Kawaii Kon

by **zigzagboom** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:22 pm

So sitting here after an hour and twelve minutes. The correct staff wasn't here when we arrived. Apparently the power was not working as was the audio not working. Which we expected to be ready at least an hour before people showed up. They have told us that we are not going to even be doing our rehearsals. Which I woke up and got ready early for.

Overall our group is highly unsatisfied with their lack of origination for an event they host every year.

We hope this complaint actually gets somewhere and something is changed.

Also as a last note the information for this rehearsal was irritatingly hard to locate. The staff at the information booth did not even know about it.

Thanks for your time and hopeful consideration.

by **Toki** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:39 am

Was this for the cosplay theater rehearsal? If so, we are looking into what went wrong and will do our best to ensure things run smoother in the future.

by **zigzagboom** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:01 pm

Yes for Cosplay Theater.

by **nemurijay** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 11:51 am

Hey guys it's that time again!

Please post your suggestions here based on your experience of KK2012 or just something you want to see

**p.s please be respectful thank you**

by **icytetsu** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:03 pm

First thing first, Kawaii Kon 2012 was definitely one of the best year's yet and I had an amazingly fun time~ <3

Now on to suggestions based on this year,

1. The Butishake: To be completely honest, I personally feel that it has been kind of disappointing the last 2 years. I was sitting with my friends across the way for quite a while and it seemed that many people walked in and left within a few minutes. I feel it's a little too heavily influenced by the raave scene, I think most would much dance to anime music and a little caramelldansen than house music and dubstep.
And a good idea might be to sell (or allow select vendors to sell) items at the event, such as glow sticks, kitty paws/ears etc etc etc.

2. Table Top Gaming Room: This room seemed pretty cramped for the amount of people that came in and out. Maybe it was how the tables were set up or something, but it was uncomfortable playing any board game on the small white tables, in fact, the Frag board took up 2 tables (all the big tables were taken). Maybe (more like probably) I'm just being over dramatic though, the room it's self and the staff were both great and all of the games demoed were very fun~

I'm sorry if I sound negative or whiny (is that a word?), I just love the Kon and want to see it improve c:

by **sakurablossom143** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:25 pm

I thoroughly enjoyed this years convention =) It was the best!

Suggestion for Autograph Foyer:

---> I really love the autograph foyer, it's big and spacious! =) However, one thing that I would love to see for next year would be signs or a signpost w/ the autograph guests & times. I know the times are in the pamphlet as well, but a signpost can also say, "Please start line here." or "Line may for at so and so o'clock." This way people won't be so confused and always ask, "Is this for the 'insert guest' autograph?" That would be a tremendous help for next year! ^_^

by **desudesu57** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:26 pm

Hello. My suggestions for Kawaii Kon 2013 is to judge art quality for Artist Alley before allowing them to sell the art. There was a lot of booths this year that had art that I think I can get for free from my sister who cannot really draw. It is no offense to artists, but I just want to allow other people that do have potential to have a booth instead of the ones that look like a lesser quality one. The quality and the pricing was a little costly from my perspective, but that is just my opinion.

Another issue was that mentioned to me by others was to make the main events room bigger because it was pretty cramped in there this year and they also want to have a little more room with the dealers room because it looked a bit smaller and the lines were outrageous. It was a bit crazy and I wished the Dealer's room didn't close 40 minutes early than expected.

One last suggestion, that is just as a suggestion for the guests that come, I suggest that Yuya Matsushita should come because he has filmed in Hawaii, but he's never had fan interaction in the islands. He was Sebastian in the Kuromyu and was also the singer for the first ending of Durarara!!! and first ending of Kuroshitsuji II. Two other guests that should come are Daisuke Ono and Hiroshi Kamiya.

Thanks and hopefully 2013 will kick the butts of all conventions!

Website · by **Mitsuki** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:37 pm

desudesu57 wrote:Another issue was that mentioned to me by others was to make the main events room bigger because it was pretty cramped in there this year and they also want to have a little more room with the dealers room because it looked a bit smaller and the lines were outrageous. It was a bit crazy and I wished the Dealer's room didn't close 40 minutes early than expected.

I agree. If there is any way to make the main events room bigger, I think it would be greatly appreciated. I noticed that at the big events like the Cosplay Showcase, Closing Ceremonies, and Ask an Anime Character panel, the room was overcrowded and people actually had to stand up since there were no seats left. If Kawaii Kon continues to grow, I think we'll need a much bigger main events room because it was already overcrowded this year.

I also agree that the Dealer's Room seemed smaller and more cramped. The lines were crazy to even get in and I don't think there was ever a time when I saw no line to get in. Plus, they closed at least half an hour early on Saturday so that made some people I knew quite upset since they weren't closing at the time they stated in the pamphlet.

About the Butishake comments, I also agree that I didn't really care for it as much this year. There were too many weird dance songs that I did not recognize. I wish there was more kpop and anime songs like last year and that more of the user suggestions made it into the final Butishake mix. Also, I didn't really like that the lights were on during the first half. It made it less fun because glow sticks were useless and it was far more intimidating/embarassing to dance since everyone could basically see you. The Butishake is one of the biggest highlights of the Kon for my friends and I so we hope to see it come back better than ever next year.

Finally, I think that the autograph lines should be made more clear. On Sunday, when the Vic and Amano signature lines formed, it was confusing to figure out which line was for which guest. And somehow, the lines were kind of spaced out crazily. In the Amano line, we were told multiple times to move back a WHOLE lot to space out the line better. However, we were moved too far back and spaced out too much to the point where I saw people cutting in line.

Sorry if I sound nitpicky! I'm just trying to give some suggestions to make next year's Kawaii Kon even better. I appreciate all the hard work of all the staffers! Especially since I am a former staff member myself and know how much hard work everyone puts in. Thank you for putting on a great show this year! I am definitely looking forward to next year since I've already preregistered~

by **jm42** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:08 pm

icytetsu wrote:First thing first, Kawaii Kon 2012 was definitely one of the best year's yet and I had an amazingly fun time~ <3

Now on to suggestions based on this year,

1. The Butishake: To be completely honest, I personally feel that it has been kind of disappointing the last 2 years. I was sitting with my friends across the way for quite a while and it seemed that many people walked in and left within a few minutes. I feel it's a little too heavily influenced by the raave scene, I think most would much dance to anime music and a little caramelldansen than house music and dubstep.
And a good idea might be to sell (or allow select vendors to sell) items at the event, such as glow sticks, kitty paws/ears etc etc etc.

YES. I left the same comment in the Suggestion Box part of the forum. I agree with the music EXCEPT but Caramelldansen (i'm personally sick of that song and dance) but I COMPLETELY agree with the dance music. There was too much of it and a lot of people did leave.

by **ichigomochi** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 2:31 am

I have a small suggestion.......I know it's a rather ridiculous request but can I ask that if we do get the Media Blasters booth again that they at least display their hentai dvds in a way that are not in the open for the much much younger attendees and possibly their accompanying parents to see? Again it's asking a little much but just wanted to say that.

by **psjanssen** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 2:46 am

I too had a good time. A couple of things that would make things better however.

1. In the program book where you placed the listing of events by day and what they were, it would have been excellent to have what time you have said event scheduled for. Also make that list alphabetical. Also make sure what's on that list matches up what's in the block schedule. I found several inconsistencies of what I found in the daily listing and the block schedule. Other than that I did like the fact that you guys put the stamps underneath the events so that it was easy to tell what events were stamped events, also you guys did a great job of scheduling things that had stamps so that we had to actually do stuff on all 3 days to get the stamps.

2. I really liked that way you guys did the schedule with google calendar and making it all work with my mobile device. I also noticed that you guys seemed to keep that schedule online pretty up todate and should be commended for that. But maybe next year if you guys could look into a mobile app called guidebook http://guidebook.com/ it's a free app and it does a great job of scheduling events has a map function, and lots of other stuff too. I also might note there is science fiction convention that has adopted this technology you should take a look at their schedule/maps etc that convention is Norwescon 35, and has the ability to put more than events into a schedule.

Again you guys did a great job, and can't wait to go next year....

Scott

by **Kenjikun44** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:05 am

Thought I'd bring this up again since it seemed this year's Otaku Speed-dating didn't improve at all...

Otaku Speed Dating

Just thought I'd add my thoughts of last year's one and this past week's one. Last year it was really hard to hear the person in front of you talking and it was hard for them to hear you.... I think everyone needs to be spaced out a little more farther apart so that it isn't as cramped and easier to hear each other. And again this year it was pretty much the same.... I felt so bad every time since the other person couldn't hear me and I couldn't hear them because of the other people near us talking plus the stereo's being way too loud... Also maybe the numbers of the people should be put on a name tag instead of asking for their number every time.. So maybe we could get those sticky name tags to write our names and numbers just for that event. Sorry just some friendly suggestions to improve this event. I'm thinking of going again next year, hopefully if they improve on my ideas. If anyone else has suggestions for this event, please suggest so they can improve on this event. It really needs to be improved for the better. Thank you

by **concerned_citizen** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:27 am

Okay this is going to be a long one but i felt it needed to be said as someone who has been attending kon since 2007.

you people have been running this convention for 8 years now and normally when you've been running this long you expect there to be some improvement. i cant speak for anything before i started attending but for a couple years after 2007 i actually thought things were headed in somewhat of a good direction. Boy could i have been more wrong, after this year it looks like youre taking one step forward and ten steps back. below are the problems this year i believe should NEVER have happened at an event that has been running for as long as kawaii kon.

