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Forum - View topicInterview: Ray Chiang, SPJA CEO, on Anime Expo 2016
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Cutiebunny
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I'm always quite leery of any organization that tells me how humble it is.
Humble organizations, like people, don't need to remind others of how humble they are. Maybe if you made public your glory wall with artwork from past guests like Noizi Ito and how grateful you are that you were able to hold on to this artwork instead of submitting it to the charity auction so that it could benefit others, I'll believe your humility claim. |
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Kougeru
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I honestly think they've lost their way this year. I hope people give them feedback on all the panels they were unable to attend due to the unrealistic amount of top-tier guests. It's an amazing accomplishment, I don't mean to take that away...but it really is punishing to the con-goers that go there to see those guests. Making choices is a normal thing...but never on this level.
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Not that I wish to impose any accusations onto the interviewee, but I imagine many people would be most comfortable in calling the policy in question a mistake. Indeed, I struggle to imagine how else it could be classified. |
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azabaro
 SubscriberPosts: 254 |
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Interesting. I wonder how separating the Exhibit Hall and Artist Alley will affect foot traffic to each?
I also wonder about AX's plans to deal with high attendance going forward, since they've been growing at something like 10+% per year and anticipate that continuing this year. That has all sorts of effects: * Congestion of the South Lobby, and more importantly hallways * Lack of hotel space near the convention center (I know AX has arranged for shuttles - the lack of nearby hotels isn't really something they can fix, but it is something they have to deal with) * Demand for nearby parking. Shuttles and mass transit are nice, but they aren't great for some more elaborate cosplay or for attendees who are inclined to spend heavily, both of which I'd imagine AX wants to encourage * Lines, lines, lines. I'm glad AX reworked their registration process, and hope they don't suffer a regression here (like Fanime did this year), but there are still tons of lines for other events. It's good that AX is putting up tents so that outdoor lines hopefully won't lead to sunburn and heatstroke, but I still think it's unfortunate that so many people at AX will spend a lot of their time waiting in line rather than actually doing things. I don't know if there's any way to address this that scales - maybe make more events ticketed without necessarily charging for them (as autographs are now? Though hopefully without having to line up at 5 AM...). The AX Premiere badge lets people skip lines, but obviously that doesn't scale - hence the high price. * ...and speaking of the Premiere badges, I wonder how general growth in attendance drives the premiere convention model - where you buy a badge and get access to a bunch of the con, but a number of high-demand, premium events have an extra charge. I get the feeling we've been a lot more of these types of events over the last couple years, but I haven't really been keeping track. I wonder how much the drive to increase revenue will motivate AX staff to plan for more of these premium events? |
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Hardgear
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If they want to turn themselves into a glorified daycare while us adult big spenders go elsewhere, that is their choice. And with that, I now put on my bitter ornery old man hat, pull out my cane, and gather y'all youngins around for a rant... As others have said on other threads, I was already debating no longer going to AX anyway. Each year not only does it get more packed, but the average age of the attendees seems to drop as well. With the exception of the late 18+ panels I spend most of my time waiting in line surrounded by tweens/teens who with very few exceptions share no common interests with me anyway. And even those few exceptions I need to be careful around because as a large man with an epic case of resting bitch face attending a Japanese cartoon convention, the last thing I need is for some parent or misguided white knight to misunderstand something and cause a scene (as if I'd be into that nasty 3d crap when I have the perfection of 2d, amirite?). And of course as their already large chunk of tween/teen attendees grows, the convention as a whole shifts to cater to them (and their parents). Which I can see being great for the guests and others who rely on ticket sales and filling rooms, but is it really great for the exhibitors? 2 years ago while waiting in line for badge pickup I got to listen to multiple groups of kids discussing how they are going to ration their roughly $10 per day food budget. I can't imagine they are big spenders in the exhibit hall. And those of us who ARE, who spend multiple Benjamins in the exhibit hall ever year and probably make the day of the guys selling those $400+ collectibles, are given less and less reason to go each year it seems. And that's just how the trend has been going for a while now, before any of this PC safe space drivel was even an issue. This is just the icing on the cake for a lot of us crusty old farts. I'll probably go at least one more time next year just to see if my predictions are true, but if they ARE that is likely the last time. Actually I kinda regret not being able to make it this year (new job = no vacation unfortunately), would be great to see this circus first hand as they try to implement it for the first time 
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kotomikun
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I still don't really get why people are complaining about this so much. I understand that it's annoying when events you want to go to overlap--always seems to happen to me even though I'm only interested in about 5 things per con--but does it really make sense to criticize the convention for having too many big guests and events? In the past people have complained that they don't have enough going on. Too few guests is bad, too many is bad... do they have to have a precise quantity to be in the clear? How many would that be, exactly? This just makes it seem like people will rant about AX regardless of how it's run. I do kinda wish more guests would go to other cons instead, but that's not really AX's fault, it's just a consequence of people's tendency to cram into the same tiny space and/or time like they're trying to create a black hole with their bodies. (Just look at cities...) And I'm noticing more Japanese guests going to random tiny conventions in the US these days, probably because they've realized those events are a lot less chaotic and stressful than something like AX or Otakon. