As I look forward to 2010, I'm immediately slammed with attending my first So Cal con since AX '02 with Anime Los Angeles 6. I'm really stoked in going, and I really do hope to meet new faces and get to know more people within the con circuit. I also wish everyone luck to those who are going to Sac-Anime the same time I'm going to ALA, especially the new cosplay staff and the Console Gaming Room (I always give you guys props, I'm going to miss you all!)
FanimeCon 2010 is also on deck, and it'll be my first con above 21, meaning I can get my ass drunk have a few drinks with people I know while I'm there. Plus there's probably more that I will do down there, hopefully either attend Day Zero or Closing Ceremonies.
There's also AX 2010 (and I swear I will make an attempt to go to AX), the summer edition of Sac-Anime, and few small cons here and there. It would be nice if I could go to those small Bay Area cons like WonderCon or AOD.
2010 is looking nice, and with two years of convention coverage under my belt and counting, this is going to be good.
Happy New Years everyone, stay safe, and I'll see you all next week down in LA for ALA!
If anything, 2009 went without a hitch, so I can consider the 2009 con season much much better than the 2008 con season. I didn't have any major troubles in 2009 unlike in 2008, so that's another big bonus.
There were only three "major" cons this year - Sac-Anime Winter and Summer 2009 and FanimeCon 2009. Again, no AX and no other Bay Area cons like WonderCon or Animation on Display (AOD). It would of been nice but with the economy the way it was I had to restrict myself to just a few, but despite that I actually spent more this year. Go figure.
As I kept saying in my FanimeCon 2009 overview, this was a "year of firsts." (Then again, I'll probably 100% say that again next year.) For one, I really focused on getting my blog out there by spending a lot on business cards to get the word out. I must say, they have done more than I have expected so much to the point where I have 2,000 cards sitting in my room waiting to be distributed in 2010. There were also the moments - meeting Halko Momoi and Hiroyuki Yamaga (for the 3rd time) at FanimeCon, seeing the Console Gaming Room evolve into a juggernaut at Sac-Anime, and the move from the cramped Scottish Rite to the "clusterfuck" known as the Radisson.
As I sit here looking at the clock wondering how much I have to go until 2010, I think to myself: "Is there anything I could of done differently besides going to more cons if I had more money?" The answer is an obvious no, because then things would of been differently.
As I look back at 2009 overall, I've learned a lot from running a "fan-made independent anime conventions blog" and how much people do appreciate seeing a con from a fan's point of view full of blurry con shots and omissions because the writer can't remember everything that happened at a con. In fact, I've made it my mission statement - to provide con coverage not from a press or industry point of view, but from an ordinary attendee's point of view.
As we get closer to January 1st, 2010, two things come to mind: the current plans for the con (ALA) and wondering when the hotel website for Fanime is going up. So far, I've been able to book on or near the first day they were available. I'm hoping that they go up at the same time again this year so that I can get first dibs on the room that I want. If anything, I'm not worried about ALA until I get my room for Fanime.
I will be posting my Con Year In Review 2009 tomorrow so check back for that.
First off, Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you got everything that you wanted and more!
So, being a Host Club member from Ouran High the Student Council President of Ouran High, I have some Ouran-related Masquerade videos lying around in my "Recommended for You" section of YouTube. I came upon the ALA 3 skit in '07 with the UCLA Host Club.
Now with double triple the angles (and the encore video)!
Now that finals are over, I can focus on preparing for ALA. I hope to get some good loot next week that'll be useful, like a new camera or a netbook. I also find it interesting that I'm going to be busy the next three weeks - Christmas, New Years, then the con.
I am interested in seeing Christina Vee and I hope that if she has the chance I want her to hear the remixes that I have done combining her dub and the original material. I love the mixes of "Super Driver" and "Don't say 'lazy'" that I made, as well as a couple of others.
I'm waiting for new information to appear before I really get into posting prior to the con, but do stick around for a reflection of the 2009 con season.
By the way, has anyone tried to add the blog as a iPhone Home Page link with the icon? Please let me know if it works.
I'll have more on ALA on Thursday after Finals, but I wanted to touch real quick on a plan between spending cash for ALA and FanimeCon.
Odds are most of the items that I see at the ALA Dealers Room I'll see at the FanimeCon Dealers Room, give or take some items that come out after ALA that'll be available at FanimeCon. As a result, I can probably bring a bit more spending cash to ALA in hopes of finding what I want prior to FanimeCon. I can lower the cash budget down since I won't need that much money come FanimeCon, which will help in the overall budget total.
Just a thought from a budgeting standpoint especially between two cons.
If I hadn't come down with tonsillitis this past week (and I'm about halfway through recovery) and didn't skip a week of work, I might of had a chance. Even if I had the chance, CSUS Finals are on Monday and Tuesday (two a day) so even then I wouldn't have gone in lieu of studying. So either way, I won't be headed out this Sunday.
I'll be posting my thoughts on a fast-approaching ALA post-finals next week.
I swear I hope to have more hotel room vblog updates from ALA; for some odd reason at Fanime my videos weren't going through since the bandwidth was limited with the amount of data traffic going out the hotel (I'm not kidding, it was like using a wi-fi connection on a wired connection). Maybe this time the bandwidth will be much better and I can have all my videos up.
With the booking of the flight to LA ($62 one way via Southwest.com, pretty damn good deal) and a purchase of my ALA badge, it's quickly hitting me that for the first time in over four years I won't be attending Sac-Anime. But this is for the better for me and my blog since (like I've been saying over and over) I get to reach out to a different audience.
(On a side note, I got a reorder of business cards, 2000 for $40, also a pretty damn good deal.)
I may miss my hometown con, but its all for the better in expansion.
Also...wait, Sac-Con is next week? Right before finals? Hmm...
I just talked to the person who really wants to stay with me over the con weekend and we got it figured all out. I'm guessing this means I'm ALA bound! I will book flight and badge and reorder business cards in the upcoming week, and I will see you all in about a month down in LA!
This is a test of a new blogging app for my new phone that I got last night, the Droid. My BlackBerry died yesterday when I couldn't hear anything when making or receiving calls.
On the flipside, this phone will really help me in my mobile blogging and real-time updates via Twitter when covering conventions.
I hope everyone is filling up on turkey, stuffing, and Black Friday deals as we prepare for the end of the 2009 con season and the beginning of the 2010 con season.
I can't believe that it's nearly December, and soon enough a new year. It's been a fun year on the convention circuit, and I hope that in 2010 I can attend more conventions.
From everyone here at the California Conventions Blog (and my everyone I mean just myself), happy Thanksgiving!
