Rant / Rave 2016

[Tcbyogurt]

Thank you con staff and con volunteers! My expectations for Kumoricon this year were definitely exceeded! I loved how spacious everything was! I've been turned away at panels for being overfilled in previous years, but zero times this year!

The vendors hall was ginormous and gaming was also pleasant to be in this time. I've always felt too crowded at our previous venues.

I definitely need to figure out a game plan for eating next year. My wallent cries because I only bought food at the convention center and boy do  they milk it with prices.

Oh..and registration took quite a bit of time this year even though I was pre-registered. It took a little over an hour on Friday 11am.

So congoers, how was your Kumoricon?

[GregAtlas]

Raves:

* Honestly there is so much good this year. Kumoricon 2016 felt like the old Kumoricon I knew and loved before it became over crowded at the old location. Relatively low stress, lots of good panels, and just some good fun like the old days. This year though, it gets the benefit of having the additional space for exhibitors and artists and a really nice gaming area.
* I loved having the little complementary WiFi areas where we could just chill for a little while and keep updated with things we might need to online, especially since I'm not a smart phone user.
* The layout of the con was nice and condensed and organized so it was nice and easy to find where you were going (as long as you don't wander to the other half of the convention center) and I walked a whole lot less than what I'm used to, especially compared to Sakuracon despite the increased size.
* Most of the convention staff and the location staff were awesome and unobtrusive. With the exception of checking for badges, the convention felt really free to pretty much do whatever we wanted (within reason of course). Some of the location staff seemed to enjoy the event and seeing all the cosplays while most of the rest of them remained very professional about the whole event.
* Being near a Burgerville is awesome. Being a person who can't have gluten products, Burgerville is a godsend along with being almost half the price of red robin even for their more expensive meal choices.
* The ventilation system at the convention center being able to handle so many bodies even in the smaller rooms is awesome. Even in my warmer cosplays in a room full of people the air never seemed stagnant, humid, or hot. A couple rooms got quite cold, but that was with no additional bodies in there besides myself in addition to having lack of sleep causing my circulation to be lower than usual. It still wasn't unbearably cold either.
* I think this was the best Kumoricon for me yet. It is also some peace in mind knowing that if we expand enough, we have a whole other half of the convention space to expand to.

Rants:

* One of the convention staff kind of exploded at one of the con staffers on day 3 because they had let too many people into the AMV contest room because people were wanting to join closing ceremonies which resorted to people standing in the back and breaking fire code. The convention staffer was completely right in what he was telling the con staffer, but they should have handled it much more tactfully rather than getting aggressive in his face and yelling.
* The schedule needs to come out earlier. Even if it is just a tentative schedule that gets updated later.
* The guidebook app didn't list the viewing rooms until fairly late the day of whatever they were showing and finding the viewing room on the schedule category that was available seemed convoluted.
* No bag for the guide book and pocket guide was a little strange, but I had my own bag with me so it wasn't a big deal.
* Registration lines were confusing. As of day 1 in the morning, there was a sign on the right for pre-registered people and a sign for at-con-registering to the left. I was pre-registered but was told to go to the farthest left lines, but they were at least shorter. This could use a little better organization and planning next year, but it still worked out alright.
* This isn't the convention's fault, but it was so frustrating how little use the forums got for planning out photoshoots. It felt like a ghost town while people were uselessly posting their shoots on facebook and immediately their post would disappear or be covered up by other posts because facebook is unorganized and derpy. The forum felt like a ghost town even the week before con and it makes me worry that the forum may be dropped due to inactivity like Sakuracon's forum was. I suggest maybe in the future having a top post on the Kumo facebook page encouraging the use of the forum.
* Parking was kind of a nightmare, but that's not really the con's fault considering it's a down town area.
* Having a couple water sources in the gaming area would have been nice (unless I'm mistaken and didn't see any)
* Slightly Anime not doing the dating game this year. No offense meant to the Anime Hunters. I understand it was due to them not getting their schedule in on time, but it's still a bummer.

Suggestions:

* Please get in contact with the Portland Retro Gaming Expo and Ground Kontrol to see if you can get partnered with them to get some arcade machines other than rhythm and dance games in. I brought it up with them at the Retro Gaming Expo facebook page once a while back and they seemed interested if I remember correctly. Even if it's a modest selection, it would be a nice selection to the gaming section and there seemed to be plenty of room for it. Plus then we could get cross-con promotion going on.
* The guidebook app having the photoshoots listed on it was great, but many of the photoshoots that were listed on it did not have a specified location even when looking at the description. If I were to guess, it would be because many of the photoshoots were planned at the last minute and that is due to the schedule coming out so late for us to plan around in addition to the forum feeling like a ghost town. Big props to the staffers who updated the guidebook app with photoshoots that were submitted so late.  You guys are awesome.

[BlackjackGabbiani]

My biggest rant is the inexcusable delay in the panel part of things. There's no reason for the panelists not to be informed of their approval until less than a month before the convention, especially when cutoff for submissions was in June.

