Alrighty, as stated by me in various places, I'm planning on running a sampler show of sorts to introduce/educate/entertain/broaden the horizons of the public. As part of the discovery process, I'd like to hear everyone's opinion's on all aspects!

So, the aspects:

Objectives
1) For 'hardcore' anime fans: expand their anime horizons by showing them some influential, classic, or non-mainstream stuff
2) For 'casual' anime fans: act as a sampler of what kind of anime is out there, helping them to find out what their interests are so they know where to start looking for more.
3) For 'civilians': show a variety of anime that demonstrates the breadth, depth, and artistry of the medium (not just cartoons, not just porn, not just explosions: all of that and so much more)

In order to meet these objectives (as stated or as amended by ensuing discussion about them), I'll need quite the lineup. This'll be kinda like a 'Best-Of' Show, only without the requirement of being 'Best' or flashy. That isn't to say that the quality will be any lower, but I'm willing to draw on a larger base of titles than just the most popular. The following list enumerates titles that I think are representative of the sort of quintessential nature I'm going for.

Titles
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Trigun
Cowboy Bebop
Ranma 1/2
Love Hina
Dragonball Z
Sailor Moon
Captain Harlock
Haibane Renmei
ROD (OVA)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (movie)
Azumanga Daioh
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Last Exile
Princess Tutu
Angelic Layer
Cat Soup (movie)

But how can I show all this and a) Remain sane b) Get it done? I'm thinking, format-wise, of something a little different which will unfortunately require a lot of work on my part, but I'm willing to invest the time.

Format
No more than 2 episodes of a series, excerpts of anything longer than that.

See what I meant about more work? Selecting those best couple of episodes (or, better yet, just those best couple of scenes) is gonna take no small effort (thus why I'm asking for some help here). Even better, once I get my show and patter down pat, where could I show it?

Location
SLC Multi-Purpose Room

So: what do you think? What I'm looking for are comments, suggestions, innovations, ideas, inspiration and whatever else about the Objectives, Titles, Format, and Location. I realize that the Exam Period leading into Summer Term is the exact WRONG time to be looking for aid on the club's forum, but I can hope, right?

A forum can be accessed anywhere, not just in Kitchener-Waterloo, right?

Being someone who sits through Saturdays of anime I have already seen, plus manages to do setup by myself (and sometimes gets help for takedown), I find these events are not necessarily boring. Work, definitely, but not boring. There are always ways to keep busy. I always remember that an idea may start an event, but it's the work that makes it possible.

I have not seen this proposal before, but I know this is not the first time CTRL-A has used SLC as a large-scale advertising ground for the shows as well as memberships. (Heck I manned the membership table once during one of those events years ago.) It has never been a bad idea before, and showing a wide variety of different kinds of anime (minus the good stuff... lol) should stand a chance in drawing in people who have a strong or even a casual interest.

Turning these events into an advantage for people who may wish to join the club could help to boost membership numbers. A discount during the event for memberships could rake in more people and more club money, unless the club is in such financial straits that it cannot afford to give people $1-4 off for a limited time opportunity.

If you have the time, any sort of information about your event will of course help to lure the people in (Like the CLUB, what is does, features and opportunities, etc.)

I do have a few questions:

- Is this a one-time event only or are you planning to schedule this for multiple times?
- Are you planning to do this on a weekday or weekend?
- ... Is Cat Soup a good idea? I realize that this is aimed towards as many people as possible. I kinda fell asleep the last time I tried to watch it and I am worried that show might scare people away.
- Is there a possibility of actually running out of titles or recycling stuff you have already shown if you plan to do this multiple times?

Eva 1 is bashit awesome. 'Nuff said on that. Eva also seems to be kind of compartmentalized between episodes, so that one shouldn't be hard. I've heard the same about Cowboy Bebop.

