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[Bri-Chan]

I'm not sure about Ashly Burch, but Anthony Burch and his wife live in Texas, Dave.
I just looked it up on twitter (@reverendanthony and @aedavis).

[docsven]

I gotta say, this con ran as smooth as a baby's bottom. The staff were super-nice, even really with their strict warnings. Did they receive an enormous crapload of pressure from the fire marshals?

I've sworn off anime conventions from here on out, but I gotta say, you guys did a great job.

Hey Darth hope you come back to our show tho and we did get some pressure from the FM's but nothing we could not handle with the proper planning and details that Proz brought to the table. We had to be strict in some areas and with the noise level and crowd it was VERY easy to misunderstand out tone and think we were being mean and yelling at you. For that we apologize as Safety. With the new location we will have a more manageable area and noise area as well.

We had no fines or issues with the level of help we had with YOU the congoers this year and we look forward to helping as Safety in the future. Once again sorry for any misunderstandings we might have had.

As a side note to hit all the posts on any Safety Staff that got out of hand of hand or bad mannered, we did take many bad volunteers out of the job and remove them form staff. They will not be around next year to make problems. We did our best to handle them as fast as possible and we did miss some so we will work harder to improve that area next year.

Thanks./DOC

[docsven]

I definitely wanted to point out that the volunteers and staff at San Japan are some of the nicest and most helpful i've ever seen. At a few other cons i've been to (noticably A-Kon for some reason) some of the staff have been downright rude or sarcastic with me for no reason, but one of the things i've really noticed about San Japan is that everyone seems to keep their temper down and act very professionally despite the stress. Being strict and being rude can be two entirely different things, and everyone at San Japan seemed to keep everything in line without being disrespectful, and I really, really appreciate it!

Thank you very much for those words. We appr it./DOC

[docsven]

I had a good time at San Japan. It was my first year going to San Japan, so I wasn't entirely sure to expect, but most of it was great.

However, I do have a couple complaints...

1. Like most of the people here, I would like to see more variation in the Dealer's room.
2. I personally felt like there really wasn't much for the under-17 crowd on Saturday night, but then again on Friday I wouldn't have noticed whether or not there was much for the under-17 people because I was focusing on the masquerade, as opposed to Saturday where I originally planned on karaoke but got bored of it quickly...

However, the good definitely outweighed the bad at this convention, and I plan to return next year.

I do agree with you about the under 17 content on the busy nights. Any suggestions on what you would like to see?

[docsven]

The thing with the elevators, people were having elevator parties on them. It's not anyone's fault except the dummies that were doing it. What I suggest to the con staff is to monitor the elevators next year. A few friends and I were sitting outside the elevators, and the elevator party people were stopping at EVERY floor.

People don't have elevator parties, it's a safety hazard, time consuming, and overall stupid.

I am sorry to you and all the other posts about the elevators and the problems they had this year. Being Hotel property and not an area we have as San Japan on the actual leases we CANNOT go into them as Safety volunteer staff and do anything except call the Hotel Security and have our Police Officers go for us. We got a few problems taken care of and we missed a few.

Sorry for ANY inconvenience you might have had this year and we hope you come back next year./DOC

[docsven]

I had a very great time at San Japan this year. Last year I had said I wouldn't come back, but this year was the best by far. The volunteers, hotel staff, con staff, and police officers were very helpful, and friendly. It was a lot more organized then last year!

There were a few bumps, like the elevators (but I've discussed that already) also about the elevators, could there be some kind of Proper Way to Use an Elevator thing? There are a few people that seem to don't understand that when an elevator is at capacity, that it's at capacity. >.< There was a scary moment for me where the elevator started ringing, and I had to get off at the next floor (plus I'm slightly claustrophobic, and I absolutely hate elevators)

One thing that irked me was that in one of the lines they told us we could not sit down. I was wearing some boots, and I was standing in like for over an hour. There were a few people like me who were in cosplay, and their feet were killing them as well. I'd like to ask that next year, if there wouldn't be a problem of course, that we at least are able to sit on the floor. I know it's a lot to ask because it's a safety hazard, and you guys already spoil us as it is! xD A volunteer kindly gave me her seat though, and if she reads this thank you very much

Another bump was that a few of the panels we were turned away, but I figured that that will be solved next year when we're some place bigger!

