CONNED!!1!!
Sep. 22nd, 2010 12:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davemerrillAnd here's the con report, with pix! So you have to go behind the jump here. Because it's big and I don't want to kill everybody's FL.
Tuesday night I packed up and noticed my suitcase was really really heavy. So I repacked and left some SHFS potential at home. Probably wouldn't have been worth the trouble anyways. Wednesday AM Shain drove me to Pearson and I went through a couple extra layers of security and got on the plane. Flight was uneventful if a bit bumpy. Atlanta was hot. I mean in the 90s hot. Smyrna was hot. Visited with the family, sorted some stuff, visited with the neighbors and the cat down the street who adopts families with small children, visited with the nephew, had dinner. Jason and I took an after dinner pre-convention expedition to the AWA top secret HQ facility deep in the Asteroid Belt. It's kind of awesome that the convention is at the point where it can afford its own space- not just a storage unit but a workshop and office where people can get things done all year long without having to do this stuff in somebody's garage or a parking lot.
Anyway Thursday arrived and it was time to go get some peoples at the airport. Carol & Mike's flight was earliest. I delivered them and the TUBS O' DFEST to the Waverly and was back down the highway to Hartsfield. Man, there were a LOT OF COPS on the road! State patrol cruisers, motorcycle police, you name it! Neil and Ed and Ryan got picked up next and it was an interesting feeling walking to the van, realizing we're not college kids any more, we're home-owning middle aged guys. Still going to anime cons. YES!!
Thursday at 5pm means it's time for me to get down there and get the SHFS set up. The Super Happy Fun Sell is AWA's flea market event where people can clean out their closets and basements of their pre-loved anime merchandise. We are not the first or the only convention to do this, but every con should do this. Actual AWA registration isn't open yet but people are already lining up.
I get my table set up, mark out AWA's tables, and there are a few people hanging around outside the door that I generously allow to start setting up in exchange for them keeping an eye on my table. Six rolls around and the SHFS setup begins in earnest. It's in a bigger room and the layout is kinda weird but people figure it out. By 7:30 things are in full swing.
Matt Buffington brought a box of stuff and took time off from setting AWA up to unload some gems. And let me tell you I was right there to get the pick of the litter...
We wrapped the SHFS up a little after 10pm and everybody went back to their rooms or cars with less clutter and more cash. I did fairly well both in the selling and the buying dept; kind of broke even, but I got rid of a lot of things I had no use for that were just taking up space. Like the Intellivision. Afterwards I made a late night Wallyworld run to get snack items and throwin' candy and then it was bed time.
Friday noon was opening ceremonies, which was the best attended ever. I believe we finally have trained the crowd to show up at noon. Here's a pic of Stan working the crowd.
I collected Carl Horn and Mike and Carol and we made another supply run. Carl had a party to throw on Friday and Carol and Mike had one on Saturday and I needed "Chicken In A Biscuit" for Shain. They don't sell it up here. Something about health concerns. On the way out we ran into Sarah and Emma in their dress uniforms...
Afterwards I hit the dealers room, which seemed to have a better mix of merchandise this time. More cultural Japanese items, not quite as many DVDs, more Akihabara-esque in that there were more cases filled with tiny figures and cell phone charms. I actually found some things to buy, which is always nice.
After Thai food with Grant, Marie, and Brooke, it was time for Hell! Neil had worked the crowd into a frenzy with Totally Lame Anime and they were ready for action. Here's Neil workin' the booth:
I started a little after 10 and went my customary two hours. Usually I'll see a dropoff in the crowd after 11, but not this year. I think the improved AV setup had a lot to do with it, honestly. You can see the full playlist here.
THE FACE OF IRRITAINMENT:
I wrapped Hell up a bit late and after dropping my gear off it was time to go to Carl Horn's party. Probably had a bit too much to drink, but had a great time shootin' the breeze with everybody.
