I'm not sure how it comes across, but this video took forever to edit, it was even more time consuming than my last video haha. Please support Kall for drawing the art, and ofc support me If you want to see more and more ambitious projects. Thanks and enjoy yourselves!
please please don't do anything bad. it's getting harder for me to connect with youtubers because so many of them turn out to be assholes but i can't but feel like i might actually get upset if you turn out to be that way so please don't.
I'm curious to hear your take on anime conventions being run in an area devoid of large anime conventions in their local area that don't have access to shows like ColossalCon, AX or Otakon. Having been a con attendee and at one time a con runner in the last 26 years, I've seen a push for the larger shows, but very little in the area of creating the community in an area closer to home and have since seen a "standard" that attendees hold all conventions to as if to say those shows trying to run them don't matter in comparison to the likes of a larger show in a major metro area. I do think that some of your points are valid on how to improve them, but also think that there are some things that you mention that should be a part of the event are a matter of if the show is able to afford it as part of their initial offerings, if the location/community is ready for said event (so's not to generate bad press in the mainstream), and if the venue would allow it, as some places have limitations due to catering and banquet departments (which affect things like maid cafes or 21+ lounge events). Otherwise, very well put together and I enjoyed watching this.
That feeling of "being too old" for a con has definitely hit really hard with the most recent cons. Everything seems designed for teenagers, and the attendees mostly seem to be high schoolers, or parents of high schoolers (because they're the ones with cars.) It seems like there's nobody to talk to except the friends I showed up with, because my immediate surroundings are always 15 year old genshin cosplayers. There never feels like anything to do except the artist alley, as I'm old enough to afford and enjoy art now, and the artists themselves tend to be actual adults who are receptive to a conversation.
I'm 21 going to my first cons this year, my first one was colossalcon in Ohio which offered a lot of panels, meetups and events that were all 18+ However I would like to see some that are specifically 21+
I felt the same but in reverse at a brony con. Most of the people were in their late 20s to 40s. I was an 18 year old with a friend, there were a handful of teens and plenty of parents with kids.
I remember back in the day, (2008-2014) cons had a very different vibe and I made friends easy, granted I was younger and surrounded by others the same age. But now it's kinda like... I'm surrounded by youngsters. And if I see any adults there, they seem uninterested in engaging in conversation. I also feel out of the loop bc of how much anime there is and some popular stuff just doesn't interest me. I'd love to make friends with more adults that love older anime and cosplay, but that seems very difficult nowadays for someone over 30
In my experience, different genres of cons tend to have different age ranges. Sci-fi or fantasy cons tend to trend oldest and anime cons tend to trend youngest.
As someone who's been and still is a staff member at a few conventions a year and someone slowly going back to having a con schedule, all this is pretty legit and I've seen more than a few cons take similar steps.
That's nice to hear! Conventions are certainly a lot of work to get off the ground at all. All respect goes to anyone who has volunteered or worked on making/keeping a con together. These were just 3 simple things I thought could go a long way- glad to know people are already doing it (I imagine this stuff will be normal someday it's just an eventuality)
I'd love to see more 21+ areas at cons. As I'm getting older I'm noticing an influx of teens (naturally) but that's making it harder to find others within my age range to talk to and make con friends like I once did
it's almost like only kids want to go to anime conventions. You're getting old, part of that means no more friends, no more joy, people accusing you of being an extremist for not hopping on the latest trend of cutting off your left leg to donate to Rhodesians in need of arm transplants because a Tic Toc rapper said a no no word while alone in the shower. There isn't a solution to your problem, all you can do is make a feeble and fruitless effort to accept the entropy that is swallowing us all into the gaping maw of oblivion.
I think as time goes on, we’ll start to see more of this. The good thing is that all the fans who got into anime during the waves of the 90s & 00s are getting older too, so I no doubt expect this crowd to continue to mature and thus have more programming specifically for them. I don’t think we’ll ever see the age ranges that comic con has, but at least it won’t be just a “teen/young adult” thing anymore. 🤗
I think cons are an underestimated part of what keeps the social scene alive for people that enjoy anime or things related to anime, not many people discuss standards, and I think this was a valuable talk because you're willing to actually discuss a baseline of what could help make a place constructive and inviting.
I agree, however, we are in the middle of a global pandemic that is killing millions of people. It is far to early to open back up and super spreader events like cons are one of the biggest hurdles in the way of us being able to move past the virus. This is the time for masking, vaccinations, social distancing and lockdowns. Every time I see someone in these con videos not wearing a mask it makes me physically sick to see people putting thousands of lives at risk like that.
As someone who lived the conrunner life, I do want to note that Anime Expo is a beast unto itself. It is the de facto anime industry conference for North America, with an actual conference run by the non-profit that runs the con a few days before the show. Additionally, everyone at the department head level and up at that show is a full-time employee with a salary, unlike most shows that are completely volunteer run. You almost need to think of AX more in line with an every run by a for-profit company like ReedPOP or Informa in how they are able to operate. Not that you can't learn from them, but there is a large gap to traverse to operate at their level.
Oh for sure. Much smaller c9ns have the important aspects of just staying alive to attend to, I just thought these 3 things are fairly minor additions to any B or C tier con that could go a long way proportionally for the effort they need to set up
I'm not from America so I don't know what cons are like there, but the con I recently went to in the Netherlands had a whopping two 18+ events which were both stuffed beyond capacity because the adults just wanted to not feel weird having to engage with teens all the time. The cocktailbar was so popular that on the second day it was completely out of alcohol. I think there is very much a market for 18+ spaces at cons, it would just be nice if they weren't all about sex and alcohol.
I haven't heard anyone articulate so well the need for different age appropriate zones. Most people focus on just 18+ or After Dark panels for the raunchy stuff. But it's really just a different type of safe space. Thank you for such a delightful thought piece!
Agreed. I was shocked at Anime Midwest about who was below 18. In 21 and I’m not too far removed from these guys but I couldn’t believe how many there were. I really needed an 18+ area where I didn’t need to swap how I talked from NSFW to SFW.
There was a convention near my city that was held in a convention center that usually just accepted an annual farm convention, where they sold animals, farm machinery, etc. It was a big con, it was awesome. So, they removed the animals, but kept some of the farm equipment, including tractors... Imagine hundreds, maybe thousands of pictures of cosplayers inside tractors and bobcats 😂
I loved this video, If there was a promise of a 21+ bar at a con I feel like I’d be much more willing to go so it’s not just standing and lines and buying merch
I wonder what smaller cons can do to attract people like me who don't really go for the merch or fan panels. I used to go to Otakon every year because I loved attending industry panels (Directors, Writers, Animators, Producers). Unfortunately ever since the pandemic there have been a big lack of Japanese guests so I stopped going. Hopefully things get better because going to Otakon use to be one of the big highlights of the year for me.
I think another thing that sometimes gets left on the table, especially for smaller conventions, is programming content. Even some of the larger conventions I have gone to feel like the panels and events are completely lacking, and for attendees of various ages and interests, it makes that aging out problem more pronounced. I for example have almost no interest in attending an adults-only lounge, but if you had people from universities or industry putting on actually interesting panels about various topics, I would be far more inclined to attend them. Nothing hurts more than seeing an upcoming con's schedule and seeing that there is almost nothing of actual interest on the event schedule; it's basically a confirmation that I'm going to go and wander around the halls looking for something to do for 2 1/2 days.
Never been at any con, but the idea of 18-21+ areas at these places seems like a nice touch to the overall fun atmosphere of the con itself Thx for the great quality video, paying to these artists was worth it :)
I love these kind of videos! I personally got into your channel with your video essay-type videos but this is a change in a good direction. You can do something like 1 animated storytime video for every 4 or 5 video essay videos or whatever is best for you. Tl;dr, your videos are great!
Number 3... SO MUCH! So many cons I've been to, like their Raves and such were just ruined because of a bunch of kids running around. Late night has always been more Adult times, but so many cons have got this idea that everything should be fore everyone and it's just getting ridiculous.
@@HidinginPublic I went there this year and it seemed fairly chill. After getting an actual job after college I can actually go to cons now. Yea there needs to be more casual meetups for adults. That was the biggest thing I thought was missing. They should take some notes from how Defcon does things. They had casual meetups and parties for all sorts of intrests.
No offense but that part of you being glad you never been to a con, kinda sucks. Have you tried listening to positive stories about cons? Im not saying to ignore the bad ones, but there are a lot of things to do at a con.
They had 21+ pool party with drinks in hot tubs till 1am, a rave and a rock concert at ColossalCon East in Pennsylvania. Come there for a better adult anime fan experience. Still, like you said, more cons need to appeal to the adults with the money and not think only of high schoolers.