A shuttle system or at least Max schedule with the reg bags would be great. That's not a very safe area and when kids and teens are walking around in the dark, that's not exactly behooving us with the safety angle.

The food options were abysmal, especially the terrible gyro place. Please move the takoyaki stand to the hallway or somewhere else spacious, like the dead back of the registration room, so it doesn't eat up dealer space and makes it more accessible. Heck, move the Uwajimaya booth there too. There's a lot of empty space back there and a lot of hungry people who don't want burgers.

More water around. There were very few water coolers, and when previous cons had tables of water every so often in the hallways, it seems like something that got taken for granted.

A lot of booths in the dealer's hall made no attempt to be handicapped accessible. Please remedy this! It benefits not only the attendees but also the businesses by making their goods available for all.

A bag check, especially on the last day, would be amazing. Heck, maybe set it up in the reg room too since hardly anyone comes on the final day. There's that whole area for check-in for guests/panelists/dealers and I don't think ANYONE uses that on the final day. Converting it to a bag check would help so many people.

Putting the full schedule on an app and then having no internet access is just bizarre. There's the "free" internet, but that was almost inaccessible, and only available in a small corridor. Even when we were able to connect, that connection would vanish when going into the event rooms due to the structure of the building. Please at least have the full schedule available at a booth so that we're not required to find the small areas of connectivity in order to find out when photo shoots are!

And speaking of which, we need better directions. Telling us that a shoot is in the courtyard doesn't say ANYTHING. Or "the statue of an old guy" when the statue is of MLK Jr is just weird. Maybe give us cardinal directions at the very least!



Raves, I loved the convention center staff. Their responses to disasters are top notch. An attendee on the final day was having a meltdown and they even had medical staff on hand (Bethany, if you're reading this, I hope you're ok now!), and the café staff were eager to help get her some water even though they were closed.

[JeffT]

* The guidebook app having the photoshoots listed on it was great, but many of the photoshoots that were listed on it did not have a specified location even when looking at the description. If I were to guess, it would be because many of the photoshoots were planned at the last minute and that is due to the schedule coming out so late for us to plan around in addition to the forum feeling like a ghost town. Big props to the staffers who updated the guidebook app with photoshoots that were submitted so late.  You guys are awesome.

Thanks! We usually used the exact wording from the photoshoot creator in specifying the location, which is why some of the location descriptions were weird or inconsistent. We didn't have the time or resources to verify if the descriptions were accurate or confusing; and as these are unofficial events, we just did what we could. But we thought it was better to include the photoshoot, even with incomplete information, than not include it. We checked both the forum and Facebook group to find the photoshoots.

[Tcbyogurt]

* No bag for the guide book and pocket guide was a little strange, but I had my own bag with me so it wasn't a big deal.
* Having a couple water sources in the gaming area would have been nice (unless I'm mistaken and didn't see any)
* Slightly Anime not doing the dating game this year. No offense meant to the Anime Hunters. I understand it was due to them not getting their schedule in on time, but it's still a bummer.

Totally agree! I didn't have a bag with me so I had to walk things back to the car. I do really like that the badge came with the triple clip/pin/lanyard! I actually used each one separately for each day of my cosplays.

The gaming area did have one water station by the women's restroom towards the back of the rhythm music games. That was the only station I found. Water fountains were my go to's.

I sincerely hope Slightly Anime can be guests and return! They do a fabulous dating panel. Same here, the Anime Hunters are ok, but sooo many people left before the game was even over.

[acton]

* Having a couple water sources in the gaming area would have been nice (unless I'm mistaken and didn't see any)


It is t not going to happen anytime soon; The Oregon Convention Center  is notorious for  overcharging for food and water. I recall at the rant and rave, it would cost  the con 10 per gallon for water service. 

[Tcbyogurt]

A bag check, especially on the last day, would be amazing. Heck, maybe set it up in the reg room too since hardly anyone comes on the final day. There's that whole area for check-in for guests/panelists/dealers and I don't think ANYONE uses that on the final day. Converting it to a bag check would help so many people.

And speaking of which, we need better directions. Telling us that a shoot is in the courtyard doesn't say ANYTHING. Or "the statue of an old guy" when the statue is of MLK Jr is just weird.

Bag check would be awesome, but to accommodate and be liable for attendees own property sounds kinda difficult in my head. Many still attend on the last day, the AMV and closing ceremonies were a full house--We barely got a seat. That would be massive and I can imagine hundreds of attendees collecting their bags at 6pm in one area to be disastrous. Bag checks are usually available at the hotel one stays at. I've checked out of hotels before and used their bag checking for a later flight out. You might look into the hotel you stay at for that service.

I have to say the photoshoot are as JeffT says fan-run. The descriptions are probably due to the new layout and few knew good photoshoot spots. I don't know it was a MLK statue until I physically saw it. I really believe it will be better having this years experience!

