/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Give me a couple minutes to find a couple pictures...

Basically any convention put on by this group (I don't know/care enough to boil down further) is pretty terrible.

So I spent a second to photoshoop some stuff.

Last year someone decided it would be a good idea to schedule AniMinneapolis the weekend before another convention at the same hotel. The other convention has used the same location for most of the last decade.

AniMinneapolis has changed locations every year since it started.

Keep that thought in your head as you compare for yourself.

attended last year. it's a decent con, the guests this year are pretty good. looking forward to having an actual lolita brand tea party with a brand that people know and care about.

You will see I posted the day of the week the picture was taken. The CONvergence photos were taken 5 days later. It was during dinner on a Thursday, yet decorations were up and there were still a good number of people around.

Saturday, in the middle of the afternoon and AniMinneapolis is dead.

>>7414923
Prepare to pay for autographs when the con fails to pony up for their contracts.

>>7410758
as someone who's gone to Anime Midwest since the second year, I REALLY like AM, and personally prefer it over ACEN. its constantly improving and growing. its not without its flaws but currently I think their good outweigh the bad. I also know the people who run the con and I love them to bits. they're very down to earth and easy to talk to.

if you're a Lolita I highly recommend going since they secured BTSSB this year, and plan on having a tea party (tickets on sale April 5th). there are talks of a btssb fashion show but that's still in the works. lots of Lolita's in the Midwest area are expected to show, especially since ACEN still hasn't announced a Lolita guest this year.

I would encourage op and anyone else interested to go.

>>7414927
I'm not trying to be snarky but what exactly do these photos prove?? OP was asking about Anime Midwest, not AniMinneapolis. Though the same group of people run both cons, they're not the same con.

>>7415425
Different anon, but I agree. The Minneapolis con scene is alright for what it is, but it doesn't draw as much of an out-of-state crowd, not to mention that neither of those are the biggest anime con Minneapolis hosts, and CONvergence is one of those that focuses more beyond anime and video games (iirc).

>>7414905
So, what does this have to do with midwest?

>>7414919
So, you're saying that it's smaller? Whooo. Smaller cons tend to have staff with a lot better attitudes. I've been to all the other cons in Minneapolis, and all the staff think they're hot shit. AniMinni was pretty friendly. I bet Anime Midwest is pretty solid too.

I've heard this is shaping up to have more than 8,000 if it can beat last year.

What I don't understand is how Midwest still manages to have a con suite while acen always blames the hyatt for not having one.(they could just blame their attendance )

>>7418670
MIdwest sent an email out once that said the cost for having the con suite was over five figures. Maybe it's based on total attendance, like $2 per attendee?

>>7418688
The ConSweet is one of the best parts of the con. Unlimited Mountain Dew. Ramen and rice is cool, but free pop is just the best.

I went last year and was pleasantly surprised. Small con yes, but a nice atmosphere. I feel like what I like about Acen is just from the sheer amount of people there, where what I liked about Midwest was quality not from quantity. It was more relaxed and friendly, panels I went to were good, dealer's room was way smaller than Acen of course but I had a better shopping experience.

>>7418670

Ironically it's in a Hyatt where the Dragon*Con consuite is held every year.

>>7410758
I've staffed there before, and apparently like every other year, it just fucking falls apart from the inside. But you'll always get those people who would forever say 'I had a great time it was so fun' etc etc. Don't be fooled. The biggest downfall of this con is fucking Ryan, the owner of Midwest and multiple other cons. Yeah, its a decent con for the people attending, but keep in mind if you go, and some staff are snarky or seem down, its because of that asshole. For someone who has such responsibility for the wellness of the con-goers and all that jazz, the dude cant hold himself together when things get stressed out. Worst part is, he takes it out on his staff for no fucking reason.
also, really quick, when i worked reg before, i realized that due to AMid's size, the hyatt can do some weird shit with the hallways to accommodate other things going on in the building. That's kind of a no-brainer, but its difficult when you work most of the day stuck in a tiny room with 1 break and people ask you where certain things in the building are, like an ATM, and you give them 'wrong' directions due to a wall of tables set up to block off a hallway. That happened to multiple attendees which i pointed in that direction. I only realized that issue when a hard-of-seeing gentleman asked for help in finding it, that i realized that i basically made 10 other people run around the hotel looking for something right around a blocked corner.
TL;DR: The owner,Ryan, is a dick and little things going on in their environment (including his bitch-ass) could make some staffers on edge or even upset. Just something to keep in mind when you go.

>>7418858
Sounds like you did something incompetent to deserve it, really.

