/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

It's a complete mess. I appreciate the forthcoming introduction of the new owner, but no matter how much was out of his control, even if say, staff from the original ownership dumped it on him in the last few weeks, THEY are the ones that should have said something sooner.

The only thing I can think of is that the closer it got to the event, the more they realized they were in the financial dumpster, and this guy dug them out. But they have screwed everyone over by not keeping the original venue. There seems to be little remorse or understanding over that besides apologies and lack of information.

I had booked outside of Hotels for Hope, because I do not have the money up front (I split the room with others). Thankfully, I picked the Hilton and was able to cancel with no penalty - but now what hotel do we book? When all the other attendees who booked through Hotels for Hope get transferred to the new location, are they going to immediately fill up the hotel blocks before the rest of us can grab a room? I'm so anxious I booked a bunch of random hotel rooms at places I can only guess the con will be at. Now I get to sit and wait to see which ones I need to cancel.

I know this way of booking is my own problem to deal with, but the whole 'hotels for hope' thing bugs me anyway. I refuse to use it.

This is not a dig on people who got caught with hotels, but where were you booking that you couldn't cancel your hotel?
We had a hotel and we cancelled with no fees and I think you can up to a week in advance.
We did buy our friend a ticket for our friend from England for the event too and that added like $300 in fees to reschedule that.

>>10085082
Sheraton downtown ft. Worth via booking.com, non-refundable rate was the cheapest, and I had the cash on hand so, I figured..

> My time off is approved, I have already booked my flight, I KNOW I'm going, and I have the cash now, so I may as well pay it all up front now and get it off the books...

>This convention has been going on smoothly for 30 years, that is longer than I have been alive, surely they have their business together..nothing will go wrong.

I called the hotel, they said that because I made the reservation through booking.com that the reservation is not "technically mine" it belongs to booking.com, they made it on my behalf.

Called booking.com and they pretty much said " non-refundable means non-refundable"

Soo looks like I'll be going to ft. Worth, with no con going on...what is there to do? Any suggestions? I don't know the area at all... Gonna try and make the best of it...

I just want to know what lead them to announce dates and let the venues open up if there was even a moments thought that they might sell the convention or let it trade hands or whatever. Its just bad business.

It seems like a whole lot of haha fuck you we think you're going to come out anyways. We don't care because we're A-kon.

It seems like to be a whole lot of haha fuck you we don't really care because we're A-kon. They think the masses will show up in droves anyway no matter where they go.

>>10085097
Are you a lolita? You could probably drop in on our Comm! I would be happy to host a meet up that weekend to help a pull out.
There is a lot of museums in Fort Worth worth seeing if you are into that.

>>10085108
** Gull, like seagull.
Help a pull out sounds like a weird insult.

>>10085097
Are you a lolita? You could probably drop in on our Comm! I would be happy to host a meet up that weekend to help a gull out.
There is a lot of museums in Fort Worth worth seeing if you are into that.

I swear weebs are the worst when it comes to traveling. Everyone whining is an entitled lazy brat who can't even read booking terms and conditions or don't have a emergency travel budget. I got all my money back for planes and hotel and wasn't a ~gold premier platinum~ member of anything.

Learn to play it smart next time. At least its hust as entertaining as normies whining at the airports.

>>10085097
Your fault for not reading the terms and conditions of what you booked and going through a shitty third party website.

>>10085120
> not reading the terms and conditions

Try reading my post again. I was fully aware of the terms and conditions of my booking.

I had no plans of canceling. I had no reason to believe that I would under any circumstances not be attending this convention.

Had MY plans changed, I would have been at fault. I know and aknowledge that.

However, I could have never predicted that the event itself (which has been running for 30 years might I add) would change it's dates so suddenly.

Akon is 100% at fault for my situation.

They knew they would be changing dates, but did not announce it.

They allowed people to continue making plans in spite of knowing the event would not be taking place during the adverised days.

>>10085112
That is very kind of you to offer! Thank you anon!!

However, my BF will be with me, and he really isn't into tea parties... I've tried to bring him in the past, lol.

>>10085120
Did you buy flight insurance? I never have, but this is the first time ever having my plans change so dramatically. We didn't get hit as bad with fees to switch days as expected, though.

>>10085122
>Akon is 100% at fault for my situation.

Sadly, they aren't. Everything at a convention has a star next to it, including the dates. Nothing is ever set in stone.

>>10085122
Why is someone else responsible for your own shitty descisions? Take your responsibility, unless you can't understand that concept.

>>10085134
Being liable and being at fault are not the same.

They may not be liable, but they are definitely at fault

>>10085140
I was responsible for being there on the adverised days

They were responsible for holding the convention on the adverised days

I'm living up to my responsibility, they however are not.

They are responsible for letting their attendees know when their event is, so that we can schedule accordingly.

They knew that the dates would change, and they withheld that information.

Myself and many others got screwed as a result.

>>10085145
Soo how do you know they withheld this information? What phsyical proof is there that they did this intentionally? Do you work for the con? If you do, you would know if they did this intentionally and you would have begin adjusting before everyone else.

That doesnt seem to be the case, isn't it?

I s2g basic con attendees are so entitled.

>>10085120
There's nothing entitled about planning a trip months ahead like you're supposed to for dates that aren't supposed to change. It's a frustrating situation for the customer.

>>10085145
My dude, the con isn't at fault. Were all pretty upset about it and having to shift plans but don't blame a con for your poor booking skills. There not going to refund you no matter how much you complain. You dont need to keep posing on every status they make the same sob story. None cares.

On a positive note I might go to Anime CTX now too since the convention moved it a month forwards.

Thanks A-kon for expanding my horizons!

>>10085145
It is 100% the cons fault and I'd be super pissed. You can't change dates once you've started selling tickets unless you where super upfront about those dates being tentive. People pay a LOT to travel to these things and switching it after screws over A LOT of people. I know I've gotten non refundable plane tickets to cons like PAX, SDCC, Dragoncon and months in advance to avoid price hikes later. A con is a business and this is shitty business practices.

>>10085154

>>10085150

It's not my email, but...

This email was sent out a few weeks ago to people who booked at the Omni.

Turns out they never finalized the hotel block and the Omni reached out to people to help them cancel their reservations.

But they sure as hell where taking reservations (through hotels for hope (not through the Omni))

This is how I know they withheld the info.


And had the Omni not sent out these emails, they wouldn't have made any sort of announcement.

The Omni hotel forced their hand.

They still to this very day have not announced the new venue.

>>10085158
Is that Mari?

>>10085145
>>10085161
Stop reddit spacing.

>>10085164
Speaking of Mari, what's up with the way she left? No goodbye, no thank-you...nothing. after 3 decades of hosting a convention, You would figure she would at least say goodbye.... Very strange

>>10085176
Mari? Who the fuck is Mari?

If you don't know her real name then stop acting cool.

The one who started it all was named Meri Davis. She was a shriveled up bitter raisin. She was the reason why there were shit guests for decades. She was the reason that steampunk was still allowed there long after that train had long left the relevance station.

The cool shit started to come in when Meri left. It was long before this announcement. Several years in fact.

>>10085222
Aww..sorry hun, did I ruffle your petticoat? Here allow me to correct myself so your fee fees won't get all flustered.

>Speaking of (whoever the fuck managed to this 30 year convention into financial disarray), what's up with the way (they) left? No goodbye, no thank-you...nothing. after 3 decades of hosting a convention, You would figure (they) would at least say goodbye.... Very strange

Better?

>>10085222
Aww..sorry hun, did I ruffle your petticoat? Here allow me to correct myself so your fee fees won't get all flustered.

>Speaking of (whoever the fuck managed to run this 30 year convention into financial disarray), what's up with the way (they) left? No goodbye, no thank-you...nothing. after 3 decades of hosting a convention, You would figure (they) would at least say goodbye.... Very strange

Better?

(Damn it's alot less satisfying with a typo, lol. Oh well, be mad)

I can't be the only one who's still excited. I know this year is going to be a real bumpy one, but think about how nice it'll be to finally have got rid of all of this >>10085222. I have no fucking idea how they're going to pull it off, but I'm showing up anyway.

>>10085376
I'm still excited, anon. I'll try to keep my expectations low for now, but I feel hopeful. I think this change might bring some exciting stuff. And if everything goes to shit, it helps that I'll have friends there that I haven't seen in a long time.

>>10085376
You aren't. I'm interested! It could be one of those new beginning things. Honestly, think of it like A-kon just hit an early midlife crisis. This could be the poorly thought out sportscar purchase of conventions!

>>10085097
https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/fort-worth-texas
https://www.moneyfactory.gov/fortworthtxtours.html
There are some art museums too, an aviation museum, and bars of course. If you want some strange photo ops head to the Log Cabin Village or the Cross Eyed Moose.

>>10085056
I'm lucky in that this hasn't affected me much. I live a few hours away from DFW and was planning to drive. I work as a teacher so I didn't have to ask for the time off. Aaand I didn't book the hotel yet because the friends I'm going with are dumbasses and even in December when I was asking about reserving the hotel, one says "REEEE I DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY BECAUSE I SPENT ALL MY MONEY IMPULSE ATTENDING ANOTHER CON IN THE FALL" and the other friend was like "REEE I'M TOO BUSY PLANNING A WINTER VACATION" so I was sitting her twiddling my thumbs waiting for them to get their shit together and then when I finally thought it would be safe to ask, this shit happens.
I wish they'd just hurry the fuck up and announce the venue so I can start making my reservations.

>>10085462
Did you pre-reg? You would have won the dumb luck trifecta.

From what I understand, they didn't even email the people who pre-registered. They just relied on Facebook and Twitter to communicate the date change.

Someone made a fucksy wucksy.