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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I agree with both of these points. I think it is great that AnimeExpo has so many interesting guests this year, but I also think it's indicative of a "bad" trend of Expo becoming the "Comic Con" of anime fandom. Expo has grown to the point that it is THE place for industry to congregate and push their wares and as such, the companies (apparently) are making a big effort to get their people there. It'll probably have the same long term results of getting youtube videos and blog notes about who was there and what was said, but its bad for the fans because many won't actually get to directly interact with these people. The second point I find especially poignant because not only do you have the industry cramming a bunch of guests into one event (instead of helping spread them out across several) but worse, when you link this up with something like the attempted JapanExpoUSA thing, it is continuously further limited to one STATE. I understand that the industry professionals are VERY busy, and I also understand that California is (by default) generally the "nearest" place for them to go. But as Expo crests 100k, and gets more and more expensive, any NON-California fan has to question the value in racking up expenses to attend an event for a (likely) less than 1% chance they get to interact with any guest of interest. For comparison: -If I were to attend AnimeExpo from Texas, the plane is about $400 and the (cheapest) registration is $90 ("Premier" closer to another $400). -I could instead go TO JAPAN for about $800 and considering I could find cheaper hotels, I could basically do that for less money than going to Expo. And if I keep an eye on certain events, I'm probably just as likely to actually get a minimal interaction with one of the current latest guests at a live event (Studio Trigger was having an autograph signing while I was in Akihabara on my last visit, I didn't make it in time, but I also just found out about it randomly while in town) While I understand that can't hit every little place like Wyoming or Nebraska (no offense to those states), they could at LEAST put more effort to hit places like: Chicago, Denver, Dallas/Houston or Atlanta, rather than shoving more and more industry professionals into California. The net result is American voice actors and (more recently) Cosplayers and YouTube personalities pushing out Japanese anime industry professionals as people of interest for MOST of American fandom. |
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sia298
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Anybody knows if they are going to do these Anisong events every year, or if it is a special for this year only?
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omiya
 Posts: 1856 Location: Adelaide, South Australia |
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Perhaps Anime Expo should focus more on Japanese guests and have excellent interpreters, rather than things that are better experienced by visiting Japan? Anison outside of Japan is an interesting situation. The artists and their management and the local event staff need to be really committed to delivering a great show. Getting seiyuu outside of Japan seems to be less likely, so the likes of JAM Project, FLOW, or like what happened with Otakon getting Yoko Kanno and Chiaki Ishikawa a few years back appears to be more likely. Nothing against Lantis or Sony presenting a package of their artists, but it always strikes me as excluding the possibility of artists from other record companies being part of it. If one can get to Japan for Animelo Summer Live / Lisani Live / Animax Musix, you get a broad selection of artists across one or more days of concerts and easily take in other aspects of Japanese culture including anime in between. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5958 Location: Virginia, United States |
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I have a feeling AX's CEO's comments about industry partners, doesn't include everyone having a booth (exempting industry exhibitors) in the Dealer's Hall and everyone having a table in the Artist's Alley. Which are the two groups who would have the biggest problems with enacting, financing, and enforcing such policies. It's a nice way a parsing things to make it sound better than it is. After all, who would think Funimation and Sentai would have any problem doing this, It is the meat and potatoes people who would most be affected, not the caviar ones. |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2900 Location: California |
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You and I are totally in sync. If the guest were appearing in Japan then I think it would be easier for people to just say, "No way I would be able to go to that anyway," but now that they're so close, missing out on them is going to be that much more disappointing.
Seems to me that you're only actually agreeing with kotomikun's second point since you are saying that AX having too many guests is not a good thing while kotomikun is arguing that it's silly to fault AX for that.
It's about balance. It'd be great if all cons could be somewhere in the middle where attendees can all have something that interests and be able to see most of what they want to see. If the left side is having too few guests and the right side is too many guests, AX I think is generally more towards the right of the middle, but this year they've gone off the scale to the far right. It's an amazing feat, for sure, but the chances of people getting to do what they want to do is so slim now with all the content they've lined up. I read the autograph policy and there's 75 priority tickets and 50 standby tickets. So at most, 125 people can get an autograph per guest per session. That's an awfully low number considering how many people will actually be lined up for those tickets, and not to mention some guests will only have one autograph session. The standby tickets are a joke too since they don't guarantee you an autograph, and you have to line up twice, once to get the ticket and again at the autograph session in the hopes that you'll be let in. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16970 |
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And some people will always complain no matter what the balance is. I'm sorry but to me at these mega cons you have to EXPECT to not be able to do everything you want. Expecting to be able to do everything you want at such a large convention IMO is rather foolish. Such large cons have to get as many top tier guests and panels as they can to warrant their costs and the size of their attendees. You're not going to get 90k plus attendees with only 2 or 3 "top tier" guests. Plus they need to get as many as they can to try and have something interesting for as many people as possible. Just because you might want to go to all 10 top tier guests for example does not mean the person next to you does. They might only want top go to 3 or 4. You are right, it is about balance. The thing is people love to complain when the balance is not in THEIR favor. If it was in their favor and someone else complained about it they would be right there telling that person to suck it up.
