Plurk paste

bunnerz expert
that’s hilarious
someone called the decorators and billed it to otakon
so brave

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
It's amazing

Studio Kitsu
Too bad the decorator notes down the location its going to.
@Techycutie We're also looking to do one so we can figure out how to tweak the map next year to fix the flow issues on the right side of the room. Would you mind sharing your's once you're done so we can compare?

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
:eyes::sweat_drops:

Krissss!!! @ Otakon EE6
@Studio Kitsu It's the fuzz quick everyone scamper.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
From outside observation I could name quite a few ways to improve Otakon for next year :thinking:

wiretongue
lmfao

Studio Kitsu
@Sapph @ FlameCon U167 Legitimately speaking, we would really appreciate it. Its a huge room with maybe a dozen staff members trying to help. There are moments where it feels like you're playing wack-a-mole with a tea spoon, so any observations or suggestions are useful.

Krissss!!! @ Otakon EE6
A food truck/concessions eating area in the back or the alley is what AWA use to do when the alley was in the a separate room. Cause it pulled traffic to the back.

Studio Kitsu
AnimeNEXT has a similar thing, though probably not as successful.
There was a concession stand in the corner over by GG10 but I don't think anyone knew it was there really.

Krissss!!! @ Otakon EE6
They knew but they quickly said no to $15 chicken tenders

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
Get posted times right before the show is actually going as you will otherwise severely impact people's travel arrangements, if adjustments NEED to be made, don't only post it as a twitter REPLY to someone else's inquiry, don't announce new opening times a half hour before the original opening time and certainly don't post completely incorrect loadout information to artists, don't promise premium or pro row tables priority for 8' tables and then literally bypass them and give regular tables 8' instead.....

Studio Kitsu
When I saw it was a seating area I actually expected it to be super popular because seating areas at the BCC were insanely popular.
@Sapph @ FlameCon U167 Most of those are definitely noted for next year.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
Most? Which aren't noted?

Studio Kitsu
I feel like that may be a loaded question so give me a moment to explain.
The issue we ran into a fair amount this year is we, the AA staff, received alot of information super late.
For example, the change in check in location we learned about 30 minutes before opening. The building demanded the original entrance be used as an entrance due to security concerns on their end. Lacey ran outside to take a picture of the entrance while I struggled to get a new email out to everyone from my phone because we were also fighting with the wifi. I ended up posting it on AANI and posting signs at the old entrance in hopes of getting everyone to the new location.
So the things that are preventable problems are noted on things to correct for next year.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
I didn't mention anything about entrances/exits

Studio Kitsu
its an example of some of the issues that kept popping up staff side.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
I'll ask again, then, of the concerns I actually brought up, when you mention "most of those are definitely noted for next year" what does that actually include or not include

Studio Kitsu
The ones the actual Artist Alley staff can actually impact. Things like social media we can only send requests to those relevant departments.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
But you mentioned that you yourself were trying to email and that you utilized social media to post on AANI
So is that handled by AA staff or someone else?

Studio Kitsu
yes and was informed that I should be allowing the Otakon social media department to cover that information.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
And what about how haphazardly opening/closing times were run?
Or about table sizes and keeping promises made to artists?

Studio Kitsu
What we the AA staff were informed for load out information had actually changed twice during load out for anyone using the loading dock. At first it was everyone must pallet out then it became those who can cart themselves out do so. So emails have already been sent out about that and the extremely negative impacts we observed to artists.
The times are on the check list, I admit I should have included the proper times in the at con info email everyone was sent but did not think of it at the time. Same for double checking the website to make sure they matched the printed materials. This is one of the items which is being added to a check list for next year.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
What I'm hearing here is that AA staff seem to have no input on how things are actually run and that you're at the behest of other Otakon staff?

Studio Kitsu
Not necessarily

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
Because there's an awful lot of excuses here that sound like that. I'm sure you can see how it looks.

Studio Kitsu
The way Otakon operates is there are a number of departments with key roles they are responsible for filling. There is also a series of checks and balances so there is appropriate oversight.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
No matter who is in charge, unless the convention gets their act together, fewer and fewer artists are going to be willing to pay so much money for such an abysmally run artist alley. That's an awful rep to have for a convention as large as Otakon that has been super profitable for artists in the past. We don't want to hear that it's someone else's fault, we just want to hear that it will be fixed.
If it can't be fixed, excuses help no one.

Studio Kitsu
Additionally, we are working with multiple unions who have their own infrastructures so it takes time to work out the issues between them.

Aeo
Might I suggest making a discord channel 2 months before the convention, that way artists have the ability to ask questions and be given announcements if things have to change on the fly?