Anyone have an inkling as to who the lolita guest might be

>>10086043
I'd be surprised there is going to be a lolita guest, or even a tea party. I overheard one of the lolita organizers stay something last year about this being the last year for j-fashion.

Hope this isn't the case, but nonetheless, who do you think they can get this short of notice and still no word on venue?

>>10086076
Oh no, I didn’t know that. That’s really a shame since last year was awesome. :( I guess I won’t bank on that this year then.

>>10086042
That’s what I’m not understanding; there’s people commenting on the social media accounts saying ‘I got such-and-such email’ regarding hotels but nothing for pre-reg. Still nothing on the website besides them slipping the dates and Dallas in there. Not everyone has twitter or Facebook, some unfortunate fucker is gonna roll into Fort Worth in June and no one is gonna be there because no one bothered to cover all bases.

>>10086076
>who do you think they can get this short of notice and still no word on venue?
That applies to a lot of the other guests, too. This year's gonna be empty.

>>10086196
Th-they're working on it!

>>10086196
My thoughts exactly. Are they just gonna re-book everyone or... Because celebrity schedules seem like they wouldn't have allot of wiggle room

>>10086280
>>10086196
Not to be their one gull pr squad but hey, maybe we'll get lesser appreciated celebrities or more random voices from lesser known people. I know it doesn't draw others in much. I really liked the show last year at the convention center with GARNiDELiA.

>>10086123
Honestly think they'll give an announcement went they have a place set (or if it crashes and burns) so they don't have people more pissed at it not being done. The full story will probably placate those that didn't know ahead of time. Also if you book a hotel a year an advance for a convention you never follow/check now and again I don't know what to say.

>>10086366
When* rather

>>10086370
Ehhh, there's another con in Houston on the 13th that ladybaby, IA and a few other things I'm interested in will be at. Looks like a good time. I'll probably just head to that one. I love me some A-kon but, it doesn't look like it will be worth it this year, and I can only afford 1 con because I'm poor. Maybe 2020 :'(

>>10085145
Anon you might try contacting AKon, I doubt it will do you any good but there might be a slight chance they'd do a partial compensation for what happened. As someone who helps plan vacations for business trips, if an event is cancelled or changed after people have spent money on flights and bookings it is very frowned upon and they get sued all the time. Akon probably wont because most people are younger dumb con attendees who will get buffaloed by all this and just drop it but I've seen it happen plenty of times where an event fucks up majorly like Akon did and had to do partial compensations for people who got screwed. Again your chances are slim but it doesn't hurt to try.

>>10086668
This only applies if you book with the event, not through third party booking sites. An event is never responsible or obligated to refund for your descisions to book a third party service.

>>10086680
True, they are not obligated at all. But I have seen it where they do a partial refund to keep people happy and keep up good PR. Like I said,slim chances with Akon but hey, its worth a shot.

>>10086592
Enjoy giving your money to a highly documented sexual predator organizer.

But you probably don't give a shit about that.

>>10086690
Nah, they have a sex offenders registry for a reason, and the guy you're talking about isn't on it. No charges, no problem. If you want something done about it, have someone press charges let it be seen by a judge. Heck if A-kon dosent clean up their act I may go to this Houston con every year.

>>10086848
You're clearly are like the other blind retards who refuses to acknowledge the dozens of testimonials on what he's done.

Have fun getting raped in Houston.

>>10086869
Ok mom.

I wouldn't get any hopes up. Akon is firing a lot of good staff left and right and replacing or keeping a lot of the bad.

No one knows what's going on. New owner isn't telling staff anything except a small few.

Internally it's very much on fire.

>>10086196
there's plenty of texas VAs that they can pull from & iirc it's not during the same weekend as another big con, plus there's a few musical acts based in USA that they can get on last minute

>>10087371
Source?

>>10087400

No one wants American bands anon

>>10087460

Ex-staff
That's how I know

>>10087534
So, where is the new venue? Or at least, what are is on the table? Have they even locked down a place yet?

>>10087562
No one knows anything you shitheads which have been reiterated everytime it is asked.

Not ex staff.
Not current staff.

No one who has that answer are letting on where.

JFC all of you impatient fucktards.

>>10087534
Can you tell us who you are? Or like a hint or a department?

>>10087562

Ex-staff anon here


They won't tell anyone the damn venue. The new owner knows and like a few just under him.
The info was being held from staff on purpose.

The whole waiting on contracts is true. That's the major holdup. Some parties are slow as fuck to sign a dotted line.

>>10087573

Anon why the hell would I be dumb enough to out myself?

>>10087575
Hey, worth a shot. I'm just nosy.

>>10087574
I just hope we hear something before February, honestly. That'd be nifty.

I can wait, but I want to get on with it.

>>10087566
Boy, you must be fun at parties.

I think I may have figured out why they haven't locked down a venue. It seems our new convention head Frank has been in a spat of legal trouble when it comes to his events and venues.

Before eventpower was called “eventpower” it was called “technology forums” its main function was to put on military and government funded events. You can find this info on eventpower's website. (4th paragraph)

https://www.eventpower.com/Press/Business-Observer-2018-11-23


“technology forums” ran a DBA called Direct Marketing Productions, Inc. which Frank was also the president of. You can find this info here.

https://govtribe.com/vendors/direct-marketing-productions-inc-dot-technology-forums-3p8a5

Direct marketing productions was taken to court by the Sheraton Norfolk waterfront hotel, DBA hospitality hotel operator LLC ( I assume he hosted an event there )

Here is the Norfolk civil case circut portal :

http://ewsocis1.courts.state.va.us/CJISWeb/CaseDetail.do..

Case number is: CL06005073-00

Me thinks this is what's making it hard to lockdown a venue. It also may be why they couldn't keep the old venue.

>>10087644
Oh man, is it really A-kon? It was a B-con of Texas cons, but now we'll have to C...-con.

>>10086043
i wouldn't expect anything like that anon. i heard from a reliable source that any kind of jfashion guest request/application would have needed to be processed by December to secure enough time for organizing the guests stay, travel visas, lodging, etc.

at best, they'll most likely get lolita collective, a few resellers, and maybe a US based indie brand that could be okay coming on short notice like elegy, mossbadger, a.gato, etc.

i'm not against that at all (desu i'd prefer it because tea party tickets would probably not cost a fkn kidney), but if there's no brand guest, a-kon can kiss that crowd goodbye

>>10087575
Why bother posting at all if you're not going to say anything?

>>10087683
If this is a pun, congrats on being so oldschool. If not, still works, lol.

>>10087683
What a pun... Thought it was an A-ko,B-ko,C-ko joke at first, then I saw exactly what you did there.

I'm seriously considering just ghosting wherever it is though, because if they can't get a big enough venue out of what's left available in Dallas that weekend, I am not going to drag my claustrophobic ass into an overflowed hotel/con center.

>>10087644
This....makes sense :'(

>>10087937
I would agree but I already can get mine mailed to me, I might rent a room at least Thurs/Fri and the hell drive that'd be otherwise into Dallas.

Even if it's a dumpster fire, quite the experience.

Welp. Old staff really is on the way out.

>>10088278
Uh oh. I thought the other anon was making stuff up. This can't be good.

On the plus side, I'm the person who waits until a couple of weeks before the con to worry about hotels and I always buy my A-Kon badge at the con. Finally my procrastinating ways have worked to help me rather than hurt me.

>>10088293

And they are hiring terrible new people. A lot of new staff from some of the worst staffed cons in Texas and Louisiana.

>>10088278
>>10088293
>>10088302
and the cosplay contest was one of the best things at this con, thats so bad.
plz dont tell me theyre getting louisianime people

>>10088310

Bingo

>>10088302
>>10088310
>>10088312
I don't get why they're firing/hiring. Why not just keep the same staff?

>>10088317
Because the old staff drove the convention into a financial crisis?

>>10088319

The old owners did. Staff have nothing to do with money or guest choices.

They are all just volunteers trying to keep a sinking ship afloat

>>10088319
So far the people they're letting go wouldn't have had anything to do with that. These are department heads and staff lieutenants, not anyone with any control over operational budgeting concerns.

>>10088319
You know someone like the cosplay contest head would have fuckall to do with the finances right?

>>10088319

The old owners made a lot of the bad decisions mostly financial.
And refused to mail badges because they were too out of touch with everything.

>>10088310
>>10088312
What's the story on lousianime? I've never been, but I compete sometimes so I wanna know what to be wary of.

>>10088278
Did you see this though?

I can't imagine why someone would spend $700 to fly to A-kon

>>10088433
I mean I get why you're censoring it but it's just up on the Facebook for the A-kon cosplay group.

>>10088505
I think thats cgl policy now.

>>10088433
So are they firing staff and putting their friends in charge now? Cuz i know its common for the con but theyre getting rid of a lot of old people

>>10088566
No words on the FB page. Just 'thank you for everything'. So far there's two people and others starting to decry the practices. Someone posted a request/demand to hear wtf A-kon is doing firing people, so we might see a PR response soon to save face.

>>10088608
I'm surprised there isn't more being said about this. There is nothing that I can find outside of their official group and CGL.

>>10088630
Ever heard of NDAs ya dumbass?

>>10088649
I mean, just in general. The longest running Anime convention in the USA has changed dates, CEOs, Hotels, and venues in the middle of the season. Zero guest announcements, zero panel registration, zero hotel announcements, hell we don't even know where the damn thing will be, lol.

On top of that, Long time staff members (some have been staff for 26 years! And are well known and pretty respected.) Are being removed. And the new owner is some white dude that nobody has ever heard of, who's only history with conventions has been millitary and government technology forums, and providing software support.

>>10088654
Not the other dude, but I mean, what is there to say except like, three things?
"BOYCOTT A-KON" - I've heard that
"Wait and See" - Also
"Where is the hotel!?" - Everyone else. Not much else to really add.

