Previous thread: >>10850236

Instead or recapping a 2 year long slow thread, allow me to recap 2 years of Dutch conventions and they're current state:
>Animecon lost half their visitors, is slowly falling to irrelevancy and going through severe financial problems (again)
>Tomo started to ficus more on the fairs, is now rebranding to Japanfest and already went on a "ruined reputation" speed run
>Viencon has grown a lot, learned drugs are bad m'okay, and it wont be long until they can rent out the entire Center Parcs location
>Abunai! is somehow still standing tall and winning by not doing anything
>Nishicon is a decline, had maybe 50 visitors this year and pulled the plug
>Ibaricon came onto the scene but proven itself problematic to work with
>Elfia is no longer welcome at Castle De Haar
>Castlefest remained comfy to this very day
>Heroes Dutch Comic Con and Made In Asia are going stronger than ever
>Comic Con Holland came onto the scene and is growing fast despite some backlash
>Aniway, a Dutch anime magazine, ended their run after 24 years.
>Nintendo is tired of there being 9001 Poké-cons using their IP and took action
>Anon still didn't land a qt3.14 Leidse Cosplay GF

Question of the thread:
>If you had unlimited resources, what would you add to your favourite convention and why?

Upcoming events:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/e/2PACX-1vT7hi7A3b9rjEl7Yc4XuvM06VjYdApAxwrk8yIrp6nOF1HgUpLCV4inqiLcedxiryU-6F-yBfa2Dx8n/pubhtml?gid=533555927&single=true

Links and advice:
>POSTS MADE IN DUTCH ARE AGAINST SITE-WIDE RULES AND WILL BE DELETED!
>If you drive a SNG or ICMm in Train Sim World 5, enabling ATB grants you more points!
>Rentry guide to Dutch conventions and such: https://rentry.org/cgldutchthread
>Discord: https://discord.gg/QAYNyfY

>>10953770 (OP)
>Animecon lost half their visitors, is slowly falling to irrelevancy and going through severe financial problems (again)
Correction, they were not halved. I mixed up total and unique numbers. No numbers have been released yet for the 2025 edition. But what we did get was the chairman explaining on stage that there were far fewer visitors this year and blaming the overlapping date with Comic Con Holland. This was also when the financial problems were shared with a heartfelt plea for donations. But pointing fingers at CCH is easy. Fact is their visitor numbers have been in decline ever since the move to the Broodfabriek.

The way I see it, Animecon has lost their identity and is struggling to regain themselves and their audience. During the World Forum days, Animecon (rightfully) established a reputation of being a rock-solid, high quality convention. Expensive, but worth every penny. With Ahoy in 2019, an attempt was made to become a hybrid between the old “Dutch style” and the Comic Con experience was becoming more popular among newer crowds. Risky, but understandable as change is required in order to remain relevant. Unfortunately Ahoy did not meet its targets, Animecon Classic was a “more luxury and more classy” flop and to make matters worse covid happened.

The 2022 Broodfabriek edition continued the hybrid path but was stripped of most content as money was tight. But the result was a convention which felt like a TomoCon XL and not the high quality convention Animecon was known for. 2023 was slightly better in terms of content but killed off C4 and in 2024 they truly figured the optimal use of the location. But one thing remained the same, it never got back to feeling like the good old Animecon we grew to love. The hybrid approach is simply not working as regulars are feeling alienated and people used to Comic Cons don’t see why (day)tickets are more expensive compared to DCC or CCH.

>>10953777
Animecon needs something to make them unique again to stand out in this highly competitive scene. Viencon has the vacation vibe, Abunai! the cozy location and night programming, Nishicon had an empty building. Animecon’s hybrid approach isn’t working, but becoming yet another soulless fast food convention is something no one wants. Personally I wouldn’t mind seeing them downscale, opt for quality over quantity, in an attempt to regain themselves and become financially stable again. Think Classic, except this time without repeating the same bogus phrase over and over as marketing. But then again, can they afford and justify taking another risk at this point?

