Post all the bad feedback here.

[theSock.Monkey.Renegade]

San Japan gets better and Better Proz. Keep up all the good work. (PS maybe some of the japanese stuff at the HBG cafe or will they not order it?)

They had the little chocolate creme filled pandas, maybe just drop the hint that their sales on Pocky would be through the roof?

[pyramidheadgirl]

I agree Kuri must stay a Viking!

[SmexyFanGirl]

I will update this post with additional feedback as/iff it comes to mind.


At the Autographs session with Ellen McLain and John Patrick Lowrie, my group was right behind the cut-off at about 1:30pm for signings after standing in line for two hours since 11:30am. I believe we were 66th and 67th in line. While we look forward to getting signatures on Sunday, and finding out when we will be able to get them before hand, I do agree with what one of the what I believe was a Volunteer Lead said before the session started: That there was enough time to get through at least the first hundred.

When my group went to get in line for the Ellen McLain: Live event after browsing the Arists Alley a bit, we found a line already formed and around the first two corners a good 5 minutes before 2pm, with the event at 2:30pm. This is pretty minor, but after being cut off from our previous wait we were annoyed with there being a line rule, and only waited in line a short amount of time before leaving.

Rules can be enforced a bit more harder. I'm seeing a lot of signs up in various places. It is dangerous to go alone, but I really don't need to take that.


Additional Feedback

How the stage area and the seating for the Cosplay Show, in my opinion, could ahve been done A LOT better. Even though we were fairly close to the stage, we could hardly see what was going on due to the angle, lighting, mohawks and big cosplay hats, and people sticking cameras up for an extended amount of time. The show could really benefit from a higher raised stage at the minimum. I've been told that the convention center has an actual theater stage, perhaps SJ Team can get a hold of that area for SJ6, if not for SJ7? If not please try to do something about viewing difficulties.

The elevator areas could have used some signs pointing people towards alternative methods of going between floors. People trying to cram into an elevator when only going up/down one floor, or moving between 1-5, was not pleasant when there escalators right next to the elevators in addition to elevators specifically for floors 1-5.

More directed towards other con-goers, but trying to cut into lines is not acceptable. Especially when said line is the long wrapping one for the Cosplay Show. More volunteers placed farther down the line to help keep it orderly would have been appreciated.

about the cosplay show they did book an amazing theatre for 2014 but that was as soon as possible

[SmexyFanGirl]

we werent given a description/or guide, they had run out of stuff so they gave us a walmart sack of some free anime comics so that was cool, i went with my bf hes a bigger anime fan than i. i know i know, it was an ANIME con so my two cents shouldnt matter. but even he was a bit disappointed. also we drove from houston, we had balanced the con on face values from the schedule that was posted on here. i didnt know of any other way to determine what "bringing characters to life" meant. i assumed cosplay, LARP anything. when we walked for forever to the panel that turned out to be about painting warhammer characters...i was less than amused >_<
more research should have been done on our part i guess...
oh GAWD! and as for the dress code?!! I saw far too many asses hanging about than i needed. considering they were supposed to be so strict....these girls werent even wearing panties from what i can tell...so on behalf of me and every other female/or con goer sitting while waiting in line and being eye level with crotches...yeahhhhh...be careful because there were dudes/pervs taking pictures.

Im not trying to come off rude. i guess my first experience here just sucked.

To sum it up:
1.make panel descriptions more available or OBVIOUS to people checking it out online before shelling out $$$$$ to go to see certain events/panels

2.know the numbers and if possible try to have back up supplys

3.have a stricter policy for dress code *wearing spanks under obviously short short skirts. since this was supposed to be a family event as well

thanks and just because i had a crap experience doesnt mean this con was bad, so dont take it as such by any means please

omgosh I completely agree with you on the dress code thing because watching the cosplay show i saw more of another woman than I prefered to see and I know that everyone around me also saw more of her than what was appropriate

[SmexyFanGirl]

They didn't stuff the schedule/guide in the bags I think is because they we're trying to push the Guidebook app for iphone/touch/android.

You could've found these items at info desk, which was right outside of registration, if needed.