1. the schedule

There were multiple things wrong here. namely the time and placement of certain events. on just about every day there was some kind of problem regarding this.

On thursday, the Cosplay Theatre practice was set for the same room as the third round of the karaoke preliminaries; this has never happened before and for good reason. Both groups were present in the room and nobody seemed to know which event was supposed to take place. There was a lot of confusion and the karaoke round didn't start till 45 minutes after the scheduled time. Worst yet i believe the theater practice never even happened. There were also issues with the sound techs who were not properly set up by the time the event was set to start. Under normal circumstances these events are in separate rooms to prevent this from happening and sound should be tested and ready EARLY.

On friday the same issues with sound checks plagued the early morning panels. why were things as essential as the sound system not prepared beforehand in all rooms that needed it? there were also some issues with some of the honored guests seemingly not knowing when they had panels scheduled. were they not informed of their own events they were supposed to host?

Saturday was the absolute worst. Why was the pre judging for the Cosplay Showcase scheduled for the middle of the day? and why in a video room? This has never happened before and threw off the plans of many entrants who had also scheduled panels and photo shoots under the assumption that this would be first thing in the morning. Moreover the room was not ready on time, there were still videos running at 1pm when judging was set to begin. In addition to this NONE of the judges were on time, if you are supposed to be coordinating an event as big as Cosplay showcase at least be sure you and the judges are there early for the pre judging it is an embarrassment to have contestants waiting on a room that is not ready. The entrants spent at least 15 to 20 minutes just waiting for the judges to show up and that was after getting into the poorly air conditioned room late because someone didnt clear it out on time for the event to be prepared. In addition there was no mention of people being able to use their own music for their time on stage, no mention of what number the contestants were, where to gather for the showcase, and what time to do it (although it was posted to assemble 30 minutes prior to the event starting in the contest rules). At the showcase itself there were further issues. There was disorganization because the aforementioned items were not addressed properly in the morning. Over half the entrants were not even present 10 minutes before the event was set to start and there was no prior consideration taken for those who could not walk on stage because their costumes inhibited movement (ie the boxes) so this caused further delay because the order needed to be shifted. There was no water offered to the contestants back stage which was always done in previous years and no staff members to coordinate the lineup and direct the contestants on stage. Only a couple of the staff members there were of any help whatsoever and they were not technically on the staff for that event; in fact some of the most helpful people were not even kon staffers.

sunday was a little better but there were still some issues present. what happened to make the dealers room close a half hour early? also the main events schedule was cramped which caused events to run late as there was no time to clear the room and prep it before the next event. this threw off the entire schedule for the day.

There were also massive changes made to the times of events within a couple of months to kon which threw off times of panels, photo shoots, and other events at kon this year

2. the autographing sessions.

there are major issues here also. Some of the sessions ran longer than their allotted time which caused signings to overlap, this caused a lot of confusion on who's line was who's and where one line started and the other ended. some even stayed well beyond their allotted times which didn't seem fair to the people who didn't get their memorabilia signed because their guest actually stuck to the schedule. The autographing rules clearly state that after a certain point you are not guaranteed a signature from your favorite guest. This was also the root of another issue, on sunday the people trying to line up for a signature from Amano were told that after a certain point that they were likely not going to be able to get a signature because the line was already cut off. This was prior to Amano even sitting down at the table to begin his session, it took someone talking to the head of security to get this issue fixed as the lines should not be cut off in such a fashion. Another issue is the security staff supposedly doing line control not being able to use common sense when moving the lines. we were told continually to "Back up" until the end of the line ended up past the fountains on the courtyard leaving massive gaps in the line where some people may have been able to cut in before realizing that it was pushed too far back. Once again it took talking to the head of security to fix this.

Also regarding security, where do they get the order to disallow photographs with the guests? this should be the call of the guest or the guest's manager it was proven so when Asakawa Yuu was willing to take pictures with her fans when kon goers in line were told previously by staff that it wouldn't be allowed. yes i realize that this may be to save time and prevent signings from going over but that should be a call made by the guest even if it means less people will get signatures, there are multiple signing times for a reason.

3. Regarding general technical issues

as mentioned in my issues with scheduling there were several instances where the sound systems were not ready and though i did not mention this previously general technological devices such as projectors were not ready previous to a pannel that previously requested it. are these people hired to operate and provide such equipment? if so why were they not ready on time? if this company cannot provide these things in a timely manner switching companies should be considered; or, if the issue was technical difficulty, this kind of delay should always be factored into the time schedule.

4. general problems not specific to anything in particular.

first off why was kon scheduled so early this year? i realize that this is due partially to when the convention center is available but i find it hard to believe that there are no open slots in april which is the month kon has always happened since its beginning. There are a number of issues that arise because of this and the are as follows:

1. it puts kon closer to chinese new year- this causes issues with shipping especially if you order your cosplay online as most of the large cosplay sites are based in china. i know many kon goers who were affected by this as many of us needed to spend extra money for expidited shipping or risk items not showing up. in some cases the items did not show even with the speedier shipping
2. since we cosplayers need to order our items earlier it overlaps with christmas shopping bills and causes financial strain in an already shaky economy.
3. regardless of it overlapping with the DOE spring break it may have deterred more people than it attracted. many people go on trips, have family plans, or school sporting events during that break and are unable to attend as a result. if you are a college level student as many staffers and attendees are, it puts kon right in the middle of midterm season making it difficult to attend due to exams.
4. as a result of it being early many cosplayers who make their own cosplay as well as artist alley vendors lost a month's worth of prep time as well as financial issues stemming from previously mentioned problems.

All in all if something is not done to address the issues i have brought forth i do not foresee kawaii kon lasting for too many more years before it implodes on itself. If it wasnt for some key staffers who actually attempted to take care of some of the issues that arose throughout the course of kon, this year may have been a total disaster. Judging by the contents of this thread many of you who are reading this post may not have realized how deep seated and widespread some of the issues this year were, there is a reason why this is my first post on this forum and why i spent the last 2 hours writing this out as i am usually not one to speak out like this unless i see MAJOR flaws that will compromise an events' integrity and longevity. i'll be honest, any more issues and i would have called these questions out at some point during closing ceremonies since the kon organizer pannel was cancelled. I know im not the only one who has had serious complaints about the way things were handled this year and these complaints have legitimately affected a wide range of kon goers and even some dedicated staff members.

Sincerely,
concerned_citizen

by **Sakuramboo** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:40 am

Heyo, gonna field a couple of these questions (sorry if I don't touch on all of them ... trying to avoid the wall of text) and give a little perspective as to what went on this year as far as issues and why we did certain things.

On Date selection, it was several reasons primarily based on what days the rooms we need are available to us at the convention center at the time of booking. Also since we were able to book around the time when most kids are on spring break here we felt it would be a nice treat. Also with our old dates it would put us in conflict with Golden Week in Japan (making it harder on Japanese guest availability) as well as other conventions which hurt guests and venders that have to travel to both.

On Technical Issues, with us starting the convention several hours earlier (remember we would start the show later so kids wouldn't skip school, with spring break we can start much earlier) it means we had less time to set up gear which again was the most complex we have ever attempted (dual screens with camera in main events). As well as the 3 Video rooms, a special events room and several other area which had requested amplified audio to make announcements over the crowd. Every year is a learning experience as we try to juggle new ideas at a increasingly larger show with a all volunteer staff.

On Schedules, things always change. The bigger and more complex the more they change due to people being people. This year we had a last minute canceled guest which played havoc on several fronts gear was out of place as we rescheduled events to fill now large gaping holes in programming. This caused equipment to be out of place and not ready when needed. There was nothing malicious intended just our attempt to provide as much content during the show as we could with the time allotted.

