Dallas: Texas
by Vihn-Luan Luu
A Dallas/Forth Worth tradition for many years, AnimeFEST once again turned the Hyatt Regency Hotel into four days of Japanese Animation fandom. Though in operation for many years, AnimeFEST has in the past been able to keep to its roots of the small convention feel and environment. However, this year was a good indication that the anime scene in America has swelled beyond many people's expectation. Now even the smaller, more fan-orientated conventions like AnimeFEST are starting to feel that explosion of popularity. Held over the Labor Day weekend, AnimeFEST is for some half a week of anime bliss, but for others a four-day marathon, testing even the best of endurances.
Guest ListAnimeFEST either has a great guests relations' staff or has some of the best luck. Every year they seem to be able to bring in one or two big names over from Japan and this year was no exception. Adding to the growing list of fantastic Japanese guest they've acquired in the past (Monkey Punch, BoA), this year's AnimeFEST was able to bring in two major names from the land far west of the far East. Musical guest this year was Maaya Sakamoto, performer of several anime soundtracks including RahXephon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Wolf's Rain, and Vision of Escaflowne; and the great Shinichirô Watanabe, director of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. These guests alone would make a trip to the convention worth it.
The guest list from the domestic talent pool was nothing to scoff at either. This year saw a few new faces on the American guest list as well as some ADV and FUNimation staples (Greg Ayers, Scott McNeil, Monica Rial). Not only did they pull in the voice actors, but they also brought in some production people as well (Jamie McGonnigal, Jonathan Klein, Mike McFarland). Outside of the industry people, the duo of Ramen and Rice made another appearance at this year's AnimeFEST. The violin and cello performers are from the state of California and their renditions of popular anime songs are always a highlight to the convention. The guest list isn't as expansive as other, bigger conventions, but the people AnimeFEST do get are very friendly and professional. A few of them could be seen any day of the convention in the lobby talking to a group of fans. Though there are some guests who appear every year, AnimeFEST balances them out with some new faces to the Dallas convention scene. We'll have to see if they can keep this fresh trend up over the next few years. And they also have a pretty solid list of guests a few months before convention time, so one can decide to go early on when pre-registration prices are cheaper.
Scheduling and ProgramsAnimeFEST's panels and discussions are a bit friendlier and more grounded than bigger conventions. Due to the mentality and persona of the convention, these panels and discussions come across as more of a casual situation than formal events. With panels such as "Miyazaki and the future of Studio Ghibli", "Religion, Spirituality, and Anime", "Writing a Paper on Anime/Manga For Your High School or College Class" and "Anime in your Library" discussions are very unique in their topics and are run by locals. People like Marc Hairston and Angela Mathews are teachers at the collegiate level in the DFW area; and with their experiences they bring a lot to the table. AnimeFEST even had a panel about Shinto practices by several Texas Shinto Study Group members. Some panels attended by the Space-Gun staff seemed to go well and on time, though a few started late with opening ceremonies and cosplay starting over an hour late. There was also a lack of information on which panels and guest allowed photography were not given at several occasions. Even as press, there were a few guest photography situations that we were not made aware of and this caused awkward situations.
Understandably, convention schedules may not be finalized until the convention itself but there really isn't an excuse to not have the schedule posted on the web over the weekend. Also there were issues of people showing up after registration had closed. Though the registration hours are online, they are tucked away a few pages deep. This left a few people without badges for opening ceremony Friday night. Though the issue was resolved, it is something that needs to be addressed: information availability. Before convention weekend, the only way to get information on AnimeFEST is through their website. The website is not well organized for new users and even experienced users. Registration prices were easy enough, but trying to find the pricing packets for dealers' room, bizarre bazaar (artist alley), and press information was confusing. Also, there are information blocks that are oddly placed, i.e. FAQ questions on ‘anime' and ‘manga' on the front page. It seems to me that the website has not been redesigned to accommodate new categories of information since the original inception, thus blocks of informational material seem to be placed where there is space and not in logical places.
LayoutAnimeFEST was able to use the hotel space as best as they could, though there were a few weak spots in the layout. First off, registration was tucked away in a corner, but on the other hand, it was to the sidelines and did not interfere with convention traffic. The dealers' room was packed in pretty tightly though enough aisle space was created for traffic flow. The dealers themselves were elbow to elbow and in some cases were placed in bad locations where traffic just died.