Also, I'm one of the people that think "Gold Passes" are unfair. Because of them, people (like volunteers, who aren't safety and work a partifular autograph line [which now I remember why I liked working safety) don't get a chance to get an autograph just because 100-200 of you shelled out some $30+ extra dollars. I wasn't saying nasty things, but it upsets everyone. Line jumping sucks - they taught you not do it at school. I mean, I can understand things like, early access to dealers room, or whatever, because that just doesn't get cut off after 100 people. Everyone gets a chance, sure some people might get on early, bfd. Can't find what you wanted? Amazon. And the brunches and stuff are an okay perk too (when the food is good, that is. It was the hotel food, for pete's sake! I'm sorry that your food wasn't good. D. And there's probably several other things that are good about gold passes. But it's the line jumping that seems to annoy more people. Esp us volunteers because we work hard, and we want to get a chance to get the autograph too if we want it, but only to get into a line for 5 minutes and be told "oops, we've cut the line off. Sorry" is just annoying.

...Honestly. I think volunteers should get a special short autograph time held in con suite. Just saying. I mean, I'm sure there wouldn't be too many of us. But. -shrug-

I totally understand how you feel about the Gold Passes and lines but in truth the reason so many people didn't get autographs was because so many others didn't follow the rules and kept asking for them to stand up and take a picture with them which was completely unacceptable for the staff to alow them to when in every rulebook about the autographs it said you CANNOT do this and what frustrates me even more is the fact that the rules were printed out and placed at the end of the table before you got your autograph so anyone who really pays attention knows that ps. there are only 150 gold passes

[Izayanla]

I think it'd just be a lot nicer to tell Gold passes somehow that you aren't guaranteed the first in line thing if you show up a couple minutes into the event.

Yeah, I don't quite remember where, but I do remember reading that we're not allowed to 'cut' like that. We get a special line for directly when the event starts. And personally, I totally understand why we're not allowed to just jump in line if we're late - those people have been waiting for god knows how long to get their autographs/ whatever and it'd be kinda unfair when Gold Passes already take up the first 10 - 15 minutes of the session to just allow someone who is late to just pop right on in. I mean, I was the only one of my friends who had a Gold Pass - so I waited in a lot of lines with them (only thing I cut for was Chris Sabat, and first look of the dealers room) and honestly even I would have been peeved to see someone just waltz up and slide in after a good portion of the normal line had passed.

Though I do see why you're mad over someone actually taunting you. That's just horrible; you would think that a Staff member would have asked her to simmer down or step out of line for disorderly conduct. :I
---

Also, I'm one of the people that think "Gold Passes" are unfair. Because of them, people (like volunteers, who aren't safety and work a partifular autograph line [which now I remember why I liked working safety) don't get a chance to get an autograph just because 100-200 of you shelled out some $30+ extra dollars ... ...Honestly. I think volunteers should get a special short autograph time held in con suite. Just saying. I mean, I'm sure there wouldn't be too many of us. But. -shrug-

I agree with the volunteer thing, you guys do work hard and I think that a separate line for your autographs would be a fabulous perk! But as for Gold Passes being unfair, I'm not so inclined to agree. We pay around double normal badge price, and as you said there are only 200 or so of us (out of over 9,000 total xD), which I don't think is all that bad. Obviously not all Gold Pass holders are going to flock to the same events, in fact, on most everything I only saw 10 or so Gold Pass holders in line at the front (except for Chris Sabat) which does not add that much time to the line. And to be totally honest, those rare chances to 'cut' are the only thing that makes the pass worth it to begin with. No way I'd spend 110$ to just get in early to the dealers room - especially when, as you said, you can buy most everything in there on Amazon.
---



Okay now the only complaint I have was of this one particular line. It was a Kuro****suji fan panel, and the person 'controlling' the area acted like he had no idea what he was doing. My friends and I got there fabulously early, to where the line for the previous panel hadn't yet gone in! And when we asked if there was any wait for our panel, we were directed to the wrong area. Which wouldn't have been too bad, were not the fact that there was already a small line forming at the time. So we noticed this and still managed to get a fairly good spot in line. Then we were told 'we have to stay standing due to fire code', which on it's own is fine... until 10 minutes later he told us we could sit! Alright, yay a break for the feet, so my friend and I start quietly singing the Pokemon theme song to pass the time - when halfway through the song we're told to stop since we're being disruptive. So we just quietly bide our time for the next hour, constantly being told that we're not siting close enough to the wall (I was so close to the wall I had paint dust on my rump -.-), no photo ops in the hall - period - and even watching as a professional photographer was told to just plant her tush on the floor and be one with the wall as well... And last but not least, which it's weird that this irks me more than anything else, he told all Gold and SILVER passes to go to the front. :I nosuchthingasasilverpassanymore.