[Tcbyogurt]

* Having a couple water sources in the gaming area would have been nice (unless I'm mistaken and didn't see any)


It is t not going to happen anytime soon; The Oregon Convention Center  is notorious for  overcharging for food and water. I recall at the rant and rave, it would cost  the con 10 per gallon for water service.

Thank you for sharing from the rant and rave. Event centers generally have higher prices in food/drinks. I just was not prepared at all. Definitely a game plan next year.  That pricing for water service sounds ridiculous but that's the OCC's business agenda. Really though, water fountains were at nearly every restroom nook.    Can we place cups at the water fountains for those who can't  lean over in costume ?

[veraca]

Mild rants, because I know some will be fixed.

General con space:

• Signs. Freaking signs. There were a few signs for Registration but nothing for Info Booth (why were there 2?) or Dealer's Hall and so on. Take a page from Sakura and invest in giant signs to direct people.
• Make it easier to enter the First Aid station and put a sign out for it- staff at the barricade were denying people who wanted to use the First Aid facility.
• Tape down or mark areas of no loitering at the top and bottom of the most used escalators.
• If there are gender neutral bathrooms, please label them in all convention maps supplied to attendees and signs outside of their doors.

Extension of the info booth: a sign of what panels were cancelled or moved. An entire large print of the schedule attendees can look at. As well as info booth knowing where the First Aid is.
        Can we get a map of the whole convention center or a map showing landmarks like "bell here, statue of MLK here, MAX zone here, you are here."

Lost and Found should be better labelled. A sad little cardboard sign is just sad. Also a system of writing down where said item was found and on what day. That said, thank you Lost and Found staff for answering phones, and telling what convention-labelled room they could be found in.

Water stations, at least one per small lobby. Or ice.

Better line control for the lobby's with larger panels. Disney was in a lobby next to .... Slightly Anime I think, and I could see the formation of the lines were confusing attendees. (That said, line control for the Dealer's room at the start of day 2 went pretty well.)

Cosplay Contest: Actual green room. Or speakers so we can hear what's going on. We were left out of the loop of jokes from the MCs. Larger room would be nice I'd imagine for the audience.

Hours of operation: Dealers room opened too late on day 1 and closed too early on day 3. Day 2's hours were expected and fine.

• The auction - "end of bidding" time was horrendously mislabeled and not corrected at the charity auction in the back of the dealer's. This was terrible. Everything said bidding would stop at 1pm, and when going to bid at 12:20pm, it had already closed and half of the items had begun to be picked up by the highest bidders. This is depressing considering it's for charity and the room doesn't close for another several hours. And if they wanted to change the end of bidding time to noon instead, why didn't guidebook get updated and why was there no sign mentioning this at the charity auction itself? This isn't a "new venue" faux pas, this is a "someone screwed the f up and couldn't back peddle".

I agree: moving a booth selling only food should be repositioned to the Registration or other large area. I can see why this may not be possible due to the cafe's the convention center houses, but at least making this booth accessible to both those in line at registration and Dealer's would be nice. Put it in a little middle hallway perhaps on the way to gaming, if they all stay in that large room, with a staff to look for badges. Or have multiple lines so the booth is the blockade itself.

And then a general suggestion: getting a piece of merchandise that's a fan with Kumori's logo on it. Waterbottles and umbrellas are great, but a fan is equally as nice. Even if it's just a cheapo $2 fan, there will be attendees who will thank you for this with how hot and muggy many areas got.

[Yuri_Lowell]

Rave:

In General:

• I loved convention space at the convection and the atmosphere was good.
• There was a lot of really good panels, but like every con with great panels. You can’t go to all of them.
• Standing in lines for the Main Events in the main ball room wasn’t too bad. Most of them seated us on time. I also didn’t mind standing in the thick lines, inside the building, not worried about who I’m standing with since I could pick were to sit once we were let into the room.
• I enjoyed that only certain areas of the con were “roped off” (you need a badge to get in). I understand why the staff and Convention Center had done that, but the placements of them weren’t a haste.

Guests:

• Kieran Strange: I thought he was a fantastic speaker/host for the opening and closing ceremonies. He kept the energy up and interesting, along with knowing exactly what to say when. I would love for him to show up next years and at least host those two Main Events again.

