Suggestions for Improvement to Cosplay for 2012

[Runa]

We implemented some new things this year, hoping to increase participation....it did to some degree, but we still need to find a way to add more skits. We had just shy of 20 skits this year. We CERTAINLY had PLENTY of costume entries, and even DURING JUDGING, I had people coming up and asking to be added (couldn't do that...as it was, judging was a 4-hour siege, and having MORE costumes would've KILLED us - I also don't want to have to allot less than 3 minutes per costume because it's just not FAIR to costumers who have put in hundreds of hours to have just a quick glance and 'Thanks - NEXT!' count as 'judging'. From what I've heard from cosplayers who compete at various other conventions, more time is really important to allow the costumes to be judge accurately)

So, PLEASE submit comments on what we did well, what was "meh", and what needs improvement. 


(1) Added: Dance vs Regular Skit
           RESULT: we judged the regular skits on traditional acting criteria, and judged the dance skits on choreography, synchronization with music and other dance -related criteria. Because of the distribution of entries, the judges (Guest of Honor) chose not to have prizes separated by Dance vs regular. Their CHOICE - I'm not going to argue   (factoid: they decided to follow the traditional breakdown of Novice(minor), Novice Adult, Journeyman, Master because we had : 1 novice child entry, 4 Novice minor dance, 1 novice minor regular, 4 novice adult dance, 7 novice adult regular, 2 journeyman regular, 1 master regular and 1 master dance skit.... if we'd attempted to break each category into dance vs. regular, they would have been forced to give a "default win" to certain entries that really shouldn't happen. The other option would have been to invent several categories and give prizes that way. They chose not to invent categories and went with "standard" list, but not break into dance vs regular.  )     
           COORDINATOR'S opinion: KEEP this. First, we ensure that we judge on different criteria, which makes sense given that dance and acting are not the same. Second, we allow judges to decide whether to break it down or not... of course, a fair portion of how prizes are given is dependent upon the quantity and quality of entries

(2) Added: "Celebrity" judges for skits - our 3 Guests of Honor
          RESULT: Todd, David, and Chris had fun, and I believe the contestants were THRILLED to talk to them for a few minutes shortly after the last act presented. They did talk a while, so the "halftime act" had to fill some time, but I think that worked out quite well.
          COORDINATOR'S opinion: KEEP this - as long as the Guest are willing.  Also, if any of them are willing to deal with costume judging, we'll welcome them. I know that this year they had panels during the judging time so they couldn't participate. There is always the balance - do you want the GoH to spend Sunday in a tiny room judging costumes, or presenting cool stuff? (which *I* and the judges did not get to see    ) . We can ask, but we do have to let them know that costume judging is at least a 4 hour commitment.

(3) Changed: for BOTH tech rehearsal & costume judging, set 30 minute "appointment" time for entrants
          RESULT: seemed to work acceptably for all parties envolved.
          COORDINATOR'S opinion: we're trying to reduce the amount of time that participants have to spend to hopefully raise the number of participants. We had an overwhelming number (37!!!) of costume entries (the actual limit is 30. SOMEONE lost count/ was being too nice and let a few extras "slip" in) to judge, and having people show up for appointments meant that only the judges had a 4-hour commitment (THANK YOU Valeska, for letting me "steal" half your lunch since I was DYING from not having had a bite to eat all day.  )  while the participants were able to pop in, get judged, and run off to do whatever in about a half hour. Same for Tech rehearsal - we had a schedule and entrants didn't have to hang out too long. I think the only glitch was that we needed to be more clear that entrants should check in with the Stage Manager first, THEN go see the tech guys. Will definitely emphasize that at pre-meeting next year.

(4) Added: "Audience Choice" for best skit
          RESULT: A majority voted for "CHAIR".      Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!?!
          COORDINATOR'S opinion:     It was "funny", but at the same time dismaying given that all of the entrants put many hours into preparing for Cosplay only to be "beat out" by a CHAIR. It was NOT an entrant!!  "Final Fantasy Dragon Ball Z" was the next highest vote receiver, and they received a prize for "audience choice" as well as the other prize they won for Best Novice Adult".           Opinions about the sanity & maturity of the audience aside,  I think we should allow audience choice next year. If CHAIR wins again, we WILL NIX the audience choice because technically, the only VALID votes were ones that listed one of the actual entries. 

(5) Changed: Improved PRIZES.   Best in Show SKIT received Tickets to next year's Kumoricon; Costume winners received JoAnn's gift cards
         RESULT: happy cosplayers   
         COORDINATOR'S opinion: YEY!!! I heard many happy comments about improved prizes   KEEP this!!!

(6) Yes, as in every year I ASKED that they relay the camera view into the Green room and RECORD cosplay. I've heard that this year, we might actually receive the recordings... we'll see.     (PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE !!!).   I also ask about "requiring" all entries to have pre-recorded sound every year. So far, no "go" because we don't have the room to dedicate to a "recording area" nor do we have the techies to run the recording booth. We're trying, but it just hasn't worked out yet - which means we still do have the few entries that insist upon using a microphone...     Some day....

(7) I need to update my cosplay db (originally developed in 2007 using Access 2000)  from Access 2000 to something more modern (preferably the current version of Open Office's Base since that is free software). I will do that.... soon, I hope. I have refined it so that entries & reporting are relatively quick and easy, but using antiquated technology may become an issue soon since it's not likely that the old applications will run on a more modern OS (Windows 7).    The database certainly is a major upgrade from using paper-based forms (and hand-copying everything), but it's still not perfect. Will work on upgrade this year.


Any other (constructive) suggestions? Comments?  How can we run this better? How can we get more participants? What was GOOD? What needs improvement?

     

[bunny_jean]

I would really appreciate having the costume judging score cards passed out to each entrant so that each of us can get feedback on our costumes and what we can work on in the future. Or some other kind of feedback, not just a "thanks for participating."

I thought it was good that the dance and regular skits were judged on different criteria, but it was surprising there weren't different prizes for them. I can see why there weren't, but perhaps there should be separate best in show prizes for them? But still only let one prize have the free tickets to the next Kumo.

As for audience choice... I definitely think that telling the audience that only real participants should be written in, or maybe have them circle a choice rather than writing it in.

[Perky]

Speaking as the Stage Manager, I would also love to hear if there were any comments or recommendations for how the Tech Rehearsal and the Backstage portion of the Cosplay Contest ran or could run better.

My goal has always been to make those portions as low stress as possible for the contestants who are already stressed out or trying to fight stage fright. 

This year was a great deal of fun on my part.  All the contestants were respectful of their peers and after all the skits and walkons were over and we were watching the half-time show...I'm telling you, the real party was in the Green Room :-)  I have some footage of the dancing.  I will have to post it.  I hope everyone else had as much fun!  Thank you again for joining us!

An especially big thank you to my two Stage Ninjas, my mom and the Staff Photographer who kept things moving and crowds from congregating at the end of the hall.

[hieis_girl1]

I did really like the differences in this year's contest compared to previous years (aside from the Chair insanity). The only thing that I would like to suggest is possibly opening up the allowed costumes from just anime/manga and video game cosplays to ANY cosplays, because there are so many well done non-Japanese cosplays at KumoriCon every year, and I feel they deserve the chance to participate and win just as much as Japanese cosplays. As well as the fact that the convention itself has evolved into more than just anime and gaming. I mean, we had Doctor Who and Steampunk panels this year!