Unfortunately, my contacts from the convention circuit have dropped out of ALA in January. I now have two options: find other roommates (which I have found, still working with them) or ditch my ALA plans and go to Sac-Anime instead. Either way, I'm going to a convention in January.
I mentioned this on the FanimeCon Forums: instead of having one large charge on your credit card for your hotel stay, why not buy gift cards and pay the hotel in small increments?
This is how my plan works: in January, book the room. In the same month, buy a $100 gift card to the hotel you'll be staying at. In February, buy another $100 gift card. Repeat each month until you get the desired amount. Then when you check-out from the hotel, use all the gift cards you've accumulated; whatever the balance is after using those gift cards will be charged to the card that you put on file when you originally booked it. When you get the statement from the card company, it'll look like $100-$100-$100-$34.48 (over the period of 5-6 months) compared to $334.48 following FanimeCon. It also makes it easier to pay off the hotel when you don't have to worry about one lump charge and everything is in increments.
This gift card route can also be useful if you know you're going to eat out somewhere like Subway, McDonalds, or Jack-in-the-Box. Restaurants.com can also be a good resource for higher-end eating out - you can buy gift certificates on the cheap (you can get a $10 gift certificate to Chicago Pizza for $4!!!).
You can get all of these months in advance to draw out the ultimate cost of FanimeCon (or any other con you might attend), and that's the thing I want people to get out of this idea.
I'm going to go off-topic for a bit since I'm bored up in my ECON 100a class going over homework - I'm going to apply what I'm learning with anime.
EXAMPLE:
On April 5th, 2006, Ouran High School Host Club debuted in Japan. In the episode, Haruhi breaks a vase that the club was going to auction off with the starting price of ¥8,000,000. How much is that worth in Sept. 2009 USD?
First off, we must change the currency from yen to dollars.
So at the rate of 0.0085 on April 5th, 2006, ¥8,000,000 = $68,168.
But that's in April 2006 USD. We want Sept. 2009 USD, so we must summon the CPI (consumer price index). The CPI in April 2006 was 201.5 while the CPI in Sept. 2009 is 215.969.
So, $68,168 x (215.969/201.5) = $73,063.
Therefore, a ¥8,000,000 broken vase in April 2006 is worth $73,063 in Sept. 2009.
I wanted to twitter this, but this is more than 140 characters and I really wanted to get this off my chest.
Well, thanks for reading this.
With the purchase of my FanimeCon 2010 badge (in November at the low price of $45!), I can go to my budget sheet and update it. Meanwhile, the big deal is whether to stay four days or three days - remember, one of my goals is to attend Day Zero; I can also stay Fri-Tues to avoid the Monday checkout rush and get some extra rest before driving home on Tuesday. As of now, the difference is about $100. Hmm...decisions decisions...
This weekend is Yaoi-Con over at the Marriott San Mateo-San Francisco Airport in San Mateo. Now, the thing about Yaoi-Con is that it's a 18+ con for a number of reasons - all outlined in the California Penal Code 313-313.5. tl;dr: Yaoi-Con = sex = Penal Code (or something like that). Yaoi-Con is on my list of cons I want to go to because I hear it's a well-run con with lots of things to do. Hell, Jonas is down there running the game room. I do hope that when money the situation gets better I can afford to go to more cons. But for now, I have to pick and choose.
If you haven't seen the new redesign for the FanimeCon 2010 website, check it out - it looks pretty damn nice.
Also, registration is up for those who want in very very early - $45 until 11/6. Shit, I might do it this weekend.
Hotel information's not up yet though, so keep an eye out (probably around early early 2010, and my early early I mean January 1st).
With FanimeCon only seven months and seven days away (assuming its May 28-31st), my plans for 2010 are starting to come out. My big thing for 2010 is staying an extra day on Thursday to visit Day Zero - something I've wanted to do since '07. However, that'll put a big increase in my planned budget and I'll need to cut back or aquire more funds.
There is one thing that I am thinking of doing, and that'll involve breakfast. Sure, I'll need actual food for lunch and dinner, but I think I can get by on coffee cake and cinnamon rolls along with some OJ. That'll put my before-con food budget up in addition to snacks and drinks, but it'll help in bringing down my at-con food budget which would help me if I decide to stay four days compared to three.
My question is why am I planning for Fanime already when ALA is about three months away and I don't have much planned there? I'm still waiting on people that might stay with me before I commit and start buying everything that I need.
With the amount of resources that I have, I can only go to a certain amount of cons each year.
However, there are a few that I've always wanted to visit.
Here is a small list of cons that I want go to:
Anime Expo (Los Angeles, CA)
San Diego Comic-Con (San Diego, CA)
Otakon (Baltimore, MD)
Anime Central (Chicago, IL)
Sakura-Con (Seattle, WA)
A-Kon (Dallas, TX)
Anime Weekend Atlanta (Atlanta, GA)
Anime Boston (Boston, MA)
New York Anime Festival & Comic-Con (New York City, NY)
Of course, there are two outside of North America that would be my ultimate dream - Comiket and the Tokyo Int'l Anime Fair.
I hope that one day this blog can expand outside of California, but if I did that I would need a new blog.
As of today, Imari's cosplay webpage is back up after transferring over from GeoCities, which is closing down later this month. When you have the chance, check it out.
You can also find the "Related Links" section of the blog.
First off, it was recently announced that Sac-Anime Winter 2010 (back at the Radisson) is expanding to include Friday, meaning the con is running January 8-10.
Meanwhile, things are looking better for my attendance to ALA. I "accidentally" booked a room a month ago, but through my connections in the convention circuit I have found people who are willing to be my roommates at ALA, which will help costs. I'm not a definite lock to go to ALA, but from the planning stages it looks like I will go.
According to Slade Hashimoto via Twitter over the weekend, "Katie Bair, Li, and I [Slade] are the new Cosplay Directors for the Sacramento Conventions!"
I'm assuming Dan's already found a replacement for Imari and her crew, who resigned as the Cosplay Director at the most recent Sac-Anime in August.
I wish the three of them luck on their new positions, and I look forward to seeing their outputs.
NOTE 10/15: I am not with the cosplay crew, contrary to what some people have tweeted me. I copied the exact tweet from Slade's account, and I have updated to reflect the fact that it's him and not me.
Sac-Anime Winter 2010 is scheduled for January 9-10, probably back at the Radisson.
Anime Los Angeles 6 is scheduled in the same weekend, January 8-10 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott near LAX.
I've been wanting to cover more cons outside of my usually scope from the past couple of years, and ALA looks like a good opportunity. However, Sac-Anime will ultimately be cheaper than ALA but there's a lot more upside in expanding coverage and audience reach if I pick ALA over Sac-Anime - I can finally cover a Southern California anime convention.