Tectone did some unsponsored Anime convention streams in Texas recently, but they just seemed unappealing to me. Industry really does make a convention worth going to by making it more interactive and professional.
I just put tectone on there cuz he lives in Texas. It's probably appealing to some of his fans and that's what matters I think for people getting interested.
YES, THANK YOU FOR THIS. I love going to smaller conventions since cons like AX seem too big and daunting, but you're a 100% right about what smaller cons should offer in order to stand out. The pass to get in the con is a small detail but HUGE if done right. It seems so unappealing if the pass is printed out and inside a small ziplock pouch, it looses so much appeal. One thing I've noticed small cons have done was to focus on getting big S tier guests to appear at their con for panels and autograph sessions. That's great, but for a small con it pretty much cripples it because most con goers will probably go for 1 reason only. After that, why stay? I feel that small cons need to have as much variety as possible in order to have con goers come back next year, not come the year a big guest was there, because if you don't secure a big guest the following year, there's no reason for those same attendees will come. As years go on, a convention should get better, especially if the price of a weekend pass increases every year, and some cons get worse while increasing pass prices, (looking at YOU Sakura Con....)
I'm a cosplayer and I gotta say... Yeah all of this. A lot of conventions in my area are taking positive strives forward, but I have gotten to the point where I need to ask age before getting too deep in conversation. Nothing is worse than having a really nice conversation with someone and then realizing they're 16
This is so facts. At anime Midwest I was shocked with how many people were like, 18 and below. Like at least when I was talking it was 18+ which I didn’t even think about but there was this one time I talked to a 15 year old and immediately switched what I was saying because it wasn’t appropriate and had to speak Safe For Work. Really wish there was a badge so I can identify who was under 18. I’m 21
Lol fair. Honestly tho, I haven't noticed any issues like that for a few years. Anime's normalization has made these things more mainstream and normal but there's a lot further it can go
We attended 7 cons this year and potentially 3 more before the end of it. The one thing I have noticed: a LOT of the exhibit floors feel the same. Sure, some are more flashy than others, but they feel the same. Artist alley is always a good time. I think cons should strive to be unique in one way or another. AX is just a beast and it is there as an industry event more than anything and us a great way to meet people.
This was a very well thought out and insightful video. It would be interesting to see if any of the things you mentioned get implemented into future conventions.
I just came from Colossalcon East this weekend. Colossalcon Prime and East down my favorite cons, understand your sentiment the Con itself is tiny and not that great no matter which one you go to but the draw is 100 percent not the con as much as the resort and waterpark when you are going to do parties and night swims etc which is what it's truly known for. Trying to throw in corporations and trying to mimic big corporate cons like NYCC, AX etc would ruin these kind of conventions. You need conventions that are specifically party and cosplay scenes like Katuscon, Dragoncon and the Colossalcons. Colossalcons aren't meant to be come visit for the day for the con itself, it's a come hang out with your friends for the weekend at a place that happens to have anime themes etc while enjoy everything else that goes along with it. I do though to this day after doing these for 6 plus years agree that the art needs to FINALLY be updated, but at the same time the character has been a mainstay for all of the cons and cruise, and represents them pretty well. It's cute but doesn't take itself too seriously because it know what it is.
Colossalcon TX was a newer event so they had to be selective w press. A con approved wholewheatpete (that zenitsu guy thats known on YT/tiktok) and he harassed multiple attendees and damaged property. Also the easiest way to get a free badge is hosting a panel. I believe youtubers got free badges in the past by being moderators for guest panels. Cons can't hand out 50 free badges to youtubers, but they can justify it w panels.
This vid was awesome! Def some high quality stuff! Think this finally pushed me to actually attempt going to Anime Expo instead of just dreaming of being there
Honestly, I loved this video. I really liked how you talked about cons adapting to the times. a con me and my friends went to made us feel like we should almost ignoring most panels without a guest appearance, and nightime was easily the better part of a con, with the middle of the day being fun, but not great(besides the card game scene thats dope)
The emotive avatar, casual conversation, and interspersed drawn depictions is a proven formula for RUclips success. Even though I personally would say I'm here for the analysis and contemplation of media, the reality is that I'm more likely to commit to watching less dense, more casual content at any given time. It's hamburgers versus steak, you know? Yeah, steak is great, but even if you can afford it, it's not something you'd want to eat all the time. But a hamburger? Every, other, meal, bay bee! You've proven you've got the critical ability and earned an audience, it's okay to do something that "everybody else is doing", that's maybe "easier" or "less high concept"; and really it always was okay. The real problem is that you haven't committed to watching LotGH, I don't know your stan(d)ce on Jojo, and can you explain Persona Trinity Soul like I was five years old cause I just didn't get it.
It feels like a weird transition from the "anime video essay that eventually becomes a personal life tangent" formula from most of his videos, but it just needs getting used to
Here's reasons for your issues (spoiler, they basically all come down to "money"): 1. Press - Believe it or not, when cons have a press pass they get a TON of people thinking they are worth a free pass, and 99% of them are frankly "not" (ie. they're not going to pay off). I would assume that the con was vetting you in the sense that if you're either sufficiently huge or completely external (think local news) then you're "worth" it. The latter is more worth because frankly, they're not going to be there without the free badge, so you're not "losing" money. I would say one thing that streamers/influencers could do to make their case is reach out to cons and ask for a "referral" bonus. It'd take effort to setup, but if an influencer could PROVE their reach by getting 100 people to register with their referral, the con would definitely be glad to have you. 2. Art - Agree 100%, but the reality is you have 3 types of artists: those that look "unprofessional", those that look great but are not well known, and those that basically ARE professional. The first type, you apparently don't like. They're usually inexpensive to commission, but they don't look as good. The last type look great and are (as one would expect) pretty expensive to commission (assuming they're even available to do so). Which leaves many cons searching for the middle set. They're currently not that big, so they're hard to find and if you're lucky, you can catch them before they're super busy. Usually they will soon get more of a following, raise their prices and then you do it all again. Note, the typical con would have difficulty spending thousands every year on great art for the various promo materials, badges and merch that are produced. this is why con art is often produced by someone con staff knows or has a relationship with, and your opinion on the quality or style may vary. 3. Age - This one is tricky. I don't disagree, but for MOST conventions, attendance is frankly a numbers game. So cons are often trying to get the most numbers. If a con can pull in 100 teens at the expense of 10 adults, they'll take that math every day. (if it's $50/head, the teens are an extra $4500) And basically, it's harder than you might think to attract people once they get out of college and have real jobs. If you couldn't tell, this is also why the biggest cons are all in the summer (when high school and college are not in session). Adults usually have more bills and thus are more discerning with how they spend their discretionary income. Dealers love that guy that's gonna drop $2000 on figures in their booth, but to the con budget, they're "worth" the same as the kid who could only afford to pay for admission. Yeah, it's great to say "have a club atmosphere for the 21+ crowd", but you've gotta pay for all the bells and whistles for that, and if it's not Anime Expo (literally the BIGGEST ANIME CON IN THE COUNTRY) then that may not pay off. As much as you might have loved partying at some big "adult" event at AX, how would you feel shuffling around a room with flashing lights, some music and 10 other people your age? Running an anime convention is a difficult task that's already pretty thankless. If you want to improve your local con (especially as someone with an audience) then VOLUNTEER to help (not even necessarily as a person doing work at the con). Offer to run panels, or offer to help promote the con even if you DON'T get a free badge out of it. Do YOUR part to build the community, rather than expecting to benefit from doing so. That's how AnimeExpo started, and without lots of enthusiastic, well-meaning fans it'd never be what it is today.
The only ever big con I've been to is San Japan and [a lot of small cons between like in malls], it does suck noticing most adult spaces at cons are mainly panels about porn or like a burlesque show :| I just want a space for adults thats porn free, drug free, and maybe alcohol free. To where I can talk to people and not fear that the person I'm having a good convo with isn't actually 15 years old.
i appreciate your perspective as a fellow con goer! i recently went to colossalcon east in the poconos, and though there's a lot of common ground with the other colossalcons, i found that the con was almost exclusively catered to the 21+ demographic (not that i'm complaining about that.) it was almost to a fault, though, because if you didn't come to the con with the intent to drink and smoke all weekend & hang out at the water park, you'd probably be sorely disappointed. the offerings of the actual con itself were incredibly mid, small & boring dealers hall and few panels with barely any publicity. there was also the covid issue. almost everyone in my friend group other than me got covid post-con, and i think that's largely due to the lack of any safety precautions whatsoever set by the staff. i had fun, but it was definitely not a con for people who actually want to go out and do con stuff. pretty much just a super expensive weekend-long party.
