Anime conventions and gold tickets

[Demonique]

What is your opinion on anime conventions having gold tickets where you pay extra money for extra priviledges?

Like front of line priviledges, early access to dealer's room, swag bag?
And access to a meet and greet which was previously (but not longer) available to regular con-goers for $40?


How much would you be willing to pay for such a pass?

Would you consider such a pass to be worth $175?

[Cassiopeia]

VIP badge? >_>

[superjaz]

Yes Vips have been offered for the last 3 conventions.  With such perks as select seating Vip guest dinner other goodies.  It is too early to say what will be included in or the cost for this year Vip package

[AllyKat]

I'm also conufsed on the idea of golden tickets?

The original concept of a golden ticket was a random win (See Charlie & The Chocolate Factory)

But what you seem to be asking about is akin to the VIP badges Kumoricon
and other conventions allow a certain number of people to purchase for
added perks like no lines, special seating, meet & greets, entrance to sold out
events and extra swag. If you are asking if I'D PERSONALLY pay for a VIP Badge
the answer is... I don't know... I wouldn't really see it as neccessary for myself,
If I want to go to something I will make sure I get there early enough and also
purchased my ticket in advance. I don't mind waiting in lines for things and I am
okay with seating that is sub-par, as long as I can see over peoples heads.

VIP badges are nice for people who like to be treated well or for people who want
to really go to a con and not worry about lines and issues... and just do what they
please when they please... but that is not my personal philosophy on conventions
so I doubt I'd want one.

~Allykat

[Demonique]

How much was the VIP ticket in previous years and what was included?

[AllyKat]

Per the Kumoricon website and Registration page (2010 Registration):
______________________
VIP Registration
Those of you looking for the royal treatment can opt for our special VIP Registration. For $200, you will receive:

No line at the door
Priority seating to all events
A ticket to the limited admittance guest dinner
A free Kumoricon 2010 T-shirt
A special VIP-only badge.
Only a limited number are made available.
______________________

I don't know about previous years, but that is how much they are this year
and what they include.

~Allykat

[Demonique]

BTW, I wasn't referring to Kumoricon's VIP tickets, I was referring to another anime con.

They're offering gold tickets this year for $175 and this year the Meet and Greet is only available as part of the gold ticket package. I'm not happy at the prospect of forking out $175 for something I previously paid $40 to attend (and I'm don't really care about the other aspects of their gold package)

[@random]

VIP badges are nice for people who like to be treated well or for people who want
to really go to a con and not worry about lines and issues... and just do what they
please when they please... but that is not my personal philosophy on conventions
so I doubt I'd want one.

~Allykat

Ditto what Allykat said. Well... except that if by some miracle Kawasumi Ayako showed up, I'd buy one in a second. Not for the other stuff, just for the guest dinner.

Just my guess, but I think the pricing represents a compromise - if someone reallyreally wants one and it's important to them, they can get some privileges without having to be staff or know the right people. But for the rest of us, the price makes it unlikely that so many people would buy one that we'll get "bought out" of all the popular events.

I think you have an interesting point about upping the privileges it grants. Letting VIPs wander the dealer's room in the hour before opening shouldn't hurt anything, as long as there aren't too many and they're willing to respect that not all the dealers will want to do (or be ready for) business. And a swag bag sounds great, but it might be troublesome to find things that everyone would want.

Last thing - I kinda see your point about the limited-seating guest dinner (in your specific case, the meet and greet), but they'd swamp the guests if they keep it open to everyone at a separate low price. Not a good way to get return guests, or have the kind of reputation that brings even better guests. And as you said, the guest dinner is most of the reason people would buy a VIP badge anyway.


(Sorry that this is so Kumoricon-specific when you're actually thinking about another con, but the same principles should apply.)

[Demonique]

The Meet and Greet wasn't swamped last year and I think there was a limit on the numbers of tickets sold. And there's no guarantee that a particular guest will even attend the Meet and Greet. I saw less than half the attending guests at the M&G

[Blue Leader]

Personally, I'd have no interest in a special ticket. I don't foresee buying a VIP pass to KumoriCon, and I don't think I'd ever buy a "golden ticket" to KumoriCon or any other convention.
Why? The benefits never interest me. No waiting in lines? Meh, that's not really a big issue, lines don't take that long. Hell, after I waited over three hours in line at the last Star Wars Celebration and never even got to go in because of a bomb threat, lines really don't bother me anymore. If I can wait over three hours, I can wait a half hour or so for an anime con line.
VIP seating? I don't really care about that, I tend not to go to too many of sit-downs anyway as most of them sound fairly boring. A dinner with the guests? Interesting, but nothing I couldn't live without. A special badge? Eh, who cares about that, it's just a piece of paper in a piece of plastic. I don't see anything worth spending $150-200 or more on.

