I enjoyed the masquerade a lot, even though I was just bouncing the inside. I even got a random guy and girl to go out and dance together. The dance seems like one of those honest dress up features of the con that goes with the whole cosplay theme most associated with anime cons.
As for the problems...
After being part of staff and seeing the "minor" problems associated with the Masquerade last year I would rather we just not do it for a few reasons.
1. it cuts into the rave/dance time (MANY minors had a huge problem with this in 2009)
2. last year there was no mask creation panel so very few people had actual masks to wear, they had to be loaned out by staff
3. (so big it gets a few spaces) all the masqureades just devolve (evolve?) into the regular dance anyways after a few dances so what is the point of putting off what is going to happen anyways?
Most of these problems are easy to deal with.
(One) Cuts into dance/rave time.
This is an anime con, dressing up seems more appropriate then a regular dance and is only taking up one of the two nights dance slots. Taking up rave time doesnt matter much seeing how they go, or at least they did this con, way longer then they were suppose to so that makes up for any loss of time.
(Two) No mask creation panel.
If we have the money and space, I'd run the panel. It is a pretty easy thing to run, just a bit messy.
(Three, and this is the hard one) No one is running the damn thing!
Ya no one did ANYTHING the whole ball. It was just music and everyone did what they wanted. Did it dissolve into just a normal dance? Depending on how long you were there, ya it kind of turned into a regular dance until certain songs came on and then many were back to the ball style dancing. The problem? Well It does need a little structure to keep a ball going. People also don't know all that many dances, so most dance a bit then after they try a few times and flop around they go hang out on the side to cool off or until they start feeling another song.
Is there a solution? If enough people want the dance to go on with improvements, yes there are solutions. We can have someone direct the dance, maybe have some sort of quick and easy mix and match going on, more formal ball dancing the whole time, all have been mentioned in previous posts. It just takes some one/people to want to form these ideas out a bit and then run them by the right staff division head. Just so you all know, last I heard from the staff that would need to run this, THEY DON'T WANT TO BOTHER WITH THE DANCE, they don't care. This came from their own mouths, I was there. That was last years staff so this doesn't mean its the same this year, but probably close. So if the dance is going to change, people who want it have to step up and help.
I'll be reading this to see what, if anything, changes. If anyone wants to try and get something going for this, if it has not been looked into already, send me a message.