I'm not sure about DBZ or Sailor Moon. Yeah, they're old, they're fun, and they're campy, but I think a few people will go "zomg this is what CTRL-A shows? How childish" and walk away. Yeah, we do show that type of stuff, but I think those series are more likely to make people go away than come to us. If you can pick the right episodes, I'd say Bleach and/or Naruto and/or InuYasha (yes, InuYasha, I said it) are better ideas. I especially like the Shikamaru/Temari fight (since Naruto barely appears in that episode, I think it'll be good cause people won't recognize it, plus it's my favourite fight in the whole anime) for Naruto. Bleach still isn't so mainstream (since the dub is awful and it's on late at night, not in YTV's primetime slots, to my knowledge), so most of those episodes should be good (just try to stay away from episodes where Inoue uses her special power).

My questions are basically the same as Adam's. I definitely support the idea of a "limited-time discount" for memberships for people who approach you during these shows; after all, if the idea is to get members out of a free show, giving them a discount is always a good way. CTRL-A isn't visible enough to draw membership (our events are always secluded in some out-of-the-way building/date/time), so this sounds like a great idea.

I support this idea. Best to get as much time in the SLC as possible.

Lyle, there are people who will say that or something very similar to that no matter WHAT we show. It's a matter of timing and luck to try and grab people's attention in the right way at the right time. Quite honestly, a throwback series like sailor moon might be awesome to show; get people thinking "hey, yeah, I liked that series! Let's go relive some memories", only to realize that there's more where that came from.

I'm thinking no more than once a term. But I can easily be convinced to run it again if enough people miss the first run.

Don't know. Which would you suggest?

I was actually not thinking of showing all of it. Showing enough of it as evidence that anime can be as artsy-fartsy as you'd like it to be is all I'm going for.

I was thinking about this show as kind of a set-piece thingamy. Run it once every term with slight variations of lineup and patter, but leave it essentially unchanged. This is mainly trying to draw people in, not retain.

Though this gives me an idea for, say, "Anime 201" where we can then schedule different stuff in a more traditional 'show-type' setting. Perhaps even following some kind of theme. That could be the vehicle of expanding members' anime horizons over the multi-term timeframe.

Hrm. I dunno. Might work. I'm not really seeing that as being a big focus of what I'm trying to do, so I haven't thought about it. Perhaps a limited-time discount at Clubs Days would be more effective (from the financial and marketing POVs)? ...more likely to attract new people, still likely to have recurring members show up to Show 1 to pay full price...

Eh, may be too evil.

Nostalgia is an underrated motivator. Not to mention that many anime fans haven't seen DBZ and Sailor Moon, and can only smile and nod when people bring them up.

Inu Yasha may have a place (I've already got Ranma 1/2 for Rumiko Takahashi, but we can always spare another slot). Bleach and Naruto are popular enough to warrant slots. They're really similar in thrust, though, so I'm kinda tempted to go with just one. Oh well, they're easy to shorten/schedule.

Ooh. How about Fullmetal Alchemist? I think ep 1 of that is fairly indicative of the series as a whole. I may want to cut out that fight with the priest guy that cliffhangs at the end of the ep to stop from showing ep 2 as well...

Any more suggestions? Questions? Comments?

I think FMA needs to be shown as a whole. You don't really get it until the end when it's like "oh, so THAT'S why they spent like 10 episodes in Lior even though nothing happened". As much as I like FMA (and believe me, I *like* FMA), I don't think this is the right setting for it.

The problem with DBZ and Sailor Moon is that, yes, while some people will go for the nostalgia factor, I think (and I'm just guessing, so take this as you will) that an equal or greater number of people will be driven off by the "childishness" of it.

As for discounts on membership, I think any event we use to try to draw members should probably have a discount attached to it. Basically, we're out there to try to get them, so we shouldn't ask them to pay full price. They come to us, then yeah, full price, but we go to them, they should get a discount. Although keep in mind I'm still in favor of dropping the membership price altogether (not to 0, but I still think $8 is Microsoft-style excessive).

Doesn't that discourage folks from coming to us if they know they can get discounts at certain events?

I figure the idea being that by running this event, you are there; you have come to the people with lots of anime goodies and if they wish to join up with the club, we'll even give them a discount. That might be more encouraging that having the people coming to you and paying full price. Who knows.

That's the idea.

Also, keep in mind this show will be happening partway into term, so the membership will have depreciated anyway, I guess...

It will? I was kinda thinking about holding it in early May.