate Anime Dogs. I get that larger rooms are limited and also that it's not an exact science and you can't always tell what will be popular, but We Rate Anime Dogs, for example, was at the same time as Myths and Mortals, which was in a larger room, and I think they could comfortably have swapped. When I was planning out my con schedule on Thursday I actually earmarked Myths and Mortals as a backup option if I couldn't get into We Rate Anime Dogs because I suspected the latter would fill and the former wouldn't, and I feel like if it was possible for me to predict that, then it would have been possible for staff. I agree that either the feedback session should be at 3 or there should be programming between 3 and 4 (and people should be let back into the building during that time). My partner and I thought about staying for the feedback session but ultimately didn't really want to kill an hour in the convention center when there was nothing to do. Ugly This is a convention center staff problem and not an Otakon staff problem, so there may not be much that anyone here can do about it, but I saw a convention center employee initially refuse to let a woman in a wheelchair use the elevator into the dealers' room because she did not have an accessibility ribbon. The employee relented in the end, but given that there's no other way for a wheelchair user to access the dealers' room, I feel like she shouldn't have made it an issue in the first place - just a "by the way, you should get an accessibility ribbon" would have been fine. I'm generally in favor of treating invisible and visible disabilities the same and not having any differences in policy between them, but this seemed like it was taking that principle a little far. I also heard from friends that the accessibility stuff for the autograph lines was a mess - they were told to wait in a location that was so far away from the autograph area that the line was capped in the time it took them to walk over there. Edit: I'm sorry, I see now that the scheduling stuff was addressed in the post before mine, but I didn't get the notification that there was a new post in the thread until literally as I was hitting the post button. Edited August 1, 2023 by xenoglossy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alabaster 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 21 hours ago, CarolineAndJustine said: - I feel like way more events and panels were cancelled or rescheduled last minute this year than usual? I get that stuff happens, but there was barely any communication from the con side of things (and none whatsoever if you weren't checking their Twitter/Insta). I was getting Guidebook push notifications all weekend about autographs and dealer's room hours, so they were using that feature, but I would have appreciated if they used that to at least announce cancellations involving industry guests. The Ugly LGBT panels this year were fewer in number and were all initially scheduled late at night regardless of whether or not they were actually 18+. A few were either added off the wait-list last minute or rescheduled to earlier time slots, but at least one of them had to do extra lobbying to prove their panels were "appropriate" for general audiences despite having already clearly stated so on the application. I'm trying not to read too much into this, but given the current political climate this makes me very very nervous. Gender and sexuality are not inherently adult topics, and there are already rules in place that can be enforced if someone is inappropriate in an all ages panel. Treating LGBT content this way is both a new thing for Otakon and very concerning for a place that is traditionally full of celebrations of LGBT+ identity (and also a ton of crossdressing, which IMHO makes this futile). I sincerely hope this is either a fluke or a one-off. 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 held waiting for confirmation. But I don't *think* it was more than the usual percent of minor frustrations -- but the guests and industry side of things had a lot of new players and the sheer number of people may have given a bigger impression. We did have a few cancellations due to illness (at least one person only got sick after arriving) rather late in the game. As others have pointed out, the LGBTQ thing was definitely not a deliberate choice, but rather a sheer circumstantial thing. We've pushed hard on the diversity front, and all the info desks even had pronoun ribbons. One of our staff even shared with us a plan to come out as trans during a panel, and had plenty of support. Leadership of this con has strong LGBTQ+ support both professionally AND personally. As for getting the word out in time, it's always been a challenge (and it's improved over the years). As a former head of both Guests & Industry *and* Programming, sometimes you're too busy putting out the fire to communicate about it before it's irrelevant. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alabaster 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 16 hours ago, CarolineAndJustine said: That's good to hear, and I'm glad they're aware of how it looks. I helped run one of the panels involved in this and we did not request a late night slot (in fact we did the opposite) but wound up getting one anyway. They pushed us forward a few hours when we asked but it was still well after the typical room clear - that combined with hearing other panelists report getting grilled about 18+ content when requesting a schedule change didn't exactly bode well. It's possible that there's a few people involved making less than ideal choices (again, anecdotal grilling) but I'm extremely relieved to hear that the organization won't let it happen again. 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikuu 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 Good Crowd control and management was so much better this year, the lines to get in were relatively quick once I had my badge so I was super impressed that the attendance was higher this year than last Artist alley felt more spread out and less congested than last year as well. Overall very happy with the diversity of artists selected I enjoyed all the panels I attended, I thought the presenters did great research and there were several topics I'd never seen at a con before so that was cool Bad Communication to panelists - I've been a panelist half a dozen times at Otakon and this year was the worst for Communication that I have experienced. Most acceptances didn't go out until less than a month before the con and no one would answer any questions for updates or time frames in the discord or on social media posts. Just an update on when to expect responses would have been great, especially since responses went out nearly two weeks later than any other Otakon acceptance I've gotten in the past and I knew several people had to cancel the con because they had yet to hear about their panel and the hotel deadline was approaching Masquerade awards - I had several friends compete in different skits in the masquerade and I thought it was unsportsmanlike that the judges gave multiple awards to the same groups. It would have been nicer if a larger assortment of acts had been acknowledged with certificates rather than a group get best in a category AND a judges award. Just a thought for next year Ugly WHERE WERE THE MASQUERADE RAMPS!!!!! Litterally one of the groups that won multiple awards had to get out of their wheelchair and use crutches separate times to get their awards. I was absolutely appaled to see that they had to do that, and if this doesn't convince Otakon to give a damn about disabled people I dont know what else will Not sure if this is a convention problem or an Otakon problem but I was refused entry with a water bottle in the mariott tunnel in Friday and with the heat we had this year that is absolutely unacceptable! There needs to be some kind of a standard shared because from what I could tell not everyone had this experience but someone could have gotten serious dehydration from this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alabaster 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 7 hours ago, Just a Lad said: I don’t know what went wrong during the organization for the studio orange panel, whether it be a compete underestimate of how popular the studio was or just that security got overwhelmed but it NEVER should have gotten this bad. First, when we showed up an hour and a half before to line up for the panel, staff literally looked us up and down and said don’t you have better things to do and told us to go away, so we just kind of awkwardly sat around the Marriott until someone called in security once a crowd began to form to cue a line. Despite being a featured event, staff and security were blindsided by how many people showed up and did not know what to do or how to handle it in any capacity. Security also “forgot” there was a signing after the panel for about 20 