>>10088566

I believe a bunch of staff have been told in the last few weeks they have been fired.

Considering the circumstances and lack of warning, they probably don't want anything to do with the con and won't post online.

>>10088661

So they are firing experienced people and have like 5 months to put on one of the largest cons in the US? Using newbies? Without training?

Oh this is going to be hilarious

Why not just wait until after this year to fire people? Keep people that know what they are doing to at least get the con to function.

>>10088668
Where did you get the impression from that this guy that has been doing this shit for decades is gonna hire totally inexperienced people and not train anyone whatsoever? Are you retarded?

>>10088672

Uhhh he has no experience in anime cons my dude. I don't think he can...

>>10088672
If his experience hasn't been with anime cons and they're getting rid of people with this niche experience, I wouldn't be surprised if the new staff has no clue what they're doing in this setting. Most cons either have too many staffers who can run basic events but no nerd-focused ones, or too many who are involved in nerd focus but don't know how to run events.

If Frank over here brings in a bunch from both sides the con will definitely get worse before it gets better.

>>10088672

I don't think a single guy, with zero anime con experience, can train every individual staff head. That's just not possible.

Be prepared for a BUNCH of millitary recruiters pestering you at A-kon 2019. Frank loves that Government money.

>>10088728
>millitary recruiters pestering you at A-kon 2019
I'm gonna say I'll sign up if they'll give me a green card

So I've been a volunteer for the last few years floating to different staffs, and DESU I think the 2 cosplay people yelling about stuff online have been disliked for a while. The guy that runs Nomikai now had a lot to say about them when he was running A-Kon.

>>10088505
I dont wanna get banished.

>>10088566
I have no idea. It seems like theyre forcing the old ones out, but I dont know what to think of it. Could it be for the best? Will it be the worst? Its all a mystery.

I don't think they are forcing everyone out. My friend who works a/v says their head was for sure still going to be there, and he's been there forever I think

>>10088741

Sorry that would be Shane who runs Nomikai. He got fired from A-Kon a few years ago for being inappropriate to staff. Dude has a major alcohol problem. Lots of people quit when he worked for A-Kon because he was an absolute asshole to everyone.

I wouldn't put any stock into what he says.

I don't know the situation about the cosplay people, but Shane is notorious among con circles. He looks nice to an outsider and good at spinning things for PR, but he is an evil dude behind the scenes.

>>10088741

Considering Nomikai guy had asked those same cosplay heads to help him with his shows, I doubt he disliked them that much.

I didn't know that at all. I just remember him talking about cosplay all fighting with each other. Now that you mention it, we were all at that bar inside the Anatole at the time. awkwarddd

>>10088654
I was trying to be optimistic at first about the hotel and venue change but now with the staff and cosplay staff firings- one of the few things Akon actually had going for it- I am really really thinking this con is going to be a massive army recruiter dumpsterfire shitshow. I'm going to ghost it but no way in fuck am I buying a badge for this chaos unless the new owner does some real explaining.

>>10088672
>Where did you get the impression from that this guy that has been doing this shit for decades is gonna hire totally inexperienced people and not train anyone whatsoever?
People are getting that impression of him by all the dumdass decisions he's made so far. We don't need to "wait and see" we're already "seeing".
It's like someone telling you to wait and see how the cake theyre baking will turn out before you judge it but you just watched them shit in the batter.

Well anon was right about the new cosplay staff head being from Louisiana and a bunch of trash cons.

Good job akon

There are like 50 to 100 people probably on "staff " for Akon. I don't think these firings were a big deal. It's very normal for any company to remove other staff after a leader change.

I am just hoping hotel prices will be cheeper, Ft Worth was getting expensive.

>>10088975
One of the girls had been staff for literally 26 years. And was director of her own department for 10 of those.

We are talking decades worth of dedication and experience. Gone.

There are those who think they know what is going on and those who know what is going on. I am one of those who has no idea what is going on. That said! I am going to give them a chance if you are one that says boycott the show. COOL! Get the F out of my way then, less I have to deal with getting into dealers room. Those who got fired must have been a reason for it. They had been around 29 years. Ok yeah, they don’t always get it right…fine agreed. But I feel better about spending my money on this show verse them AM, or Ikkicon… I like SanJapan…its nice. Shane, don’t know him. If that is why they removed him that should tell you they are removing for the right reason. So do what you want, I do not think someone would buy this show and say “Hey let’s put complete rookie here” that’s now how business works people.

>>10089007
K

>>10089007
The people that removed Shane were the original A-kon staff, though, right? The people now are new staff removing old staff. You can't over simplify it with that logic and assume the reasons and same situations apply. Personally I have no idea about the guy, but that's ridiculous and it's fair to be suspicious about the motives at work here with the new guys.

While it is very interesting to see how the story is being spun here, neither of them was ever a director. They were co-staff heads over a single stagnant event at a con where individual staff heads regularly run much larger programs by themselves that thrive.

They refused to grow cosplay outside of the contest, so 2 years ago they were given a manager with vision that could grow the entire program, which is where got lolita and j-fashion.

Despite how good this was for the program, the could not stand the idea of losing their power, they caused drama, they refused to work together, they intentionally got in the way. Then they were put on probation because of it and the next year still didn't change.

And here we are. This literally has nothing to do with the sale at the con and everything to do with two staffers who got so arrogant and complacent in the “power” of their tiny domain that they were hurting an important program of the con while leadership was trying to grow it.

Guests judges have been complaining about them for years, they don’t want to work with them. It’s open knowledge among upper staff, and you don’t see a lot of staff getting online and defending them, do you?

If you think this was more about the love of cosplay than the love of power look how they have handled having their power taken away in a time of uncertainty at the con and judge for yourself.

>>10089139
DESU when you put it like that, it gives me a lot to think about. I had no idea the jfash and cosplay depts were both under the same leadership. What a mess. Then fingers crossed for the future, I guess.

>>10089139
that's the most biased way of spinning it, but believe what you want, c

>>10089139

Hello Catherine and or Michelle. Nice try at anon. J-Fashion as a track actually started before either of you were brought in, but why let facts get in the way?

>>10088495
I mean it's not like it could be a round trip ticket right.

Except that jfashion started 3 years ago at the Anatole and was actually my favorite year? I'm coming in from an attendee POV so I'm sure I don't have all the facts. But I enjoyed the jfashion track a lot the very first year. Everyone who was staff that year went around or talked to attendees and seemed absolutely delightful. And I saw a lot of then again 2017 and it was still fun if not a big hectic, tho I'm sure that was just the venue change. Last year was by far my least favorite year which coincidentally was the same year that we saw previous staff disappear. And now with cosplay, it seems to be happening again and I can't help but to feel like it's going to be just as disappointing now that most of the staff is being replaced just as jfashion had happened last year.

I'll still give it a chance because I believe in seeing with my own eyes and judging with my own mind. But now that I know that the head of Cosplay is the same as Jfashion. I'm not hopeful.

>>10089223
You are right, I could be wrong about the dates for Jfashion joining the con, i know they have a head that isn't involved in any of this.

>>10089216
Its cute you think that my post was from one of them like they would be dumb enough to be so obvious. I'm not even a volunteer anymore, Bishop burned me the fuck out. But he did manage to tell everyone within reach everyone else's business

Con staff is family, we talk whether we're still volunteers or not. I only popped out of my fucking cone of judgemental silence because the con is trying to save itself, people are scared, volunteers are terrified they are going to lose the home they have found, and two bitter selfish people decided to jump into that mess try and make it about themselves and their own personal drama. Just stop

Been around the con scene for years, and I've seen several change ownership.
Here's my 2cents
There's no way to know if it'll be good or bad until it happens.

Sometimes people get axed when a new owner takes over because they want to bring in their own people. This seems unlikely though. It normally only happens with mergers or takeovers, not merely one person at the top.
Sometimes people get axed not because they're bad at their job, but because the company realized two jobs could be done by one person. A general downsizing due to bloat.
This is the most common because usually cons that are bought out are seen as a good investment because the new owner thinks they can cut costs, and people are a major cost (a staff of 100 being cut down to 80 saves them 5 hotel rooms for 3 nights minimum. Depending on the venue, that could be a couple thousand right there)
And the last one is that a new owner takes a fresh look and decides certain people just aren't good at their job. This happens a lot too.

But the owner could be wrong. The owner could be right. No one will know until the show happens. The proof is in the pudding and all that.

>>10085056
It sucks that you got screwed over like that. You may be able to talk to the hotel and airline to get your stuff rescheduled. Non-refundable doesn't usually mean non-adjustable. Sheraton may even be able to transfer your stay to another sheraton. But in the future, you should think twice about booking this early for a convention that's had three different venues in the last 6 years.

>>10089139
This is actually what happened

>>10089272
Yeah, I mean we have 4-5 months to hate on it if we take that path, or we can do other things like make costumes, work, catch up on anime, and stuff.

I mean or we can witch hunt and hate on it for 4-5 months, sure, I guess that's a thing we can do.

>>10089464
Well I'm one of the ones who has been screwed out of hundreds of dollars in travel costs... So I'mma hate.

As a person who competes and knows others who compete in cosplay contests, A-Kon's cosplay has always been a hot mess and a joke. It takes up the your entire Saturday, the biggest day of the con. You generally see better costumes walking the floor than on the stage. Being the second largest anime convention in the US this is a shame and I'm happy to see that they're trying to change things. I know it scares people to see long-term staffers being replaced but when they aren't doing their job well this is what should be happening.

>>10089528
That bad? I've went to contests starting late 2017 to late 2018 at San Japan, A-fest. ANT, but skipped A-kons. Figured I'm too inexperienced for a huge convention - but it was that ridiculous?

ANT had us stand in 2017 for 2~ hours and at the time I regretted it pretty heavily.