I've worked as a PR coordinator for a huge event (not a convention, but an annual fair that has run for more than a century and is one of the most-attended fairs in North America) and you've basically outlined how we handled influencers and media. Kinda shocked that a con wouldn't have caught up to the times by being more liberal with media accreditation, because the press really does help even if you're an established brand already. No matter what an event's history is, good partnerships with those closest to large community audiences will help your event look less dated.
Indeed they do! I DMd with them a bit abt if they would do con art hypothetically/ what kinda of price they would charge so even tho it doesn't effect the video they seem to be down to do it too!
ColossalCon East in Pennsylvania was packed. Seemed like thousands of cosplayers! But like you said, never heard of it until a friend invited me. They need to advertise more.
Great video! I also went to both AX and Colossalcon TX this year. I honestly loved Colossalcon and it was one of my favorite con experiences. It was definitely small, but I felt that it was organized extremely well and for being a very new con, it gave out some high quality entertainment. I also really loved the resort vibes. I felt like it actually catered a bit more to the older crowd with many bars spread around the resort. The after hours water park party was also really fun. I think with a bit more tweaking, it can really carve out its own niche as the "con resort". I left feeling relaxed and like I took a nice vacation. But I think since so much is going on at AX, I actually felt exhausted at the end and like I needed a vacation after (but I might just be getting old)
Part of me wonders if Hiding will ever get press for a con again after this.. People don't like being told what to do.. With that said, this was nothing but pure, unfiltered truth.
Medium-size cons here in the UK are actually pretty good for this sort of thing. The problem with being a medium size con is that you usually can't get much in terms of guests, and usually can't get sponsorship or support from industry, but many of them here are also 18+ only, so there's very little chance of coming across minors, and content is usually good enough that you won't get bored. Large scale cons that are exclusively for anime here in the UK... don't exist. Bigger cons are usually multi-industry (usually film/comic/etc) - and are so tightly industry controlled that they come off as boring, and very cramped.
Would love to see videos in this style return in the future. Take it at your own pace though, when your feel like you have an interesting concept that you'd feel would be best suited for this format. More fun that way whenever they do come around.
I love these kinds of videos and would definitely love to see more like this in the future! Also mad props to you for being honest about how you felt about some of these cons marketing techniques, and ability to draw crowds, that kind of honesty is refreshing and it's nice to get those perspectives
More adult (but tasteful) spaces are definitely needed. I don’t want to hang out with teenagers at cons. You're so right about keeping artwork current at cons, especially the bigger cons. Fanime-Con has been using the same artwork for 10 years. SacAnime since 2005.
I just went to Nan Desu Kan in Denver a couple weeks back, and I'd also like to add that having cons IN hotels rather than convention centers makes for a much better con going experience. Being able to drop off the stuff you bought at the dealer's hall or artist's alley was very nice. It also gave us a good spot to get sufficiently drunk before stuff like the dances.
@2:50 people: "Nobody cares about your con... they care about the people they follow." A con can't afford to bank its success on that kind of attendance base. As soon as the people they follow either don't attend, or fall out of style, the attendance they brought evaporates immediately; its too unstable. Not only that, even if you specifically don't like or engage in Dragonball content, the suggestion is that there is a market of fans who follow you and simultaneously don't engage with anything DBZ. It is wiser for an event trying to gain more stable numbers to just aim for the bigger existing draws, and whatever overlap there is comes along for the ride. When the overlap is big enough, you can switch your attention to these secondary things, as the primary starts to carry itself. @ art: Artists (rightly) want paid. They are (rightly) skeptical about any purported opportunity to spread their brand awareness, notoriety, challenge, or fame. A con who suggests any of these things, even if agreeing to the price gets immediately looked at skeptically. An artist famous enough to be a guest will have no need/desire for such exposure and will instead want paid for their art. There isn't a lack of artist of sufficient quality out there for certain, and your premise about the art/graphic quality often not being where it needs is correct, tho.
As some one who now does go to the Ohio Colossal con a lot, one of the reason's I've heard for why the Texas con is a lot smaller in regards to attendance is distance from the other Colossal cons. The other Colossal cons are in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It's a very midwest con and people will travel to all 3 of them in a year. The Texas con is much newer and very out of the way compared to the others. So it's hard for the normal attendance base to justify traveling all the way to Texas.
That was very interesting. I’ve never been to an anime convention (or any convention at all) so it’s cool to see someone break it down so easily. The feedback sounds very logical and I hope the convention improves over time. I’m sure it’s not purposely “bad” so there is definitely room for growth
Hi Hiding-Kun I really loved your video about Anime Cons and I don't want this comment to come off as me just bashing modern Anime Cons or just Con culture in general, although I do have my grips. Personally for me I wish there was more less-commercialized Anime cons out there but a more niche adult con goers. For example kinds of mini comikets around the nation where artists can kinda self publish their own doujinshi for stuff. For me personally as an adult con goer I miss the days of Cons focusing on being as commercial friendly as possible, obviously a lot do to survive to some degree, but that being EVERY con just sucks out the fun for me. I like being able to buy import doujinshi, I love 18+ figure collecting, buying hentai dvds, jrpgs/eroge also just being able to talk about more adult anime (eg Berserk, AOT etc) with other adults, and I'm not trying to make an argument that this stuff should be out in the open for kids to see, but even if artists and merchandise stands do everything to hide it from kids they are penalized. Personally I would trust any con aside from maybe anime expo that you got 'sponsored' to go to than others. Also I wish cons could implement protections against artists that are harassed by antis on twitter and tiktok, its a rising issue that not enough people are aware of imo. There's just a lot of things, sorry my thoughts are pretty incoherent here but I just wanted to add a lot of things I and many friends of mine have been thinking about and talking about in terms of Modern US-Canadian Cons. tldr; I dont want cons to be like Twitter lol Amazing videos as always, love your PNGtuber like avatar, very cute and expressive!
Theres a new 21+ con that happened in NJ and it was so fun! It was very small con vibes but I see it having potential to grow and attract more people. The adult nerd only space was definitely needed.
As someone who has gone to Tekko in Pittsburgh a few times, I can say that the branding played a big part in how I even found out that it was in town. A few years ago, there was a separate convention called "kurokiiro" (may have spelled that wrong) festival that eventually turned into Tekko 1/2 before being discontinued I believe in 2014. Because of the rebrand, I later went to Tekko as said before a few times, and it became a convention that led me to fall in love with a few brands and even find some form of solidarity in the surrounding community. I knew that I wasn't alone and that liking the things I liked was normal to a degree that my peers in school would have attempted to lead me away from believing. All this to say, I would have never known about anything to do with Tekko, had a friend not taken me to a small-scale convention that was later rebranded into the convention that led me into the convention I now love.
I Dont know if this adds to something but i have a funny story from a Con in Brasil You see there was a influencer/artist around here who has be invited into a convention to show and sell her art but this event was kinda weird and the red flags starts when the staff started complaining about the cosplay of the artist friend and also they have complained about some of the art of the artist too because aperently they disrespectful to the church...yes it was in a church and it gets worse one of the people from the church walks into the stage in there in a militar uniform and starts talking about a militar like HQ with a trailer and everything and to top it of he started making a quiz A QUIZ about the Punisher and the questions were so especific like "what country did the Punisher served as a soldier in the past" or something and No one knew how to respond to it and the guy started to get a little nervous untill someone started awsering his question (by Googling it) But it doesnt stop there tho Because a little time after that a Priest comes up in the stage and starts to do a service in the middle of the event.....A SERVICE No one knew about it it was so fricking akward
Well said, Hiding! I hope expos do reach out to independent artists. This is one of the points that stood out to me. And I hope to go to anime expo in the near future, specifically to visit the Atlus/Sega booth
Here in the Philippines, a recent convention dubbed "ConQuest" has grew very controversial following a lot of reports of extremely long queues on the second and third day that were the result of overselling and greed in general. Staff used brutal crowd control techniques, like ordering food stalls to stop selling food on the 2nd floor, and cutting the power in the second and third days of the event. The long ass queue got so notorious, that the Philippines' biggest news anchors even covered it. Other than that, meet and greets were cut short, people with disabilities were harassed and alternate entrances were barred. The convention center can hold up to 20,000 people maximum. The organizers aimed for 70,000-100,000, to a point where the second floor was shaking due to the overcrowding. The organizers have been reportedly bragging about the convention and how ConQuest is "superior in quality" to other conventions in the country, to a point where he faked an apology once he got called out.
