Technically, the Philippines declared war against Austria.
We take off for the convention pretty early since both Lucas, Erica, and Jared haven't picked up their press badges. We take a look around for early cosplayers as the temperatures start to rise in the early morning. We also noted how crowded it got and we were hoping that this would not be a problem over the weekend.
Eventually we settle down at the Hetalia Panel at 11am.
I take off early to pick up the megaphone from Ryan's car. By then, the hallways cleared up and the logjams that we were afraid of for the most part disappeared. There were still some issues of the hallway in the area of Main Events, Dealers Room, and Autographs which would plague the convention over the weekend.
On my way back, I noticed some undeveloped rooms that existed in this hotel.
It was one thing to read about the hotel itself, but to see undeveloped rooms like that was just a shocker to me.
I get back in time to catch the tail end of the panel, then we make our way to the area that we would hold the gathering.
As the co-organizer of the Hetalia Gathering, thanks to everyone who came outside (and into the shade, which made the gathering a bit more bearable) and had a good time with us.
After that was over, we decided to try our hands at the Autograph sessions. Chris Cason signed some FMA merchandise, and Marianne Miller signed my business card. Then 2pm rolls around, still stuck in line when Ryan has to get his Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Gathering going. Unfortunately, with a lack of attendance and still being stuck in the line, the gathering never took off.
We get to Lauren Landa and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, and we barely get that done with time to get to the Ouran Gathering, which we're not missing for the world. However, things got interesting with Laura Bailey came in (which we had to skip for the Ouran Gathering, but Lucas had us covered for autographs with her). Out of the middle of nowhere, Travis Willingham sits down next to Laura Bailey for his autograph session. Wait a minute, wasn't Willingham's autograph session at 7:00-8:00pm? Apparently, they bumped up Willingham to 3:00-4:00pm during Bailey's session and we didn't know until we moved out to the gathering when we saw signs telling the attendees that Willingham moved his timeslot up. We hoped that this would be the last time that the autograph schedules were changed around, especially when they're printed in the program guide and a lot of people, including our staff, planned the days around the gatherings, the panels, and the sessions.
Somehow, during the Ouran Gathering it became the Ouran Gathering: The Musical.
As the co-organizer of the Ouran Gathering, thanks to everyone who came outside (and into the shade, which made the gathering a bit more bearable) and had a good time with us. Also some props to Eric Womack for taking my camera and taking some of the shots while I was running the gathering.
We haven't eaten all day, so we throw back on our Philippines cosplay and head on over to the Hard Rock Cafe located at the Hard Rock Hotel. Here, we take down some well-needed food and drinks while enjoying the tail end of the Battle of the Bands contest they were holding.
We get back to the hotel and wait around until the Silver Millennium Ball starts. I slide back into the Autograph session to catch Eyeshine, Johnny Yong Bosch's band, and I get the band's autograph on my business card. I also check out the Dealers Hall, and despite finding some good buys it wasn't worth it given how much I spent at FanimeCon and Anime Expo. And there's also the Gaming Room, with Street Fighter 3rd Strike to boot.
By 8pm, the ball is about to start.
We have to leave a bit early to catch Jared's Convention War Stories Panel, which started from true stories at FanimeCon to well...poo. Lots and lots of poo stories.
Then over at the Anime BS panel, I share my dislike of the Hetalia fanbase. We head back to the ball to catch the ending with Lady Gaga's "Telephone."
The ball was over at 11pm, and after a short photoshoot with the cast of tonight's ball, we head back to the hotel.
It was time for me to take off to the Strip, alone, for the first time...
-Day One End-
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