Ok, so from a logistics point of view, ACen was BAAADDDD. It wasn’t the fault of any one person, thing, or act of god/ Nature that ACen went down the way it did. But, it still, nonetheless, went down in a bad way.
For a minute, I’ll put on my Blogger/ Press hat and analyze: ACen was disorganized and lacked the key communications that would have allowed all the programming and panels to run on time and in an effective manner. Info was either late in coming, didn’t arrive at all, or was misinterpreted.
From a fan’s POV, ACen had some cool panels, killer guests, and great bands. The con drew *RUMOR ALERT* 17,000+ people and cosplayers were everywhere. However, also from a fan’s POV, I saw that the hotel was getting trashed (I didn’t actually witness any wanton acts of vandalism, just the filth and destruction) the pre-reg and Masquerade were horribly mismanaged and the fact that ACen wasn’t really celebrating it’s 10th anniversary the way it should have was disturbing.
There were only two pieces of 10th anniversary swag at the merchandise booth and I felt there should have been much, much more. There also weren’t any panels or events that pushed the 10th year angle. 10 years as the Midwest’s Largest Anime con/ *RUMOR ALERT* /second largest con in the nation is something to celebrate. This con felt like it forgot it’s own birthday. 10 Years= Big Deal. No Big Deal= Disappointment
Also, for some strange reason, the variety of cosplayers wasn’t as vast as it was last year. There were many obscure cosplays and a ton of very well constructed cosplays, a gaggle of gothic lolitas, but nothing like the veritable cornucopia of cosplay that we had last year. Was there a some malaise that hit cosplayers this year? Did I miss that many cosplays? Whatever the reason, I wished I had seen a bigger variety of cosplays.
Overall, I’m right dead in the middle of loathing and loving this year’s Anime Central. This is only my second con (ever) so while I can’t say too much how this compares to other cons, I can say that I wish ACen 2007 had been handled better.
What about you guys? How was your con experience? Anything happen to sour you on ACen or did you have such a blast that you say, “Something went wrong?” What was your experience like?
Second biggest in the US? Did Otakon drop ten thousand people somewhere? Last year Otakon capped at 28000 or so and AX attracted well over thirty thousand. That would put Acen at least third, maybe even further back if Akon and Anime Weekend Atlanta attracted more.
@ Anne Packrat, I have no idea what other cons attendance was, but there was a rumor going around that with this year’s attendance, ACen might have pushed its way to 2nd. Hence why I bracketed the term with *Rumor Alert*.
@Anne Packrat & Rachel
Trivia time…according to animecons.com, the attendence figures for North
American anime conventions in 2006 are as follows:
Anime Expo: 40,647 total, 32,930 paid
Otakon: estimated 32,902 total, 22,302 paid
A-Kon: 12,500 estimated paid
Anime North: 12,500 estimated total, 11,286 paid
Anime Central: 11,500 estimated total
FanimeCon: estimated 10,000 paid
Anime Weekend Atlanta: 8,949 paid
Anime Boston: 9,354 total, estimated 8,854 paid
Sakura-Con: 8,300 estimated total, 7,500 estimated paid
Katsucon: 6,400 estimated total, 5,664 paid
You can see the Jan. 1, 2007 article here:
http://animecons.com/news/article.shtml/403
Since there are still many conventions left to go in 2007, perhaps the
comment was to the effect that ACen is 2nd in attendance so far this
year.
Probably first in attendance this year I think. No other big cons have happened, but Anime North is next week, so there’s a good chance that that particular con will attract more people.
You should try attending one of the huge cons if you haven’t already (Otakon or AX), Ms. Rachel. Quite a fun and occasionally overwhelming experience. It’s a bit like Acen but there’s just so much MORE of everything.
Sigh, I mean first in attendance *this year*. Need more sleep.
mochi – Thanks for the numbers of attendance. That’s awesome!
Anne Packrat – We’ll be at AX this year providing full coverage! Can’t wait!!!
I was on IRT for the year of 2007, I have a few things to say.
1. we happily attracted around 20,000 people at the peak of registration (not including staff, IRT, guests, artists, delers or their crews)
2. The masquarade was completely the fault of the fire marshall, he did not deliver the capacity information on the ballroom until too late FORCING us to make tickets.
3.The lack of smooth flowing operations was there, I cant deny that, but it was mostly because at max we expected 12,500 con-goers not 20,000 plus. I attribute the rest of the fault to massive system bugs in registration (and a slightly grumpy reg. crew, they worked 14+ hours on friday and 15 on saturday to get you through, they didnt have too, seriously they could have turned any one who wasnt pre-reg away if they wanted too.)
ACEN 2007 and 2008 were horrible in some aspects, yes I have to agree it is mismanaged in a terrible way.
I attended the 2007 ACEN with a few friends for fun, and it was neat seeing a lot of people having fun, but there was way too much disorganization.
Yes there should have been something special with the 10 year anniversary, but it seems the people who run it could careless about it.
I have attended Katsucon, A-Kon and a few others, and out of all my experiences A-kon was the best out of the cons I attended.
Then in 2008 I decided to go to ACEN (SHOOT ME) it seems ACEN always attracts the asshole overpriced dealers in the convention hall, to top it off a bunch of them selling fansubs that shouldn’t really cost anything, or the dealers selling cheap chinese knockoff merchandise you can get in China town in Chicago.
People who worked for ACEN will post all kinds of excuses on the net on why it went wrong, all I have to say it was their crappy organization and poor planning.
I helped a few anime clubs with a small localized convention a few years back, and we had it all planned out just in case more people showed up than expected.
it all worked out in the end, the mini con was a success, and now the con is a regular thing.
to me ACEN needs people who can actually run a con rather than a bunch of pompus fan boys. Megazone a old anime club in Chicago, most of the people running ACEN are from that club, and they were a bunch of arrogant jerks back then.
why would they change now?.
if any of you are from the midwest, get a bunch of people together and contact the ACEN crew and give them the much needed help they need.
This way it will be a more memorable experience we all can enjoy, if not ACEN will be one of the cons that will slowly disappear from existence to the shitty planning and organization.
@ Rallygsc, I agree with your sentiment about getting people together to make a difference in ACEN. It’s easy to gripe about how hard it sucks, or blows, but it takes real moxy to stand up and do something about it. So, yes, fellow Midwestern anime fans- if you want to make a difference, contact ACen and see what you can do about making a better con for you and yours!!
Hopefully, economy allowing, we’ll be at ACen this year!