Kunicon Atlanta is looking for some help ^^

[ecamac01]

Hi there guys,

Kunicon is looking for good suggestions to improve its AMV contest as well as AMV panels in Atlanta - the first thing I am doing is asking AWA to help us run the AMV contest so that it is running nicely without quirks
- Howdy Wade! I'll be sending you some e-mails today ^^ -

But I also want to ask any creators out there in the Atlanta Area for any suggestions as to what they want to see as improvement for this contest. I know we had a bumpy start, we improved in St. Louis on our operation of the convention completely, but our AMV Contest still had some problems, mostly technical. We are getting newer equipment for this event and have taken some suggestions on fixing the contest. But now I ask you guys in Atlanta help us run a good contest.

The dates on our site for early bird entry is March 27th and the Final is April 27th (which will change to Friday May 13th)

I want to know if our rules are fair, easy to understand - to the point. is the prize worth it. would the winners of each category prefer trophies? this sort of thing. Also I make AMV's as well I may be looking at this contest from the perspective that I would like to win that prize and not be assisting my AMV director in what he needs to make this contest effective.

So I ask for outside help.

be gentle with me guys I'm a little cuban - ok fine bad joke...
serious offers of help pop me a call 305-502-9996

Thanks

^^
M

[Garylisk]

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/v ... hp?t=47792

http://www.risingsun.net/gallery/otakucon/index.shtml

Oh well. Good luck with that.

[DrngdKreationz]

Garylisk, I'm sure by now he's read through the various verbal lashings we've had to offer. but let's see what happens now that it seems that he's making an effort to actually have a functional AMV contest.

I'm also aware of the fact that I was a source of quite a few of those verbal lashings. I actually suggested he put this thread out here so that he can understand how a real AMV contest is supposed to be run behind the scenes. that way maybe he'll be able to shape up this 0-2 record Kunicon currently has on here. I think we should at least try and help him out with that much... if he messes it up after actually getting some help from us. then we can get the pitchforks and whatnot.

[ecamac01]

going through a few suggestions that I have recieved...lots of you work very fast I see.

I am considering a few possibilities.

*because we are going cross country an AMV contest in each event might be excessive. so perhaps 1-2 contests per 10 events a year might be more successful
*not charging to register for the AMV contest - so those not in the attendance can compete as well
*giving out trophies not flat panels for each event - and saving the big prize for the national, which contrary to some unnecessary comments on the boards we will be giving out. and P.S. we did give out the Plasma screen to Jose Zamora who does live in Guatemala - I was just as shocked as everyone was, but hey that was cool that he submitted from down there...

In the end good suggestions will help us improve immeasureably, I have seen some posts here that are way beyond unnecessary - I have no words for people that simply want to rant and bash us simply because we had technical problems at a con. are these things all true reasons to insult and bash...I dont think so - I think constructive criticism is what we need not bashing.

I always have an open ear to people that truly want to make things better. keep the good suggestions coming. I will post them as I get them.

Last thing - In Atlanta - no matter how many entries we get, the prize wont be pushed back, and every entrant from St. Louis will be judged for their respective categories.

Thanks

M

[Scintilla]

Here's another suggestion: set up a server to accept FTP submissions if there isn't one already.
Makes the process of submitting an entry much easier (for most).

[DrngdKreationz]

ok, one of the things I mentioned prior to Kuni-St louis. was raising the bar for the entries. and only taking in certain codecs. if they want to send in their own codec... tough luck. tell them to re-encode to whatever you choose your standard to be.
Most of us use the following, which is also what most cons usually accept.
DIGITAL ONLY! no VHS!
Huffy YUV
MPEG2 (TMPEG2)
Xvid/DivX (I wouldn't recommend using these for display purposes.)
and then hold a screening after recieving it. IF it plays on the machine you're going to use for the con. then you can send back a confirmation saying that you have recieved the entry. (or tell them it was rejected due to an invalid format)
yes this does make you a bit more of a hardass. but it will cut back on videos not playing the way they're supposed to.

[trythil]

In the end good suggestions will help us improve immeasureably, I have seen some posts here that are way beyond unnecessary - I have no words for people that simply want to rant and bash us simply because we had technical problems at a con. are these things all true reasons to insult and bash...I dont think so - I think constructive criticism is what we need not bashing.

The best thing you and the rest of the Kunicon staff can do is reverse the perception that you treat your attendees as a means of profit, rather than an end in themselves. It is this popular perception that draws flak to anything and everything you do, and it is this popular perception that makes people want to engage Subarashii Nation in civil court for false advertising.

[edit: In case it isn't immediately obvious, that was hyperbole.]

There is, after all, no reason for one person to reciprocate respect if that person believes that he has not been accorded respect.

Though, given Garylisk's report on the St. Louis AMV exhibition, I think you guys could use a LOT of advice on technical matters. I'd recommend that you email the Video Art Track technical staff of AWA; they have a good reputation not only because they respect their editors and fans, but also because they know what they're doing and because they know how to handle Murphy.

[SnhKnives]

I live in Atlanta, so feel free to IM or PM me if you have any questions

[Tsunami Jones]

*because we are going cross country an AMV contest in each event might be excessive. so perhaps 1-2 contests per 10 events a year might be more successful
*not charging to register for the AMV contest - so those not in the attendance can compete as well
*giving out trophies not flat panels for each event

Even though you're a cross country event, having only 1-2 contests per 10 events isn't exactly fair to those fans who are in a location that may have only one or even zero other conventions in their area.

I think that the second possibility would be a definite plus (especially if you're having problems getting enough entries to actually run the competition like in St. Louis). Or, you could always go the route where someone entering can have a proxy show up to the con in their place.

Great prizes don't make a great contest. I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about getting a trophy, because trophies rock.

[basterd!!]

It'll be a cold day in hell before i support this sham of a convention again!!

here's what i recieved when i wrote to the amv contest corrdinator about how he basically ruined my weekend at Kunicon when my video was skipped over :

" First off I'd like to say that I completely agree with the
sentiment of your email. I was angered almost to violence when I sat
there watching the system (that I personally loaded all required codecs,
and tested each video on) destroy the showing. The system had been
working flawlessly at each previous event, but after about three videos
into the amv showing the program locked up. I still not sure what had
caused it..."

Does anyone else here wonder why he didn't immediately stop the show and take a few minutes to correct the problem? And of course he's still not sure what caused it! IMHO easily a 50 percent chance it could happen again at the next "contest"

also the new dates concern me
"The dates on our site for early bird entry is March 27th and the Final is April 27th (which will change to Friday May 13th) " Does anyone else here think 2 weeks is too short of a period between taken videos and showing them at a convention? Especially given this "convention's" track record. I mean i know that there are a lot of teenagers on this site that could master 50 video onto a dvd in perfect condition over a single weekend no problem. But this is Kunicon we're talking about here. "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times....."

All i can say is, god help anyone who goes to kunicon looking for a decent amv show, and even more so if they went there to watch their amv be shown.