Everything else was amazing! The cosplay show was handled ALOT better then last year, and there weren't too many mishaps! I love you guys! Thanks for providing me, and many of us with a wonderful con experience! Sorry if I'm nagging, but the elevators freak me out xD My makeshift cosplay group are already planning for next year! I can't wait!!!

I agree about the no seating for the lines and I feel I missed that personally. I plan on asking Proz and ALL of my staff about ideas and suggestions to do something better about that next year. While we cannot provide seats for all the attendees MAYBE we can come up with a better solution. If you have any ideas PLEASE post. Again I apologize for any problems you might have had./DOC

[docsven]

I'll say again, EGORAPTOR NEEDS TO COME BACK! His panels were fun, ESPECIALLY the art session + questions and trivia on Saturday night. He and his crew made me and a friend's night a hellova lot better for us, considering we didn't get to go to the cosplay show. I also liked how the volunteers were. PLEASE keep them like that (or at least similar to). Everybody generally was friendly, which was a plus for me. The Game room had a great adequate size with breathing space. The music game room was so small that I felt like an outcast walking into a small town saloon. *n* I absolutely loved how you guys kept water around for parched con-goers. Definitely helped guys like me that needed a sip in a pinch. Security was conveniently located! I was quite shocked. I came to the third floor and was politely pointed to the right direction for prop check. Lines were ridiculously long for some panels and the such , BUT I'm glad you guys took the proper precautions to keep everybody in line and not too much in the way for other con-goers not in line; definitely pro. All in all, this con was beastly. I'm extremely stoked for next year with its new location. ÔuÔ

Thanks for that feedback and we appr it alot. Also just to add to it YES they need to come back.lol./DOC

[docsven]

i agree with this.

We will try harder on this next year./DOC

[docsven]

I had a few concerns about SJ:4TW-

*People walking around with alcohol- When we first arrived on friday in the morning to get our badges, there were a couple of guys that had an open case of beer, drinking it. I know they were there for SJ cause they had a badge and were talking about cosplay. This needs to be stopped cause there are a lot of minors and such at a convention as this and this is very dangerous to allow.

*People cutting in line-I am not talking about Gold/Silver badges, there were quite a lot of people who just cut in line in front of people who were standing in line for more than an hour.

*Long lines-There were huge lines for some of the events/panels and even the registration. I didn't remember the lines being that long last year, so I hope moving to the convention center will be a lot of help in this matter.

*Weapons check-I think for this next SJ that you have the Registration and Safety Check, as soon as you enter the building cause I noticed a lot of people with weapons,etc. that didn't have the safety orange tape. Also there were a lot of people who were swinging the items around when walking that could hurt someone, please have security watch out for these types of people for next time.

*Panels/Events-Instead of having events back-to-back, try scheduling some preparation time for them, at least fifteen minutes or so, that way they can have things set up before letting people in.


There were some things I liked-

*Egoraptor- He is a must have for next SJ. He was so great and funny, I would love to see him return next time.

*Artist Alley- I loved all the artists that came this time. They were all incredibly nice and helpful and since we will have more room next SJ, could we see more artists available next time too?

*Game Room- The game room was okay, but I wished they had more controllers cause they had lots of systems, but not a lot of controllers for people who wished to play. I liked Para Para Paradise, and I hope it will be there next year too.

Great feedback! I wanted to Thank you for it and add that the alcohol situation was covered as fast as we could catch it. We had rovers walking around and since it was a hotel and had bars some guests of the hotels would just come off the elevator and wander around looking. We then had to ask them to leave. If a con goer had alcohol that was a different story we had to pull their badges for breaking those rules. We will have more areas that will be safer next year in the new location.