Panels:

• “AMV Contest” Panel: This panel was very well done. I enjoyed the good editing in-between the categories and that there wasn’t any technical difficulties, from the outside.
• AMV Over Flow Panels (in general): The over follow AMV panels were fantastic due to being able to see the AMVs which didn’t make the cut, along with old favorites.
• “Anime Song Parodies” Panel: It was fun and it was a joy to listen to the songs from the panelist, along with participating at the end with singing and writing our own songs with audience. The room space was perfect. The room was about half full, but I see no need to move the panel to a bigger room. The Panelist’s songs were also very charming and fun to sing along to!
• “Unorthodox Cosplay Materials” Panel: This panel was fantastic with introducing me to cheaper materials which give you the same look as an expensive material. The audience even added to the panel, sharing their experience with cheap materials. I walked out of that panel, thinking about the odd or everyday materials which I could use with my future cosplay. I highly recommend this panel come back next year.
• “How To Wig” Panel: I enjoyed this panel due to it covering more of the specific acts or care involving wigs. I also enjoyed that the panel focused on ‘spending your money wisely’. When you can buy a cheap wig and when you should spend some money on a high quality wig. Along with the odd or nightmare situation that have happened with wigs. This panel was very helpful to anyone with any kind of experience with wigs.
• “Cosplay Contest”: The runway (leftover from the fashion show) as part of the stage was perfect for the cosplayers to show off their costumes. I would love to see the stage have a runway again next year.
• “galaxxxy Fashion Show” Panel: The fashion show was a blast! It was really cool to see style and designs of clothes that I was interested in, along with some radical ideas. All the models were fantastic by showing off the clothes and having fun. It was also interesting to see a Japanese clothing designs. I would love to see another clothing designer next con.
• “Kieran Strange Presents: The Naughty Corner” Panel: I did not attend it, but my Dad did and he love every second of it!
• “Exhibits Hall”: There were so many fantastic dealers with so many products I wanted to buy. There was a little bit of a clog with certain places (which are always popular) but other than that the space was fine and the different shops were perfect.
• “Artist Ally”: The quality of artiste was outstanding! No matter the media, all of it was amazing. I wish I could have bought every item I saw in there.
• “Persona!!” Panel: This year the panel was brilliant. The line was long, but the big room allowed everyone in the line a place to sit. The Panelists were fantastic along with the fun activity of playing the game ‘Never Have I Ever’ game and ‘Girls vs Boy’ questions. Everyone enjoyed the panelists, in character, throwing shade, sassing each other and being salty. Everything played out perfectly, causing me to cry as I laughed.
• “Meet D.C. Douglas” Panel: I did not go to this panel but my Mom did. She thought he was very entertaining. You could tell he was enjoying the con while meeting the fans. He also shared the reality of the business and what it really is like to be in the business.
• “Eric Vale is Not Himself Q&A” Panel: Just like D.C. Douglas, Eric Vale too was very entertaining and down to the earth. He was amusing and enjoyable as he shared what the business is really like.
• “Cosplay Chess” Sunday Morning Panel: Any Cosplay Chess Panel is wonderful, and the one on Sunday morning wasn’t any less. I also enjoyed that this panel was held at different days and times of day. Even though I went to one, I would like to see the Cosplay Chess held at different days or time of day.
• “AMV Contest Winners” to “Closing Ceremonies” Panels: Having the AMV finals lead into the Closing Ceremonies was fantastic for someone who wanted to see both. It flowed nicely and I enjoyed them being separate.

Rant:

In General:

• I struggled with telling who was the staff when they weren’t wearing the purple staff T-shirts. I love seeing the staff cosplaying and the Maid Crew, but not knowing all the staff members personally, I can’t tell who is staff cosplaying and who is a con-goer who is cosplaying. It would be very helpful if cosplaying staff had an armband (or something else that is easy to see and wear over your cosplay) that matched the staff T-shirt. This way anyone can tell who is staff and when they are on and off duty (you can take the armband off when you are off duty).
• A signs showing where an Main Event’s line starts would be extremely helpful. Since every Main Event line is split into two chunks, many people end up loitering around the end of the first chuck of line. As a result, when I was on the end of the first chuck of the line, many people asked me where the line was because there wasn’t any signs showing them where it was, and they couldn’t tell who the staff members were that were in charge of the line.
• The Convention Center Staff were a little rude to me when I was pulling my badge out of under my jacket (I had just arrived). I understand they were strict all weekend with badges and on not letting anyone who didn’t pay into certain areas of the con, but I wish they were a bit nicer. I rather not be treated like a someone sneaking into the con just because I hadn’t unzipped my jacket.
• This may just be me, but I couldn’t figure out how to find the name of the panelist(s) in the GuideBook App. I have no idea if I am looking in the wrong place or if it was never put in? If it is in a different area, it would be extremely helpful if the panelists’ names were with the info page for the panel(s) they are on, and not just the Guests.

