MikomiCon 2009 Feedback Thread ver. 2.0

Archived Thread
#1 Eurobeat King on 9 years ago

Hey everyone,

Once [i]MikomiCon 2009[/i] is over, please reply and give your thoughts on this year's con. Stuff like:

Did you like the con? :) Or not so much? :(

What were some of the [b]highlights[/b] for you or [b]disappointments[/b]?

And.. [i]will you return next year in 2010 or not[/i]?

Feel free to discuss what you thought about various things about the con: [b]the hotel, the staff, masquerade, dealers' room, panels, cosplayers, etc.[/b]

Please be courteous if you have something to post about that you didn't like, as those con-staff who may read these posts want to know how to improve for next year. So try to keep it polite throughout the thread.

Thanks for your input!

#2 Krylancelo on 9 years ago

The con was okay, the panels were great, the one's the I went to anyway. (Con going 101, There will be brawl, Dragon BALD, and Banzai Arcade.) The food choices there were rather disappointing, so friends and I usually went out to eat. The masquerade was what I expected, mostly unappealing mainstream/yaoi/overused meme stuff with the few great skits near the end. (Loved the Kamina.) But I really appreciated the Kamehameha contest, because it got people to get up and participate and show their stuff. (I'm still waiting for a full video of the whole bloody contest, but eh, I'm sure it will show up. If not, I'll be pretty pissed.)

The game room was pretty nice, the standard stuff all being there. (BlazBlue, SF4, and what not. Would have liked a bit more, but it was nice.) The rockband thing was actually a big let down. The room was nice and such, but the people there... whoa boy. Since nobody was being let to play the game at the time, my friends and I just kinda goofed around, talked to each other and played games. We threw a water bottle with like the smallest amount of water in it. And these guys, they went batsh*t insane over it! I was going to get up and pick it up and apologize and such, but they wasted no time in saying I was banned for an hour in a really rude way. So I nodded my head and said okay, cause I messed up. You mess up and accept the punishment. But low and behold, 3 hours later I come back and get kicked out again, and even after saying they said 1 hours, they still wouldn't let me back in. So I just shrugged the whole bloody thing off and didn't come back.

Other than that, it was nice and I would do it again. But I would love to see more stuff there for me to do.

#3 Summoner Lenne on 9 years ago

Thoughts part 2! Part 1 was mostly the dramaz.

I like Mikomicon. It's a nice little con. I think though that the being-at-a-college-thing is severly hampering them, and for the con to continue to live it needs to change its location. Happy they listen to criticism though- last year people comlained about the badge price and they significantly lowered it.

Was admittingly kind of bored for most of the con- had a blast at the rum party (I was a dealer! Haaa! :D. And got auctioned off for 42 coins- I AM THE ANSWER, BWHAHAHA!) . Caught the very end of Dragon Bald, AND IT WAS AMAZING. Wish I had gone to all of it. I didn't hit any of the panels, which I wish I had.

I do think the con should have printed out a program grid for everyone. I saw a few scattered around, but I don't know where they came from. I understand saving on costs and not printing out the program book, but how much can a black and white program grid be? I know the reason I didn't hit any panels is I didn't know when they were happening!

Also, pushing up the masquerade an hour- I'm not sure why it happened- made a lot of people go like AHHHHH!

Good things though! Got to see alot of friends, and it was generally a low-key fun con. Actually the only real bad part I had was some unrelated friend drama. Which of course isn't the con's fault.

Noticed the artwork in the artist alley was surpisingly high quality. Also, the dealer's hall had a lot of nice stuff. Impressive for a small con :).

I personally ADORED Rockband. It's true I've never played... ever, before, in my life, so I have no better comparisions on if it was run well or not, but I understand why the people in charge would freak out at water being in there and stuff (2000 dollars worth of equipment or something o_0.). And it wasn't ever that hard to find four people for a band- just scream out 'HEY, WHO WANTS TO PLAY DRUMS?!"

So... ya. That was my opinion on the con :). Do think it needs to get a bigger programming track, and leave CSUN- I know that was it's beginning, but it just costs too much and limits other elements of the con from beginning. To quote a suggestion my friend Caitlin said- the Airtel hotel in Van Nuys would be perfect? :)

#4 LKD on 9 years ago

I really loved it. I wish more people came so it would have been livelier so getting the word out more would be awesome :3 The location was beautiful and 20 bucks for the whole weekend was great.

I loved the artists chosen to sing. They have great personalities :3

Also giving a more specific location would be awesome ^^; First time there and we drove around the whole campus looking for it.

It is a tad to far from me so I doubt I'll be going again >&lt; Nothing I can do about it :/ I'd love to see it grow.