Thanks again for that great feedback./DOC

[docsven]

As a staff member, this was an amazingly well-run convention and it was a pleasure working with y'all. From my perspective, I can really only complain about the sheer rudeness of the "Green Shirts" (Safety) throughout the convention and actually had younger people actually come and tell me crying about experiences such as being yelled at for leaning against a wall near the elevators, having their props broken by belligerent security members and being harassed for standing to talk to artists. Please, people, tone it down. It's one thing to be an awesome security force and it's another when someone comes up to me and compares y'all to the Gestapo. I defended the Green Shirts, but really, it's getting pretty hard to do so.

Otherwise, excellent con and I'm glad we're moving next year to a way larger location. It was definitely a pleasure working with all of you as Steampunk Coordinator and I hope to bring more awesome Steampunk events, guests and panels to San Japan!

Sorry for the bad experiences form my staff. I can say we got rid of a few Safety members for crossing some lines, but I did not get a report of any props broken by staff. Please PM me with details so I can take care of this. Also we do have a problem with being easily misunderstood as we try to enforce the rules by having to raise our voices over the crowd so people think we are yelling at them AND we have a few bad apples that make a problem for us. They are quickly relocated or dismissed entirely.

Sorry there were a few bad instances to bring it all down. Next year will be better./DOC

[docsven]

I agree with this! I was able to make it to many panels because of this. I miss the Ouran event though (My wig was incredibly tangled, and I was exhausted. I wish ya'll had put it on Saturday.) *cries tears of sadness and angst* I love the Ouran event btw, it's been going on since the second SJ, and I've gone to all of them except this year. >.> I hope to attend the Ouran Event many years to come!



My poor feeet *whines* lol But seriously, I understand why we couldn't sit down. It is a safety hazard. Like I commented before, maybe next year, if we are going to be in line for over an hour, maybe the staff can provide us with a place to sit. Hopefully no one ruins it for everyone and we can't sit down. Boots are a big part of cosplay, but most boots aren't made for standing in a very long time xD Thanks for being safety though! There are numerous jerks that ya'll have to deal with, and I appreciate that ya'll keep us safe!

There were areas you could have sat down but not in front of fire exits and other bad locations where there was a huge crowd gathering. We had to make sure we could keep so many feet wide in each area per Fire Marshal requests. Most groups that were moved from seating were just told to get against the wall and not sit in a bunch five or so in a circle like most people were doing.

We missed a few things with some volunteers getting some bad orders and had to fix a few things late after they already told a few people to stand and for that I apologize personally. Next year we will have MORE room for all in the halls and line areas./DOC

[docsven]

I know that as staff I don't want to complain about Safety, they are some of the people that help the most. But they can also be some of the people that hurt the most. I see so many complaints and have seen first hand Safety Volunteers being downright horrible people. It's hard to judge how a volunteer is going to handle the power of getting a security position. I'm not sure if people are just chosen for this position out of our volunteer pool or if they are interviewed first. If they aren't however, maybe that should start happening. Just a little extra time to do interviews may cut back on the people who are being rude just because they have a lime green shirt? If we already do this, then all I can say is that I apologize for anyone who was mistreated this con, and I hope things improve next year having a larger space.

We operate on a open volunteer basis and also we get a few bad apples. ALSO that being said we did cut a few for behavior this year and the problem will get better. Thanks for your feedback and it is very much appreciated. I hope you will be with us next year./DOC

[docsven]

This is mostly a holding place until I can collect my thoughts and will be edited a lot~

Most of my complaints are related to the space which I understand was not something San Japan could change. Hopefully, there will be enough space next year. Just letting you know that I understand this ahead of time and am including these complaints so that the staff can get an estimate of how much space is needed next year.