Saturday AM I became positive I'd had a bit too much to drink. It was a long slow climb back to normalcy. Breakfast helped. What I did on Saturday: made a judgement call to ditch the Anime Newlywed Game because the event before it had started really late and I would have had to MC it anyway and it would have totally sucked - went to the dealers room again - engaged in a long convoluted search for Greggo and/or prizes for the costume contest - drank a lot of water, coffee, Red Bull - was on the Anime Guilty Pleasures panel with Neil where we talked about anime that we are either too old or too male to watch but we watch anyway. Audience comments were enlightening, there are a lot of girls out there who like some really frightening stuff.
Saturday afternoon the convention reached peak capacity. You wouldn't think so from this photo - there are lots of people in the lobby, but it's not jammed- and this is because the AWA crowds were in that lobby, they were in the big video room to the left, they were in the big panel room to the right. They were up the stairs to the second floor and all around the second floor in video gaming and video rooms and the VAT and the main events room. They were in the hallway to the Galleria and in the panel rooms in the Galleria and in the food court and in the dealers room and in the artists alley hall and in the Williams Ballroom and in the big hallway lined with publicity tables for conventions. There were people everywhere.
Meanwhile, we had a good crowd of some of those people helping us set up Dessloktoberfest. At around 8:45 we got panicky and Tim Eldred and I went out on a last minute snack run. By the time we got back the party was in full swing.
(taken during setup)
(during actual social event)
The room was filled with people, noise, snacks, and libations of a punchy nature. The crowd even spilled out into the hall and for whatever reason did not attract the attention of the authorities, who were probably more concerned with the crowds below in the lobby. Anyway midnight rolled around and I had to go do Old School Classroom in the Stanhope room. I gotta say that this year I didn't get nearly as drunk or as ranty this year; I had a lot of material and some of it was interesting on an academic level - forgotten Matsumoto TV specials usually are- but academic interest does not translate into entertainment. Anyway last year I got so blotto I don't remember what I showed or said, and I didn't want to repeat that performance. So I was more sober, showed long, involved sequences of LIGHT VISITOR ST. ELMO (interesting) and LEGEND OF MARINE SNOW (terrible) and WAY TO THE VIRGIN SPACE (well-animated except for the computer animation). Also Kum Kum and Genshi Shonen Ryu and Thunderbirds 2086, and by 2:30 I was ready to call it a night. Went back up to the Dfest and helped with cleanup and was in bed by 4.
Sunday this year I was considerably more alert and less hung over than I was Sunday of last year. I did the "My Life On The Super Robot D-List" with Drew and Richard, and they had great looking clips of forgotten robot shows including one I had never seen before in my life, which at this stage of the game is rare. The audience seemed appreciative and I believe we'll be doing more panels of this type next year. I made one last dealers room run, caught the beginning of the Tim-narrated SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO RESURRECTION (fan reaction is mixed) and then did another panel, "Why Anime Cons?" with Jess from Momocon, Drew and Richard from Seishuncon, and one other guy whose name I'm blanking on, and what was awesome about this panel is the way all these Atlanta cons share staff and ideas and they work together. A lot of multiple convention cities aren't like that, believe me. We all sort of riffed on stuff for a while, told crazy con stories, talked about the fun parts of running cons and the not so fun parts, and then at 5 it was time to wrap this con up!
Closing ceremonies usually run long because everybody has some obscure grievance to air, but this year it didn't. Most of the comments were positive, the complaints were realistic and constructive, and Stan cut it off at 6pm regardless. THE END. We spent the next few hours goofin' off. I did a very little work at taking the con down. Some stuff got put away. We then put a giant group together and went to Scalinis. Me, Ed, Mike, Carol, Neil, Walter, Rob, Matt, Melanie, Matt B., CB, and Shaun - we were the loudest table in the place! Actually I think we closed 'em down. Back at the Waverly, the remnants of the con chilled out in the various bars and suites until bedtime. We wound up watching all of MESSAGE FROM SPACE which I didn't expect to do. Man, that DVD looks good.
