Forum - View topicThis Week in Anime - It's Anime Convention Hunting Season
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blooperboy
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From the con-runner side of things, one of the big issues that I don't hear getting talked about publicly is the shift in the Industry side of things. Someone earlier in the comments mentioned 'hey maybe don't start up a con when there's another one on the same weekend decently close by' and while that's true, it isn't thinking big enough. (I'm going to be simplifying things, so while I know that there's lots of 'but what about this' that can be argued around what I'm about to say, the general points remain salient.)
During Covid, a lot of companies shrank or straight up dismantled their outreach teams. That means that if you're trying to get someone from Crunchyroll to notice your con and maybe have them show up to be in Exhibitors Hall, the people who you used to work with are all gone now and the people who are there now are stretched real thin by the number of requests they're getting and also the lack of necessity on their part. While conventions used to be more of a 'big deal' for finding out information, hearing about new shows being announced, etc; the internet has made this less of a thing for the majority of people, with only the die-hards still being really psyched about industry panels. (To the point of deciding what cons to attend. I'm not saying that regular con-goers DON'T like industry panels, but for the average person it's not a make-or-break decision for them.) With both these pressures, its now a country-wide contest. If you're happening the same weekend as Otacon, it doesn't matter if you're on the West coast because you're not going to be able to get anyone from the industry to come. This naturally pushes the total number of large cons closer and closer to 26 (number of weekends in a year) with those remaining vying for the 'best times' of the year (No one wants to hold a huge con right around Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, etc; because then people have to choose between the holiday and the con) which further shrinks the number of large con potentials. Beyond this, theres the shift in how anime is viewed and consumed over time. Screening rooms used to be a staple of conventions but are becoming more rare. This doesn't receive as much push-back as it once might have because of the wider availability of shows via streaming platforms. Viewing rooms were great from a casual viewers perspective because you could duck in, maybe check out a show you'd been meaning to watch, and potentially see something that you've never heard of. But with multiple sites existing now, viewers don't have the same limitations of not having access to something if the want to watch it. And again from the Industry side of things, there's a similar lessening of the incentive to allow screenings of your shows. While a physical disc used to be the only legal way to watch something, or potentially to watch it at all, it's not necessary now. A publisher has less to gain because the prevalence of streaming means that even if someone DOES see your show, there's a lower chance of them turning around and purchasing the DVDs. (And of course, those screening requests are also handled by the same outreach team that's been slashed down, so they've got other things that they see as more important.) Anyways, didn't mean to go on a rant, but this is the kind of stuff that con-runners talk to each other about. Figuring out how to afford to pay your bills means constantly being in the muckity-muck about the PR of anime distribution companies. |
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