We will take steps next to try and minimize the issues we had this year (we will have additional rooms and more and better equipment) but new problems with arise but on the other hand we will have awesome new events and programming. Nothing will ever be perfect but we will do our best and make decisions that are what we thing are in the best interest of the attendees, the staff, the guests, and the community.

by **icytetsu** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 11:39 am

In regards to the date's of the Kon this year, I personally must say the I feel its much more convenient for students than previous years. The main reason being that it was during spring break so I was able to attend the convention on Friday without skipping classes (yes, I admit it c:). It may seem small but it made all of the difference in the world~
Also, I feel that having signs in the area to designate when and where to line up for autographs would be very helpful and much appreciated c:

by **Operation Shoestring** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:38 pm

lots of things were lat this year, apparently. Didn't get into Moonlit ball until almost 10. was supposed to *start* at 9

by **Operation Shoestring** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:46 pm

icytetsu wrote:In regards to the date's of the Kon this year, I personally must say the I feel its much more convenient for students than previous years. The main reason being that it was during spring break so I was able to attend the convention on Friday without skipping classes (yes, I admit it c:). It may seem small but it made all of the difference in the world~
Also, I feel that having signs in the area to designate when and where to line up for autographs would be very helpful and much appreciated c:

Yeah, I'm going to have to agree that putting Kon on spring break is a fantastic idea. So many of our staffers are highschoolers and already miss a lot of the kon due to Parent curfews. If you don't hold the Kon when they are relatively free, the entirety of their Kon time is taken up by their 15 staffing hours and they get no chance to go do other stuff.

And yes, I heartily agree that the Butishake needed more anime or fandom music. Why was the Zelda music not reprised? it got by far the most enthusiastic reaction last year. Throw in the Hare Hare Yukai and Still Alive - or better yet, music from Noir or Evangelion.

by **Kenix** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 2:58 pm

Operation Shoestring wrote:
icytetsu wrote:In regards to the date's of the Kon this year, I personally must say the I feel its much more convenient for students than previous years. The main reason being that it was during spring break so I was able to attend the convention on Friday without skipping classes (yes, I admit it c:). It may seem small but it made all of the difference in the world~
Also, I feel that having signs in the area to designate when and where to line up for autographs would be very helpful and much appreciated c:

Yeah, I'm going to have to agree that putting Kon on spring break is a fantastic idea. So many of our staffers are highschoolers and already miss a lot of the kon due to Parent curfews. If you don't hold the Kon when they are relatively free, the entirety of their Kon time is taken up by their 15 staffing hours and they get no chance to go do other stuff.

And yes, I heartily agree that the Butishake needed more anime or fandom music. Why was the Zelda music not reprised? it got by far the most enthusiastic reaction last year. Throw in the Hare Hare Yukai and Still Alive - or better yet, music from Noir or Evangelion.

so that why i didnt see the prestidigitator

Website · by **abunai59** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 4:14 pm

Personally, I came to see AKINO and Bless 4 this year, since the computer engineering curriculum demolishes my free time to do enjoy anything.

Anyway, it was a really great concert and I'd like to see them here next year as well

(and maybe next time, I can actually buy their CD and get an autograph since they sold out of their 9 CD's before the concert was even over)

So that's pretty much all I have to say...

Thanks guys.

Website · by **Mitsuki** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:19 pm

icytetsu wrote:In regards to the date's of the Kon this year, I personally must say the I feel its much more convenient for students than previous years. The main reason being that it was during spring break so I was able to attend the convention on Friday without skipping classes (yes, I admit it c:). It may seem small but it made all of the difference in the world~
Also, I feel that having signs in the area to designate when and where to line up for autographs would be very helpful and much appreciated c:

I agree that having Kawaii Kon during the public school's spring break is a great improvement that I appreciate. It helps eliminate the truancy problem and I think it's one of the contributing factors to why Kawaii Kon attendance numbers went up by nearly 1,000.

Plus, even for college/university students, the old dates weren't so great. For example, Kawaii Kon 2011 conflicted with a lot of end of semester exams. My friends and I almost didn't want to go because we needed to study for our finals and finish insane final projects. We definitely prefer having Kawaii Kon in March. =)

by **overseer06** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:59 pm

icytetsu wrote:In regards to the date's of the Kon this year, I personally must say the I feel its much more convenient for students than previous years. The main reason being that it was during spring break so I was able to attend the convention on Friday without skipping classes (yes, I admit it c:). It may seem small but it made all of the difference in the world~
Also, I feel that having signs in the area to designate when and where to line up for autographs would be very helpful and much appreciated c:

The strange thing is, I asked if the convention could be moved to the last week of March, which was the old Spring Break a few years ago back when I was attending high school. I remember that they said that that would be bad, since they considered that most people would be traveling outside the state during that time. Now, it's a bit inconvenient, but I'm not complaining.

I liked the OATS panel and remember wishing that it was longer, even though it got an extra hour since the con organizer panel cancelled. And to be honest, I'd probably have never gone to it if Chris Sabat hadn't cancelled.

Word on the street is that they are moving Dealer's Room to its original location and moving Artist's Alley up to the third floor.

And panels not starting on time? At a convention? It happens so often, that other, bigger conventions joke about their schedule. concerned_citizen seems to demand that the convention shouldn't be flexible with their time. But understand that things happen, and it is up to the attendees to be flexible with their time. I'm surprised there wasn't a suggestion for an hour rest period where nothing happens to give attendees time to get food. I apologize if I sound bitter, but I thought that despite everything, this was a great convention. I did more things in this one than last year!

by **DarkDaigoro** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:19 pm

Mitsuki wrote:Finally, I think that the autograph lines should be made more clear. On Sunday, when the Vic and Amano signature lines formed, it was confusing to figure out which line was for which guest. And somehow, the lines were kind of spaced out crazily. In the Amano line, we were told multiple times to move back a WHOLE lot to space out the line better. However, we were moved too far back and spaced out too much to the point where I saw people cutting in line.

concerned_citizen wrote:2. the autographing sessions.

there are major issues here also. Some of the sessions ran longer than their allotted time which caused signings to overlap, this caused a lot of confusion on who's line was who's and where one line started and the other ended. some even stayed well beyond their allotted times which didn't seem fair to the people who didn't get their memorabilia signed because their guest actually stuck to the schedule. The autographing rules clearly state that after a certain point you are not guaranteed a signature from your favorite guest. This was also the root of another issue, on sunday the people trying to line up for a signature from Amano were told that after a certain point that they were likely not going to be able to get a signature because the line was already cut off. This was prior to Amano even sitting down at the table to begin his session, it took someone talking to the head of security to get this issue fixed as the lines should not be cut off in such a fashion. Another issue is the security staff supposedly doing line control not being able to use common sense when moving the lines. we were told continually to "Back up" until the end of the line ended up past the fountains on the courtyard leaving massive gaps in the line where some people may have been able to cut in before realizing that it was pushed too far back. Once again it took talking to the head of security to fix this.

Also regarding security, where do they get the order to disallow photographs with the guests? this should be the call of the guest or the guest's manager it was proven so when Asakawa Yuu was willing to take pictures with her fans when kon goers in line were told previously by staff that it wouldn't be allowed. yes i realize that this may be to save time and prevent signings from going over but that should be a call made by the guest even if it means less people will get signatures, there are multiple signing times for a reason.

Indeed, things happen, and I can only apologize for Sunday's Amano line. This was a lack of supervision on my part, as I was either in the front of the lines, or looking for more staffers to help run Amano and Vic's lines, or telling what little staffers I did have what they had to do. I really wish that I could be everywhere at once; that ability would be incredibly convenient for Kon.

To address a few things concerned_citizen brought up: Indeed, cut-offs are usually done after a guest is signing. That is, unless the founders tells us otherwise. But, like you said, this issue was solved.

Secondly, in order for people to get to the bathrooms or the open area or rooms, we need to keep certain areas clear. If a staffer misjudged the amount of space needed to keep said areas clear, then it was simply a mistake. We're only human, just like you guys. As for the issue of people cutting in line, well... Unfortunately, being understaffed happens too. But again, the space issue was solved, albeit a little late.

As for the last part, the decision does come from the guests and/or their managers. Or the Events staffers. Or the founders. Sometimes, there's a combination of two or more.

Website · by **satomihidee** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 12:10 am

Suggestions:
-Don't close early.
-Keep your cosplayers happy.

As a volunteer, I know things happen...I commend the security and events staff for running around with what little staff they had. HOWEVER, I find it interesting that the Cosplay Showcase pre-judging started so late because they ended early. Had it not been for a sympathetic events AD (Geoff), I wouldn't have been able to participate even though I went to the room prior to the end time.

As a competitive cosplayer, I can relate to concerned_citizen. We make our costumes from scratch (not just put on some nekomimi and call it cosplay). So when we put so much effort into our work and the events don't pan out due to whatever reason, it is disappointing (much like the flipside if the staffers work really hard and things don't work because someone dropped the ball).

I'd like to defend the con and the staffers, but concerned_citizen made some very valid points as well. I'm glad that some of the appropriate staffers responded to him/her.

by **darkbattousai** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:54 am

Thanks for the suggestions. We are definitely reading them, and we will discuss them and figure out a solution that will make the most people happy.

by **TenTen143** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:59 am

I actually enjoyed this year rather than 2010 and 2011 kon's i've been to

However one suggestion is that to make sure guest's arrive on time for autographing >_< I know Johnny and Eyeshine had a mini concert and such on sunday but leaving people wait in line for another 30 minutes just to get autographs is kinda outrageous since most start lining up an hour in advance anyway... Like they should have had the concert after the autographs or something... just a small suggestion if any other voice actor w/band comes.

by **DarkSavior** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:01 pm

Keep up the suggestions guys. The more issues people bring up, it'll make causes for those easier to be rectified and made better for future shows~

And if an issue (or issues) from attendees that are posted here aren't addressed here from staff/administrators/founders, it doesn't mean it isn't being looked at. We do read the forums.

by **pizzamanilla** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:59 pm

A friend has suggested this before for our club, but I feel that I should place it here for everyone to see.