Panels:

• “galaxxxy Fashion Show” Panel: This is the one Main Event which had the worse line. I arrived a half hour early to line up. As a result to behind the doors activity, all of us in line waited the entire time we were supposed the be seated. It wasn’t until the time the panel was supposed to start that we were let in and could sit down. This was the only line which I had an awful experience with.
• “Viewing Rooms”:I enjoyed theses room because they are quiet and peaceful, but the schedule in the GuideBook App lacked any information on the animes other than the age rating. This isn’t as important, but it would be nice if the App’s schedule had a short burb of the anime and whether it is subbed or dubbed.
• “Conventional Improve Presents: The Random Panel of Doom”: I went into this panel as a ‘space filler panel’ which may be a reason why I didn’t enjoy this panel. I extremely enjoyed the improve skit game (the panelist did of Reinhardt and Zenyatta waiting for a shipment of Bastions from the Bastion Factory). But after that, I lost interest. The rest of their humor was focused on inside jokes between the panelists and recurring audience, which resulted in me looking confused at the panelists. While I didn’t enjoy this game, my Dad did enjoy it more than me, so it may have not been for me.
• I suggest that this panel is re-named just “The Random Panel” since the panel name was very misleading. Not all the panelists took part or were good at improve, and the panel jumped around fast with very different topics.
• This panel should also be +18 plus. The panelist struggled with keeping it 16 and below. I would just change the panel to +18 so the panelists can hold the raunchy panel they should be hosting. Instead of telling mature stories and forgetting about not cursing.

Neutral:

Panel Ideas (didn’t go to this panel):

• “Dance Lesson” panels: I didn’t go to any these, but if people enjoyed them, I would like to see them next con.

[Blender]

I see a lot of people complaining about not having very accessible water and I'd like to point out that it's not Kumoricon's decision whether there's water provided or not at this new venue. OCC specifically states that no outside food or drink is allowed in the convention center and I feel that has a part in whether Kumoricon themselves were allowed to put out water for guests. OCC just wants you to buy their $3.50 water. Now, I am going to note that they probably made exceptions for the dances for obvious reasons  and that there were water fountains near the restrooms by the ballrooms.


I have more rants than raves considering anything I'm not ranting about means it was adequate.
-The conventions staff was rude, wouldn't let me into the first aid station because the dealers hall was closed, I saw them physically grab people when they didn't see enough of there badge, and I saw them scolding people when their badge wasn't showing just enough (happened to my friend, his tie fell over his badge)
-there's no changing rooms or cool off rooms. Some costumes can get hot and heavy.
-No signs, anywhere, I had trouble finding where anything was.
-day 0 we were told we couldn't get our hotel bonus because they weren't giving them out that day and the staff we asked didn't even know where the programming booth was. That wasn't the only instance where staff didn't know where something was
-everything came out soooooo late, schedule, guidebook, everything

[Kerensky18]

Hello, I'm your 2016 Director of Operations and I'm dusting off this account to provide some input into the rants I've seen so far.


Bag Check: This is something I'll investigate putting in place at least for main events at the OCC. I'll have to see if they'll allow us to do it as they are different than Washington Trade and Convention center where I initiated a package check process there for Sakuracon.


Lines: I'll be bringing back the "Line Starts Here" signs and such on a stick that we can use dry erase to update with the event. Hopefully this will help.


Staff ID: I'm putting red armbands (similar to the ones maids wear currently) to identify on-duty Yojimbo staff in my budget for 2017.


OCC Staff: These complaints have been passed on to the infrastructure department for review with the OCC.


Water: Water cost a fortune.... 1 jug of water is worth 3 hours of my paid securities time....


Maps: I agree we should have this and will hope it'll be by the main info booth. I had one in my office that was nice to show attendees where to go.


Max: We can see if Travel Portland or Trimet (not a native of Oregon) can provide schedules for us to hand out.


Tape: I agree we should tape off the end of the escalators and put a no photo zone, I'll see if this is allowed with the carpeting.


Lost and Found: We do record where and when the item is found on the tag and than pass the information on to the OCC when we turn over the items to them the next day.

[Bresslol]

I'm going to quickly touch on our Random Panel.

The long and short of that situation was that our usual host has not slept at all during con up until about three hours to the start time. I personally came in to host it with no idea of what was happening.

All that said,  the "Conventional Improv" part of it is staying, because it falls under our group's events (as we are a group that does multiple events at con) . I'm sorry you had an issue with it and hopefully we can remedy the problems that happened.

[Sailor-Jeimi]

To be honest, complaints are VERY low from me. I overall loved this year. I only have 2 complaints and one is justified for the people within the thing I'm "complaining" about. The dealer's hall being opened at 1 on friday. I'm pretty sure this is because the con isn't use to have such a large area for it, and that made things a little harder to open early. Sakuracon's DH opens at 10 am, but then again look at how long they've had a super large space. It's a lot more normal for them to get things set up early enough. So I con't really blame anyone for this.


The only other complaint was apparently SO small, that I actually completely forgot what it was now..
That should say a lot about what I think lol

[Tsukinya]

• I struggled with telling who was the staff when they weren’t wearing the purple staff T-shirts. I love seeing the staff cosplaying and the Maid Crew, but not knowing all the staff members personally, I can’t tell who is staff cosplaying and who is a con-goer who is cosplaying. It would be very helpful if cosplaying staff had an armband (or something else that is easy to see and wear over your cosplay) that matched the staff T-shirt. This way anyone can tell who is staff and when they are on and off duty (you can take the armband off when you are off duty).