The main thing i enjoy at cons is seeing other cosplayers and activities like pub quizzes and tournaments A proper schedual and the venue can make or break a con. I've been to hotel cons where everyone is just sitting around a lobby and the whole area drains when something is on in the main hall. It makes it really hard to talk to or interact with people when there's nothing to do but sit around and order overpriced drinks.
Not gonna lie I really liked this videos style,felt really refreshing,I still like the long non representative figure style work,but this format had a more chilled approachable vibe.
Paper bag, i have my bell on but I haven’t seen your content in Months. Decided to search you up and I’m gonna catch up. Don’t know how I’m missing you in my feed.
Honestly, even though I am really uncomfortable in crowds, hearing you describe anime expo makes me wanna go to cons again. First time I heard of cons they didn't exist in my state, but now one has opened up a few hour drive from me.
Always making GOAT content, Hiding ♡ The topics you discuss are always so relatively fresh for Anitube; you really start a discussion or better a conversation by what you bring to the table. I love the play on like a story animator style with your own style. Really love seeing the experimentation here.
I ain't gonna lie on number 1 you just sound bitter that Colossal Texas didn't give you a free badge, and number 2 feels like a wierd nitpick. Gotta heavily agree on 3 though, as a con adult it would be nice to have more 21+ events that aren't just porn dubbing or badfanfics.
Just be sure you get another booster or two before you go to the con! Whenever I'm forced to go out into a space with a lot of people or if I feel like I need a little pick me up, I go out and get another COVID booster. I've lost count but I think I've gotten like 30 COVID shots at this point.
That point about finding out the people you're talking to are underage... That's a point that I have lived. It keeps me from going places and interacting with people directly.
This video has alot of valuable takes, cons like colossalcon should invest in using larger and larger parts of convention halls so that anime fans can do more than stand in line and buy merch. I am growing up as well and the ability to talk to teenagers has completely left me. I want to speak to those around my age range about gigantic anime tiddies without being labelled "sus" and "weird." I still can acquire that, but I have to work for it. I feel that adding 18+ and 21+ lounges not panels and dance rooms would massively increase retention. You can still do all three but adding the lounge makes people want to talk and dance rather than just dance for a large dance room or just look at the main event for a panel. Also if a convention had its badges designed by huke-papa or Nyantcha would be insta 10/10 for me.
Ayy just wanna say, even though this is an old video, that Colossalcon Texas last year was it's... Second year, so it didn't have the same pull as it normally had elsewhere. But also glad we both get con suggestions from the same guy in Nyarly!
As someone who’s been attending Colossal con Prime (Ohio) for years and recently started going to Colossal con East (Pennsylvania), I would like to add my 2¢ to this as well, really just based on my own observations ^^ In the past I’ve noticed a lot of people coming to Prime. Usually this is one of the biggest cons, I’ve ever been to (before coming to like Ota and Katsu). On the East Coast, I would put colossal con relatively high on the more popular cons (maybe like top 15 cons over here?). One issue I think that Colossal has, is that it’s more just like a cash cow for the convention center. So instead of investing in like press badges, guests or interesting panelists; most of the money that they receive is from the discounted waterpark tickets. So in this way, I really don’t think it’s fair to compare it to other cons. That’s just my opinion though. Other factors that I think could’ve affected the low attendance at colossal con Texas is how new it is and the fact that a lot of Instagramers were boycotting the waterpark because the owner of the Kalahari‘s across the country use a lot of funding to support the Trump campaign in the past. So I think that was a bit of a turn off for a lot of con goers because they don’t want to support that type of message basically. At least that’s what I noticed on my own Instagram and I noticed a few of bigger accounts had shared a lot of info about it so I think those two factors really don’t help colossal cons like growth at all, specifically on the west coast.
Being in Oklahoma, the only one close is usually in Oklahoma City at AnimeOK, and Tokyo in Tulsa, which is in Tulsa of course. It's funny you post this because AnimeOK is tomorrow and I decided to not go as the things I heard about it were not superb. I heard it's a good time but since it's still a relatively new con, it seems to have some issues here and there. I also heard it's more kiddy than other cons and that tends to push away some older fans of stuff, older being 30s and up apparently.
If you're looking for fun and cool TX cons I highly recommend San Japan in San antonio! It's jam packed with panels and meet&greets and it's mostly all ages but there's lots of 18+ events including their annual rave, super fun
I feel like before speaking about Colossalcon as a whole, you should really attend the original (known as Prime) in Sandusky Ohio. You cant blame a con for not being a smash hit year two. A lot of the things you spoke about, even if done perfectly take years to pay off. -A vendor who attends 30+ cons a year including all 4 Colossalcon events.
i wouldn't say anime is anywhere near as socially accepted as videogames are for example. i feel like that's mostly the case in america and japan. as a german weeb i would expect to get spit on if i'd wear anything anime related. on twitch i also feel like anime is everything but normal. most chats react with NaM weebs are pedos anytime anything anime related pops up. just because demon slayer and spy x family trended on twitter a few times does not mean anime is mainstream.
If anyone knew how depraved and degenerate anime actually is they would have to ban it. The only thing saving our hobby is how it is scorned by pretty much everyone.
I've lived just north of Round Rock for my whole life and have NEVER heard of Colossal Con. I don't hear about any cons aside from a few like Comic Con Texas or Ikki Con (which tbh I don't know If they're still running). If they really implement even basic marketing, let alone even a few of these suggestions, I think Con life would flourish. Texas is huge, especially the Austin area, cons should be way busier than they tend to be.
Anime cons are horrible at promotion. Even large local ones I might see an ad for it while it's into its 2nd day. Some will also wait till like the last week or two to update their guest lists. So buying early can be a bit of a scare if you see like 4 guests and wonder if it's just going to be those 4 or if they'll pull 8 more out of pocket in the final week.
i just got home from colossalcon east this weekend, i believe colossalcon texas is a very new convention so it’s not as popular but colossalcon east has all the same things, the themed restaurants and drink menus and the waterpark and it was very busy! just give it time and colossal texas will catch on
They’re trying a Midwestern Ohio convention in Texas. I gotta say as a midwestern anime con goer it’s good especially if you can’t afford to go to ax. I can’t talk anything further especially sense youmacon is my home con.
I'm not sure how it comes across, but this video took forever to edit, it was even more time consuming than my last video haha. Please support Kall for drawing the art, and ofc support me If you want to see more and more ambitious projects. Thanks and enjoy yourselves!
please please don't do anything bad. it's getting harder for me to connect with youtubers because so many of them turn out to be assholes but i can't but feel like i might actually get upset if you turn out to be that way so please don't.
Great video! Great points as well. This doesn't just apply to anime. A lot of these suggestions work towards events in general.
I'm curious to hear your take on anime conventions being run in an area devoid of large anime conventions in their local area that don't have access to shows like ColossalCon, AX or Otakon. Having been a con attendee and at one time a con runner in the last 26 years, I've seen a push for the larger shows, but very little in the area of creating the community in an area closer to home and have since seen a "standard" that attendees hold all conventions to as if to say those shows trying to run them don't matter in comparison to the likes of a larger show in a major metro area. I do think that some of your points are valid on how to improve them, but also think that there are some things that you mention that should be a part of the event are a matter of if the show is able to afford it as part of their initial offerings, if the location/community is ready for said event (so's not to generate bad press in the mainstream), and if the venue would allow it, as some places have limitations due to catering and banquet departments (which affect things like maid cafes or 21+ lounge events). Otherwise, very well put together and I enjoyed watching this.
That feeling of "being too old" for a con has definitely hit really hard with the most recent cons. Everything seems designed for teenagers, and the attendees mostly seem to be high schoolers, or parents of high schoolers (because they're the ones with cars.)
It seems like there's nobody to talk to except the friends I showed up with, because my immediate surroundings are always 15 year old genshin cosplayers.
There never feels like anything to do except the artist alley, as I'm old enough to afford and enjoy art now, and the artists themselves tend to be actual adults who are receptive to a conversation.
Couldn't agree more.
I'm 21 going to my first cons this year, my first one was colossalcon in Ohio which offered a lot of panels, meetups and events that were all 18+
However I would like to see some that are specifically 21+
I felt the same but in reverse at a brony con. Most of the people were in their late 20s to 40s. I was an 18 year old with a friend, there were a handful of teens and plenty of parents with kids.
I remember back in the day, (2008-2014) cons had a very different vibe and I made friends easy, granted I was younger and surrounded by others the same age. But now it's kinda like... I'm surrounded by youngsters. And if I see any adults there, they seem uninterested in engaging in conversation. I also feel out of the loop bc of how much anime there is and some popular stuff just doesn't interest me. I'd love to make friends with more adults that love older anime and cosplay, but that seems very difficult nowadays for someone over 30
In my experience, different genres of cons tend to have different age ranges. Sci-fi or fantasy cons tend to trend oldest and anime cons tend to trend youngest.