>>7418858
The owner of a con being a dick has very little bearing whether I, as a con attendant, enjoy myself or not. I'm not going there to picnic with the staff. So far any complaints I've seen are that "the owner/people running the con suck" but that tells me nothing about how the actual convenion is.

>se people who would forever say 'I had a great time it was so fun' etc etc. Don't be fooled. The biggest downfall of this con is fucking Ryan, the owner of Midwest and multiple other cons. Yeah, its a decent con for the people attending, but keep in mind if you go, and some staff are snarky or seem down, its because of that asshole. For someone who has such responsibility for the wellness of the con-goers and all that jazz, the dude cant hold himself together when things get stressed out. Worst part is, he takes it out on his staff for no fucking reason.
>also, really quick, when i worked reg before, i realized that due to AMid's size, the hyatt can do some weird shit with the hallwa

Lol, most people who talk bad shit about the owner of that con are people who he fired. Because he fires a lot of people who don't have a helpful attitude. Anime Midwest wouldn't grow twice the size every year if it sucked. I went to ZAP and Ryan himself was sitting at the registration desk. Not doing registration, or even because it looked liked they needed him at all - but he was answering people's questions. Seemed pretty confident, and I didn't see him once be a dick to anyone. Usually a good judge of that shit.

The only thing that matters is the lolita brand tea party (BTSSB) at Anime Midwest.

>>7419962
ryan is a wonderful guy, he does have his quirks and his flaws and as a past staffer of more than a dozen conventions he's put on, i've never had a problem with him, or any other staff members for that matter, sometimes guests are more of a hassle than anyone. if you're at a con as an attendee, go as an attendee and not a critic, have fun that's why you go anyway, if you're there to staff have fun and do your job, or else just stay home and bitch online some more

>>7420079
yeah, a wonderful rapist who cheats on his batshit girlfriend
what a nice guy

>>7420080
i never said he was fucking perfect, are you perfect? i'm not i have my flaws, but i try not to dwell on the bad things people do that don't effect me, i try to enjoy their presence and ryan in my opinion has the ability to light up a room and make a presence

>>7420085
he sure had the ability to "make a presence" in that girl he raped

>>7420088
why does that matter how he puts on a convention, it was a personal choice he made and honestly i don't give a shit what he does, the cons are fun for me to go to, boo hoo to the girl that got raped, if she did, he's not in jail and i'm pretty sure she never pressed charges, and the police report that was spread around was proven to be a fake, sounds like bullshit to me, lets let the fans decide, yeah.... they don't give a shit either.

>>7420095
Pretty sure if the con organizer was arrested we'd know about it. Anime Midwest is good shit.

You know they said the same thing about the chair of Anime Expo a few years ago, and again to another con chair in Florida. Both were proven false. Seems to be a common thing to accuse cons of when you don't like the con.

I met Ryan. He flirted with me. I said no. He left me alone, respectfully.

So I'm going to Anime Midwest this year, for the second year~

>>7420113
>seems to be a common thing to accuse men of when you're a feminist

FTFY. Not saying you are, just correcting that statement.

>>7420126
not even, someone filed a police report about it last year. you guys act like this is a common thing. google it if you don't believe me.

also i know people who are familiar with his girlfriend, they can confirm the same things about Ryan. if you really knew him it wouldn't be such a shocking thing.

>>7420121
Hi Ryan! make any more fake tumblr accounts to defend yourself?

>>7420126

What the everloving fuck does any of that have to do with a feminist/feminism?

It makes a lot more sense to say "that's something white people do" or "something weeaboos do" because we know the people involved were actually white or weeaboo and have no evidence that they were a feminist (and, even if they were, that it had anything to do with that issue).

Seriously go back to /r9k or reddit or wherever the fuck you people come from.

>>7418670
Acen doesn't have multiple other cons to pull money out of to fund a con suite.

>>7420518
ACEN has $780,000+ in the bank also. So don't give me that bullshit about money. They're just lazy as fuck and don't care about congoers.

>>7420618
Nope, they care about making money.
IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY.
You're being naive if you or anyone else thinks otherwise. It's a business, get over it.

I am legitimately surprised there are so many supporting comments for this con. The only people I know of that enjoyed it last year were the under 18 weeb group and "tumblrites." I personally thought it was incredibly boring. I don't care much for guests, but the panels. However, the panels were not only the typical con fare, but the panelists were pretty stale. The one cosplay tip panel I went to was led by someone who was clearly part of the tumblr "everything you do is right and there are no bad cosplay" culture. Not to mention no one from security or anyone from the con was around when a photoshoot I went to was overrun by Homestucks who used it for another, unofficial photoshoot. Barring issues with other congoers though, I just feel like the con didn't offer anything that was worth me buying the 3 day badge for. I usually hate commuting to a con and leaving early, but I had no issue saying I was done and just going home. Now, with the price they're asking for, I'm holding off on a 3 day. I'll wait until after this year for news because I don't think it's worth the price. Unfortunately, a cosplay group I'm in is trying to add AM to our con circuit. If I can't find the heart in me to ditch it, I'll probably just end up buying a 1 day. I did score a free MtG deck last year though, so that's something I suppose.

