Primary A with support to B. B is cheaper and easier to do anyhow. Much easier to have as an afterthought or use less effort and still come out good.

Small cons should go with B then when they get higher numbers they can roll with the huge guests

C - Cater to the feelings of female attendants. Ban unattractive/fat/creepy men unless they're wealthy (=will provide lots of currency for the con organizers). Indoctrinate all attendants with the meta propaganda, allow only artists who fit into it, censure the rest.

>>6773939
this

>>6773939
AKA how Counji failed but ALA suceeded

>>6774217
ALA was forced to be a social con because there's nothing to do there except stand around a pool and take pictures.

B. No convention is without its patrons, so you should take care of them and provide the environment that will facilitate their needs

>>6773886 (OP)
1. Fun and interesting panels and events.
2. Industry guests.
3. Musical/secondarily-relevant guests.
4. Stress-free and easy experience for congoers.
5. Interesting and varied merch for sale.

Those would be my priorities, in order, for an ideal con.

>>6774230
And guess what they succeeded in spades

B is needed for your con to be memorable. Look at Sac Anime, they get tons of high profile guests but they do dick for the con atmosphere or events and thus they keep getting beat out by the likes of ALA.

B, B, B, B.

Unless you've been B for a while and blown up big. Then A.

>>6773886 (OP)
B

But for selfish reasons. None of my friends want to go to cons.

>>6774271
>>6774263
>>6774337
>>6774330
>>6774306
All the people who say B is ideal is the reason why the CA convention scene is so shitty now

>>6774352
>conventions are serious business!
waiting in line for two hours to watch a famous person give a press release isn't that fun to everybody.

>>6774330
SacAnime's problem is that it's up in Sacramento. No one wants to go up there unless they live there.

>>6774352
Meeting people or going to drunk room parties are nothing exclusive to conventions. Getting rare merchendise, meeting guests who come stateside or seeing exclusive screenings, thats what conventions are about. If that's not the case then why does SDCC, Wondercon and PAX sell out so god damn fast?

>>6774365
Wondercon isn't a good example because it took a while to sell out. Give it a few more years and it'll probably be on sellout status, partly because SDCC is maxed out so people will go to Wondercon.

Going to be the minority and say A. The reasons why I'd go out of state or country for a con is precisely for A.

Social shit can happen at any con and even if the con wasn't set up for that purpose, it can easily be made that purpose by anyone whether that be in their own hotel room parties or a meet up spot or wherever else.

>>6774370
This!

A con with amazing guests can still have a crazy party scene (See PAX)

A con with a crazy party scene can't suddenly bring in high profile guests

Meh, almost all guests I don't care for enough to attend for them, and the good ones charge way extra to attend their events/photos/autographs. So I gotta go with B.

Unfortunately the more common thing here is A and B done halfass.

>>6774352

>my opinion isn't that popular after all
>better make an excuse

I think if their object is to attract more fans, they are succeeding since SoCal cons are still growing. If they lose you individually as a guest or others like you in the minority, it's more than made up for the more socially minded active participants at a convention.

I would rather see a con full of people dressed up, running around and seeing everyone taking pictures/having their pictures taken than to hang out at a line con. I don't have a strong desire to catch a glimpse or a photo with a celebrity or a guest of honor, I'd rather see the friends that I get to spend a weekend with a few times a year like a big family reunion.

Sure there's the occassional drama or squabble, but the benefits outweigh the isolated incidents of fail.

>>6774508
sounds like you don't even need a convention at all for that

>>6774600
>huge collection of nerds having fun, meeting each other, buying and selling each other stuff, running panels for each other, wearing costumes and having fun
I don't understand, that's like asking why we need a convention to have a convention.

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>>6774172
I can literally feel the vagina coming off of this post.

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>>6774655

>>6773886 (OP)
Mainly A, with a side of B. And I will be one of those assholes that complains about non-Japanese things in a convention that bills itself as a Japanese cultural event.