#5 Hazel Chaz on 9 years ago

[QUOTE=Summoner Lenne;3157595]To quote a suggestion my friend Caitlin said- the Airtel hotel in Van Nuys would be perfect? :)[/QUOTE]

I would not propose the Airtel Plaza Hotel.

The Marriott Warner Center/Woodland Hills, though -- Shari stayed there -- that's got some potential.

#6 Super No 1 on 9 years ago

If this convention were to change location, I would be hating life. I'm a photo guy and this location is paradise for me. The idea of going to another con in a run-of-the-mill nondescript hotel where people are crammed in like sardines doesn't excite me at all. This is the only convention in LA where I am really excited to take photos. To be honest, a lot of the photos that I took at this year's Mikomicon are some of my favorite photos that I've taken at any convention that I've ever been to and I've been shooting at conventions since 1999...or was it 1998?? I keep forgetting.

Since the old feedback thread got locked, here's my [URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157622283926301/"]flickr[/URL] again with a few sample photos from the convention. I added a few more photos since I originally posted the link. These are just photos that I'm using for blog reports. I love this place!!! Don't even think about moving it!!!

#7 ScarletRhapsody on 9 years ago

[QUOTE=Super No 1;3158214] I love this place!!! Don't even think about moving it!!![/QUOTE]

THIS! x 100.

For the reasons that Super No 1 mentioned in his original post, I really love the university location. It makes for nice backdrops if you're doing school themed cosplay, and we found some palm trees for a nice location for our Pokemon photos. Not to mention that there's plenty of space to have panels, video showings (ooh...stadium seating!), game room, dealer's hall, etc. This is more than what can be said for Anime Vegas.

#8 LKD on 9 years ago

I forgot to mention in my other post that the bees were kind of a problem >&lt; I know the soda kinda brought them out from hiding..especially the hyper dew! So much sweet xD
Here I thought they were all extinct xDD

Anyways next year perhaps some bee traps? :3

#9 Summoner Lenne on 9 years ago

The bee's are something that the school needs to take of. The likelihood of Mikomicon trying to single-handling tackle the problem is, errr, not very likely o_0. (Also, bees are needed for the pretty flowers! :) )

#10 SpookyElectric on 9 years ago

Good stuff:
* Like others, I like the location. More variety in locations for photos than typical hotels/convention centers/parks. If the location changed, I'd be more likely not to go.
* Not a lot to do = more people free to go somewhere to be photographed.
* Overall a nice relating alternative to bigger events.
* For the size of the event, the schedule looks pretty full.
* For what was offered, I think the price was fair.

Not so great stuff:
* The heat. I guess the trick was to be there early before it got hot, and do more stuff then and later at night.
* Got heckled by some rude maintenance guy.
* The little tent over the musicians tends to cause poles on its edges to get in the way of good photos, and leaves half the band in the hot sun. Maybe rent a wider tent? (hopefully keeping them outside)

* Maybe make it more bunkasai-ish or matsuri-ish. Though unfortunately that would require a larger staff / volunteer group. (I guess the rum party was probably like that? I couldn't make it on Friday)
* I think it might be better as two days instead of three.
* Was there a karaoke room? I'm not into that, but it seems a staple at cons, and something many of my friends tend to go to. I guess Rock Band is karaoke-ish...

I hope the con returns next year in the same space. (with nicer weather)

#11 Fremen on 9 years ago

I feel more depressed hearing about all the photo opportunities I missed...sigh

#12 Maguma on 9 years ago

I personally enjoy this location and the con in general. My only issue this year was some last minute stuff that fell through and time changes. Masquerade was supposed to be at 7 then 20 40 min after the 5 O'clock check in we're told the show was starting in 20 min.

Console room was alright, no complaints.

If there were a little more to do or more events planned/placed in better locations It'd probably be more fun.

Also since it's so small and many people really didn't know what was going on maybe have like an announcement of events every so often over at the outdoor stage

#13 yukihiro on 9 years ago

The only complaint I have is the same one I've had the past two years. If you're going to put it in the program, do it. Don't put stuff in the program and not do it. You're just setting people up for disappointment.

On the plus side, I liked the lower prices this year. A printed program isn't necessary.

#14 Annwyn on 9 years ago

I had a lot of fun doing artists' alley for the first time, so I didn't see as many of the events as I normally would. However, I thought it was a small but fun con. I'm looking forward to going again next year and hosting more panels!
If anyone is interested in selling food in the future, I'm sure they would do very well. The school closes almost all of their food places on the weekend, so people were definitely looking for food. I think the vendor that was there must have done well.

#15 Matsuda Tota on 9 years ago

Here's what I gots to complain about. No more of the same god damn music at the dance. I stayed for, like, ten minutes, left, and just hooked up my own music outside and danced there. Why I gotta listen to Helsing every single damn time I go to a con? Yeah, he's local, but holy shit, man, there are other DJs out there, too.

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