Monday we packed up. I hung around the lobby drinking coffee, seeing people off, and hoping to catch a luggage cart. We loaded up and I made an airport run and then returned the van to the parents house, where I visited some more, took a nap, got a ride to the airport, and waited for my flight. Walter and Rob were in the same concourse so we got to visit some. Then it was back to Toronto! And here I am now.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the panel before the Anime Cons panel was a model kit diorama panel with awesome Godzilla models made by a guy I went to elementary school with.
All in all the convention went really well. I was expecting surly, troublemaking congoers ready to repeat their Dragoncon experience of drunken shenanigans, and we didn't have any of that. Fewer ambulance calls, more attendees, a more positive crowd, better events spread out in a more coherent fashion, it's almost like we've been doing this for 16 years. In fact this seemed like the first time that the hotel, the Galleria, and other establishments really realized who we are and what we bring to the table ($$$) and they treated us right. The attendees know who we are and how we roll and are prepared. There were a lot of little glitches, the pre-con scheduling was even more nightmarish than usual, but the end result was positive, and that's what counts.
Tuesday night I packed up and noticed my suitcase was really really heavy. So I repacked and left some SHFS potential at home. Probably wouldn't have been worth the trouble anyways. Wednesday AM Shain drove me to Pearson and I went through a couple extra layers of security and got on the plane. Flight was uneventful if a bit bumpy. Atlanta was hot. I mean in the 90s hot. Smyrna was hot. Visited with the family, sorted some stuff, visited with the neighbors and the cat down the street who adopts families with small children, visited with the nephew, had dinner. Jason and I took an after dinner pre-convention expedition to the AWA top secret HQ facility deep in the Asteroid Belt. It's kind of awesome that the convention is at the point where it can afford its own space- not just a storage unit but a workshop and office where people can get things done all year long without having to do this stuff in somebody's garage or a parking lot.
Anyway Thursday arrived and it was time to go get some peoples at the airport. Carol & Mike's flight was earliest. I delivered them and the TUBS O' DFEST to the Waverly and was back down the highway to Hartsfield. Man, there were a LOT OF COPS on the road! State patrol cruisers, motorcycle police, you name it! Neil and Ed and Ryan got picked up next and it was an interesting feeling walking to the van, realizing we're not college kids any more, we're home-owning middle aged guys. Still going to anime cons. YES!!
Thursday at 5pm means it's time for me to get down there and get the SHFS set up. The Super Happy Fun Sell is AWA's flea market event where people can clean out their closets and basements of their pre-loved anime merchandise. We are not the first or the only convention to do this, but every con should do this. Actual AWA registration isn't open yet but people are already lining up.
I get my table set up, mark out AWA's tables, and there are a few people hanging around outside the door that I generously allow to start setting up in exchange for them keeping an eye on my table. Six rolls around and the SHFS setup begins in earnest. It's in a bigger room and the layout is kinda weird but people figure it out. By 7:30 things are in full swing.
Matt Buffington brought a box of stuff and took time off from setting AWA up to unload some gems. And let me tell you I was right there to get the pick of the litter...
We wrapped the SHFS up a little after 10pm and everybody went back to their rooms or cars with less clutter and more cash. I did fairly well both in the selling and the buying dept; kind of broke even, but I got rid of a lot of things I had no use for that were just taking up space. Like the Intellivision. Afterwards I made a late night Wallyworld run to get snack items and throwin' candy and then it was bed time.
Friday noon was opening ceremonies, which was the best attended ever. I believe we finally have trained the crowd to show up at noon. Here's a pic of Stan working the crowd.
I collected Carl Horn and Mike and Carol and we made another supply run. Carl had a party to throw on Friday and Carol and Mike had one on Saturday and I needed "Chicken In A Biscuit" for Shain. They don't sell it up here. Something about health concerns. On the way out we ran into Sarah and Emma in their dress uniforms...
Afterwards I hit the dealers room, which seemed to have a better mix of merchandise this time. More cultural Japanese items, not quite as many DVDs, more Akihabara-esque in that there were more cases filled with tiny figures and cell phone charms. I actually found some things to buy, which is always nice.
