...and danced beneath the stars. You fell asleep, I stayed awake and watched the passing cars.

[hazelchaz]

Part 2 of my Autumn Dream report. The other half is here.

Why did I keep going to Ani-Magic? To let the anime convention-going fans in the Antelope Valley know that our convention exists. To "wave the flag." To have another point of contact with Animé Los Angeles members and potential volunteers. To give away refreshments where the convention has no con suite, so that people can stay hydrated even when they're broke.

I've said this before, but it's worth repeating: Autumn Dream bears almost no resemblance to Ani-Magic. There's some continuity in staffing, a small number of diehard repeat attendees, and a completely different "feel" to the convention. It was held in the Poppy Pavilion at the new Antelope Valley Fairgrounds (left). I think they missed an opportunity to put up a big CK to change the name to Pocky Pavilion. And I was mildly disappointed that there weren't any concessions offering food on a stick. I know they roll in and out for special events, like fairs and swap meets, but still I hoped they might show up.

The official hotels for the convention were the Hampton Inn & Suites (left) and its sister hotel next door, the Homewood Suites. Brand-spanking-new, they were built earlier in the year.

So much of the character of a convention can depend on the environment, especially Ani-Magic. But the Antelope Valley Inn didn't want them back. Their solution was to move to the fairgrounds, and change the name.

It was pretty clear that the only reason to stay at a hotel -- whether one of the official hotels, or down at the Motel 6, or at some other hotel that was already built or cheaper (or both) -- would be if you were coming from out of town. Most of the convention's attendees would be commuters. In fact, a lot of them would be day-trippers who just tried the convention on a day pass.

So not having a central hotel location, and having a venue (the fairgrounds) that closed at 11pm or midnight: definitely a sea-change from what the long-time die-hard Ani-Magic veterans would expect.

On top of that, (almost) everything was in one huge barn-like room. Take a look at their Program Guide (PDF). Take a look at page 9. Saturday live program items are at 9:30 am, 11:00, 1:30 pm ("Meet Kyle Herbert"), and 4:00 pm. Sunday is similar. Four panels? One track, four timeslots on Saturday, that's it? No wonder people were wandering around, bored, with nothing to do.

Incidentally, the only way to get the 20-page program guide was to print out the PDF from the website. They didn't print any copies to hand out. Even Kyle Hebert, one of their headliners, wasn't given a copy. (He also didn't think they'd let his daughter in to see his 4:00 pm Sunday appearance. I gave him the extra badge that I'd bought in the event Selina had been able to join us.)

Take a look at pages 14-15. I count 89 names in the Staff list (which I'm pleased they've included), of which 22 are part of either "Security" or "Shadow Security." Why two Security departments, making up one-quarter of the staff? Incidentally, their "Con Operations" department is what I'd call Live Program/Program Ops.

Take a look at page 3. This paragraph seems a bit over the top to me: All those attending the event are hereby placed on notice that in agreement with both hotels, our guard carded security staff, accompanied by hotel management, is authorized to conduct courtesy sweeps of the hotel floors and are permitted to check room parties for illegal drinking and drug use during the event. Those found violating the law will be ejected from the property. Party responsibly! "Placed on notice" or not, guard carded or not, I don't agree that the convention has the authority to enter my private room without my express invitation.

I've always paid my way at Ani-Magic, and I believed that as a paying attendee I had as much right as anyone else to voice my opinions. But that's not Revell Walker's point of view. Should I keep quiet about how disrespectful it is to someone you're trying to "honor" to misspell their name, to not give them a copy of the program guide they're listed in, to have them even wonder whether the door dragons will let in a family member? We're going to have him as VAGoH in 2010, and I promise we'll treat him better than that. (It's possible by saying all this, I've just earned myself a permaban. Not sure it makes much difference as I won't be back next year anyway.)