I had a hard decision to make, and I need to make it soon.
Like I mentioned before, there were high expectations going into the Summer 2009 con. The new venue was the headliner, with both its benefits and drawbacks.
If there was one word that people were throwing around Sac-Anime, it would be "cluster fuck." It was really crowded, especially between Artists Alley were the hallways were narrow due to the tables. Now I don't think the con expected this amount of traffic (remember that the lines for Saturday and Sunday were going snaking through the interior of the hotel out the lobby) and/or the success of that layout. With the January dates set (Jan 9-10), it does feel like the con will be returning to the Radisson and by then a new layout will be in place...I hope. Either than that, it was a good place with big rooms for panels, the Masquerade, the rave, and console gaming. The Grove was a nice area for both the concerts and the Rock Band Freestyle. The staff were friendly and were catering to the request of everyone.
I must mention one thing. If you haven't heard already, Imari Chan announced her resignation from head of the Cosplay department at Sac-Anime at the end of the Masquerade around 9pm. Word didn't come out until later in the night and into Sunday when word really got out, and she did announce it again at the end of Fashion Show. First off, I told her how bad I felt that I mentioned her in my preview piece for the con without knowing that this would be her last. She's not quitting the con circuit though, and I wished her luck on her future endeavors. Now what got me is all the rumors surrounding this - I heard there was infighting with staff, infighting with the higher-ups like Dan, she's taking half her staff with her, and much much more - I haven't heard an "official" reason why all of this went down and I hope we can get some explanation soon. But seriously, I wish you luck Imari for your future, and odds are I'll be seeing you at FanimeCon 2010, or ALA if both of us go.
In all, it was a good con for a first-time location. Everyone seems to be working as well, but of course there's always problems and we can't avoid that.
Anyways, that concludes my Sac-Anime Summer 2009 Review. Big thanks to Wendell from FanimeCon for making my Rock Band experience much more awesome and Tom Tonthat from Traveling Valentine for the company (you can read his review of the con here). See you all soon!
The cool thing about the "Express Yourself" option is that there's no hassle with the front desk. No check-in, no check-out. All I had to do was get everyone cleared out by 12pm, and I had everything packed in my car around 8:30am. This gave me enough time to go to Starbucks for breakfast and be back in time to get the parking near the front so that I don't have to walk far when I decide to go home.
Again, nothing really happening so I decide to chill out (again) in the console gaming room playing more Rock Band and a bunch of Touhou-style side-scrolling shooters out of Japan which were really cool. I'm surprised that they had those type of games released out for the 360 and the Wii, especially the 360.
Another benefit to staying at the hotel was that there was a private autograph session with a limited-edition lithograph. I was able to see everyone again as well as Karen Dyer, a Sunday-only visit. More autographs and networking abound.
Shortly after that, I head over to the Dealers Room to buy the items I need for the Sunday Twitter Giveaway. I buy a Saber plushie (from Fate/Stay Night) and 5 boxes of pocky to give away. Half an hour later, Ramon shows the tweet and wins the grab bag. Keep in mind that this is the first thing I've bought at the Dealers Hall, and I'm not counting this because I'm not taking this home.
I finally get to hook up with Tom Tonthat from Travel Valentine around 12:30pm. He and his crew decided to watch the Cosplay Fashion Show, and somehow I forgot to bring my camera with me. It was a good showing especially the Ponyo group -
- now, at this point I would post "Ponyo on a Boat" for comparison but Studio Ghibli took it down...on YouTube.
There's also a moment where I interact with the hostess of the Fashion Show -
(12 seconds in) When she goes "Does anyone know what it is?" there's a pause where she looks down and then she goes "BlazBlue! Very good!" That was me telling her the answer. Also, *insert Jin ice car joke here*
Finally, I get something to eat for lunch with Tom and company. We went to Extreme Pizza for an afternoon meal and reflect on that's coming next on the horizon for us con-goers.
By 3pm, the con seems to be winding down...or I think it is. It's still a packed house, and I was told that people were still buying badges, probably for the Resident Evil panel that went down a bit earlier. At this point, there's a bunch of video game tournaments going down, one of them BlazBlue. Since I have a liking for BlazBlue even though I completely suck at fighting games, I decide to watch the tournament alongside the SF3: Third Strike and Halo 3 2 vs. 2 that was going on.
Two hours before the con closes, and I really really really want to buy something before they all take down shop for the con. The only thing I do buy is a mini-card commission of Chihiro from Persona 3; ironically I'm cosplaying from Persona 3 as well.
Soon everything would be almost done, and with Sac State in my mind I call it a con and go home. Usually I would stick around and see were the staffers were going to go eat since they enjoy my company, but with all the equipment they needed to haul back on top of reflecting on what happened during the weekend I gave everyone, including myself, space. Maybe another time.
I still have one more part - the overall reflections of the con.
Going out of the January con, I had high expectations. New venue, my first convention over the drinking age...new opportunities.
Somehow, someway, I woke up at 5:45am in the morning...can't sleep, already have that con adrenaline going. By 6:30 I'm out the door and on my way to the convention. I wanted a big breakfast before the con, so I stopped by Dennys off of J and 3rd. A Super Grand Slamwich and some twisted OJ was the way go to. By 7:30 I'm already at the Radisson hotel, ready to pick up my pre-reg badge since pre-reg opened up at 7. With nothing to do, I sit outside and take time to chat with the game room staff despite them setting up. I even had the chance to test out Rock Band with Wendell from FanimeCon - it was nice to see him again. Meanwhile, it's getting hot with the forecast expected to be beyond 100 degrees, and in my Persona 3 uniform it got really hot. Luckily I had two Gatorades on ice...which I drank before 10am.
With the option to check-in online before the day, my room was ready around 9am. It was a bit far from everything, but then again so was everyone else. I take a small break, watch a small bit of the Ted Kennedy funeral, and get the high-speed internet working. I also adjust my Sleep Number bed to be really really really soft, although I would firm it up a bit later that night. With the long lines forming at the con, it was time to me to head back to check out the opening. I also needed to find my roommates - actually, they were people that I contacted them about sharing a room with me through the forums. It actually took them awhile to find the room mostly because I gave them the wrong room number, but it was nice knowing that I didn't pay the full price to stay the night.
From the get-go, it was packed and the narrow hallways didn't help. It wasn't as bad in the beginning but as the day got hotter and more people came it really got crowded. At least the choke points were there, everywhere else I could get through easily. There wasn't much to do in the morning so I stayed in the console gaming room, which surprisingly was air conditioned and was one of the coldest rooms at the con. I also make my rounds in the Artists Alley and the Dealers Room.