>>7420642
I think you just didn't have fun because it's not a party con. And I hate party congoers, they should stop going to cons.

Anime Midwest's guests were awesome. A ton of major anime voice actors from pretty much every major show. You can't say this is a bad list: Greg Ayres, Todd Haberkorn, Spike Spencer, Quinton Flynn when added to the other guests.

And the panels were fucking awesome. The Hellsing panels were hilarious and really in-depth (even the late night ones). All the other panels I attended were solid. Maybe you picked wrong. The schedule has more panels than most cons of its size.

>>7420618
>>7420627
>>7420518
>>7418670

ACen actually had a con suite for a while. They stopped back in 05 or 06 I believe. The reason I heard is because con goers are fucking slobs who are incapable of eating properly. Apparently, despite them trying to set plastic tarp on the floor, the carpet would end up messed up and the room itself would just be trashed to hell and back. ACen finally just said, since people can't clean up after themselves like they have some sort of house training, then they'll just get rid of it. Like I said though, this is what I heard from staffers the year after the last time they had it. Could be for money though. Who knows? I always bring my own food to cons though so I couldn't really care less.

>>7420644
>Anime Midwest's guests were awesome.
I didn't say they weren't. When I said I don't care for guests, I mean, I don't go to cons for them. I did get an autograph from Quinton Flynn for my little sister because he was there, but guests aren't a selling point for me. That's why I said I go for panels.

>And the panels were fucking awesome.
>Maybe you picked wrong. The schedule has more panels than most cons of its size.
Maybe I did choose wrong. Who knows? Like I said, they were stuff I could find at other cons so there was really no "Wow! I have to see this!" feeling. It's not like I didn't give them a chance. As I said, the presenters were stale. Like I said though, that's more an issue of the congoers than the con though so I will give it that. Also, having more panels than other cons means nothing if the panels aren't quality. I'd rather go to a con with 20 (just using random numbers) quality panels than a con with 50 weeb-attracting, tumblr-fest panels with maybe 2 diamonds in the rough.

However, with how hard you're defending the con, I have to think that maybe you're a friend of the chair or some other person connected to AM. Assuming I didn't like it because it's not a "party con" is pretty silly. I give no care if it has parties or not. The things I look for in a con just weren't there for me. I'm sure my 1 review on 4chan is not hurting it any.

>>7420646
>>a con suite
....whoops. I misread some things. I thought this was about something else.

>>7420648
Misdirection there. Apparently I can't say good things about a con I liked without being "friend of the chair" or something

>>7420660
Hey now. If you make baseless assumptions, so can I. That's how it goes, right?

>>7420648
I recommend their Whose Line show. I went to it last year and the people running it were hilarious.

>>7422306
Was the cast filled with old washouts?

>>7422609
Hey, I love that show. Bald or not.

>>7422609
The Drew Carey, maybe.

Anime Midwest was my favorite con last year. Met my girlfriend at the formal ball.

Anime Midwest is pretty hot right now in all my friends groups. IDK why, probably just because it's so new.

>>7420042
This. Lolita here, I really don't care about weeaboo shit, but the fact that they
-got a major brand
-announced it early enough for people to buy outfits
is enough for me.

>>7423071
Also the fact that you can easily find cheap stuff on Japanese auctions for Btssb if you look early enough and have time for it to be shipped to you. A lot of my lolita friends are going so it'll be fun hanging out and people watching. Hopefully they splurge a bit on the tea party to make up for the LQ ones in the past. It's bigger than Anime Milwaukee though right?

>>7424929
How big is Anime Milwaukee? Midwest had 6,000 last year.

>>7424929
This especially because BABY has been around for EVER. It's the oldest lolita brand in the world, so basically there's been 30 years for a market to develop, and they've released a TON of outfits.

>>7420095
>why does that matter
because that puts con goers at risk and makes him a fucking rapist, i dont see why that part is unclear as to why that is an issue.
People do give a shit, when the information was released, he lost a good chunk of his staff because
oh
no one likes a rapist
never trust a guy with a rat tail on his head

>>7424985
...btssb isn't the oldest lolita brand. Don't make shit up. One of the most well known, sure.

>>7425448
AP has been around for almost ten years before BtSSB was founded.