After Thai food with Grant, Marie, and Brooke, it was time for Hell! Neil had worked the crowd into a frenzy with Totally Lame Anime and they were ready for action. Here's Neil workin' the booth:
I started a little after 10 and went my customary two hours. Usually I'll see a dropoff in the crowd after 11, but not this year. I think the improved AV setup had a lot to do with it, honestly. You can see the full playlist here.
THE FACE OF IRRITAINMENT:
I wrapped Hell up a bit late and after dropping my gear off it was time to go to Carl Horn's party. Probably had a bit too much to drink, but had a great time shootin' the breeze with everybody.
Saturday AM I became positive I'd had a bit too much to drink. It was a long slow climb back to normalcy. Breakfast helped. What I did on Saturday: made a judgement call to ditch the Anime Newlywed Game because the event before it had started really late and I would have had to MC it anyway and it would have totally sucked - went to the dealers room again - engaged in a long convoluted search for Greggo and/or prizes for the costume contest - drank a lot of water, coffee, Red Bull - was on the Anime Guilty Pleasures panel with Neil where we talked about anime that we are either too old or too male to watch but we watch anyway. Audience comments were enlightening, there are a lot of girls out there who like some really frightening stuff.
Saturday afternoon the convention reached peak capacity. You wouldn't think so from this photo - there are lots of people in the lobby, but it's not jammed- and this is because the AWA crowds were in that lobby, they were in the big video room to the left, they were in the big panel room to the right. They were up the stairs to the second floor and all around the second floor in video gaming and video rooms and the VAT and the main events room. They were in the hallway to the Galleria and in the panel rooms in the Galleria and in the food court and in the dealers room and in the artists alley hall and in the Williams Ballroom and in the big hallway lined with publicity tables for conventions. There were people everywhere.
Meanwhile, we had a good crowd of some of those people helping us set up Dessloktoberfest. At around 8:45 we got panicky and Tim Eldred and I went out on a last minute snack run. By the time we got back the party was in full swing.
(taken during setup)
(during actual social event)
The room was filled with people, noise, snacks, and libations of a punchy nature. The crowd even spilled out into the hall and for whatever reason did not attract the attention of the authorities, who were probably more concerned with the crowds below in the lobby. Anyway midnight rolled around and I had to go do Old School Classroom in the Stanhope room. I gotta say that this year I didn't get nearly as drunk or as ranty this year; I had a lot of material and some of it was interesting on an academic level - forgotten Matsumoto TV specials usually are- but academic interest does not translate into entertainment. Anyway last year I got so blotto I don't remember what I showed or said, and I didn't want to repeat that performance. So I was more sober, showed long, involved sequences of LIGHT VISITOR ST. ELMO (interesting) and LEGEND OF MARINE SNOW (terrible) and WAY TO THE VIRGIN SPACE (well-animated except for the computer animation). Also Kum Kum and Genshi Shonen Ryu and Thunderbirds 2086, and by 2:30 I was ready to call it a night. Went back up to the Dfest and helped with cleanup and was in bed by 4.
Sunday this year I was considerably more alert and less hung over than I was Sunday of last year. I did the "My Life On The Super Robot D-List" with Drew and Richard, and they had great looking clips of forgotten robot shows including one I had never seen before in my life, which at this stage of the game is rare. The audience seemed appreciative and I believe we'll be doing more panels of this type next year. I made one last dealers room run, caught the beginning of the Tim-narrated SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO RESURRECTION (fan reaction is mixed) and then did another panel, "Why Anime Cons?" with Jess from Momocon, Drew and Richard from Seishuncon, and one other guy whose name I'm blanking on, and what was awesome about this panel is the way all these Atlanta cons share staff and ideas and they work together. A lot of multiple convention cities aren't like that, believe me. We all sort of riffed on stuff for a while, told crazy con stories, talked about the fun parts of running cons and the not so fun parts, and then at 5 it was time to wrap this con up!
