I only went friday, but it was dead. Huge space, no one in it. Their dealers hall list had looked decent on the website, but it looked like a lot of dealers left before I got there. :(

The only praise for it came from the fact that it was empty. The con chair still felt it fit to write his own over-the-top press release for each day of the con though

>>4678804
Wasn't friday the first day? Did dealers leave because there were no people?

>>4678804

"Kyle Galindo-Touches-Himself-And-DJ's-for-4-Other-People-Con"

>>4678821
ahahahahaha that is genuinely so sad

It had a 'small con feel' to it, which is just a cop out way of saying no one was there.

Pity that it was on the same days of AX. Would've drawn a lot more people if it was just before or after.

>>4678791
let's get this shit started

>am2

Chase Wang is saying 8000 uniques. ACML is laughing their asses off.

>>4678904
Unique smells maybe.

>>4678885
This is so sad.

>>4678885
oh my

I was there for an hour and my expectations where high. Ditched it for AX, but the problem here was really was that they where trying to be a BIG convention when in reality they where just a small convention. The area that the ACC gave it that it was a failure, but if they did it in a smaller convention area, say like at hotel that offers its basement level as a convention center, to hold their 8,000+ attendees then it would've felt like it was a success.

Another big reason I ditched AM2 is the fact that 90% of my friends where at AX, and I like to go to conventions for the socializing aspect of cons, so I gotta apologize to the 10% of friends that went to AM2 and I didn't see them, much, but I had to hang with more people and enjoy myself.

>>4678885
I'd rather go to a nearly empty con, really. A little of you con kids goes a long way. If I wanted to be in a crowd full of autistic adult-children, I'd go... well, I don't know where else to go to see that. You don't usually see large gatherings of social retards, immature brats, 'totally alpha' man-children, and whatever. I'm fucking tired of typing.

Waiting for the white knits and chase wang.

I didn't go, but everybody I talked to who went said it was fucking terrible.

>>4678974
They are called "Cosplay Gatherings." Go to Cos.com's Member Events and Gatherings page, you'll see plenty of man-children at those.

>>4678904
no way? Everything I've read so far makes it sound like this thing was a ghost town.
How do you even keep track of attendance when you aren't selling badges?

>>4679015
THAT'S SO SADDDDD

>>4679017
It's called Turnstile counting. When I was there if it was your first time, you had to walk thru the turn style. After that you can go thru the non-turnstile doors.

I went to AX... But then on Saturday I ditched AX to go to AM2 for one reason; Kanon Wakeshima. So after leaving AX and getting stuck in some annoying traffic when I got there I was laughing at how pitiful it was and proudly wore my AX badge so people knew where I traveled from. After I got seated and saw Kanon I left. Albeit there was a decent Mobil Suit cosplayer there. Pic related. While at AX I also heard a rumor about what the real deal behind AX was. Do any of you remember the drama behind the scenes at AX last year? The CEO offended Orange Range resulting in them not wanting to come to America as well as embezzling money resulting in his retirement from AX.Rumor has it that he started AM2 and had it run on the same days as AX to spite AX and by having good artists there he thought this would work... But AX is a mega monster anime convention so he stood not a chance. The fallback excuse was that they could not get a good time-slot and it "just so happened" that the only Anaheim CC time available was July 1st-3rd. So after hearing this I was very pleased with the failure of AM2.
tl;dr AM2 was a total failure.

I didn't go, but like others have said, the bunch of my friends that went to AM2 said it was terrible, and I figured it would be. You can't schedule your vendetta con at the same time as a giant well established con and expect a good turnout regardless of what's been going on with it.

I also heard there were problems with con staff at AM2. Anyone know if there's any truth to this? I was locked into AX because I paid for reg and a hotel room six months ago.

Chase Wang embezzled a lot of money and tried to steal AX industry and press contacts before Club2TheMax and AM2. His story about the Anaheim Convention Center not having the any other available open dates is a total fabrication. They only used half a hall and a few bigger meeting rooms. It was so small, you could've put AM2 in the hotel ALA uses and it'll still look empty.

It's probably bs, but I heard from one of my roomies that there was some old AX staff (now AM2), with their old badges on, going around and telling AX attendees about some events being canceled.

Did anyone have this happen to them when they inquired about events?

>>4679017

They counted bodies going in the main hall. Which is how they got to 8000. So figure maybe 1000 people who each went in 8 times? I was there, it was pretty sad.

Went to AX all Friday, then to AM2 saturday morning before heading home.

There was barely anyone there. I saw a few good cosplays though.

The only thing I liked better at AM2 was some of the merchandise was of older or more classic series that I didn't see when I scoured the exhibit hall at AX the day prior. I actually spent more money there.

>>4678821
I'll preface this by saying that I DID have fun at AM^2, but yeah those write-ups were pretty ridiculous.

>proves itself to the anime industry and convention fans with an amazing registration system which fans have a waiting period of under 20 minutes
...um... yeah...

Something about how they insisted on using Wang's full name every time made me lol.
>"...amazing set of Guests of Honors” states Chase Wang
>"...top notch Japanese bands and musical acts in the U.S.”, states Chase Wang
>“The night was electric” states Chase Wang
>“It is truly rewarding to see so many happy and smiling faces at our event,” states Chase Wang

I can just imagine him referring to himself in the third person as "Chase Wang" in regular conversation.

>>4678976
Here you go, some white knit.

>>4678974
So you're pretty much saying you don't like cons in general? Because you just described like every con ever.

Haha! If Chase Wang decides to copy PMX, that's just more proof that he's nothing but a dirty opportunist. Also, yes Cosplay Oneesan is very dead because Linda now runs Angelic Pretty USA. The last event she did was Fancy French at Fanime and we all know how that turned out. Over-promised and under-delivered just like AM2.

>>4678885
Yaoi man was at Am2 but not AX?

I hear there's gonna be an AM2 2012. I wonder how many dealers they'll have?

>>4679774
Oh good, another fucking year of emails like "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: There Will Be Food Trucks at AM2"

Both AX and AM2 have financial problems right now. Prove me wrong. So much corruption in both organizations.

only reason AM^2 was worth going it is because it's free.

If they put it after Comic Con but before ALA/PMX and got more venders, advertised more, LET AX FREAKING HELP THEM, it would be a great con.

But their retarded grudge fest with AX will be the death of them. Especially now that AX doesn't have to charge the dealers insane amounts to get their shit inside.

>>4681144

With the fuck huge amount of people I saw this year at AX, and with the amount of publicity that Miku concert generated, I highly doubt that they'll have money problems for a good 3-5 years.

>>4681165
I might as well have. None of my staff could make it/missed it and if I was a weaker person I probably would have cried and just cancelled it.

>>4681198

You're making assumptions they made enough money to last 3-5 years. You need to make better friends at con.

>>4681195

AX will not help AM2. See >>4679363

>>4681198
You misunderstand how much corruption goes on in the convention scene. All that money is too tempting.

Ex: Anime Punch, used con money to buy a big screen TV, SUV, pay for all their con trips, pay for all the alcohol they drink on a regular basis, etc.

>>4681668
Except AX did try to help Am^2 but they refused to accept it and acted like dicks towards AX.

I worked staff at Am2, and had a great time. The panels and events I went to were fun, and it was very much for the fans. I also don't know of any "staff problems" anyone's talking about, and I wasn't just a grunt.

AX seems to have become a "cosplayer" con now. I was at AX for a bit and I cosplayed from a decently well known series. A few people knew who I was, but 90% of the other cosplayers from the same damn show didn't know who I was. My boyfriend was cosplaying from a VERY well known show as the main character's love interest, and only 2 cosplayers from the series knew who he was. My friends had the same experience with the shows they were cosplaying from (they are all very talented and posted in here on occasion).

tl;dr AX is full of attention whore cosplayers who don't even watch the damn show/play the game of what they're cosplaying.

(in b4 HAY CHASE WANG)

>>4681791
uh... lemme stop you a bit there. While I'm glad you had your fun at AM2, taking shot at AX and their attendees do not help your con's PR image. If anything, your post there may or may not have further sunk down AM2's image than it already has. Anime convention has been cosplayer's event for long time, even small cons. More than half of the attendees are cosplayers, so calling AX 'Cosplayer's Con' is like Kettle, Tea Pot, Black, you get the idea. Also, I'm sorry you had to experience that from people that cosplays same series as you, but so what? few idiots that don't know crap shouldn't reflect on all cosplayers. Maybe you half-assed your cosplay, who knows. But the point being, whatever wrong some of AX cosplayers did, does not make AM2 any better.

inb4 >>4681791 is troll

>>4681791

u mad chase wang?