minutes, leaving the guests to try and handle the crowd themselves. Second, while I understand how difficult it is to be a translator, why did no one brief this guy on the show or animation terms if they were hosting two panels, one going into nitty gritty show lore and the other a deep dive on their animation??? While my Japanese isn’t the greatest you could hear the staff mentioning character names in English and the translator completely missing it, it go to a point where one of the guests, Watanabe, who speaks fluent English was repeatedly jumping in to interrupt and correct him and he had to more often than not translate back into Japanese for the staff in the translators place. During sundays animation panel the translator had no idea what blendshapes, storyboards splines, cells etc were and it turned into a slow unbearable mess of the staff trying to get their points across to an English audience, and they were HEAVILY relying on Watanabe to translate. This should go without saying but your featured guest is there as a guest, forcing them to do impromptu real time translation is incredibly disrespectful to the guests and disappointing an an attendee who chose Otakon over other summer conventions specifically for this panel. a significant number of people on discord and twitter (myself included) had their cards scam tapped my someone with a square tap to pay reader and again security brushed it off as us forgetting we bought something. I’ve also heard a few reports of a figure vendor using squares tip system to tack on hundreds of dollars to transactions though it’s only been a handful thankfully. Regarldess, I would like to be able to use my card at a convention without the constant threat of being scammed, guess I’m going to be cash only if I come back next year. 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 English, but not always in specific jargon (they are generally assigned in advance and briefed on necessary stuff); escorts handle the guests and see to their needs, help get them to where they need to be, etc. Occasionally, a scheduling issue, burnt-out voice, or illness means we swap out a panels interp at the last minute. It is possible that the interpreter for that panel was newer (because we knew that Nabe would be able to supplement and teach), or that they had, for example, boned up on music terminology for their main assignment and not been able to prepare for animation-specific stuff. That can be exacerbated when you guys have really great questions -- and the quality of questions our attendees bring to the table at Otakon in particular was something I had a few guests mention. Keep in mind too, that like in any industry, there is jargon and terminology that may be pretty specific and unusual to encounter for people not involved in it. I always end up talking about food with Mr Maruyama when he attends, and not every interpreter is going to know about cooking techniques or spice names in different languages (somehow we always manage with a laugh, though). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Attendee7000 18 Posted August 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 4 hours ago, MattTheMinion said: No, you didn't miss it. Between Covid and other life events, I haven't been able to pull it off for a couple years now. Although, I was thinking if there was enough interest I'd bring it back next year for the 30th. If you're able to pull it together for the con, I'm sure I'd be in attendance. For an anniversary year, it might be good to show the changes in some of the details in demographics and costs and such over three decades. I know many details are confidential, but it'd be amusing to see what certain types of costs were in 1994 vs 2024. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CarolineAndJustine 3 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, alabaster said: 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. Out of curiosity, what gets a panel flagged for potential inappropriate content? There's too many panels going on to apply this level of scrutiny to each and every one of them, and there's clearly potentially borderline panels (ex: this year's yakuza and yandere panels) that the staff are comfortable with. I imagine the application content is a big part of it? EDIT: To be clear, I don't think this is what happened to us (we've run Sword Lesbians at Ota multiple times so it's a known quantity at this point). I'm just curious to know what about the panel(s) that did run into this was likely the issue. Edited August 1, 2023 by CarolineAndJustine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Just a Lad 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 (edited) 59 minutes ago, alabaster said: 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 English, but not always in specific jargon (they are generally assigned in advance and briefed on necessary stuff); escorts handle the guests and see to their needs, help get them to where they need to be, etc. Occasionally, a scheduling issue, burnt-out voice, or illness means we swap out a panels interp at the last minute. It is possible that the interpreter for that panel was newer (because we knew that Nabe would be able to supplement and teach), or that they had, for example, boned up on music terminology for their main assignment and not been able to prepare for animation-specific stuff. That can be exacerbated when you guys have really great questions -- and the quality of questions our attendees bring to the table at Otakon in particular was something I had a few guests mention. Keep in mind too, that like in any industry, there is jargon and terminology that may be pretty specific and unusual to encounter for people not involved in it. I always end up talking about food with Mr Maruyama when he attends, and not every interpreter is going to know about cooking techniques or spice names in different languages (somehow we always manage with a laugh, though). Oh, I had no idea he used to be an interpreter at Otakon! I thought they were just relying on him to translate on the fly, that makes way more sense and it’s very possible this could have been an intentional arrangement. Thank you so much for providing such a detailed answer, it’s very appreciated. EDIT: I did also want to add since I forgot to have it on the good part of the list, but massive thanks to whoever brought in the ASL interpreter and has him up on stage during the entire studio orange panel. I’m not deaf by most people’s definitions but my hearing isn’t fantastic so it was really great to have ( the interpreter did a phenomenal job btw ) Edited August 1, 2023 by Just a Lad Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alabaster 0 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 6 minutes ago, Just a Lad said: Oh, I had no idea he used to be an interpreter at Otakon! I thought they were just relying on him to translate on the fly, that makes way more sense and it’s very possible this could have been an intentional arrangement. Thank you so much for providing such a detailed answer, it’s very appreciated. 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 challenge this year was we brought on a LOT of new interpreters, and for some it was their first time doing it in this setting. And as I mentioned, one of the interpreters completely lost his voice and had to be swapped out last second. If nothing else, Nabe makes it all look easy, but he's been doing this sort of thing for at least a decade or so. Nuance and specificity are really tough to convey sometimes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clutch 66 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 One thing that was a little confusing was my Friday visit to the Dealer's Hall. The staff were moving everyone to the left going to the entrance. When I exited the room, I was walking on the opposite side of the hallway, because everyone was being shunted to the left when going in. A staffer with a big fan told me I was on the wrong side of the barrier. So they must have switched sides of the long hallway where people were going to enter the Dealer's Hall between the time I entered and the time I left. My intention was to exit on the opposing side of the way I was directed to enter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
