while I was gone, Mr Kitty kept going

Originally posted by misterkitty at post

What's that, you wanted some antiquated beliefs along with a generous portion of baffling decisions no actual human being would ever make? Stupid Comics delivers!

and we're back

the 22nd annual Anime Weekend Atlanta is over! Overall I think it went a little smoother than last year; the weather was nicer, my events ran smoother, and people seemed a little more ready to have a good time. My flights were on time and untroubled. Smyrna is bustling and chafing under the renewed construction concomitant to the Braves stadium. We're finally getting that Publix in the empty lot where Jonquil Plaza used to be, and Spring Road is getting a makeover from 41 westwards.

The final numbers for AWA were 28,871. People are starting to talk about membership caps. I mean 'upper level staff people', not just goofballs walking around on the street.

I got up early Thursday, borrowed the Dad Van, grabbed Neil and Ryan at the airport, made a Target run, got some Fellini's for lunch, and started setting up the Super Happy Fun Sell at 3.



Gatchaman showed up to protect the show, only he didn't answer to "Hey, Ken The Eagle!" and he didn't answer to "Hey Gatchaman!" and he only turned around when I remembered that he was "Mark from Battle Of The Planets!" Nice costume, though.

Some fellows showed up with their "itashi" cars all tricked out, parked nicely in the Galleria lobby parking area. Much better than sticking them in the vendors hall.






Jason ran a new event called "Kigurumi Rampage" where people in kigurumi pajamas battled their way through an obstacle course made up of a city's worth of cardboard buildings. Meanwhile on Friday afternoon Neil entertained a 4pm Totally Lame Anime crowd with ZERO TECHNICAL GLITCHES, and you can say the same for the packed house Anime Hell later Friday night. This is because Thursday night we spent some time working through those glitches beforehand.



Also Thursday was the SHFS, which went very well and was crowded and fun. The line went out the door, down the hall, and into the Galleria, who was very confused.


We gave sellers 2 hours to set up and that is a great idea, we had time to rearrange things that needed to be rearranged and make changes on the fly. Most of the changes were either totally my fault or the fault of me and Ardyn (Reg) not being on the same page on a few tables that needed special arrangement. We had one seller that didn't know tables were assigned (gotta fix that) and three no-shows (we sold those tables again) and one table selling hand-made merchandise that we stopped from selling hand-made merchandise, and that is about all the probs we had with THAT event.

The rest of my events went well. I, and others, had some issues with events staff being shorthanded due to scheduling issues, and to a flu bug that hit some upper level staffers pretty hard. The 'Red Room' old people's hangout suite (everybody seems to think "red room" is a Twin Peaks reference, and it is not, it is a Shining reference) was a terrific idea thanks to Elizabeth and Melanie who worked hard to make it happen - we had somewhere to hang out and get a drink and a snack and chill out between panels, and to host BBQ and Chinese food and get loud and drunk on Saturday night.

I spoke to two separate new conventions who wanted advice on panels and events, and I think one of those events is going to do OK, and the other one is going to crash and burn in spite of all the advice everyone in earshot could and did give.

The Saturday night mixer - well, we made some changes and these changes were all for the better, with amazing decorations in the room and lower prices on the cash bar and room layout that encouraged mingling and whooping and the pushing of all the tables together to create a 'mega table' and eventually crazy dancing thanks to the DJ. It was the event I always knew it could be.



The construction of the new stadium continues, and here you can see the spectacular weather we had, and the pillars of the new pedestrian bridge that's being built across 285.

Mary Kinnard and her "anime garage sale" didn't return, which is sad, but good for my wallet. There were no cel dealers. Two dealers were selling cheesy 3D pictures of wolves and landscapes and Jesus. I bought a manga volume and some Urusei Yatsura house socks for Shain and Tim brought me two Adventure King magazines from the early 80s and I got a Rascal The Raccoon commemorative plate at the SHFS. Everything I brought to sell at the SHFS sold, everything Neil brought sold, the sellers seemed happy, the fans seemed happy, overall a successful con, except for the girl who broke her leg on Friday morning, I imagine her con was not so great.