We paid for an Autumn Dream dealers space in July. (A hotel room on the main traffic flow wouldn't be possible, and the free space they've given us in the past has been sub-optimal. Besides, I knew they needed the money, so it would be the neighborly thing to do to pay for our space.) Signing up this way put me in touch with Jack ("AM CFO"), and we exchanged some e-mails back and forth, mostly me telling him about typos on the website. Jack seemed genuinely grateful to have the proofreading help, as he's dyslecix. This is how I ended up offering to carry flyers to Anime Vegas for them.

I attended the convention with library_lynn and several others. While we were there, some Ani-Magic/Autumn Dream staffers came to us to talk about volunteering for Animé Los Angeles, such as Grace Nua (right). We didn't go seeking out staffers -- we just set up our station and waited for them to come to us. We had one staffer stop by as late as 4:00 pm Sunday to talk about working for us. (She hadn't had a break before then.)

I made sure we didn't criticize the convention, even when someone (left) asked me point-blank whether Animé Los Angeles was better than Autumn Dream. I just said that the conventions are different, with different goals and emphasis. For example, Autumn Dream wanted to reach out to the local Antelope Valley community, especially families of children. They tried to, and succeeded, in bringing the admission price way down, so they could make it up in volume.

The "family-friendly" emphasis could easily be likened to the "Pure Family Fun!" banner that Anime Expo hung on the side of the Los Angeles Convention Center last summer (right).

As it happens, two young ladies were cosplaying as the Joker and Ichabod Crane (left), and they were happy to give him an unequivocal answer as to which convention they liked better. They reminded me a lot of magi_sammy and her big sister little_serenity. The makeup, wig and mask kept me from figuring out who I was talking to, though. The hair and face have a lot to do with how good I am at recognizing people!

He talked about the convivial atmosphere at the Ani-Magics, with the room parties and the drinking. He works insane 60-hour-plus workweeks, and unwinding at a convention where a little alcohol is allowed is what gets him through the workweek. I told him there were lots of different kinds of conventions out there, and that he should look into Tiki Oasis if he wants to spend the weekend with 600 amiable drunks. (With live music and lots of rum, see my previous posts.)

We talked a little bit about the window-breaking incident at last year's Ani-Magic in the room next to mine (right). He was one of the people sleeping in the room, but not the one who punched the window.

So anyhow, about our Animé Los Angeles presence at Autumn Dream: Mostly we just kept to our area. The Dealers Room apparently didn't fill up, dealers-wise, which would explain why we were offered a free second space. I printed up some huge posters on the Bertha at the Tower to decorate our space.

We set up one table with free snacks -- granola bars, Oreos, and water, for example (left). You can see some of our big posters. (Most of them are about 3'x4'.) We have the summer postcard and a big sign that said "34 Reasons to register for Animé Los Angeles today" -- we had that as a flyer to hand out. It included a list of features that our convention has that you don't find at every anime convention.

The "Chibi Ala" was something Jessica Gaona sent us, as possible filler art in the program book or something. A big sign that says "Animé Los Angeles Recruiting Station." (We need to re-do that sign -- the convention name in the logo doesn't really flow into the "Recruiting Station" part, which makes it looks like we're just a "Recruiting Station." Hmmm...) You can also see that we've got a bunch of wire cubicles at the back of the space. We're using those for storage -- it really helps neaten the place up when we have these shelves for our convention stuff and for people's bags.

At the other table, facing the rest of the hall, we had badge ribbons for sale to raise money for the ones we give away at our convention (right). You can see that we've printed up the "winter" postcard as a giant poster on the wall, and a special poster that Jessica designed on the side of the pillar. It would work great as a one-page color flyer, but we don't have anywhere to use it this time around, to make it worth printing up a thousand of them!

We have a map of our hotel's ballrom floorplan barely visible behind the people and next to the pillar. And on the other side of the pillar where you can't see it, we have the list of our Guests of Honor.

Revell even stopped by for a while on Sunday and talked to my minions (left). I didn't sit in or eavesdrop, as I didn't want to influence the conversation. Later Revell said he wanted to trade table space and badges with us. I pointed out that our fan tables are free for the asking (and the dealers room and artists' alley are full), that I'd paid for an Autumn Dream dealers space plus four extra badges, and that I didn't expect to be back next year -- I can't go to every con every year.

