[Kunai]

AMV- One category rendered? You had all day to realize you didn't have a final copy (and there should have been several backup copies), so instaed of re-rendering the files which you should have done, you decide to get everyone inside and say oops. Sadly for those who watched the rest of the AMVs on Sunday morning, they found Skittles was the best AMV shown. Not that it mattered too much since NO ONE COULD VOTE but the creators.

SOS signing- 100 people or 1 hour of people? Nobody knows! Those of you who waited for several hours were told to deal with it.


AX Idol- After sitting through endless plugs for something Johnny Bosch is in, the finalists were thrown on stage with no direction and hurried off to make way for a Momoi concert that I had no intention of watching. Also, having Johnny being cocky on stage insulting every finalist wasn't very enjoyable either. And he also looked really pissed when he was told his band wouldn't be performing. Also, the singing winner was questionable, even she didn't believe she should have won. Then, they end with a Momoi concert as if the one on Sunday wasn't enough.

SKIN Concert- Starting nearly two hours late, some people had paid $50 for tickets and then AX gave away the rest (ironically the tickets given away were even better seats).

Registration- It's nice to be inside an airconditioned building when you're waiting for 4 hours, instead of outside in the sun and dodging traffic.

Dealer Hall- How do I get back to Artist Alley? I have to walk half a mile?! No thank you.

Masquerade- Everything went downhill after starting on time. Nearly half of all entries were not ready when tech decided to start playing audio, and after sitting through a martial arts demonstration that I was promised was "not the same as last year" (which it was, but had pirate and ninja jokes inbetween) I watched as no one on stage knew who won. As they rushed through, they even announced some winners wrong.

Transformers- Some woman yelled at people for standing up in their seats while they were still letting people in, threatening to not show the movie because of this. This was especially irritating after people were in the sun for 6 hours only to be cut in front of by exhibitors. There was even a woman who fell over due to heat exhaustion, after which a staff member then offered to sell her a bottle of water for $3.

This post has been edited by Kunai: 02 July 2007 - 05:52 PM

[Fate_Saber]

Just read a post by a board member who paid his admission, waited 6 hours and ended up missing all the events he/she planned to participate because of the wait.

This is really sad...

[CLAMPfrog]

I agree with the original poster.

I have many reasons why this AX was disappointing for me personally, and Ill go into detail later. I just wish that I could somehow get a refund and change my Four-Day pass to a One-Day pass. But there are no rules that allow that.

Im just hoping that I get to watch Transformers tomorrow. Thatll make the monetary investment worth it.

[toyCrackFiend]

Kunai, on Jul 1 2007, 01:28 PM, said:

SKIN Concert- Starting nearly two hours late, some people had paid $50 for tickets and then AX gave away the rest (ironically the tickets given away were even better seats).

Registration- It's nice to be inside an airconditioned building when you're waiting for 4 hours, instead of outside in the sun and dodging traffic.

Dealer Hall- How do I get back to Artist Alley? I have to walk half a mile?! No thank you.

These are my main beefs I had this year. Especially the SKIN concert, except I cannot complain where I was seated ((it was perfect)). Another thing, the main reason I spent $50 was to avoid lines. Premiere meant no lines, that was what I was informed by staff.
I do not tan. I am burnt bad, I haven't been this burnt in years. I miss waiting inside away from the sun. Umbrellas and sun screen could not save me.

[xtenshinoutax]

yeah...it's honestly the worst and the most disorganized expo ever... TOO MUCH WAITING UNDER THE SIZZLING SUN!!!!~ >.< i don't like Long Beach Convention Center at all...everything is too spread apart and there's like no short cuts to get to places faster...I hated to have to walk back and forth between the arena and the exhibit hall. Waste of time and energy!

[Amara]

Well, I really don't mean to sound mean or anything, since I absolutely LOVE AX... but I really really really prefer the Anaheim Convention Center compared to the Long Beach one. I mean, the ACC was SO much easier to navigate, everything was fairly organized in the exhibit hall, whereas in the LBCC it seems like everything's just kinda stuck in random places. XD

And I was just kinda wondering... how come they had all those exit signs lit when they wouldn't let you use them as exits? It made it really hard just to get OUT of the exhibit hall. XP

This post has been edited by Amara: 01 July 2007 - 05:46 PM

[Hika Yagami]

I totally agree. It took me and my mom 2 days to figure out how to get from the Main Event room to the other part of the convention center without wearing ourselves out. I bet we walked at least 7 miles a day . I agree that Anaheim was a lot better.

