Hits: Um...the mall connected, plenty of food around, plenty of places to chill. 24-hour Shaws. No need to ever go outside.

Misses: Everything else.

Enjoy your 12-hour registration lines.

Last year made the con infamous for ridiculous registration times (Like, 7-10 hours, no exaggeration).

I've always had fun there, let's just hope they pull their shit together.

Heads up, they're already having reg problems again this year. Months away from the con. Because the reg-head is too stuck up to accept people's offer for help to run reg, so as long as she's still in charge, it will keep sucking

Pre-register and you won't have a problem. I only had to wait for like 4 minutes at AB last year.

>>1592714
me too, went on Thursday night, and picked up my badge in like 20 mins.
I enjoyed it,last year was my first. Walking around and taking pictures was great, and the game room too!
Pros- people, food, costumes, comics, music and video games
Cons- Annoying people yelling out "you lost the game" and of course all of those damn L cosplayer

Worst con on the east coast fo showa! Staff sux, convention center sux, the hotel is way over priced along with everything else in the area. Do yourself a favor and go to one of the other 3 cons that weekend; animazement, anorth or fanime.

Pros: Its a pretty good con for the upper east coast. Get some big name guests. Good hotel. Plenty of food options. Big artist alley.

Cons: Staff are less than steller. Beyond the big names, the events are rather lacking. The head of the Reg department sucks. Like, straight up. Reg will be another nightmare this year.

Pros: Shaw's and Wendy's
Cons: registration lines, /b/tards, nothing to do, and more lines for ANYTHING you want to do

But... still going this year. Hope is always there.

>>1592811
why didn't the head of registration resign after the shitfest last year?

>>1592841

Because she's a cunt who thinks she's hot shit.

Thankfully they got rid of Lauren Goodnight as masquerade MC, which means the masquerade won't be as painful this year.

That's a lie. Lauren's still doing one more year.

AB = awesome con. After 5 years without any major problems, they had one reg fuck up last year. Big freaking deal. Won't stop me from going.

>>1592612
Newsflash. A problem so overriding as all of registration can't just be heaped on one person who happens to be the head. AB just happens to be a shittily staffed and run con in general, no matter who's running point on Reg.

>>1593042
that's not a newsflash, that's a shitty lame attempt at defending an idiot who should obviously resign due to incompetence.

buy your ticket in advance
and be ready to apply palm to face if that crazy fat red headed lady is ever given a microphone
the mall in the con center is pretty fun when you consider that the people shopping there have no clue what anime even is

>>1593067
I wasn't defending shit. The reg head is as responsible for the con's fuckups as anyone else. But to put all the blame on one person and not recognize that the whole staff is a piece of shit and does a bad job running the convention as a whole is sticking your own head up your ass in ignorance.

I've been twice, had fun both times. Minus the cluster fuck that was the cosplay chess last year. Decent masquerade save the duck hunt skit that was just amazing.
Just pre reg and avoid the "formal" ball and you'll have a good time.

>>1593500
One more thing to add, the The Pillows concert more than made up for any problems I had.

AB ah, good times. I am looking forward to this year, and have already preregistered. I was one of the few lucky enough to not get caught in the line fiasco last year (i showed up so early that it didnt effect me).

What to expect? Bring a camera and plenty of money. I usually spend most of my time either hunting for good cosplay or skulking the dealers room for sweet stuff. some of the more popular panels fill up quickly so plan ahead.

my main nitpicks about the event are lack of real japanese industry influence. most of the guests there will be staff from the dubs, with a few exceptions. and yeah, I was annoyed by the whole "lost the game" conga line last year. I also miss the 4chan panel from 2007, shit was so cash. it was like /b/, except everyone was there in person.

If you are going to be standing in a line for 9000 hours make sure you bring plenty of water and a collapsible chair or something.

>>1593523 it was like /b/, except everyone was there in person.

that sounds like the shittiest time ever. you must be retarded.

>>1593017
not what I heard.

I've gone every year for the past few and have had a pretty good time.