>>4681791
>tl;dr AX is full of attention whore cosplayers who don't even watch the damn show/play the game of what they're cosplaying.

Are you new to cosplay? That happens all the time, at every con. AX is no exception.

>>4681885
I wasn't iffed that AX was full of cosplayers, just cosplayers than didn't know anything about what they were cosplaying. If you attended AX and actually were a fan of what you were cosplaying, then awesome! Sadly, most people that I encountered knew jack diddly about what they were cosplaying, and were obviously just there to have people take pics of them. Not to mention they were rude when you asked about their costume/complimented them.

Not all cosplayers at AX were like this. In my experience, most were. Most=/=all.

Maybe I sound pretentious. I just miss the days when you went to anime cons to nerd out over your favorite series and meet guests/get merch from said series/game. Not like now where you just walk around to see how many photos you can get of yourself for 4 days.

And though I staffed, I have no personal involvement with either con. I wasn't a staffer for AX ever, and was never screwed over by them. I don't care about con politics, honestly.

>>4681739

AX tried to help AM2? They were in fucking litigation about the split, you witless moron.

>>4681943
Again, there will always be some idiots that don't know jack shit. It's a common appearance in every fandom, even the most over-saturated ones.

The thing with convention is that it constantly changes, with new generation of attendees coming in. It won't be as you described, where everyone knows their fandom stuff and fully anticipating GOHs. You just have to deal with it.

>>4681943
I think that's pretty much ANY con these days. It's a common complaint amongst many cosplayer, been for years. How often do you hear people complaining about the kuroshitsuji cosplayers not recognizing circus arc characters?

>>4681791
>AX is full of attention whore cosplayers who don't even watch the damn show/play the game of what they're cosplaying.

Yeah it was kind of awkward at times.

>cosplaying Mayushi from Steins;gate
>see a Kurisu cosplayer, ask for a photo
>she stares at me awkwardly for a sec and I say we're both from the same series
>ask if she wants my Dr Pepper
>don't think she understands the joke

>see Dragon Kid cosplayer from Tiger & Bunny
>say "Dragon Kid!" or "Paolin!" for a few times to try to get her attention
>she either doesn't hear me or doesn't understand what I'm saying
>finally get a picture, still not sure if she knows her character's name or something

>>4681957
Yeah, but when it happened AX tried to make the best of the situation. They offered to advertise for AM^2 if AM^2 would do the same. And at a meeting for the cons some reps of AX showed up and AM^2 was like "oh, really? we're on the same weekend? we had no idea". And were complete assholes about it.

>>4681943
Bullshit, I cosplayed from a relatively unpopular series and talked to a bunch of fans all weekend about it. The only arrogant cosplayers I met all weekend were from Madoka Magica and I'm not going to judge the rest of the con on their poor behavior. Maybe you shouldn't cosplay from massively popular series with shitty fanbases.

>though I staffed, I have no personal involvement with either con
If you staff/volunteer with something, you're personally involved

>>4681967

AM2 is a Chase Wang production. Chase is hated by quite a number of members of the anime industry because he's a greedy cock mongler.

>>4681988
Isn't inflating attendance numbers going to piss off a bunch of other cons, too?

>>4681997

The inflated fake numbers will piss off dealers who will think they've been lied to. It'll embarrass guests as they go into a con that's a ghost town. The domino effect of this will take down the whole event eventually. No one likes being lied to, especially by a crook like Chase Wang.

>>4681964
I only remember seeing one Mayushii, so it was probably you. I was happy to see cosplays of spring anime, but it was hard to get the attention of, say, a Denpa Onna cosplayer even though I called her by the character's name like 5 times. Maybe the cosplayer was just distracted at the moment

>>4681979
out of curiosity, what was the series?

AM2 Sucked, Enough Said.

It's obviously who had the better con this 4th of July weekend, and that's Anime Expo.

Almost everything ran smoothly.

As for the whole AX vs AM2 thing, it's public knowledge that those at SPJA don't see AM2 as a threat, nor do they have any hatred toward them. SPJA has dealt with this EXACT SAME situation before (PMX was created by ex-AX staffers were followed someone who left SPJA).

In fact, SPJA's HEAD STAFFERS have publicly said on ANN's podcast that they encouraged people to check out BOTH CONVENTIONS and judge for themselves. Never did they say don't go to AM2.

Did AM2 ever once say to go check out AX? No.

Did AM2 copy a SHIT TON of events from AX? Yes.

Was AM2 created out of hatred toward drama @ SPJA? YES.

Did AM2 try to fuck with AX during their convention? HELL YES THEY DID, ON MULTIPLE LEVELS TOO!
They even had exhibitors passing out AM2 flyers in AX's Exhibit Hall.

When it comes down to it, AM2 wanted to try and "show up" AX by saying "look you can run a convention for free" and FAILED!!! Sure they had some ppl attend, who were they? People who went right back to AX the next day or were pissed at AX for stupid ass rumors they heard.


And by the way, The drama had NOTHING to do with Orange Range, stop that shit right this minute. Orange Range didn't come to AX2010 because they already had a tour in Japan locked in and SPJA would have had to pay a shit ton of money for them to cancel those venues in Japan they already had booked.

Now stop with the bullshit AX rumors and fucking move on, god damn.

AM2 is shit if they continue to try and compete with AX.

AX will always be the biggest Anime con in america.

I give AM2 1 more year before they just up and merge with PMX or some other con.

The only reason this con was bad because it was on the same day as AX. That is the real reason people are complaining/dissing it. If it was on another day there would be more people and I bet a different tune would be sung. Its just funny how many people are bandwagon hoppers.

AM^2 was free and I didn't have to dick around in a stupid fucking line in triple digit heat for hours. Because of that, I'd say AM^2 was better.

>>4682083
>>The only reason this con was bad because it was on the same day as AX. That is the real reason people are complaining/dissing it. If it was on another day there would be more people and I bet a different tune would be sung. Its just funny how many people are bandwagon hoppers.

Yeah, that's what a lot of people are saying. Thing is though, it tried to compete with AX and that shit ain't gonna fly. AM2 sabotaged itself in this respect; no one else is to blame.

>>4682112
You know your con is fucked when you list food trucks as a feature

Over 8,000+ Attendees Over the Holiday Weekend!

ANAHEIM, Calif. (July 4, 2011) ­ Flying in directly from Japan with a whirlwind schedule of meeting fans and having autograph sessions, the girls of the highly popular J-Rock band electrified the crowd with their amazing and powerful sound and performance in the event¹s final concert event. Not only did AM2 celebrates the end of its 2011 convention event with the highly fan anticipated SCANDAL concert event and announces a 1st year convention attendance record of over 8,000+ unique attendees over the 3-day convention event. More info can be found at www.am2con.org

In addition, AM2 sets a huge record for a 1st year convention of over 8,000+ unique attendees over its 3-day event weekend. Other similar events averaged around 1,000 attendees.

With a fully packed house of excited (and glow-stick prepped) and highly energized fans, AM2 celebrates the end of its 2011 convention event with the highly fan anticipated SCANDAL concert event Attendees also enjoyed bustling Exhibit Hall, Summer Festival, Food trucks, panels, workshops, screenings and more! Lines for AM2 averaged a 20 minute waiting period for registration pick up and attendees were treated to a well organized event that had attendee event lines which moved quickly with little delay.

'It was truly an amazing event filled with excitement and fun - can you believe it!?!?!? 8,000+ unique attendees for our first year?", states Chase Wang AM2 representative, 'I am mixed with so much emotion and pride that we accomplished such a huge goal and created an amazing event for the fans. But we couldn't have done this without our industry supporters, Guests of Honors, exhibitors, Artist Alley participants, staff, volunteers and of course our attendees - THANK YOU! There are so many people to thank. We hope you all enjoyed this show and will join us for our next event and those that couldn't be a part of our event this year will join us in the future as well!'