It’s frustrating really. Nobody wants to see Animecon fall. But without a change in directions I feel like those donations will simply go to waste. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

NEDERDRAAD!
Dead on arrival

Which anime cons would you recommend to anons from outside NL?

>>10954374
>Which anime cons would you recommend to anons from outside NL?
Abunai 8-10 august 2025
AnimeCon date TBA.

>>10954374
>>10954423
There is also viencon. A swimming pool con with lots of visitors outside of the Netherlands.
Though it's in a holiday park so you will have to gather enough friends to rent a cottage to visit the con.

>>10953770 (OP)
>>Ibaricon came onto the scene but proven itself problematic to work with
What happened?

>>10953778
It doesn't help that regaining that identity is taking years, as each new edition is a year apart.
It would be good to return to World forum, but that's a financial risk that nobody wants to take, I guess. idk what world forum costs, but it would be more than broodfabriek.

Otherwise back to Almelo? Theatre is dead tho, so that takes a lot of the charm away.
Maybe wtc Rotterdam? I was there for an event the other day and I think it would be a great location.

>>10954455
Wtc Leeuwarden would also be a nice place for a con. Large halls, smaller rooms for workshops, hotel at the venue itself.
But they would probably lose a lot of visitors if they move up north.

>>10954460
Yes, Almelo was always a 2 hours-ish car drive for me, Leeuwarden would add at least another hour to that.

Going by public transport to WTC Leeuwarden would cost me about 4.5 hours, I am pretty sure that anyone planning on a single day and coming from the Randstad but outside of The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht would think twice and decide not to go,

Do Euro-cons have an issue of language barrier, or is it all fairly international? Like theoretically, it'd be effortless for most Western Euros to attend any con with your robust train networks, but are French attendees going to German cons, and Germans going to Dutch ones, and so on?

>>10954556
The biggest issue is the language barrier, but only with things like events or manga only being sold in the country's own language.
Most visitors can speak English to some degree and the program is also in English.
Most people that visit cons outside of their own country do so because the ones at home are quite lacking or they want something bigger.
So for example a Frenchman will be quite satisfied with Japan Expo and have little reason to visit Dokomi, while a Belgian will be traveling all over Europe to visit cons.

>>10954560
Is Dokomi the biggest German one?

Anyone who has been to otakat last year? Is it worth it?

>>10954569
Not just the biggest in Germany, but the biggest in Europe together with Japan Expo.
One had a larger venue space, the other more visitors. I forgot which one was which but they can both the considered the biggest.

>>10954560
The average Belgian doesn't even visit cons outside their local area, let alone internationally.

English language ability also tends to be somewhat limited in France.

>>10954625
That's why Belgian cons are dying.

So, AnimeCon stays in Rijswijk, two weeks earlier than this year.
Ghost themed can be interesting, curious on the decorations, but I hope that they refrain from hanging milk bottles from the ceiling.
Happy not to have to travel to another corner of the country, but just enjoy and sleeping in my own bed.

>>10954577
It's a comfy-con/market. If you live close by I'd say give it a chance. Entry was free last year but will be like 5 euro this year.
They really want a small con "for the community by the community" and you feel that, desu. Giving artists a place to sell and everybody an opportunity to give a workshop.
Main attraction is the stage with professional lighting and music equipment. The location is a cultural/concert centre after all. On that note, it can get quite crowded. The venue isn't too large.

Another small con. In Meppel this time.
Not super "north" but at least there is finally something happening in Drenthe.

Anyone knows why dogs are not allowed at Castlefest anymore?
They say it's for animal welfare reasons but I wonder if there have been incidents in the past like a dog pissing against someone's expensive dress.

>>10956423
Probably just people not picking up after their dogs in general.
Also wouldn't be surprised if it was because of people bringing unsocialized dogs and making people uncomfortable.

so, Abunai is in 2 weeks
how are we feeling anons?