>>10089661
NAYRT but I'm going to second everything >>10089528 said. I'm shocked that people are acting like A-Kon's cosplay contest was anything other than a complete shitshow. If anyone deserved to be fired, it was the cosplay head.

>>10089771
>>10089528
I'm >>10088278 , and I will admit, I didn't know from experience that the contest management was that bad. I was alarmed that the head of cosplay was being let go after everything else. I have only competed in hall cosplay at A-kon and it's been a while, so I'm admittedly not qualified to comment on if it was a good decision or not.

>>10089661
Seriously it was worse. You were expected to show up for judging at 2pm even though the stage event didn't start until 6, then that lasted 2 hours. So outside of getting into your costume you ended up waiting in line to be judged and depending on if they got to you earlier or later you MIGHT get some hall time before the costume contest.

Then there's the issues with have the beginner, intermediate and master categories but which division you ended up in seemed arbitrary. What was really strange is one year there was a group cosplay that got bumped up to the masters and won even though their costumes didn't follow the rules for the masters division (that was the year the sailor scouts got best in show btw) Last couple of years it seems like they've been focusing on body positivity over construction leading to some really strange winners. Seriously, go look at the camera roll for the 2018 winners.

Just a complete shitshow all around.

>>10090428
Oh my god.
I'll have to go check it out. I accept body positivity, but if it's about costumes, costumes are the key - I've seen people in the hate threads argue the body is part of the costume to a degree, not that I fully agree with it though.

Glad I dodged that bullet.

>>10089528
I am so glad to know others share the same track of thought. Last years contest was so... Sad. Legitimately felt like I enjoyed standing in line more than the actual contest. :/

Looks like they have put some sort of timer on their website? We might get an update in 2 weeks it seems.
https://www.a-kon.com

>>10090428
I've competed at 4 contests in the state and they've all done this, where prejudging takes forever. Usually competing you go in knowing that it's going to take up most of the Saturday, same with the lolita fashion show. If they could spread the prejudging to Saturday that would honestly just fix everything. But it's not like you go in at 2pm and you stay until it's over?? You guys have some weird complaints.

>>10090646
>update website with a countdown to when the website will be "ready"

>>10090886
No comment on how long it takes, desu I have mixed opinions on how to handle this - but spreading it to a day earlier would really make it hard on those with heavy makeup and prosthetics. Personally I'd pass up an event that moved it to a separate day.

>>10085120
why do0nt you go eat a dick and not post shit that isnt helpful you miserable cunt.

>>10085120
i found the guy whos parents book everything for him

Looks like the press has caught wind of some goings on.

https://www.animeherald.com/2019/01/27/former-a-kon-staffers-report-layoffs/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

>>10091030
>the press
>some fucking no-name anime news blog
>literally just posting screencaps from the facebook page and saying "we reached out for comment but haven't heard back"

Fuck off

Not to sound super optimistic, but I think the con already had guests booked and everything. I think the venue shit is the biggest issue and they can’t rly start announcing guest without taking care of this first. Also, I think people tend to forget that the owner may not even be super hands on. For all we know, he could just be throwing money and letting certain staff members iron out most of the details.

>>10091081
The optimistic part is that it has a two week timer so that either in two weeks we get answers or have people erupting into violent verbal diarrhea on facebook, prompting actual answers anyways.

>>10089528

> It takes up the your entire Saturday, the biggest day of the con. You generally see better costumes walking the floor than on the stage

to be fair, that's most contests at large cons.

>>10089528
>>10091155
Agreed, it’s definitely most contests. Sometimes people in big cosplays don’t compete because they know they’ll get more attention just being on the floor. Nothing new. Most people who compete plan for their entire day to be taken up by one costume, or can schedule themselves with enough time to be able to change.

>>10090941
I don’t personally see an issue with having judging slots the day before? Especially if you’re still able to choose your spot. If you know you won’t take 18 hours getting ready and can slap your costume on for judging and slap it back on the day of the contest I don’t see why people wouldn’t take a contest up on that opportunity.

>>10091265
As someone who competes, judging slots is preferred. Even if it's the same day, at least you can plan to spend an hour or so and then spend the rest of the time doing whatever.
The last con I competed in, they had us standing in a hallway, with no chairs, for 3+ hours. By the time we got done with judging, there was only really time to grab some food before the contest. If they had given each person a time slot, there wouldn't have been a problem because you can schedule around it.

It's weird how this thread turned to how shoddily run cosplay contests are at large conventions in general. I've talked to people about it on both the judging/programming end and on the contestant end and no matter what you do someone is going to be unhappy.

Just at a glance you could probably trim 75% of the contestants as not having a chance at winning a prize at most of these thing. Now you have to balance respecting people's time and effort put into these things versus getting everyone through in a timely manner. Someone being told you didn't make the cut could be devastating, but I feel at a competition this needs to happen so that the judges can spend more time judging the costumes that are contenders.

>>10091459

I judge and yes, I can tell when somebody walks in the door if they're even a contender. It's still a valuable experience for someone to get judged and compete, and I always give them gentle construction advice to get better

The fact of the matter is a lot of cons struggle to get enough competitors as is. If you culled the obvious losers you'd have a ten minute show.

>>10091496
Guarantee I'm one of those non-contender contenders. Hope I don't waste your time too much, if I happened to be judged by you previously! I just compete to meet people competing and talk with them, especially those that are nervous. Calm them down and enjoy myself, meanwhile.

Uhh... So H4H is not transferring reservations like Akon made in their official announcement? Man, they really dropped the ball this year...

>>10091617
Not only that, but some hotel reservations might not be able to be cancelled. I booked a hotel through H4H but it wasn’t the con hotel, so now they’re saying it was a third party rate that might not allow cancellations

>>10091617
Just check my email. Hotels for hope will not be transferring the hotel reservations like A-kon had promised. The email also says that they will cancel your reservation "based on your hotels cancellation policy"

*Sigh* I hope I at least get SOME of my money back...

>>10091617
I was a bit skeptical when I read the “automatic transfer” akon was promising, and I’m glad H4H brought up a valid point in that the site not having access to anyone’s credit card info would make it impossible to make a new reservation at any of the new hotels, because that’s just a huge security scandal waiting to happen. However, leaving only 24 hours access to people who have already had their rooms booked months in advance is a bit unfair, in my opinion at least. Big name cons like AX leave premium members booking up for like a week, before the general public can book, from what I remember?
>lol at that repeat sentence

>>10091395
Which con were you at? That’s actually awful, I’m sorry you had to go through that! I mean I agree with having slots, especially ones you can choose from, just that I wouldn’t be opposed if they were available the day before the contest. It’s hard enough getting a slot “roughly during -blank- hour” and having to sit through that.

>>10091617
>>10091739
The announcement from A-Kon was honestly the first time I’d heard of Hotels for Hope, have they shared their info before or is it just a common knowledge thing for people who book hotels/go to A-Kon? I admit I haven’t gotten a hotel for this con in many years so that’s probably why I haven’t heard of it, but it seems like it doesn't truly help that much if they don’t actually have access to the information needed to transfer bookings.

>>10091749
Hotels for hope was A-kons recommend Booker. If you made a reservation from the A-kon website portal, it was through hotels for hope.

And to add insult to injury, all these cancellations will mean less money and potentially refunds from charity.

Has anyone complaining about the cosplay contest even competed in the last few years? There were a lot of changes made. You could sign up for your judge time for Friday or Saturday so you weren't waiting a million years.

Quality went down, but that's because of who signed up to compete. If high quality cosplayers don't sign up then you're left with who ever did.

I mean I'm pissed at AKon too since I'm losing a lot of money, but at least get the facts correct.

Did anyone else just get that email?

>>10091867
I did. I'll be skipping out on A-kon this year.

1 of 2

>>10091877
Yeah I wasn't sure if we're supposed to say anything or if this is our little secret but whew. 13 days on that countdown and they can't come fast enough.

>>10091828
I doubt it. There haven't been any major hateboners until this post desu

>>10091879
2 of 2

>>10091877
Same, I've decided to go to AM, since the dates are so close. So far the concerts at least look good. ( yes, I know. No I don't care)

>>10091882
Welp, there's no way the convention has anything planned. I live in Dallas proper and will go just to report on the shitshow for the rest of you lovely folks. That's if there's a con happening at all.

>>10091884
I plan to ghost and find out how much of a clusterfuck it is, too. Not wasting money on this. Wow.

>>10091879
>>10091882
Just got this as well and like....
Damn.
Doing panels was the only reason I went to A-Kon. It was an easy way to get a badge and they were good to us. Plus it’s the only con I CAN do panels at for logistics reasons.
But now who the hell even knows what the policies will be?
This is such a shit show. Bye A-Kon. You were fun. I’ll miss you.

>>10092159
I'm bummed, too. I really liked the programming head, too. She was nice and accommodating and just really supportive. It's a shame that she's stepping down but oh I do not blame her. She is not the first staff member I have heard these things from.

>>10092205
From everything I'm reading about the programming head, I wonder if the cospla heads got kicked for someone's friend

Conspiracy theory time--what if other staff guys saw this coming and quit last year or the year before

Anyone notice they turned off any replies in the Facebook group?

I don't think they like pissed off people

>>10092207
they're having a hard time aren't they

>>10092206
Staff has quit before but people call vendetta. I mean I don't know the whole story about things, but people have been raising flags for a while and now finally there's a real shitstorm.

>>10092206
From what I gather that happened with the jfashion group and seeing as jfashion and cosplay have the same director according to anon from before, I'd guess that your theory tracks

>>10092218
Wait, what happened to J-Fashion?

>>10085155
The con most certainly is at fault.

