AAC 2006: A Mini Review

[Momiji-k]

Well AAC (Another Anime Con) 2006 was what I would concider a success. I was vending there this weekend and it was a little tight has far as competition in the dealers room goes, but we did ok despite the fact.

The last count they had was 531 attendees, not another first year like Anime Boston but a smashing success in it's own right. Those are some respectibly high numbers for a first year con.

Cam Clarke was rather elusive the whole weekend. His panels on Saturday were rather early in the morning and he seemed to be suffering from Jet Lag so they didn't happen.

It became the impossible quest all weekend for me to hunt him down so I could meet him but it finally happened. Sunday with just an hour to go in the dealers room (thankfully it was actually dead in there by this time) he finally made his appearence before the fans.

It was a great panel! Because of the size of the crowd we turned it into a round circle discussion. Cam and Greg finley talked about experiences as a voice actor and were both quite entertaining.

Cam is my favorite voice actor with David Hayter right behind him. Cam did voices for many of my favorite characters when I was a kid and teenager. Leonardo from Ninja Turtles (the original) would be my favorite voice he did. He was also the voice of Max and Lancer from Robotch which are also voices I liked very much. He's done many other voice too numerous to list.

Greg Finley was the voice of Captain Gloval in Robtech and was also a joy to meet. He did a wonderful job portraying the stoic captain. In person he is a great personality and really fun to talk too. As was Cam Clarke (once you could find him).

In closing AAC had a lot of bumps to smooth out but is on it's way to bigger and greater things. I just wish they weren't the same time of year as Bakuretsu Con or I would be on staff.

[demonseed Profile]

Ugh, what did I miss? I hate to say I didn't enjoy this con at all. I paid for all weekend (thankfully on one night for a hotel room) and I was gone by noon Sat. I didn't feel like there was alot to do. Especially with no alot of panels to choose from. If this makes sense, all the panels I saw are what you'd usually see in workshops at other cons and those are the panels I am least likely to go to. Unfortunetly, I probably won't go next year, with is too bad with being close to where I live and it's a good time of the year, when no other con is going on.

[Momiji-k]

Well, like I said, for me it was a good con from my perspective. I had a successful weekend as a dealer and I met my childhood voice actor icon (I(I so worshipped him and kind of still do). So that was really all it took.

If you take away the Cam factor and if I had not done so well as a dealer I honestly don't know what I would have thought. Likely that this was not a good con for me (since I HATE loosing money. Doesn't everyone?).

It still is a major ass pain that we are so close to them in date. They are only about a month from us and a three hour drive so that makes things tight for people who want to do both.

[dokool Profile]

Ugh, what did I miss? I hate to say I didn't enjoy this con at all. I paid for all weekend (thankfully on one night for a hotel room) and I was gone by noon Sat. I didn't feel like there was alot to do. Especially with no alot of panels to choose from. If this makes sense, all the panels I saw are what you'd usually see in workshops at other cons and those are the panels I am least likely to go to. Unfortunetly, I probably won't go next year, with is too bad with being close to where I live and it's a good time of the year, when no other con is going on.

If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't happy with the panel situation at all, and I was staff! Panels are one of my favorite parts of cons, so I was incredibly dissapointed with how things ended up.

Of course, I know it does you no good for me to say this, but there's also a lot that happened behind the scenes, organization-wise - trust me when I say that it could have turned out a lot worse if not for a few dedicated staffers who pulled together to make it happen. That said, none of our mistakes were a surprise, if that makes any sense - we know what we did wrong and planning is already in the works to iron things out next year. Even if it left a bad taste in your mouth this year, I'd say wait and see what we have in store next year before you make a decision viz. attending.

[PatrickD Profile Website]

If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't happy with the panel situation at all, and I was staff! Panels are one of my favorite parts of cons, so I was incredibly dissapointed with how things ended up.

Yes, for example, the panel coordinator asked me what I'd need for my panel and I told him I'd need a projector. When I arrived at the room, I discovered that not only was that missing, but there weren't even any chairs. As a result, there were no people either. I would have gone on with the panel if I had two of the three (projector/people/chairs), but without any of those three, I just left to find something to eat.

I was pleased that the same panel at Bakuretsu Con had all three. ...and the number of people increased as the panel went on, undoubtedly from people looking to get a good seat for Whose Line.

[Momiji-k]

I am glad that we were able to provide you with not only 2 but 3 of the required elements to run a successful panel.

And I can't wait to see the "Who's Line?" footage. I heard it was a riot!

[dokool Profile]

If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't happy with the panel situation at all, and I was staff! Panels are one of my favorite parts of cons, so I was incredibly dissapointed with how things ended up.

Yes, for example, the panel coordinator asked me what I'd need for my panel and I told him I'd need a projector. When I arrived at the room, I discovered that not only was that missing, but there weren't even any chairs. As a result, there were no people either. I would have gone on with the panel if I had two of the three (projector/people/chairs), but without any of those three, I just left to find something to eat.

I was pleased that the same panel at Bakuretsu Con had all three. ...and the number of people increased as the panel went on, undoubtedly from people looking to get a good seat for Whose Line.

Yeah - I'm not going to apologize for Tim but I recognize a screwup when I see it. I know I won't be running Video Programming next year, but I may ask to run Panel Programming instead (or at least assist), so perhaps if I end up doing that I'll be begging you to give us another shot

[demonseed Profile]

I guess I shouldn't of been too hard with it being the con's first year. I can see things only getting better. I'll definitely be checking the web site to see what is up with next year's con.

[Gene_Starwind_ Profile]

Well, like I said, for me it was a good con from my perspective. I had a successful weekend as a dealer and I met my childhood voice actor icon (I(I so worshipped him and kind of still do). So that was really all it took.

If you take away the Cam factor and if I had not done so well as a dealer I honestly don't know what I would have thought. Likely that this was not a good con for me (since I HATE loosing money. Doesn't everyone?).

It still is a major ass pain that we are so close to them in date. They are only about a month from us and a three hour drive so that makes things tight for people who want to do both.

Actually, YOUR Con is the Three Plus Hour Drive! As for Panels at AAC, there was SO much to do OTHER than Panels that I hardly had ANY Time to go to any! With Catch the Barrel and the Other Fun Things going on, how could you NOT have had Fun?