I have all the e-mails from Chase Wang. Let me post them so that we can laugh at them. Also, why no Gackt if they were promoting him out the ass?

>>4682121
In all fairness, I can take pictures that empty at Fanime.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (July 2, 2011) ­AM2 rocks out at the Anaheim Convention
Center, and proves itself to the anime industry and convention fans with an
amazing registration system which fans have a waiting period of under 20
minutes, with concerts by heidi. and Sadie, an amazing opening ceremonies
and fashion show event, more to come this weekend for attendees with
concerts, still to come, from top notch musical acts including Kanon
Wakeshima, kanon x kanon, Scandal and fan favorite activities including the
Masquerade, AMV¹s and more! More info can be found at www.am2con.org
<http://www.am2con.org>

The day started off with an amazing turnout for the inaugural event¹s
Opening Ceremonies. ³This is one of the most filled Opening Ceremonies that
would rival the most established of summer convention events similar to
ours. It was so unexpected and a delight to see all the faces of the fans
as they were able to catch their first live glimpse of our amazing set of
Guests of Honors² states Chase Wang AM2 representative.

Attendees of the heidi. concert were so excited that over 250+ fans rushed
to the stage upon the beginning of the 1st song of the highly anticipated
concert.

³In all my years in working with top notch Japanese bands and musical acts
in the U.S.², states Chase Wang, ³This is the 2nd time I have ever
experienced a rush of wild and rabid fans to the stage, this really shows
how heidi. has such an amazing following of admirers of their wonderful
sound and music. Join us and have one of the best times of this Summer!
Get your Passports today and experience the difference!²

The fans were jumping out of their seats for the highly energetic and
electrifying performance of Sadie. With fists pumping in the air, and fans
screaming their admiration of these amazing musicians, this was a
once-in-a-lifetime event that will be a very fond memory for Sadie fans.

³The night was electric² states Chase Wang, ³with fans screaming and
enjoying one of the most highly anticipated concerts of the Anime convention
circuit and a night they will talk about for years to come.²

Attendees were also in for a great treat with a bustling Exhibit Hall,
Summer Festival, Food trucks, panels, workshops, screenings and more!

³It is truly rewarding to see so many happy and smiling faces at our event,²
states Chase Wang, ³Of course we have had some hiccups here and there, but
we are a first year convention and we are quick to respond and augment to
provide the best experience for all our attendees. But I am very proud of
our registration and badge pick up procedures were fantastic and our program
and activity line up is strong and attendees are having an amazing and fun
time. We can¹t ask for anything more!²

ANAHEIM, Calif. (July 3, 2011) ­AM2 celebrates the electrifying concert
performance of Kanon Wakeshima and the U.S. debut of kanon x kanon, more to
come this weekend for attendees with concerts, still to come, from top notch
musical acts including the highly anticipated all girl J-Rock band Scandal
and fan favorite activities including the special screening of BUNRAKU
(starring the world famous J-Rock singer Gackt), the official Charity
Auction benefiting Children¹s Hospital Orange County and the Japanese
Emergency NGOs and more! More info can be found at www.am2con.org
<http://www.am2con.org>

Playing to a room filled capacity house, Kanon Wakeshima floored the
audience with her performance and voice and followed up her virtuoso talents
with an stunning costume change and the addition of Kanon (An Café) as the
new group kanon x kanon. The crowds screamed with admiration and showered
the two talented performers with deafening cheers as they rocked the house.

Tomorrow, the final day, brings not only continued fun but also the highly
anticipated concert by extreme fan favorite J-Rock band SCANDAL, the
extremely special screening of BUNRAKU, starring the world famous J-Rock
musician Gackt and the official Charity Auction in which attendees can bid
on one of the kind autographed and rare items to benefit charities. Get
your Passports today and experience the difference at AM2.

It looks like someone beat me to Monday morning, so I won't post it again

>>4682154

Gonna defend this too?

>>4682175
Nope. I've never seen Yaoiguy w/o at least 3 hambeasts looking through his merch.

>>4682172

Its kinda sad that its obvious that he writes these himself and that he has to refer to himself in the third person

Even the arcade looks depressing

>>4682188
>Arcade
>No lines
>Bad thing

Bad example.

I thought AM2 was alright. I really had no money to go to AX and then AM2(buying dealers hall crap). SADIE was really good and the bunraku movie was good too, gackt or no gackt(really not a fan of him). I think they should have picked a different venue. Ontario Convention center in San Bernardino would be nice, it's like 15 minutes away from my house and would fit the guests nicely. Anywho I understand the whole turnstile shit now. They did inflate it. I'm guessing they counted it the first time you went in every day, and me and my two friends went in to the dealers hall all three days. Probably how they got that 8000.

I'd still go to AM2 if it's around next year.

It's their own fault. You can't just start up a whole new con no one has ever even heard of and say "WE'RE GUNNA BE THE NEW AX!"

They should have held it at the nearby Hilton instead of trying to bloat it into the whole convention center. Anime Expo took decades to get to its current popularity. Gotta pay your dues.

>>4682199
>Arcade
>No one to play against

;____;

>>4682199

If you want to play games by yourself , you may as well just stay home and play shit on your ps360. the point of arcades is to play against other people.

>>4682205
>>4682207
Not all of us are fighting game fags.

It'd be a godsend to find a Technika 2 cab w/o a huge line for it. Yeah, if all you want to do is hadoken, you need other people. If you want to play games with no decent console equiv and not have to stand behind 10 people every round, sparse is great.

>>4682216

>is the fat guy in the picture parapara cluelessly

I love how the photos from Chase Wang's email make the con look full when everyone else has photos of the con empty

>>4682256

>>4682256

Hahaha its so obvious that pic is cropped and zoomed to hide the emptiness of the rest of the hall

>>4682262

>>4681979
Arrogant?

>>4682077
Ran smoothly? No. Fuck lining up for shit at AX. got in line on Day 0 for pre-reg at 2:30, and didn't get my badge until 5:30.

Waited in line for the Kalafina panel, and they kept shifting us back and forth up and down West Hall.

>>4682077

Many people in the anime industry know enough not to work with Chase Wang. He's screwed enough of us over the years. This is just desserts for the maltreatment he gave us.

>>4682465
lol i went on day 1 and only waited an hour

I heard one of their guests of honor ditched AM^2 and went and spent the day at AX

>>4682121
lol i was at a yugioh event at that very same convention center. It had 1500 people and that entire level was filled with smelly guys

>>4682874

Pic related.

pic related

do they really think there will be another AM2 because this last one should make the organizers cry

i was there for 30 minutes and left

>>4683064
If PMX can still keep going, so can AM2.

But they'll most likely need to find a smaller venue.

>>4683159

PMX has badge revenue to sustain itself, what does AM2 have?

Extra coolness juice?

>>4683159

Chase's pride won't allow him to release the Anaheim Convention Center. He'll put an option on it for the next 20 years only so AX won't have it.

>>4683189
Sponsors, etc.

>>4683211
You never know. Mike Tatsugawa used to be the AX chairperson, started PMX for similar spite reasons, tried to have it at the Anaheim convention center, but eventually moved it to a smaller hotel format. Pride can easily be eroded with time.

>>4683234

You do understand that many in the anime industry hate Chase Wang, right? That sponsor money is gonna eventually dwindle once they realize he over-promises and under-delivers.

The dealers are probably PISSED that they brought so much stuff and made so little money or none at all. And they hear stories from AX about how those dealers are walking away with PROFITS.

It's all about making money. If your dealers aren't making a ton of money, you are FUCKED.

>>4682874
Who?

>>4683271

My friend who works for a dealer told me that by Sunday the dealers working both cons were shifting inventory from AM^2 over to AX instead of getting it from storage

>>4683327

That's pathetic. My friend who's an artist said she made more money at AX this year than she did in other years.

>>4682088
>>4682465
What do you expect, it's a huge ass con of course the badge pickup is going to take a long time. This goes double when you have people waiting in line 6 to 7 hours early. Fanime as well had a long wait time for badges and you bet your ass Dragoncon has encountered similar problems.

With that said, how does Comic-con do badge pickup?

>>4683419

I dunno. I'm pro-reg. I guess fast. I haven't paid for a con badge in years.

