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Frequently Asked Questions:
More FAQs
Registration Policies
Privacy Policy
Last updated: Sunday, February 17, 2008
Before you register:
- How do I register for Anime Boston 2008?
- Can I pre-register by mail?
- Do you take PayPal?
- Do you take credit cards?
- I don't want to create a PayPal account. How can I pay with a credit card?
- Is there a discount for kids?
- Is there a group discount?
- Can I register as a group if I'm not sure who will be in the group yet?
- Can I buy a one-day membership ahead of time?
- What if I just want to go to the dealers' room? Do I still have to register for a full membership?
- I'm only coming to run a panel/get an artists' alley table/etc., do I still need to register?
- Why do you need my birthdate? Gender?
- Why do you need a phone number?
- Why do you need my e-mail address? You're not going to spam me, are you?
- Do I need to get my pre-registration in by the date or is that the postmark date?
- How long do I have to pay?
- How old do I have to be to get into Anime Boston without adult supervision?
- What do you mean by party? Party leader? Group?
- What can I put in my badge name?
- PayPal isn't working!
After you register:
- What does my payment status mean? Unpaid, Sent, Received, Cleared, Bounced?
- My status says my payment was sent, but I haven't paid yet. How do I pay?
- I got an email saying my payment cleared, but then I got one saying my payment was cancelled. Why?
- I moved after I sent in my pre-registration or I changed my e-mail address. How can I update my address, badge name, etc.?
- I pre-registered but haven't received any confirmation. Am I really registered?
- My friend said he sent in my registration, but you guys don't have it. What happened?
- What happens after I pre-register? What do I need to do next? How do I get my badge?
- When will registration be open at the convention?
- Why should I pre-register for the convention?
- What happens if I arrive after registration closes?
- Can I have my friend pick up my badge for me?
- What will the badges look like?
- I can't go to Anime Boston anymore. Can I get a refund?
- Can I transfer my Anime Boston membership to someone else?
- I already registered, but some friends want to join me. Can I add them to my party?
- Is there a limit on the number of people you'll allow at the convention?
- How many people were at Anime Boston last year?
- How do I register for a Press pass?
- How do I register for an Industry pass?
- How do I register for a VIP pass?
- Other than entrance to Anime Boston, what else can my membership get me?
- How do I register for Anime Boston 2008?
Visit our Registration page for instructions. (Once it gets close to the convention (about a month before), preregistration will close, and you will need to register at the convention during registration hours.)
- Can I pre-register by mail?
No, you must pre-register online, and the deadline for mail-in payment has passed.
- Do you take PayPal?
Yes, you can pre-register and pay via PayPal through our online registration form. However, you will not be able to pay via PayPal at the door.
- Do you take credit cards?
We cannot accept credit cards. However, if you pre-register online, you can pay via PayPal...and PayPal takes credit cards.
- I don't want to create a PayPal account. How can I pay with a credit card?
You don't need a PayPal account to pay with a credit card via PayPal. Go through the payment process on our website and, on the PayPal login screen, click "Continue" under "Don't have a PayPal account?".
- Is there a discount for kids?
Yes. Children 6-12 save $10. Children 5 and under admitted free. (Age determined as of March 21, 2008.) All children must be accompanied at all times by an adult (18+) with a paid membership. See our Registration page.
- Is there a group discount?
Yes. Groups of ten or more paid attendees save $5 per person. Group discounts are available online only (although you can mail payment), not at the door or in person, and are unavailable after the February 18th pre-registration deadline. Everyone in a group must register at the same time and pay with a single payment.
- Can I register as a group if I'm not sure who will be in the group yet?
No, sorry. We need names and contact information for everyone in the group.
- Can I buy a one-day membership ahead of time?
No. One-day memberships are only sold on the day on which they are valid. No exceptions.
- What if I just want to go to the dealers' room? Do I still have to register for a full membership?
Yes. Unlike Anime Boston 2004, we will not be offering passes offering access to the dealers' room. We offered those passes in 2004 knowing that we would sell out of pre-registrations. The only way to let people still visit the dealers' room (which was in a separate building at the time) was to sell passes to just the dealers' room and not the already overcrowded hotel.
- I'm only coming to run a panel/get an artists' alley table/etc., do I still need to register?
If you're going to be at the convention, for any purpose, you need a badge. Unless you're specifically told you've been comped a badge, you need to either pre-register or pay at the door.
Panelists, volunteers, and other attendees who contribute to the convention in particular ways may be eligible for reimbursements; details are provided on the appropriate pages.
- Why do you need my birthdate? Gender?
We need your date of birth to figure out if you qualify for the child discount. We also use age and gender for demographics; sponsors really like this information, and sponsors give us free stuff. We don't actually record your birthday, age, or gender in your registration record; see our privacy policy. (When you register, we figure your age from your birthdate, figure out the reg rate, add "one more person of age n and gender q" to our tally, and then throw away your birthdate.)
