UP Anime Manga Enthusiast’s tenth anniversary convention AME Track 10 was held last weekend, the 6th of November 2010 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. The event featured two cafes — a regular one and a speed-dating service, a large dealers hall, musical performances, onstage contests, and three cosplay competitions.
The event was clearly one of the most anticipated cosplay events in the year, as evidenced by the line snaking outside the event hall; this actually posed a challenge to the venue’s security staff, as there were two other large events going on at the time (a photography event by a leading camera manufacturer, and the world championships of a robotics competition). People who pre-purchased tickets had no problems getting in and out of the event gates, but those in costume or those who were yet to purchase tickets were in for a long and difficult wait.
Inside, the place was already filled to the brim with participants, plus dealers who took up a huge majority of the area. There was very little space to move about. Many of the merchants were also taking up more room that they should, with their merchandise spilling out into the aisles. This exacerbated the overcrowding problem, and in the end the crush was counterproductive for all the merchants in the dealers hall. The area was not conducive to shopping, and out of about forty or so sellers and shops I only purchased one item from one store — pretty pathetic if you ask me.
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The side events organized by UP AME all around the dealers hall, as an attempt to make the con unique and give the event its atmosphere, fell sadly short. They were more of an unwelcome distraction rather than a pleasant diversion. The set-up for the speed-dating cafe in particular was haphazard and shoddy — a large pink eyesore on the middle of the event hall. It would have been better off tucked into the corner where the gallery of past events was set up, and the banners were instead placed up front and center so that guests could familiarize themselves with UP AME before going off to enjoy the rest of the convention.
Onstage, the programme was a mess — with many of the events failing to follow the schedule, musical performers sadly in need of more rehearsal time, and hosts who kept losing scraps of paper with important announcements written on them. The games and promos concocted were a little slipshod and juvenile — more in theme with a house party than a large convention. Last but not least, the cosplay ramp was painfully long and drawn out — without a real need for it to be like that.
Participants should have been briefed beforehand that performances were limited to sixty seconds, and that anyone who went beyond that would get the lights turned off and the mike cut out in mid-performance. Sitting through the five-minute performance of a single cosplayer who must’ve thought that the competition was her very first full-length Araneta Colosseum concert and not a one-minute catwalk is not my idea of a good time, thank you very much.
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Sad to say, AME Track 10 was one of the big disappointments of the year — a victim of its own success. When I walk into a convention hall I try not to peg my expectations too high so that I am not disappointed, but with the quality of events put out by the organization in previous years I thought that Track 10 was a sure bet. It is quite unfortunate that the event failed to live up to its potential. I have a sneaking feeling that the organization may have chewed off more than it could swallow in terms of planning and scale, and rather than pull the plug at the last minute (remember No-Go Kaisho?!) they just pushed through and hoped for the best.
As always, there is plenty of room for improvement. First and foremost would be to secure a bigger venue. It does not have to be as posh as the SMX — as long as the basics like ample space, airconditioning, and restrooms are covered. Next up is to improve the layout of the dealers hall; instead of putting them in two parallel lines flanking the stage, maybe it would be better to put all of them in one large block separated from the stage area — like they do at Anime Festival Asia or Cosplaymania.
Last but not least, the programme has to be streamlined; only big-ticket events should be given stage time and side competitions like karaoke contests or eating contests should be held offstage or at a smaller secondary stage located elsewhere in the hall. Screen musical performers and do not allow any wannabe Nakajima Megumi or AKB48 to take to the stage just because they expressed their interest in performing. Cosplayers must be briefed that they have a maximum of sixty seconds to two minutes onstage, and that anyone who goes over will be automatically excluded from the final score tally.
I’m looking forward to next year’s event, to see how many improvements the organization can implement in one year’s time.
JPOP Manila 
Thanks for your comments, Ate Roch. Posting this on my Wall for AME people to read. 🙂
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Thank you so much for taking the time to write such comments. It’s nice to receive honest feedback/s as this. 😀
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hi guys — i’m so sorry i could not write a more flattering report 😦 but i hope sincerely that next year the kinks have been worked out and that the next AME con will be back to its fun, enjoyable ole’ self~
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Yeah, true. A big disappointment really. When I entered the hall, my expectation went down to the lowest level ever. Well, just glad I’ve seen a Luffy and Ace character there or else I’ll just go out and shake my head and maybe want a refund.
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Agreeably, this event was disappointing, but please don’t focus on the negative aspects. After all, UP AME are compromised of students, not professional event organizers. Give them some slack.
Comments left by first-time users are subject to approval. <- so this means if I defend UP AME in any way, you wont post this comment? You'll only post comments who agree with you? That's low.
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Agreeably, this event was disappointing, but please don’t focus on the negative aspects. After all, UP AME are compromised of students, not professional event organizers. Give them some slack.
First of all, I did not just focus on the negative aspects. If I did, would I even bother making suggestions on how to improve the event? Of course not — I’ll be just ranting my head off until the cows came home. You seem to have missed that part of the post — perhaps I can direct you to the last two or three paragraphs of the entire entry?
Second of all, I am well aware that the organizers are students and not professionals; the org is called University of the Philippines Anime Manga Enthusiasts after all, and only someone completely clueless would assume that the event was put together by paid professionals. However, that very same group of students managed to pull off successful cons three or even four years prior to AME Track 10, so the standards by which this organization should be judged by should be equally lofty. Unfortunately this current batch of members seems to have come up short, but let’s just charge that to experience and hope for better things next year.