>>4683419

Last year, I only had a Thursday pass but it was pretty simple. Arrived there around 8:30AM, walked over to the convention center, milled around outside till they let us in, and then proceeded upstairs and got my badge. The past few years I've gone, there have always been an assload of volunteers scanning in barcodes and stuff. Like full rows lined up of people ready. I'm sure there are people who wait in line for hours before, but I never do, and I don't have any special connections.

>>4683449

Oh and Comic-Con doesn't do on-site badge selling, it's pre-reg only.

>>4683451
Then they better fix their damn re-reg system. Servers kept failing and it seems like the whole system is a crap shoot and its gonna make 4 day passes even harder to get.

I'm sorry, but did AM2 already lose? Oh, that’s right. The game isn’t even over yet. In fact, it’s only the first year. Does not having a good time count as a loss? Is that what you’re saying? Because if you’re saying that I can assure you that you’re wrong. Why would you make this topic when people came to AM2? AM2 is one of the best fucking cons in the summer. You know why? Because you’re going to be embarrassed when the AM2 wins the “con wars” over time. Oh look at that, the Anime Expo just had a bomb scare on the second day when it was just some homeless guys shit. Are you a fucking drunk? Are you retarded? Are you autistic? You are a fucking idiot and you should never make a topic on this board again and I’m fucking serious. I almost have a feeling you’re the only guy making all these anti-AM2 topics because you’re a faggot hater who doesn’t like AM2 because they’re good. Fuck you, be good at something in YOUR life and then maybe try to troll these fucking teams on the board, like I give a fuck. It’s so easy to spot out your threads now, you’re a retard. Always doing stupid shit like this. Why don’t you try to be a good poster? Just for once? For once in your fucking life try not to make a topic like this. That’s just you, you’re always right at getting it wrong. Fuck you. You are nothing.

>>4683483

It's like Blizzcon - super exclusive and you have to F5 like crazy to get anything. Shitsux, but what can you do? Comic-con's getting really in-demand. If anything, though, just try to keep an eye out for working for a dealer who will be going to SDCC or volunteering.

>>4683502

OHAI CHASE YOU FUCKING DICKSUCKING FAGGOT GO GUZZLE MORE JIZZ

>>4683513

On Day 0, I was checking out Comic Con's website and that Volunteering was still available. I'm not sure now.

>>4683502

wtf are you talking about you aspie?

chase wang, gtfo out

>>4683536

IIRC, volunteering is usually closed around January.. Perhaps you could call/email and ask, though, just to confirm?

I also heard that some of the Maids and Hosts also quitted on the spot from AniMaid because their leader Kchan acted like a bitch or some shit like that.

Chase is really stupid because the ACC's only open dates for a con like his during the summer are the weekends of AX and Comic Con if he really continues to put it on the same weekend as them, he'll lose money faster then Bernie Madoff.

>>4683502

Learn a little about con budgets and try that again.

Everyone in the business can sense that AM^2 is a war of attrition and nothing more. Whose money is keeping AM^2 afloat while they build up to an honest 8K attendance instead of the obvious con job that was this year's number? Too bad SPJA has an excellent credit rating due to their massive yearly revenue churn. They can easily carry a fair amount of debt to respond to challengers like AM^2.

>>4683562

Bernie Madoff made money scamming people. Chase Wang-- oh wait... lawl

>>4683502

this is 4chan you dumbshit

learn to internets and go back to sucking chase's dick

>>4683502
Next time you try to defend your mediocre con, good sir, don't be an asshole.

Oh, and you forgot to sign your name in this one so I'll do it for you:

>Chase Wang

>>4683616

your giving his con too much credit by calling it mediocre

i called it a "shitty ghost town"

LOL

>>4683502

My name is chase wang and I approve this message.

>>4683502
I know you're upset but calling that anonymous poster autistic and retarded was very rude and I think you should apologize.

>>4682077
>AM2 Sucked, Enough Said.
>Enough Said.
>MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT

>>4682204
>>4682203
I agree on all counts

>>4683502
LOLOLOL wtf. I made this topic, and I have not once before said anything about Am2. I was actually planning on going when my friends I met at AX told me it was a empty and not worth the drive down there.

>Because you’re going to be embarrassed when the AM2 wins the “con wars” over time.

No one even gives a shit about your con wars dude. We just want to go to AX and have a good time, its you and your staff that keep stirring up shit on here. You had a shit con, either own up to it or gtfo.

How are people comparing a 20 year con vs. a 1st timer?
That's like claiming a virgin fucks better.

Give it time people.

Plus i was really full saturday.
I was a fail to try to compete (if that is what he wanted) with AX on the 1st time it ever happens.

I enjoyed myself a lot. A lot more then at AX to be honest.

>>4684396
It was empty Friday morning.

Got a lot of people on Saturday.

>>4684548
Chase Wang and his staff ran a smear campaign about AX, its attendees, and its guests. AM2 staff were handing out flyers directly in AX's exhibit hall, shit, I had an acquaintance working AM2 beg me to go over there (said he'd even find free parking for me) when I said I was going to AX.
If they didn't want the cons to be compared, they shouldn't have competed directly against it.

>>4684569
true and that is that fuckers fault. Doesn't mean it sucked.
Again a lot of people went. For the 1st time as an event/con. That actually is a big deal.
I do this for a living (planning events and shit) and trust me you NEVER get an expected big crowd unless its is something you have done before and advertised like hell.

I found it extremely enjoyable. This whole Vs can go back and forth. no point.

a 20yrold know expo to a 1st year one.

its like SDCC Vs ACC

- I doubt this con will last another 2 years without a steady stream of revenue. Registration is what gives the con its profits to be bigger and better. Since this is a first year con, they probably are already in the hole. With any business, you don't start breaking even until after 3 years. I predict that next year, AM2 will probably start doing registration or they will bump up the price of the events in order to pull themselves out of the hole.

- The reason why anyone would claim more attendees than there are actually attendees is to get vendors to come. Vendors pay fees, you get money. If there is no audience, vendors don't come, they don't pay fees, you make no money. Claiming 8000+ attendees and vendors not seeing that probably makes them feel like they've been lied to and there are better business opportunities elsewhere (*ahem* like AX *ahem*)

>>4684623
already been stated.
That's cause he cared more about this VS. then actual people.

>>4684623
While the con is free, I saw a lot of passport holders at the con. Especially at the concert lines. They may hold up for a little while.

>>4684616
But that's why they're being compared. Chase Wang built up an attitude of animosity and competition between the two cons even when the SPJA offered to help.

Besides, from what I've seen and heard from dealers/attendees, there isn't a very positive opinion of the event. ANN's photos show empty halls, bored dealers, and the kind of games you'd see at a junior high school fair.

>>4684662
The halls were only empty on friday at like 11am.
I was there.
Again the first day of a new con. on the same week as a 20 year old con.

come on people. Its like a virgin.
VIRGINS I SAY LMAO

That Chase guy boosted his ego too much.

I am not defending him. In fact, I didnt even know the guys names to care that much.

I like it. games where those games cause it was a cheap con.

Plus that animosity thing escalated when some ass decided to hack the site and claim it cancelled.

Sour grapes all around.

I just know I had the the most fun at Am2 then a Ax. I know my friends had fun at AX. we all had fun.

>>4684631

>That's cause he cared more about this VS. then actual people.

THIS

Venders also talk with each other. I'll let you know now that they're all talking about their dismal AM2 sales in private with one another. They network just like other people.

>>4684703
Vendor don't care for people either though.
They only like MONEY.
It is extremely rare to deal with a GOOD people loving vendor.
Question is why are we arguing vendors to it sucking?

Point of the matter. he was dumb and screwed his cash flow, but again it doesn't mean it suck or wasn't fun. Friday was, again, slow (ie the pics) but the rest of the weekend fun.

ugh, Vendors are the worst to book sometimes -_-
that's just my personal experience. Sorry if you are a vendor and I offend

>>4684726

No offense. Its good to have people who buy expensive things and lots of people who buy small things. But if you have less people at a show, you'll have to hope that they'll all buy the high end items. If not, then your profits are screwed.

AM2 had neither.

>>4684726
I went for 30 minutes on Saturday and left because it was boring as fuck. Other people I know that went on Sunday and Friday had similar thoughts.

>>4684569

Chase Wang running a smear campaign?