By 1pm, I'm 45 minutes away from doing my interview with Akai SKY, so I blitz on over to Subway to grab something to eat. I make it back in time to actually eat before I do the interview. I've already posted the interview, and thanks again to Akai SKY for doing the interview with me.
Right after that, I decide to play the 1st Twitter Prize Giveaway - today it would be the limited edition t-shirt that came with the pre-reg. After going from the panels room to the console gaming room, Robert Tokunaga finds me and wins my t-shirt. Needless to say others were mad at me.
Eventually I do get back into the Voice Actor panel and somehow I get called on. I ask Liam O'Brien if he had remember me from the last con and a Geass question.
(go to 4:59)
Also, during the panel we all "lost the game," but Liam was confused so I looked up the term and handed my BlackBerry for him to read it. He wanted to take it, but was joking and gave it back to me.
(go to 5:49)
Afterwords, I get into the autograph line to network and get autographs.
By 4pm, I was actually ready to grab dinner since most of what I had to do was during the evening. Since Costco was next door, I decided to go on a food run for the room, grabbing a whole bunch of Chicken Bakes and a whole pizza, all for under $30. I also took a shower, something that I really needed.
I knew the Masquerade line was going to be packed, so I didn't even bother to see the Masquerade, although later I did get a small peek - I got to see Bleach characters dancing to "Yuki, Muon, Madobe nite."
In between that, I witnessed something amazing - people going crazy over a pallet worth of Venom Energy. If you remember the June con, they were there handing out free bottles which I got like four or five. Anyways, they had a whole bunch to give away so I helped the console gaming staff truck boxes full of them - and also ran over Ramon's foot in the process...oops, sorry man. I get one to drink to kick things off.
8pm hits, and it's time to get a photoshoot with Cole in. We had some trouble getting good shots with the sun going down, but there were fantastic shots that she got of me - I'll post those a bit later.
I also notice that the Rock Band Freestyle tournament is going on. True story: I was walking with her on the other side of hotel grounds when all of the sudden I hear the guitar intro to (Don't Fear) The Reaper blasting through the hotel. They had the sound system cracking and it was freakin' awesome.
With the night still young, there was one thing I wanted to do - drink at a convention for the first time. I just had one though - a Heineken since I knew I'd be pounding Venom Energy.
Cosplay Poker would be starting soon, and I knew with the experience I've been gaining I'd have the edge. Yes, I did try to play bully but eventually ran out of cards with the blinds eating up my chips like Light taking his "potato chips...and [eating] it!" So with me out, I find myself shuffling cards since I wasn't the all-time dealer for the final table. I also hear the sounds of the rave going on, which actual good music. I wish that went until the early morning but it had to shut down by 2 in the morning.
Through all of this, there was one surprise waiting for me - a Carrot Juice Tournament. Yes, that game from Rayman Raving Rabbids. But with this one, this one was unannounced - it was part of their Easter Egg attempts at the console gaming room. With not having played that game in over a year and a half, I did poorly - one I did the double switch I knew I was done for. Hey, at least I knew that I took 3rd in the inaugural tournament. The crazy thing was that Robert was dethroned - by a mear six tenths of a second. The difference between first and second place was four hundredths of a second - all times were in the 2'10" range, nowhere near the record time of 2'18". Robert gave up his crown, but to someone who truly deserved it.
It's near 2am now, and time to get one last chat in with BSaphire before she leaves for the night. By 2:30am I'm back in my room trying to sleep...
Tomorrow, I will post the Sunday portion of the report as well as my overall impressions of the con.
My review of Sac-Anime Summer 2009 is coming soon, but before we get to that, a bit of back history because we're going to need it.
Back before Sac-Anime Winter 2007, BSaphire announced that there would be unique, late-night video game tournament involving Carrot Juice.
This is from the game Rayman Raving Rabbids on the Nintendo Wii. The mini-game works like this: with the Wiimote you aim at the Rabbids that are trying to attack you and with the nun-chuck you go up and down pumping carrot juice into the goggles of the Rabbids to knock them off. The reason why this mini-game is so funny is that the motion that you make with the nun-chuck is the same motion that you use to...you know...THAT.
With that announcement, everyone started to train, and when the time came everyone was ready to go. Me, Jonas, Robert, Bart, and a couple of others who I forgot competed. Robert went up first and established the 2'18" mark - a mark that hasn't been contested since this started. Of course, Robert won and was knighted "King of the Carrot Juice." Jonas came in second, and everyone was surprised when they found out that I came in 3rd place.
So far there has only been one...until Sac-Anime Summer 2009.
I conducted this interview during sound checks on Saturday before they performed that afternoon.
Me: So what was your first performance like back at the Scottish Rite Center in July of 2006? Umi: Um...it was fun, I think, I mean definitely that was our first time...it was my first time in Sacramento, it's just cool to be in another city. Hayashi: I think we were the first band to play at Sac-Anime. Me: I think so. Hayashi: Yeah, because that started a trend of having the bands come and play here, which is a great venue by the way, Sac's always been good to us. Me: My second question is do you like the move to the Radisson? I mean look at this beautiful place! Umi: We just got here a little while ago, obviously we haven't been here before but the stage is really awesome- Hayashi: The Grove is awesome...[we've also played] at the Scottish Rite Center before and the other hotel but this is great. There's a lot of people here. Me: What's the one thing you like about Sac-Anime? Umi: Um... Hayashi: The water.
*both laugh* Umi: Yeah. Definitely I think the people. I've been walking around the halls and people are like "Oh my gosh, you're," so, um...they're very warm. Hayashi: The kids already listen to a lot of music, no matter what it is. I think there's also a level of professionalism here at this con. We knew that Chris was coming to do sound again, we really loved working with him last time. Me: My final question is the future plans for Akai SKY in terms of tour dates and event locations? Hayashi: Our very next gig is actually next weekend during Labor Day in Las Vegas. We'll be playing with Halko Momoi [and a couple of other bands that we know], so it'll be good to play with them. Me: Well thank you for your time. All: Thank you.
I know that somewhere in the interview Ryuusei had a say in the interview, and Jinra was "mute" the whole entire time.
Thanks to Akai SKY for taking time out in their preparation to do the the interview with me!
With school underway, I begin my journey to an Economics degree at Sac State.
Besides working with the notion that our generation of economists will oversee the future after this depression, I think I can bring that knowledge to both people who run conventions and the people who attend them.