- Why do you need a phone number?
For minors, we require a (US or Canadian) phone number where we can reach a responsible party in the event something happens to you at the convention. We only keep it until the end of the convention and only use it in a genuine emergency. If you live outside of North America, please provide the number of a trusted friend in the US or Canada who can help you if necessary.
- Why do you need my e-mail address? You're not going to spam me, are you?
We hate spam. A lot. We only ask for your e-mail address so we can e-mail a confirmation and if we need to contact you in regard to your registration. Your personal information will be kept confidential by The New England Anime Society and will not be shared with any other organizations for any reason. See our privacy policy.
You are responsible for providing an accurate email address and ensuring you can receive email from animeboston.com. If you use a spam filter, we suggest whitelisting animeboston.com. Anime Boston is not responsible if you miss important information due to providing an incorrect email address or rejecting email from animeboston.com.
- Do I need to get my pre-registration in by the date or is that the postmark date?
In order to get the current rate, you must complete the online pre-registration and payment forms by the date listed. We also need to get your payment within two weeks of your registration. Just send it right away and there won't be a problem.
DO NOT MAIL YOUR PAYMENT WITH EXPRESS MAIL! We only check the mailbox once a week...and any Express Mail that sits longer than a few days gets returned. (We have yet to figure out why someone would spend $13 on Express Mail to save $5 on their pre-registration.) Send your payment by regular mail. Using Priority or Express Mail is a complete waste of your money.
- How long do I have to pay?
If you are paying via PayPal, you are expected to pay immediately—the last step in the registration process is a link to a PayPal page for payment.
If you're mailing in a check or money order, we must receive your payment within two weeks. We suggest having your checkbook and printer handy before you start the process; plan on mailing your payment immediately.
If you don't pay, we'll assume you don't want to attend, and will cancel your pre-registration.
- How old do I have to be to get into Anime Boston without adult supervision?
You must be 13 or older to purchase a full membership to Anime Boston. 6-12 year olds must purchase a child membership, which requires that they be accompanied by an adult (18+) with a paid membership at badge pickup time. We expect parents to make their own decisions about accompanying their children throughout the course of the con; Anime Boston assumes no responsibility for unaccompanied minors. We do not provide babysitting services nor give parents free admission to accompany children.
- What do you mean by party? Party leader? Group?
- Party means a bunch of people who registered together, roughly the same meaning as at a restaurant. (If you're registering by yourself, you're a party of one.)
- Party Leader is the first person registered in the party. If the person paying for the party registers with the party, that person will be the party leader. The party leader can pick up badges for the party if arranged in advance.
- Payer or "person paying" is simply the person paying for a party's registration.
- Group refers to a party eligible for a group discount
- What can I put in my badge name?
It can be your nickname, your real name, your forum name--whatever you want people to call you. Sorry, we don't support kana at this time; your badge name has to consist of alphabetic characters (including simple accents), numbers, and most standard punctuation. For the technically inclined, it must match ^[\x20-\x7E\xC0-\xFF]*$.
Your badgename cannot contain anything obscene or offensive in our judgement; we reserve the right to replace your badgename with your first name if necessary.
- PayPal isn't working!
Please note that PayPal is a separate company and we have no control over its website or any technical issues it might have. That said, by far the most common problem people have with PayPal is failure to provide a confirmed address. We require a confirmed address for your protection and ours. If you are paying by credit card without logging in, this simply means the address you give us must match the billing address on the card. If you are paying by logging in to your PayPal account, please see PayPal's help section for information on confirming an address.
The error message "We cannot process this transaction because there is a problem with the PayPal email address supplied by the seller. Please contact the seller to resolve the problem." usually means either:
- Rarely, there is a temporary hiccup in PayPal's servers, in which case it usually works later.
- An ill-behaved browser, firewall, or proxy server between the user and PayPal is removing the data on your payment. That could be the Windows firewall, it could be a home wireless router, it could be a "transparent" proxy put in by the ISP. You can try using a different browser, changing firewall settings, or (in the worst case) using a library PC or some other internet connection. Make sure your system is up to date; this Knowledge Base article may be applicable.
If your payment doesn't go through the first time, you can return to the status page and try again. "Sent" does not mean that the money was taken out of your account. We do have safeguards in place to prevent double-paying for your registration.
- What does my payment status mean? Unpaid, Sent, Received, Cleared, Bounced?
- Unpaid means you have not committed to any form of payment.