His whole existence is a smear campaign against hard working gays in the entertainment industry.

>>4684810
>His whole existence is a smear campaign against hard working gays in the entertainment industry.

Wait, what?

>>4684968

He is gay IRL.

>>4684978

wow that puts a whole new level of fucked up to all this

>>4684683

bullshit. either start posting pics of a crowded AM2 hall or stfu.

>>4684978

>>4684978

he's gay? really?

ahahaha, I remember all the threads saying that AX was going to blow, and how everyone was going to AN2. So annoying.

Would be glad it crashed and burned if it only took one person with it.

bump to out chase wang for being gay in public

bmp because chase is gay irl apparently

>>4685170
It had to be all viral marketing. There's no other possible explanation. Sure a few were generally excited and anticipating for the con, but really, all the advertising? Viral.

>>4685470

like the viral marketing that gackt was going to am2 and never showed up

>>4682204

Hilton was pretty much booked out by the Moose convention, so I don't think that was an option.

....so this was basically PMX all over again? Great guests and the first year or two with attempts to attract other Asian media, held at ACC before realizing it's a ghostown and moving to a smaller venue a few years later?

I went to AM2 instead of AX this year, and while it was dull at times, I still had a lot of fun. On the first day it was very empty, but the second day seemed fairly populated. Of course it was nowhere near as crowded as AX, but I don't know why the fuck anybody would have expected it to be.
I agree with many of the statements being made here, especially about the con sabotaging itself, but a lot of the hate in this thread seems like the standard /cgl/ vitriol: mostly baseless.

I enjoyed AM2. I got to meet my idols!

there was NOTHING going on at AM2. other than chilling with some cool people, there was NO reason to even consider going. everyone's 'good experience' at am2 revolve around having fun with some people, but no one said 'holy shit the concerts were amazing' or 'fuck, those panels were mind blowing' cause there was NOTHING at AM2. having fun at a con doesn't make it a good con, that's just you having fun with what little you have. AM2 is a complete and utter failure and i hope chase wang gets the shit beat out of him for wasting everyone's time.

Talking with Kanon up close was pretty cute.

>>4686532
Honestly, I have been enjoying AX for 7 years and I've never had an "amazing" concert experience or gone to a "mind blowing" panel, so I really don't see what the hell you're on about.

>>4685545
There was a friend of mine saying "There's a big surprise Sunday make sure you come!" - was that supposed to be Gackt? Was he actually scheduled and just didn't come?

You should've came on sunday. Then you would know :)

>>4685545
We met some people who went to AM2 just because of this promise. They have the rage about the con people telling them that "Gackt san" wasn't coming, I felt bad for them.

>>4686585

AX wasn't even mentioned in that post, you twat. so what the hell were YOU going on about?

>>4686618
I actually had a really amazing time at AX on sunday so yeah .. kinda glad I didn't. :x

>>4686613
Yes it was. They had it all over their site implying that Gackt was coming.

>>4686638
That whole thing was so weird. I was at the Bunraku showing and a lot of people were really pissed off, pretty understandably.
However, he was only confirmed as being there on the AM^2 Facebook page, and the rest of it was just silly hints, so it's entirely possible that there was some stupid communication error going on.
That said, they really need to be more careful in the future, and not post hints and shit like that around the forum/site/whatever unless something is 100% confirmed.

If it bothers them that much maybe they could sue.

>>4685676

The entire hotel? That didn't look like a lot of Moose to me.

shit man I thought it had been determined that the "rhymes with hacked" thing was Bunraku itself? They had Ron Perlman. He's a cool dude.

>>4686618
Yeah, if only I had wasted my perfect Sunday at AX to be disappointed by Chase Wang lying through his ass again

>>4686890
There were a shitload of them. It was really intense in some areas, but they generally stayed away from the part of the con center that they didn't have their shit in.
Got so many mad looks from them when I did food runs and shit lmao

>>4686676

Chase probably did that to boost Passport sales. Bait and switch, anyone?

How many people have actually gone to AM2? I know most posts here have said that it was practically empty, but I mean like, numbers. Is there a statistic somewhere?

That it mostly sucked is happy news for me.

I can rub it in the face of this hipster asshole who was raving about this con and how great it was going to be.

I keep seeing something about a moose convention. I did google it and...it's a moose convention. Am I missing something, or is this seriously, honest to god, a convention about mooses?

>>4687183
It's a fraternity. All the members were wearing yellow jackets.

They did have pictures of mooses around.

I would've gone to AM2 if it was on a different weekend...

the problem I had was I already planned to go to AX 2011 when I found out about AM2 and the awesome music guests...

>>4687185
That makes significantly more sense. Their website said nothing, and I just...mooses.

>>4683502
ahahahahaha

ahahahahaha

AHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

>>4687228

inorite?!?!?!

DERP

>>4686532
>no one said 'holy shit the concerts were amazing'

I've been saying that in the other AM^2 thread. The SCANDAL concert was amazing. I traveled from Seattle to see them, and met people from Boston, New Orleans, Chicago, and a pair of twin girls from Paris who were all there for the same reason.

I had never heard Kanon Wakeshima prior to her concert but I really enjoyed it, and ended up buying the CD (though I thought the KanonxKanon stuff was kind of meh). Again, people traveled from all over to see Kanon perform especially since I guess she's not going to do solo concerts from now on.

The Sadie concert was good too if you're into that kind of music, it's not really my speed but I talked to some girls who came down from Oregon to see them and loved it. I didn't see the Heidi concert.

Apart from that, a couple of the musical acts in the exhibit hall were good (and some were godawful- I'm looking at you Ajuku Girls) and the "Iron Cosplay" event went over well. It drew a decent crowd considering how many people were actually at the con, and I think the audience had fun with it.

Maguma did his best with cosplay chess, God bless him. I liked it anyway.

>>4686502
>I agree with many of the statements being made here, especially about the con sabotaging itself, but a lot of the hate in this thread seems like the standard /cgl/ vitriol: mostly baseless.
Seconding this.

>>4686532
Hey you fuck I loved the concerts. Your on fucking /cgl/ for gods sake, and the people that did go and then went to AX most likely didn't the attend the concerts. Also who the hell goes "Man those panels were amazing" at any con?

>>4688084
To add on, a lot of the hate in here is very juvenile. Yeah he tried to sabotage AX, whatever. But damn. Stop being bandwagon hoppers. What is this, high school? If AM2 is here next year, I'm going again. Especially if they can pull in more concert guests and change the date.

maybe i haven't been to enough concerts in general but it's pretty hard to fuck up a concert if you go and you like the band/singer to begin with. wish i could have seen scandal but maon was pretty cool too.

I'll go to AM2 next year if they change it to a hotel venue. Going to a smaller con in an overly big convention center just makes it feel barren and lonely.

>>4688079
Here's hoping someone has video of Shaggy and Scooby slaughtering people left and right.

>>4688100
That's a good point. I suppose it could still be screwed up by a bad venue/crappy sound system but yeah, you're right. That said, I was only familiar with one band of the several I watched and enjoyed.

>>4688116
Agreed. I mean, odds are I'm not going back next year anyway (unless another one of my favorite bands is playing there), but it would be much better suited to a smaller venue.

>>4688087
>a lot of the hate in here is very juvenile.
It's not "juvenile" when most of what's posted are facts, like a promised big-name guest not showing up or leaving after an hour because it was empty.
AM2 staff tried to derail every AX thread with childish insults and rumors about the con, which is actually high-school level behavior.

>>4688230
Way to pick and choose out of a thread full of hate. The thread has 181 posts, there was a lot of shit talking. Hell, the thread started out negative. Ok, so AM2 tards try and derail AX threads so the mature thing is to go into all the AM2 threads and derail them too?

>>4688286
Btw, I'm not saying you can't talk bad about a con. But it gets out of hand when people start purposely trying to slander the con/person. It really makes people sound just as bad as what they're complaining about.

>>4688286
But... the con had problems. A lot of posts in this thread discuss those legitimate problems.
Fucking whiteknights.

I went to AX this year and I honestly did not have much of a good time.

