Forum - View topicChase Wang on Anime Expo 2007
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Reikon
 Posts: 36 |
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I really wish he gave less dodgy answers on why they can't have the convention at Anaheim. I don't think moving the convention a week would pose a problem for most of the attendees. LBCC had a horrible layout since everything was so spaced apart, and LACC just looks worse in that aspect for the hotels. The Anaheim hotels were very convenient being just a 2 minute walk from the con center.
And I can't believe he says AX is a fan-driven convention. It's very obviously an industry based and driven convention. It has huge amounts of industry presence and sponsoring. A good example of a fan-driven convention would be Fanime, which has very minor industry presence for its size (about 10k people). |
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bayoab
Posts: 831 |
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It is hypocritical to call out the volunteers and not call them out at the same time as they were making the same mistakes under your assumptions. "Told to control crowds and not well informed".
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18186 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The larger gaming conventions, like Gen Con, use a similar model: the vast majority of the rank-and-file are volunteers working for nothing more than a free badge and maybe free housing, but at the top there is a core of individuals whose sole career is to organize 3-4 of these monstrosities a year across the country, with only proven hand-picked volunteers allowed to work directly under them. Since moving to this structure a few years ago the 'cons have been run more efficiently than ever before, and the biggest of them (Gen Con) involves at least as much attendance and space usage as AX as well as a far, far more complex event schedule. Despite this, no one ever complains about how "fans" don't have a say in how events are run, because what gets run is heavily determined by fan proposals and interest surveys. I have never been to AX, but it sounds like they have outgrown the practicality of the structure they have used in the past. They may not want to do it, but once you get past a certain size taking at least some semblance of a "cookie-cutter" set-up is unavoidable for efficiency's sake, or else problems like this happen. If you want truly unique and easily-responsive experiences in a 'con, you're probably better off going to a smaller regional event. |
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zcat68
Posts: 17 Location: RI |
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I have to say that quite simply, this is one of the best interviews I've ever read.
Let me preface this by saying I did not attend AX, and so from my perspective, this is the first time I am hearing AX's side of the story. It was clear right from the beginning that this was going to be an interview devoted entirely to spin. People had tough and fair questions they wanted answered and "We all worked very hard." was not going to cut it. Zac, I'd like to compliment you personally, because when it became obvious you were not going to get sufficent answers you kept him on the ropes anyways, which is something that definately needed to be done. My hats off to you. With all that said I did have one question. Did he cut you off after that last question, or was that just a mutually agreed upon ending to the interview? |
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population_tire
 Posts: 575 |
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i wish i could go but i live in Indiana. Hopefully this will make things better. It might have been the way it was worded, but ANN seemed a little rude...oh well.
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appleturbo
Posts: 51 |
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This interview ROCKED HARD!
What really disappointed me was how we got your standard marketing answers to avoid bad PR. We all worked as hard as we could. but does that really address the problems. No it doesn't. For the most part we really don't know why there was problems top to bottom. A convention this size and for a convention to have gone on as long as it has should not have these kinds of learning experiences. And I think comparing SDCC to AX is not apples to oranges. Since SDCC is larger, maybe AX should learn a few things from them. |
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Nermal
 Posts: 223 Location: I was made to hit in America |
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Great interview questions. Amusing answers. This was my first time going to Long Beach for AX, and it sure did make me appreciate having live programming, video rooms, and exhibit hall all at the Anaheim Convention Center. This year I stayed at the Westin and while the hotel itself was nice, walking across to the exhibit hall and other events was not. There were so many people crossing the street illegally; I'm glad no one got hit (that I know of). I've been to the LACC for E3, Star Wars Celebration, and a couple other shows, and I am looking forward to having AX at such a huge venue, but that whole shuttling to hotels issue makes me wonder...guess I'll just have to wait until next year.
And regarding that whole july 4th weekend so people have the day off thing, I wouldn't have minded if it was moved this year, since I had Wednesday off, not Friday June 29 or Monday July 2. I still had to work on the Tuesday after the con. But that's just me. |
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bleuster
 Posts: 455 Location: Orange County |
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I would have liked to have seen a more clear, detailed response on the staff issue and organizing them. He didn't even address if they were going to have more next year if they're expecting more attendees.
Since LACC is going to be another "new experience" for them, I hope they're looking through every nook and cranny to make everything run smoothly. Really taking a serious, not half-assed approach like they seem to have done at AX 07. It's just to bad they're stuck on the July 4th weekend mindset. It would have been reassuring if they had at least considered it. I'm glad they're looking forward to next and i wish them the best in LA, since I won't be there to see it. |
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5633 Location: Southern California |
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I got dizzy from all of the spin that interviewee was spouting. Hopefully, they did learn some lessons with this year's AX. I can only hope that they are telling the truth about working with LAPD to keep the attendees safe. Great interview Zac. You really had him up against the ropes! |
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GATSU
Posts: 15305 |
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To be fair, MB didn't show up last year.
