hazelchaz | ..Do you remember how it all began, it just seemed like heaven, so why did it end?... (Reply)

Photos now online:
FanimeCon 2009 part 1: Over the Grapevine (21-May-2009) et seq.
FanimeCon 2009 part 8: Friday Morning (22-May-2009) et seq.

FanimeCon report part 1. We stopped three or four times going to Bakersfield. We picked up my shirts, bought a self-inking stamp to mark the postcards with a special "FanimeCon" discount, we went to The Tower where we met ladymaxstarr, stopped in Gorman for lunch at Carl's Jr. (and by this time we realized I'd right both of my phone chargers home) and in Bakersfield we stopped at Dewar's Candies and Ice Cream for about an hour. (left)

That day was the day that summoner_lenne9 was getting her high school yearbook, so even though she got out of school early we knew we'd be sitting around for a while during their book-signing frenzy. Dewar's was a nice place. My only regret is getting a complicated sundae rather than just savoring a scoop or two of the ice cream they make there.

We were northbound out of Bakersfield by about 3-something. We then stopped at the Coalinga-Avenal rest stop where Sarah opened up the graduation present that missmea made for her. (right) You can't see it clearly in the picture, but it's a scrunchy made with Nepalese sari wool that Maria had lying around. Sarah was especially touched, because her parents met in Nepal.

Lynn and I traded off driving all the way up to San Jose. We stopped in Gilroy for dinner, at Panera Bread. (We need a Gilroy Restaurant Guide -- anyone got one?)

And we made it into the Marriott/Convention Center parking garage by 9:00 pm, and saw Rob Miles (left) as soon as we got out of the car. Unpacked the car, and went to see what was going on for Day Zero.

On the drive up, Melissa had been working on finishing a scarf for Nikki. It was ready, we ran into Nikki in the Swap Meet (Gaming Room), and Nikki loved it. (right)

In fact, the Swap Meet and the Concourse in general was the place to meet lots of the usual suspects. We drive hundreds of miles to hang out with people we know from back home, such as magi_sammy, little_serenity, and SanjiCat (left).

Nikki and her boys helped me shop for some used PS2 video games, to get our video game equipment collection started. I ended up with 12 games that wouldn't be automatic if-you-sit-down-you'll-be-playing-for-two-hours time sinks. Thanks for the help!

We learned that FanimeCon has two kinds of advance registration: "Pre-Registration" and "Early Registration." The "Early" kind is later than the regular Pre-reg; pre-registered members get the fancier badges and can pick up their badges on Thursday, while "early" members can't pick up their badge until Friday morning.

Which is fine, their policies exist and should be clearly explained on signs so that "early" members don't wait in line for 40 minutes only to find out they can't participate in the swap meet. (Yes, someone we know was in that situation.)

Early Friday morning we went down to Registration, to see what was happening. We found that the at-con registration had a built-in bottleneck, to slow down how many people they could process at a time: a small number of computers to enter your data into. (right)

Leaving aside the bad ergonomics of the table-height with no chairs, their arrangement meant that the line would just get longer and longer. (left)

I was surprised that they had so few stations for data entry. We had more than that on Friday at animelosangeles, and FanimeCon's five times as big as our convention. I wonder why they didn't realize they'd need more computers? (And I wonder if they realized it there?)

Why do I bring this up? Because Registration is, or should be, a "solved problem" in my world. It's important to get Reg right, because a bad experience when you're picking up your badge will color your enjoyment of the entire convention. Good explanatory signage, and enough stations (both data-entry and badge-issuing) for the crowds expected, would go a long way towards improving FanimeCon's Registration -- both advance registration badge pick-up, and at-con membership purchases.

We went off-site, to buy peanut butter, jelly, and eight loaves of bread. We came back, got our badges, and headed down to Artist Alley.

Artist Alley setup was announced to run from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. We had a table there, and I was surprised to find that they had a line to get in -- and another line inside the room to get checked in. A very long line. (right)

They hadn't cleared the line by 1:00 pm, and in fact I don't think they were done with the artists before they started letting the public in at 2 o'clock. I think this is another example of a process not being scaled up -- they only had one person checking in artists, on one computer, and apparently hadn't figured out what they'd need to change when they decided to make this year's Artist Alley so much bigger than previous years'.

I was very glad to have Caitlin and Julia helping me, in addition to Sarah. They really pulled their weight. Artist Alley was open until 8:00 pm, so there were some long hours for us to man the table. They committed to working two two-hour shifts a day, which was just amazing. (left)

tenkuudragon also showed up and put in a lot of hours at the table. We were giving away postcards, selling memberships, giving away snacks, and selling badge ribbons to raise money for the ones we give away at the convention.

It was a good day for people-watching. We got to see a bunch of our friends in Artist Alley. For example, fairegoddess had a "Flo" costume, based on the "Progressive Insurance" tv ads. (right)

Speaking of people dressed up, Melissa was working on ion Ops and wore red and black -- something suitable for going clubbing in, really. Apparently some of her own friends didn't recognize her all dolled up... (left)

fabula_umbrae had a new haircut and an old costume: her mom's Star Trek uniform, complete with phaser, from Back In The Day, i.e. before she was born. I saw her when we went to dinner. (right)

After dinner, we came back and started setting up our Peanut Butter and Jelly Party on the concourse.

I took a picture just before the first sandwich was made. (left)

The reactions from the crowd were surprise, delight, and very sincere gratitude. Some of the sandwich-makers were really touched by being able to make themselves a free sandwich. (right)

The Peanut Butter and Jelly Party ran about three hours. I determined I really needed to have a "Free Snacks" sign -- just having the food out on the table wasn't enough to get people to notice us. If there were people making a sandwich, other people passing by figured out what was going on (or asked), but if there was nobody making a sandwich it wasn't obvious what the table was for. I really didn't expect it to take three hours to go through a hundred sandwiches!

One interesting thing that happened: someone came up and donated additional food to the table. In fact, it happened every night. The first night, it was a package of balogna, another of american cheese singles, and about half a loaf of white bread. Here you can see the donor making himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on balogna. (left)

I mentioned we were open for about three hours. I know this, because the first sandwiches were made at 11:47 pm and the last sandwich was made at 2:09 am. (right) I really hadn't planned to stay up this late!

By being out on the concourse so late, I did get to see a bunch of folks as they came back for dinner or went to the dance.

Such as travel_valenti. (left) Her report is up, by the way -- go check it out.

divine_sage and neo_serenity were having a bonding experience -- Carolyn's joined the ranks of the legal adults, so no 10:00 pm curfew for her anymore. (right)

Sheri "SanjiCat" Jordan was out late, too, in her red loli dress and with her dollfie. (left) We talked quite a bit -- she wanted to videotape me answering the question "Why did you start Animé Los Angeles?" The problem with that question is the answer is long and involved, and it's a speech I haven't figured out how to edit down into a manageable, YouTube-appropriate sound bite...