This post has been edited by Hika Yagami: 01 July 2007 - 05:11 PM

[nemuiwanko]

My first time at AX.... and well I'm mainly disappointed with the fact that the SOS Brigade autograph session was cancelled on Saturday.... I waited a few hours... got sunburned, then decided to wait again on Sunday which was held at 11am close to a concert I was going to head to. Turns out, that right before the session started, they decided to announce a cutoff... so a lot of people including me did not get an autograph. I bet a lot of us waited for over 6+ hours, only to get some sunburn as a form of our reward. As this is the first AX, it has scarred me x-X especially with the pre-reg lines, when I only wanted to pick up a badge holder. Standing 2 hours in the sun, and only budging a bit in the parking lot >_O I did some exploring to find another line... and then my friend decided to do some exploring and found out the eventually they opened up a badge holder pickup line which saved some time.

This convention has yet to end, but I feel enough pain as the burn is pulsating on my face >___O;;

This post has been edited by nemuiwanko: 01 July 2007 - 05:42 PM

[Kyung]

Convention's over for me an' my group. None of us really wanted to stick around much longer at expo this year, to be honest...

The horrible time management, organization and numerous ill-mannered an' uninformed staff made this expo the most unenjoyable experience outta the six years I've attended. Not a single event we attended started on time... Massive lines were horribly managed and detouring around the convention center, while good exercise, got real old real quick. Any type of shortcut was blocked off by staff personnel, who weren't keen on helping those in need of some directional guidance.

AX was a very big disappointment this year. Boo...

[bishou]

I am glad to see it wasn't just me. Someone even swindled me and a group of people I was forced to stay with out of a lot of cash, and honestly that was a bad way to start the trip. I really really really hope it's back in Anaheim next year.

[starcade]

Kunai, on Jul 1 2007, 01:28 PM, said:

AMV- One category rendered? You had all day to realize you didn't have a final copy (and there should have been several backup copies), so instaed of re-rendering the files which you should have done, you decide to get everyone inside and say oops. Sadly for those who watched the rest of the AMVs on Sunday morning, they found Skittles was the best AMV shown. Not that it mattered too much since NO ONE COULD VOTE but the creators.

One has to really wonder what the real need for AMV competitions is anymore if they can't get their act together and the people can't get creative (read the latter as: the comedy categories have gone to crap since Azumanga Daioh became so two years ago)...

Kunai, on Jul 1 2007, 01:28 PM, said:

AX Idol- After sitting through endless plugs for something Johnny Bosch is in, the finalists were thrown on stage with no direction and hurried off to make way for a Momoi concert that I had no intention of watching. Also, having Johnny being cocky on stage insulting every finalist wasn't very enjoyable either. And he also looked really pissed when he was told his band wouldn't be performing. Also, the singing winner was questionable, even she didn't believe she should have won.

Oh brother. Maybe time to just dump the whole AX Idol idea?

Kunai, on Jul 1 2007, 01:28 PM, said:

SKIN Concert- Starting nearly two hours late, some people had paid $50 for tickets and then AX gave away the rest (ironically the tickets given away were even better seats).

Registration- It's nice to be inside an airconditioned building when you're waiting for 4 hours, instead of outside in the sun and dodging traffic.

Dealer Hall- How do I get back to Artist Alley? I have to walk half a mile?! No thank you.

You could say that about any two points in the AX area.

Fact is simple: AX is too big and is going to have to be broken down. I mean that simply and plainly.

[SilentKnight]

This year was definitely poorly planned compared to previous years. My friends were all pretty pissed and reluctant to go for a second day because of lack of organization and various other things. I for one was fine since I managed to bide my time and stay occupied with random casual Tekken DR matches in the console gaming room (quite possibly the only thing that was decently organized.) but that's just me.

I seriously have to say that Anaheim is a much better place to hold the convention. For starters, it's near Disneyland (a common attraction for the youngsters) so the neighborhood's guaranteed to be much better than the one around Long Beach Convention Center.

Because Disneyland's nearby, there's also Downtown Disney for those who wish to hang out and chill after the day is over.

On top of all that, Anaheim Convention Center is not a maze, enough said.

[starcade]

SilentKnight, on Jul 1 2007, 10:06 PM, said:

I seriously have to say that Anaheim is a much better place to hold the convention. For starters, it's near Disneyland (a common attraction for the youngsters) so the neighborhood's guaranteed to be much better than the one around Long Beach Convention Center.

Because Disneyland's nearby, there's also Downtown Disney for those who wish to hang out and chill after the day is over.

On top of all that, Anaheim Convention Center is not a maze, enough said.

But does Anaheim WANT AX back?

[SilentKnight]

starcade, on Jul 1 2007, 10:21 PM, said:

But does Anaheim WANT AX back?

Did something happen with Anaheim last year?

[otakuflip]

SilentKnight, on Jul 1 2007, 09:35 PM, said:

Did something happen with Anaheim last year?

Nothing bad happened, I'm think. I know Anaheim would love to have AX there, 'cus I live there. AX brings a lot of revenue to the city because of the massive amount of people who attend the convention. I remember someone saying on the forums last year that the reason AX07 wasn't at ACC was because The Shriners (those people who wear those fez hats) reserved this weekend years in advance or something like that.