It's illegal to do that here now, so now you'll have to deal with being guilt-tripped into *gasp* giving them spare change. 
Superflyz:
You must be mistaken, because I said the same thing, and everyone who thinks wading across long blocks of sidewalks while dealing with the Anaheim heat, just to get grub, is paradise! 
Spoken like a true man of the city, and not someone who believes everything they see on Cops. ichido:
Yes, DN is a failure in the U.S., and Viz should be ashamed to be wasting money licensing it.
Yuukichan:
If you take the subway a couple streets down, you can get a BK and a McDonald's next to each other. |
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ichido reichan
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hey, who can't forget the memorable "7-11" hotdogs at $4.50 (yeah those 99 C. dogs) or the crap dinners at 10.50? yeah..a soda for 2.50? next time bring can food to anime expo
also, Yeah whatever, Death note was a hit on the manga stand and everybody is crazy with ryuk and light, but the direction and the character desings is nothing to be crazy about, the art was pretty much consistent but that was it, I watch anime and I couldn't find anybody legendary that could answers my questions, no hit voice actors either, the suzumiya gang got caught in a very popular fade but the history of these voice actresses is minimal and uninteresting, then again, yeah..all is biased to the yearly fade eh?. anybody remembers when Tsukasa hojo, nobuhiro watsuki, Inoue Kikuko and Yuu watase were all UNDER THE SAME ROOF? and for a minimal $25.00 ticket or free you could approach the stage and shake hands with them? Where is THAT anime expo eh? not to mention the crappy and fugly $8 official AX 2007 t-shirts that they were trying to plug you in for $20, it was a tradition to buy 2-3 ANIME EXPO t-shirts of the year with all the designs, this year...Naaah |
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Hagaren_Otaku726
Posts: 137 |
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Exactly. People were always saying "Take comfortable walking shoes!!!!" and last year, I had no problem in my shoes. So, me being ignorant to how spread apart everything would be, I took some shoes that I hadn't broken in yet this year(Needed them for a costume, got them a day before I left for AX). AHA. Bad idea. God my feet hurt. Yeah. I crossed the street illegally 2 or 3 times. There's a crosswalk waaaay over there, and waaaaaay over there. But none "here". I got frustated. I'm hoping that they actually do learn from this year, and fix some HUGE issues for AX '08 (Although, that should be obvious). Everyone I've talked to has had some serious issues with this year's AX (SOS Brigade "autograph" session, concert, amv contest, the splitting up of the artist's alley, exhibit hall exits "I think it's over there. Or maybe there.") I realize some of the staff/volunteers worked hard, and not just because they got a free pass or because they had to. I thank them. But something inside AX seemed to be working against it this year, and it really didn't go as well as it should've. Maaajor props to Zac for getting us more than a "We can't help that" response!!! A lot of the reason people are frustrated is because AX isn't giving us good explanations for why things can't happen/did happen, and Zac, you kept digging until you got us a decent response. |
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Romuska
 Subscriber Posts: 799 |
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I've been attending Anime Expo since 2001.
After reading this interview along with hundreds of posts on the official Anime Expo forum, it appears that the decision to move Anime Expo to the Los Angeles Convention Center was made before consulting the fans and now the convention higher ups don't seem to want to fess up to the fact that they made a mistake. It's not even a question at this point, the majority of the attendees would prefer to attend the convention in Anaheim. There is no lagit reason why they can't just move the convention to a different weekend. Clearly they don't care how the attendees feel about this issue and it's going to cost them a great number of devoted fans in 2008. |
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testorschoice
Posts: 468 |
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Uh, a subway round trip will add at least $2.50 to any meal's price. With that tacked on, it wipes out the reason to bother going to those places. |
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Roy9076
 Posts: 286 Location: California |
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Why did it seem that Chase thought this through? Seriously, I talked to many of the staff in AX 2007 and I finally concluded that they tried their best, but many factors and power issues made it painful. Anyways, what's past is past and move on to '08 in LACC.
Oh boy, Staples Center 24 hours?! I been around that area (lived around with family) and I'm still pretty scared about it. Well, the insight about 24 hour shuttles does sound favorable. To me, they do show that they are working hard, but this isn't all the staffer's fault. What about the convention personnel? Well, in all cases, this has been a satisfying follow up. Superb job there Zac! *applaud* You ask some well questions!
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