Anime Expo 2007 on DCM: February 7th, 2008

Report by TakagiNaoSama

This was the second AnimeExpo for DeathCom and TakagiNaoSama, but the first for Tim.

Attending Staff: DeathCom, TakagiNaoSama, Tim

Con staff
(Our experiences with the convention staff overall, including event coordinators, press heads, and of course security.)
AX staff was very accommodating to us like last year :) We had a little bit of trouble figuring out where we were suppose to setup to tape the masquerade, but it worked out.
Average Score: 83%

Hotel & Hotel staff
(The quality of the hotel, ease of check-in, and the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff.)
While there were ridiculously long lines for the elevators, in most other aspects the hotel was very accommodating.
Average Score: 83%

Masquerade Technical
(Just about every aspect of the masquerade except the actual skits. The MC, technical, judging, timing, etc. Basically everything the convention staff had control over.)
Wrong music, insufferably long waits between skits, incorrect cues, and general disorganization really hurt this year's masquerade.
Average Score: 18%

Masquerade Talent
(The quality of the skits themselves. The variety, innovation, fresh content, and entertainment value of the show overall.)
I was surprised at the number of musical skits this year. There were quite a few refreshingly new concepts used (Death Note apple puppets)and rarely represented animes. A little too much Final Fantasy XI though. Oh, and a Sailormoon skit that literally made me cry :)
Average Score: 73%

Gameroom
(The size of the room, number of machines/consoles, location, and overall presentation of the gameroom.)
While a little better than last year's gameroom, AX's gameroom is still one of the worst in the country, especially for the size of the con. They had arcade machines, but they should not be on pay-per-play. DeathCom pointed out that at least they had their PS3s hooked up to HD TVs.
Average Score: 38%

Dealer's Room
(The size of the room, number of merchants, variety of merchandise, hours of operation, location, lighting, etc.)
Tim obviously gave it the highest marks because of the impressive Hellsing display. High marks all around though for the size, variety, walking space and location.
Average Score: 94%

Artist Alley
(The location and size of the alley, placement of the artists, variety of art, etc.)
AnimeExpo honestly couldn't have found a room to put the artists in? Placing them in the middle of the hallway with barely any room to stop and browse the tables let alone walk through the area was just about the dumbest thing they could have done.
Average Score: 60%


Overall
(This is our entire con experience including all of the above and everything else that goes into a con weekend combined.)
Overall AnimeExpo did not impress DeathCom and I. Tim had a fair time being his first AX, but he agreed that everything was just way too spaced out and confusing to find. I got lost multiple times and had to trek across pavement and grass, up and down stairs in a costume in the scorching sun to try to find my way back to anything I recognized. As I reminded many of my East-coast friends, just because it's the biggest, doesn't mean it's the best.
Average Score: 64%

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