windseeker 80 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 I forgot two more for The Bad: -During photoshoots in the video game hall, it was almost impossible to hear the organizer calling for characters unless you were standing right by her. There was music blasting nearby and the mic she had barely had any volume to it. - Who let Ministry of Otaku into the building? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Revan 38 Posted August 1, 2023 Report Share Posted August 1, 2023 (edited) Good: - As previously mentioned lines weren't bad, and getting in through the Marriott entrance was a breeze. (I started going more 'bare bones' in the past few years - my phone, camera, a water bottle (w/ cold brew tea), a snack or two in the pockets, pen and paper.) - I got into most of the panels that I wanted to see, and with few criticisms enjoyed myself at them. - I love my new camera, and I'm almost positive I took a record number of pix this year. (Special note - Thanks to all the attendees who braved the DC heat to come in costume! You're braver than I'll ever be.) - So far, so good - no symptoms, and I tested negative for Covid when I got home on Sunday. - Thanks for putting the poster on the back of the map sheet! I have a copy in a folio with my prints. - Being inclusive. Was that a Pride fan logo outside the WEWCC? I really didn't go out the main doors, taking the Marriott path for the majority of time. - I was finally able to bring the last of my stuff for the Otakon museum. (A couple of magazines w/ Ota ads and con reports, and the Otakon bag with the 'limited edition' upside down zipper. 🙂 Bad(-ish): - I don't know whether it's because the attendee numbers are up, but the panel rooms were really crowded this year. The fewest people I saw at a panel was between 80 and 100 (I took a rough count early, and people kept trickling in throughout the hour.), and most of the others were (probably - I was inside already) 'wait outside and hopefully a seat will open up'. The only solutions I can see are either finding larger rooms or more panel rooms, but I don't know how feasible those are. - I lost my hand fan somewhere on Saturday. Not a big loss, as I paid maybe $3 for it, but it's an annoyance. - Too many artists, not enough money to support them. Bad: - I did something that messed up my back, so that whenever I sat down for too long it would start hurting. I was constantly shifting and moving to try and relieve the pain. - The decision to have only 2 registers at the Otakon booth. It took me an hour to go through the line to get merch. (Though I do like the sewing kit. I picked one up to keep in my luggage from now on.) I know that there have been some years where they had more registers and no buyers, it's hard finding the right balance. - At least one panel I was really interested in was scratched at the last minute. I hadn't found out until I looked at one of the Info Desk screens and saw it wasn't there. Almost Ugly: - The Marriott entrance at 8 on Friday morning. The staffers let us through, and when we got up the escalator to the WEWCC entrance the guard at the door was trying to send us back down because she hadn't gotten word that they were open. Only problem was that there were people at the bottom of the escalator so you couldn't go up or down. Thankfully it was resolved fairly quickly, and we were soon allowed in to the con. Ugly: - The weather. Between heat and humidity or storms you couldn't win for losing. (I mentioned to one person who had a fairly elaborate costume that she was amazing for wearing it in this heat, and she said that she gave the props to her friends so she could go through the quick line and into the air conditioning.) Edited August 1, 2023 by Revan Added something I'd forgotten Quote Link to post Share on other sites
UzumakiWarlord 9 Posted August 2, 2023 Report Share Posted August 2, 2023 I haven't been on the BBS in so long, but I've still been attending Otakon each year as per tradition for me, so here are my thoughts for the 2023 edition: Good -As others have said on here, the crowd control was much improved compared to last year. Lots of lines all moved in orderly fashions, with little to no issues. -I really enjoyed the panels I went to. There's always something informative to know on whatever topic it is. My favorite one was with Ricco Fajardo and Lexi Nieto for Tomo-Chan is a Girl. -While I don't speak Spanish, let alone watch Spanish dubs, I give a good amount of props to the staff for doing something a little different with guests. -Some of the other choices in guests weren't bad, either. But that's also kind of bad. I'll explain. Bad -The weather was certainly not the best. Thunderstorms and raining happening on the weekend of any con is definitely not fun one bit. Same with the intense heat. I know that it went up into the triple digits. But of course, there's nothing anyone can do about Mother Nature. -There was a big lack of dub screenings for the video rooms. On the schedule, I saw more sub screenings than dub. Isn't the idea to have a balance of both? -Just like the last few years, it has to be the lacking of an industry presence. Sure there's always Discotek, and whatever other industry partners that have been coming the last few years I can't remember the names of. But whatever happened to have Viz, Crunchyroll, RightStuf, Sentai, and Aniplex coming to Otakon? -The mixture of guests for this year was both a good and bad. For the "bad" part, I feel that some of the choices in the guests weren't necessarily bad, but really could've been better. Having folks like Natalie Van Sistine, Megan Shipman, and Justin Cook were good choices. As were Ricco Fajardo and Lexi Nieto. Lexi especially in the case that this was her first con as a guest. And even though they got sick and had to cancel, J Michael Tatum and Brandon McInnes were exceptionally good choices. But even so, the dub actor side still felt lacking. Which I think the recent union actor and writer strikes going may have played a role into it. I would've love to see more dub actors based in LA. And what's the deal with having TikTokers for guests? I'm sure the stuff they all have to offer are cool and everything, but does it REALLY necessitate enough in having them for guests? Plus, you guys that not everyone has TikTok. I personally don't care for it, and don't need one. After this year, no more TikTokers for guests, please. Ugly -What was up with excluding dub actor autograph signings from the schedule? How were people supposed to know when to line up for their respective tables, and what times they start and end? I get that they were organizing their own signings themselves, but giving officially signings to all of the foreign guests, and leaving the dub actors to do some of it themselves? Unless I'm wrong about something, I feel that some of the staff are having a bias going on. While I did express some complaints, I really did have a good time at the con, and enjoyed myself, as I do every year. That said, I do think some things could've been done better, and need improvements on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LittleHobbit13 63 Posted August 2, 2023 Report Share Posted August 2, 2023 (edited) The Good Lines: The best line control I've seen so far since we moved to DC! Having different entry points for different badging (have vs need, bag vs no bag, etc) was perfect. Having staffers at the base of that one escalator to make sure people weren't stopping and causing a traffic jam was immensely helpful. Staff also seemed very proactive about getting lines in order for panels and autos. It was generally pretty clear where the ends of lines were thanks to that. Member Access: This is the first time I've had to make sure of Member Access services. Recovering from major surgery and still lacking some leg strength, I was a little nervous about how this weekend would go. It was easy to get hooked up with a ribbon which allowed me to use the elevators when I needed to. The convention staff were polite and helpful when I had to interact with them. Really no complaints. Photoshoots: Moving the photoshoots up to the Game Room was great for getting more space and better lighting. It was helpful to have more room to mill about ahead of your group's scheduled time without feeling like you were blocking other people. The shoots I participated in also did a good job of being respectful of the groups coming after them, making sure to wrap up on time and get out of the way. The tweak I would make, however, it to see if the space could be spread out just a hair more to accommodate the size of crowds showing up to some of the shoots. Guests: I loved that Colin Ryan and Bethan Walker were invited to the convention! I know a lot of us FFXIV fans were thinking about FanFest going on the same weekend, and it was a real treat that we were able to have our own little version at Otakon. Their joint panel on Saturday was well attended and lively with energy. My only critique is that we didn't get through that many questions because it took too long to choose them in the moment from what the audience had submitted. It would be helpful in the future to have the opportunity to submit questions ahead of time. I also attended Colin's panel on Sunday. It wasn't as crowded as everyone expected it would be, but it allowed us to be a little more informal and relaxed which everyone really enjoyed. We had some time afterward where a few of us were able to go up and say hi and everyone had a generally great time. I think everyone would love to have them back at a future Otakon. Makerspace After Dark: This was great! Usually Makerspace