Help Me Pick a Con
This was a work in progress. However I’ve been working on it for a month+ now so we’re down to just one left. And then somehow I figured I should publish this for some reason.
Memorial Day weekend in the US means a long weekend and the start of the Summer con season. There are 4 cons on that weekend, and all of them are srsbzns cons.
Anime North (mid-size con for the Canadians)Animazement (mid-size con located in North Carolina, east coast but comfortably southern)Fanime (large California con)- Anime Boston (large Northeast con)
I can go to one out of the four of them, but at least I can afford to go to any four of them. They all take place on the same weekend, May 22-25 or so.
The ones crossed out are the ones I decided against.
I had a hard time making up my mind. I’m crossing out Anime North automatically just because it’s not that interesting to me this year. Sorry Hiyama-san! For the record I have been to Anime North before. Toronto is a lovely place to visit. And I wouldn’t hesitate to go again if it gave me a reason.
By this, I’m implying that the other three cons do have reasons that would pull me there. They are personal reasons, but I would totally hit up Momoi’s live shows, even if the one at Fanime is only 75% as good as I hear them described by fans. I do like Kajiura’s music and if Anime Boston do show Kara no Kyoukai using something better than a DVD, that would rock the house too. Last but not least, some of the old timers of anime will gather yet again at Animazement; I have a dozen things that I cherished over the years that Noriko Hidaka can autograph, and maybe Maruyama can share some new developments like he usually does if you ask.
Ya. I have a hard time. I have about equal reasons to hit up all three conventions. But that’s just the primary considerations. I also know people who live near each of these three (also in Toronto…) places and I can drop by and say hello, share a meal, et cetera. The usual tomfoolery of hanging around doing not very much.
The baseline formula for the best choice is:
Overall Value = Con Enjoyment - Hassle - Cost
There are other adjustments I could make, but that’s the baseline. I will rank each of these values from -5 to +5, where 0 is the starting point (default for unknown values); greater the overall value, the better.
Con Enjoyment = +4, I’ve had good times the past two visits, in ‘08 and ‘06. Good guests this year, too, even if it isn’t a “must” for me. Been a fan of Noriko Hidaka for a while now…
Hassle = +2. Being a mid-size con in NC means things are not as competitive, although they’ve relocated to downtown Raleigh, bumping up the cost and uncertainty. When cons move from some place they’ve done business for years to a bigger venue for the first time there’s always uncertainty. Plus, it’s NC. Out of the way for most people; I am probably going to fly if I want to go.
Cost = 0. To put it in perspective, I can get 2 nights of hotel downtown Boston for 3 to 4 nights in Raleigh. Everything is cheaper down there. The main cost for me is travel, since I basically have to fly unless I carpool. Driving for 8 hours is an option, …but it’s not my favorite option. For what it is worth, the plane tickets are cheap enough to make this a serious choice if I can find cheap crash space.
Overall value = +2. Pretty good I’d say.
Con Enjoyment = 0. I’ve never been there. So it’s definitely not very low; I always like to check out new cons, I guess. However from what I hear, it’s not a con that I would like to go visit because its very crowded, plus the various horror stories about poor line management and registration problems. Hearsay and witnesses aside, 0 is a sensible value I guess. The guests are fine, but skimpy. Certainly pales to Animazement’s or Fanime’s list.
Hassle = 0. I can mass-transit to Boston, and it’s cheap. Boston is relatively easy to get around without a car…and it helps that I know people who live there. Still, it’s not a waltz to get around.
Cost = 0. It’d be nice if I can crash at somebody’s, but I probably couldn’t. Plus it’s expensive there, naturally. Travel costs offset hotel costs.
Overall value = 0. Well, if the experience is good, it would be worth the expense. But as is, it’s a small gamble.
Con Enjoyment = 0. I’ve never been there either, and I’ve not heard much about it besides a certain Gainax person makes the trip every year. It’d be nice to see Yamaga-san in person at least. And maybe Patricia Lee in a Haruhi cosplay… But lol, MOMOI concert is easily the best thing we’ll see this summer for an anison show in the US, as it stands. And that kind of gets to the heart of the matter–where’s all the big announcements from AX and Otakon and others?
Hassle = +3. It’s far, I can probably go with someone and split costs, but bleh. Far is far. Been to San Jose (in May no less), it’s nice up there at least. Losing a day to flying is totally undesirable though.
Cost = +3. It’ll cost more than AB, for sure, if just for the plane ride alone. In exchange maybe I can hit up some good eats, but I can live without that…
Overall value = -6. Yea, you can see why I’m not likely to go. Despite this I’ll give it a bonus +2 for having MOMOI do a live with a band, for a true total of -4.
To baseline, Otakon would probably have a score of somewhere around +4, +0 and -2 for a total of +6; NYAF would have something like +1, -1, -3 for a total of +5. That is, presuming there are reasons to go to these cons!
Ugh. Planning a weekend getaway shouldn’t be this difficult.
So why did I pick Anime Boston? I have no idea.
(image by nagian)
wait, I’m confused, the only one uncrossed is the lowest rated one, and anime north isn’t even rated @_@ EIDT: wait, re-read the top, but still confused about the cross-outs
I really, REALLY wanted to go to animazement to see Tomokazu Seki, but I have no money T_T
Yeah, don’t sweat it. I didn’t write down everything pertinent.
I saw all the numbers and I think you’re making the decision too complicated, omo dear. I think that for most people in the northeast, AB would be the most logical choice for the Memorial weekend con and hopefully, they’ve gotten over their stupid line issues this year.