As someone who's been and still is a staff member at a few conventions a year and someone slowly going back to having a con schedule, all this is pretty legit and I've seen more than a few cons take similar steps.
That's nice to hear! Conventions are certainly a lot of work to get off the ground at all. All respect goes to anyone who has volunteered or worked on making/keeping a con together. These were just 3 simple things I thought could go a long way- glad to know people are already doing it (I imagine this stuff will be normal someday it's just an eventuality)
I'd love to see more 21+ areas at cons. As I'm getting older I'm noticing an influx of teens (naturally) but that's making it harder to find others within my age range to talk to and make con friends like I once did
it's almost like only kids want to go to anime conventions. You're getting old, part of that means no more friends, no more joy, people accusing you of being an extremist for not hopping on the latest trend of cutting off your left leg to donate to Rhodesians in need of arm transplants because a Tic Toc rapper said a no no word while alone in the shower.
There isn't a solution to your problem, all you can do is make a feeble and fruitless effort to accept the entropy that is swallowing us all into the gaping maw of oblivion.
I think as time goes on, we’ll start to see more of this. The good thing is that all the fans who got into anime during the waves of the 90s & 00s are getting older too, so I no doubt expect this crowd to continue to mature and thus have more programming specifically for them. I don’t think we’ll ever see the age ranges that comic con has, but at least it won’t be just a “teen/young adult” thing anymore. 🤗
Yeah last con I went to those zones were just porn which is a scene I’m trying to avoid 😅
I Guess look for people at the bar?
@@undolf4097alot of cons in the UK often have an after dark thing where they kick out all the minors after a certain time at night and yeah
@@undolf4097?
you talking about the 18/21+ area just hit me how much “18+” is associated with porn. like holy shit
Yeah it's unfortunate
@@HidinginPublic wait why that?
@@lopolka5373 wdym why?
@@TazzyZee14 You some kind of fucking Mormon?
Yeah thays what 18+ means
I think cons are an underestimated part of what keeps the social scene alive for people that enjoy anime or things related to anime, not many people discuss standards, and I think this was a valuable talk because you're willing to actually discuss a baseline of what could help make a place constructive and inviting.
I agree, however, we are in the middle of a global pandemic that is killing millions of people. It is far to early to open back up and super spreader events like cons are one of the biggest hurdles in the way of us being able to move past the virus. This is the time for masking, vaccinations, social distancing and lockdowns. Every time I see someone in these con videos not wearing a mask it makes me physically sick to see people putting thousands of lives at risk like that.
As someone who lived the conrunner life, I do want to note that Anime Expo is a beast unto itself. It is the de facto anime industry conference for North America, with an actual conference run by the non-profit that runs the con a few days before the show.
Additionally, everyone at the department head level and up at that show is a full-time employee with a salary, unlike most shows that are completely volunteer run. You almost need to think of AX more in line with an every run by a for-profit company like ReedPOP or Informa in how they are able to operate.
Not that you can't learn from them, but there is a large gap to traverse to operate at their level.
Oh for sure. Much smaller c9ns have the important aspects of just staying alive to attend to, I just thought these 3 things are fairly minor additions to any B or C tier con that could go a long way proportionally for the effort they need to set up
I'm not from America so I don't know what cons are like there, but the con I recently went to in the Netherlands had a whopping two 18+ events which were both stuffed beyond capacity because the adults just wanted to not feel weird having to engage with teens all the time. The cocktailbar was so popular that on the second day it was completely out of alcohol. I think there is very much a market for 18+ spaces at cons, it would just be nice if they weren't all about sex and alcohol.
I almost had the feeling you went to Abunai or could like that convention.
@@wendyvanmourik8285 hahaha yep! I was talking about Abunai :)
I haven't heard anyone articulate so well the need for different age appropriate zones. Most people focus on just 18+ or After Dark panels for the raunchy stuff. But it's really just a different type of safe space. Thank you for such a delightful thought piece!
Agreed. I was shocked at Anime Midwest about who was below 18. In 21 and I’m not too far removed from these guys but I couldn’t believe how many there were. I really needed an 18+ area where I didn’t need to swap how I talked from NSFW to SFW.
There was a convention near my city that was held in a convention center that usually just accepted an annual farm convention, where they sold animals, farm machinery, etc.
It was a big con, it was awesome.
So, they removed the animals, but kept some of the farm equipment, including tractors...
Imagine hundreds, maybe thousands of pictures of cosplayers inside tractors and bobcats 😂
I loved this video, If there was a promise of a 21+ bar at a con I feel like I’d be much more willing to go so it’s not just standing and lines and buying merch
I wonder what smaller cons can do to attract people like me who don't really go for the merch or fan panels. I used to go to Otakon every year because I loved attending industry panels (Directors, Writers, Animators, Producers). Unfortunately ever since the pandemic there have been a big lack of Japanese guests so I stopped going. Hopefully things get better because going to Otakon use to be one of the big highlights of the year for me.
I think another thing that sometimes gets left on the table, especially for smaller conventions, is programming content. Even some of the larger conventions I have gone to feel like the panels and events are completely lacking, and for attendees of various ages and interests, it makes that aging out problem more pronounced. I for example have almost no interest in attending an adults-only lounge, but if you had people from universities or industry putting on actually interesting panels about various topics, I would be far more inclined to attend them. Nothing hurts more than seeing an upcoming con's schedule and seeing that there is almost nothing of actual interest on the event schedule; it's basically a confirmation that I'm going to go and wander around the halls looking for something to do for 2 1/2 days.
So right, and it's bizarre how they declined over the years into near-nonexistance regardless of con size.
Never been at any con, but the idea of 18-21+ areas at these places seems like a nice touch to the overall fun atmosphere of the con itself
Thx for the great quality video, paying to these artists was worth it :)
I love these kind of videos! I personally got into your channel with your video essay-type videos but this is a change in a good direction. You can do something like 1 animated storytime video for every 4 or 5 video essay videos or whatever is best for you. Tl;dr, your videos are great!
It genuinely makes me happy that a lot of the artists you shouted out I know of and follow, they deserve millions and millions of followers
Number 3... SO MUCH! So many cons I've been to, like their Raves and such were just ruined because of a bunch of kids running around. Late night has always been more Adult times, but so many cons have got this idea that everything should be fore everyone and it's just getting ridiculous.
A part of me is glad that I’ve never been to an anime convention because of all the horror stories I’ve heard about conventions
Your missing out..
My main horror story is just thinking I wastes my money. Although people were acting pretty thirsty at Otakon one time...
It's what you want it to be. I'm curious to what you've heard.
@@HidinginPublic I went there this year and it seemed fairly chill. After getting an actual job after college I can actually go to cons now. Yea there needs to be more casual meetups for adults. That was the biggest thing I thought was missing. They should take some notes from how Defcon does things. They had casual meetups and parties for all sorts of intrests.
No offense but that part of you being glad you never been to a con, kinda sucks. Have you tried listening to positive stories about cons? Im not saying to ignore the bad ones, but there are a lot of things to do at a con.
This is such a well thought out video, and honestly hits a lot at what it's like to be a mid-20's con goer and the problems we encounter
They had 21+ pool party with drinks in hot tubs till 1am, a rave and a rock concert at ColossalCon East in Pennsylvania. Come there for a better adult anime fan experience. Still, like you said, more cons need to appeal to the adults with the money and not think only of high schoolers.
Tectone did some unsponsored Anime convention streams in Texas recently, but they just seemed unappealing to me.
Industry really does make a convention worth going to by making it more interactive and professional.
I just put tectone on there cuz he lives in Texas. It's probably appealing to some of his fans and that's what matters I think for people getting interested.
@@HidinginPublic Yep, people do enjoy them which I'm all for!
YES, THANK YOU FOR THIS. I love going to smaller conventions since cons like AX seem too big and daunting, but you're a 100% right about what smaller cons should offer in order to stand out. The pass to get in the con is a small detail but HUGE if done right. It seems so unappealing if the pass is printed out and inside a small ziplock pouch, it looses so much appeal. One thing I've noticed small cons have done was to focus on getting big S tier guests to appear at their con for panels and autograph sessions. That's great, but for a small con it pretty much cripples it because most con goers will probably go for 1 reason only. After that, why stay? I feel that small cons need to have as much variety as possible in order to have con goers come back next year, not come the year a big guest was there, because if you don't secure a big guest the following year, there's no reason for those same attendees will come. As years go on, a convention should get better, especially if the price of a weekend pass increases every year, and some cons get worse while increasing pass prices, (looking at YOU Sakura Con....)