We were suggesting that there be some sort of PA system that can remind people of the events that are about to happen. This would be very great for people like me who stick around in the video game room and other rooms a lot and forget about upcoming panels and major events and such. However, I fear that it may conflict with other events as well. We wouldn't want it to conflict with the Artist Alley PA system or interrupt events. But it would very much appreciated to give this some thought.

by **icytetsu** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:19 pm

pizzamanilla wrote:We were suggesting that there be some sort of PA system that can remind people of the events that are about to happen. This would be very great for people like me who stick around in the video game room and other rooms a lot and forget about upcoming panels and major events and such. However, I fear that it may conflict with other events as well. We wouldn't want it to conflict with the Artist Alley PA system or interrupt events. But it would very much appreciated to give this some thought.

I believe that a sort of announcement system would be very helpful among the Kon-goers. It would be good to have announcements of the big events in the recreation and shopping rooms (Artists Alley, Dealers Room, Tabletop, Video Games, etc.) or at a minimum, at the registration booth.

by **buma** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:22 pm

response to some of the questions:

1. schedule:
Thursday is our normal set-up day for the convention - all rooms are set up by a small number of volunteers for all events and all rooms over the weekend. Ideally it takes the full day to make sure the rooms are all up and running, but due to trying to expand our offerings at the Kon, we started to place pre-events such as another karaoke prelims and pre-judging for cosplay showcase on this same day: the Thursday before the Kon. This conjunction has always been an issue for our setup, especially as we improve our setups and technology for each room and it has become too much of a conflict and impacts both the setup and pre-events. Unfortunately, for the benefit of the entire Kon, events such as pre-judging and prelims may now have to be integrated back into the normal scheduled time for the Kon proper and leave Thursday strictly for setup alone. Please stay tuned as we look into it for 2013 and beyond.

As for Cosplay and Theater prejudging in the middle of the day and on a Saturday, it was mostly due to the fact that we had a very full schedule. With a lot guests, concerts, and major events occurring during the KK-2012 weekend, we just literally had no time or room for it to occur in another room and our Video department was gracious enough to let us time in the video room to run these two prejudging events. Again, we are looking into making it a better experience for all so please stay tuned.

Also, due to the last minute airline issues that caused Chris Sabat not to be able to attend this year's Kon and him running several long panels as well, there was a lot of 11th hour shuffling around of panels to fill in those gaps to maximize the use of our rooms and of course, that causes issues, too. But of course, it's very difficult to redo a schedule that you spend weeks to make 'perfect' in just a few hours and unfortunately it does cause confusion at times. Please forgive us for the delays.

And lastly, no matter how well one plans, there are always some type of unforeseen changes that throws a monkey wrench into your well-placed plans. When the possibility of having bless4 / AKINO came up, we quickly accommodated it in our schedule to offer the Kon-goer the opportunity to see this group up close and personal at the Kon.

2. Autograph sessions
this is always a tough issue as many decisions need to be made on the spot by the staff present to try and accommodate the most people and still not inconvenience those who are trying to enjoy the rest of the Kon. With such a large number of guests this year, it just comes down to timing, logistics, and a learning curve on our part. With so many guests, and those who are very popular and want to continue giving autographs even beyond their allotted times, it is in a constant state of flux and the variables are ever-changing. We are striving to make the autograph lines flow smoothly and with less confusion, but please bear with us as just the shear numbers can be overwhelming at times.

3. technical
as stated above, almost all of the sound equipment and setup is done by a small group of core volunteers and it is very hard to expect everything to go correctly. With new pieces of equipment coming into the room, there are always bound to be problems, and unfortunately this year we had a few due to these 'growing pains' and it radiated into delaying the schedule. We are looking into streamlining a lot of the technical issues for KK2013, so thanks for your concern.

4. general
As previously mentioned, Kawaii Kon was scheduled in the middle of March for specific reasons: to coincide with spring break, to avoid golden week, and to avoid other competing shows that would limit our vendors and guests. I understand your concerns raised here, but with a little more planning, the obstacles you mention can be overcome: ordering your items earlier, ordering domestic, making said costume or costume parts yourself, and budgeting what you spend are just a few examples.

As for the dates coinciding with spring break being bad, we just have to look at the numbers: Kawaii Kon grew to over 6000 attendees, or more than 16% more attendees than last year. I think that this growth speaks for itself.

As for Kawaii Kon doing something "before it implodes on itself" - I can't ever seeing that happen. Kawaii Kon is run by a dedicated staff of volunteers who are also fans of the genre and of putting on the Kon itself. We are the harshest critics of our own work as we want to build the best anime convention possible. Comments like this help us see where we are lacking and where we need to improve. But you must also understand that as we grow, there are growing pains. Yes, we've been at this for 8 years now, but we have grown each and every year. Sometimes in small steps, and, like in 2012, in very big steps.

5. Schedule Reminders
I understand the request to have schedule reminder announcements, but I think that would be more disruptive rather than helpful. Nearly every half-hour we'd have to announce some sort of event or other starting. As we have 3 event rooms, 3 video rooms, a video gaming room, a tabletop gaming room, and an autograph line - that could mean we could have up to 7 announcements in one time slot and I think that would be more disturbing than being helpful.

We had program guides available, as well as those posted on our information board. And this year we also had our Google Calendars so that you could have your digital devices help keep track of your schedules for you, too. These were readily available and included all the descriptions and times of all events at Kawaii Kon 2012.

Also, someone mentioned the use of Guidebook being free, which is true for the user. However, this is not true on the Kon's end as Guidebook does charge a fee for a show to be listed on their service. Although going paperless is appealing, the trade-offs for those who do not have smart devices and would not have access to our schedule is not. We will continue to watch in the development of such online program guides and hopefully incorporate them in the future.

6. butishake
the butishake is first and foremost, a video dance. There are many comments from folks saying that many of the songs that were requested were not played and those that were, were different versions or edited than those you might be normally use to. As the DJ for the butishake, I try and incorporate as many requests as possible, but you must remember that not all songs can make it into the mix, and not all songs requested are suitable for dancing to or just didn't have a suitable video for the song. One cannot go without the other.

As to the incorporation of different mixes or other, non J / K pop songs - variety is the spice of life. I do strive to try and mix in as many different styles and flavors of music into the butishake as possible as just limiting it to anime or J / K pop would just make it stagnant. There are so many good dance songs out there, it would be very bad indeed to just limit it to just our genre - where else would you hear Plastic Betrand following Caramell and then on to Tohoshinki? Only at the butishake.

Same goes for including just the 'original' versions of songs, too - especially when the remix of the same song is so much better, dance-wise. I understand that a lot of you practice the songs dance moves as played, but remember, this isn't para-para, this is a butishake! There is no right or wrong way to dance, so just cut loose and groove.

As to DJ Tide opening for the butishake: his inclusion was due to demand for other types of music such as dubstep and that type of dance scene music to be included. The floor was packed with DJ Tide at the decks, as well as when I took over for the butishake proper. The only mass-exodus was when the concert started upstairs. Other than that, there was a core group of folks at the 'shake enjoying themselves all night long.

7. Room Issues
As to making the Events room bigger - right now, barring doubling the size of the size of Main Events by taking over the adjacent room, there is no other room 'bigger' in the HCC that we could use that would be suitable for Kawaii Kon's needs. The only room bigger would be the extremely large room downstairs that Honolulu Festival uses, and I doubt you mean THAT big. I know that there were times when it was 'standing room only' in those rooms, but only 2 or 3 times for the entire Kon weekend. To double the size of Main Events for just those few times that it was stuffed to the gills just doesn't seem to make sense at the moment. However, if we find that more and more events in that room become just standing room only, we will certainly look into enlarging the room.

As to Dealers room being smaller - in actuality, the room is approximately the same size as it was last year, just a different configuration (being a bit longer and narrower as compared to 2011's room downstairs in 316abc). In fact, I believe we actually have more vendor spaces in the room this year than previously, so even more choices for the Kon-goer. Due to the new configuration, it was a bit of a learning curve for us to judge the capacity of the room and when to let folks into Dealers Room, too. Once we got more accustomed to the room however, we did start letting more and more people in so lines were shorter as the weekend went on.

As to rooms moving for 2013 - nothing is set in stone yet, but there are currently no plans for moving Dealers room back downstairs to it's old home, nor moving Artist Alley upstairs to the 4th floor ballrooms. However, that doesn't mean that it can't happen... but currently, there are no plans for it.

