Anime Matsuri -
a con gone horribly wrong.

My synopsys of Anime Matsuri, and why I will not be back.

1. If you sponsored a room... you still had to pay for the right badge to get into the room.

2. If you want your video rooms to run smoothly... and to run from open to close non-stop, you need more than 3 people TOTAL working your video room.

3. If you invite guests to your con (VA's, Artists, Industry, etc.), even if they are from the city your convention is in... You FEED THEM.

4. If you are going to charge $100+ for a badge to a game room.. those games should be free ALL 3 DAYS. Don't decide to make the games free-play just because the room is empty - they paid enough already.

5. Artist Alley
Friday: posted hours say that the AA was open 24 hours.
--11am to midnight is NOT 24 hours
--A volunteer stood in the hall and announced at 9pm that the AA was closed... there were over 10 people at our table - they left, we did not.

Saturday:
--Posted closing; midnight. We got a call from our people and others at 7:30pm that security announced in the AA that if you weren't in a video room, or going to some late night event (dont remember what it was called), you had to leave the building. Our table stayed open... and we had our drawing for the gunblade at 8 as previously announced.

Anime conventions function through volunteers. I can understand wanting to weed out the bad ones, but it is easy to contact other cons and get their "blacklist" of people they won't let volunteer again.

Anime conventions survive based on how you treat people. Many vendors and artists were disgusted with the con before it even started Friday. Insulting attendees by making them pay for a $5 program guide in order to receive any info, and then telling them they need to shell out an additional $50 to get into any of the rooms is a great way to piss them off.

I have been working conventions since 1994. This is the first time that I have actually hoped that a con would not attempt a year 2. If there is, I hope we don't have a table... so I don't have to return.

Part 2

Registration

1. Pre-Reg gets its own line, and is pre-printed
2. Vendors, and Artist Alley get another line.
3. Guests badges are given to Guest Relations. Guests have contact info for GR, are picked up from the airport, and/or have place to meet them at the con (the green room is nice for this)

1. Rules need to be clearly posted and FREE to the public. The program guide is a nice place for this, but if you are going to charge for it separately, it isn't legally binding.
2. Security ISN'T the Gestapo. I know your security head is a cop in Oklahoma – so what. I am licensed here in Texas, and stepped in more than once when security crossed the line. Had HPD officers do it other times, since I was working a booth.
3. Rules are in place for the safety and welfare of the attendees, guests, staff, and volunteers. If your rule isn't for the safety of those at the convention, get rid of it, nobody likes a power trip.
4. If the AA is open until midnight, do not kick attendees out for “loitering” at artist tables hours before closing. Nobody in our area had a complaint with the attendees at any table in our stretch, neither should you.

1. Conventions have a Green Room for a reason. A couple of people have claimed that there was a green room… the guests I know said otherwise.
2. FEED YOUR GUESTS – all 3 meals.
3. Like the attendees, guests need to know where and when to be for panels, autographs, etc
4. If you invite somebody to come, you don't charge them to get in. Additionally, it is polite to give free admission to VAs and Industry who show up just to attend, builds good relations, and is good business sense.
5. If you are going to cancel on a guest, tell them IN ADVANCE (see PatrickD's posts).
6. Find out what your guests need – especially panelists, and MAKE SURE THEY HAVE IT.

1. A lack of volunteers can kill a con. We have all seen that 55 staff and volunteers does NOT cut it. If you want volunteers, don't expect them to jump through hoops for the privilege of providing free service for you.
2. Not every volunteer will know everything. That is understandable. If a volunteer is standing around behind the registration or t-shirt table doing nothing, they should be able to answer a simple “where is XXX” question. If they have copies of maps and programs, they don't have to memorize info.

1. By announcing an event, game, etc at your convention, you are making a contract with your customers (attendees). If you do not keep your word, you are breaking a contract. This can have legal and financial repercussions. The attendees have a legal right to file class action against AM for the MANY canceled events and missing games, non-attending guests, and other issues with AM. For the sake of AM and PZ, I hope that they are too disgusted to do so.
2. If your prices are too high, dealers have to charge more, and attendees have less to spend.

1. Friday: kids have school. Requiring a “signup” for ANYTHING by 11am is irresponsible.
2. Cosplay is a big reason many fans attend anime cons. Make sure that your attendees will actually be able to attend. This is why it is held on Saturday.
3. Free program guides. This is a valuable source of information to an attendee. It should have a map, schedule (not just for panels), and clear, concise rules.
4. NEVER close ANYTHING early just to get attendees to attend something else. Especially Dealers, AA, and video rooms.
5. Never leave several hours with nothing scheduled, and then host multiple panels in the same time slot.
6. Recruit staff and volunteers from other cons. They are experienced, and are more likely to actually show up.
7. Don't start a con at the convention center. You start small, and work bigger. This helps prevent pricing everything so nobody has any money to spend on dealers.

Copyright 2007 by Joshua Andrade and meauho.net