All staff have a very distinctive badge that is much larger than attendee badges.  They are required to wear this over any cosplay, usually on a lanyard.  I'd look for this as the clear indication of staff.

[Yu]

I was very impressed with reg this year.


I can't be on my feet long ago. I don't like to make a scene so when I noticed one of the people I been chatting with was staff I waited for an appropriate time to bring it up.
He didn't ask for details just pointed me to the ADA line. The woman there didn't give me any flack about my temp ID-I just had it renewed-like the staff at SC still do.

I noticed how huge the sticker was and asked her to put it on the back of my badge-which she did with no problem. I really appreciated it.


I loved the convention space. They had actually built it with food in mind. And though we're too large for one hotel but just large enough for the convention center so wasn't crowded at all.


Only two rants: ( well, one since one is about the Hotel.)

I'm a night owl. Most of the events are the "Adult panels" and games ( cards v humanity, Arkham horror ect.)  it seemed like all-or at least the vast majority) started at Midnight and went until 2 am. So I was only able to attend one per night.
At most conventions I have been to the adult panels start around 8pm. So. what's the deal? This is really my only complaint but it is a big one.

The coffee shop at the DBL tree was amazing...and only open until noon. I NEED my evening coffee!

[PaladinCecil79]

I agree with what Greg Atlas said about the forum.
It would a good idea to openly encourage people at Facebook to use it for photoshoots and meet-ups.
That would really help make it more active and I don't want to see it removed.
Other members have stated themselves that the message board is still important because it makes it a lot easier to arrange meet-ups and cosplay gatherings, and since Todd Haberkorn's a scheduled guest next year, it'll make it a lot easier to arrange a Team Haberkorn dinner, which I plan to do.

Regarding the overall convention, I really liked the location. It was my favorite place since the Lloyd Center Doubletree, it's easy to get around and has a good number of hotels and restaurants nearby.
I also thought it was great having it in October, and I'm glad it'll be at that time next year. It had a great turnout and at the same time, wasn't overcrowded.
After finding out that it'd be almost two months after Labor Day weekend, I knew that it'd be a long wait. Because we were so used to attending on Labor Day weekend, having to wait until October definitely took a little getting used to, but I think it was for the better.
It was a lot less crowded than it would've been in the summer and I also believe that it made admission cheaper.
The convention center just had a great atmosphere and it was easy to get around.

I also thought the con overall was well-organized and felt the staff did a great job with the guest panels and autograph sessions.

I don't have any major complains, but I felt there could've been at least a few more guest panels.
But if they plan to keep them around the same as this and last year, I'd like to suggest that they have some variety with them. I thought the guest panel schedule was a good improvement this year, but in the future, if they're around the same number, it'd be a good idea to either have them diverse, or if most of them are the same kind, have them be of topics that a wider range of fans can enjoy, such as standard Q&As and/or anime-specific titles.
There's nothing wrong with VAs doing panels about voice acting and directing and stuff like that and having a small number of them is a great idea, but standard Q&As, panels based on certain anime series and those like the ones Eric Vale and Austin Tindle did are easier for more fans to get into and people who attend them are less restricted to questions they can ask.

[GregAtlas]

After a couple days being able to think and remember and read some of the posts others have left here I have a few more things to add:

I agree about the lack of signage. Most of the time it wasn't an issue because the areas were clearly represented by Area (A, B, C) and then room number so once I was used to that I was good. I didn't see any signage for autograph areas and there could have been more clear signage for which entrance was for the gaming area and which entrance was for the exhibitor hall.

Having non-loitering areas taped off is a good idea if they allow it. Personally I didn't have any problems at the main problem spots, but that doesn't mean others haven't.

Both of the shibari panels should have both been 18+ not just one. There was content that is perfectly suitable for pre-18, especially the historical references, but there was also a lot of subjects that definitely qualified it for 18+

Personally the bag check idea sounds like a nightmare liability wise and space wise. Sakuracon has a room for staff bag checks and it usually seems to be a little bit of a nightmare to manage and is inconvenient at best since each person has to have an escort when dropping off and picking up their items (for good reason). That doesn't mean it's not possible, but if we're dealing with a lot more general public people compared to just a few staffers, that amplifies quite quickly.

* The guidebook app having the photoshoots listed on it was great, but many of the photoshoots that were listed on it did not have a specified location even when looking at the description. If I were to guess, it would be because many of the photoshoots were planned at the last minute and that is due to the schedule coming out so late for us to plan around in addition to the forum feeling like a ghost town. Big props to the staffers who updated the guidebook app with photoshoots that were submitted so late.  You guys are awesome.

Thanks! We usually used the exact wording from the photoshoot creator in specifying the location, which is why some of the location descriptions were weird or inconsistent. We didn't have the time or resources to verify if the descriptions were accurate or confusing; and as these are unofficial events, we just did what we could. But we thought it was better to include the photoshoot, even with incomplete information, than not include it. We checked both the forum and Facebook group to find the photoshoots.