Friday:
-Friday morning was a bit of a rough time for me for reasons only slightly controllable by the con. There was some confusion about where the Ouran signup table was, and I had to wait a half hour awkwardly next to the scented soaps to be assigned a table. However, once the lady in charge arrived, I was given a table with supreme promptness and was also given assistance in moving my sign, decorations, etc. Tl;dr = Waiting was bad, but the help was excellent
-This is partially a note to the con and partially a note to people with tables in Con Alley. PLEASE DO NOT HAVE BLARING MUSIC! The Omnicon (I think this was who it was) had a DJ Hero game set up that blasted music so loud that I had to shout to be heard. This made it difficult to explain the event and attract people to our table. If there could be some sort of noise rule...? I don't want to ax music altogether, but maybe a limit. For example, if my normal speaking voice can't be heard by someone 1 foot away from me, your music is too loud. Tl;dr = Please turn down your music at your table
-I absolutely loved the ParaPara panel/event~ After the mess of my morning, going to the social room and learning to dance to upbeat music brought my energy up so so so much. Please keep coming to SJ! I was showing the moves I learned to my friends and family all weekend. I was super sad that I couldn’t stay for the whole thing :C. Tl;dr = ParaPara was awesome! Come back again!
-Like last year, I found the Dancing tutorial very informative and used my moves out on the dance floor. My only problem was that I couldn’t attend the entire thing.
-I know I have mentioned this in another board, but it could bear repeating. To the dark-haired lady who brought us lemonade at our table: THANK YOU SO MUCH~ It really improved the mood of me and my frazzled friends. It (both the act and the lemonade) was super sweet, and we all really appreciated it. Tl;dr = Con Alley volunteers are awesome and considerate!
-Even though I haven't played the games, I enjoyed the Ace Attorney panel. The only thing I would ask as an improvement is maybe a mic for the audience members who ask questions? I had to sit in the back because of my decoration bin and couldn't hear a lot of the questions . Or maybe repeat the questions before answering? But overall I thought it was really fun, with my favorite part being the outfit switch. Tl;dr = Ace Attorney is fun but would be better if I could hear the audience questions.
-As for the Masquerade itself, I know this has been said again and again but this is a very important issue! THE MASQUERADE NEEDS MORE SPACE!!! I know it was moved to a bigger room, but I still ended up waiting a very long time in line. By the time I got into the room, my feet were dying a slow painful death. Standing in 4 inch heels for an hour is not fun . The “wall flowers” people were getting mad at were probably people who just got in and wanted to take a seat after waiting for so long. Despite the pain, I did dance for a good 40 min (with only a quick 3 min sit down). As for the music selection, I like the slower dances more than the fast ones, but I felt there was a good variety of music. That one faster song allowed for a very fun conga line. My highlight of the dance was seeing Jack Skellington dance in that amazing costume. Tl;dr = Masq needs a bigger space, I like slower songs but the selection was pretty good, yay Jack Skellington.


Saturday:
-The onsite registration line was nice and short when I arrived at approx 9:15 AM with my younger brother. The volunteer who gave him his badge was efficient and informative. In total it took less than 15 minutes to wait in line, receive the badge, and grab his bag of stuff. Note: perhaps at the Safety Desk make programs available as well as the paper schedules. Tl;dr = morning registration was wonderful, perhaps put programs at Safety Desk as well.
-I did not go to the Fanfiction panel, but one of my friends did. She told me all sorts of nice things about it so I just wanted to let whoever ran that know that she enjoyed the panel.
-The Cosplay Show…well, I’m going to break this down into 3 parts.