I'll bet you that a lot of people are wondering "Why hasn't K-ON! been licensed in the States?" or "Why is Viz putting all their effort into Bleach and Naruto?" The majority of the anime industry can be described through economics, and one of my dreams is to travel the cons talking to attendees on why things are in the industry - of course, in simple terms because some economic concepts can be hard to grasp.
But I can't get to that until I graduate...in two-three years.
Anyways, I'll be posting the Sac-Anime Summer 2009 Review tomorrow, and hopefully the interview with Akai SKY before the end of the week.
Ever since I've been doing convention coverage and handing out business cards to promote my blog, I have had guests of honor sign them during autograph sessions - and give them one so that they can visit the site.
The top card is signed by 3 of the 4 members of Akai SKY - Umi, Jinra, and Ryuusei. The bottom card is signed by all the guests of honor - Liam O' Brien, Paul Mercier, Alyson Court, Roger Craig Smith, and Karen Dyer. Notice O'Brien put on the bottom - "Media Don." That made me all happy inside.
I would love to write everything up about Sac-Anime right now, but I'm too tired to do any major work to get it out. However, I should have most of the material out this week, just not right now.
But, I will say that this con did have both its advantages and disadvantages. It was a good con for what was offered (especially the gaming room which had it crackin' the whole weekend and meeting the guests of honor is always a fun moment), but the con got swamped at times - the keyword that's been thrown around the social networking sites is "clusterfuck" - narrow aisles clogged up, attendees walking a small space between attendees lining up for panels and the Masquerade & Artist Alley tables. Throw in some good ol' hotel trashing and some announcements and it'll sure to give people second opinions.
I share both - good times, but bad timing.
It's 2:20am, and I am officially done with Day One.
The big news out of Day One is that Imari-chan is quitting cosplay - from what I'm hearing, she just got tired and decided to quit. I'll try to ask around tomorrow and see the real reason.
Either than that, it was a good Day One. From getting autographs to getting an interview with Akari SKY to playing Carrot Juice at 1:30 in the morning, I'm all burnt out.
Sleep time to prepare for Day Two.
It's about 9:30am, and I'm already in my room despite check-in being 4pm - thank god for online check-in.
Anyways, there is a long line forming for reg that opens in half an hour. I'm about to go down there and take some pictures.
Either than that, check in on Twitter and Facebook for mobile updates.
This is the final part of a preview of what will be offered at the summer edition of Sac-Anime.
Tuesday: Console Gaming Room
Wednesday: Cosplay
Thursday: Guests of Honor and Bands In-Depth
Friday (Today): Final Pre-Impressions and Last Minute Tips
With Sac-Anime tomorrow, I do offer last minute tips.
Do get a lot of liquids in your system during the con, preferably water or Gatorade - it's going to be hot on both days of the con, and hot temps + layers of cosplay clothing = not a good thing. Be vary of sugar crashes if you do decide to drink soda and/or energy drinks.
Have a backup plan: make sure you carry extra of everything especially money, supplies to fix your cosplay in case of breakage, food, and clothes.
Use your hotel room often. Take a break, grab some ice cold water from the cooler in your room, refresh yourself. I also suggest a 20 minute power nap when you feel tired - don't worry, you won't miss anything.
Know someone who has a car - you might save yourself money when it comes to buying food.
Use protection when needed - sunscreen and...you know...for that...moment... (BTW, I didn't put that last part in, someone else to me to. Seriously.)
And finally, kick back, relax, and have fun. Enjoy this con and what Sacramento has to offer.
This con really looks promising from top to bottom. The location is beautiful, the staff is ready to shoulder the workload, and everyone is ready to go.
With that said, I will see you all tomorrow at Sac-Anime or today at Day Zero if I do decide to stop by!
This is part three of a preview of what will be offered at the summer edition of Sac-Anime.
Tuesday: Console Gaming Room
Wednesday: Cosplay
Thursday (Today): Guests of Honor and Bands In-Depth
Friday: Final Pre-Impressions and Last Minute Tips
Today we will look at the various Guests of Honor and bands that will be making their appearance this weekend.
First, the Guests of Honor.
Unlike past cons, this list seems a bit more fresh in terms of non-repeat visits. The only major voice actor that is return is Liam O'Brien. Everyone else - Karen Dyer, Alyson Court, Paul Mercier, and Roger Craig Smith - are all first-timers. Did I mention that all of these people have connections to Resident Evil 5? Liam directed, everyone else I just listed had a voice. (And yes, there will be a Resident Evil panel on Sunday at 2PM in the Panel Room.) In addition to RE5, all of these voice actors have an extensive background in both anime and video games. Examples: Eureka seveN, Code Geass, Naruto, Devil May Cry 4, X-Men: The Animated Series, just to name a few.
There are also non-voice actor Guests of Honor, including Brandon McKinney, Katie Blair & Jodon Bellofatto, Che Gilson, and August Ragone. They represent a variety of subjects from cosplay to manga to the anime industry to...giant robots and monsters.
And now, the bands.
Akai SKY make another trip to Sac-Anime, joined by Buranden and Tanuki Suit Riot, both first-timers to Sac-Anime. They will be performing Saturday at 3PM at The Grove, an outside stage at the Radisson hotel. Also performing are the Random DJs featuring DJ Hellsing. They will be spinning the turntables at 10PM in the Panel Room.
I love the list of guests of honor that will be attending Sac-Anime this year. The bands list look stacked too, and I welcome Akai SKY's return.
The Final Part Up Next: Final Pre-Impressions and Last Minute Tips
This is part two of a preview of what will be offered at the summer edition of Sac-Anime.
Tuesday: Console Gaming Room Wednesday (Today): Cosplay Thursday: Guests of Honor and Bands In-Depth Friday: Final Pre-Impressions and Last Minute Tips
Today, we will be focusing on cosplay, both the Masquerade and "Hallway" cosplay.
What makes this cosplay staff unique (especially the ones who run the Masquerade) is that they all have years upon years of experience. From Imari Chan, the head of the Cosplay Masquerade, all the way down the line, these group of staffers know what they're doing when it comes to cosplay. From Fanime to AX to Comic-Con, they've done it all.
The Cosplay Masquerade will take place Saturday night at 6PM in the Panel Room. If you wish to sign up, the deadline to sign up is at 1PM. A full list of instructions can be found here.
On Sunday, they also be hosting a Cosplay Fashion Show on Sunday at 1PM in the Panel Room. If you've seen what I posted when they did this back in August of '08 you probably know what's coming.
Speaking of cosplay, of course people are going to be cosplaying this weekend, including myself. There will be also be gatherings going on throughout the con, however I don't have a complete list with me at the moment. If I can get a hold of some sort of official list, I will post it.