The photoshoots I was usually looking at were listed on the forums pretty clearly for the location (usually the pendulum area) but there was no mention of it in the guidebook app at the time. The only photoshoot spot of the ones I was looking for that I saw listed was the Pokemon photoshoot being at the park across the street. I look at the guidebook app now and see they are listed now so perhaps it wasn't updating all of the information early enough similar to how the viewing rooms weren't updating until much later.

[bBlackHat]

Old account, need to update it.


Rants and raves. Raves first:


New location is great, I love the circular aspect. Made everything really easy to get to.
Food inside the area was OK, wish more of the areas were open but overall it was nice to have something there.


Mild suggestion:


No coat check for the rave? Sakuracon did it one year where they wrote the number on your arm in sharpie. I liked it.  Otherwise you freeze your ass off in the wintry winds walking back to your hotel room, or you overheat in the adolescent SWEAT. Is there any sort of ventilation in there at least? I understand security can be a problem, but if you wrote a number down, and took a badge name and number, I don't see the issue. Sak has done it for years no problem, and it really makes the walk home tolerable.


Rants:


The AMV contest. Why exactly was there 4 almost identical categories? Drama, Intense, and Instrumental were identical save that Instrumental lacked lyrics, while the "Melting Pot" contained 4 more of the prior 3. Fragmenting down 3 groups doesn't magically make it interesting. There's nothing wrong with only a 2 hour AMV show!  I did appreciate that, unlike other cons I've been to recently, there was the other categories sprinkled in between. In my mind, it should be one Drama/Intense category. They are interesting, but over an hour of it gets a little stale.


Organization seemed awful. Rules were ALL over the place. One staffer would tell you one thing, and while you were rectifying that issue another staffer would tell you that you're fine. You'd fix the issue anyways, and the original staffer might find another issue anyways, or you'll run into a third staffer with a third issue.


The rules behind lines and those VIP passes was bonkers. There was a different rule for every line. One line was the only true rule, which was 30 minutes beforehand. That is what is written, and what is enforced. Randomly, staffers have decided that lines may or may not form if: Anyone is in the room, Anyone is in line for the signing previous, Anyone is loitering within 50 feet, It's actually 15 minutes, You line up Single file, now you line up 3 in a line, now you line up but don't block the doorway, line up as close as possible and block the doorway. The VIP passes for hotel people was also a HOT MESS. I asked a staffer about it and she just took mine and kept directing people in line. Nobody knew what I was talking about when I tried to ask questions. We ended up never using them, but randomly heard fun snippets of how they could be used. Apparently, you can: Line up, and then use them to skip to the front only for main events, Not line up, but show up before entry to skip to the front but only for main events, show up at any time for a small panel and be let in, line up and be let in at a small panel, or just toss them around and don't care about them because staffers don't know a thing about them.


I feel like what lacked at Kumoricon was overall knowledge in your staff. While I realize I might be coming across as angry, I'm just a little disappointed and want to be helpful. It feels like you pulled random people off the forums and gave them a badge and told them their job was to stand guard at the door, act like how you've seen staffers act. Why do none of the staffers have any sources for the rules they pull out of the air? I've had staffers say to reference one reference or another, and neither says anything about their "rule". I do read them, as I'm an adult that doesn't want to foul up con.


Kumoricon is always fun. I've gone ever since I was little, back when glomp circles seemed so much fun and I didn't realize screaming constantly was annoying. I still have a blast every year at all the conventions, but Kumoricon regularly falls behind in its staffing issues. I feel like it can be 100% fixed in proper communication and rules training, which seems excessive because there already is a copy of the rules in every attendees hands. Fix the staff, give proper communication, stop the weird random enforcement, and... please limit the amount of drama/intense/instrumental/lullaby amvs...

[Sailor-Jeimi]

I uh..Remembered my second complaint..And while not important to ME, it could be to others. So I don't remember the booth name, but this was in the dealer's hall close to the door, but they were ripping people off. This booth was telling everyone that all of their items were rare, and they put prices that were at least double what they cost everywhere else. In fact, they tried to tell me that a statue they had for $75 was rare and that I won't find it anywhere..Yet there were 3 other booths with the exact same figure for $35 at each booth. In fact, the vast majority of things they had were also being sold at other booths at about half the price they had them for.