I don't know how it happened, but it's the con's sob story that can suck this fat juicy dick and so can you ya shill faggot XD

>>10092259
>>10092259
Nothing official has been said yet, but basically 2018 was the final year for the Jfash track.

>>10092259
Like anon said. They haven't said anything officially. But 2018 saw only like 4 of their original staff return and it was the shittiest year. If other departments are moving staff/getting rid of/have staff quitting and they're replacing them with friends regardless of how good workers they are, it's not a far assumption to think that's what jfash did. And now it's happening with cosplay and programming so who knows. We'll see what people report back this year. Last year was going to be my last anyway since I only went for jfash and it was shit and when there were legitimate concerns, staff and friends of staff handled if poorly. At least I dodged a bullet not buying a plane ticket or hotel room kek

I'm still going to go. My room was easily cancelled by the hope people and I got the free mailed badge. They did what they could and they were fast about it. idgaf about other changes long as the panels are still there. But maybe they finally do something for people with food sensitivities so I don't have to haul so much food with me when I go

>>10092294
There is a lot of misinformation going around about the staff that was let go. It isn't as simple as they are making it out to be. In some cases, there were issues that have been going on for /years/ that finally came to a head and needed to be addressed.

Some of these people like to make it out like just now A-kon is being ruled by cliques when that has been the case for years, if not the whole time. I have experienced it myself and had some try to drag me into it only to be told off.

The truth is some of these people wanted power, felt they deserved power, and were rebuffed with force. They didn't like it and decided to leave while making themselves out to be the innocent party. Don't believe their lies, anon.

>>10092426
>t. A-Kon higher ups

>>10092444
Not really. What >>10092426 said is pretty spot on. As a volunteer I noticed the cliques and dramawhoring happening for a while. People wouldn't have been removed or resigned unless they deserved it.

>>10092447
Thank you for volunteering, Anon. In the scheme of things, I am relatively new compared to the ones who have been volunteering for a decade or more. I got started because I was getting older for the con crowd and decided I wanted to give back to something that I enjoyed. I started my first year as a grunt in department x, and worked my way my way up from there.

I agree with the sentiment that volunteers do help make the event possible. But, I honestly think there has been a lot of virtue signalling with that idea in the last few days from those who are departing.
Volunteers do make the event possible, but people are trying to hide that there was powerplays and politics involved. Let's be honest here.

>jfash and tea party people are massive twats throwing tons of salt
>akon decides to drop jfash
>cgl reaction

>>10092457
I can't speak for all the departments, but I do know that regarding one being mentioned here, it's definitely the case. The person who was 'kicked' actually left on their own after getting chewed out for screwing up at least 12 times during that year's event. They were so bad that guests were leaving complaints with upper staff about how they were messing up repeatedly. I would've outright kicked them out of the department if I had the authority, but the head was being nice and instead just demoted them. The person was pissed about being downgraded from their position and decided to leave and play the victim.

After experiencing all that, I can't say I trust or believe anyone else being removed that claim to be wronged by the con.

>>10092469
Which one are you referring to? There have been a few who have been 'kicked' out.

>>10092426
>>10092447

This just smells like Akon PR trying to spin things again

Y'all fucked up this year. You're trying to deflect from your date change, hotel fiasco, and everything else.

>>10092481
Not giving a name or initials, but I will say that the person switched departments instead of leaving completely. They're probably out of staff entirely and will just be an attendee if anything now.

>>10092482
Not PR, but I do know that you and several others in the thread have some misinformation going around, and not just about staff being kicked. You keep being salty though, this is pretty entertaining.

>>10092488
Or the disgruntled party trying to save face.

>>10092488
>but I will say that the person switched departments instead of leaving completely
Wait, now I'M confused. Who switched departments? At least give us the damn departments while you're out here shilling for A-Kon.

>>10092482 is right. Even if you're not one of the higher ups in A-Kon, it's pretty obvious that you're out here trying to make it look like the con is oh so innocent and things just happened to get out of control. That's not the case. The con fucked up. It has been fucking up for years now.

>>10092496
Not one of the higher ups and not trying to cast the convention as blameless. There is plenty of blame to go around.... but to paint it out like the people who got ousted were saints who were chased out for no reason is deceptive and dishonest at best.

>>10092499
You're not going to convince them, anon. Let them continue shitting on a-kon even though they're still going to attend and give the con money.

>>10092488
>>10092490
All of this just seems like two sides with two different stories desu and misinformation on both sides, but nobody is giving specifics. but to get back on topic we still don't know anything about the new staff or what is going on with the new show. If they want to prove all these people got kicked or quit or changed for the right reasons then they should prove it with their actions. J-fashion didn't prove it last year, but if they're coming back next year then they get that second chance. If not then they did what they could and it wasn't the best and that is that. The rest of the departments have a chance now so really all their actions are telling. I'm still going to go but I don't have my hopes up.

>>10092500
This

New post up on facebook and it's a long one, but it really boils down to "we can't make official announcements at this time."

In reply to a comment
>Unfortunately, we did not have have the choice to stay in Fort Worth this year, and we are working to get more information about that soon.

Every single convention has behind the scenes drama and power play struggles and the bigger the con the worse it gets. Remember that these are people who are working and not getting paid just to make the event happen for us so at least don't stir the shit pot for funsies.

>>10092501
This. I gave the con a chance with jfash after they switched staff. I was disappointed. I won't be returning, but I'll wait in here to see if the changes they made are worth it from anyone who is actually going this year. I witnessed with my own experience how shitty it was to watch jfash be a clique and only engage with big names and guests. Something that didn't happen the last two years with the old staff. Maybe there really was a good reason they were let go or whatever. But at the end of the day, the event for worse instead of better. So maybe the wrong people were let go, but that's what it looks like from and attendee. We'll see how this year goes for akon

>>10092617
Gonna post it for everyone in 2 parts.

>Hey everyone. We’ve seen a bunch of people speculate about things being in TOTAL CHAOS behind the scenes here and we’d like to let you know that IT IS TOTAL CHAOS! But, it is also okay. Transitioning to a new owner and a new structure is hard and it takes a lot of work. In the end, it will be better for the show, for the community, and for you guys.

Right now, the work is a bit overwhelming for our little management team, but we are making incredible progress. Frank has been here in the trenches with us daily to keep things moving and we are almost there. But, it’s going to be a bumpy ride for a little bit longer while we finish up the transition and do what we need to do to get back on track.

We know it looks like we’re solely focused on the venue, hotels, refunds, date changes and everything that came up in our first couple of posts, but we’re also working behind the scenes on the event itself. It’s all coming and when it does, it’s going to be a flood of information. Our only major obstacle here is announcing the venue, which we desperately want to do. Before the cries of “TELL THE PEOPLE!” hit, we just can’t guys. We have been told expressly that if we announce before we have final approval that it would be in the “very bad” range of outcomes. We don’t want to do anything to risk the venue and Frank is working on it daily so that we can get it announced. Stay tuned for a message from him about it, Fort Worth and other stuff soon.

>>10092640
Now, let’s talk about H4H for a sec. There was an email that went out yesterday that was a shock to some of you. We are really sorry about that. There are a lot of different groups working together right now to help take care of you guys and get our chaos under control. We were working on a post to explain the email about the changes when the email ninja'd its way to your inboxes. The change was made due to overwhelming feedback from you guys concerned about automatic transfers and whether it would take away or complicate things like your cost, cancellation policies or other special arrangements which are needed. Additionally, we also found out that there were some credit card use laws and security practices with some of the reservations that made this approach difficult, if not impossible. When we made our first announcement, we just wanted to make things easier on you guys and we thought automatic transfers would be the way, but we learned differently and did our best to adjust for everyone.

For those who are interested, most of the H4H deposit issues have been addressed, handled, resolved or taken care of. There are still a few (~35 at last update from them) that they are still working on resolving. But, we also know some of you didn’t book through H4H and are also having issues. While we can’t promise anything here, we want to try and help you too. We have created a temporary email address - hotel.issues@a-kon.com - as a point of contact for anyone who didn’t book through H4H and has run into issues getting refunds for their reservations. Email us and let us know if you are still have having refund issues and we’ll make some calls and see if there is anything we can do to help you out.

Keep the faith guys. We are almost there. More to come soon.

Not sure why the con deserves the benefit of the doubt from some of y'all, but it's not like I'm gonna waste my time trying to stop ya.

There have been staff problems for decades, and at the end of the day you'll find out who was worth keeping around by the time this con is over. That all being said, there are bad starts and then there is this clusterfuck. Not starting things off on the right foot, that's for sure.

>>10092644
seems to me the old owners are the ones that fucked up. The new owner couldn't just jump on Facebook and be like "i'm buying the con, but I haven't bought it yet!"

Why the fuck didn't the old owners say anything for such a long time if there were "financial troubles". A-Kon's shit from the past isn't the new dudes fault, and I think this clusterfuck isn't either. This isn't how a pro deals with things

>>10092676
Well we're here, and the only place to go is forwards. I mean, in the end of the day I'll listen to the A-kon page atm because either I'm a shill or a drama whore, but I'd rather be a sheep and just rent rooms and go to a con. If it is the last year of a con, at least I can say 'I was there when A-kon died'.

>>10092676
Not true at all. The new owner definitely has has had some part of past A-kon issues. Frank is the president of the company, Eventpower, that has been working with A-kon and in charge of registration since 2015. Look it up. The new owner isn't some uninformed third party walking in with clean hands.

>>10092798
No Elin?
No money from me.
Bye.

>>10085120
Looks like even those people who booked through akons website and hotels for Hope may be ineligible for refunds.... Man, they really dropped the ball on this one.

>>10093035
I already know of two girls who are working on taking legal action against the convention over this. How much of a case do they have? Beats me, but the old owners really fucked up with how they were hyping the big 3-0 up and then doing this.