8. Program guide
Yes, there were some issues with the arrangement of the event guide descriptions, but we will correct that for 2013. Due to a lot of very last minute changes, it is inevitable that errors do creep into it - we try to avoid it as much as possible, but we are only human and we do make the occasional 'oops' now and again.

9. cosplay
just a few things here I want to mention here as I've seen this brought up before. As to the prejudging - remember that even thought the schedule says it runs for 2 hours, you still need to be there at the START of that 2 hour period, not at the 1:50 mark. Although the room is reserved for 2 hours of judging, if everyone who showed up at the beginning gets judged in the first hour, and no one else shows up for 20 minutes, they're going to consider judging closed and the judges move on to something else. Please remember this when entering and it will save you a lot of last-minute rushing around and trying to make special accommodations.

Best way to make a better Kon experience? Volunteer. Work for the Kon to help make it better. It's easy to go about and say "this was bad" or "this didn't work the way it should" but it's another thing entirely to say "Let me help you make the Kon better".

Thank you for your concerns, however. We always strive to do better each and every year.

by **icytetsu** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:46 pm

I must say, I'm impressed. Thank you for taking the time to address my concerns and suggestions, I will personally look to volunteer for the event when the time comes around~

Website · by **satomihidee** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:53 am

buma wrote:response to some of the questions:

9. cosplay
just a few things here I want to mention here as I've seen this brought up before. As to the prejudging - remember that even thought the schedule says it runs for 2 hours, you still need to be there at the START of that 2 hour period, not at the 1:50 mark. Although the room is reserved for 2 hours of judging, if everyone who showed up at the beginning gets judged in the first hour, and no one else shows up for 20 minutes, they're going to consider judging closed and the judges move on to something else. Please remember this when entering and it will save you a lot of last-minute rushing around and trying to make special accommodations.

I am rather unsatisfied with your response regarding cosplay. If you have that mindset, then perhaps you should put that on your site (http://www.kawaii-kon.org/events/cospla ... -showcase/) unless you are referring to the information attached to the form "Please arrive early for the Cosplay Showcase lineup/judging to help assure your
entry in the contest." This statement is confusing as it can refer to the actual cosplay showcase as opposed to the pre-judging.

I would suggest that people sign-up for time slots for the pre-judging process. Since it's Kawaii Kon's policy not to accept applications in advance, perhaps the information booth could maintain a list so contestants have no excuse if they are late. Furthermore, this gives the judges, directors and other staff a good idea regarding how much time they need to allot.

by **ClearlyPixelated** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:36 am

Kenjikun44 wrote:Thought I'd bring this up again since it seemed this year's Otaku Speed-dating didn't improve at all...

Otaku Speed Dating

Just thought I'd add my thoughts of last year's one and this past week's one. Last year it was really hard to hear the person in front of you talking and it was hard for them to hear you.... I think everyone needs to be spaced out a little more farther apart so that it isn't as cramped and easier to hear each other. And again this year it was pretty much the same.... I felt so bad every time since the other person couldn't hear me and I couldn't hear them because of the other people near us talking plus the stereo's being way too loud... Also maybe the numbers of the people should be put on a name tag instead of asking for their number every time.. So maybe we could get those sticky name tags to write our names and numbers just for that event. Sorry just some friendly suggestions to improve this event. I'm thinking of going again next year, hopefully if they improve on my ideas. If anyone else has suggestions for this event, please suggest so they can improve on this event. It really needs to be improved for the better. Thank you

Great suggestions! I would love to implement this next time around

by **ClearlyPixelated** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:42 am

icytetsu wrote:Also, I feel that having signs in the area to designate when and where to line up for autographs would be very helpful and much appreciated c:

Fantastic! We will definitely get that done, you're not the first to ask about them!

by **buma** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:00 am

We are currently looking at clarifying / modifying the rules for 2013 to state that all contestants will be required to show up at the beginning of the judging times as well as possibly looking into a way to submit entry forms in prior to the show.

Please bear with us as we try to finish up work from the 2012 show before we move on ahead with Kawaii Kon 2013. Thank you for your suggestions!

satomihidee wrote:I am rather unsatisfied with your response regarding cosplay. If you have that mindset, then perhaps you should put that on your site (http://www.kawaii-kon.org/events/cospla ... -showcase/) unless you are referring to the information attached to the form "Please arrive early for the Cosplay Showcase lineup/judging to help assure your
entry in the contest." This statement is confusing as it can refer to the actual cosplay showcase as opposed to the pre-judging.

I would suggest that people sign-up for time slots for the pre-judging process. Since it's Kawaii Kon's policy not to accept applications in advance, perhaps the information booth could maintain a list so contestants have no excuse if they are late. Furthermore, this gives the judges, directors and other staff a good idea regarding how much time they need to allot.

by **Himitsu_Neko** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:05 am

Date:
I really liked the that it was on spring break. I allowed me to be there early on Friday and see the Opening Ceremony for the first time (i actually got there early). Usually I miss it by 30 minutes or when I rushed (last year) to get there as fast as I can, and miss it by like a few seconds. This year was a little hectic for my school's anime club though. Since we lost a lot of our members who were on trips and outings and we also already pre-bought a table last year not knowing that it would be during spring break... yea... it was hard to keep the table open.

Rooms:
In the Main Events room, personally I think that the chairs are put too close for comfort and that the spaces between the rows were small. I did like the video feed and the large screens that were used during the panels. It helped tremendously. (I don't know if that was available last year because I didn't go to the panels.)

Schedule:
I loved how it was available a head of time via. google docs and calendars (even if it was ever changing). As long as it was a rough idea, it made it easier to plan and schedule ahead of time. Please do that next year

I have just one question. Why was the Eyeshine concert so late at night? Is there any way that that could have been bumped up a few hours? I would have wanted to go, actually I REALLY wanted to go, but it was at 10:30 PM.

All in all I didn't really have any other problems with Kawaii-kon this year. Thanks for making Kawaii-kon 2012 AWESOME!

by **Operation Shoestring** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:25 pm

So that's two years in a row that the person who was supposed to do dance lessons did a no show... What's up with that? I always end up teaching anyway (both in practice and at the ball... especially at the ball), so I'll offer my services as a dance instructor if there's difficulty finding one.

Actually, is there anyway to un-overlap Otaku Speed Dating and Ball? Speed dating wouldn't be a bad way to look for a last minute ball date if the two were non-overlappy. Though I guess there is good reason to make them both late night events....

There's still a fairly eager market for sonic screwdrives, as several people on the forums have noted. Unfortunately, no one told the merchandisers, as, AFAIK, none were brought for 2012. Any of them come on these forums?

by **ValkyrieMissle** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:39 pm

Thank you for your offer, but we already have a professional dance instructor lined up for 2013. Also,thank you very much for all your help at the ball and teaching event!
We will see what we can do as far as not overlapping the ball with Speed Dating. We would love for people to be able to take their new matches to the ball.

by **overseer06** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:27 pm

How many volunteers did you guys have this year? On Thursday, it seemed like there was a lot. I understand that many probably operated behind the scenes, such as tending to guests, delivering equipment via the mysterious corridors of mystery, and possibly act as gophers.

I thought security was rather sparse. No one was watching people in the audience during events or panels. Someone actually managed to successfully smuggle beer into the Kuleana magic show.

I really like how we actually know the dates for 2013 already.

It's hard for me to empathize with people that had specific problems with Kawaii Kon. For example:
- There was a schedule in every program. If you cannot be bothered to keep track of the time, you're probably having fun so don't complain. I know they had to make some emergency adjustments (the directors made it sound like code-orange level) after Chris couldn't make it. But that shouldn't necessitate broadcasts reminding attendees when events start.

- The cosplayers complained about the pre-judging, but some participants didn't even show up at the Showcase! Not their fault, but I guess they expect the convention to have higher standards than its attendees -_-

- I remembered that staff did use improvised "Line Starts Here" signs over the years. Maybe the last person in line should be the designated sign holder if staff is stretched. I remember doing that in 2007/2008. I've told so many people "No, the line starts over there," that I felt like I should just sign up as a volunteer next year.

On a side note, I feel REALLY bad that I lost the 2011 and 2012 programs because I think they are the only ones with a list of directors. I've been attending for six years, but I have yet to remember the names of the great people running this show. Except for Stan, Marlon, and Scott (the creators). And Buma. EVERYONE knows Buma.

by **kekumanshoyu** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:49 pm

overseer06 wrote:How many volunteers did you guys have this year? On Thursday, it seemed like there was a lot. I understand that many probably operated behind the scenes, such as tending to guests, delivering equipment via the mysterious corridors of mystery, and possibly act as gophers.

There were actually over 180 staffers, not including the directors! I would say they were really busy helping out their departments since we had over 6000 attendees!

I thought security was rather sparse. No one was watching people in the audience during events or panels. Someone actually managed to successfully smuggle beer into the Kuleana magic show.