I've been mentioning before that this con is taking place at the Radisson hotel. From what I've seen, it's a wide-open hotel with a lake in the middle and perfect opportunities to do photoshoots. I can't wait to use some of the scenery to take a couple of pictures.
I had the chance to talk to Ramon, the secondary head of the Console Gaming Room (CGR for short).
CAConBlog: First off, is your department making any changes in its operation from the last Sac-Anime in January at the Scottish Rite Center? Ramon: Well we're tightening up a lot of holes we had last year. With security, adding games, and bringing people who have been involved with the gaming community for quiet a few years. We are also trying this idea by adding what we call Easter Eggs. CAConBlog: What are these "Easter Eggs?" Ramon: The easter eggs are basically special events not listed. Some involve games that we don't even have listed. The events range from FREE competitions to FREE tournaments. CAConBlog: I see. Anything else? Ramon: We thought it would be something fun and exciting for the fans. CAConBlog: Alright, sounds pretty interesting. Moving along to the second question: Does the move to the Radisson hotel play any part in the changes to the operation of the department? Ramon: Yeah it makes a big difference. The biggest thing is more room. We are going to have 2 game rooms this year and in the evening we will have about 3, so gaming I think with the Raddison will take center stage along side cosplay. With more space we can put more games and hold more events. The biggest problem we've had in the past is space. We've had to cut games and events due to it. But this time around we can do what we wanna do. Have our events big and fun for everyone. That and the Raddison is really beautiful so its a nice treat. CAConBlog: I know, I've been there myself. Ramon: Yeah with the fountain and whatnot. The cosplay pics will be awesome. CAConBlog: Well, you just answered my fourth question "How you do you personally feel about Sac-Anime moving to the Radisson hotel?" so we'll move on. Ramon: Indeed. CAConBlog: Is there anything planned for this August's con besides the Easter Eggs? Ramon: We are going to have cosplay poker which will be fun. We always are unable to finish up the first day due to the fact that the Scottish Rite closes @ midnight. This time around we'll have all night and a lot of space to play. The Rock Band freestyle will be very awesome since it will be on an actual stage. The same stage the bands will preform. I like to see it as the bands are opening act for the main act which will be the fans. CAConBlog: That'll be a sight to see. Ramon: I've been on that stage and it very surreal to think that people will be putting on a show for people on there. It will be a lot of fun. CAConBlog: I look forward to that. Ramon: Indeed. Its also going to be at night so the grove will be lit up and it looks very nice at night. CAConBlog: Can't forget about that. Anything else? Ramon: Oh, one of our friend/sponsers, LoveHate, will be showing off [a] Itasha-style [Infiniti G35]. The car is beautiful! Modfied with anime style art. CAConBlog: Oh wow, a must see this weekend. My next question is: besides CGR, what's your favorite aspect of Sac-Anime? Ramon: Hmmm...it has to be the people. There's a lot of friendly nice people at the con. CAConBlog: Especially you guys, all of you are friendly. *laughs* Ramon: Thanks. *laughs too* We try to be. The fans are so passionate on what they do be it cosplay, gaming etc. The cosplay there are very nice too. I love walking around looking for a character I know. CAConBlog: Of course we all do. And finally, any closing comments? Ramon: Check out the Game Room!! And be sure to check our buddy Matt's blog!!! CAConBlog: Well thank you for the interview. Ramon: Indeed, thank you for the opportunity.
And that concludes the interview with Ramon. Keep an eye out for more interviews, as I have a lot more lined up.
Starting today, I will be previewing what will be offered at the summer edition of Sac-Anime.
Tuesday (Today): Console Gaming Room Wednesday: Cosplay Thursday: Guests of Honor and Bands In-Depth Friday: Final Preview and Last Minute Tips
Today I will focus on the Console Gaming Room, or CGR. At Sac-Anime, the CGR is the most popular attraction. It's one thing to play video games online or with your group of friends, but it's another to play against other people you may not know either in a pickup game or in a tournament. Speaking of the tournaments, the fine staffers have put out their full tournament schedule.
SATURDAY 1PM - DDR Extreme (JPS2) Freestyle ($2) 2PM - Tetris Splash (Xbox 360) K.O. ($3) 3PM - Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii) ($3) 3PM - Street Fighter III: Third Strike (PS2) ($3) 6PM - Street Fighter 4 (PS3) ($5) 7:30PM - Rock Band (Xbox 360 or PS3) Freestyle ($3 per band member) 8:30PM - DDR Extreme (JPS2) Perfect Attack Expert ($5) 10PM - Cosplay Poker (Free)
SUNDAY 12:30PM - Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Wii) ($3) 12:30PM - Super Street Figher II: HD Remix (PS3) ($2) 2PM - BlazBlue (PS3) ($5) 2PM - Halo 3 (Xbox 360) ($4 per player) 3PM - Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum ($2) * Time and dates are subject to change.
Notes from forum member eessahmuu:
Please be aware that the fighting game tournaments for -
Street Fighter III : 3rd Strike Street Fighter IV Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Blazblue
- are Double Elimination and best 2 out of 3 games with Grand Finals being 3 out of 5. Remember when playing a set, winner must stay as the same character and loser may change.
If you BYOC/BYOS, please be responsible for it.
Keep in mind, 3rd Strike Gill and HD Remix Akuma are banned.
If you get the chance, go stop by and watch a tournament, especially the DDR Extreme Perfect Attack Expert and the RB Freestyle.
In addition to tournament play, the CGR will offer a number of games that people can pick up and play.
PS2: DDR MAX 2 (JP) DDR Extreme (JP) DDR Supernova (JP) DDR Supernova 2 DDR X In The Groove Beatmania IIDX Red (JP) Beatmania IIDX Happy Sky (JP) Beatmania IIDX Distorted (JP) Beatmania IIDX Gold (JP) Beatmania IIDX DJ Troopers (JP) Taiko Drummer Taiko No Tatsujin (JP) Hyper Street FIghter II Street Fighter II: Third Strike Sengoku Basara X (JP) Capcom Vs. SNK 2
Wii: (excuding Smash Bros Brawl, all games must share one station) Super Smash Bros Brawl Wii Play Wii Sports Mario Kart Wii Rayman Raving Rabbids 1 Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 WarioWare Smooth Moves Guitar Hero World Tour Guitar Hero Smash Hits Punch-Out! Bomberman (DLC)
XBox360: BlazBlue Street Fighter IV SFII HD Remix (DLC) Rock Band 2 Halo 3 Dead or Alive 4 Tetris (XBL)
PS3: BlazBlue Street Fighter IV SFII HD Remix (DLC) Rock Band 2 Soulcalibur IV Tekken 5 *All games are subject to change. Some may not be available during the con. More games will be added to the list.