>>10093525
So he's a creep for having a one night stand but it's not creepy for her to ask to be used and tossed aside like a broken toy? For proposing to be fuck buds at cons they both end up at? All I got out of Todd's side is they we're both fucked up emotionally. People who are fucked up emotionally usually do stupid shit to feel good and then regret it later...

>>10093525
Lmao good luck and i look forward to seeing their gofundmes when they waste everything for legal fees

>>10093554
Sup Frank? U good homie?

>>10093525

If anything you would need a class action lawsuit. However, I don't expect much to come of anything. Nerds generally give up when they have to face people in real life. Loud online, but yeah don't expect much.

Most people that lost money will just lay down and take it.

>>10093580
>>10093554
That's what I was thinking too, but whatever it's their money/time. I just gave them generic support messages because that's what cosplay acquaintances are for, right? I think a considerably more effective method to stick it to the con is to use social media and your wallet (as in, to not pay for the con not to sue them).

>>10093709
Unfortunately I probably am going to just shill and go, because it's a con in the DFW area, in texas, that doesn't force me to drive to Houston. Gotta give Pappa Franku support.

>>10093717
Oh no, you misunderstood. I'm going. I'm just not paying. If they'll still be giving panelists badges, great. If not I can just ghost.

Not since the days of Ushicon has Central Texas reigned supreme but it looks like we're back, baby! (please come to Okashicon and the other 48 Austin conventions happening this summer)

>>10093852

This is a joke right?

>>10093773
I mean you do you but it's just not the same if I don't pay for the pleasure of getting pegged, you know?

Just buy a badge ffs give money to the con so it doesnt tank any further

Last night I had a nightmare that they announced the venue and that it was Bomb Factory. No matter what happens, at least it won't be as bad as that.

>>10093950

You generally don't want to support events with money if they are shit shows. And if the stories about the mistreatment of staff and volunteers is true I definitely wouldn't want to give them money.

I was on the fence about if the claims by those fired were true. But if you look at all the current news about the voice actors going around and the many cons that new their shitty behavior was happening each year but tried to keep it quiet, maybe the claims from these fired staff members aren't completely false?

If cons are willing to cover up what guests do it's definitely not a far stretch to think they would try to cover up the bad PR from old staff.

>>10094263
Not to mention, HELLO, it's been 30 years. If A-Kon hasn't got their shit together by now, what makes you think that will suddenly change?

>>10094275
Agreed, of you haven't been able to make your business profitable over the span of three decades...maybe you deserve to fail.

>>10094263
>>10094275
>>10094283
These sound like they were written by an up-and-comer trying to create a power vacuum for their currently shitty no-name convention to move into.

>>10094275
Maybe the fact that people that made up A-kon, including the owner, are being replaced? Of course we have to see if it's gonna be for better or worse, but A-kon is already changing, and that's what started this shitfest in the first place.

>>10094311
I don't have to be on a mission to take A-Kon down to realize that they've fucked up good this time.

>>10094311
And You sound like you need to adjust your foil hat.

As long as we're speculating here, who wants to bet the convention lost a huge chunk of money on the Optical Theater, Fortnite tournaments and inviting streamers? Thinking that people care about e-sports and streamers is always a poor business decision.

>>10094392

They might have been a sponsor or something. Or just a partner in business. The esport company probably lost more. Especially since it seems the money problem has been going on for years.

>>10094185
Inb4 it’s at the AAC

>>10094392
I thought all of that gaming stuff was sponsor backed?

>>10094525
It was. Anon is talking about things they don't know anything about.

>>10094392
I think they lost money because of the way attendees treated the area. Almost always when a con leaves a venue it's because they're kicked out and not wanted back. Weren't people climbing in the water gardens and wasn't there damages at the last hotel before we moved to Fort Worth? Given what they probably owed to the Anatole over art damages and whatever the last two years cost them, too, it couldn't have helped.

>>10094629
This always make me wonder how much damage is too much for a venue. Like, at what point is a con just a liability?

>>10094636
When you start vandalizing pieces of the Berlin Wall

>>10094629

Anatole broke contract. They were actually at fault in that case.

As for Ft. Worth I actually think it just got too expensive since they were spread to multiple hotels and the convention center. Since they are having money troubles my bet is on that.

I won't be surprised to see the new venue be a size downgrade desu

>>10094715
If they do a smaller convention center this year...
Would it be smart business move due to expectation of blowblack OR would it be considered a 'failure' or 'out of touch with the community'?

What would you gulls think?

>>10094856
It won't be a convention center.

>>10094856

Considering they are in debt I assume it's because it's all they can afford right now.

Whatever they choose it's going to be cramped.

>>10094918
It won't be cramped.

>>10085624
Yeah, I pre-reg'd. The only thing I'm worried about now is just that all the hotel rooms that are close are going to be taken up by people who booked before the location change.
If I hadn't pre-reg'd I would've just said "screw it" and gone to San Japan or AM instead, but alas. Like I said, at least I'm not one of the unfortunate folks that paid for a plane ticket and asked for time off from work for it.

>>10094923

And you know this how anon?

>>10094923
>>10094864
So you're saying A-kon will be a success then, both of you. A smart business move.

Because what is being stated is that A) It will be in a smaller, cheaper location and B) It will have enough people that will cram themselves into it to be cramped. Basically, exactly what A-kon is aiming for in order to be a convention that isn't planning to die this year.

So hooray! I guess A-kon is saved and it will be a (business) success.

>>10094417
>>10094525
>>10094600
Sponsored does not mean payed in full. If it did, the event wouldn't be having money problems since they have multiple sponsors. Remember that the Optic Arena was in the Arena, probably the most expensive area of the convention center and it had to be setup and tore down each day eating a lot of manpower resources. Since they featured games besides Fortnite I doubt it led to many ticket it sales because when I checked out the area there were maybe 5 people in the audiences and most of them were looking at their phones, not the stage. I doubt Epic games footed the whole bill for it but I might be wrong. That's why it's called speculation.

>>10094965
Because I am Anon. I know everything.

Anyone think the con will be dumb enough to book Vic like they have been for years?

>>10097410
Heres hoping they dont. The match has already been lit for the firewood and adding Vic would just be lighting the entire forest on fire and burning half of the state.

>>10097413
What, are you saying as a Texan you DON'T want to MAKE USE of the OIL that we PRODUCE!?

Goddamit we'll burn the DESERT TO GLASS before we back off!

>>10097410
Texas is a state that overwhelmingly supports a president who openly bragged about sexual assault. I don't see why they would have a problem with Vic.

>>10085120
eat a dick

>>10097693
What are you talking about anon, Texas didn't support Bill Clinton.

>>10097933
We are talking about the pussy grabber, you pleb

>>10097947
Bill Clinton?

>>10097947

>>10097693
Texas didn't support Bill Clinton.

3 days, 7 hours until the big reveal. What are your predictions?

>Location guesses?
>Do you think they actually have guests or are we going back to the old days of 100% fan events?
>Oh fuck, what about the artist alley people?
>Panel submissions fucking when?
>What events do you think we'll see?

>>10099655
Hoo boy, looks like we're getting fucking nothing in 3 days. False alarm.

>>10099655
I hate to break the bubble but someone on the A-kon FB asked about the site. It won't have locations.

Still, Location guess? The 0 % chance one. Gaylord.

>>10099655
They better have a location announced before they open vendor and artist applications. I'm not signing up to vend and paying out mad cash to eventually find out its going to be held in an abandoned K-mart parking lot.

>>10099710
>abandoned K-mart parking lot
Oh my god. A-Kon at Valley View Mall confirmed?

>>10099724
Its missing a wall...

Definitely confirmed.

So they increased the time on the timer on the website by a day....

Why do you people still go to A-kon? The guests are shit, lines are long, constant fuck ups and shitty staff, and the rave crowd destroys everything. Stop giving A-kon money, it's only getting worse.

>>10099919
Not to be an ass in return, but maybe because a lot of people go to A-kon.

I mean I guess I could skip it and go to the one in dead ass no-where in west Texas that's doing it's first year. OR I could go to one that's less than an hour away and has lots of people.

>>10099655
Staff has already said that this is only the countdown to the launch of the new site. That does not mean that the location will be announced.

>>10099850
The mall is still up and running as of November/December. Fun fact.

>>10100160
I know, I still go to the movies

>>10100160
It was announced that they are finishing the teardown in a few weeks. Can confirm, went by the Chinese Avenue store and they're liquidating at 30% for the next week or so.

>>10100355
I'll believe it when I see it. I have to drive by that forsaken mall on my way to work every day and it's been ~almost tore down guiz~ for the past 3-4 years now. Please, just put my childhood out of its misery already.

Is Doll A-kon still going to be a thing this year? Any news about that?

>>10102399
I haven't heard, but I did hear Nomikai is trying to do a doll thing. It can't be near as good, but at least it's something and maybe it'll fill in the gap if we lose Doll A-kon.

>>10102458
>I did hear Nomikai

Real subtle there guys.

>>10102485
Pretty sure all the disgruntled akon staff that was fired are all running to Nomikai, even though the guy who runs it is a dick. Nomikai notsolowkey tried to promote themselves by calling out akon. Kinda sad.

>>10102485
I'm not with nomikai. If I worded that wrong, well their reputation precedes them. Can't help that.

DESU I go to any and every con that pops up, ya'll probably wouldn't agree with my low standards, lol.

A-kon is looking to be fairly fucked. Prove Me Wrong.

>>10102531
I don't think anyone here would disagree with you. I'm still going because I live in Dallas and it's the big con around here. I am keeping my expectations low and I know I will still be somehow disappointed. I do panels so I'm not paying to be disappointed at least.