• The line. Just…the line. I am so glad I left the AMV thing when I did because the lining up for the cosplay show started promptly at 6:00 or 6:30 (I can’t remember which one but it started promptly!). It was chaos. The green shirt pretty much said “Go!” and the people milling about raced into line. I’m lucky I got into line where and when I did orz. Other people might complain about the constant reminders from Safety, but I thankful. It kept the hall space mostly clear and ensured that people would have a difficult time cutting in line, though I did get some megaphone shouting in my ear . Please watch where you point those things. My complaints are with the large steam punk group in front of us who wanted us to move back. Constantly. NEWSFLASH! I CAN’T MOVE BACK UNTIL THE PEOPLE BEHIND ME TAKE A FEW STEPS BACK! DON’T JUST START WALKING BACKWARDS! ALL YOU DO IS SQUISH PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOWHERE TO GO! However, Safety helped take care of this by asking the people at the end of the line to back up and eventually we got a teensy bit more room. I think we were let in a little late but it has been my experience that this is just what happens for the cosplay show so whatever. Tl;dr = The starting of the line was chaos, I was okay with 2 by 2 reminders, don't just start backing up, watch where you point the megaphone
• The seating/waiting to start. Props to those involved in seating. I was not shouted at to run to my seat, indoor voices were used, no one bullied my friends/family as we switched our line order a bit, etc. The stage looked incredible. I loved the projection and how you tried to keep the waiting audience entertained by showing us the judges, panning out to the audience, etc. I was okay with the roaming lights, though I didn’t like them directly shining in my face. And speaking of directly shining in my face…I despised the bright flashing lights. They hurt my eyes and really made me want to just get up and leave the show. If you were trying to condition us to clap when they flashed, you failed because I had to keep my hands occupied covering my face :/ Please don’t use those lights again. Seriously. Just don’t. Tl;dr = the stage looked super quality, I wasn’t shouted at, NEVER HAVE THOSE BRIGHT FLASHING LIGHTs EVER EVER AGAIN
• The show. Was it just me or did all the costumes this year step it up? Because I was very impressed with all the cosplays. A lot of the Novice cosplays looked like they could be Open or Journeyman or something else really good. Props to everyone who participated! This was my favorite Cosplay Show to date. I loved the addition of the kids cosplay category .I thought the opening bit with the guy from the Gear Project dragged on a little bit, but I assume this was so that sound and the contestants could finish setting up so whatever. I really liked the MC; she was darling. Don’t worry that the audience might not have gotten some of your nerdier jokes because in my group was a guy who got 90% and he assured me you were very clever. Speaking of the audience, I was very disappointed in my fellow attendees. There was nowhere near the amount of noise there should have been for all those amazing (or not) cosplays :/ . I near about lost my voice trying to keep the room from having dead silence. Please guys, at least clap when a person gets on and off the stage. Also, I think someone dropped the ball when it came to making the stage accessible. Why wasn’t there a ramp? I felt so bad for the cosplayer in the wheelchair and the amazing Dalek who couldn’t get up on stage to show off all their hard work! I mean, guys…guys, even the less than spectacular Ikkicon show had a ramp. Very disappointed. The skits were also the best I’ve seen in my time (since 1.5) at San Japan. Where did all of you come from? I loved the dance and the drama skits. That Princess Tutu was amazing! Both Open skits were super quality as well. Tl;dr = Best Cosplay show yet, amazing cosplays/skits, stage looked very professional, SHOULD HAVE HAD A RAMP, audience was not loud enough

-Dating Game was fantastic, as it is every year. There were bumps with the sound and the A/C, but Proz himself came to help out. I think the Spotlight Bachelorette was my favorite round . My favorite spotlight contestant was Sailor Mars because she worked it with the paltry answers she received from her bachelorettes. Suggestion for improvement: in the audience round, please introduce the spotlight and the contestants or have them introduce themselves. By the end, I worked out who they were but it would have been nice to have context for their answers. Tl;dr = Yay Proz for helping with the tech difficulties, boo hotel for turning off the A/C, introduce the audience round plz


Sunday:
-Sunday was the date of my event, the Ouran High School Host Club Event. I was both surprised and pleased with the turnout this year. I didn’t think we’d get so many people on a Sunday, but you dudes (well, mostly dudettes) proved us wrong. Thank you to everyone who participated and thank you to everyone who helped with the event. I want to give a super huge shout out to Joey who was the Safety person assigned to the Social Room during our event. He was on top of things from the moment we started setting up at 10 AM. After he grasped our sticker timing, he was instrumental in coming up with our two line sticker or no sticker system. When we wanted water, he convened with the hotel staff to get us nice plastic cups, those fancy silver pitchers, and a water cooler of our own. When we needed a trashcan for said cups, he got us a trash can. Also, a big thank you to all the hotel staff who helped us make the event possible! They kept our big bucket of ice filled and our trash can empty. For all of you in the last session who sat along the outside, Joey is the reason you were able to come in at all. I was going to cut it off and just have the tables filled, but he was a sweetheart and suggested that we allow you guys in to watch, if not to participate.