I'm not a big panel person so unless I'm in love with the guest speaker I don't go, so it's usually a combination of hang out with friends, Adult Dating Game, Masquerade, Dealer's Room, and peruse the halls for stellar cosplay.

The line thing was horrible, but since I pre-reg'd I only had to wait 3 hours as opposed to the 10 1/2 my friends did, making them miss me in the Dating Game last year. Shit sucked.

It sucks that just because the lines were out of control 1 YEAR the entire con is getting a bad rep.

>>1592836
I'm fucking Produce at that shaws. Open 24/7 for emergency snacks/mixers fuck year

My fiancee has been going to Anime Boston since 2003. I just moved to Boston last year so 2008 was my first AB and I was SEVERELY disappointed. We were in line for 10 hours on Friday, so we missed an entire day, including Brad Swaile, who I was really excited to see. It REALLY sucked because we weren't going on Sunday since it was Easter (great scheduling btw) so we really only got one day out of it.

We're going again this year but definitely gonna pre-reg, hopefully there won't be any more crippling problems. I know on Saturday a lot of the dealers we talked to were pissed because they missed out on a lot of potential sales from the day before.

>>1593756
A good con has bad lines 0 years.

And honestly, the bad rep is not just because of the lines. It's how they handled it. Turning people away who waiting for 10 hours, saying reg was closed, really AB? Not just that, but very rude staff in general. I saw more power tripping at that con than I've seen in the entire Boston Police Force.

>>1593756
if it wants its rep back they will need to have super fast lines this year. look at AX. They had HORRIBLE lines in 2007 (though nothing compared to AB, most people only waited 4-6 hours in line) and received thousands of complaints, so what did they do? they fixed their reg system. people only had to wait 5 min in line in 2008.

if AB is smart, they will fix the reg situation so that people only need to wait in line for 5 min, but I doubt they will be smart. it's going to be line con yet again.

>>1593421
wrong. the whole staff is shit indeed but you can't just fire them all. and only one person was responsible for the stupid idea of having so few computers. that being the reg head. so fire the fucking idiot and fix the situation.

when a sports team does terrible, what do they do? they fire the coach.

>>1593796
I know they switched out a lot of staff last year, so that was a big factor in the registration. Also I know they got rid of the old game room administrator Lee, no more fat blobs sitting up on the stage eating, watching youtube, and doing nothing all day.
Lets hope AB is a little better than last year,with more green ranger!

>>1592979
THEY GOT RID OF THAT DUMB BITCH?!

Hell yeah I'm going to AB this year!

When you have a colossal failure in the reg line, you flush the system. You start with the head and keep replacing people until you reach people who had no power to do things differently. It's not about fault, it's about making sure it doesn't happen again.

AB is full of staff in a never-ending pissing contest. It's amazing AB can function at all since half the staff is only worried about screwing over another staff member.

Lauren Goodnight? More like GOODBYE. She's not MC in 2009. Praize Allah!!

AB is in the best location ever though. You have a whole mall, cheap food, expensive food if you want it, a 24/7 grocery store, and a really sweet hotel and convention center (don't go if you're a poorfag). It's a really yuppie mall, so you have all these wanna-be classy people in their 40s wondering if the apocolypse is coming when they see kids in punk wigs and booty shorts.

>>1593835

I agree whole heartedly on that. The location for AB couldn't be better, but they're wasting so much of that by having such catty staff members. I mean, you'd hardly believe the things I've seen behind the scenes at AB. And don't get me started on registration. I simply cannot understand the rationale for keeping the reg of last year's reg on for another year. Her system clearly did not work, but they're keeping her on anyway to protect her 'feelings'? Bullshit.

OH, and by the way. Anyone else remember how the AB Forums were censored of negative posts following last years incident? Real smooth move there.

I'm going this year. Already pre-reg'd and all that good shit. Didn't go last year, I wouldn't have liked the "line ride", but they tried something new last year and it fucked up. I'm sure it'll go a lot smoother this year.

I worked on staff for like 2 years. And in 2007, there was some serious fucking drama(especially with video game staff), so I'm happy I won't be involved this time.