If it wasn't run by a piece of shit, I'd totally go.

It's a for-profit con. He makes money by me showing up. Fuck that.

And yeah, he and his GF are perfect for eachother. Both batshit crazy.

>>7425346
Not only were those staff incompetent, the police report was clearly falsified. The girl had to be convinced by multiple people to even go to the police...

>>7425560
Anime Expo pays its CEO hundreds of thousands every year from what I've heard. He makes money from people showing up.

Anime Midwest is the best convention in Chicago, period. Go somewhere else if you're going to spread fake rumors. Go back to Florida where rumors are rampant.

>>7426320
>best convention in Chicago
>these opinions
you've so much to learn about the world that isn't in your shitty little bubble

Anime Midwest last year was epic! I didn't care much about Steam Powered Giraffe (not my kind of music anyway), but I pretty much got to meet every guest I wanted to meet. It was just the right size to actually be able to get into most things you want, unlike some LINECONS

>>7426320
hi Kassy!

>>7426258
>>7426320
hi Kassy! nice try.

Hell yeah Anime Midwest is super amazing. Just look it up on Flickr. You can see how big it is.

Anime Midwest this year has me excited since TeamFourSTar is going.

I only got The Spine's autograph because the guy stood out in the hall for hours to sign. The con itself cut off lines hella early, pushed people through to say hi, we couldn't get anything signed, or take a picture with the band at all. I should have saved my money and waited for Youmacon to meet everyone.

>>7429115
Lol, I went to every autograph session and got an autograph each time. If you didn't, doo you expect them to magically grow extra arms to sign more at a BIGGER con? Lol.

>>7425560

>HOW DARE A CORPORATION MAKE MONEY OFFERING A SERVICE
>IM NEVER GOING TO MCDONALDS THOSE FUCKER PROFIT OF MY MEAL

We get it, you got fired and you're angry.
Take your butthurt somewhere else.

>>7431563
Hi Ryan, trying to save your ass?

>>7431590
Obviously not attended is obvious. Everyone is tired of your "Hello ____" shit, take that elsewhere.

>>7431935
You're the kind of idiot that Anime Midwest aims to sucker in. I went to both AM and Youma. At Youma, they were friendly, able to get amongst their fans, and had the chance to sign during their autograph sessions. Not only that, but they also managed several photobooth sessions. Many people were standing in line for over two hours at AM and still weren't able to get what they had come for. Other guests at AM were charging for autographs without prior warning too.

Go away.

>the amount of samefag whiteknighting in this thread

I went to this con both years it's been up. It's full of obnoxious underage kids (especially Homestucks and Hetaliafags) that broke one of the elevators last year, along with taking up massive hall space, making it impossible to get around. The dealer's room was overwhelmingly small, and most of the artist alley stuff was mediocre at best. The indie lolita designers were the only thing really worth the dealer's area at all, IMO. (It's actually kind of odd; the dealer's room was half the size in 2012 as it was in 2013, yet the 2012 dealer's room quality was a lot better.)
The masquerade had Fanservice Renji do a concert halfway through, and the audience started pouring out of the main hall the second he started performing.
The autograph sessions were unorganized as hell; Todd Haberkorn's went so long over on Saturday that he ended up being almost an hour late to a panel he was supposed to host.

It's a really nice size (I prefer the size of it to ACen, honestly) and it's an okay experience if you stick with friends, but... I go to conventions to meet new people and buy stuff at the artist alley, and in both of those regards Midwest is just an embarrassment. The only reason I'd consider going at all this year is because I like the timing of it.

>>7424949
different anon but anime milwaukee had about 6,200 this year so they're pretty similar in size it seems.

>>7415012
>>7415012
FUCKING THIS
jesus fuck
and it didn't help last year that spike spencer is a total fucking cock

>>7418419
>staff with a lot better attitudes

so 15 year olds with superiority complexes

>>7420143
shots fucking fired

>>7420642

this
also more about the hamsteaks because they ruined fucking everything. There was a game of spin the bottle in the hyatt lobby that went on for like 3 hours. I went up to my room for a nap and came back and there were still 14 year olds screaming about shipping and grey paint smeared all over

>>7425346

Also pretty sure the reasons behind sudden guest cancellations were the accusations but I don't have receipts for that so

>>7426258
uh probably because she was terrified to accuse the ORGANIZER OF MULTIPLE CONVENTIONS IN HER AREA of rape
cosplay is already a gossipy hobby and the convention rumor mill is always at work in favor of creepy dudes so I'm not surprised she had to be convinced

>>7432215

/thread

seriously I don't think there's even a reason to read past this post

>>7419922
hi ryan