×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Otakon Attendance Numbers 23,000 on Day 1




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article
Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Aresef



Joined: 22 Jun 2005
Posts: 915
Location: MD
PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:52 am Reply with quote
I am unsurprised. The BCC feels much more crowded than last year. It does my heart good to see thousands of others in the yellow JAM Project shirts. MOTTO MOTTO!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MisterEd



Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Posts: 97
PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 7:53 am Reply with quote
Yeah, it really did seem more crowded! I bet it'll cap out at about 25,000. It's really easy to get lost with all those people, but I'm not worried about that, because I'm in a big blue Doraemon costume, and can be easily spotted in a crowd.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dragonclaw21974



Joined: 25 Sep 2006
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 4:32 pm Reply with quote
The news item's 23000 doesn't match what Otakon has posted on their own website. Here is the posted news item from their page


Quote:
OTAKON© 2008 Preliminary Attendance Numbers

As of 6:30pm Friday, Otakon is pleased to confirm a headcount of 19,989 members from picked up pre-registration and at-con registration. We will continue to monitor additional pre-registration pick-ups and purchased memberships through Saturday and Sunday. For reference, Otakon 2007 welcomed 22,852 members.


That's a pretty large discreptancy. I wonder which one is right.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Aresef



Joined: 22 Jun 2005
Posts: 915
Location: MD
PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 5:35 pm Reply with quote
The lower number was from 6:30 PM yesterday. The higher number was by the end of Friday, according to Otakon's press head (I'm reporting for my podcast). I think we might hit 30 before the weekend is out.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dragonclaw21974



Joined: 25 Sep 2006
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 10:42 pm Reply with quote
Aresef wrote:
The lower number was from 6:30 PM yesterday. The higher number was by the end of Friday, according to Otakon's press head (I'm reporting for my podcast). I think we might hit 30 before the weekend is out.


Ok, thanks for clarifying. The ANN news post says as of 6:30 pm Friday also. That's why it's confusing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:55 pm Reply with quote
Wow, the con is on a roll for attendance this year! Hope you guys are having fun.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14889
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:19 am Reply with quote
Aresef wrote:
The lower number was from 6:30 PM yesterday. The higher number was by the end of Friday, according to Otakon's press head (I'm reporting for my podcast). I think we might hit 30 before the weekend is out.


Doubt it. Otakon has never reached 25k; that's why it hasn't used but rather discarded the 25k cap (IIRC, the cap is for fire safety reason). On the contrary, Otakon has plateaued around 24k the last few years, with growth slowing to 1% increase the last couple of years.

Not that it's a bad thing. Too crowded is no good. 24k-25k is just about the right number for the Baltimore Convention Center.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:41 am Reply with quote
For a convention, that does sound like a large number though. But what is most important is that people are safely enjoying themselves.

Hope those who are attending are enjoying themselves.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bglassbrook



Joined: 29 Aug 2006
Posts: 1243
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:27 pm Reply with quote
Teriyaki Terrier wrote:
Hope those who are attending are enjoying themselves.

It was fun, though personally there were only a few brief moments when the convention center felt more packed than prior years (but sudden bottlenecks tend to do that.) Hats off to the folks in reg though, we only had 8,900-9k for Thursday pre-reg pickup, which leaves two whole lots of folks processed Friday.

Hopefully they will soon provide the update link to the official final count ... animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-08-10/otakon-2008-attendance.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group