And fuck yes! that bitch Lauren won't be there this year, I might actually go to the Masquerade.

>>1593835
AB's staff is one big dramafest.

Don't fucking register, cosplay as hotel staff member
Every person I met at Anime Boston was either a really stuck up asshole or a fucking mental case
also there is no FUCKING reason reg should be that high. give me a fucking break. I'm not fucking getting anything out of it. reg should be $20 absolute max. This whole fucking convention is a money making scheme.
Also people need to learn how to take a fucking joke at anime boston. There was a sign in front of the press room that said "press" I stood there pressing it for some time and all I got were people confused at what I was doing, offended by it in some unknown manner, trying to fight me, suggesting another joke which doesn't even make sense and staff trying to escort me

Anime Boston is shit don't go, just fuckin get as many cool people as you can around the area and hang out with yourselves rather than go through the lameass shit that is everything AB has to offer

>>1593878
>also there is no FUCKING reason reg should be that high. give me a fucking break. I'm not fucking getting anything out of it. reg should be $20 absolute max. This whole fucking convention is a money making scheme.

As convention organizer, I have to say WHAT THE FUCK. You have hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills and YOU try to come to a price point to PAY for it. You don't like the price or think its too much? DON'T GO, DUMBASS.

>>1593878
agreed. we need to protest AB.

>>1593882

The New England Anime Society (the organization that runs AB and a few other events in the upper north east) has more than enough money. Hell, they footed the bill for the incredible waste of time/money that was PAC.

Granted, I'm not saying that charging 20 dollars is something AB should do, but I'm just throwing in a little perspective.

how many people go to anime boston?
I'm just guessing maybe 20,000 give or take, correct me if you know otherwise. So each person pays $40 or more on average (isn't it like $30 prereg and $50 day of or somethin?) Also assuming that the people who run the con aren't poor idiots that don't have any funding lets toss in $100,000 and then whatever vendors pay and other fees. That means this con generates approximately one million dollars just from reg alone.

>>1593888
12k+

Right now until the 18th of February its 35 pre-reg. And 50 at the con. I think one day passes are 30.

>>1593892
errt wrong:

Anime Boston 2007:
April 20-22, 2007

Location: John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center / Sheraton Boston Hotel
Total pre-registered: 5,112
Total attendance: Exactly 11,500 people total
Turnstile attendance: 27,658 total, 26,593 paid
Guests: 16 North American, 4 Japanese
Exhibitors: 57 vendors, 346 dealer badges
Panel programming: TBA
Video programming: TBA
Artists' Alley spaces sold: 194 spaces in about 2 minutes
Anime Music Video Contest entries: 78 entries (30 finalists)
Charity Auction results: $9,274 raised for the Central New England Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Records:*
Largest anime convention in the northeast United States

Turnstile attendance is when people reg for just a day or weekend. For what this con has to offer, it isnt worth it at all.

>>1593878
You are such a fucking whiner. If you registered before the new year, it's $35 for ONE PERSON. Group registration's likely cheaper than that. Anime North's registration is more expensive than that, for christ's sake. If you can't even afford REGISTRATION, why do you even go to cons?

It isn't I can't afford it, it's why would I want to spend $35-$50 to walk around dressed up as someone where everyone is neurotic and doesn't want to talk to anyone they don't know, sit in overcrowded rooms, wait in long lines to do anything, watch really, really, really, REALLY bad panels like kareoke and bullshit painting or some shit that is worthless I could learn better from a first grade teacher, see really ugly people underdressed, meet really pretty people who are pricks of the earth and generally NOT ENJOY MYSELF AT ALL FOR AN ENTIRE DAY

>>1593915
I reiterate:

Why the fuck do you even go to cons if you hate them that goddamn much?

If they're such a waste of your ~*~precious time~*~ maybe you should find something to do other than being that one bitter, jaded asshole at cons who goes around doing stupid shit to ruin everyone else's experience.

>>1593915
All big cons cost that much. Otakon, Anime North, ACen and probably a whole shitload of others are 45-50 bucks for the whole weekend

>>1593915
because you're a masochist. Now enough of your bullshit.