I'm a cosplayer and I gotta say... Yeah all of this. A lot of conventions in my area are taking positive strives forward, but I have gotten to the point where I need to ask age before getting too deep in conversation. Nothing is worse than having a really nice conversation with someone and then realizing they're 16
This is so facts. At anime Midwest I was shocked with how many people were like, 18 and below. Like at least when I was talking it was 18+ which I didn’t even think about but there was this one time I talked to a 15 year old and immediately switched what I was saying because it wasn’t appropriate and had to speak Safe For Work. Really wish there was a badge so I can identify who was under 18. I’m 21
That one sign reminding people to take showers is the reason I don’t talk about anime irl
Lol fair. Honestly tho, I haven't noticed any issues like that for a few years. Anime's normalization has made these things more mainstream and normal but there's a lot further it can go
@@HidinginPublic Until we get 80% of the anime watching community to read Metamorphosis there is still much work to be done.
You have a monke pfp
@@lopolka5373 this is a true statement
We attended 7 cons this year and potentially 3 more before the end of it. The one thing I have noticed: a LOT of the exhibit floors feel the same. Sure, some are more flashy than others, but they feel the same. Artist alley is always a good time.
I think cons should strive to be unique in one way or another. AX is just a beast and it is there as an industry event more than anything and us a great way to meet people.
This was a very well thought out and insightful video. It would be interesting to see if any of the things you mentioned get implemented into future conventions.
Hiding-kun helping cons across the country what a mad lad
Just a selfless hero only asking for everything in the world for return
@@HidinginPublic Sounds fair and legit
I just came from Colossalcon East this weekend. Colossalcon Prime and East down my favorite cons, understand your sentiment the Con itself is tiny and not that great no matter which one you go to but the draw is 100 percent not the con as much as the resort and waterpark when you are going to do parties and night swims etc which is what it's truly known for.
Trying to throw in corporations and trying to mimic big corporate cons like NYCC, AX etc would ruin these kind of conventions. You need conventions that are specifically party and cosplay scenes like Katuscon, Dragoncon and the Colossalcons. Colossalcons aren't meant to be come visit for the day for the con itself, it's a come hang out with your friends for the weekend at a place that happens to have anime themes etc while enjoy everything else that goes along with it.
I do though to this day after doing these for 6 plus years agree that the art needs to FINALLY be updated, but at the same time the character has been a mainstay for all of the cons and cruise, and represents them pretty well. It's cute but doesn't take itself too seriously because it know what it is.
Colossalcon TX was a newer event so they had to be selective w press. A con approved wholewheatpete (that zenitsu guy thats known on YT/tiktok) and he harassed multiple attendees and damaged property.
Also the easiest way to get a free badge is hosting a panel. I believe youtubers got free badges in the past by being moderators for guest panels. Cons can't hand out 50 free badges to youtubers, but they can justify it w panels.
This vid was awesome! Def some high quality stuff!
Think this finally pushed me to actually attempt going to Anime Expo instead of just dreaming of being there
wowwww the art is so cute!! really good insight into what should make a convention appealing!
Kall did a good job.
Honestly, I loved this video. I really liked how you talked about cons adapting to the times. a con me and my friends went to made us feel like we should almost ignoring most panels without a guest appearance, and nightime was easily the better part of a con, with the middle of the day being fun, but not great(besides the card game scene thats dope)
The emotive avatar, casual conversation, and interspersed drawn depictions is a proven formula for RUclips success.
Even though I personally would say I'm here for the analysis and contemplation of media, the reality is that I'm more likely to commit to watching less dense, more casual content at any given time.
It's hamburgers versus steak, you know? Yeah, steak is great, but even if you can afford it, it's not something you'd want to eat all the time. But a hamburger? Every, other, meal, bay bee!
You've proven you've got the critical ability and earned an audience, it's okay to do something that "everybody else is doing", that's maybe "easier" or "less high concept"; and really it always was okay.
The real problem is that you haven't committed to watching LotGH, I don't know your stan(d)ce on Jojo, and can you explain Persona Trinity Soul like I was five years old cause I just didn't get it.
It feels like a weird transition from the "anime video essay that eventually becomes a personal life tangent" formula from most of his videos, but it just needs getting used to
God that Lucky Star clip takes me back. Great video btw, love the art.
I love lucky star. Glad you liked the video n art
Here's reasons for your issues (spoiler, they basically all come down to "money"):
1. Press - Believe it or not, when cons have a press pass they get a TON of people thinking they are worth a free pass, and 99% of them are frankly "not" (ie. they're not going to pay off). I would assume that the con was vetting you in the sense that if you're either sufficiently huge or completely external (think local news) then you're "worth" it. The latter is more worth because frankly, they're not going to be there without the free badge, so you're not "losing" money. I would say one thing that streamers/influencers could do to make their case is reach out to cons and ask for a "referral" bonus. It'd take effort to setup, but if an influencer could PROVE their reach by getting 100 people to register with their referral, the con would definitely be glad to have you.
2. Art - Agree 100%, but the reality is you have 3 types of artists: those that look "unprofessional", those that look great but are not well known, and those that basically ARE professional. The first type, you apparently don't like. They're usually inexpensive to commission, but they don't look as good. The last type look great and are (as one would expect) pretty expensive to commission (assuming they're even available to do so). Which leaves many cons searching for the middle set. They're currently not that big, so they're hard to find and if you're lucky, you can catch them before they're super busy. Usually they will soon get more of a following, raise their prices and then you do it all again. Note, the typical con would have difficulty spending thousands every year on great art for the various promo materials, badges and merch that are produced. this is why con art is often produced by someone con staff knows or has a relationship with, and your opinion on the quality or style may vary.
3. Age - This one is tricky. I don't disagree, but for MOST conventions, attendance is frankly a numbers game. So cons are often trying to get the most numbers. If a con can pull in 100 teens at the expense of 10 adults, they'll take that math every day. (if it's $50/head, the teens are an extra $4500) And basically, it's harder than you might think to attract people once they get out of college and have real jobs. If you couldn't tell, this is also why the biggest cons are all in the summer (when high school and college are not in session). Adults usually have more bills and thus are more discerning with how they spend their discretionary income. Dealers love that guy that's gonna drop $2000 on figures in their booth, but to the con budget, they're "worth" the same as the kid who could only afford to pay for admission. Yeah, it's great to say "have a club atmosphere for the 21+ crowd", but you've gotta pay for all the bells and whistles for that, and if it's not Anime Expo (literally the BIGGEST ANIME CON IN THE COUNTRY) then that may not pay off. As much as you might have loved partying at some big "adult" event at AX, how would you feel shuffling around a room with flashing lights, some music and 10 other people your age?
Running an anime convention is a difficult task that's already pretty thankless. If you want to improve your local con (especially as someone with an audience) then VOLUNTEER to help (not even necessarily as a person doing work at the con). Offer to run panels, or offer to help promote the con even if you DON'T get a free badge out of it. Do YOUR part to build the community, rather than expecting to benefit from doing so. That's how AnimeExpo started, and without lots of enthusiastic, well-meaning fans it'd never be what it is today.
The only ever big con I've been to is San Japan and [a lot of small cons between like in malls], it does suck noticing most adult spaces at cons are mainly panels about porn or like a burlesque show :| I just want a space for adults thats porn free, drug free, and maybe alcohol free. To where I can talk to people and not fear that the person I'm having a good convo with isn't actually 15 years old.
i appreciate your perspective as a fellow con goer! i recently went to colossalcon east in the poconos, and though there's a lot of common ground with the other colossalcons, i found that the con was almost exclusively catered to the 21+ demographic (not that i'm complaining about that.) it was almost to a fault, though, because if you didn't come to the con with the intent to drink and smoke all weekend & hang out at the water park, you'd probably be sorely disappointed. the offerings of the actual con itself were incredibly mid, small & boring dealers hall and few panels with barely any publicity. there was also the covid issue. almost everyone in my friend group other than me got covid post-con, and i think that's largely due to the lack of any safety precautions whatsoever set by the staff. i had fun, but it was definitely not a con for people who actually want to go out and do con stuff. pretty much just a super expensive weekend-long party.
I've worked as a PR coordinator for a huge event (not a convention, but an annual fair that has run for more than a century and is one of the most-attended fairs in North America) and you've basically outlined how we handled influencers and media. Kinda shocked that a con wouldn't have caught up to the times by being more liberal with media accreditation, because the press really does help even if you're an established brand already.
No matter what an event's history is, good partnerships with those closest to large community audiences will help your event look less dated.