Thanks for letting us know. We will get on that. Btw it's Kaulana

I really like how we actually know the dates for 2013 already.

The earlier the better right?

It's hard for me to empathize with people that had specific problems with Kawaii Kon. For example:
- There was a schedule in every program. If you cannot be bothered to keep track of the time, you're probably having fun so don't complain. I know they had to make some emergency adjustments (the directors made it sound like code-orange level) after Chris couldn't make it. But that shouldn't necessitate broadcasts reminding attendees when events start.

- The cosplayers complained about the pre-judging, but some participants didn't even show up at the Showcase! Not their fault, but I guess they expect the convention to have higher standards than its attendees -_-

- I remembered that staff did use improvised "Line Starts Here" signs over the years. Maybe the last person in line should be the designated sign holder if staff is stretched. I remember doing that in 2007/2008. I've told so many people "No, the line starts over there," that I felt like I should just sign up as a volunteer next year.

Again we cannot stress the fact that things come up very unexpectedly. We try our best to accommodate those changes and hope that everybody will enjoy the kon nevertheless.

As for the pre-judging, we make a time that seems accessible for everybody to participate, thus we ask for those who want to participate to please plan accordingly. Next year we will take the suggestions into consideration and make a better pre-judging for everybody.

For this year, as I recall, there was a "end of line" sign for autographs and for registration (walk-ins and pre-reg) there were staffers holding up signs to guide them. But if you want to volunteer, then go ahead!

The more the merrier!

On a side note, I feel REALLY bad that I lost the 2011 and 2012 programs because I think they are the only ones with a list of directors. I've been attending for six years, but I have yet to remember the names of the great people running this show. Except for Stan, Marlon, and Scott (the creators). And Buma. EVERYONE knows Buma.

If you want, I may have an extra program guide for both 2011 and 2012. How I got them, I have no idea really... PM me and I could mail it to you or something. The 2012 guide definitely has the list of directors but 2011 doesn't.

And yes everybody knows buma

by **overseer06** » Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:57 am

kekumanshoyu wrote:Btw it's Kaulana

*Smacks forehead* See? He's been a guest of honor for two-three times already and I still haven't remembered his name :oops:

Reminds me of the time when I discovered I went to my first convention and found out that I've been pronouncing "Mignogna" wrong for over two years. But I digress.

by **windthrasher** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:58 am

will it be possible that Vic Mignogna will be there next year?
i was also thinking that David Hayters, the voice actor for Metal Gear Solid series should come to kawaii-kon. do you think it
s a good idea?

by **sokuna** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:42 am

I have several issues with how the Moonlight Ball went:

The event started an hour late on what was scheduled to be a three hour event. Part of this was due to the way the event was ticketed but also because attendees were not informed that they needed their badge to attend.

Another issue was the magician's performance in the last hour. In his entire performance he only finished three tricks, the rope cutting sequence took 20 minutes by itself. Most of the time was spent playing off of a few enthusiastic but disruptive members of the audience who I though were being given too much leeway at a formal event.

Later he announced that he needed an assistant who would be chosen by who could act the most like a chicken with the selection being judged by loud cheering with attendees jumping up and down and screaming. The judging was unnecessarily drawn out with 3 qualification rounds of judging before selecting a winner. There were several walk outs and the only reason I didn't join them was that like a few other attendees I was hoping to get in a little more dancing after he wrapped his act up. Instead the Moonlight Ball ended once he finished his performance, 15 minutes left or not the ambiance was gone and the event was clearly over. The magician performed wonderfully last year but this year his performance broke up a full dance floor, dragged out for far too long, and completely destroyed the formal tone of the event.

In summary several attendees, myself included, were upset because we attended the event for the formal atmosphere and/or dancing. Instead we had an event that was cut short on both ends, attendees were allowed to run wild and disrupt the event for others, and there was a chicken impersonation contest in a black tie invited event that declined to have Latin or Swing music because 'it did not fit the formal nature of the event'. I'm sure there were many attendees who had a great time but there were many of us who did not and the event was a complete disaster as a formal dance.

by **kekumanshoyu** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:09 am

sokuna wrote:I have several issues with how the Moonlight Ball went:

The event started an hour late on what was scheduled to be a three hour event. Part of this was due to the way the event was ticketed but also because attendees were not informed that they needed their badge to attend.

Another issue was the magician's performance in the last hour. In his entire performance he only finished three tricks, the rope cutting sequence took 20 minutes by itself. Most of the time was spent playing off of a few enthusiastic but disruptive members of the audience who I though were being given too much leeway at a formal event.

Later he announced that he needed an assistant who would be chosen by who could act the most like a chicken with the selection being judged by loud cheering with attendees jumping up and down and screaming. The judging was unnecessarily drawn out with 3 qualification rounds of judging before selecting a winner. There were several walk outs and the only reason I didn't join them was that like a few other attendees I was hoping to get in a little more dancing after he wrapped his act up. Instead the Moonlight Ball ended once he finished his performance, 15 minutes left or not the ambiance was gone and the event was clearly over. The magician performed wonderfully last year but this year his performance broke up a full dance floor, dragged out for far too long, and completely destroyed the formal tone of the event.

In summary several attendees, myself included, were upset because we attended the event for the formal atmosphere and/or dancing. Instead we had an event that was cut short on both ends, attendees were allowed to run wild and disrupt the event for others, and there was a chicken impersonation contest in a black tie invited event that declined to have Latin or Swing music because 'it did not fit the formal nature of the event'. I'm sure there were many attendees who had a great time but there were many of us who did not and the event was a complete disaster as a formal dance.

Sorry for the lateness of the ball. This year it was a sold out event and it was tough to get all the attendees in at a quick amount of time, not to mention explaining to those who did not know what formal actually is. As for the badge, it was stated that you also need your badge to participate in this event on the website. If there were any misinformation, then we will fix it for next year so that people are aware about their badges.

For Kaulana, the magician, it was something new he wanted to try out. It was a performance based on interaction. Sorry that it had dragged on for the last hour, however we were trying to give (what we thought) a balance of entertainment and dancing. Based on suggestions from last year, for some actually wanted more entertainment rather than just dancing.

Again we are trying new things and with suggestions/comments from attendees like you can help us better our events.

Thank you so much!

by **raigakuren** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:20 am

I'd like to see multiple colors offered for the Kawaii Kon T-Shirts. This is my personal opinion but I just didn't like the colors of the T-shirts. I'd prefer to see Black and White T-Shirts, along with a variety of other colors, with the year's design on it. It'll give us Kongoers the freedom of choosing the color we want instead of one single color.

by **sokuna** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 3:32 pm

kekumanshoyu wrote:Sorry for the lateness of the ball. This year it was a sold out event and it was tough to get all the attendees in at a quick amount of time, not to mention explaining to those who did not know what formal actually is. As for the badge, it was stated that you also need your badge to participate in this event on the website. If there were any misinformation, then we will fix it for next year so that people are aware about their badges.

For Kaulana, the magician, it was something new he wanted to try out. It was a performance based on interaction. Sorry that it had dragged on for the last hour, however we were trying to give (what we thought) a balance of entertainment and dancing. Based on suggestions from last year, for some actually wanted more entertainment rather than just dancing.

Again we are trying new things and with suggestions/comments from attendees like you can help us better our events.

Thank you so much!

I understand that dancing isn't a high priority for some of the attendees (Personally I prefer it because its easier to find entertainment then a formal dance environment.) but even the entertainment seemed lacking. Last year there was the was singing by the men's group, the singer from Eleven Staples, and Kaulana gave a full show that was quick and tidy. This year there were only two performers and Kaulana's show didn't cover many tricks (perhaps because he performed most of his routine during opening ceremonies already) and weren't as impressive as some of the larger scale tricks he performed with his assistants last year.

I was a little put off by what some people thought constituted formal wear, although some people who technically met the requirement looked like a mess, one guy in particular wearing a black suit had unbuttoned cuffs the extended 4 inches past his jacket cuff, highwater trousers, white athletic socks and light brown penny loafers. I don't suppose you could ask someone from a menswear shop around town to run a panel on formal wear next year, maybe on Friday so people have time to go shopping? It would also help people doing school uniform with jacket and tie or other formal cosplay. The ladies tended to be wearing much more appropriate clothing although unfortunately some of it was a bit too difficult for them to dance in.

by **ValkyrieMissle** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 8:54 pm

The problem with having a panel on formal wear is that there is no one to run it. If you'd be willing to host it, please submit a panel outline when we post the form, and we'd be happy to accommodate it!

Website · by **Kayami92** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:24 pm

This was my first Kawaii Kon and I thought it was great. I have mostly praise, but I do have some suggestions:

Scheduling:
I thought it was very efficient compared to other cons I've been to. I was able to attend a lot of very amazing panels due to the way you guys scheduled everything. I do agree that it'd be more fun it speed dating didn't overlap with the ball.

Main Events:
I saw that people thought main events were crowded. I think that by telling people to move in and fill all the seats (because many of the middle seats were empty) that would put a dent in the problem. But I love the dual screen and the sound system. Very clear, loud and people in the back won't miss whats happening on stage.