>>10102399
I love DAK, but you'd have to pay me to go to Nomikai. If you only go to A-Kon for the doll stuff, there's the Austin BJDC in August and a doll show in Grapevine in April. I will be super bummed if there's no DAK stuff this year though.

>>10102533
Oh wow, I didn't know about the grapevine show. Thanks for mentioning it! I try to hit local things because I don't have a car.

>>10102531
I'm only going for a day to see the train wreck it's got to be. Hopefully I can get in to hang with friends in cosplay.

>>10102610
No problem! It's nothing amazing but it's got dolls and it's an easy place to meet locals. Do you use Facebook? The local doll community has a group and every year there's a carpool for the Austin show's open to the public salesroom day (Saturday I think).

>>10099919
>The guests are shit
That's really a matter of perspective, isn't it? We've gotten all kinds of Japanese music guests, out of state voice actors, famous cosplayers, etc. The guest lineup blew me away last year and I'm terrified that this year won't stack up next to it, but I'm trying to be hopeful. The guest lineup for the year before that and previous years wasn't half bad either.

Can you name other north texas cons with good guests? Animefest dropped the ball last year and all the other cons in the area are super small. The only con I've been to in a different Texas city was Ikkicon and we all know that ain't shit. I hear San Japan and Okashicon have good guests but San Japan doesn't do Jfashion anymore...

>>10102500

No I can assure you they aren't. Not unless they get something out of it.

If Nomikai is picking up doll stuff, it's because Akon dropped it completely. Which I believe is the case. Staff mentioned the doll people having a lot of drama and it wasn't worth bringing it back.

Naturally Nomi is trying to grab what Akon is dropping to cury favor with the booted groups.

>>10102764
Well that's dumb. Why wouldn't they just fire the doll staff and look for someone else to take over?

>>10102615
I try not to use Facebook if I can, but I'll give it a look. Thanks!

>>10102712
I wanted so bad to get autographs last year because they had the One Piece voices, and it was a complete clusterfuck that made me lose all faith in the con. I've never been able to get the English VA autographs I wanted either unless I wanted to sacrifice my entire conversation. Went out of state to a tiny ass con, and bam, easy as hell got an autograph in less than an hour. Also, animefest apparently has Japanese guests this year but we'll see if the lines are chaos or not. My plan lately though has just been to hit up small cons that actually get decent guests.

>>10102764
I suppose I'm not surprised. I'm new to doll collecting, so I've only dropped by Doll A-kon twice, and the one time I participated in the charity my friend sent me a frantic text to come back and vouch for my ticket in the auction because apparently they did it wrong and were getting audited? I cut my losses on that, lol. But I liked the merchandise.

Also wow, I'm banned on my cell? What'd I do? Is it because I brought up a con everyone hates? Not all of us are a hivemind.

>>10102938
Don't worry about cellphone bans. Mobile IPs are weird. Just ask to be unbanned and explain the situation. Mods aren't dicks, contrary to popular belief.

>the one time I participated in the charity my friend sent me a frantic text to come back and vouch for my ticket in the auction because apparently they did it wrong and were getting audited?
That's not even the tip of the iceberg. I don't want to turn this into doll drama general, but you should have been on /toy/ for DAK a few years back. That was good shit. It's been pretty drama free lately though. Maybe it's all being kept hush hush these days.

From the A-Kon Facebook page:

>Hey everyone, remember that post about all our chaos? We’ve run into a bit more. When we put a countdown timer up on our website, it was just for a new look and some rebranding. The venue was supposed to already have been announced and we never imagined that getting permission would take this long.

>We know a lot of you have been eagerly waiting for the launch, but so much info hinges on the venue announcement, we would be releasing an unfinished website full of even more promises of “coming soon.” We know that isn’t good enough, so we have decided to delay the website launch until we can give you solid info.

>We’re really sorry for the additional delay. We are just as anxious to get past this venue announcement as everyone else, and we are doing everything we can to fight to get that done. We also want to reassure you that while we have delays because of the venue, our amazing staff and volunteers are still hard at work behind the scenes to contract guests, get programming planned, updated rules and policies, and tons more.

>We didn’t start this year off the way we wanted to, and the circumstances really suck, but we are in this with you guys and will continue to work as hard as we can not only to get info to you as fast as possible, but to make A-Kon 2019 worth this crazy wait.

>>10103105
Every. Single. Announcement. From Frank has been a shit show.
>New venue (still unknown)
>Changed dates
>Hotels for hope hotel fiasco
>Added time to the countdown clock
>REMOVED the countdown clock
>NO guest announcements
>NO panel registration

Has Frank made good on ANYTHING?

>>10103111
Nope. I HAVE to go at this point to see the disaster in person. This could be the next Dashcon.

>>10103112
If there is even anything to go to. Frank is going make off with all of our money. Just like he fucked over OP, he is fucking us all over.

>>10103116
Speaking of money, what about the dealers and artists? Have you guys received any emails?

I think I'd just like to remind everyone that just because the new owner has a cute picture of him on a bike, doesn't mean he is a nice person or a good person.

The people on the facebook group taking time to go through every thread and scream GIVE THEM A CHANCE is really getting to me. We get it. We're waiting. No venue, no guests. I can't even imagine going through this as a vendor that books shows back to back.

I've worked conventions before as a department head. It's fine for people to complain if I'm not doing my job right. I don't expect blind support. It's great and all but going after other people who are losing money and can see this for what it is.

>>10085155
My dude. Legally that is some murky water.

If I paid for tickets to an event on X date, an argument could be made that you are no longer giving me the thing I paid for. If they don't offer refunds that's messed up.

>>10103253
Don't they have refunds until April? I swear I read it somewhere.

>>10085122
Always have back up plans anon. You fucked up by not getting refundable tickets. That's why you lost all that money

>>10103286
I hope so but people haven't had their e-mails replied to so idk

>>10103291

wut

>>10103291
You cant refund a Plane ticket, hotel reservation and probably a requested time off from work

>>10103291
Anon you're an idiot. As >>10103395 states some jobs are incredibly hard to get time off from and that has to be scheduled months in advance. Then there's the plane ticket thing. The fact that anon cant get their hotel room tickets refunded is just the icing on the cake of a spectacularly shitty situation and no one should be defending this.

>>10103117
Dealers and artists haven't gotten anything by email afaik just whats been posted on facebook. I've started looking for another event for that weekend.

I have noticed that emails in general have been completely ignored. Refunds, vendors, even the DJs can't get through to anyone.

Any previous Akon emails seem to be gone? Like no longer exist?

I'm starting to wonder if this whole buy out is some sort of money scheme.

Frank just posted a new video on the facebook page. More vague details about what kind of venue it is. Somewhere with water and good transportation?

>>10103628

Gaylord? Don't they have a water river thing? Or Great Wolf Lodge?

>>10103116
>prereging at cons just to save $20 at the cost of a 3 hour line
>booking hotels at any timeframe further out than 2-3 weeks
not my fault all these autists put nearly $1000 on the line on the word of a cluster of weeaboos and SJWs
I will never get tricked as badly as opie.

>>10103655
My money is on Great Wolf Lodge, someone should see if you can figure out if there's rooms blocked off there for that weekend.

>>10103703
gaylord
>lake
>airport

>>10103705
Would the airport really fill in the great transportation part though? I guess it sort've does but it's not exactly as convenient as that that I would think "wow, great transportation!".

I was looking to fly to dallas this year for a-kon, but now i'm not too sure. What was the turn out before it changed hands? And will it be as big this year?

>>10103703
I doubt that's the location. It's a waterpark and the con is in the summertime. There's no way they'd be that stupid

>>10103716
grapevine has their little shuttle system and the DART rail station downtown just opened, so I think it'd float

I work at the Gaylord and I haven't heard anything about it being here. We (as in us front desk employees) hear about big events first so I will let you know.

Dallas fairgrounds?

Logically, with the “clues” he gave, I can’t imagine it being anywhere besides the Gaylord..it’s has enough room for programming, water features, tons of “open space” and plenty of hotel rooms..

>>10103860
Maybe if someone wants to get their cars broken into.

>>10103896
But thats not even official Dallas, thats Grapevine. Are ththere any water things near the KBH?

>>10103901
I’ve been to KBH multiple times and haven’t seen anything in or near there that could described as “water things”. And since Grapevine is so close to Dallas, they may just be saying it’s in Dallas bc it’s close. There’s tons of events in the surrounding cities around Dallas that are described as being “in Dallas”.

>>10103901
Is that not next to the trinity river or am i stupid. i heard someone say it could be the fairgrounds but i don't know anything about that area either. doesn't sound like the 'easy to get to' place he would've mentioned

It's the KBH you fucking retards. There is an aquarium less than a mile from the convention center. The Trinity River is near downtown Dallas.

There is no other venue in town who can hold a-kon.

>>10104271
Theres no way a river and a not included aquarium a mile away would count toward "water things". Thats way too far to count. Gaylord makes way more sense for him to say that + the new rail system.

>>10104271
When he brought up water, he was probably referring to things for cosplayers to get excited about to use for photos. I don't think the aquarium and the inaccessible river by the KBH can count towards that at all. Besides, there's a tattoo convention and volleyball event booked that weekend that takes up all of the halls except F. To make it work, they'd have to add space from the Omni for registration, panel rooms, staff spaces and viewing room space. You can't forget that all the people at the other events probably have the Omni and other area hotels booked already so that leaves attendees with little to no hotel space this year. That's beginning to sound very unlikely.

>>10104306
I know fuckall about where stuff is in Dallas since I always fly in and just uber or taxi to the con, so how easy is the Gaylord to get to if one were to drive in?