SO yesss// rant over. Oh wait, and the material the badges are made of is kinda weak. Half of my group's ripped on the first day.


...lol original name of Black Butler got censored?? xD

[GrellSlutcliff]

Okay now the only complaint I have was of this one particular line. It was a Kuro****suji fan panel, and the person 'controlling' the area acted like he had no idea what he was doing. My friends and I got there fabulously early, to where the line for the previous panel hadn't yet gone in! And when we asked if there was any wait for our panel, we were directed to the wrong area. Which wouldn't have been too bad, were not the fact that there was already a small line forming at the time. So we noticed this and still managed to get a fairly good spot in line. Then we were told 'we have to stay standing due to fire code', which on it's own is fine... until 10 minutes later he told us we could sit! Alright, yay a break for the feet, so my friend and I start quietly singing the Pokemon theme song to pass the time - when halfway through the song we're told to stop since we're being disruptive. So we just quietly bide our time for the next hour, constantly being told that we're not siting close enough to the wall (I was so close to the wall I had paint dust on my rump -.-), no photo ops in the hall - period - and even watching as a professional photographer was told to just plant her tush on the floor and be one with the wall as well... And last but not least, which it's weird that this irks me more than anything else, he told all Gold and SILVER passes to go to the front. :I nosuchthingasasilverpassanymore.

SO yesss// rant over. Oh wait, and the material the badges are made of is kinda weak. Half of my group's ripped on the first day.


...lol original name of Black Butler got censored?? xD

Which panel was this? The one in the morning or the evening?

[synki]

Just wanted to point at that people are making complaints about no japanese snacks but the hbg convention center was selling pocky, ramune, and a few other things since my friend and I had purchased some there.

[permafrost]

Since I just posted the good, it's now time for...the bad.

I had little annoyances and grievances, but most of those weren't the con's fault/were just me being persnickety (e.g. I want more space than Marriott but I hate walking between buildings). So the things I'm mentioning are things I think the con can improve on or that bothered me to a point that it took away from the convention experience.

To be improved
Perhaps include a set-up/tear-down time for between panels?
Have designated line up areas and have volunteers monitor certain massive lines
Less flimsy badges
Signs that very clearly and boldly say "Panel Room 1 here" or "Social rooms xyz are on this floor". Or just more signs in general.
Have more water in the rooms. Empty water jugs with a ton of cups = me
Is it possible to have outlets near the con alley tables?

Bothered me to the point of taking away from my convention experience
Okay. I understand that we can't all be Joey level volunteers, but I had an...experience with a volunteer that nearly soured my Friday. I have the name of this individual if any highers ups want to know who I am talking about (because, yes, she did bother me enough that I tracked her later to find her name).
So. On Friday there was considerable interest in the LittleKuriboh panel such that there was a line for it an hour before the start time. I ended up in line right around the doors. Some point during the wait, a volunteer nicely and politely asked us to not block the doors. Since the line was pretty long at this point, it was not feasible for everyone to back up for a nice gap so those of us by the door scrunched up near the garbage can into clumps. No sense breaking fire code right? The time gets closer to the start of the panel and (for counting purposes I assume) we are asked (again politely) to line up single file. Which we do to the best of our very scrunched abilities. This results in us blocking one of the doors. Next volunteer: don't block the doors. So we scrunch. Next volunteer: line up single file. So we scoot. Etc etc etc. All the volunteers have been polite, but we're getting a little concerned with how to deal with this two opposing requests. Until...this woman...comes up. She starts off with yelling (not shouting to be heard, straight up yelling) at us for not being in a single file line. Someone tries to explain that we're having a hard time following both sets of requests, but she interrupts them (rude) and yells something along the lines of (I used to have the line memorized, but it's been a week, sorry) "do as I say or be defiant with a boot up your ass". Which I felt was wholly inappropriate as this is an all ages convention and we had all been as cooperative as possible. She came back to harass us (I say harass because nothing she was doing was constructive in the least) several times before we got into the panel. I just...she was so rude when we were trying our best in a frustrating situation. Luckily though, the LittleKuriboh panel was amazing and mostly erased the bad experience
So I feel having volunteers monitor the line for high traffic panels/areas with doors etc and helping set up the flow of the line would erase this problem.