shuts down pretty early in the evening (like 8 or 9, I think?) but it was really nice that it stayed open later this year. Sometimes I don't have enough energy to keep going to panels (or maybe there are no panels catching my attention) but I'm not quite ready to be done for the day. The Makerspace is a great way to be at the convention but also be relaxing and having a good time. Everyone at my table felt the same way and was having a really good time working on their craft projects. It would be great if we could do this again next year. The Bad Photoshoots: The NOISE. Even when the coordinators had the mic and speaker, it was still incredibly hard to hear them sometimes if you were more than 10ft away. In the opposite direction, it was also hard for them to hear people attending the shoot in case there were any issues coming up. It was 3 very enthusiastic and large groups all right next to each other, who were also competing with the noise of all the game sounds and music, all in a large echo-y space. It needs some adjustments for next year if they're going to remain in the same space. Otakon Merch Booth: The line took FOREVER to get through. I've never seen it take that long, not ever. The problem ended up being that people were being asked to continue shopping from checkout. If they were over a certain dollar amount, there was some free swag you were able to get. I was lucky in that the woman who helped me told me while I was still in line based on what I was getting, but for most people they weren't being told this until they were already checking out. This held up the line while people scrambled to figure out what they wanted. If this continues at future Otakon, people need to be helped in making their additional selections before reaching the register. I also have to recommend Otakon think about numbering their sticker selection. Half the hold up was people trying to get staff to figure out which stickers they were pointing at. It'd be easier on everyone if they could just say "I'll take 2, 5, 6, 9, and 13" and be done with it instead of having to pantomime what they wanted at a distance. Vender Selection: Somehow the selection didn't feel as varied this year, though I know that could be a very subjective take and others may feel differently. I acknowledge that I'm an older attendee and I've seen plenty of these venders before, I know that's part of it, but there just didn't seem to be as many unique or surprising finds this year even considering that. The Ugly Photosuite: I understand from talking to the staff in the Suite that there were minimum photographers and then some issues that forced them to pause activity in the Suite a couple times which backed things up. However, it doesn't change that it left the Photosuite functionally inaccessible for a huge chunk of the convention due to multi-hour queue times. In my case, this was particularly devastating, not just because I love doing Photosuite to get a few shots of my costume, but also because it required a number of additional trips to their location that were punishment I would have rather not put my legs through with the mobility issues I was juggling this year. Problem is, there's literally no other way to get status on their queue except to physically go there. I'm not exaggerating to say I could barely walk by the end of the day because of all that extra walking. Suggestion: It would be helpful if Otakon could implement a kind of "shop while you wait" system for the Photosuite. If the wait is longer than an hour, you can leave your number and go off and do other things. When your turn is coming up, the system can ping you and then you head over. That way people are freed up to enjoy other Otakon content instead of being held hostage to a queue, and also people don't have to keep going back over to see what the queue is like. COVID: I'm going to echo what others in this thread have already said. I think Otakon should continue to have a vax requirement for the time being considering the crowd size. I think masks would be difficult to require and enforce at this point, but maintaining the vax requirement would be good for the safety of all attendees. Edited August 2, 2023 by LittleHobbit13 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotinoma 2 Posted August 2, 2023 Report Share Posted August 2, 2023 Some traditions are worth keeping and this thread sure is one of those. Good: Just to echo all the crowd control. Even the weirdly shrunken autograph line situation was not bad. Maybe demand for individual guests have gone down this year, despite more creators than before. Crowding has been good, or lack of bad crowding. The lower level hallway still occasionally gets jammed, and it was happening even on Friday which seems to match the higher attendee count this year. I appreciate the con making an effort to address this, but the walking to the left/right thing is definitely a point of confusion. The checkpoint entering into the venue seems to be done well this time too. Just want to say Haruna Ikezawa is perfect for this con I hope she can pay us a visit again, and this time actually do sf lit stuff and not have to put Jim on a spot for book recs lol. Bad: Scheduling was late and kind of messed up in some cases. It would be greatly appreciated if the guidebook version can go up the weekend before the con so I can actually create that plan of action and schedule my own events and traveling arrangement easier. Kind of wish autograph policies are put up online before the con, whatever they ended up doing was just "you had to be there to confirm" first sort of thing. But again because the demand is much lower this year things worked out. Ugly: So many guests. And nobody super hype. I liked some of them so maybe the shotgun approach kind of works? Really have no clue how some of them ended up at Otakon. With all the Macross guests, why can't yall pull some music guests from Macross? I appreciate the Macross display at the dealers but feels like they could have run that booth better and sold more things. Echo prior comment about giving staff some megaphones or some such, because while we appreciate their work and understand the need to yell, it can be startling and uh, come across kind of angry. Maybe that was their way to deal with stress iono lol. Probably good for everyone if more such tools were available. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aly-san 5 Posted August 2, 2023 Report Share Posted August 2, 2023 Good: The con staff were so sweet to give out gift bags to the winning editors that attended the AMV Contest Winners panel!! I've been entering and attending for several years now (whether or not I make it into the contest) but this was a first, and being able to take part in the photo as well was so heartwarming, I was grinning ear-to-ear. Thank you to all the staff involved in that! I hope I can find that picture somewhere eventually, lmao As everyone else has already said: crowd control. There were some moments where I started to feel a little claustrophobic in the dealer's room/artist's alley, but that's to be expected I think lol. Bag check in the Marriott connector was very quick! Which I suppose could be either a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you ask, but I didn't mind it. I was glad that having my purse checked each time didn't slow down my group. Though, it did get pretty backed up late Saturday night...when the dance was going on, i.e. when it was the most necessary lmao. A guy in front of me had an entire six-pack shoved into his backpack that security had to confiscate, so I get why it was a slower process at that time. This has been true for a few years now I think, but I'm always happy to see the DC Japan Embassy in the dealer's room every year! It's such a nice addition even if it's a simple one, and the little crafts they give you are delightful. I have a small collection of stamps from their booths, and I definitely plan to keep that growing every year they attend. Also, I love the maps of Japanese cities they provide--I doubt I'll ever get the chance to visit, but I enjoy looking at them anyway! I don't know who was leaving all those little ducks around the convention center, and it probably wasn't fun for the people who had to clean them up, but I found them delightful lmfao. My group ended up making a game out of finding them all over the place. The new food court area near the Marriott tunnel looks great! Love the new seating and the windows. Didn't eat there because of stuff I'll allocate to the 'bad' category, but it still looks nicer than it did before. Bad: On the subject of the lower-level food court--I was disappointed by the lack of Japanese-adjacent options, as well as the prices. (I mean, I know it's DC and it's a huge tourist spot, so prices are going to be ridiculous, but...a $10 hot dog? Jeez.) I remember the previous food court set up had things like ramen or taiyaki, with cute little names like "Sasuke's Pork Ramen" or