Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sac-Anime Summer 2009 First Post-Con Impressions

I would love to write everything up about Sac-Anime right now, but I'm too tired to do any major work to get it out. However, I should have most of the material out this week, just not right now.
But, I will say that this con did have both its advantages and disadvantages. It was a good con for what was offered (especially the gaming room which had it crackin' the whole weekend and meeting the guests of honor is always a fun moment), but the con got swamped at times - the keyword that's been thrown around the social networking sites is "clusterfuck" - narrow aisles clogged up, attendees walking a small space between attendees lining up for panels and the Masquerade & Artist Alley tables. Throw in some good ol' hotel trashing and some announcements and it'll sure to give people second opinions.
I share both - good times, but bad timing.

1 comment:

  1. Have to agree with your initial impressions. This was our second Sac-Anime, having attended the Winter '09 event when it was at the Scottish Rite Temple. We thought that one was overcrowded and were excited when we heard it was moving to the Radisson, thinking that would be more spacious. Boy were we surprised to see the almost hourlong line stretching out to the parking lot and winding through the front lobby and restaurant to the registration tables. Worse, we'd bought our tickets in advance and didn't realize we didn't have to stand in that long line, as there were no signs making it clear until you got to the reg table! Parking was the pits, as it always has been at the Radisson. We had to park at a nearby shopping center.

    People were very well behaved, but that was a miracle given the close quarters and very hot day. I can't imagine that cramming so many people into those rooms was safe. Thank heaven there were no emergencies requiring an evacuation. It was difficult to truly appreciate the many interesting displays and vendor booths because there was always someone waiting for you to move so they could get by.

    We bought tickets for the five of us in February, so we spent only $50 on admission. If I'd had to spend full fare on Saturday to deal with those crowds, I don't think I would have been too happy.

    Good to see that Sac-Anime is growing so rapidly and that people are supporting the show, but their success may be their Achilles heel. Next time they may have to consider renting out someplace like Arco Arena that has the capacity to handle the crowds. Unless they get the crowd problem under control, I don't know that my family and I will be back, which is too bad. There are probably others who feel the same.

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