Anime North - Room for improvement, thoughts and hopes?

[TekkaRepliroid Zero]

Hey all north of the border (and those planning to come north of the border for the con),

Well, the deadline for Animw North passed a few weeks ago. I'm not participating because I have had absolutely zero time with college and such to make anything, but I'm still going to see the contest at least, not totally turned away by last year's.... disaster for lack of a better word (which I'm sure will come up in replies ). I've heard some other comments about the vid contest last year, from the real world, the most common one being many vids are too mellowdramatic. I'm curious to other people's thoughts and hopes (including on whether or not they are still in tact), and comments otuside of the technical difficulties (which were really bad). Is it just us?

[PatrickD]

I won "Most Artistic" last year. Their con was in May 2002. I got my award (a Photon DVD) in February or March 2003 (only after I happened to contact them for some other reason in late 2002, found out I was supposed to get a prize, and informed them I never got one.)

[Hakura]

The contest wasn't all that great last year, it was set up quite baddly....so I'm hoping that it's better this year. I managed to pick up "Best Technical" and I got a DVD in the mail like 8 months later lol

[dokidoki]

I pray to teh godz of teh funny that there are more comedy entries this year. (note: I didn't enter a comedy video this year) Two out of 34 entries being comedy last year was sad. (one being mine, the other being one I'd seen before (but I still like it, Patrick ))

As for prizes, I got mine at the con. <shrug>

[TaranT]

I pray to teh godz of teh funny that there are more comedy entries this year. (note: I didn't enter a comedy video this year)...

Me, neither. Which does not mean people won't laugh...at it.

But I have to wonder if there will BE an Anime North this year:

THE World Health Organisation last night issued an unprecedented warning that the Sars epidemic had for the first time made a Western city unsafe to visit.

Amid rising international alarm, the WHO said the “magnitude of disease” meant it was advising travellers to stay away from the Canadian city of Toronto, where more than 200 people now have the potentially deadly illness and 16 have died.
source

The con Web site has a response to this, BTW: http://www.animenorth.com/. Looks like it's full steam ahead for now.

[TekkaRepliroid Zero]

Yeah, attendance could be dramatically hit, too. With all the US Congoers who do come to anime north, they'll be most paranoid, after they dealt with other health scares in recent history like anthrax in the mail.