>>10104306
>You can't forget that all the people at the other events probably have the Omni and other area hotels booked already so that leaves attendees with little to no hotel space this year
You make it sound like Frank cares

>>10104306
The tattoo conventions takes up the E Hall and D 200s while the Volleyball Tournament happens on the last day of A-kon and takes up A - D halls and takes up A 100-200 rooms, leaving the C Ballroom, the Arena, A 300 meeting rooms, D 100 meeting rooms and a few other things. I doubt they’ll be at KBH but we’ll have to see.

>>10104453
With cleanup of con spaces and any setup for the tournament coinciding, that'd be some tight timing on Sunday.

I totally said dream location "Gaylord' so I would be super happy with it being there. Would that be enough to reverse some peoples opinions, if that's the case?

>>10104271
But you are wrong. Very wrong.

>>10104626
Definitely. A hotel with indoor gardens and “lakes” and a water park that should be open around that time. And the lobby is huge so people could hang out down there all hours of the night. That’d be great bc I feel like Akon hasn’t been much of a 24 hour con lately. I think most skeptics will at least want to give it a chance.

>>10104655

It was 24 hours. Just not in the convention center. People just preferred to hang out in the water gardens rather than go to the hotels that ran all night events.

>>10104655
You are wrong.

>>10104626
I just don't think the Gaylord will be big enough. When I was panicking over the size of the hotel and where in Dallas it might move to so I could find a room at a reasonable price (Yes I go reserve random 'in case' rooms, and I know I'm not the only one that does this), I saw how small that hotel is compared to others.

http://www.cvent.com/rfp/dallas-tx-meeting-hotels-8bb6b2617d8a4e1692f1c7ba09c369d9.aspx

The Gaylord Texan has 1,511 rooms.
A-kon in Ft Worth sold out all its hotels. I'm having a hard time getting exact numbers on the rooms there, but in the previous years, the Hilton Anatole, which has 1,606 rooms would fill up, and so would the nearby Renaissance and Hilton Garden Inn. Those were in walking distance and so were the ones in Ft. Worth.

The nearest hotels to the Gaylord are the Great Wolf Lodge and the Courtyard by Marriott which both are not walking distance away.

I sure as hell wouldn't want to deal with that as a cosplayer if I couldn't land a room in the Gaylord itself. Despite how cool I think the venue would look, I don't think it would be worth the price for me.

A lot of people in the facebook group are thinking it'll be hosted at Fair Park. If their assumptions are correct, I won't go. Having a summer con there would be the worst decision.

>>10104906
There's no fucking way, this would be the absolute quickest way to kill a con.

>>10105647

Pretty sure it's dead after this year anyway

Any guesses as to where the venue might be? I'm thinking either the Gaylord, or more interestingly, the Dallas Fair Parks.

>>10085097
You can come over to my apartment and watch anime with me if you want :^)

>>10086848
>No charges, no problem
famous last words

>>10094185
>the only event is the rave
I'd be more worried about parking if it was at the Bomb Factory, given how Miku Expo went over there

>>10094923
they were cramped at the Anatole, anything smaller than last year's venue is too small. The only thing that will save them in the event of a smaller venue being used is if a ton of regulars end up not going, but that's still bad because it means less money

>>10107342

Or cap it. But with their money issues I doubt they will. They will want as much money as they can and not care about things like enough parking.

>>10103655
>Gaylord
>Great Wolf Lodge
None of these are in Dallas and are WAY more expensive than the Fort Worth venue.

Some of you are not from Dallas and it shows.

>>10107155
It's going to be Fair Park.

Which is really cool concidering it's one of the highest crime areas in Dallas and only has 1 Jack in the Box and 1 Mc Donalds in the area and we just found a dead body on the train tracks the other day down there.

If he puts it there he's gonna really be showing us that he didn't put any forethought into this convention.

The venue is going to make or break them. If there are no hotels on site or across the street from the venue it's going to be a pass for me. Even if there are shuttles, that doesn't work for some of my costumes.

>>10108828
This. This so much. I go to Akon 100% for cosplay, both to wear mine and to see other people's. No one is going to want to wear big amazing and intricate cosplays if they have to walk a long distance in the heat or take a car there that they will have difficulty fitting in. And the whole heat thing if this con is going to be half outdoors. This is some bullshit, I think the new guy is way out of touch about what is needed for a convention where a large portion of your attendees are going to be in hot costumes and wont want to walk several miles.

>>10108894
Like I said from the beginning, just because there's a cute photo of him on a bike doesn't mean he's a good person or has your best interests in mind.

In the midst of all of this chaos his priorities have been way out of touch with what needs to happen.

>One of the first things I wanted to do when I took over A-Kon a few weeks ago
>a few weeks ago
Did he just get dropped into it?

>>10109050
Yes. That part was not unknown.

lol they've known since late November.

>Announcement in a week to 10 days
>Day 8: Radio silence

Yeah I think this is going to be pushed back. Again.

>>10109001
He's been working with A-Kon for some time so he isn't exactly new and the venue change was due to the Ft Worth jacking up the price. I've seen too many cons die lately due to greedy convention centers and hotels who are only in it for the money. Even so, I'm not sure if he understands what cosplayers want/need as far as a location goes. No matter what anyone else says, if you let cosplayers go, the rest of you convention will collapse.

>>10111304
>I'm not sure if he understands what cosplayers want/need as far as a location goes.
It's really pretty simple when your con is in the middle of summer in Texas: AIR CONDITIONING MOTHERFUCKER

Im skipping this year if it really is at the fair grounds because that's way too much ground to cover that's all outdoors and in direct sunlight. If the guy really is having it there he's an idiot who has no idea what he's doing.

f

>>10113427
f

>>10113479
Why f?

>>10113427
>>10113479
Did something new happen besides what we already know or are you just slow to the disaster?

So. It's almost March.

We still gonna pretend that this guy is a great owner and it's all awesome and going to be great?

>>10114769
>but he's so cuuuttteee
He's definitely trying to take the money that's left and run

>>10111304
He has been working with A-Kon for years.

Which is exactly why the "first priority" he had was to fire all the old staff. Specifically he went through and fired everyone that didn't suck up to him and kiss his ass. He fired multiple staff members from multiple sections then replaced them with his friends.

That on it's own I'd have no problem with but combine that with the fact that we're mid year with no guests, no programming, no info for dealers, no venue. . . It seems like his priorities are completely off. Leads me to believe A-Kon is going to become one of those cons where the owner micro-managing things to his own preferences.

He should have waited until after this year happened to fire everyone. It's already going to be dealing with enough lack of organization without hiring new people that have never worked a show this size before.

By the way whoever thinks this was "Dropped on him", they have known since November.

When it comes out that this event is at Fair Park then it's just going to be the final icing on the cake that this guy knows knowing about Dallas and doesn't care about the attendees. Fair Park is the cheapest for their bottom line but the most dangerous, miserable, and inconvenient for the attendees. I think it will be that place because it will be where he can maximize profit.

I may be wrong but if I'm not, buckle up.
A-Kon as we all knew it is dead.

>>10111304
He has been working with A-Kon for years.

Which is exactly why the "first priority" he had was to fire all the old staff. Specifically he went through and fired everyone that didn't suck up to him and kiss his ass. He fired multiple staff members from multiple sections then replaced them with his friends.

That on it's own I'd have no problem with but combine that with the fact that we're mid year with no guests, no programming, no info for dealers, no venue. . . It seems like his priorities are completely off. Leads me to believe A-Kon is going to become one of those cons where the owner micro-managing things to his own preferences.

He should have waited until after this year happened to fire everyone. It's already going to be dealing with enough lack of organization without hiring new people that have never worked a show this size before.

By the way whoever thinks this was "Dropped on him", they have known since November.

When it comes out that this event is at Fair Park then it's just going to be the final icing on the cake that this guy knows nothing about Dallas (Or worse, did but granted more weight to profits than attendee safety) and doesn't care about the attendees. Fair Park is the cheapest for their bottom line but the most dangerous, miserable, and inconvenient for the attendees. I think it will be that place because it will be where he can maximize profit.

I may be wrong but if I'm not, buckle up.
A-Kon as we all knew it is dead.

>And for anyone thinking I'm being dramatic about Fair Park, no. I am comfortable in low income and ethnic areas. I don't just get scared for no reason.

Fair Park is actually straight up dangerous. I challenge anyone in Dallas to go there on a Friday night at 11pm and see what I'm talking about or look up the crime statistics for that area.

>>10114774
>But there's a cute picture of him on a bicycle and he JUST WANTS TO PROTECT A-Kon

I cannot believe it's 2019 and people are still falling for this shit. The blind trust while knowing absolutely nothing about this guy is insane.

I feel the worst for the dealers/vendors. I'd be so beyond pissed not knowing the venue that I'll be selling at.
Has anyone actually gotten any refunds from them, by the way? I keep hearing that they aren't replying to their e-mails at all.

Let's not forget all the other reasons that Fair Park is an ASININE location.
>one of the worst areas in Dallas for crime
>car break ins constantly
>parking in run down lots that are unguarded
>expensive to park in said shitty lots
>no cover from the sun and just a city block of asphault
>no hotels that are walkable. period.
>two places to eat total that aren't over a 15 minute walk. (McDonalds and Jack In The Box, and even then those are a solid 5 minute walk from the area A-Kon would be at)
>a half block from where the train line for Dallas ends
>which means it's crawling with homeless people after the train ends and the 50+ homeless people that just ride the train all day to have a place to sleep get dumped there

But hey. They'll make profit, at least. Which is what Frank is here to do.
The people still thinking it's going to be some place nice like The Gaylord or Wolf Lodge make me laugh. They moved from Fort Worth because they couldn't afford it and that venue isn't as expensive as half the places in Dallas. So it's going to be someplace where he can make money.

(I would have rather paid $200 a badge and had it at Fort Worth honestly)

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>>10114794

It's at Fair Park. Just announced. Someone make a new thread.

>>10114836
Maybe look at the previous comment before you make one, retard