Lastly, I do not feel the need to “cut them some slack”. They are UP students after all, and mediocrity should never be tolerated for students of the premiere learning institution of the country. They as an organization have been doing this for more or less the past ten years (Track 10, remember?), so the length of experience that they have for holding anime events as a collective should mean that they are improving every year, not backsliding into near disaster.
Comments left by first-time users are subject to approval. <- so this means if I defend UP AME in any way, you wont post this comment? You'll only post comments who agree with you? That's low.
No — it’s not low, it’s an anti-spam measure. Paranoid much?
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I actually enjoyed UP AME events better when it was still held in Bahay ng Alumni.
I’ve been selling in anime and cosplay conventions for 3-4 years and that event gave me the worst sales report EVER. It was so frustrating. I thought I had simply lost my spark, but after asking other sellers that day they said the same thing.
Oh well, I know UP AME people are smart. I’m sure next year’s even would be better.
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What I really missed about UP AME events is the novelty that it’s being held in the UP campus.
But the event is still successful nonetheless. I’m waiting for the official reports regarding their problems in the entrance.
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I’d agree with Jewel, I missed also the event being held inside the UP Campus (UP Bahay ng Alumni), it became their home for many years before moving outside the campus. I’d wish they would come back to their “original home.”
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I think it was awesome that a bunch of 16-20 year olds pulled off an event such as this.
I respect your opinion, and some of your points have bearing, but a lot of your comments just aren’t constructive at all. This article misleads the readers into thinking that the people behind this event are professional event organizers – you didn’t even mention what UP AME stands for.
Just saying.
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I think it was awesome that a bunch of 16-20 year olds pulled off an event such as this.
If it were true that the entire staff was composed of 16-20 year old students, then yes — it would have been impressive. Unfortunately, I do know for a fact that you have requested several alumni in their early twenties and thirties to assist the event in a financial or practical capacity. Using the organization’s relative youth as an excuse to do a bad job of organizing an event is in poor taste.
a lot of your comments just aren’t constructive at all.
Kindly point out specifically where you think my comments were not constructive. A large portion of the post was from personal observation — these things happened more or less as I saw them, and were a statement of fact rather than opinion.
Meanwhile, the last three paragraphs offered suggestions on how the event can be improved, by pointing out what measures can be taken to counter the flaws that have been observed. I honesty don’t see why you think the post was not being constructive, unless you do not take kindly to criticism and prefer that reviews of the event all be raves — which in this case you do not particularly deserve.
This article misleads the readers into thinking that the people behind this event are professional event organizers
Professional or amateur — this level of performance cannot be excused from an organization that has been holding events like these for the past six or so years, ten if you count the smaller events held all over UP campus. Professionalism has nothing to do with getting paid to do a job; professionalism is all about doing your job well with or without financial compensation.
you didn’t even mention what UP AME stands for.
I did mention at the very beginning of the post what UP AME is. I also mentioned it again in the comments — that UP AME is an acronym for University of the Philippines Anime Manga Enthusiasts (there, I said it for a third time now). Pointing out that I have not stated the meaning of UP AME in this entire post is moot.
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Good entry, Rotch. A filled venue is a good problem to have, and I hope the kids learn.
I have to say in response to the commentators here: I started handling pro events while in college. I wasn’t always great at it, but i listened and learned, and have since made it an actual living. Student organizers who whine at criticism are a pet peeve, especially if they had said event open to the public. In opening the event to the public, that’s opening the gates to any and all criticism. You can actually choose which opinions to consider, good and bad. That is your right. Frankly, if you can’t take the heat, keep it to yourselves or on campus.
Pity tho, it could be a better event. Hope there are AME members who can actually read the review with an open mind and do better for next time.
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Thank you for the review and your continued support (and faith) in the org and the org’s events. 🙂
The org will release an official statement regarding the events that transpired last Saturday. The org truly appreciates your comments (good and bad) about the event and will take note of all the points raised and try to answer all your questions. The org does apologize for all the inconvenience last Saturday’s event has caused our guests. Again, the org thanks everyone for all the support over the years.
By the way, I am Cris, an alumna member and was a volunteer to help out at the event last Saturday (like most alumni mems who end up being on-the-spot volunteers, hahaha). I am not speaking for the org but the org did agree on releasing an official statement soon. So thank you again magnetic_rose, I will let the fair heads know of your review. Hearing everyone’s experience and views about the fair are welcomed by the org so that future events will be better. 🙂
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thanks cris for letting us know that the organization plans to release a statement for last weekend’s event. again, i’m so sorry that i could not write a more upbeat report covering the event, and i hope that next year’s convention will be back up to the standard that most participants are used to with UP AME events.
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I didn’t go to the event, because it was in MoA. I thought it’d be good to drop by go to other UP hangs such as bookay and tomato kick.
My first AME was memorable. We played our first gig and beat a kid from buying a Gundam character set. It was there that I came to know that my cousin cosplays as well.
Bring AME back in UP!
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UP AME event this year was my third time to attend their event. My first cosplay experience was in UP AME Gakuensai and ever since that event i always see to it that i will attend their event each year. I’m quite sad bout the negative instances that happened during that day, even my father was really ranting so much since he was not even allowed to enter the venue twice. I just hope that this will never happen again to their next events for i will still attend their events no matter what.
By the way, thanks for posting a picture of my Queen Esther cosplay here in your blog. It made my day. Thank You.
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ah so you wore the esther costume — congratulations, you did a great job on it and it looks fabulous on you!
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Yes that’s me. But the costume isn’t done yet. hope to finish that next year. 😀 thanks a lot again.
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