I’m going to Fanime though, ’cause I’m sick of Boston and have never been to SJ. I’m just going to get me some California sunshine.
I think it’s only complicated because I really like Animazement and it would be my first Anime Boston. I wish I could go to both. Funny thing is the math doesn’t even make sense if you follow what I wrote like digitalboy, lol.
Enjoy your SJ sunshine Anna. Can’t say I don’t envy you!
Boston’s harder to get around if you have a car. If you know what you’re doing you can practically walk from the bus station to the convention center (maybe a mile), though both are on the subway (the subway system is a toy by New York’s standards). All of Boston is a toy by New York standards.
Argh. Memorial Day weekend? I’ll be out of town. Otherwise I’d meet you for lunch.
I’m going to Fanime no matter what; it’s like a stone’s throw away from my house. Although, I probably wouldn’t go if I didn’t have friends to hang around with, which probably applies to any convention these days. I’ll be volunteering this year. Won’t say the department, ’cause er… yeah. But I’ll be co-hosting a panel, too.
I remember in ‘07 that the Haruhi seiyuu weren’t announced as guests until Fanime was up and running, so it may not be too late for AX to announce more people for this year.
Have a good time at Anime Boson.. ^_^ That is one of the cons on my mental list to go to in the future, besides an Atlanta con, alas.. that weekend I will still be in Japan.. so definitely looking fwd to reading your con post.
Enjoy your time in Japan :p
Mei: well I’m sure they’ll announce more for AX and Otakon. Just wish they would do it already.
have fun in your puny us con, worms. hahahahahhaaa!!!
man i wish i could be at AB now that people are /actually going to it/
Man, I see it the exact opposite way. I’d rather go see Kajiura Yuki, but I live in the Bay Area and it would cost a ton to fly to East Coast. >.>
Well, I hope you have fun at whatever con you go to.
It isn’t like I don’t want to see Kajiura but yeah, all this is to say both Momoi and Kajiura should come over more often. USA is a huge place after all.
WAH: :D
I would kill a friend, if they were going Anime Boston, just to see Kajiura, but none of my friends are because we’re all Californians.
Going to miss you at Animazment. Can’t wait to get my Gunbuster set autographed bu Noriko. :) Oh and Tomokazu Seki canceled. :(
Boo @ Seki.
Have fun @ AZ ;_; I just hope Hidaka-san makes her way back here again soon, since it’s her second time and all.
Wow, I had no idea going to Anime Boston was such a hard decision @_@
Well, for me, Anime Boston was kind of a no-brainer. I started to get into Kajiura’s music after Chiaki Ishikawa’s concert in AX 2007, but after Oblivious I really became a fan. There is something about Kalafina’s combination of music and voice that really appeals to me. I don’t expect a full-blown concert, but that is the least of my worries.
Keiko Han repeating Animazement is nice, but despite her major roles in anime I saw as a child (Saint Seiya, Queen Millennia), it is not enough. Same for Noriko Hidaka.
Momoi, well, I have a hard time digesting her style. I tried an album of hers after her AX 2007 announcement, and it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t go to her concert, so maybe I just missed the chance to actually like her work–I was just too tired after the Haruhi Seiyuu-related fiascos.
Considering I live in Florida, any convention I go involves paying for plane tickets and lodging. So for me, guests is the main factor. This time, Kalafina wins.
And really, whats with the lack of AX and Otakon announcements?
Both Hidaka/Han and Momoi are veterans with proven track records. Kalafina doesn’t. You could say that Kajiura has done a lot of stuff and that’s true, but she’s likely not going to perform… It would be better to say that you don’t really care about the other guests :p
Well, part of it is having known what those people will do at the con. I’ve seen plenty of Momoi’s live footage even if I’m not a big fan of her music (esp. after U17 broke up), so I know it’s going to be pretty good.
You know which one I’d pick for you :)
Momoi does favor her U17 stuff heavily at cons over here though. I don’t think there’s been one event where she didn’t pull out a classic Komugi song or Tenbatsu! Angel Rabbie to complement her latest work. She knows that’s where she’s got the most exposure overseas.
I hope for her sake, she knows what American otaku has been exposed to. If she has any cred and all anyways (probably being one of the few who might). I would imagine outside her hardcore fan base, she would also know which songs are popular (and it might be the same over there as over here).
Good thing you didn’t go to Animazement for Noriko Hidaka. She and some of the others had to cancel due to swine flu scares.
http://www.animazement.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=73&cntnt01origid=54&cntnt01returnid=54
Totally. It would have screwed me over pretty badly… well, I’m crossing my fingers for the other cons this may :3
Never knew you went to AN. Frankly, I don’t have much reason to go this year aside from the fact that it’s right here and I might as well, but I’m glad you like the city.
By the way, who’s going to AB? I heard about the problem with the lines last year but since I know I’m not traveling anywhere I didn’t bother reading in detail. Either way, I hope one of you does a post on it, it’ll be nice to see Fanime, AB, and AN posts hitting the ’sphere on the same weekend :P
Fanime, AB, AN, maybe even AZ and Jacon. It’s the busiest weekend for anime cons this year!
I’m not sure who is going to AB besides kransom, the guy at doalchemy.org and some random people who are not rearing their heads.
I’ve been to Toronto several times before, not on con business. But I was at AN the year KOTOKO was. I know some folks off the internet there too, like this guy called himself Hayama…
[…] though, this is a big reason why I am here. It’s not so much the con has draws for me, even if it certainly does. It’s the people, the location (first time really spending […]