[ReneBunny]

There seemed to be a severe lack of staff for the convention, and the little staff there was generally had no idea where anything was or what was going on. There was a lot of disorganization and no body was really helpful. The panel room chosen for littlekuriboh and Chris Sabat was was ridiculously small and they let hundreds of people line up knowing that there was no way they would all fit, (even letting people in and then telling them to get out afterall, those two panels were the most ridiculously disorganized and frustrating) and they were terrible directing the lines and overflow. I chose to come to this convention specifically because Littlekuriboh was a guest, I chose san japan over OtaKon because of price, so I was very dismayed when I was teased with being able to enter the panel room and then told to leave. I understand firecode and all but it could have been prevented in so many ways, either counting off those in the line so not to give false hopes, or simply giving the event a bigger room.
Many events ran late and none of the volunteers ever seemed to know what was going on in any event.

All in all there were not too many problems but I would strongly recommend that the convention volunteers and staff be better informed, organized, friendlier, and give choose better venues for the guests which will obviously draw a large crowd. If you can fix these problems San Japan next year will surely be even more Amazing and less stressful.

This was my first time at San Japan and here I experienced problems that I have never had to deal with at any other convention I have ever been to, though they are easily fixed to be sure. All in all it was still fun and I would definately attend again. I sincerely hope you give consideration to my and all the other guests feedback and build this con to everything I know it can be. ^_^


EDIT:
I would also like to mention that the Wachow podcast with LK and Egoraptor was not described as a 18+ event and no ID's were taken, so it was a bit awkward when I was in there with a 13 year old and her mother who were not expecting that sort of content. T'was hilarious though.

[thelonebamf]

my complaint is with the lolita bingo, it seemed very disorganized and it was more difficult to play without tables. i also understand that the point was to give the advantage to full fledged lolitas, but it was extremely difficult for those of us who had no clue what rocking horse shoes were, it wasnt until the last game when we thought we knew what almost everything was. this also scared away half of the people who waited in line for quite a while. i also did not appreciate the double winner, i know its not her fault for winning twice but i think that once someone has won they should be asked for their card to make it fair for everyone else.

Hey there, I was the one running this game and I just wanted to respond a bit.

My original idea was to make regular bingo cards with words on them, but I decided against it for a number of reasons. First, I wanted to introduce an element of skill/knowledge to the game. Bingo is kind of random and can be sort of boring and this was the best way I thought I could actually make the activity relevant to Lolita. Heck, in some ways I thought it might help teach people about Lolita because they would be forced to learn what new words were. That being said, I announced several times before the panel started how the game would be played and how players could go about working on a card. I was really very pleasantly surprised that so many people decided to show up to the game, many of them outside the Lolita community, but I was trying to do something more than just "read the words on the card". Yes, it introduced another element to the game. Yes, it favored people who knew about lolita. However, I don't think it is any less fair than saying Anime Jeopardy favors people with anime knowledge.

That being said, I wasn't entirely happy with the room either. I had requested tables- didn't get them. (It happens.) I hadn't anticipated such a large room, so I thought I and my helpers would be better able to patrol the room to check cards etc. I *did* ask that winners give their cards to other players in the room, but to be honest, in the middle of a panel, I have always found it better to just sort of leave that thing to the honor system rather than stop everything and make a big deal of forcing someone to hand over their card etc.

This was my first time at San Japan (although I have done EGL panels at several conventions) so I wasn't really sure what to expect as far as the location or number of people. When I asked some veteran attendees, they told me to expect 30 players. We had over twice that!

I aim to be better prepared for larger crowds in the future, but I'm not sure I will change the "trivia" element of the game. (To be honest, all of those images were *very* basic lolita items.) I actually hope that at some point in the future I will be able to create a "hard mode" version of the game where people would have to recognize things like print names etc. However, what I *would* do is make sure the description in the guide (which is available online etc long before the convention) had more information regarding exactly how the game is to be played, so anyone who wants to can review pertinent information.

Thanks for the input!

[Totakeke]

On the risk of getting *****ed out, y'all really need to evaluate who actually works like they are supposed to, and who just run around doing jack crap, or just go around talking crap, or are just there flirting with girls or whatever.