Years previous, they had registration DOWN. Now I'm waiting in line out in the heat for 2 hours? No... last 2 years reg. was fine, why fuck it up now, AX? They could of at least had the line in a hall... (Too cheap for that, I suppose)

Next, I usually don't go to panels or anything else- but I decided to try checking out the recap video of the AMV contest... the upper halls were PACKED. You literally came up the escalator and needed to yell at people to move because it was backed up completely. I couldn't even get in to see the Recap showing... why go to a huge ass con if I can't even get into events?

My only other main issue with AX is I simply cannot stand the LACC. The area surrounding it is frightening and the hotels that has shuttle service were expensive- so you end up getting a cheat room, but paying out the ass for parking- super.

I honestly, and this is simply my own opinion, will be going to AM2 next year. I prefer small cons and I am simply tired of the crowds and the cattle-like BS. It's a little sad though that AX was my first convention, I've been going for a decade and now I feel as though I can't even breathe there.

Just my 2 cents.

30 bucks says not a single person who had a complaint about either con could walk away from this thread and NOT talk smack about how the other con is complete shit and a failure.

I really don't think any of you negative nancies can walk away and give each con their respective dues like adults.

>>4688403
OP for >>4688390
I can allow AX to carry on without issue, I recognize some people enjoy bigger cons- but it's just gotten too out of hand for me to have fun.

>>4688390
>The area surrounding it is frightening
It's right next to LA Live, which is a flashy entertainment center that the city poured millions into.

> They could of at least had the line in a hall...
They apparently are next year.

Go away Chase Wang and take your Vendettacon and bullshitted guests with you, the only praise anyone has for AM2 is that no one went

>>4688417
I've been going to AX for 10 years, and currently have no allegiance to AM2.

Having everyone wait outside in the heat for Registration- which they had already down years prior 'Walk up, scan, done'- is simply a large flaw I saw this year at the convention. I do feel that it was a cheap move to first NOT have a hall for this and second, they reduced the number of scanners and computers to such a small amount that it made a 2 minute wait into HOURS.

If you fail to understand this, which I assume you can't understand because you haven't been attending AX for very long, then realize that I'm only bringing up my personal experience from the con- not some rumors or drama BS.

Also, I never praised AM2. I can ONLY comment about AX since I only attended AX this year. Makes sense right?

>>4688417
I was a little impressed with your simple answers until you mentioned chase wang. Dear god do you really think a full grown man has time to come here to fight you kids about his convention?? I'm just being logical here.

>>4688324
Of course it had legitimate problems. IT WAS IN ITS FIRST YEAR! ENGLISH MOTHA FUCKER DOES YOU SPEAK IT?! Now seriously though. It's a first year con, of course it's going to have issues because it has to sort out what it wants and how to properly get what it wants in its own system. Every first year con was like that and I would be damned if there was a first year con that nailed down everything perfectly and flawlessly.

>>4688403
I assume you can only bet $30 since that's all the money you have.

>>4688450
Cosplay is an expensive hobby

>>4688390
why the fuck were you frightened by the surrounding area. That's a nicer area than a whole lot of LA, and it's in walking distance to little tokyo. You sound like a dumbass

>>4688450
Don't even have 30 dollars. And I'd still make the bet. Why? 'Cause I already won it! Wanna double or nothing?

>>4688390

The area is probably one of the much safer areas, bro.

>>4688463
let me introduce you to a little area called 5th and San Julian. There are small parts of that area that are torn down, filled with the homeless, and this that and the other. It's understandable for people to feel frightened by parts of Downtown Los Angeles. I personally think there is nothing to worry about down there regardless since I go down there a lot and I've never had a problem but that doesn't dismiss the fact that people can still be intimidated by a bad looking scenario.

This was takened on Saturday.

>People who say that AM2 was a ghost town

>>4688463
If being worried about my general safety makes me sound like a dumbass, then I'd rather be a safe dumbass.
I'm sure there are rougher areas, but I'm not used to seeing bums or people routing through trashcans for soda cans. It makes me uneasy since I am a young girl who can easily be grabbed or overpowered.

I did enjoy AX tons when it was in Anaheim and I do like the fact I can stay at the Hilton and basically just walk down stairs in be in the con. It makes me feel safe knowing I don't need to be walking the streets of LA to get to my con.

Good for you if you don't have this same problem.

>>4688479
ANN/every report I've seen confirms that AM2 was a ghost town.
Also you're probably the same AM2 whiteknight with the shitty English as yesterday, at least you're not samefagging I guess.

>>4688497
lol danger happens everywhere. Sometimes the worst people are the ones you meet at the cons.

>>4688508

Truthfully, you cannot believe the ANN article. The concerts were maximum 1338 seating and except for heidi. The attendees filled in all the seats. (Not the 500 that they mentioned). ANN also went out of their way to take photos of areas that were closed off to attendees and also take photos of the exhibit hall DURING the KanonxKanon concert.

>>4688508

Besides ANN, post me other reports that AM2 is a ghost town. They're known to be biased sometimes.

I went all 3 days, and it definitely wasn't a "ghost town" but it wasn't super crowded either. There were long lines for the concerts and meet&greets and a good turnout at the panels I went to.
I will say that Sunday afternoon was the most empty. I imagine a lot of people just came for the Scandal concert that night, and there wasn't much else going on that day. There was still a long line for the Bunraku screening upstairs though.
Anyway, the 8000 attendees thing is definitely bullshit, but it wasn't nearly as deserted as people are trying to make it out to be. The main draw of this con was the guests and main events, and people did turn up for those, but there weren't tons of people just hanging around in the halls and this was exaggerated by the too-big venue.
>>4678821
While this lady was performing, there were about 200 people lined up behind the curtain for KanonXKanon's signing, and the h.naoto fashion show was around that time as well. So you can see how these pictures are misleading. Everything was really spread out, which is how people got photos of empty areas. There were people at the con, they just tended to all be in the same place at once, leaving other areas fairly deserted.

>>4688497
> but I'm not used to seeing bums or people routing through trashcans for soda cans.

That's what scared you? Girl, the most those people will do to you is ask you for change. You sound really, really sheltered. :\

The reports that AM2 was empty are total bullshit. There are plenty of ACTUAL reasons to dislike Chase Wang, don't start making shit up about his con.

>>4688570
>Truthfully, you cannot believe the ANN article.
You type like Chase Wang, too
I'll believe ANN over some anon with an obvious AM2 bias

>>4688324
Of course it had problems. It was a first year con and a vendetta con. It did really well for being a first year con, and free at that matter. But all the "lol butt hurt" chase wang shit is pure vendetta.
>>4688508
Which btw didn't ANN post that they disproved of AM2 in earlier articles? I haven't read them, but I remember people posting about it here. If that's the case, they're biased and posting in their favor too.

>>4688664
Do you think maybe the 8000 people at AM2 wasn't counting unique visitors?

Like, AX said on twitter "Anime Expo 2011 would like to proudly announce a turnstile attendance of 128,000+, with 47,000+ unique visitors through the door!"

Maybe AM2's 8000 was turnstile attendance, not unique visitors.

>>4688687
Friends that I talked to that went said it was empty. Dealers that had booths at both places said it was empty. Photos online show it was empty. A representative from Otakon says it was empty: http://lists.baka.org/pipermail/animecons/2011-July/025384.html

>>4688696
Stop making shit up. ANN hosted Chase Wang on two podcasts where they couldn't get a straight answer out of the guy about anything. He dug his own hole. They never said they were against it, they wished him well with his venture.

>>4688725
Like I said I never read the articles, I based it off what I heard here. No fact was given. Care to link to these podcasts?

But really, I'm just saying there are two sides to every story
ANN makes it look empty, and it may as well been at the time they were there.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2011/am2#gallery_top
AM2 makes it look decently full for a con going on at the same time as AX
http://am2con.org/general-information/2011-photo-gallery

You guys also have to realize that if it was at a smaller venue it wouldn't look like a "ghost town". My local convention gets less people than AM2 did it and it looked like we had the same amount of people. We only get like 100-150 people at one time. When it gets late there are only like 20-50 people if you want to talk about a real ghost town.

>>4688709
The problem is that many people showed up on the first day, saw that there weren't that many people, and then concluded that the con was bust. I agree, there weren't that many people the first day, but on Saturday and Sunday it was much more lively. Several vendors up and left after the first day, which was disappointing to me as a consumer. Was it a crowded con and a huge success? Hell no. Was it reasonably populated for a first year convention (foolishly) competing with AX? I'd say so. The virtually-empty photos I've seen aren't representative of what I personally saw, at any rate. I do think it was in the wrong venue, renting out much more space than was necessary, but that doesn't exactly make it a failure.