whatever. I don't think this is Otakon's fault by any means, but it was a little but of a bummer to just see your run-of-the-mill stadium food options lol. Am I mistaken, or were there basically zero industry booths in the dealer's room this year? It feels like they've been fewer and fewer the past few years, but I at least remembered HiDive, JAST and MangaGamer being present last year. JAST seemed to have a tiny booth it was sharing with another company (J18 I think?) but the only industry booth I really remember seeing this year was Discotek. I'd be curious to know if there was something that happened behind the scenes this year to caused that. But I was sad to not have a MangaGamer Industry Panel this year, for sure. So I have no idea, maybe this was my fault somehow, but--the AMV I submitted this year, for some reason, sounded kind of blown-out on the AMV Theater speakers. I double checked it before submitting and it sounded fine on all my systems. Maybe it was some incompatibility between my system and theirs? All the other AMVs sounded fine, so I was kinda sad mine sounded all weird. Maybe it had something to do with the bass levels, idk. I guess it must not have bothered many others since people still voted for it, so maybe I shouldn't even be complaining lol!! Ugly: Someone mentioned it earlier, but panels filling up so quick is a bummer. I know it's overall a good thing for the convention, since it means attendance and interest are both high, but for your average con-goer who doesn't want to spend an hour lining up for every thing they want to go to, it kinda sucks. It's not really a new thing, and it's not as bad as it got in the BCC the last few years, but still disappointing when it happens. Overall, I had a very good time as usual! Very excited for the 30th anniversary next year, especially since I will also be turning 30 lol! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KyoKyo 41 Posted August 3, 2023 Report Share Posted August 3, 2023 (edited) Most of the replies here have covered all the pros and cons but there were a few things that caught my attention: the high prices of scale figures in the dealer's room, the near lack of an industry presence and some panel issues. Figures- I collect scale figures and understand that the dealer's need to make a profit especially considering how costly it is to bring their inventory to the con. However, the figure aftermarket is oversaturated and has really tanked over the past year. Combined with a weak yen, I was still surprised to see markups approaching $200 over what I paid for a figure that came out only a few months ago. Shipping costs have gone up but seeing the markups keeps me from buying from most dealers at Otakon. There were some dealers that were reasonably priced and competitive with each other but seeing some of the rarer 1/4 scales going for over $1k was amazing. Industry- Also what's happened to the industry presence, or lack thereof, at Otakon? I remember the good old days in the BCC from the mid to late 00's where there were big industry booths in the Dealer's Room. Back when Geneon still existed they had that huge Hellsing Ultimate Alucard throne and Bandai used to have an elaborate Gundam display. It's disappointing to see how the industry presence has declined into almost nothing over the past decade. Panels- On a side note, several panels we went to started late due to some AV issues, specifically HDMI cables not working and no sound. I heard one panelist complain that Otakon needed a dedicated 10 minute breakdown and setup time for staff between panels and I tend to agree. COVID- Also, thank you Otakon for dropping the vaccine mandates for this year's con. Edited August 3, 2023 by KyoKyo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TsquareNinja 0 Posted August 3, 2023 Report Share Posted August 3, 2023 (edited) Good - Cannot echo this enough but line control nailed it this year. Number wise it was the same as last year it didn't feel like it as we hardly spent any time just waiting in lines, they were constantly flowing. Opening more entrances and moving the reg line seemed to alleviate a lot of the choke points. - In my experience, I didn't have to wait to get into a lot of the panels I wanted to see, there were always a few empty seats I could slide into which was nice not having to wait in a huge line for them. The only one I couldn't get in to see was the Anime over 30 panel which was also the same time as 2 others I also wanted to see (got there too late to get a seat) - Food offerings this year seemed to be more plentiful and in more spaces. We didn't partake in any of it but I did notice more spots open and a self-serve kiosk on the way to the dealer hall - 15 min between panels built into the schedules was a great idea. I think they usually do this and I wish more cons did it. Helps us get time to set up our laptop, make sure sound is working, visuals are working, etc without cutting into our presentation time. We automatically account for 10 min or so for set up/break down during a panel but not everyone does or you get so invested in your topic you can run over time cutting into the next panel. Having that buffer gives some extra wiggle room. Bad - Not enough communication on WWEC policies, mostly the cashless food stalls and the conflicting no outside food/no outside beverages enforcement. We were let in with personal Brita water bottles but the guy behind us was forced to toss his small half-eaten bag of pistachios. I understand not bringing in a whole pizza or fast food option but small snacks like granola bars or nuts. Seems like overkill esp given the weather and if people have medical issues where they can only have a certain food. Also saw others forced to toss disposable water bottles or take others back to their hotel rooms. Again, with the heat wave, you need SOME type of beverage unless you want otaku passing out from heat stroke. -The cashless food stalls were another one. I had a heads up thanks to social media and people who attended Awesomecon but if Otakon could communicate those Center policies on their FAQs or somewhere like a reminder that would've helped a lot. Only saw a mention of it on twitter and facebook after it became a problem for people. I personally like cash to help with budgeting and use my card as a backup. There was a machine to add cash to your card for a fee at the Marriott tunnel. (reverse ATM style) - Inconsistent enforcement of the bag/food checks. Not an Otakon problem, but a security problem. We mostly use the Marriott Tunnel and I know it's luck of the draw who you get but in the morning most of the red-coated security didn't care to check our stuff and by afternoon they were making people empty their pockets. I think the scanner broke at one point so they had to hand-scan everyone causing backups. -Line for Otakon Merch was the longest/busiest I've seen it. Everyone I interacted with staff wise were very helpful as well, if not overwhelmed. I loved all the options this year, feel it was some of the best stuff they've offered so far. With so many options a poster, handout, or something would've been nice to help expedite the process of choosing what you wanted. That way as you waited in line you could decide what to get. The handout they did have was of the pin collecting. I saw several people grabbing those only to put them back after seeing it and most people I talked too didn't see the advert in the physical con book for merch. Opening more than 2 registers would be great as well and specifying they prefer cards over cash as only one register was taking cash. Ugly - I didn't experience it but my husband and several friends mentioned there was a huge line at the game room Friday when they tried to get to panel 1. Several photoshoots were waiting to get into the game room and it caused so much chaos, he turned around and left not even going to try and get into the panel. - Panel communication. We love presenting at Otakon but this year didn't find out which panels were picked until about 2 weeks before the con. Some panels we never even heard back about their status but thanks to Otakon's Discord rep we were able to get some clarification on who to contact to sort it out. Maybe a sooner cut-off time is needed, and at least let people know at least a month before the con if their topic was picked or not. Edited August 3, 2023 by TsquareNinja Added feedback about Merch booth Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KyoKyo 41 Posted August 4, 2023 Report Share Posted August 4, 2023 I forgot to add a big thanks to the "Fanservice" couple in the WEWCC line on Saturday morning. They were generously handing out small japanese-themed hand fans to people they passed in line, including the WEWCC and Otakon staffers. It was a nice gesture and helped keep things a bit cooler in the morning heat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mulder1515 1 Posted August 4, 2023 Report Share Posted August 4, 2023 With regards