Closing ceremonies usually run long because everybody has some obscure grievance to air, but this year it didn't. Most of the comments were positive, the complaints were realistic and constructive, and Stan cut it off at 6pm regardless. THE END. We spent the next few hours goofin' off. I did a very little work at taking the con down. Some stuff got put away. We then put a giant group together and went to Scalinis. Me, Ed, Mike, Carol, Neil, Walter, Rob, Matt, Melanie, Matt B., CB, and Shaun - we were the loudest table in the place! Actually I think we closed 'em down. Back at the Waverly, the remnants of the con chilled out in the various bars and suites until bedtime. We wound up watching all of MESSAGE FROM SPACE which I didn't expect to do. Man, that DVD looks good.
Monday we packed up. I hung around the lobby drinking coffee, seeing people off, and hoping to catch a luggage cart. We loaded up and I made an airport run and then returned the van to the parents house, where I visited some more, took a nap, got a ride to the airport, and waited for my flight. Walter and Rob were in the same concourse so we got to visit some. Then it was back to Toronto! And here I am now.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the panel before the Anime Cons panel was a model kit diorama panel with awesome Godzilla models made by a guy I went to elementary school with.
All in all the convention went really well. I was expecting surly, troublemaking congoers ready to repeat their Dragoncon experience of drunken shenanigans, and we didn't have any of that. Fewer ambulance calls, more attendees, a more positive crowd, better events spread out in a more coherent fashion, it's almost like we've been doing this for 16 years. In fact this seemed like the first time that the hotel, the Galleria, and other establishments really realized who we are and what we bring to the table ($$$) and they treated us right. The attendees know who we are and how we roll and are prepared. There were a lot of little glitches, the pre-con scheduling was even more nightmarish than usual, but the end result was positive, and that's what counts.
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no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 04:51 pm (UTC)You weren't kidding about those Godzilla dioramas. How did he get them to the con without something breaking? Amazing looking stuff.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 06:09 pm (UTC)It's not really a health thing, they just don't sell it (Chikin N A Biskit) up here, for whatever reason. I've started seeing the aerosol cheese, though.
I predict once Target FINALLY makes its move and enters the Canadian market, we'll start seeing more variety in our dumb-ass consumer goods.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 06:27 pm (UTC)(sorry, couldn't resist.)
Glad to see y'all had fun.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 07:55 pm (UTC)I really really really wish I could have been there!
no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 08:19 pm (UTC)That is kinda pathetic, walking around in a store boughten Twinkie outfit at a Japanese cartoon festival. Jeez, dude. Want some therapy with that?
no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 12:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 02:45 am (UTC)because 'want to check out my cream filling' is on a par with measuring organ length via donuts carried, see.
Ya know, I'm trying to make a joke here but the more I ponder it, the more I fear it's not a joke...
So, am I missing context, did Shain not make it to AWA this year? I'm sorry about that if so.
Shoutout to Sarah and Emma, your jackets rocked, ladies!
And Message From Space should be shared with as many people as possible. It's a lost classic now.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 03:38 pm (UTC)There are a lot of people for whom conventions are where they go to dress up and wander slowly around, hoping people will take pictures of them. That's all they do. Wear the same clothes for three days and pose for photos. I guess they didn't have enough family camping trips when they were children.
http://www.amazon.com/Message-Space-Vic-Morrow/dp/B003DWS04U
Message From Space can be everybody's for $20! The extras are pretty astonishing. The Japanese trailers are full of early test shots and publicity of Vic and Peggy arriving in Japan. The transfer is super sweet and while the English dialog track is kinda muddy the Japanese dialog is sharp and the subtitles are great. I recommend.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 06:41 pm (UTC)I can understand posting a request if you want a photo of some really good costume, or some cute and scantilly clad person, but "DID ANYBODY SEE ME, AND IF SO, WOULD YOU PLEASE POST PICS OF ME IN THIS THREAD SO EVERYBODY ELSE CAN SEE ME"... well, my patience for attention whoring is much longer than most, but even I think that's tacky.
That said, the old dude as Ponyo's father, that guy was awesome.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 07:16 pm (UTC)*sigh*
no subject
Date: 2010-09-27 11:36 pm (UTC)