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Interview: Japan Expo USA First Impact CEO Sean Chiochankitmun

I hope if you're reading, Vic Mignogna, I would love for you to come to our show next year.

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I hope if you're reading, Vic Mignogna, I would love for you to come to our show next year.

No. He goes to EVERY con. I like my cons Vic-free. I've witnessed some bad behavior from this particular guest and I would rather not see him at any con again.

There were some significant issues with your con that need to be worked on, of which, "We want badge holders" was not primary issue. Drop the practices that work in France and adopt the ones that work here.

If you're reading this, Sean, can we have an auction featuring the items that the guests signed and sketched instead of shipping off all this nice stuff to France? It would be nice to actually bid on stuff that the guests at this con created, especially if it were for a 503(c) charity. What's the point of having great artists come to your con if you can't take anything really nice home? I spend a lot of money at convention charity auctions every year, and was hoping I could have done so at JX.

Other than that, I think this is the first article I've seen which actually touched upon some of the issues that JX had this year. So, in that respect, thank you. It was a good article.

You are probably in the minority when it comes to your anti-Vic'ness. He is an in demand guest for anime conventions, so there is a good chance he will attend this one too, his schedule permitting.

Don't know how much freedom the CEO has in deviating from the main European convention. You are probably right about the badges, but they still might stick with the European motif to keep the convention different from most US anime conventions.

OMG Gamushara Oedan? I've never heard of them before reading this interview. I would totally go to their performance if they showed up at a convention I was at. That just sounds totally fun.

Compared to operations in Paris and operations in America, what are some of the differences and what are some things that were imitated?

One of the things we first tried and then absolutely failed on was the "one-in, one-out" ticket thing. For the record, and for forever, come and go as you please, that policy is dead.

...and we had mochi pounding as part of that as well. We would have loved to have people eat the mochi but the health code said "No." We would have had to pay $6,000 to have health inspectors come in and certify the mochi was safe to eat.

However, to my understanding, the only food vendor allowed in the premises was Aramark, the exclusive caterer of convention centers and penitentiaries. They were probably really happy with the "one in-one out" ticket policy since the attendees were forced to eat their prison food or go without food or drink.

tuxedocat wrote:

However, to my understanding, the only food vendor allowed in the premises was Aramark, the exclusive caterer of convention centers and penitentiaries. They were probably really happy with the "one in-one out" ticket policy since the attendees were forced to eat their prison food or go without food or drink.

This policy was dead before the convention even started. No one at First Impact was forced to stay in the convention center.

octopodpie wrote:

tuxedocat wrote: However, to my understanding, the only food vendor allowed in the premises was Aramark, the exclusive caterer of convention centers and penitentiaries. They were probably really happy with the "one in-one out" ticket policy since the attendees were forced to eat their prison food or go without food or drink. This policy was dead before the convention even started. No one at First Impact was forced to stay in the convention center.

I understand that there was one entrance where re-entry was allowed, though people still had to drive or take a taxi if they wanted decent food.

Oh, that's entirely true. I just mean people weren't captive by re-entry fees. More so by proximity to any other restaurants.