I am sorry you had some issues with us and I apologize for that. Great feedback and YES we will look into ALL you suggested for Safety. I like the program idea and the 2x2 was a bad idea. Next year we will do better. Thanks./DOC

[docsven]

I definitely felt that this was probably our best year for overall competition level. I feel that people view our show as a Big Deal in the competition circuits and come prepared for that. Makes me smile.

re: The Ramp. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BADLY I WANTED ONE. Sadly, the hotel apparently... didn't have one? That was what I was told. And to be honest, I think that's BS as it kind of violates the ADA. That being said, new hotel next year, hopefully won't be a problem.

I agree on the ramp. I went around and gave my card to MANY people with wheelchairs and special needs to make sure they were head of the line for events to make it easier for them. I was so proud of the attendees as no one complained about this and supported it! I hope that helped a bit in this and I even tried to get some back elevator access for some.

Thanks for the attention you brought to this issue about the ramp and next year we will have all of these for our friends with special needs./DOC

[docsven]

First off, *points at Anime Detour's numbers*. When San Japan was that size, we only had about 1,000-1,100 Pre-Registration (plus I've been adding to that number with Online Registrations since we were that size) and we had virtually no wait either.

Secondly, I don't agree with the concept that all that has to be done is throw more bodies at a problem and it will be magically solved (even with pre-planning). That's part of the reason that I work on regIT: if the system supporting all the bodies isn't honed and streamlined then it takes a very disproportionate number of bodies to handle the same amount of attendees.

But I'm always interested in hearing how another event handled their Registration. You can PM me or just reply to this thread.

-the purring dork

[docsven]

my only issue was that the closing ceremonies was not in a large enough room

I agree and there was a very logical reason why it had to be that way. I am so sorry folks I had to turn some people away and I hope you will keep in mind Proz wanted a larger space. Next year we will have it./DOC

[docsven]

Folks thank you for being so polite in your feedback even when you wanted to blast us. I will make some very needed changes next year and some staff will not be coming back. I plan on handling it directly and with the new Safety Team next year we will restructure and bring a better team for you in the new location.

I am sorry for any misunderstandings and inconveniences. Any thing else you need please do not hesitate to PM me and I will respond as fast as I can. I work a few jobs and travel quite a bit so please do not misunderstand the delay.

Any lost and found issues please PM me or contact the Hotel directly.

Please let me know the good we did as well if you want and we will continue that.

Thanks to my staff and my close friends for helping us make Proz have a successful show./DOC

[Farasha]

I agree on the ramp. I went around and gave my card to MANY people with wheelchairs and special needs to make sure they were head of the line for events to make it easier for them. I was so proud of the attendees as no one complained about this and supported it! I hope that helped a bit in this and I even tried to get some back elevator access for some.

Thanks for the attention you brought to this issue about the ramp and next year we will have all of these for our friends with special needs./DOC

Yeah... I think I asked ten or fifteen people about getting a ramp for cosplayers who needed one, and every time the answer was "The hotel doesn't have one," which sounded very wrong to me because of the aforementioned ADA laws. Next year I'm going to start working on that the minute I hit the convention on Thursday night.

[docsven]

Yeah... I think I asked ten or fifteen people about getting a ramp for cosplayers who needed one, and every time the answer was "The hotel doesn't have one," which sounded very wrong to me because of the aforementioned ADA laws. Next year I'm going to start working on that the minute I hit the convention on Thursday night.

No. Come straight to the Safety Desk and we will work on that for you. I had no idea one was needed for that particular portion of SJ4 and would have gotten one. I could have lined one up very easily and I will say I am sorry for you not having one. I feel we dropped the ball on you.

SO I hope you will accept my apology as I did not even know it was needed. NEXT year we can make sure this never happens again./DOC