The bizarre bazaar (artist alley) was simple and easily to navigate. Though like the dealers' room, some spots in the layout turned out to be horrible spots for traffic. The layout for the artist alley suffered the same problem the dealers' room had: some points became visual dead ends due to alignment and lighting, thus cutting some tables to the flow of traffic.
The art show was fairly open once you got into it. But the getting in part was a difficult zigzag of walls that would to be an obstacle for any handicapped patron. The art show did a good job of setting up on time this year and staff was smart enough to label the art panels with the artist's name so artist set up would go smoother. AnimeFEST has fairly strict rules on displaying nudes and adult themed art within a curtained off section of the art show. They keep a very close eye on this section and check IDs on everyone who enters. This reflects well on their family oriented environment while at the same time does not censor art and artist.
StaffThe staff at AnimeFEST was very friendly and accommodating when they can. Our press passes were handled efficiently, quickly, and ahead of time. Finding contact information for AnimeFEST staff members is fairly easily as a good majority of their email addresses are listed on the website. Also the number of staff members is pretty small so it is fairly easy to find the right people. However, with that said, there was an incident where a member of another press organization was not able to get a pass for at least ten hours. We were packing up for the day so we do not know if this situation was resolved properly. Things come up and there are rules for procedure, but authorizing a press pass to a person should not take ten hours. Also, we at Space-Gun had a very difficult time trying to find the right people for our interview list or find out if we even had one. To this day, we do not know if we stood someone up for an interview or not. For whatever reason, this list of interviews was mobile the entire convention. It should be stationary and handed out when press passes are picked up. To their credit, the staff did do their best and were able find a way for us to get an interview. Though, it really should be stated that we did not attend the press meeting Friday night, but it was after opening ceremonies, which was running late. So we skipped out on a meeting that would have taken place at about 11PM when we were at the convention working the artist alley since 9AM.
AtmosphereThe atmosphere at this year's AnimeFEST was as easy going and laid back as it can be with the severe situation that was taking place right across the street. Victims of the Hurricane Katrina were transported from Louisiana and the overcrowded Astrodome in Houston to Reunion Arena in Dallas, which happened to be right across the street from the Hyatt Regency. FEMA had turned various parts of the Hyatt Regency into a makeshift headquarters to help direct resources and personal coming in from the west. It created a very surreal atmosphere as members of various FEMA organizations from various states (Washington, California, Nevada, Oregon) were waiting around for orders to leave and do their jobs. Though a time of good fun and merriment was had, snippets of conversations about the devastating hurricane could be heard mingling with the laughter and squeals that define an anime convention. With a caravan of cars with Louisiana plates congregating around reunion arena and the constant presence of FEMA rescuers, one could not escape the aftermath of the hurricane.
Though an unexpected mix of events, AnimeFEST kept its spirit high and opened its heart to the people in need. Voice actor Carrie Savage and Jennifer Sekiguchi had set up Red Cross donation boxes that were sent around the convention. Director / Voice actor Jamie McGonnigal was selling autographed cards to help raise money for the Red Cross also. Dealers and artists alike were donating portions of their convention sales to various hurricane relief charities.
ConclusionAnimeFEST 2005 had a few hiccups this year but overall the convention was a success. The guest list covered a good variety of the industry and the Japanese guests were rare appearances here in Texas. They seem to be constantly learning from previous years mistakes and are adjusting well enough to their new home. However, how much of this will transfer to next year is a question that needs to be asked as it seems that the convention may be moving for 2006. Though they seem to have a good handling of the dealers' room layout, AnimeFEST seems to be having trouble creating a good flow for the artist alley. They also desperately need to update their website design one way or another. The informational hierarchy needs to be reevaluated and laid out in a proper order so that information can be easily and readily accessed.
Though marred by the reality of nature and the political embarrassment that followed the hurricane, AnimeFEST 2005 kept to its roots and stayed the fan-orientated convention that it started out as: a convention run by fans for fans. This small time atmosphere helps create a very laid back and easy-going environment, a stark contrast to the larger, fast paced conventions. It's more of a friendly gathering rather than a convention. How this will hold up in the following years remains a mystery. With anime becoming so huge and so popular, how AnimeFEST will keep this charm and still be successful against this popular tide will be interesting.