Now that's a lot of games enough to fill up a weekend's worth of con gaming.
So, stop by, check the gaming out, and say hi to the wonderful staff. They put all their sweat and blood into making this well-oiled machine running, and you should thank them for putting on a awesome exhibit.
Today is Saturday, meaning that we're about a week away from Sac-Anime next weekend at the Radisson hotel. Everything is coming together, although small errends are needed next week; at least everything major has been secured i.e. hotel and cosplay.
Good luck to those entering crunch time for cosplay and/or making money to spend at the con.
Plz note: this "contest" is in no way afflicted with any Sac-Anime event. This is being done on my own time with my own money.
Welcome to the 1st annual "Find Me @ Sac-Anime and Win Free Stuff!" game! The game is simple: you find me at Sac-Anime, you win a prize!
This is how you play: 1) Go to my Twitter page and subscribe! Don't have a Twitter account? MAKE ONE! 2) During Sac-Anime, I will be Tweeting at the con as part of my coverage alongside my blog. I will also be announcing times in which to find me. I might Tweet "First one to find me at the [insert business name here] booth in the Dealers Room wins a CD." If you're the first one to find me, you win! 3) Prizes may vary, from plushies to CDs to t-shirts. You never know what I might pull out. 4) I will be doing one Saturday and one Sunday. 5) ??? 6) Profit! 7) Enjoy the game!
I got an e-mail from Sac-Anime, and among the content it has a partial list of the programming. I might as well post it here.
SATURDAY EVENTS AND PANELS
10AM - PANEL ROOM "FREE HUGS" - A GUIDE TO CONVENTIONS
11AM - PANEL ROOM WALOLITA DRESS PANEL
12PM - PANEL ROOM STORYBOARDING FOR ANIMATION WITH BRANDON MCKINNEY
2PM - PANEL ROOM Q & A WITH VOICE ACTORS, PAUL MERCIER, LIAM O'BRIEN, ROGER CRAIG SMITH AND ALYSON COURT - Followed by an Autograph Session.
3PM - THE GROVE LIVE MUSIC WITH BURANDEN, AKI SKY AND TANUKI SUIT RIOT
5:45PM - THE GROVE PANEL WITH TANUKI SUITE RIOT
6PM - PANEL ROOM COSPLAY MASQUERADE
6:30PM - THE GROVE PERFORMANCE OF VIDEO GAME MUSIC
9PM - PANEL ROOM ANIME BINGO
10PM - 2AM SAC CLUB RAVE
SUNDAY PANELS AND EVENTS
10AM - PANEL ROOM TURNING YOUR HOBBY INTO A BUSINESS Hosted by Katie Bair.
1PM - PANEL ROOM COSPLAY FASHION SHOW
2PM - PANEL ROOM RESIDENT EVIL PANEL WITH THE VOICE ACTORS WHO PLAY LEON, CLAIRE, CHRIS REDFIELD AND VIDEO GAME DIRECTOR, LIAM O'BRIEN - Followed by an Autograph Session.
I am currently debating with myself whether or not to do the Twitter Giveaway that I did at Fanime at Sac-Anime. I'll probably decide sometime next week.
Meanwhile, there's less than a month left until Sac-Anime at the Radisson hotel. Good luck to those who are making costumes!
So I tried booking a couple of days ago with the promo code that's given for the Sac-Anime rate. Nothing showed up. So I call up their customer service and book through there. I find out that, before the July 31st deadline, they already sold out the Sac-Anime room rate. Now, if you don't know, if you book with the Sac-Anime room rate you get a private autograph session and a limited-edition lithograph. But, their room rate is about $20 higher
I just booked on the Radisson website despite having it "sold out" a couple of days ago. If you need to book now, BOOK NOW.
Since I didn't go to Anime Expo this year, this marks a time during summer where I'm not doing anything con-wise. Month-wise, it's a busy month: the 4th and my birthday (and this year, I turn 21 this year!) fall during July, but either than that it's playing the waiting game for Sac-Anime in August at the Radisson.
Today I hit 10,000 hits (originally combined from the two blogs I had) for this blog! I would like to thank everyone who has visited my website over the years, and here's to 10,000 more hits and more convention coverage!
I just got the link to the BlackBerry Launcher that connects to my blog. I gave it a try on my Pearl 8130, and it loads my blog! Props to EDL Industries for making me this custom BlackBerry Launcher!
I forgot to post this yesterday, so I'll post this now.
I got the chance to visit the Radisson hotel, site of Sac-Anime Summer 2009. Like what I said on Twitter, it's a beautiful site with lots of room. There's a huge lake in the middle and a ton of spots for photoshoot opportunities - I know I'll be getting some of that real estate for a photoshoot.
I didn't get the chance to tour the ballrooms/meeting areas and the conference center, but I would think those would be locations to put dealers room, viewing rooms, panel rooms, the console gaming room, and places to have the Masquerade and whatever else cosplay has in mind. Plus there's ample space for cosplay chess, if someone decides to hold one.
I also found out there's a couple of eateries in addition to Costco's food area being outside (can someone say a mass food run for pizza and chicken bakes?), so the food situation outside eating in the hotel and getting it delivered isn't that bad, although it'll be good to know someone who can drive.
Overall, this place is good for Sac-Anime. I tried to picture where everything could go, but you just can't given the near limitless combinations.
I'm really looking forward to August for my hometown con.
So there's this person who makes custom-made BlackBerry Launchers (a Launcher is an icon in the main menu and when you click on it, the browser opens to open the web page), and I submitted a request to have a custom-made BlackBerry Launcher that connects to my blog - that way, people can have instant access to the blog.
Well today he e-mailed me back asking for a icon photo, which means it's coming soon!
As Sac-Anime moves into the Radisson hotel, everyone is looking forward from moving out of the Scottish Rite Center and into this lovely hotel in between downtown and the Arden area.
I asked the CGR staff if they were looking forward to moving to the Radisson, and they are excited and are looking forward to more space - I picture something around the size at the Red Lion Inn in Summer 2007, probably even bigger than that.
I haven't had the chance to talk to everyone, but I think everyone would agree that a move like this can do wonders for a con.
Like I've said before, I love this Sac-Con after FanimeCon. I can always find people who went and talk about their experiences, and people who didn't go and let them know how awesome it is.
I wasn't planning on doing much, and with the things they were I decided to stick around the Console Gaming Room. For some odd reason, I found myself over there the majority of the time, laying back with the awesome staff and the wide variety of games. Props to Scott for allowing me to try out the Final Fantasy XIII demo and I was very impressed with the gameplay - I'm looking forward to FFXIII...whenever it comes out. There was also some impressive Guitar Hero: World Tour play in between.