For anyone wondering, I can at least rey to explain the booth..When you enter the booth's opening, if you look straight ahead, there was a table that had staks of figures in boxes just kinda stacked up at random, but facing out to see what they were, but there was no real "order" they were in. Just kinda all stacked about 3-5 high of varying sizes. Then to the left was another table filled with figmas all laying on their backs (one layer of boxes, no stacks, but all facing upward. Then above them was small shelves with random stuff.
Here's somewhat of a drawing of what it kinda looked like if it helps jog any memories..
http://s88.photobucket.com/user/RazorXCore_2006/media/Untitled_zps6d7nokxp.png.html
And it was a female running the booth when I was told these were "rare" and all that. She was some kind of Asian, not sure what exactly though. But obviously this booth should not be allowed back.
The reason this wasn't as important to me is because I know better than that. They were obviously taking advantage of anyone who didn't know any better, and they deserve to never be allowed in a convention again. Come on guys, "Con" here means "Convention..Not "Con Artist".

[veraca]

I uh..Remembered my second complaint..And while not important to ME, it could be to others. So I don't remember the booth name, but this was in the dealer's hall close to the door, but they were ripping people off. This booth was telling everyone that all of their items were rare, and they put prices that were at least double what they cost everywhere else. In fact, they tried to tell me that a statue they had for $75 was rare and that I won't find it anywhere..Yet there were 3 other booths with the exact same figure for $35 at each booth. In fact, the vast majority of things they had were also being sold at other booths at about half the price they had them for.

I vaguely remember what you were talking about. At least, I remember a woman telling me about figures being rare. Some were, certainly, but not all. They had several Tales of figures, but not the more rare of the ones- just the physically bigger ones.
I do remember a booth that had insane prices though. One had a YuGiOh figure that was $75 here, $45 here, $35 there (and $40 at the same booth around a different side), and then $30 somewhere else. I've seen prices vary between booths for the same figure before, but not weird jumps like that. And I do remember that one with the Tales of larger figures had expensive prices- they had a figure of Ren (DMMD) that I can't even find on ebay right now to price check, but they had it for like $275.

[fairly_foxy]

Rave:

I felt the lines were great. Especially when getting your autographs. Much easier than previous years. I also like the registration lines.

The Fakku Panel was the most amazing panels were the most amazing panels.

I also loved the magical girl panel i went to Magical Girl Bootcamp! Really amazing person presenting that! He should do that again!

All the Lolita panels I went to were amazing. Very well done and informative.Kept with in that age bracket very well.

Rant:
The art of Crossplay offered up some dangerous make up advice at one point. Well... least advice that would take off our eyebrows. And my friend and I really felt that they should have offered better ways to cover your eyebrows with professional products than Elmer's glue. A lot of the advice was like this... It felt like... being 13 and being told really horrible advice back in 2003 when you didn't know better ways like we do now. We left the panel.

Otaku 25+ was set so early in the morning I couldn't go to it after going to a late night panel. Why would you put this so early in the morning? It makes no sense! Usually this panel was a day three 12-1 type panel. It was a great panel in previous years I really wanted to go but omg why put this at 9:30 in the morning when that is so hard to get to?

Oh there was this panel I don't remember the name of about doing lets plays. The guy was a total ego maniac. I felt like he was just there for self promotion. I did not have a good time. I left his panel with a girl who I had just met. We shared each other's youtube information and yeah we pretty much agreed, he was a dick. We did not care for him as a presenter.

Women in Video Games was by far the WORST panel I went to. They definitely didn't stay with in their age rating. They didn't have interesting content. They didn't have what I expected in their panel. It really wasn't an uplifting panel. I kinda go to con to have fun... and it was a total buzzkill and yeah nudity in an under 18 panel what the heck. In the description they said they were going to talk about cool women in video games but ummm they talked about 5 games mostly and barely mentioned 5 others. and those games were all very similar and they kinda just bashed everything. It was just not a fun experience for me. I wanted to have a chill time and I wanted to get some cool recommendations by the end of it and maybe learn something but nope. I guess games with ladies suck.


Not enough water.  But I guess the convention center itself is fixing that. And the food sucks at the convention center. Hopefully they fix that too.

Also yeah signage needs work. Not just with the panels signs. But I would love to see a sign on the big stalls for the bathrooms that they are not for changing your clothing and are intended for ADA use only.

Meh:

Get your head in the game Anime Sports Panel:
These people tried... they kept in their age rating which I admire... but it didn't really inspire me to watch more sports anime or anything that is for sure.

[acton]

I was the organizer  of the Otaku 25+
"Otaku 25+ was set so early in the morning I couldn't go to it after going to a late night panel. Why would you put this so early in the morning? It makes no sense! Usually this panel was a day three 12-1 type panel. It was a great panel in previous years I really wanted to go but omg why put this at 9:30 in the morning when that is so hard to get to?[/size] "
 
It was a tough  all; on one side it was early and not competing with main events. On the other hand I was limited when I was going to be at the convention, I was working Friday and   Sunday Morning I am at Church. I did not want to jinks it and end up with worst time.


No my Rant and rave
Rave:
Kumoricon had the best dealers Den and Gaming area of all the local con I go to: no more parking lot dungeon.
The Panels.
Not competing with OxFest at Ester Shore Park.


Rants
No Video room schedule.
Need to urn up the heart in the panel rooms in the evening.


 
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