A con's main responsibility should be the safety of its attendees. Especially for protection against sexual harassment & rape.

>>6774722
I think they're doing pretty well already as they are largely self-policed by attendees.

>>6774172
We call that Yaoicon

>>6773886 (OP)
Mainly B. Mostly because I dont really have any friends. Cons are the only chance and time where I get to party and have fun.

A.

B will develop on it's own if A is executed properly.

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Usually the guests are dub voice actors, and really, who watches dubs?
B all the way, unless it is actually people from the Japanese industry/possible exceptions for that one guy who Founded JLIST, JAST, and all the other subsidiaries.

>>6776227
Many of the larger Anime cons (and even some upstarts) are snagging Japanese guests. Japan Expo is shaping up to have some real great guests this year,,

>>6776227
>Usually the guests are dub voice actors, and really, who watches dubs?
this
I don't get why fangirls line up to have stuff singed by Vic Lasagna

>>6774384
>>6776204
A con with amazing guests and events will have a social scene develop on its own. No need to dedicate resources to "make" one.

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>>6776227
Yeah that's my problem with guests too. I don't care for dubs at all but if Japanese industry guests were coming in, that'd be fantastic.

I want to see more seiyuu. Pic related.

>>6776227
I'm still figuring out how some convention in Georgia got ZUN (aka the mastermind behind everything Touhou) but not AX or even Japan Expo USA

>>6776304

I would cry tears of joy if a con ever managed to snag Sugita. I would fly out and everything too even if it wasn't only home state. He'd make for one hell of a panel.

>>6776413
There's a beer festival close to the convention date. Trust me, he's not going just for AWA.

>>6776518
>>6776304
I completely agree. Same with Minoru Shiraishi. Fuck, I just want some actual seiyuu rather than the same five Funimation VAs at every fucking con.

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>>6776551
Desucon got Fukumoto a few years back, which is kind of impressive.
I doubt he'll go to another one any time soon though

>>6776523
that was probably part of the negotiations. "Hey, ZUN, there's a beer festival. We'll pay for your lodging and entry to it if you come to AWA." "WHERE DO I SIGN MY NAME?"

>>6774365
PAX is a little different from your average convention, because the show floor, rather than being about buying stuff, is about doing stuff. There are actually a lot of people who don't go to a single panel.

Also, PAX is also great for B, with stuff like the Handheld beanbag areas, console freeplays, and stuff like that.

>>6774666
I think I got a hernia from laughing at this

>>6773886 (OP)
I prefer B. I don't really care that much for Panels and guests. I want to meet new people and have fun with them. It's how I've been gotten out of my isolated shell. Plus none of my friends ever want to go with me to cons.

>>6776751

I think that's the point with a con going for A.

If you make a great con, the social sceen will develop on its own. Meanwhile with B if the con has lackluster guests and events then there's only so many things you can do to have a good time. Look at how people going to ALA were getting drunk at around 7pm

B did happened, it was called Anime Conji and thats a perfect example as to why B will never work.

>>6777135
Just because a con goes for B doesn't make it bad. Conji was just a bad con.

Fanime is a better example of B

>>6777150
Fanime I see is a more A type con. Just not in recent years though, which is the troubling part.

>>6777152
Fanime has to adapt to an A type con
They're too big to continue to being a B type con and they need that sponsorship money that the big cons like AX and Otakon bring in

It's always an awkward conversation when my friends bring up Fanime with our other friend who is a head staffer.

Katuscon is largely B now...last year with their 24 hour scheduling they had no panel filter and because of that 6 Hetalia "Ask a Nation" panels were scheduled. Good panels were held at 4 or 5 in the morning.

Plus with the venue it's good for large cosplay gatherings and showcasing new costumes.

But I really don't think they have that many good guests, but I dont' really follow them.

I just got pissed at their panel scheduling.

