Con Complaints/Ideas

Not to shoot you down or anything Snowqueen, but most cons simply can’t budget getting to people who aren’t on the internet. Paying to be on public broadcasting is far too expensive for the turnout you may get, the internet can be a far cheaper avenue of advertising AND it can be aimed directly at anime fans who DO go to cons.

That’s why you see other anime cons in your state (or even close out of state) setting up booths in Dealer Rooms of other cons so they can give out flyers, because they have a better chance of getting people who actually go to cons.

While I do think Otakon or AX prices are definitely too inflated, you also have to remember that small cons are the only places you’ll see 20 dollar prices for badges, if that, I went to Glass City Con up in Toledo, and they charged 35, and they maybe broke 1000 people, why? Because it is INCREDIBLY expensive to rent out buildings and hotels.

Now onto the question

Granted I’m probably a couple years out from being able to do what I want, but thought I might as

well start early hearing what people find to be in error or a failure of cons. What could cons be doing

better? What are some event ideas you wish cons would do? Who are some VA’s we never seem to see

east of the Ohio / Mississippi? Within reason, what’s your ideal con look like?

Sound off!

I have 3 things I wish cons would do.

1. Make sure the staff is on the same page.

This has always been my biggest complaint, some cons can pull it off marvelously (like Matsuricon) others just have no idea.

I’d like to think that before gate, and or the day before, that the main dude and all the staff could get in a skype session or in person and say “Look, lines need to be like THIS, and like THIS”, When someone asks THIS stereotypical querstion THIS is the answer, now obviously you can’t account for everything, but I’d like to see more well oiled machines.

2. A mix of new and old voice actors.

I’d say when you make a website for the con, and inevitably make a forum (or a facebook group or whatever), ask people who they want to see, and then look at the less popular answers (or maybe some of your own personal ones) and then budget out.

I think that’s honestly one of the reasons we ever only see LA voice actors out east at like Otakon is because the end has to justify the need.

You definitely don’t want to only have old voice actors, but on the same token, you don’t only want new.

One of the things I think more smaller cons (or just cons in general should do) is get more single show casts and use that as kind of like the theme of the con. For instance, Chibi Pa is getting Matt and Petrea, so they are running with the Tenchi theme.

So lets say you get your J. Michael Tatums, and your Todd Haberkorns, but the THEME of the voice actors, could be getting 3 or 4 voice actors from an older show like Slayers, and then using that as the theme, you still get the people coming for the new guys, but you are also having older voice actors who don’t always showing up, and still not making it exclusive to either.

Oh and

3. Don’t jampack 1 day with everything, and then the next 2 days are fluff

Granted, this will be somewhat subjective to the person, and maybe its a crossover of same con organisers, but both Matsuricon and Ohayocon this year were EXTREMELY busy (and awesome) on Friday, and while I do believe in putting your best foot forward, I left early-ish on Saturday because there was just not anything as nearly as good on Saturday, and Sunday was just small anyway.