That is an unfortunate situation. The problem is there is only so much time a guest can spend signing autographs and only so many they can get done in an allotted time. Unless you expect them to sign at light speed and have people rushed through the line like an assembly plant. The best solution for this I have found is go to smaller cons where that guest is at. For example, I go to Otakon every year. It's the #2 anime con next to Expo in size. You have no time to talk to guests really and are rushed through panels. There is much the same problem with autographs. On the flip side I often go to a con in VA that is around 5-6k. I think they might have hit 7k once. I have been in panels with guests and only maybe 30-40 other people with you. It was a much more inviting atmosphere and we got to really ask more personal questions and get to know them. Really "talk" as opposed to just simple basic industry questions they get. The same applied to autograph lines. You could say hi, pose for photos, crack some jokes, etc. Now obviously some of the "top tier" guests don't make it to as many cons. Especially international guests. I have to again refer to my point above though that it's such a large con you have to go in knowing you're going to have pick and choose some. That's just how it is. |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2900 Location: California |
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I actually think AX had a fairly good balance in recent years, and even then they pulled 90k attendees. I understand not being able to attend everything and I certainly wouldn't expect to be able to at a con like AX, but like Kougeru mentioned, I think they're forcing people to make too many choices on what they want to see this year. Even if someone wanted to only see 3 or 4 of the big guests this year, considering all the lines and how most of the major events are on Saturday or Sunday, I think it would still be difficult to see all of them. I agree with you that not everyone may like the same things, but I didn't see much of a problem with AX's lineup in recent years. They still got big names, and there were still plenty of people who weren't able to get an autograph. That said, I don't really see any reason for them to need to break the mold.
I'm all for people being able to actually interact with guests, but with autographs, I think quantity should be prioritized. People who get an autograph basically get cake, and if they get to converse with the guest while they're at it then that's icing on the cake. But then what about the people who get no cake at all because others in front were busy icing their cakes? I think it would be best if more pieces of the cake be passed around. Of course smaller cons offer a more homey atmosphere, but this year AX is pulling in some really big names who aren't likely to attend other conventions any time soon in the future. For many, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance, which is why I think they should try to allow for more people to see the guest/get an autograph. Personally, even if it's a really big guest, as an organizer I would pass on them if they could only attend one day of con in order to make room for guests who perhaps may not be of the same caliber, but have more time to meet and interact with their fans. |
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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Signing things (often rather elaborately) 75-125 times in a row is harder than it sounds. It might be nice if they allowed the guests some flexibility in how many autographs they'll do per session, but that just makes scheduling more complicated. As for the number of guests, I feel like more is pretty much always better since there's a higher chance they'll have some you actually want to see... which, amazingly, is not the case for me this year (other than Makoto Shinkai, but I already have 2 autographs from him). I do think AX is getting pretty overcrowded with attendees, which is linked to the overcrowding of guests, but I don't know what the staff could possibly do about that since people always congregate in ever-increasing numbers no matter what you do (Comic-Con, or, for truly ludicrous mainstream examples, Mecca or the Olympics). Nothing will stop the AX-plosion other than a total collapse of the organization or a schism in the fandom itself. |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2900 Location: California |
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But in that case I think it would be better to not ticket autographs and allow guests to sign as much as they can, only cutting the line when it doesn't seem likely that they'll get that far. A couple years ago at FanimeCon, Nonaka Ai got through about 150 people in one hour. Granted, there wasn't much time to talk with attendees and staff were rushing people by, but there were at least 150 happy people with autographs. This year I'm sure Matsukaze Masaya went through at least 100 people, and he even handshaked every single one of them, not to mention almost every autograph was personalized with a name. I don't doubt that it takes a lot of work to do autographs, but it's not impossible to get through a good number of people in an hour. I actually think Jungle's procedure for Kacky's autograph is pretty smart. You can either get a ticket to his autograph session with a purchase (I think it was $20?), or a free pre-signed photo. Not sure if the photo has a printed signature, but I assume it has just been physically signed ahead of time. I mean, you can't get an item of your choice signed, but at least you get an autograph. The only downside is that an autograph ticket doesn't guarantee you'll get an autograph, and you can only get a photo or GL poster signed. For character designers, illustrators, and other people who draw, staff shouldn't allow people to get sketches. I know a lot of people would love one, but it takes too much time (limiting the number of people who can get an autograph), and sometimes they may end up on auctions or otherwise resold for profit. A pre-printed illustration helps get through more people. I understand everyone has different opinions regarding how things should be run. It is my personal opinion that since attendees don't have many opportunities to see these Japanese guests (especially the ones AX is booking this year since they're all very busy people who aren't likely to come back to another con any time soon) so the con should try to give attendees as much opportunities as possible to see them and get autographs. It seems to me that AX is just trying to break that 100k attendee mark by inviting all these guests without caring whether or not people will actually be able to see said guests. |
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