Love the Haibane Renmei ost that was also used in your Lain video. A possible video on the series some day?
I'm not sure. I love the show, but I would need to find a unique way to cover it that expresses how I feel
@@HidinginPublic I'd be super interested in seeing your perspective on it.
8:48 Yoooo! I'm glad they got a shout-out! They do some great work!
Indeed they do! I DMd with them a bit abt if they would do con art hypothetically/ what kinda of price they would charge so even tho it doesn't effect the video they seem to be down to do it too!
i'd go broke from testing the anime drinks
ColossalCon East in Pennsylvania was packed. Seemed like thousands of cosplayers! But like you said, never heard of it until a friend invited me. They need to advertise more.
This is my first ever video of yours and it’s incredible!
Now who’s emailing this to every con in the USA 😂
Great video! I also went to both AX and Colossalcon TX this year. I honestly loved Colossalcon and it was one of my favorite con experiences. It was definitely small, but I felt that it was organized extremely well and for being a very new con, it gave out some high quality entertainment. I also really loved the resort vibes. I felt like it actually catered a bit more to the older crowd with many bars spread around the resort. The after hours water park party was also really fun. I think with a bit more tweaking, it can really carve out its own niche as the "con resort". I left feeling relaxed and like I took a nice vacation. But I think since so much is going on at AX, I actually felt exhausted at the end and like I needed a vacation after (but I might just be getting old)
Part of me wonders if Hiding will ever get press for a con again after this.. People don't like being told what to do.. With that said, this was nothing but pure, unfiltered truth.
I'm sure I will haha.i don't think I was too rude
@@HidinginPublic you will be surprised just how averse people are to truth nowadays, but yeah. You didn't say anything rude.
Medium-size cons here in the UK are actually pretty good for this sort of thing. The problem with being a medium size con is that you usually can't get much in terms of guests, and usually can't get sponsorship or support from industry, but many of them here are also 18+ only, so there's very little chance of coming across minors, and content is usually good enough that you won't get bored. Large scale cons that are exclusively for anime here in the UK... don't exist. Bigger cons are usually multi-industry (usually film/comic/etc) - and are so tightly industry controlled that they come off as boring, and very cramped.
Would love to see videos in this style return in the future. Take it at your own pace though, when your feel like you have an interesting concept that you'd feel would be best suited for this format. More fun that way whenever they do come around.
I love these kinds of videos and would definitely love to see more like this in the future!
Also mad props to you for being honest about how you felt about some of these cons marketing techniques, and ability to draw crowds, that kind of honesty is refreshing and it's nice to get those perspectives
More adult (but tasteful) spaces are definitely needed. I don’t want to hang out with teenagers at cons. You're so right about keeping artwork current at cons, especially the bigger cons. Fanime-Con has been using the same artwork for 10 years. SacAnime since 2005.
Great video i love the editing style on this one, thanks m8
I just went to Nan Desu Kan in Denver a couple weeks back, and I'd also like to add that having cons IN hotels rather than convention centers makes for a much better con going experience. Being able to drop off the stuff you bought at the dealer's hall or artist's alley was very nice. It also gave us a good spot to get sufficiently drunk before stuff like the dances.
@2:50 people: "Nobody cares about your con... they care about the people they follow." A con can't afford to bank its success on that kind of attendance base. As soon as the people they follow either don't attend, or fall out of style, the attendance they brought evaporates immediately; its too unstable. Not only that, even if you specifically don't like or engage in Dragonball content, the suggestion is that there is a market of fans who follow you and simultaneously don't engage with anything DBZ. It is wiser for an event trying to gain more stable numbers to just aim for the bigger existing draws, and whatever overlap there is comes along for the ride. When the overlap is big enough, you can switch your attention to these secondary things, as the primary starts to carry itself.
@ art: Artists (rightly) want paid. They are (rightly) skeptical about any purported opportunity to spread their brand awareness, notoriety, challenge, or fame. A con who suggests any of these things, even if agreeing to the price gets immediately looked at skeptically. An artist famous enough to be a guest will have no need/desire for such exposure and will instead want paid for their art. There isn't a lack of artist of sufficient quality out there for certain, and your premise about the art/graphic quality often not being where it needs is correct, tho.
I've only been to like 7 cons, and 5 were Colossalcon at Kalahari. It's such an amazing venue and tends to be a low-key fun time.
I heard other colossalcons are a bit more buzzing than this TX one I went to. Some sound really cool. The Kalahari is an amazing spot for a con
I haven't watched a new storytime video in awhile so this was a nice throwback. Also the art is really cute
I went to a convention and these girls were like “oh we’re the oldest people here we are 19” and I was like “oh I’m 24…”
As some one who now does go to the Ohio Colossal con a lot, one of the reason's I've heard for why the Texas con is a lot smaller in regards to attendance is distance from the other Colossal cons. The other Colossal cons are in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It's a very midwest con and people will travel to all 3 of them in a year. The Texas con is much newer and very out of the way compared to the others. So it's hard for the normal attendance base to justify traveling all the way to Texas.
That was very interesting. I’ve never been to an anime convention (or any convention at all) so it’s cool to see someone break it down so easily. The feedback sounds very logical and I hope the convention improves over time. I’m sure it’s not purposely “bad” so there is definitely room for growth
Hi Hiding-Kun I really loved your video about Anime Cons and I don't want this comment to come off as me just bashing modern Anime Cons or just Con culture in general, although I do have my grips. Personally for me I wish there was more less-commercialized Anime cons out there but a more niche adult con goers. For example kinds of mini comikets around the nation where artists can kinda self publish their own doujinshi for stuff. For me personally as an adult con goer I miss the days of Cons focusing on being as commercial friendly as possible, obviously a lot do to survive to some degree, but that being EVERY con just sucks out the fun for me. I like being able to buy import doujinshi, I love 18+ figure collecting, buying hentai dvds, jrpgs/eroge also just being able to talk about more adult anime (eg Berserk, AOT etc) with other adults, and I'm not trying to make an argument that this stuff should be out in the open for kids to see, but even if artists and merchandise stands do everything to hide it from kids they are penalized. Personally I would trust any con aside from maybe anime expo that you got 'sponsored' to go to than others. Also I wish cons could implement protections against artists that are harassed by antis on twitter and tiktok, its a rising issue that not enough people are aware of imo. There's just a lot of things, sorry my thoughts are pretty incoherent here but I just wanted to add a lot of things I and many friends of mine have been thinking about and talking about in terms of Modern US-Canadian Cons.
tldr; I dont want cons to be like Twitter lol
Amazing videos as always, love your PNGtuber like avatar, very cute and expressive!
Theres a new 21+ con that happened in NJ and it was so fun! It was very small con vibes but I see it having potential to grow and attract more people. The adult nerd only space was definitely needed.
As someone who has gone to Tekko in Pittsburgh a few times, I can say that the branding played a big part in how I even found out that it was in town. A few years ago, there was a separate convention called "kurokiiro" (may have spelled that wrong) festival that eventually turned into Tekko 1/2 before being discontinued I believe in 2014. Because of the rebrand, I later went to Tekko as said before a few times, and it became a convention that led me to fall in love with a few brands and even find some form of solidarity in the surrounding community. I knew that I wasn't alone and that liking the things I liked was normal to a degree that my peers in school would have attempted to lead me away from believing. All this to say, I would have never known about anything to do with Tekko, had a friend not taken me to a small-scale convention that was later rebranded into the convention that led me into the convention I now love.
i love the style of this vid, keep it up!
great video man hopeing to go to some cons for the first time in this coming year and this helped a lot
I Dont know if this adds to something but i have a funny story from a Con in Brasil
You see there was a influencer/artist around here who has be invited into a convention to show and sell her art
but this event was kinda weird and the red flags starts when the staff started complaining about the cosplay of the artist friend and also they have complained about some of the art of the artist too because aperently they disrespectful to the church...yes it was in a church and it gets worse
one of the people from the church walks into the stage in there in a militar uniform and starts talking about a militar like HQ with a trailer and everything and to top it of he started making a quiz A QUIZ about the Punisher and the questions were so especific like "what country did the Punisher served as a soldier in the past" or something and No one knew how to respond to it and the guy started to get a little nervous untill someone started awsering his question (by Googling it)
But it doesnt stop there tho
Because a little time after that a Priest comes up in the stage and starts to do a service in the middle of the event.....A SERVICE
No one knew about it
it was so fricking akward
Took 4 days for this to appear in my YT feed. Even so, I am here, and I am happy!
Happy you came!
Well said, Hiding!
I hope expos do reach out to independent artists. This is one of the points that stood out to me.