But the highlight of the CGR was mashing through 104 straight stages/days in Rampage: World Tour, the 1997 arcade classic by Midway. I just kept on mashing with me and person that jumped in until we got tired or until we hit Sacramento. I got to both when I retired.
There was also a Venom Energy Drink booth set up, and they were giving away free energy drinks to the crowd. No, seriously, they were. I took like four while some were getting casefuls, probably for free publicity. I told them about Sac-Anime in August, and they told me that they were a lock to come back. I notified Dan about this, and I'm guessing they're in the talks.
There was a Masquerade, but I didn't bother with it - it's weird, ever since I didn't go the Masquerade at FanimeCon 2009, I'm sort of indifferent towards these kinds of events. Maybe it's just that I was having so much fun in the CGR that I didn't want to break that just to watch a Masquerade. (I also blame the YouTube effect as well.)
Either than that, I didn't really do anything besides kick it with the CGR staff, take free energy drinks, and win a $50 anime figure for $15 via Charity Auction. That's all the buying I really did.
Overall, it was con for me to kick back and relax after a week's worth of work.
I was thinking of putting this in the Omissions section of the report, but I wanted to put this on its own separate post.
I was constantly in and out of my hotel room, and for good reason (besides refreshing myself): I kept running out of business cards to hand out to people at the con to promote my blog. Before FanimeCon 2009, I was lucky if I went through my stack of cards that I keep when I go to cons in a day - I have a Rolodex card holder that holds about 30-40 business cards.
I ran out of cards about half an hour after I arrived on Friday.
I gave them to whoever I saw, especially those who I took pictures of. I gave it to people out in the hallways, people that I interacted with over that weekend, and even people in the elevator - I even left my stack on the elevator floor when I got off so that people could take them as they please.
I'm glad that I went through three boxes - I want to get rid of these as fast as possible because of the typo on the Twitter address. I have one more to go through, reserved for Sac-Anime in August and Sac-Con this weekend. That way, when I reorder I can fix the typo.
I'll be out there next Sunday for Sac-Con (the one I love the most because it's right after Fanime), and since the theme is School Days, I have this "hybrid" idea that 1) I made up like today and 2) has a true story attached to it. I think of a it as a melting of fantasy and reality yet keeping what I have been while in school.
I'll let you think on this one for a bit. See you all on Sunday!
I hate this time of year: after Fanime, before Anime Expo. To go or not to go, I ask myself every year. Every year I get close then I decide not to go.
This year is no exception. After looking through my forecasted finances, I decided not to go to Anime Expo because I don't have the money. I saved a lot for Fanime over a period of six months or somewhere around there, and I'm not sure I can save that much again in only a month. Even if I get the funds needed, I still have to pay off Fanime and then AX, not to mention other events in July.
If I had the money now, I would book a flight and pay for reg, but I just don't have the money. I'm not truly broke, just "I can't afford another big con" broke.
This portion of the report documents things that I did, but can't remember what date or time that I did it. It's more of way of saying "I remember doing something, but I don't know when."
On Saturday, probably sometime in the afternoon while I was at the arcade, I played someone in air hockey, rallied from 3 down with game point for the opponent. Forgot when I did it, but it was sometime on Saturday.
Keep checking back at this portion as I'll add more as I remember more.
For the rest of the Momoi concert videos, please visit the YouTube channel kanauru. Special thanks for posting the Momoi concert videos as well as the videos from the Masquerade.
このメッセージはMomoi Halkoに出かける。 This message goes out to Halko Momoi.
FanimeCon、サンノゼ、カリフォルニアおよび米国を訪問するためにありがとう。 土曜日の段階ゼロで女中の喫茶店の性能で驚くばかりそして精力的だった。 土曜日が、すぐに訪問する私のブログを促進する私の名刺を受け入れるためにありがとう。 私は私が日曜日にそれにあなたのコンサートをしたかもしれなかったが私が出席するべき別の約束を有したことを望む。 あなたが月曜日の私と取った写真およびサインをありがとう。 、私はもう一度見たいと思う来年もどって来る。 Thank you for visiting FanimeCon, San Jose, California, and the United States of America. You were awesome and energetic at the Maid Cafe performance at Stage Zero on Saturday. Thank you for accepting my business card promoting my blog that Saturday, and please visit soon. I wish I could of made it your concert on Sunday, but I had another engagement to attend. Thank you for the autographs and the photo that you took with me on Monday. Please come back next year, I would love to see you again.
With FanimeCon 2009 behind us, I must say that this has been the best FanimeCon I've ever been to, even though this is only my 3rd FanimeCon. I had so much fun, doing everything that I described in this report.
This con was truly amazing, but I can only think that FanimeCon will continue to improve and bring more awesome moments.
Despite the firsts, there are still some firsts that I have yet to encounter. Most of these I hope to achieve next year - my first FanimeCon above the drinking age, my first visit to Day Zero, and hopefully my first FanimeCon with a special someone that hasn't been able to come in the past two years.
Well, this concludes my FanimeCon 2009 report. I hope to see you all at Sac-Anime Summer 2009 at the Radisson and FanimeCon 2010!
私のレポートを読むためにありがとう。 Thank you for reading my report.
With the con winding down, the first thing I did was check-out of the Marriott...at 8am in the morning. By then, we had everything loaded in the car and ready to go when I needed to.
I treat my roommate to the breakfast buffet down at the Arcadia Restaurant, which was really good for the price that I paid.
Then I spend more time at Stage Zero, doing one last game - musical chairs, which I got bumped off. I really didn't have good position, which left me open to me being bumped off.
With Dealers Hall and Artists Alley open for one last day, I go and see if anyone did claim the prize. The lady said someone did, so I tweeted to find the person to win. In fact, DarkMiko claimed it the minute after I left. According to the lady, she was very excited when she came down to claim the prize.
Around 11am, the last Halko Momoi autograph session is about to begin. Since I won the Charity Auction yesterday, I get a fast track to the autograph session. It was very awesome, chilling with Momoi getting autographs and getting my picture taken with her. I would post that picture here, but I'm keeping that to myself.
I stuck around the con for a bit for realizing that I'm all tapped out, and I need to get home while I can see while being tired before it gets dark - I learned this last year during the Fanime Forums panel.
I did make a stop at SVGL since I was 6 stars away from ranking up in MT3DX, but no dice.
After taking a nap at my roommates house, I finally got back home to Sacramento just as the sun was going down.
After nearly 3 days of being away from home, I was finally back home.