>>1593919
Preach it, my azn brother!!

Actually I'm not planning to go this year because I went the last two years. My experience was the same and it sucked bad. I wasn't bitter and jaded during these conventions I tried to have fun. I didnt'.
People like yourself are douche bags but ultimately I have to thank you for finalizing my choice not to go because of people like you.
I don't see you saying, well yeah but hey! This was fun, try to do this next time! Or the last cons must have sucked for you, why don't you give it another shot because of ____. Because there is no ____. Anime Boston blows plain and simple.

>>1593803
No, you fucking moron. You gut the organization and rebuild. Proving you don't watch sports. Bravo.

>>1593937
You know who watches sports? Faggots. Faggots watch sports.

Least the convention has authentic Japanese cuisine. Saku Japan. I like my sober noodles with orange soder because they have the same name as I was told by sensei Gerald that works there.

>>1593899
http://www.animecons.com/news/article.shtml/800

bring a sharpie so that when you are waiting in line you can write snarky comments and overused memes on the tape on the floor. makes the 6+ hour wait flyyyy by.

>>1593869
ah ha ha, yes game room drama!
1 name Supreet,I've heard the stories

>>1594044
Yeah thats the guy who stole that kids Wii. Funny shit.

>>1594044
yep yep. Didn't do a fucking thing the whole weekend for the game room. Everyone else did all the work.

>>1593953

Random fact. The Author of that article (Patrick D) is a real character in real life. 'Course most of that could be because he's like 6' 9".

>>1594132
that guy is a douchebag

>>1594191

Yah, kinda. I like this cosplays generally though. He's got a very good Renamon.

I'm going this year but I can't say that I'm totally looking forward to it. I was planning on doing both the Hall Cosplay and the Masquerade but due to a ruling you can't participate in both. I'm doing one but I'm not happy that at what AB claims to be the biggest con of the Northeast, I can't do both when I can both at any other damn con.

I'll see how the lines fare this year I know I won't be happy if I get stuck waiting for an eternity.

>>1594357

Yeah it's total bullshit how a person can't enter both hall and masq. AB is seriously fucked up in a lot of ways.

Connecticon is better IMO, not as big but the people are definitely nicer and things tend to run more smoothly

lines, lines and fucking long lines...

>>1594509
I could get if they didn't want the same costume winning both contests, but I could bring two different costumes so there wouldn't be that problem. But I guess they're just being stupid about it.

>>1594525

CTcon is fucking boring, half of the cosplay panel the panelist didn't show up and a majority of the time We spent looking for something to do other than nothing.

>>1592612
Win: The mall, Shaws (Which me and Soni raided within minutes of meeting each other), Epic food court, and personally I like the little maze-esque way it's laid out.

Miss: Fuckall expensive hotels. DON'T STAY IN THE MARIOTT. I swear they are like Nazi Germany. After 10 if you don't have a room card, they don't let you access the upper floors. Also that was the hotel with the so-called "party block." Which meant nothing. They confiscated booze and kicked people out. Moving on...Parking is hell in that area. What was the Cheep-e lot in 2006-2007 became expensive as fuck in 2008, $25 bucks a night. And parking on the surrounding streets is resident only.
Honestly Anime Boston wasn't bad to me until 2008. 06 and 07 were fun. Hopefully 09 will be good again.
Oh yeah and the weather last year was shit. Tornado winds practically. I'm glad it's back in May.

>>1594840
Yeah, the weather was pretty crappy, I literally got most of my costume ripped off by the wind when I went out for a smoke. Line con was pretty crappy, I kinda felt like I got jipped a day. But other than that, I had a good time.

I'm not gonna be there this year :(
I'm in basic training and tech school from April 6th to August 20th so I miss both AB and CTcon. Fortunately I'm going to NYAF for the first time so we will see how that turns out.

The reg head is a stinking drunk, that's why it sucks. All she ever does is get totally sloshed and it's embarrassing

>>1594918
>Unfortunately I'm going to NYAF
Fix'd

>>1594092
the drama that followed,he's banned 4 life I heard

>>1595197
Is it really that bad?