Matthew's FanimeCon 2014 Report: Part 1 - Prologue

In reality, this report should start all the way back after the end of FanimeCon 2011.

This was back when I was at my wit’s end financially. I barely scratched by that year and I could not attend the following year because of said financial woes and the year after that because of graduation at Sacramento State. I opted at the time to instead go to Anime Expo that year and gear up for 2014 when the construction would be complete on this convention’s 20th anniversary.

Then came the first Monday of February when Fanime registration opened up. There was the announcement that those who had bought a badge would be eligible to book a hotel room the following Monday, the 10th. While this was done to discourage ghosting and scalpers, this method was shutting out those who are “non-membered attendees” like press, industry, artists that would conduct business at Artist’s Alley, panelists, and so forth. In the coming days, discussions about what would happen to people like us who didn’t have a badge number because our registration happened later but wanted to book a room with no intention of ghosting or scalping. Eventually, the convention reversed its decision and opened it up to everyone once again.

Come that Monday, it really did feel like The Hunger Games and Battle Royale out there. The website crashed twice; people that took to the phones instead to book were met by long hold times, busy tones, or disconnections if one didn't call within the first five minutes. When the dust finally cleared, I was holding a Marriott room from Friday to Monday. While there was no Thursday night/Day Zero, I was satisfied with the result and called Fanime Housing the next day to be placed on the waitlist for that day.

At least I had a room. Eventually my waitlist was granted and I now held a full Day Zero to Monday room.

As the months passed with no website or significant announcements from any front, people started to doubt if this “by fans, for fans” convention had lost its touch. Many were not satisfied with the results and the timing the convention presented. Others noted that this has been their shtick, citing that the band FLOW was announced two weeks prior to FanimeCon 2010 to an arousing success.

Regardless, once the infomation started flowing in the convention began to click right on schedule as everyone expected. But even then, there were some questions going into Day Zero that would be answered very quick...

-Prologue End-