Guests for Fanime this year included Japanese industry guests from GAINAX Takami Akai,, Noir and Hiroyuki Yamaga, director and character illustrator Hiroyuki Kanbe (Oreimo, Devil Survivor 2); English voice actors J. Michael Tatum and Chantal Strand; musicians Raj Ramayya and Home Made Kazoku; popular voice actress and cosplayer Kira Buckland and finally, returning Guest of Honor Giles Poitras. Aside from the ever popular Guest of Honor panels and MusicFest, you could catch a number of the guests for autographs.

Rounding out the fan experience, Fanime included something for everyone with providing useful workshops, cosplay gatherings, a gaming area for people to relax and enjoy, various video rooms and of course, both the Dealer's Hall and Artist Alley to provide the means for proving one's loyalty to their fandom of choice. With the newly renovated convention space, most of these things were centrally located within the convention center halls but alas, not everything was as smooth as it could've been.

In 2013, the Fairmount hotel became the unfortunate host of "Registrationageddon" as attendees waiting to pick up their badges were forced to shuffle between rooms at the hotel for several hours due to both problems with computers as well as loss of space at the convention center from the renovations. With the completion of the renovations to the convention center however, FanimeCon was able to utilize the San Carlos Grotto as the new and improved Registration area. With easily marked areas, registration took minutes rather than the hours it did in the previous year. Also improved for the fan experience were the meeting areas for both cosplay gatherings and photo areas, since again, areas that were under construction were open once more. Finally, there were more sitting areas for people to relax throughout the convention center. Unfortunately, the use of space now created some perplexing choices as well.

Rather than Guest of Honor panels being held in Marriot as usual and autographs being in the Hilton, this year, the Marriot was host to solely speed dating, autographs and the manga lounge while the Hilton was used for FanimeCon staff purposes. Panels this year were held at the Fairmont instead, leaving the dances to be in the convention center itself while the Black & White Ball was held next to the Tech Museum. Another curious choice was the utilization of Halls 1 and 2, with Hall 1 being closed off and connected to Hall 2 for use as the Artist Gallery and food court (which in reality, was mostly just one food stand); the other use of the space in Hall 1 was for two charity bounce houses. Artist Alley, which was relegated to an outside tent in 2013 was back in the convention center but unfortunately, it was now located in the cramped Grand Ballroom; with no windows and just two doors for access, the room was more than a little unbearable when filled to capacity. Hall 3 was used once again for gaming but this time, to make use of the space, it seemed that FanimeCon staff chose to use have far more tables and chairs to utilize it as a rest area versus it being used as tabletop gaming as intended. The number of arcade machines seemed to be the same while the console and PC gaming area was expanded a tiny bit. Finally, despite the expanded walkways within the convention center itself, due to Stage Zero as well as constant stoppages in traffic flow to accommodate for photo taking, getting to Point A to Point B seemed to take more work than usual. As an attendee, I can appreciate the lengths that FanimeCon went to try to improve making the convention center as the central hub but at the same time, it was quite frustrating just maneuvering around all the bodies as well as shaking my head at the inefficiently-used spaces.

If there were things I could change about the convention this year, it would solely go towards building upon what strides were made this year. On the attendee end, registration was wonderful as far as I could tell, but I would definitely re-purpose the space once the initial rush of attendees passes through; you could easily cut the room's space in half for registration while using it for possibly other things. Hall 1's activities would've been better suited where the dances were located this year while the dances themselves should've been held in the Fairmont. Artist Alley would've been ideally suited for Hall 1's location and you can still open up the Dealer's Hall as it was used this year. Hall 3 is traditionally for gaming, but there are lots of wasted spaces solely to create a 'large' space; condensing the arcade area a bit would allow for either a bit more flow or possibly another use. Stage Zero, despite being a very popular hub on the main concourse, should literally be moved to the Grand Ballroom itself, which is also centrally located. In moving Stage Zero, traffic on the concourse should flow as well as allow for all the photos you want. Panels would be better suited for the Marriot but I can see why the Fairmont was used. All of FanimeCon's operations would actually be great if it used the operation areas that can be seen in Hall 3, since the glass can give a clear view of what's going on below.

As for being entertained, more guests are welcomed, particularly those on higher-profile projects as they can always be a big draw for fans that are on the fence about attending. The video rooms are nice, but are all of the rooms actually needed to show movies/anime episodes non-stop? The bigger rooms used to pull double-duty during off-hours in previous years, so there's no reason as to why they cannot do that once again.

In the end, FanimeCon has proven why it's one of the top anime conventions as it continually creates an experience that lives by their motto of being "by fans, for fans". To many, it's also the convention that marks the start of the heavy-hitting summer convention scene so lots of people use it as their testing ground in meeting friends new and old. As FanimeCon continues to try to deliver the best fan experience it possibly can, a few changes can certainly go a long way.

Here's to another twenty years, FanimeCon.