to this year, I'd honestly genuinely say it was mostly fantastic. My only big complaint being put on the Discord instead in terms of management issues. I do however have one other complaint/comment that I was initially going to just keep to myself but I'm seeing more and more complaints about it and that is regarding guests. I don't know what goes on behind the scenes guests wise and I know it's very complex. I also don't want to discount/insult the guests who took time out of their lives to come or the work done by Guest Relations. On the other hand however, I must confess to feeling overall let down this year guest wise. Despite having the most guests of any Otakon apparently, there was only one guest this year who I personally was incredibly over the moon for and that was Shoji Kawamori, and to be objective I fully get why to most people the creator of a series which has only now made its way out of Japan isn't the most exciting. This leads into my wider point which is Otakon this year guest-wise definitely felt more like quantity over quality. A lot of the guests either felt incredibly small, random, or niche. I get that TikTokers have their fans, especially the younger fans, but to many older con attendees (aka people 22+ to be honest) they're not a major draw. There was only two youtubers this year when Youtubers are more universal I feel. As for everyone else while I fully get things happen including people getting sick, the fact that J. Michael Tatum was pretty much the biggest guest being used to hold up everything else showed the flaws in that model when he unfortunately caught COVID, leading to a lot of disgruntled dub fans feeling that there wasn't any huge dub guests (Even if I'd disagree on that persay). As for the Japanese side of things we only had one seiyuu of any real note and even then it felt like a less big draw compared to last year with Mariya Ise when last year was kneecapped by COVID issues with Japan...unlike this year. This relates to the industry side of things too. There was a lot of producers this time around which while interesting in their own way, definitely felt like overkill. The lack of big creative presences this year with the exceptions of Shoji Kawamori and Shinji Aramaki (Both of which who despite me liking their works, I'd also argue are pretty niche) such as directors or writers or even more mangaka was disappointing. I'm not sure what's going on behind the scenes there, maybe money being reserved for a big blow-out in the 30th anniversary year?, but I'd definitely personally prefer 10-20 big guests over 60-70 guests of varying importance. Once again, I mean no disrespect to those who attended and the GR staff but beyond my own personal disappointment, I think the amount of complaints and voicing of displeasure speaks volumes. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotinoma 2 Posted August 4, 2023 Report Share Posted August 4, 2023 On 8/3/2023 at 2:15 PM, TsquareNinja said: -Line for Otakon Merch was the longest/busiest I've seen it. Everyone I interacted with staff wise were very helpful as well, if not overwhelmed. I loved all the options this year, feel it was some of the best stuff they've offered so far. With so many options a poster, handout, or something would've been nice to help expedite the process of choosing what you wanted. That way as you waited in line you could decide what to get. The handout they did have was of the pin collecting. I saw several people grabbing those only to put them back after seeing it and most people I talked too didn't see the advert in the physical con book for merch. Opening more than 2 registers would be great as well and specifying they prefer cards over cash as only one register was taking cash. I also saw this and basically avoided that booth all Friday. I was able to get in early Saturday to go there first thing, and still took a while with just 3 people in front of me. Really shouldn't take this long? To some extent this was the same for the Macross booth and they sold out some stuff I wanted, when I went back later during the weekend when the lines were shorter. Money saved I guess. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flymetothemoon 0 Posted August 5, 2023 Report Share Posted August 5, 2023 With regards to this year, I'd honestly genuinely say it was mostly fantastic. My only big complaint being put on the Discord instead in terms of management issues. I do however have one other complaint/comment that I was initially going to just keep to myself but I'm seeing more and more complaints about it and that is regarding guests. I don't know what goes on behind the scenes guests wise and I know it's very complex. I also don't want to discount/insult the guests who took time out of their lives to come or the work done by Guest Relations. On the other hand however, I must confess to feeling overall let down this year guest wise. Despite having the most guests of any Otakon apparently, there was only one guest this year who I personally was incredibly over the moon for and that was Shoji Kawamori, and to be objective I fully get why to most people the creator of a series which has only now made its way out of Japan isn't the most exciting. This leads into my wider point which is Otakon this year guest-wise definitely felt more like quantity over quality. A lot of the guests either felt incredibly small, random, or niche. I get that TikTokers have their fans, especially the younger fans, but to many older con attendees (aka people 22+ to be honest) they're not a major draw. There was only two youtubers this year when Youtubers are more universal I feel. As for everyone else while I fully get things happen including people getting sick, the fact that J. Michael Tatum was pretty much the biggest guest being used to hold up everything else showed the flaws in that model when he unfortunately caught COVID, leading to a lot of disgruntled dub fans feeling that there wasn't any huge dub guests (Even if I'd disagree on that persay). As for the Japanese side of things we only had one seiyuu of any real note and even then it felt like a less big draw compared to last year with Mariya Ise when last year was kneecapped by COVID issues with Japan...unlike this year. This relates to the industry side of things too. There was a lot of producers this time around which while interesting in their own way, definitely felt like overkill. The lack of big creative presences this year with the exceptions of Shoji Kawamori and Shinji Aramaki (Both of which who despite me liking their works, I'd also argue are pretty niche) such as directors or writers or even more mangaka was disappointing. I also definitely feel that there seems to be too much of a focus on bringing people over who are here to promote their new works, something which I totally get is a part of con life but at the same time when that's like...the majority it feels a bit much. I'm not sure what's going on behind the scenes there, maybe money being reserved for a big blow-out in the 30th anniversary year?, but I'd definitely personally prefer 10-20 big guests over 60-70 guests of varying importance. Once again, I mean no disrespect to those who attended and the GR staff but beyond my own personal disappointment, I think the amount of complaints and voicing of displeasure speaks volumes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darknessflamegeass 6 Posted August 5, 2023 Report Share Posted August 5, 2023 I thought most of the con went pretty well, but if I have one request for next year, PLEASE bring back at least a few official autograph sessions for dub VAs next year. I had to pay more for 2 autos and a pic with Justin Cook this year, than I did for 3 autos and a pic total from Steve Blum and Beau Billingslea last year. I get that a lot goes into determining how those sessions and prices work, such as appearance fee vs guarantee, and dealing with agencies etc. I just don't want Ota to turn into an expensive autograph show when it comes to dub VA signatures. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clutch 66 Posted August 6, 2023 Report Share Posted August 6, 2023 I think that all the guests charge now, and it comes down to how much you are willing to pay. Bruce Campbell was the featured guest at Wizard World some time ago, and they had tiered pricing on pictures, autographs, and even a special luncheon or something. I remember one price being $80 and that was for one of the small things, like an autograph. Not sure that anyone's autograph is worth that much to me. I'm ancient though, just look at my signature. Only ever obtained 2 autographs. One was from Colin Baker [the Sixth Doctor] that was mailed to me after he had to cancel a convention appearance. Who knows if he really signed it, but it was a nice gesture. The other was the late Douglas Adams who signed a copy of Mostly Harmless at a local book store (which is long gone 😟). The poor man had serious jet lag and swirled a marker on the inside of my copy of his book. In the grand scheme of things, the autographs are nice to have, but not worth much to anyone else. I would feel foolish after looking at an autograph and saying "I paid $80 for that! What was I thinking?", but to each their own. Peace. 