Formal ball:
I thought the refreshments were a nice touch. Kaulana's show was nice, but it did drag on and my poor friend was not happy about that. I personally like all the dancing, I mean it is a formal ball. I do not understand the need for the men to keep their jackets on. It gets very hot and uncomfortable after a while. To the point: More dancing, less entertainment. More food. And let the guys take their jackets off please.

Buttishake:
It might have been just me, but I didn't find it as fun as I was expecting. I left and came back many times but, it was just loud thumping music that I found not very dancy. I went to the eyeshine concert now THAT was pretty awesome and dancy and fun.

Speed Dating:
I second the idea of stickers with names/numbers on them. And more space between the chairs please.

Sunday Reflections with Vic:
Can I say what an amazing panel this is? I've never been to con with something amazing as this. My only suggestion is to keep the door closed when the panel starts and not to let anyone in. Because Vic was getting pretty upset about it. Since they happened to have an auction at the same time, when the door opened all you can hear is the crowd outside. But otherwise I love this panel.

Ask an Anime character:
Best panel I've ever been to in my 5 years of Conventions. I honestly have no suggestions. I think it ran very smoothly and very fairly.

I can't think of anymore right now. But this was very great convention!!!!!! I loved every minute of it!!

by **raigakuren** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:31 pm

One thing I would like to see back next year were the random poster giveaways and getting to sign the giant Thank You cards for our guests from KK11.

by **concerned_citizen** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:29 am

First off i would like to say im glad that my concerns are being answered in some sense however even with your answers some things dont seem to be adding up quite right.

although i am happy you announced the date early this time around, it may be in the same general time frame which i still somewhat disapprove of but at the very least we have a year to plan and budget things out which is nice.

Sakuramboo wrote:Heyo, gonna field a couple of these questions (sorry if I don't touch on all of them ... trying to avoid the wall of text) and give a little perspective as to what went on this year as far as issues and why we did certain things.

On Date selection, it was several reasons primarily based on what days the rooms we need are available to us at the convention center at the time of booking. Also since we were able to book around the time when most kids are on spring break here we felt it would be a nice treat. Also with our old dates it would put us in conflict with Golden Week in Japan (making it harder on Japanese guest availability) as well as other conventions which hurt guests and venders that have to travel to both.

On Technical Issues, with us starting the convention several hours earlier (remember we would start the show later so kids wouldn't skip school, with spring break we can start much earlier) it means we had less time to set up gear which again was the most complex we have ever attempted (dual screens with camera in main events). As well as the 3 Video rooms, a special events room and several other area which had requested amplified audio to make announcements over the crowd. Every year is a learning experience as we try to juggle new ideas at a increasingly larger show with a all volunteer staff.

On Schedules, things always change. The bigger and more complex the more they change due to people being people. This year we had a last minute canceled guest which played havoc on several fronts gear was out of place as we rescheduled events to fill now large gaping holes in programming. This caused equipment to be out of place and not ready when needed. There was nothing malicious intended just our attempt to provide as much content during the show as we could with the time allotted.

We will take steps next to try and minimize the issues we had this year (we will have additional rooms and more and better equipment) but new problems with arise but on the other hand we will have awesome new events and programming. Nothing will ever be perfect but we will do our best and make decisions that are what we thing are in the best interest of the attendees, the staff, the guests, and the community.

on technical issues, if you start earlier logically you would set up earlier wouldn't you? in a sense maybe you should work with the staffers responsible for the setup of these rooms beforehand so that they know exactly how to set up the equipment if the time was a factor.

on schedule shouldnt you have left things as is ("gaping holes" in place)? i know it would be weird to have holes there but imho it makes more sense to leave them rather than disrupt an already set schedule

i realize nothing can be run perfectly but over the years ive noticed things slipping in certain areas. this year more than any other so far

DarkDaigoro wrote:Indeed, things happen, and I can only apologize for Sunday's Amano line. This was a lack of supervision on my part, as I was either in the front of the lines, or looking for more staffers to help run Amano and Vic's lines, or telling what little staffers I did have what they had to do. I really wish that I could be everywhere at once; that ability would be incredibly convenient for Kon.

To address a few things concerned_citizen brought up: Indeed, cut-offs are usually done after a guest is signing. That is, unless the founders tells us otherwise. But, like you said, this issue was solved.

Secondly, in order for people to get to the bathrooms or the open area or rooms, we need to keep certain areas clear. If a staffer misjudged the amount of space needed to keep said areas clear, then it was simply a mistake. We're only human, just like you guys. As for the issue of people cutting in line, well... Unfortunately, being understaffed happens too. But again, the space issue was solved, albeit a little late.

As for the last part, the decision does come from the guests and/or their managers. Or the Events staffers. Or the founders. Sometimes, there's a combination of two or more.

i understand the reason for needing to move lines and leave walking space as that can be a fire hazard if left unmitigated so i understand the logic behind what security does. thank you for the explanation and dealing with the situation immediately when it arose.

buma wrote:response to some of the questions:

1. schedule:
Thursday is our normal set-up day for the convention - all rooms are set up by a small number of volunteers for all events and all rooms over the weekend. Ideally it takes the full day to make sure the rooms are all up and running, but due to trying to expand our offerings at the Kon, we started to place pre-events such as another karaoke prelims and pre-judging for cosplay showcase on this same day: the Thursday before the Kon. This conjunction has always been an issue for our setup, especially as we improve our setups and technology for each room and it has become too much of a conflict and impacts both the setup and pre-events. Unfortunately, for the benefit of the entire Kon, events such as pre-judging and prelims may now have to be integrated back into the normal scheduled time for the Kon proper and leave Thursday strictly for setup alone. Please stay tuned as we look into it for 2013 and beyond.

As for Cosplay and Theater prejudging in the middle of the day and on a Saturday, it was mostly due to the fact that we had a very full schedule. With a lot guests, concerts, and major events occurring during the KK-2012 weekend, we just literally had no time or room for it to occur in another room and our Video department was gracious enough to let us time in the video room to run these two prejudging events. Again, we are looking into making it a better experience for all so please stay tuned.

Also, due to the last minute airline issues that caused Chris Sabat not to be able to attend this year's Kon and him running several long panels as well, there was a lot of 11th hour shuffling around of panels to fill in those gaps to maximize the use of our rooms and of course, that causes issues, too. But of course, it's very difficult to redo a schedule that you spend weeks to make 'perfect' in just a few hours and unfortunately it does cause confusion at times. Please forgive us for the delays.

And lastly, no matter how well one plans, there are always some type of unforeseen changes that throws a monkey wrench into your well-placed plans. When the possibility of having bless4 / AKINO came up, we quickly accommodated it in our schedule to offer the Kon-goer the opportunity to see this group up close and personal at the Kon.

2. Autograph sessions
this is always a tough issue as many decisions need to be made on the spot by the staff present to try and accommodate the most people and still not inconvenience those who are trying to enjoy the rest of the Kon. With such a large number of guests this year, it just comes down to timing, logistics, and a learning curve on our part. With so many guests, and those who are very popular and want to continue giving autographs even beyond their allotted times, it is in a constant state of flux and the variables are ever-changing. We are striving to make the autograph lines flow smoothly and with less confusion, but please bear with us as just the shear numbers can be overwhelming at times.

3. technical
as stated above, almost all of the sound equipment and setup is done by a small group of core volunteers and it is very hard to expect everything to go correctly. With new pieces of equipment coming into the room, there are always bound to be problems, and unfortunately this year we had a few due to these 'growing pains' and it radiated into delaying the schedule. We are looking into streamlining a lot of the technical issues for KK2013, so thanks for your concern.

4. general
As previously mentioned, Kawaii Kon was scheduled in the middle of March for specific reasons: to coincide with spring break, to avoid golden week, and to avoid other competing shows that would limit our vendors and guests. I understand your concerns raised here, but with a little more planning, the obstacles you mention can be overcome: ordering your items earlier, ordering domestic, making said costume or costume parts yourself, and budgeting what you spend are just a few examples.

As for the dates coinciding with spring break being bad, we just have to look at the numbers: Kawaii Kon grew to over 6000 attendees, or more than 16% more attendees than last year. I think that this growth speaks for itself.

As for Kawaii Kon doing something "before it implodes on itself" - I can't ever seeing that happen. Kawaii Kon is run by a dedicated staff of volunteers who are also fans of the genre and of putting on the Kon itself. We are the harshest critics of our own work as we want to build the best anime convention possible. Comments like this help us see where we are lacking and where we need to improve. But you must also understand that as we grow, there are growing pains. Yes, we've been at this for 8 years now, but we have grown each and every year. Sometimes in small steps, and, like in 2012, in very big steps.

