Sakura-Con 2024: The good, the bad, the ugly!
And so, another year has come and with it another set of convention reviews. At the time I’m writing this it’s only been a short time since Sakura-Con 2024 took place. Sakura-Con is an anime and Japanese culture convention in Seattle, Washington. The convention took place in two buildings. The first is the Arch building which has been the traditional home of Sakura-Con.
The other is the new Summit building which is about a block away.
This article will look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of the convention based on six criteria.
Now before the critique I want to get this out there for any con staff or volunteers who see this article. I am not saying these things to attack you or disrespect you only to make you think. While I will be laying out problems, I’ll also be laying out solutions. Now with that said on with the review.
First off, this year’s Sakura-Con was much better than last year. While there are still problems this year's convention was a big improvement. And these six criteria will lay out the good, the bad, and the ugly of it.
Now for the first criteria customer or rather attendee service. Before discussing the convention, I need to note some things. I must first make mention of the staff of the Hyett at Olive 8 hotel. When I arrived to get my hotel room on Thursday the staff were very courteous and friendly. So friendly that they had one of their people help me find my room when I explained my visual impairment.
That’s some great customer service. The staff of the hotel were very friendly and professional. Which is why I offer up nothing but praise for them.
Second mention must be of the Seattle Convention Center staff. In the past I’ve had very good dealings with them. They have been very helpful, and this year was no exception. The Convention Staff were very courteous and professional. I offer up nothing but the highest praise to them.
I also recommend the Seattle Convention Center to any big convention in the city.
Now as for attendee service this was some of the good. Badge pick-up ran well as expected with so many people coming in. The people at badge pick-up especially the ADA were very polite and courteous. The people at the information desk had a list of what was going on that worked well. So, attendee service was very good.
The second criteria is organization. Once again, the Convention Center staff kept things running with no issues. There were no line clogs, and everyone kept moving so there were no problems. The convention staff kept lines organized.
There were some hiccups at the beginning for Opening Ceremonies. But at the beginning not everything will be perfect. I’d say about 99.9 percent of the time organization wasn’t an issue. They did very well between the staff and volunteers. So, there’s nothing but good there, and nothing but praise from me.
Third criteria of note is enthusiasm and that gets a big thumbs up from me. Everyone who was at that convention wanted to be there. That’s part of how you have a successful convention with good times and good vibes all around. A positive staff promotes a positive atmosphere, and I can say Sakura-Con did this well this year. So, nothing but the good here.
The next criteria is food selection. Now it was a fair amount of good here. They had a restaurant in the Summit building. They also had a whole bunch of food stands, and tables with chairs on some of the various floors. The food ranged from sandwiches, to pizza, to teriyaki.
The Arch building had Taco Del Mar and a Gyro restaurant. They had a coffee café which served various items including breakfast sandwiches. They also had a place that serves soups, drinks, and even a nearby convenience store. My only complaint was there was no Subway. There used to be a couple in there, but they pulled out.
It’s such a shame because I liked their sandwiches. Well, something will pop up in place of Subway someday. Still the food selection was pretty good so it’s good there.
The next criteria is panel and event variety which will feed into the next one. First let me say I appreciated the digital screens with big writing on them. That for me is a Godsend because reading those tiny schedule sheets can be hard. Having a digital screen with big writing can help a lot.
Now the final criteria is accessibility and this is where the ugly comes in. The ugly comes in the form of the fact they decided to ditch a printed guide altogether. Why they did so I don’t know. If it was to cut costs, I can understand that. This economy is terrible and money doesn't go as far these days.
That said getting rid of the printed schedule book for an online app proved very…unwise.
First off, not everyone wants to use the app or in some cases can use it. My visual impairment makes the small print an issue. And for many who have a similar condition that’s also a factor. Some people can’t use apps because of other handicaps.
So, putting the schedule in an online app only was a very bad idea on Sakura-Con’s part. And that makes planning out one’s convention a very ugly task.
As fascinating as the Summit building is there’s a flaw in it for those with disabilities. To be exact there's not that many elevators to allow handicapped to geta round. A few more of those could allow them easier access to the other floors.
I should also note that I did see that the mask mandates are now optional. This was something that I can appreciate. The issue of wearing masks should get left to the individual to decide for themselves.
Finally, this is a complaint aimed more at the convention center than anything. The restaurants went with both cash and card. But the food booths at the Summit building should’ve done the same thing. I’ve made my thoughts on going cashless clear. But I’ll be writing another article on that later.
I will say that I’m not saying abandon the idea of using a debit card. I’m saying have a mixture of both cash and card. That way if for example there's a system error with the cards cash will work too. It's always a good idea to put one's eggs in more than one basket. And it would be a great happy compromise.
So based on these six criteria I can say Sakura-Con this year was much better than last. But there were some major problems so I would give it a rating of B minus. Which is good but the con still needs work.
This concludes my Sakura-Con 2024 review. Check out my review of Kumoricon 2024 later this year. Until next time stay epic!
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