>>4688677

Agreed. She sounds like she's used to living in a privileged area. Seriously, LA live isn't bad at all. There are a lot of people. If you're staying at a hotel far away, I would recommend cabbing it or taking the shuttle. Heck, even walking with other people...you know...common sense stuff that you would do normally regardless of where you were...

A young girl walking alone by herself isn't a good idea. Period. Stop being sheltered and start getting smart.

>>4688815

>Smart

Like ELIZABETH Smart.

>>4688444
>>4688696
These two posts are hilariously identical.

If someone does a AM2 photodump, I will be less inclined to think that the con was a total failure.

>>4688797
Yep. Which is why it was retarded to try to have it at the ACC. Way too much space.

>>4688893
This is a good idea. Can we get photos, people who went? You must have taken at least SOME pictures.

I really don't want to hate am2, I wanted to go, but all weekend at AX I kept hearing bad things from friends who went. Prove them wrong!

Also I'd just like to state that if am2 were on a different weekend, I'd go to both AX and am2. So for any staff here, please (try to) get them to change it. Many of my friends wanted to attend both but it was just no contest when your entire extended group of friends/everyone you ever met is going to AX.

I see tons of people. Obviously not as many as a well know 20 year old expo

Some photos of AM2
http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/am2-anaheim-convention-center-33683231/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chibi_chrno/sets/72157627134786378/

Tumblr AM2 tag-
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/am2?before=1309986002

>>4688471

LOL, 'cause anyone in their right mind who is friggin' tired and hungry from the con would go all the fucking way over there. What the fuck, dude.

>>4682188
LOL IS THAT BIG WES?

>>4689032
Most of the pictures don't look quite as abandoned as the ANN ones, but still closer to that than the ones AM2 released. Seems pretty empty. Based on cons I've been to, and accounting for the size of the venue, I'd put attendance in the 1000-2000 range, nowhere near the 8000 claimed. I'm sure a different date would do far better for them. Lots of people can't get to SDCC, Animagic has been horrid for years, so moving into late summer would probably work really well for them. I'll be surprised if they can afford to keep bringing such high profile guests over for concerts though, since sponsorship to support that is pretty unlikely with their attendance.

I found this video that AM2 did pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHNmuzlFOYw

No I'm not the guy who posted the video and I'm not Chase Wang either.

>>4689205
Yeah judging from the above video, I'd guess around 3k-4k people.

ITT butthurt AXfags that don't want to see AM2 succeed.

>>4689293
What would there be for us to be butthurt about, exactly?

>>4689307

Because AM2 surpassed all of your expectations. I spent my entire weekend down there then silly AX which is overhyped and overpriced. Attendee experience is much more important than attendance count in how to judge how well a convention did. As shown by their convention feedback thread on the AM2 forums did have quite a bit of issues, but their past experiences in running conventions definitely showed in how they put on a great show

Gameboy Color here

Honestly, AM2 wasn't bad. Sure it wasn't as much stuff that AX had to offer. It was more like AX Lite. 8k seems like definite bullshit but 4-5k sounds more reasonable.

>>4689402
HI GAMEBOY GUY! PEDO BEAR SAYS HELLO LOL
I would say 8k is true, cause there where alot of people going in and out. through out the weekend
What I wanted from them to do is a customer survey since it was the first con. to see what people wanted more of.
Thats the advantage of it being a 1st time con, is to be able to add or drop things people liked more.

AM2 had guest of honors that interested me more.

AM2 had an Artist's Alley, right? How was that, if anyone went?

Ughhh the fact that AX is now charging $250 for tables is enough to get me to jump ship to AM2 even if it is has much fewer attendees. But that's provided I can get down to LA for cheap.

>>4689362
AM2 didn't surpass the expectations of the dealers or attendees that left shortly after arriving, not to mention lying about Gackt being a special guest. It was overhyped as an AX Killer and didn't deliver.

The artist alley was kinda small. There were still some good artwork though.

>>4689362
>Because AM2 surpassed all of your expectations

It didn't really. But then again I didn't go. I was at AX having one of the best times I've had at AX in years.

>>4691447
You try going to any decent size Comic Con (<10k), look into an AA table, let us know how that goes.

as someone who goes to SDCC every year I'd actually hope they don't hold it then ;_;

>>4691484
>Fanime, >15k attendees
Maybe $100 max
>Otakon, >40k attendees
Like $150 max?
>SDCC, >100k attendees
I think around $300, with half-table options for a lower price.

Most comic conventions (i.e NYCC, ECCC, LBCC, etc) charge around $100~$300, which, granted, can be a lot. But comic convention AA's also have a different degree of professionalism that is absent from the fan-driven atmosphere of anime con AA's. Plus the fact that industry professionals exhibit in the AA as well is a huge plus.

I know exhibiting at most cons isn't cheap but this is a pretty steep jump in price, and I can honestly say I didn't enjoy my time at AX enough to even consider going again if they're going to increase the price that much.

How much was the price increase?

>>4691516
It went from $150 to $250 for a table.

>>4691502

If they're smart. They'll move it to September.

http://animecons.com/events/

The only CA con on the list is Sac-anime. The one con that people would most likely be willing to fly out to is Dragon-Con. Otherwise, it's a perfect opportunity.
Also, they could move it to August, though there's three different CA anime cons that month, though I don't think I see any that people usually fly out of state for.

>>4691529
August would probably work best since it's still summer for a lot of kids. It'd be a good cap to the end of summer con season for west coast.

End of May: Fanime
Beginning of July: AX
End of July: SDCC

Better yet just have a con everyday.

>>4691529
What about Labor Day weekend? Anime Vegas is not on that weekend anymore so it should suffice.

I can't believe anyone who went to AM2 said that it won't fit in a hotel.

>>4691520
Oh wait whaaat. Are you sure?

Goddammit. I'm sorry you had a lame time. You were stuck all the way in the back and everything!

>>4691775
Yeah, got the email earlier today. Thanks for the sympathy, but it wasn't that bad! I honestly didn't have any expectations, but I'm glad I went just to say I did. It didn't bother me that I was in the back, since I made back my costs and then some, plus most of the people I met were quite pleasant. The weather and the weird surrounding area did a number on me, but I think that's just because I've been spoiled by the walkability and temperate weather of the Bay Area.

amazing. this thread is still alive. am2 must suck that much.

I was there. AM2 sucked if you were an exhibitor. They had 10 artist alley tables and 16 exhibitors total. Some of them even left early on Friday.

No, they didn't make any money.

>>4692824
Am I supposed to take that as sarcasm, or a comment on how slow the thread is?

>>4691759
It definitely would have fit into a hotel, the only thing I'd be worried about is that it might be tougher to accommodate good musical guests like they had this year which, honestly, was the best thing the con had going for it.

>>4692934
as far as i can tell it can go:

1) am2 sucked but you guys still talked about it for 200 posts
2) am2 sucked and that's why we bitched for 200 posts
3) the thread is slow and still hasn't died and it's been here since tuesday

>>4692949

4) this thread is a lesson in hubris and chase wang should just gtfo of the anime scene before he embarrasses himself even more

ohai chase or his lackys

>>4693096
>ohai chase or his lackys
wait, what?

It feels like recently in /cgl/ there is been an epidemic of people responding to other people without actually understanding what they're replying to. It's the weirdest thing.

>>4693130
i know
i didn't even go to am2 and i guess i just got called chase wang
shit my press colleagues were like "yeah, try to stay away from him; he's hunting for press for am2" in warning

>>4693142
No, you're also missing my point. Right after I wrote about how people were missing obvious points. I don't even understand how you people manage things like this.

>>4681885
>more than half of convention attendees are cosplayers
No.

As a convention OWNER, I can tell you, hands down, no.

Even at the most cosplay heavy anime conventions you're looking at 1/3.

The misconception is easy to understand, cosplayers are *staple* convention attendees.

Cosplayers tend to buy weekend badges, so they have plenty of time to wear various costumes.

They tend to go to events like the cosplay contest to see their hobby.

They're reliable attendees, which is why a convention caters to them.