Studio Kitsu
You may feel it is abysmally run, but we are actually attempting to resolve the issues that we are able to resolve. There is an assumption that the Artist Alley staff are all powerful and able to make unilateral decisions at will. That is not at all the case, we have a chain of command and protocols we must follow. This may all sound like a series of excuses if you want it to, but what I was intending was to give you insight into what our side looks like so we can both understand where each other are coming from.

Sapph @ FlameCon U167
Having a discord for official AA business ttst is announced and advertised to artists in the weeks prior to the convention that is also utilized for announcements would be incredibly useful

Studio Kitsu
@Aeo I knew about twitchcon in general, but did not about the discord, that is definitely good to know.
I am unable to promise anything since like all "official Otakon channels" they require approval, but I will definitely put together a request inquiry for next year.
At the very least I plan to be more observant in here since it looks like a lot of questions pop up instead of being emailed.
Also for anyone reading this, if you have a complaint about Artist Alley please email it to us. Like for the hours, I have heard it in person so many times but its difficult to prove people are unhappy about the hours without some kind of proof.
I personally would LOVE to close a bit earlier, I was in that building from 9am to 12am, so even an hour shaved off of that would be a blessing.

Aeo
Please do keep in mind that we come here to vent, discuss and provide feedback to each other :smiley: the Discord is a bit more relaxed than the Facebook page in terms of rules, I'd hate for someone to mercilessly pick apart a convention in an honest review and them getting blacklisted from it due to their comments here.

Studio Kitsu
Lucky for them I have enough headaches running the room to worry about a black list.
But more seriously, I'm also an artist, so I know what its like to be frustrated by an event and take very little personally when it comes to artists venting.

Aeo
I don't think you understand my comment. It would be a bit unfair if a convention black listed an artist based on comments here, in the discord meant for artists to be able to talk freely without anyone keeping tabs on them in management.
Make sense?

Studio Kitsu
I think you are misunderstanding what I am saying
I do not intend to blacklist anyone or take negative action for speaking their mind. We can't fix problems within the room if people are too worried being nice to give honest feedback.

Aeo
Thank you. I think that statement would calm the nerves of artists afraid of backlash while being honest, even if brutally. This is our space after all :smiley:

Studio Kitsu
I apologize if I did not say it clearly enough. Though also keep in mind that a number of heads of AA and DR's are also artists, so while we are straddling a line its really easy to feel alienated from our peer group because of how quickly things get tense when there's a problem in a room.

duet 🍩
What email should we use to write about complaints?

Studio Kitsu
[email protected] is the main email. I will also be sending out a survey to everyone sometime this week that will allow for anonymous responses.

Aeo
At least you get the situation, unlike CRX who probably just assigned some staff member to the event lol

duet 🍩
Ok ty! I guess I'll wait for the anon

Studio Kitsu
I do and I will admit, it super sucks that the problems we had were so crap, and its tough to hear how incompetent or rude I was in situations I did not intend to be rude but was trying to get info out quickly to move onto the next problem.
@duet 🍩 and anyone who's going to do anon responses, please respond once with the feedback your uncomfortable having your name attached to and once with the location survey.
we NEED the location feedback to improve the layout, last year we got 47 responses with only a small percentage putting in their location info.

duet 🍩
Ohh ok then maybe I won't do anon since my biggest complaint was my location,I was a pro row stuck facing nothing

Studio Kitsu
On GG?

duet 🍩
Yeah, I managed to move on Saturday but I felt so bad for my neighbor
She couldnt move and was the last one there

Aeo
damn.

Studio Kitsu
I don't know if this is inappropriate but, me too, I offered to have the staff help her move since she said her stuff was heavy. She said no because she has to repack it all to move it at all.
Like I said above, I know seating areas were super popular in the BCC, and the WEWCC doesn't really have a ton of seating so I thought it would carry over.

duet 🍩
Yeah, just really unfortunate

Studio Kitsu
Do you mind sharing how you did after your move? Was the other side of GG better?
Also survey is ready to go and sent off for approval, so hopefully everyone above me isn't in a coma and I can send it out in the next day or 2.

duet 🍩
Compared to the side facing nothing it def felt better, like people actually walked by, I don't know how it compared to the rest of the hall

Studio Kitsu
Its still helpful and I spent my entire trip home (got in around midnight with a 2 hour monsoon delay) brainstorming possible ideas we could do to utilize that part of the room better. Also potential layout adjustments to boost that side of the room if something does get put in there and if it doesn't. Last year both sides of the room were not great but we managed to get the AA side straightened out, so I'm hoping we can work out the GG side for next year.

alex / kingsley
in general i would hesitate to put any tables facing outward when there’s not any sort of guarantee towards traffic in the area, especially if you don’t have control over table layouts or what the con center would provide in gaps. there’s always going to be less traffic in some places, no way to guarantee that everyone gets the same amount— that’s a wild idea.