7. Room Issues
As to Dealers room being smaller - in actuality, the room is approximately the same size as it was last year, just a different configuration (being a bit longer and narrower as compared to 2011's room downstairs in 316abc). In fact, I believe we actually have more vendor spaces in the room this year than previously, so even more choices for the Kon-goer. Due to the new configuration, it was a bit of a learning curve for us to judge the capacity of the room and when to let folks into Dealers Room, too. Once we got more accustomed to the room however, we did start letting more and more people in so lines were shorter as the weekend went on.

As to rooms moving for 2013 - nothing is set in stone yet, but there are currently no plans for moving Dealers room back downstairs to it's old home, nor moving Artist Alley upstairs to the 4th floor ballrooms. However, that doesn't mean that it can't happen... but currently, there are no plans for it.

9. cosplay
just a few things here I want to mention here as I've seen this brought up before. As to the prejudging - remember that even thought the schedule says it runs for 2 hours, you still need to be there at the START of that 2 hour period, not at the 1:50 mark. Although the room is reserved for 2 hours of judging, if everyone who showed up at the beginning gets judged in the first hour, and no one else shows up for 20 minutes, they're going to consider judging closed and the judges move on to something else. Please remember this when entering and it will save you a lot of last-minute rushing around and trying to make special accommodations.

Best way to make a better Kon experience? Volunteer. Work for the Kon to help make it better. It's easy to go about and say "this was bad" or "this didn't work the way it should" but it's another thing entirely to say "Let me help you make the Kon better".

Thank you for your concerns, however. We always strive to do better each and every year.

1. Okay first off i believe you've mixed up the showcase and the theatre, although i did leave a large wall of text so its somewhat understandable. second, regardless of thursday being the general setup day it still confuses me that things were not prepared properly, intuitively wouldn't you set up those rooms that were set to be used before any others? also how does the setup for the special events room take all day? i can understand main events which has a somewhat elaborate stage setup in comparison but i've seen more complex setups done within a couple hours.

in regards to moving pre judging for theatre and karaoke to friday how would that work with the schedule seemingly being already full according to many of the responses i've gotten? this doesn't really add up in my mind.

Lastly i can understand changing thing because a new guest was announced late in the game but as i said in response to an earlier post i dont see the reasoning behind shuffling the schedule because events were cancelled due to unfortunate circumstances.

2. i understand the ideas here but every year there are long lines for autographs and almost every year its the same story. im happy the problems were more or less dealt with however, when its only friday and a guest has two more sessions i dont see why they need to stay too far beyond their allotted time. i understand if a kon goer has much to do as i usually run a tight schedule during the convention but there are multiple opportunities for that reason.

3. its good to know you're working on the issue. has the AV crew always been volunteers? honestly with the amount of money you get from admission and sponsorships i thought they were a hired company.

4. i understand coinciding with brake however i just brought up those reasons as they are valid concerns among the kon community i have spoken with and as mentioned by another poster those were the exact reasons why it wasn't done other years. the only thing i dont quite understand is avoiding golden week, wouldn't this bee the best opportunity to get guests to come to kon? i know it would probably be considered work for them but most animation studios/ manga printers such as Jump have a break during that timespan and what better to entice a guest than with a trip to hawaii to relax see the sites and meet adoring fans.

also in response to your second comment, i say this a person who volunteers for upwards of 10 events per year ranging form very small to larger than kon which are completely volunteer run a couple of which take place in the convention center. Even with the most dedicated volunteers, enough problems like what occurred this year as well as a seemingly shaky hierarchy by my observation can turn the dedication upside down and that is what concerns me most. Growing or not ive seen larger events with greater logistical planning involved run better and the'yve only been running for 4-5 years and with a much more limited staff than the numbers given here on a good year these events can expect around half of your total manpower spanning over 4-5 days.

7. just a little suggestion here, why not take over one of the kamehameha rooms? you could probably stand to combine several rooms into one there. i believe the convention center has mobile dividers of some kind so that there can be a defined line. for example you could put artist alley, dealers room, and tabletop here in one place (even ani maid cafe if they are coming back). this would aleviate some of the congestion as it would be a bigger space even with multiple events running in the same room. im not sure but it may actually be more economical cost wise as well though im not familiar with the convention center's pricing.

9. as with satomihidee i dont necessarily agree with this answer, you have addressed this in some sense so i thank you for that. However as in that kind of situation i fail to see why someone would be disallowed entry because of it especially when the pool of contestants has been as small as it has been the past two years. i understand if there are too many entrants as stated in the rule where it is first some first serve and the showcase has a limited time slot to run.

as for volunteering as stated earlier I volunteer for multiple events throughout the year and incidentally have traveled to the mainland in the past to help with various events mind you they were not anime conventions. There are higher issues stopping me from doing this with these concerns being the tip if the proverbial iceberg. i could delve into it but i believe it not to be in the spirit of this thread.

Thank you again for actually reading through my posts and giving your answers. i'd like to see more staff members and higher ups acknowledging all of the responses not only mine in this thread. these posts if all go well will hopefully improve things in the future.

by **overseer06** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:19 am

Someone seems to be confusing "suggestions" with "complaints."
I could quote concerned_citizen's entire post, but that would just be too intimidating to read.

First off, they referred to both Cosplay and Cosplay Theater (notice the AND). And the reason panels got shuffled was because they wanted to utilize the most amount of time instead of leaving honking big gaps in the schedule. So, some panels were extended or moved. It's not that difficult to understand. The reason they take so long to set everything up, I think there are only two or three primary engineers in charge of IT. If they need to take a day to set up, let them have it if it means running the convention better.

And for having pre-judgings on Friday? Having three video rooms can be convenient. Either that, or they'll have to be accepting less fan panel applications.

Even when there are multiple times for autograph sessions, some people STILL have to be turned away because of how ridiculously long the line gets (e.g. Amano and Eyeshine)

The amount of money pays pretty much for inviting future guests, including hotel accommodations and travel fare, paying for the rooms at the convention center, and of course equipment and other materials. Even the directors and assistant directors aren't getting paid! Staff is pretty much 100% volunteer. Maybe, you should volunteer next year.

Would ordering things online during Golden Week be the same thing as ordering things during Chinese New Years? I vaguely remember that concerned_citizen made that argument when he was against having the convention during mid-March. Plus, he specifically stated they wanted to avoid Golden Week.

The Kamehameha rooms . . . the gigantic rooms on the first floor!? Do you realize how big that is? And how little Kawaii Kon can actually support? It just doesn't seem cost effective, especially when you consider how many vendors we get and how we would have to pretty much rely on how many people will buy an Artist table and whether or not se can set aside a space big enough for the main events, panel, or whatever you had in mind. I've never seen people use the big exhibition halls unless attendance numbers in the ten thousands and you get a lot of big investors. I'm talking PAX or Anime Expo level. I just think we need (a lot) more people to make it worth it.

I fail to see how the convention needs to bend over backwards to fit specific needs. It's like when two panels I really want to go to run at the same time: I have to DECIDE. If people decide that participating in the Cosplay Showcase is important enough to go to the pre-judging, instead of what else is currently happening, they would attend. It was worse when people that apparently did show up for the pre-judging failed to show up at the Showcase.

If they left "gaping holes in the schedule" I would assume that would actually upset con-goers since there wouldn't be anything going on in those time slots. I'm not sure what kind of anime conventions are on the mainland, but it seems unacceptable to not have some sort of contingency plan (or in this case, crisis-mode planning) in case some unforeseen circumstance happened. Besides, not many things got moved around. I think only a couple of panels were moved, and we actually extended the OATS panel and got an extra Eyeshine concert on Saturday night.

If I recall, last year's convention was in May. The convention times have always been more or less fluctuating. Don't think we are established enough to have a date permanently set in stone. For example, PAX is almost always 4th of July weekend, or as close to that as possible. And besides, if they have it in March again, that gives them roughly about a year to work on their cosplay. You should only be concerned if they decided to suddenly have the convention in February.

If you honestly feel that you can contribute, I urge you to volunteer. You say you have 10+ years of experience, and that could be greatly appreciated. Especially when they aren't confident in local volunteers running the conventions without oversight. That's why most of our directors (or the big, important ones) fly in from the mainland every year.

Mainland conventions seem to have a distinct advantage: greater access to volunteers that are good enough to run a convention with minimal supervision. Probably why larger conventions on the mainland (which I have to admit is most of the ones I know) have more attendees, but can still have "greater logistical planning." However, unless there is some evidence or at least some examples, I cannot believe such claims.

I apologize if my comment sounds embittered. I admit that I am not a cosplayer, so I may not have a grasp on those particular issues. My experience with other cons is pretty much limited to what I see on YouTube. However, at this point in time, the people in charge have addressed all of the concerns to the best of their abilities.

Some suggestions:
- If there are enough volunteers, perhaps some security can be assigned to watch inside the Events room.
- Certain areas should be designated for tripods. Either in the aisle or along the sides.
- More dry erase boards. Perhaps having people hold signs while going through (just) the Dealer's Room and Artist's Alley may be less disruptive.
- More cowbell.