With hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of attendees and numerous guests, it's not difficult to imagine that some things don't run as smoothly as they should. "Murphy's law is pretty much a constant at any convention," remarks Lyndsey Luther, who coordinates music video contests and cosplay events (among other things) for Connecticon and Anime Boston. She continues, stating that she hasn't "had any major issues with the anime music video contest yet... but I have several contingency plans set up in case of a technological error." Sean Chiochankitmun, who chairs Otakon, offered similar advice, explaining that "knowing and trusting your staff helps make life a heck of a lot saner."

Still, despite the number of precautions one takes, an incident, no matter how small, is sure to arise. Edwin Peregrina (Masquerade Coordinator at Otakon) recounts a particular situation on the Masquerade beat:

In 2005, we had a performance consisting of about three musical instruments. ...We had microphones all over the stage, but our backstage crew decided to go with individual mics to sweeten the sound. Everything went well during rehearsal, but come showtime, one of the mics didn't get turned on. We didn't totally lose that one instrument thanks to other the stage mics. Their performance went well and they had one of the loudest applause of the night. Their dad... wasn't happy about the missing mic, however, and wanted the skit done over... So I had to go have one of the most ominous talks a coordinator could have: a talk with a participant's parent... So I slowly make the walk over, bracing myself for the worst. Thankfully, the dad was very calm. He explained to me how he understood everything, and politely asked again for the do-over. I explained to him how putting them on the stage for a second time wouldn't be fair to them... The applause really showed anything but a technically troubled skit, and I let him know that they should be very proud of their performance. To my surprise, he agreed... A few minutes later... He asks, "what you said to me, can you go and say it to my kids?" So I made the walk over and spent a few minutes with them. I told them how they should be proud of what they accomplished, and thanked them for being a great part of the show... As I walked back, the dad gave me a thumbs up. He looked like a proud dad, and rightfully so.

Chiochankitmun recounts his own experience, in which his administrative mettle was put to the test. "I think it was with one of the boy pop bands who at the last minute... were unhappy with the flooring material on the stage," he recalls."Having one of my OSS (...Otakon Senior Staff...) Karl Monroe locate flooring at 11PM late at night and having the problem settled by morning was the best decision ever made."