but places like the back wall of the top three islands or the back wall of the GG islands, the artists i talked to there had complaints about facing nothing or facing things like the bathroom or an empty food court. it does better for artists to face outside looking in vs. inside looking at nothing, that way there’s a guarantee they’re NOT facing a blank wall or an empty area presumed for seating.
overall i do have a list of complaints i’ll be emailing about but communication is the biggest one i think. different people got different answers to the same questions, i know i was given different answers by different aa staff prior to the con starting, we were given information dramatically too late— not just the thing about hours (if i’m taking metro, knowing when aa opens for sure is something i need to know with more than 5-30 min advance) but also things like tax information and table acceptances.

i’m local so i’m much more capable of swinging it, but other people had very last minute chances to get hotel, some people didn’t get a tax form before the con, etc. and with a non refundable table cost in the quadruple digits we are expecting firm answers and basic information to be reasonably accessible. i’m not going back next year and i’m not going in the foreseeable future because this was very grossly mismanaged and i have better use of my time elsewhere. i’m just putting forth considerations since these are key reasons why i’m not going back and why i’m not the only one.

yosb 💮 otakon i13
I’d like to also comment specifically that suggesting for us to email with questions isn’t very helpful. I did previous to the event (day -1) and received no reply and had to run around day 0 until staff in con ops could direct me to someone from aa who could help. Dealers check in refused to put me in contact directly with anyone who could help even though I told them none of my email inquiries were being answered. The runaround I got was again “the WiFi in this building is bad.” It’s pretty unacceptable that even if I put the initiative to reach out through the only official means artists are told to that I get 0 response in 24 hours. Anyways just a quick 2 cents out of a big money bag of complaints. Like alex above, I certainly won’t be coming back to otakon which is disappointing because I did great at this con, and I plan to share my frustrations about this con with my concerned friends and followers who had to witness my descent into madness. I will however try to respond to the anonymous survey with my unabridged version of everything that went wrong with the artist alley at this convention

devin [umpunchy | flamecon]
otakon has had a reputation since the actions of the previous artist alley head in 2012 which were never resolved, specifically that otakon as a convention as well as staff members make promises they don't keep or even address later on and that rules are enforced spottily and often unfairly. many bigger name artists refuse to sell at otakon because their treatment was never apologized for or addressed, and the reputation of otakon's blacklist still exists and places a fear in many artists so they don't feel comfortable emailing you, lacey, or other otakon staff for fear of being rejected because they dared annoy you. when we first applied to otakon we were explicitly told not to email AA staff by other artists with any questions because other people got either rude responses, no response, or suddenly weren't able to get into the convention anymore. this reputation has followed otakon and will continue to follow otakon until it's addressed in more than a single page on an information packet. saying things like "too bad the decorator notes down the location its going to" reads like a thinly veiled threat and adds to that reputation; that artist got specific permission from the president of otakon after being unable to contact you

additionally many of these issues were issues last year: 8ft tables going to the wrong table section, poor traffic flow and layout, tables facing an empty wall, all these things were brought up to you in person, over email, and via anonymous survey last year by me and other artists who were open about our placement and feelings. given none of this was addressed with proper communication, why should we trust you that it will be fixed next year?

we still plan on applying for otakon AA 2019 because we love the attendees and we can tolerate poor treatment but that doesn't mean it's fair

Yuki@ Otakon and LCAC
Honestly if they just lower the table prices then I wouldn't be as upset as I am. 475$ for shit tier placement and confusion all weekend.
Like I was considering applying for prorow buttttttt 725+ is a lot of fucking money oof

Kiri(ska)
a lot of AA staff at a lot of cons are limited in their ability to control all aspects of things that are problems, but they manage to communicate that and make attempts to more quickly get in touch with appropriate departments and do what they can. it is a general criticism i have of many cons that their internal communication is fractured and many departments don't know or don't want to communicate with each other -- this isn't an excuse. otakon (and others) need to do much better about facilitating inter-department communications. venue/decorator liaisons need to be in more direct contact with AA/DR staff. these are problems that happen so often and are so frustrating to all involved, and yet nothing is ever fixed or changed?
i also think it's a bit silly that artist criticisms aren't taken seriously outside of "proper email communication" when so often emails are never responded to -- artists go for the channels they get responses in, and often that's social media. if otakon upper mgmt can't see the seriousness of the problems through the volume of complaints and criticisms there, then that's also a problem with management, and not with how we're airing our greivances.
i don't disagree that artists should also email in criticisms in a professional manner and not only complain on social media, but for staff to wholly ignore problems simply because they weren't emailed is short-sighted and dismissive.
but the hollowest promises to improve are ones that are given over and over again -- as devin mentioned, many of this year's problems were problems last year. otakon AA had zero communication with artists from december to mid-july. there's no indication or assurance that anything will change.
this was my first year back at otakon since 2012 and even many of the problems i saw then have not been resolved. i am not in the least reassured that artists are being heard on any issue.