And I hope to go to anime expo in the near future, specifically to visit the Atlus/Sega booth
DAMN the editing is great on this one
Also yes more kall yes good I like good
Yes yes Kall is good indeed. The editing was way more than I anticipated on this one
Kallehmono's art keeps coming at me out of nowhere when I watch an anitube video, it's quite the welcome surprise everytime haha
I love Kall!!!
@@HidinginPublic I love him too!!! Keep givin my boy work!!!!
Here in the Philippines, a recent convention dubbed "ConQuest" has grew very controversial following a lot of reports of extremely long queues on the second and third day that were the result of overselling and greed in general.
Staff used brutal crowd control techniques, like ordering food stalls to stop selling food on the 2nd floor, and cutting the power in the second and third days of the event. The long ass queue got so notorious, that the Philippines' biggest news anchors even covered it. Other than that, meet and greets were cut short, people with disabilities were harassed and alternate entrances were barred. The convention center can hold up to 20,000 people maximum. The organizers aimed for 70,000-100,000, to a point where the second floor was shaking due to the overcrowding.
The organizers have been reportedly bragging about the convention and how ConQuest is "superior in quality" to other conventions in the country, to a point where he faked an apology once he got called out.
The main thing i enjoy at cons is seeing other cosplayers and activities like pub quizzes and tournaments
A proper schedual and the venue can make or break a con. I've been to hotel cons where everyone is just sitting around a lobby and the whole area drains when something is on in the main hall. It makes it really hard to talk to or interact with people when there's nothing to do but sit around and order overpriced drinks.
Scott Malin is a great artist. Also yeah I really like this kind of video. Great work Hiding.
Yes they are. Glad you liked this, I'm trying to continually experiment
Not gonna lie I really liked this videos style,felt really refreshing,I still like the long non representative figure style work,but this format had a more chilled approachable vibe.
This type of video was pretty cool Hiding! Very nice analysis
Thank you!
Very interesting video! Great stuff man!
Thanks!
Imagine Hiding in Public bursting into colossalcon planning team like Seiya from Amagi Brilliant Park.
"Add more media coverage"
"Give free tickets"
Paper bag, i have my bell on but I haven’t seen your content in Months. Decided to search you up and I’m gonna catch up. Don’t know how I’m missing you in my feed.
Honestly, even though I am really uncomfortable in crowds, hearing you describe anime expo makes me wanna go to cons again.
First time I heard of cons they didn't exist in my state, but now one has opened up a few hour drive from me.
Always making GOAT content, Hiding ♡
The topics you discuss are always so relatively fresh for Anitube; you really start a discussion or better a conversation by what you bring to the table. I love the play on like a story animator style with your own style. Really love seeing the experimentation here.
I ain't gonna lie on number 1 you just sound bitter that Colossal Texas didn't give you a free badge, and number 2 feels like a wierd nitpick. Gotta heavily agree on 3 though, as a con adult it would be nice to have more 21+ events that aren't just porn dubbing or badfanfics.
Great video!
Going to my first con in a month. I hope it will be a good experience
I hope you have a fun time!
Just be sure you get another booster or two before you go to the con! Whenever I'm forced to go out into a space with a lot of people or if I feel like I need a little pick me up, I go out and get another COVID booster. I've lost count but I think I've gotten like 30 COVID shots at this point.
That point about finding out the people you're talking to are underage... That's a point that I have lived. It keeps me from going places and interacting with people directly.
Love the avatar!
Thanks!
This video has alot of valuable takes, cons like colossalcon should invest in using larger and larger parts of convention halls so that anime fans can do more than stand in line and buy merch. I am growing up as well and the ability to talk to teenagers has completely left me. I want to speak to those around my age range about gigantic anime tiddies without being labelled "sus" and "weird." I still can acquire that, but I have to work for it. I feel that adding 18+ and 21+ lounges not panels and dance rooms would massively increase retention. You can still do all three but adding the lounge makes people want to talk and dance rather than just dance for a large dance room or just look at the main event for a panel. Also if a convention had its badges designed by huke-papa or Nyantcha would be insta 10/10 for me.
man this really did a good job of really giving an understanding of Cons from a frequent goer's perspective
Thanks, glad to hear
Ayy just wanna say, even though this is an old video, that Colossalcon Texas last year was it's... Second year, so it didn't have the same pull as it normally had elsewhere. But also glad we both get con suggestions from the same guy in Nyarly!
I dropped my Hot Pocket when you mentioned Erica Lindbeck. I adore her so much❤
As someone who’s been attending Colossal con Prime (Ohio) for years and recently started going to Colossal con East (Pennsylvania), I would like to add my 2¢ to this as well, really just based on my own observations ^^
In the past I’ve noticed a lot of people coming to Prime. Usually this is one of the biggest cons, I’ve ever been to (before coming to like Ota and Katsu). On the East Coast, I would put colossal con relatively high on the more popular cons (maybe like top 15 cons over here?).
One issue I think that Colossal has, is that it’s more just like a cash cow for the convention center. So instead of investing in like press badges, guests or interesting panelists; most of the money that they receive is from the discounted waterpark tickets. So in this way, I really don’t think it’s fair to compare it to other cons. That’s just my opinion though.
Other factors that I think could’ve affected the low attendance at colossal con Texas is how new it is and the fact that a lot of Instagramers were boycotting the waterpark because the owner of the Kalahari‘s across the country use a lot of funding to support the Trump campaign in the past. So I think that was a bit of a turn off for a lot of con goers because they don’t want to support that type of message basically. At least that’s what I noticed on my own Instagram and I noticed a few of bigger accounts had shared a lot of info about it so I think those two factors really don’t help colossal cons like growth at all, specifically on the west coast.
Being in Oklahoma, the only one close is usually in Oklahoma City at AnimeOK, and Tokyo in Tulsa, which is in Tulsa of course. It's funny you post this because AnimeOK is tomorrow and I decided to not go as the things I heard about it were not superb. I heard it's a good time but since it's still a relatively new con, it seems to have some issues here and there. I also heard it's more kiddy than other cons and that tends to push away some older fans of stuff, older being 30s and up apparently.
I love the art in this video! Cute lil chibi HiP
that was a fun video! hope to meet you at a con sometime best boy~
Someday--
If you're looking for fun and cool TX cons I highly recommend San Japan in San antonio! It's jam packed with panels and meet&greets and it's mostly all ages but there's lots of 18+ events including their annual rave, super fun
I think the artstyle is definitely refreshing and appealing on the eyes.
Glad to hear that. I like Kall's art
I feel like before speaking about Colossalcon as a whole, you should really attend the original (known as Prime) in Sandusky Ohio. You cant blame a con for not being a smash hit year two. A lot of the things you spoke about, even if done perfectly take years to pay off. -A vendor who attends 30+ cons a year including all 4 Colossalcon events.
It's times like these living in Canada is hard lol. I wish I could go to these conventions!
i havnt been able to go to a con in years, but id be much more likely if it was promoted and attended by a group of creators i followed.
I adore the little avatar, cute and cool, very nice
i wouldn't say anime is anywhere near as socially accepted as videogames are for example. i feel like that's mostly the case in america and japan. as a german weeb i would expect to get spit on if i'd wear anything anime related. on twitch i also feel like anime is everything but normal. most chats react with NaM weebs are pedos anytime anything anime related pops up. just because demon slayer and spy x family trended on twitter a few times does not mean anime is mainstream.
If anyone knew how depraved and degenerate anime actually is they would have to ban it. The only thing saving our hobby is how it is scorned by pretty much everyone.
I've lived just north of Round Rock for my whole life and have NEVER heard of Colossal Con. I don't hear about any cons aside from a few like Comic Con Texas or Ikki Con (which tbh I don't know If they're still running). If they really implement even basic marketing, let alone even a few of these suggestions, I think Con life would flourish. Texas is huge, especially the Austin area, cons should be way busier than they tend to be.
Ikkicon will be at the Kalahari this year! You should go
Anime cons are horrible at promotion. Even large local ones I might see an ad for it while it's into its 2nd day. Some will also wait till like the last week or two to update their guest lists. So buying early can be a bit of a scare if you see like 4 guests and wonder if it's just going to be those 4 or if they'll pull 8 more out of pocket in the final week.
i just got home from colossalcon east this weekend, i believe colossalcon texas is a very new convention so it’s not as popular but colossalcon east has all the same things, the themed restaurants and drink menus and the waterpark and it was very busy! just give it time and colossal texas will catch on
They’re trying a Midwestern Ohio convention in Texas.
I gotta say as a midwestern anime con goer it’s good especially if you can’t afford to go to ax.
I can’t talk anything further especially sense youmacon is my home con.