>>6777282
yeah, in more recent years, but this is the same fanime a year ago was able to get Kia Asamiya and a year before that: Toru Motherfucking Furuya. Thats nothing sneeze at in terms of guest and people still call it a B class con with that starpower and location? granted, this year is not looking too good, but come on!

>>6777324
You could count the guests on your ten fingers last year. Not just the Japanese ones, all of them. For something with a 20k attendance you expect more. And if this year doesn't stack up well it's going to firmly plant itself in B territory.

A convention's main responsiblity is to cater to the social and cultural needs of the fans and create an environment to this end. If you got any guests, that's great, but you need to cater to the fans above all else.

>>6777324
>>6777339
Exactly. As there are less guests and stuff, it makes me less likely to buy a badge and sponsor the con. If I'm going to go for purely the social scene, then I don't care to buy a badge since I won't be exploring much else.

I know I should be sponsoring a con if I'm going to be there, but if I don't care for the guests or something special that isn't just a social gathering, then I won't give a fuck if they have money to run everything else.

A con has the responsibility to provide enough to justify the price of their badge.

>>6777340
This. Otakon's cosplay contest has some shitty ass prizes unless you get Best in Show or something. When I got best friday journeyman I got a bag for of old otakon tshits, a shot glass, a certificate and a plastic trophy. I talked with one of the judges about it and she said that Otakon spends most of their money on big ticket guests.

I really have to wonder though how much it would take out of the con budget just to get $600 worth of decent figures or joanns giftcards. If I ran a can I would have each dealer donate a prize item and they can tape/pin a business card to it for publicity.

>>6777365
This. When I think of attending a con I look at the programming and weigh whether I feel I'm going to have X dollars worth of fun.

>>6777388
and what pisses me off is that the organizers don't usually show you whats on the programing like 2 or so weeks before. Thats fine if your SDCC or PAX, but not at some some lower tier con, you should know at least 40 days or so in advance.

>>6777375
you guys are an afterthought and aren't seen as being as a ticket draw so they'd rather spend it on the guests. guests can convert into more badges. cosplay prizes can equal a few badges (cosplayers) but throwing the money at the guests is probably going to work out better for the con.

>>6777396
Don't forget the (lack of) refund policies. At least AX lets you push a badge to the next year. Still not as good as getting your $50-100 back.

>>6777396
This annoys the fuck out of me and usually tells me all I need to know about a con (unorganized shit). Only very large WELL established cons do I let this pass.

>>6777324
Fanime is a B con as they never really put a huge emphasis on guests or exclusive events. It's largely a fan con as its not run for profit.

>>6777358
You're still going to Fanime and interacting with stuff that only Fanime can provide. If anything your badge money is supporting the con so that it can run 24 hours and keep the con center open.

>>6777435
Your statements are mostly correct except for one of your statements. Fanime is a for profit corporation. With a certain amount of money, you can join the Board of Directors. Anime Weekend Atlanta and New York Comic Con are both for profit.

A huge majority are 501(c)(3) nonprofits, like Anime Boston, San Diego Comic Con, Acen, Akon, Otakon and many more. The SPJA that runs Anime Expo and Anime Conji is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, akin to a chamber of commerce.

>>6777563
Not to mention "non profit" for conventions just means "we throw all the money back into the convention" which translates into "we can get nicer things." Right now Fanime would be going in the reverse direction, for profit or not.

>>6777708
Not exactly correct. Classifying something as "for profit or "non profit" affects the tax filing. A for profit corporation has to pay taxes yearly based on Taxable Income. A nonprofit is normally considered a public good, so it does not pay taxes.

The positive aspect of a for profit is that they can opt to be privately held, which means that they can be as secretive as possible. A nonprofit, by virtue of working for the public good has to publish all of its financial statements. The meeting minutes of the Board of Directors also have to be publically available. Depending on the nonprofit, it is may be tax deductible, which means that some conventions can be used to lower your gross income tax that you file, since a badge is considered a donation.