A lot of times just as many people show up JUST for the band as show up to cosplay, but they leave after the band, and some of them won't come back the following year because they may not like the band that year.

Are cosplayers important for conventions? Of course! Are they the majority of attendees? Not at all! Are they perhaps the largest single fandom represented at a con? Probably.

>>4693166
>convention OWNER
Okay, now you gotta tell us. C'mon. Don't be shy.

>>4693166
He's got a point here. Cosplayers are indeed a major chunk of attendees as they're easy to spot and you see many major events cater to them such as masquerades, cosplay chess and inviting famous people in the community as guests.

However there are still way more people who attend cons who don't cosplay. Many people buy their badges for events, panels and the dealer's hall and don't cosplay as they keep busy schedules for themselves. These people are zipping across the hallway and don't have time to stand around in gatherings getting their photos taken.

So guys what was difference because there slogan said "come and experience the difference".

>>4694042
-Virtually no waiting in line!
-Extremely open! Get to know everyone at the con!
-Dealers never run out of stock!
-"Come! Enjoy Anime Convention! Positive Fun!", said Chase Wang

Would /cgl/ support this con if it was moved to a different date?

>>4694079
Absolutely.

>>4694079
Yes. You don't run on the same weekend as the biggest anime convention on the west coast and expect to do well especially when they've got fucking Hatsune Miku on deck. Even the Miku Keynote (which I imagine was boring as shit for most fans) and the Miku Conference had long ass lines. The Miku Conference panel had Petree Hall filled the most I've ever seen. I really would have loved to see SCANDAL and Kanon Wakeshima but having to go between Anaheim and LA when I'm based in LA wasn't something I wanted to do.

I am going to say this again.

If the dealers are not making profits at your convention, then they are most definitely not coming back.

It doesn't matter if you boast 8000 or 80 people, if the dealers are calling it a waste because nobody was buying high-ticket items from them, then say bye-bye to next year's funds.

>>4694343

>Implying they won't come back to the next AM2 if it was on a different weekend.

>>4694095
What is this Miku Keynote bullshit about?

>>4694343
This. I totally agree. If a dealer isn't making money to pay for the cost of the space, packing up and unloading their merchandise, etc. they're not coming back.
Also to people bitching about cosplayers: You do realize that cosplay is a major part of any con, right? Even G-Fest (a Godzilla Con) has cosplay. BTW I went to AX and had a great time.

AX 2011 was FUCKING PACKED compared to fucking last year's. Knowing that fact makes me feel kinda bad that Am2 probably was a ghost town.

I liked AX this year. I mean, it wasn't amazing, but it didn't suck ass either..

- Organization as far as lines were concerned seemed to improve from last year, which is really nice. Also good to see that they shoved the Day 1 Exhibit Hall line outside to the taxi area on Pico Blvd. under the bridge. I always hated coming in to the South Hall lobby with the line packed in there. Then again, you could just wait an hour and go in with no line. Idiots. :D

- The fuck was up with Event tickets this year? Just about every previous year, you were able to get AMV tickets on Day 0. As the norm, I waltzed out of pre-reg with my badge in hand and went to the Event ticket line... only to be told that AMV tix were only going to be offered on Day 1. Someone else asked why, and he got on his soapbox about how it isn't fair for people who didn't show up on Day 0. Fuck that noise, that's why we fucking show up on Day 0 to begin with!

-Weapons policy just keeps getting more retarded every year. Last year you had to cover airsofts with fluorescent tape over 50% of the surface (who measures that shit?!). This year, you couldn't even bring an aluminum softball bat. Meanwhile, fucking keyblades and sickles like 10 feet long everywhere else. And on that note, why the fuck would you be compelled to sharpen and file a point on a fucking wooden prop? Not fucking cool.

- To any AM2fag that joked about the "bomb" threat, shit, what bomb threat? I got to the exhibit hall, got told by event staff that we couldn't take the escalators up for some reason, so I followed people who broke the rope on one of the stairways and went in.

Sauce on the AM2 Staffer that went to AX to hand out fliers and beg people to come down because I know some AM2 people and they claim to have not sent anybody to AX.

>>4694976
- Really upset that we didn't have a return of the DJ's from Hardcore Synergy last year (and yet they returned to Acen earlier this year :< ). Although that's a separate deal through mydjsobad/bemanistyle, and I already kinda clued in as to the reasons. Still, no m1dy or M-Project. Dang.

- Sticking to the subject of guests, getting Miku sure must have drained the SPJA of getting, well, anyone else notable really. Not getting any more actual anime industry-related GoH's was a low point for me. This trend of leaning towards performing artists rather than anime industry insiders (both domestic and abroad) has been putting me off to be honest, but AM2's guest lineup wasn't any better unless you really wanted musical acts more. Which I don't. So it wasn't. :|

Overall, you can kind of get the sense that AX is moving on to better things ever since the (albeit short) reign of Michael Lattanzio came to an end, something we can all be happy about. I've been coming every year for AX since 2004 when I was just a high school nerd volunteering for the first and only time. Organization has been a lot worse, 2005's registration lines and printers going down making for 4-5hr waits, 2007's massive badge mail-out delay, and other shit. So for me, this wasn't nearly as bad. And still worth more to go than AM2.

>>4694641
according to AX they had only 1000 more unique attendees but their turnstile numbers (basically how many people showed up total if you were to count every time they walked in over the course of the convention as one person) they had 23,000 more. (105k vs 128k). Basically, more people were coming for more of the con. I'm used to SDCC so it's all the same to me though.

>>4694991
very related

>>4694576
the first part was "this is our plans for AX" and they mentioned what was going on today, tomorrow, and Sunday. The second part was more or less "introduction to Vocaloid," which, if you're in the room, you probably know already. I more or less slept through that part. Later on they showed some stuff fans did. Actually I might be mixing up the Keynote with the Conference by now. Shit blended together in my head. I'm just glad the magic press badge didn't require me to wait outside. Fuck yeah, show up late, go in first and sit up front.

>>4694343
>>4694343
>>4694343
>>4694343
>>4694343

THIS THIS THIS A THOUSAND TIMES THIS

>>4694976
There was a bomb scare that resulted in summoning the bomb squad. I know because I was there, the result was that the attendees were blocking traffic while crossing (you might have seen photos of that here).

The issue was resolved but I don't know how, apparently it was either misplaced merchandise for the vendors or something about a homeless person.

>>4695761
Harlem Heat guy here:

No, I know there was a bomb threat. Just in the grand scheme of things and how it was handled, you could have fucking fooled me. Hence the sarcasm.

(Compare to: "Holocaust? What Holocaust?" -M. Ahmadinejad)

for all you STUPID assholes that are saying 'oh am2 was fine, stop jumping on a bandwagon of hate' please understand CHASE WANG STOLE MONEY FROM AX, which is why he can no longer set foot in that con.

when you support this gigantic piece of shit, you're supporting a stupid smelly fucker that padded his pockets with YOUR money if you ever went to AX during his time there.

AM2 if a fucking failure, ask ANYBODY that tried to sell anything there. a lot of browsers cause it was free with very little revenue made. and even if you had a good time just know you're giving chase, that batshit insane lunatic, more support than he'll ever deserve in life.

>>4695911

Allow me to show you a list of higher-ups who aren't flaming, money-grubbing jews:

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>>4695913

So that mean's Chase get's a pass for being an embarrassment to the industry?

>>4695915
Ye's

>>4694976
The bomb threat was real, bro. I was in the AA all weekend so I was clueless about it until they made that announcement about how people were free to go in/out of the Exhibit Hall again. But I asked a friend who was staffing afterwards and she said that some guy left a package by the eating area and a bomb squad was called in.

>>4695911

You mad that I would rather support a new con that had a better GoH lineup then AX this year.

In all honesty, if AM2 wasn't on the same weekend as AX I bet it would have been worse then last year in terms of how they treated their guests and attendees because it them an incentive to clean up or lose vendors and attendees to AM2.

>>4696063
I don't think AX cared about AM2 at all.

>>4696082

They created the free Exhibit Hall after 3pm crap because they were afraid to lose people that would just hang out at AM2 since it's free

>>4696764
I think that was more just generally trying to get higher attendance rates since it dropped the previous year and merchants were complaining about cost vs revenue issues.