- Sent means you have clicked on a "Pay Now" button and chosen a method of payment. It means we are expecting a payment from you, but have not received your mailed payment nor gotten confirmation from PayPal that you have completed a transaction. If you have not completed a PayPal transaction, or have not mailed payment, you can still do so through the payment status page. PayPal transactions almost immediately update to Received, so if your payment is "Sent" you probably have not completed the transaction with PayPal. (Note that you have two days to complete a PayPal transaction, or two weeks for us to receive a mailed payment. This is the significance of the due date.)
- Received means we have received payment: either we got your check/money order in the mail, or PayPal informed us you have completed a transaction.
- Cleared means your check/money order has cleared our bank, or your PayPal payment has cleared into our account. Your registration is all set, and we send another confirmation email when your payment clears.
- Bounced/cancelled means a check bounced, or your PayPal transaction was reversed for some reason. You will need to contact registration to have the issue resolved.
- My status says my payment was sent, but I haven't paid yet. How do I pay?
"Sent" does not necessarily mean you completed payment. Look at your payment status page. Directly under "You have already paid" it says "Get directions for where to send your check," "Get directions for where to send your money order," or "Get directions for sending your PayPal payment." Click there.
- I got an email saying my payment cleared, but then I got one saying my payment was cancelled. Why?
As it says in the email: "Note that this email applies only to the payment number and code listed above; if you registered twice this does not apply to any other payments you may have sent." The cancellation email has a payment code. Your confirmation email has a payment code. If they don't match, they are for different payments. The cancellation email also has a payment number, which corresponds to the invoice number in PayPal. Again, if they don't match, they are for different payments. This commonly happens when people do two registrations under two different email addresses; double-check which email address you're using.
Verify that the cancelled payment is the same as the cleared payment before contacting registration, or your email will not be answered.
- I moved after I sent in my pre-registration or I changed my e-mail address. How can I update my address, badge name, etc.?
You can make changes like this via the prereg status page. Note that this is the only way to change your badgename this year; you will not be able to change it at the con.
We lock down our database after pre-registration ends so we are unable to make changes after Monday, February 18th.
- I pre-registered but haven't received any confirmation. Am I really registered?
Maybe. Check our prereg status page. See notes on timing below.
The best way to be sure of your registration is to enter a complete and accurate email address when you register. Then you will get an email, about a day after your payment clears, and will also be able to have your status code emailed to you if you lose it. You must use your full address, plain...don't typo it, or use anti-spam tricks, or assume we know it's @aol.com. We don't share your email address with anybody and it's in your best interest to make sure we have it accurately. Be sure you can receive email from @animeboston.com addresses, as well--add it to your whitelist if you use a spam filter. Check your "spam" or "bulk mail" folder.
Be sure to submit payment immediately. Your registration isn't valid until it's paid!
Mailed Payments
Assuming you mail payment immediately (which you should!), it takes:
- 1-2 weeks to reach us in the mail. Express mail won't help.
- Up to 1 week for us to check the mailbox and enter the payment in our database. You can see on the status page if we've received your payment.
- 3-4 weeks for your payment to clear our bank. Just because it's cleared your account doesn't mean it's cleared into ours.
So, allow six weeks from the time you sent payment before asking about your registration.
PayPal Payments
If you pay with an Instant Payment, it should clear immediately. PayPal will automatically update our database and you'll receive an email in about a day. If you pay with an eCheck, it will take several days to clear.
So, allow a week from the time you sent payment before asking about your registration.
Child preregistrations are an exception. We need to receive the permission forms before they're verified, so allow 2-3 weeks. Don't forget to send the forms!
- My friend said he sent in my registration, but you guys don't have it. What happened?
Your friend either lied or doesn't know how to spell your name.
- What happens after I pre-register? What do I need to do next? How do I get my badge?
Your badge will not be mailed; just show up at the convention. Your first stop should be the Registration Office (Hynes 100) during Registration Hours (posted on the registration website). Bring a photo ID, government-issued if you're 18 or over. (This will let us know we're giving your badge to the right person.) You can pick up your badge, lanyard, and registration bag there. After you get your badge, you're free to attend any of our events.
If your party leader agreed to pick up badges for the whole party at registration time, you will need to find him/her for your badge.
It's okay to bring a printout of your registration confirmation email, but it's not necessary, and will not replace the need for photo ID.
- When will registration be open at the convention?
Hours of operation will be as follows:
- Thursday, March 20 - 4pm-10pm Pre-registered members ONLY
- Friday, March 21 - 7am-10pm
- Saturday, March 22 - 8am-8pm
- Sunday, March 23 - 8am-12noon
Please note that these are registration hours, NOT convention hours! The convention does not start until Friday morning. Our Thursday hours are so people who have pre-registered can pick up their membership badge the night before the convention starts and not have to wait in line on Friday morning. It also helps to cut down on the lines.
- Why should I pre-register for the convention?
