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NEWS: No attendance cap at Otakon 2007




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Yoda117



Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Posts: 406
PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:18 am Reply with quote
Okay, can I call it now that there will be complaints about the overcrowding?

Regardless, I don't see this as a bad move for them as an organization. Last year, Otakon had its worst year in terms of growth due to the attendance cap. Too many people thought that there would be no registrations left and they ended up with only 500 people more than in 2005 (I'm guessing on that part, but it was only like a 2-3% increase over the prior year).

The interesting thing will be to see how much of an affect having so many large cons in such a short time frame will have on Otakon. With ANEXT and AE so close to Otakon, you know there will be some kind of effect.
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:40 am Reply with quote
I just hope Zac calls us all northeastern gorillas like he did last year. Cool
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darcerin



Joined: 22 Apr 2005
Posts: 330
PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:46 am Reply with quote
I *think* Otakon was planning to move some of their events across the street to the First Mariner Arena, so that there wouldn't so much overcrowding. Whether or not that has actually happened, someone from the Otakon team will have to confirm.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:47 pm Reply with quote
I don't see how there can absolutely be no attendance cap and still have things run safely. I am staff for the Animaritime convention and we had to cap our attendance for the first time this year because we were at the convention center's capacity limit. Maybe Otakon's limit is really high, but there has to be some number that, if surpassed, would lead to a fire hazard.
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Aresef



Joined: 22 Jun 2005
Posts: 909
Location: MD
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:19 am Reply with quote
Being at Otakon these last couple of years, I can see how they could concievably stuff more people inside the BCC to begin with. Also, remember, Baltimore, especially the touristy Inner Harbor area, is filled with space Otakon could be using, like Rams Head for example.
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Eos



Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Posts: 168
Location: Jersey
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:54 am Reply with quote
Yoda117 wrote:
Last year, Otakon had its worst year in terms of growth due to the attendance cap. Too many people thought that there would be no registrations left and they ended up with only 500 people more than in 2005 (I'm guessing on that part, but it was only like a 2-3% increase over the prior year)..


It kept those under 18 (with no credit/debit cards) from pre registering.
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Meccanica



Joined: 19 Nov 2006
Posts: 101
Location: Brookline, MA
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:24 am Reply with quote
The BCC actually has a lot more room than is used, from what I know. Everything tends to get overcrowded because it's all in a few main areas of the building... I think the biggest issue will be fixing the location of the rooms. I've always been annoyed at the way the video rooms were all in different places, and at having to walk a really long distance through a crowd just to take a peek at some event. If they don't organize it a little better, the quality of the event is going to go in the tank.

Btw, I think the BCC's capacity is something above 27,000.
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Proman



Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 947
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:15 pm Reply with quote
I think it's good for Otakon as a whole but I also think that people will definitely complain about overcrowding.

I just hope the con is more interesting and is better organized than last year's.
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