Hoping AX is at ACC next year.

btw. This year sucked ass. The only good thing about this year's AX was Oreskaband. They were awesome!

[ChibiInuBaka]

I totally agree with the whole exhibit hall layout...there were like 5 different exits, yet only 1 you can get out in....i mean why did you leave the doors open then?!?!

and another thing...the staff cut off all the shortcuts!!! and couldnt they atleast move the lines into shade!?!?!?!?!!?!?!

and another thing...I think everything was just really really cramped in....like everything was schedualed really badly and i ended up trying to choose between 2 different events and going to one...and then missing the next even because the line for the first event took soooo long....

AND WHY DID THE EXHIBIT HALL OPEN SO LATE ON FRIDAY?!!!!!!
Could'nt you have atleast moved the non-premire SKIN ticket line into shade instead of the sun!! I mean just because you bought tickets for $50 dollars doesnt really mean that they're better than others, and yet, they got to wait in the shade I swear!! Waiting in that line made me go through a stupid $5 lemonade, 3 bottles of water and made me loose my handcuffs for my cosplay...>_> (which i was up till 4 AM the day before making them...)

all i've got to say is....

THE BEST PART OF AX THIS YEAR WAS GETTING HIGH OFF OF BORDER'S COFFEE AND RUNNING AROUND LIKE MAD MEN OUTSIDE...seriously....

This post has been edited by ChibiInuBaka: 01 July 2007 - 09:52 PM

[KevRus]

Yeah, another group booked the date at ACC, so it couldn't be held there.

Here's to hoping it's there next year, or at least NOT at the LBCC next year...

[Astray]

I agree with all the gripes already stated. Thankfully I chose my battles well, and stayed clear of events that would be too stressful. I didn't even shop at Exhibit Hall this year.

My main suggestion would be screening staff/volunteers more thoroughly. I talked to at least 5 staffers to find the location of a autograph session, and no one could tell me. They had me check Exhibit Hall..which led me to walk around the entire convention center again because they blocked off the stairs leading back up from the main entrance. I really don't see how there can be so much confusion. The same information should be given to all the staffers, so they know what is going on. Create a website, increase pay, check references. Do something to ensure that the staff is actually helpful. I mean...are they being paid to sit outside each room, or are they paid to help attendees? The only staffers that even tried to help me were at the main info booth. Everyone else was, "eh man...dunno sorry, try asking uh...that guy over there!" ; sometime I wonder what the AX staff hiring process is like...

[Axa]

ChibiInuBaka, on Jul 1 2007, 10:50 PM, said:

Could'nt you have atleast moved the non-premire SKIN ticket line into shade instead of the sun!! I mean just because you bought tickets for $50 dollars doesnt really mean that they're better than others, and yet, they got to wait in the shade I swear!! Waiting in that line made me go through a stupid $5 lemonade, 3 bottles of water and made me loose my handcuffs for my cosplay...>_> (which i was up till 4 AM the day before making them...)

OHHHH trust me the premier ticket people didn't have it any different, since there was only one line. I bought mine through the email thing and I was still in the sun for the greater part of the time as we waited..of course it was worth it though.

[RasutoIbuki]

This was my fifth year here. I hate to say it but I agree with everyone else, this was the worst AX I have attended.

First off, our hotel is HORRIBLE and we're in a block hotel! I don't want to name my hotel but I can say that I've stayed at Motel 6's better than this. This isn't AX's fault, but, it started us off very shaky!

Second, the LBCC is the worst place to have this. The arena is great, but, the actual convention center is very small. I think there are only about 12 rooms to have panels in. The number of panels this year is laughable and many of the panels I usually go to are not here. The panels I did go to of course were packed in and uncomfortable. Actually, the entire Convention center was packed and uncomfortable. The Exhibit Hall is confusing and hard to navigate, I had an extremely hard time remembering where I had been and where I was going due to it's odd shape. I also feel awful for the people in Artist Alley, some of them appeared to be put in the Hyatt! Like the main con goers will go through there!

Third, the LBCC staff is worse than the ACC staff was last year after we upset them all! They wouldn't let us take the short ways, they wouldn't let us go out certain exits. I can only assume they didn't want us to exit the Exhibit Hall from other exits to force us into their cafe! Not to mention there was -no- food or drink allowed in the Exhibit Hall, but they had places to buy food and drink. Again, this was to force us to buy their outrageously expensive food. On that note, how cruel is it for them to stand us in the SUN for HOURS in line and bring by their medium sized glasses of lemonade for five dollars a piece! Of course we have to buy it, there's nothing else we can do!

I talked with my friends and fiance and we all agree that if this con doesn't go somewhere bigger next year we won't be back. I know the ACC is booked for the next 10 years by the AARP (at least, that's what the staff is telling me) but, I think that moving the convention to a new date so we can get the ACC back is a perfectly acceptable alternative.