Now... I suppose if the Star Wars Celebration had a dinner with Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and the rest of the original cast than I'd probably be tempted to fork up the cash.

[AllyKat]

Then perhaps it was at the request of guests who found themselves overwhelmed?
Or perhaps even though it didn't seem swamped, convention staff felt that the
number of people going in to see the guests in the meet and greet was too much and that
instead of simply limiting the number of attendants, they'd put a higher price on it and
make it an exclusive event so that, they earn money for the convention and provide
a service/event for people who are willing to pay for it. Many conventions may
not neccessarily be categorized as profit organizations... but it takes a lot to make many
events and many GUESTS happen. Perhaps the sentiment is that the amount of money
paid out by these Golden Ticket holders will offset the cost of hosting guests?

I'm not sure... I wouldn't do it personally... but I'm okay with being at a distance from
the famous people.

~Allykat

[Demonique]

Most of the guests at the convention are local to the area, they don't have to pay airfares for them. Yeah, some people may be willing to pay for it, but why should the non-gold con-goer be denied the chance at purchasing a ticket?

[AllyKat]

*shrugs*

Because taht's the deffinition of exclusive. I would imagine that if they let anyone
in they couldn't make it as intimate as they plan to. And perhaps thats really
what you are paying for, an intimate meet and greet, as opposed to a quick
signing and get out of the way for the next person. Like a dinner without the food.

I would address your concerns to the VIP coordinator of this convention and find
out exactly what is included in this meet and greet and what is offered to non-gold
ticket buyers.

Thats all I can say really without knowing more....

~Allykat

[Demonique]

It's already an intimate meet and greet. It's not like at Creation's conventions where a guest is dragged from table to table and only gets 2 minutes per table. The guests choose who they want to talk to

[@random]

No waiting in lines? Meh, that's not really a big issue, lines don't take that long. Hell, after I waited over three hours in line at the last Star Wars Celebration and never even got to go in because of a bomb threat, lines really don't bother me anymore. If I can wait over three hours, I can wait a half hour or so for an anime con line.

I know what you mean; for me it was AX '07.

Before then, I thought the atrocious back-and-forth multilayered lines for Comiket in Genshiken were creative license, because I'd never seen anything like it. They're not.

It took from early morning 'til afternoon, and then the afternoon and early evening were occupied by the line for the S.K.I.N. concert. Worst sunburn ever, 'cause it was all outdoors. But still completely worth it. <3

[superjaz]

God Gackt i do anything for Gackt......                      last year also had the perk of having me Vip quardinator !                what i do ? among other things, do my best to make sure Vips got into the events they wanted greet and hand out swag and give out my personal number if any questions or if any help was needed

[fhqwhgads41185]

I'm confused. What is the singles meet and greet? At sakura-con they had one, but it was just a room with the chairs all pulled to the side. Empty space. And after a brief introduction (which was well put if I recall) it was people standing around and approaching strangers. Just like the lobby pretty much, except for people actually expecting to be spoken to by strangers. But, what seems to be being spoken of on here sounds different. It sounds more like the speed dating that was done previously both at sakura con and kumoricon, which I considered a great idea but never quite worked out optimally.

[fhqwhgads41185]

Oh, and a little follow up more on the topic of this thread, the golden ticket and all, that seems like a lot to pay when most people probably only want it for one or two things. I personally would only use it for the singles meet and greet. Thats spending roughly $130 extra to get into one single event. It would be a lot cooler if somehow they simply charged a little to get into such an event or something. Like $15-20 to get into it. I wonder if that's even possible to do.

[@random]

I'm confused. What is the singles meet and greet? At sakura-con they had one, but it was just a room with the chairs all pulled to the side. Empty space. And after a brief introduction (which was well put if I recall) it was people standing around and approaching strangers. Just like the lobby pretty much, except for people actually expecting to be spoken to by strangers. But, what seems to be being spoken of on here sounds different. It sounds more like the speed dating that was done previously both at sakura con and kumoricon, which I considered a great idea but never quite worked out optimally.

I could be wrong, but I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding... I'm pretty sure the meet & greet Demonique is talking about is a chance to talk with the con guests, like Kumori's limited-seating dinner. Not a speed-dating event.

But your comparison is pretty apt for why con guests wouldn't be thrilled if they were expected to meet with a large number of people.

[Demonique]

The 'guests being dragged from table to table' wasn't in reference to the Meet and Greet at anime cons it was a reference to how this company http://www.creationent.com/ runs their meet and greet.


Someone on another forum was using the excuse 'well Creation charges WAY more for it's gold ticket for the Stargate convention than named anime con does, so I don't see why you're whining about $175'
Creation's gold tickets are high because Creation is a money-grubbing for-profit company who don't care about the fans.

[Mister_manji]

I think VIP tickets are silly, and I honestly don't like the concept at all, but I will do what I'm told.