😀 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Attendee7000 18 Posted August 6, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2023 Since other people had mentioned it, and I had meant to in mine, I also wanted to mention the Otakon Merch booth As others have said, the line was an issue. I'd understand it for the first hour or two as people are eager that they'd line up. But I'd say there was a line the majority of the con. And with how the line wrapped around the front of the booth, you couldn't even look at the merch without getting in line. You don't really want to wait 15 minutes just to see if there's something you want to buy. Luckily this seems like one of the most solvable issues. There's always more options to speed up purchases. And the merch booth tends to sit on its own in the back, so the line can be behind the booth or next to it, rather than right across the front of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TnAdct1 35 Posted August 7, 2023 Report Share Posted August 7, 2023 WHAT I LIKED: Metro actually serving as an alternative to staying at a hotel (especially with the mess going on at my usual hotel). Being on the Green Line, getting to and from the convention is actually very easy, cheap on weeknights and weekends, and outside of Saturday night (partially due to me accidentally taking the wrong train) wasn't too much of a problem. The only issue is having to leave Otakon before 11:00PM, as someone carpools me home, but given how I usually don't do the 18+ stuff, it wasn't that big of a problem. While there's still some room for improvement (i.e. still lacking variety; the issues people have with the main merchandise table, which is one reason why I tend to line up early on Friday and go directly there first), the Dealer's Hall is slowly getting back to the norm before the COVID pandemic. Was pleasantly surprised that the AMV Contest finalists attending the con (me included) received swag bags alongside the usual ribbons. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE 10:00AM Friday and Saturday morning, when people are waiting for the Video Game Room to open. You can barely move around during this time and is like a fire hazard waiting to happen. The scheduling of the Junko Iwao autograph sessions. I take the blame for not being able to get it on Friday, as initial lining-up happened during the middle of a panel that I regularly attend at Otakon. However, I'm not happy that the second session happened during the AMV Contest Award Ceremony, as that has always been a top priority for me. Even with the line control, trying to get in on Saturday is still a mess for those who are carrying bags. While I understand the safety reasons for it, bag checks are sadly still slowing things down and creating long lines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clutch 66 Posted August 7, 2023 Report Share Posted August 7, 2023 (edited) 10 hours ago, TnAdct1 said: WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE Even with the line control, trying to get in on Saturday is still a mess for those who are carrying bags. While I understand the safety reasons for it, bag checks are sadly still slowing things down and creating long lines. Not disagreeing with your statement, however, there were many attendees who did not have their bags opened and ready for inspection. The security personnel doing bag inspection in the Marriott had to keep stating to have their bags open and ready. Otakon should probably have signs posted earlier in the lines stating that fact to help the line flow, but they can't control people not being ready. One a side note, repeat instructions may be good to have on sign boards to save the staff from shouting as much. A sign with an arrow pointing left (held high enough to see further away) would be a visual clue to herd the crowd for the Dealer's Hall. Another sign near the escalators would help with that control, in my opinion. Signs can be re-used (like the map boards) to be a lower cost expense. I also thought the staff having glow sticks or wands to point people in the correct direction may be useful, maybe fun. I could imagine someone doing a little dance move with the glow sticks pointing someone to the left (Move to the left. Move to the left. Uh hah...). My point being that in large crowds you can see things before hearing them over the din. Edited August 7, 2023 by Clutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TnAdct1 35 Posted August 11, 2023 Report Share Posted August 11, 2023 On 8/7/2023 at 9:18 AM, Clutch said: Not disagreeing with your statement, however, there were many attendees who did not have their bags opened and ready for inspection. The security personnel doing bag inspection in the Marriott had to keep stating to have their bags open and ready. Otakon should probably have signs posted earlier in the lines stating that fact to help the line flow, but they can't control people not being ready. The only thing the staff told us to do was to remove the items in our pockets. Also, I didn't need my bags inspected on Friday, but had to do it on Saturday. Personally, the Convention Center needs to do one of the following to avoid this confusion: Fully commit to the bag check and have everyone be inspected (which I'm against, as that will only slow down the lines). Have a device that can have bags checks without needed to be inspected. Drop the bag check all together. Quote One a side note, repeat instructions may be good to have on sign boards to save the staff from shouting as much. A sign with an arrow pointing left (held high enough to see further away) would be a visual clue to herd the crowd for the Dealer's Hall. Another sign near the escalators would help with that control, in my opinion. Signs can be re-used (like the map boards) to be a lower cost expense. I also thought the staff having glow sticks or wands to point people in the correct direction may be useful, maybe fun. I could imagine someone doing a little dance move with the glow sticks pointing someone to the left (Move to the left. Move to the left. Uh hah...). My point being that in large crowds you can see things before hearing them over the din. I did see some staff members use the fans when directing people to the Dealers Hall and Artist Alley. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TomDent 16 Posted August 12, 2023 Report Share Posted August 12, 2023 The Good: As many have said already, the crowd control was great this year. I do kind of miss the camaraderie that came with waiting in long lines and getting to play games while waiting, but it's really nice that things overall were moving at a good pace, especially when waiting outside in that heat. The new attendance record was great to see IMO. Large crowds wear me out, but it's nice to see Otakon growing and I really wasn't expecting it to go up that much this year. It's exciting to see. Even though I didn't get to go to all the guest panels this year, it was great to see the variety of guests that Otakon brought this year. Having more Asian guests outside of Japan was great to see and having Spanish dub VAs was pleasantly unexpected. I hope they keep this up. I loved the Japanese Embassy booth in the dealer room. The cosplays were great as they are every year. There seemed to be a lot less clogging in the hallways for photoshoots, probably due to the photo suite that I've heard good things about. Seeing more premiers, something Otakon has been known for in the past. Discotek......enough said. The Bad: As per usual, the convention center staff seem very rude and at times uninformed. I guess some of that can't be helped due to the large crowd of excited people, but they have zero chill, even when they're wrong about something. Lack of info and supplying important info right before or even during the convention. Things like the convention center going cashless caught a lot of people off guard since it wasn't announced until the con started. I really REALLY miss the industry presence in the dealer room. Not having Crunchyroll, Funimation, Aniplex (I know these are all basically merged now), and other industries is a real let down. Thank god for Discotek still being there for us. It feels like there's less and less anime stuff in the dealer room each year and fewer vendors selling anime DVDs/BluRays and CDs. Even a lot of the vendors selling t-shirts have less anime stuff and more "meme content" stuff (I see this at other cons too). The Ugly: The weather and the prices. I know that's not Otakon's fault, but holy crap it was hot and stormed on and off pretty bad and the food prices in the WEWCC are getting more and more ridiculous every year. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alabaster 0 Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 On 8/1/2023 at 8:23 PM, UzumakiWarlord said: Bad -The weather was certainly not the best. Thunderstorms and raining happening on the weekend of any con is definitely not fun one bit. Same with the intense heat. I know that it went up into the triple digits. But of course, there's nothing anyone can do about Mother Nature. -There was a big lack of dub screenings for the video rooms. On the schedule, I saw more sub screenings than dub. Isn't the idea to have a balance of both? -Just like the last few years, it has to be the lacking of an industry presence. Sure there's always Discotek, and whatever other industry partners that have been coming the last few years I can't remember the names of. But whatever happened to have Viz, Crunchyroll, RightStuf, Sentai, and Aniplex coming to Otakon? 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alabaster 0 Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 On 8/2/2023 at 2:16 AM, LittleHobbit13 said: .Vender Selection: Somehow the selection didn't feel as varied this year, though I know that could be a very subjective take and others may feel differently. I acknowledge that I'm an older attendee and I've seen plenty of these venders before, I know that's part of it, but there just didn't seem to be as many unique or surprising finds this year even considering that. We had twice the number of vendors this year as we had last….. and as a rule it’s first come first serve. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
greatsg 0 Posted October 3, 2023 Report Share Posted October 3, 2023 (edited) I'm a bit late to this, but I had to dust off my old account cause I didn't realize this board was still around and I did want to provide some convention feedback, since the form provided at the beginning of August had no means to do so this year and that was frankly both disappointing and frustrating.The Good: -I have been a regular panelist for the AMV Theater since the Baltimore years now, but I have to get Vic and the whole AMV Theater crew a lot of kudos every year. The audio and video setup is great every year and they're always very accommodating in helping keep the panels there running smoothly. I ran two panels in there this year and getting to run events in the AMV Theater is always a highlight for me. -The guests I got to meet throughout the weekend were great and all very wonderful. -Crowds and lines around the general convention area mostly seemed to be handled fine and I didn't feel the crowding was nearly as bad as it got last year on Saturday afternoon with the influx of single day attendees. -Moving Discotek back into a larger panel room from the smaller one initially on the schedule was the right call, cause that panel filled up fast. It was great to see a lot of fan panels were getting good attendance all weekend, fan panels continue to be one of my favorite things to both host and attend every year. The Bad: -Panelist registration was a bit of a head scratcher this year. Since the first year in DC, I've been accustomed to being taken up to the second level to Panel Ops to take care of registration there, which has always been quick, easy, and no hassle. This year, the panelist registration was moved down to a small table in the main registration area and the volunteers manning the table seemed to have not been fully briefed on everything they needed for us, including someone having to run after a person to have them fill out the tax form we have to fill out. -Two of my panels were in the regular Panel Rooms and the lack of AV staff on hand was a problem I saw throughout the weekend. I had a panel first thing in the morning on Friday and not only was the door locked, requiring someone to have to get the person with keys to open it, but none of the equipment was setup and someone for AV had to be sought out for that as well. This ate up most of the first 10 minutes of my panel, Anime Adaptations of Western Sci-Fi/Fantasy Lit which meant I had to speed through the last portions of it so I wouldn't go too far over time. This issue also affected other panels I attended as well, and I hope next year AV staff is on hand better at the beginning so no one has to lose time because of tech issues. -I'm not sure if this was an issue at other events in the room throughout the weekend, but I attended the Mystery Anime Theater showing in the Marriott and the show itself was fun and entertaining, but the sound system was way too loud and made the room acoustics a problem where a lot of the dialog couldn't be full understood and I had a headache by the end from how loud the sound was. -I know not every fan panel can be approved, but I disappointed to see a panel I've had multiple people tell me they would love to see at the event, plus events from others who always do great work in past years, all turned down this year. Some other people have already mentioned the too many guests issue, and I can only assume that ate up a lot of time slots for panels this year. Regardless, going back to my decline panel, the form for Panel Submissions has a place for you to fill out "Why Otakon Should Accept Your Panel" and I wrote a pretty lengthy bit there for my declined panel. To later see the person who runs a regular panel that's while popular, but has never appealed to me, posting on their Facebook page for their con events with a screenshot of how they treated their submission for their popular panel as a joke and it was still accepted; well it certainly doesn't make you feel great about trying to bring fun and education history panels to the con if they're getting declined.The Ugly: - Autograph line management is just... it's not pleasant that's for sure. I understand the necessities of crowd control, but it's been odd to see the 30 minute line-up thing in recent years instead of the usual 1 hour. I also feel like there could be better means for organizing the lines in general. Even less pleasant was the general attitude of staffers manning the line queues, who over the course of Sunday just became frankly more rude, caustic, and two people in particular were being downright antagonistic towards attendees. It's all made worse by having people scream themselves hoarse over and over with threats to attendees for hovering in the area. I'm not going to pretend I'm a logistics expert on this stuff, but there's got to be something better than the current setup. -There's really no other way to put this, but seeing Otakon invite a guest who was and still is (although they try to be discreet and hide this now) in the hate movement known as Gamergate and with a history of right-wing bigotry during an event trying to advertise itself with Pride motifs, was very disappointing to see. I understand this person was a guest in the past as well, but between me walking out of one of their panels that was a technical mess disaster because the guest's name was not listed on the panel and on top of their overinflated ego of trying to be an authority for topics covered much better by other writers and fans over the years, there was really no excuse to have this person there and I hope they are never invited back again. -Don't provide a general form claiming it's feedback when there's no place for additional comments, especiall if one of the few questions on the form is a joke one about chicken tenders. Edited October 3, 2023 by greatsg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zelkova 0 Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 On 10/3/2023 at 1:33 PM, greatsg said: The Bad: -Panelist registration was a bit of a head scratcher this year. Since the first year in DC, I've been accustomed to being taken up to the second level to Panel Ops to take care of registration there, which has always been quick, easy, and no hassle. This year, the panelist registration was moved down to a small table in the main registration area and the volunteers manning the table seemed to have not been fully briefed on everything they needed for us, including someone having to run after a person to have them fill out the tax form we have to fill out. This was probably me and yes I had literally just been informed of what to do and you caught me at the start of me doing it. I was replacing someone so they could go on break for a bit. You just happen to get the luck of the draw to be one of the first I assisted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clutch 66 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 On 1/1/2024 at 12:39 PM, Zelkova said: This was probably me and yes I had literally just been informed of what to do and you caught me at the start of me doing it. I was replacing someone so they could go on break for a bit. You just happen to get the luck of the draw to be one of the first I assisted. Thank you for volunteering to assist. I don't think people appreciate all the hard work people do for Otakon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.