In previous years, the hotel reached capacity and the fire marshal asked us to cut off registration. We were still able to admit anyone who had pre-registered, but anyone who had not (including those who had driven several hours) had to be turned away. Now that we're at the Hynes Convention Center, capacity shouldn't be an issue.
Pre-registration has the added benefit of a faster line to pick up badges (since we already have your name and payment). Pre-registered attendees can also save some money on the cost of their membership...which goes up by $5 every few months before the convention. Finally, anyone who pre-registers can pick up their badge on Thursday evening if they want to.
- What happens if I arrive after registration closes?
You'll just have to wait until it opens the following day. Attendees cannot attend any convention functions or events without a pass. We will be checking. We will not issue "temporary" badges (or any other kind) during the hours registration is closed.
If you arrive after it closes on Sunday, what took you so long?!
- Can I have my friend pick up my badge for me?
With one exception, everyone must pick up his/her own badge. If you registered with other people, you have the option of having the party leader pick up badges for everyone. This option must be chosen at registration time, and is for the whole party: you will not be able to pick up your own badge from registration if you choose this option. You cannot make this choice after registering, or change the person responsible for pickup.
To pick up a child badge, both the child and the supervising adult need to be present.
- What will the badges look like?
We'd love to tell you. Unfortunately, there are some people out there who would rather forge a fake badge. That means we can't show anyone (not even most of the staff) what it looks like ahead of time. You'll find out what it looks like when you show up. Although they are always very different from what we used before, they'll still look cool and be a good souvenir.
We can tell you that the Anime Boston 2008 badges will feature never-before-seen mascot art. Our badges always do.
- I can't go to Anime Boston anymore. Can I get a refund?
Sorry, we cannot give membership refunds. This has always been stated on our registration page since it went online in early 2002. We cannot make exceptions to this rule.
- Can I transfer my Anime Boston membership to someone else?
No. Pre-registration is a commitment to attend the convention. Transferring it rather defeats the purpose. (It's caused all sorts of problems in the past, too). This means the name you register with must match the name on your ID, and you are not allowed to change it in your registration (with obvious exceptions such as getting married between registration and the con).
- I already registered, but some friends want to join me. Can I add them to my party?
Sorry, no. We can't add more people to your registration. They'll have to register by themselves.
- Is there a limit on the number of people you'll allow at the convention?
Yes...but the Hynes is so huge that it would be silly to even mention it. If there's one thing we're sure of, it's that won't be having any capacity problems in 2008. Of course, we'd love to have you try and prove us wrong.
The Hynes has an attendance number posted on its web site, but that is only the estimated attendance that they came up with and not what we told them. It is NOT an attendance cap.
- How many people were at Anime Boston last year?
Anime Boston 2003 reached a weekend attendance of 4,110 people*. This set records as:
- The largest first-year anime convention in North America.**
- The largest pre-registration count for a first year anime convention. (1,384 people)**
- The largest anime convention in New England. (previous record: 330 people at Mikkakan 2001)**
- The seventh largest anime convention in North America in 2003. (...in our first year!)
Keep in mind that the fire marshal asked us to turn people away after noon on Saturday (unless they had pre-registered). If we hadn't needed to turn people away, it is very likely we could have passed the 5000 mark.
As for Anime Boston 2004 attendance, the total number of people to attend the convention actually dropped down to 3,656*. Why? We had to cut off pre-registration early in order to be within the fire code. However, everyone had a three-day pass. In 2003, we sold a number of one-day passes on Friday and Saturday.
In 2005, we were in a much larger space and expanded to nearly 7,000 paid attendees and a total of about 7,500* people at the convention.
AB2006 brought 9,354* people to the convention.
Anime Boston 2007's attendance was exactly 11,500* people.
* Anime Boston attendance numbers include staff, guests, and press since they're people too! Memberships are only counted once (ie: if someone attends all 3 days, they do not count as 3.) Some non-anime conventions count attendees multiple times if they attend multiple days. Under that method, AB2007's attendance would be somewhere over 27,000.
** According to AnimeCons.com, these records have yet to be surpassed by another anime convention.
- How do I register for a Press pass?
Information on obtaining a press pass can be found in our Press section.
- How do I register for an Industry pass?
Industry passes are handled by our Public Relations division. Contact us for more information.
- How do I register for a VIP pass?
You can't. Anime Boston's executive staff members are the only ones who can send out VIP passes. They are typically given to local celebrities, spouses of guests, and athletes who are invited to the convention. There is no application process.
- Other than entrance to Anime Boston, what else can my membership get me?
A membership purchased for Anime Boston only admits you to Anime Boston for that year. It does not admit you to other conventions or events run by the New England Anime Society nor will it admit you to future Anime Boston conventions. For information on other NEAS events, visit neanime.org.
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