Revell said that they'd concentrated on heavily advertising in the Antelope Valley and surrounding desert areas, and that it had worked -- many people from the local area were coming for the first time. He acknowledged that they didn't have much of a presence outside the area, but promised that they were going to get out to all of the major conventions.

This gave me an idea for a small program track: "Your Next Convention" which would be a bunch of half-hour timeslots, one for each convention that wanted to participate. Each convention could give a presentation, hear comments about "last time" and answer questions about "next time," and basically have a little fannish inquisition. The last day of the convention would be perfect, because people are thinking about where to go next, and it could be held at a table near Registration because generally Reg is pretty quiet on the last day.

I came away from the conversation with the distinct impression that he thinks because I've kept quiet for three or four months, everything's fine between us. He's said (in e-mail to me) "You've been involved with other types of cons (Loscon, Furry cons, etc) but you're a relative beginner when it comes to anime cons.... We've grown Ani-Magic since 2000, you've seen how great it is and how great it can be with a few more improvements and we'll tackle them." The more I think about it, the more I think we have severely incompatible worldviews. Starting with what (and who) is a convention for? Customers, tickets, they're just not words I use for the kind of convention I like to be involved in. And the whiplash I get from the different attitudes I hear from him -- at CSUN, he again called me the "Martha Stewart" of conventions -- he seems to understand on some level that I know something about conventions, despite his labeling me as a beginner (above).

And Autumn Dream this year had at least 750 attendees, based on what I heard Saturday night from either Jack or Revell. Most of them were families from the Antelope Valley who had never attended an anime convention. Here's what Revell posted on the Autumn Dream Forums on 20 October (the day after the convention):

Great Job Everyone!

I want to thank everyone who turned out for the Autumn Dream this year. While a some of the old favorite cosplayers didn't show, what an exciting new breed of local talent that DID show. You came from Victorville, Bakersfield, Glendale and places in between as well as San Diego and Los Angeles. The big news is that for the first time the AV made it's presence felt in a huge way. Familes came en mass, their children excited at the colors, costumes and the sounds of anime. A new tradition was born that weekend, the Gothic Lolita Tea Party was a huge success. The staff overcame the challenges of working with a new facility with flying colors. Get the word out people: Ani-Magic, now known as the Autumn Dream (The AV's Own) is back in business. We have big plans for our tenth anniversary, and we need your support to make that happen.

Running this events can be stressful. But when I see scenes of happiness like these, this is what makes the toil worth while:

(photo with caption: I got me a box of Pocky!)

(photo with caption: Pikkachu, I choose you!)

(photo with caption: East Side High's Anime Club)

Again, thanks for a job well done staff! And thanks to all who came out to keep us alive. Thanks to you, we'll put on the best edition of our con yet in 09!

Revell Walker
Chairman, Autumn Dream 08

But enough about what Revell had to say about this year's convention. What did I actually do at Autumn Dream? Well, I'd booked two rooms at the Hampton Inn. I had enough Hhilton Hhonors points to get a free room just for the Minions. Melissa De Mello (right) was in charge of that room, with Willow and summoner_lenne9 sharing the space. The room that Lynn and I shared had an extra bed (we had that in case selinawoman made it out), and we put Rachel Dorfman there.

Sarah and Willow (left) got in some "minion practice" during the weekend. The two of them, along with veterans Melissa and aramina, are the core of the Minion team for 2008. We'll be training up the rest of the proto-minions Thanksgiving weekend, at loscon, where (if all goes well) we'll give them phones or walkie-talkies or something and Melissa will sit back and watch them fly.

Lynn and I made it to Lancaster late Friday night, so we just turned in instead of seeing if anyone was still setting up at the fairgrounds. Saturday morning, we found some breakfast somewhere and stopped off at Vallarta Supermarket to get a couple of cheap bottle openers (and some Mexican orange sodas). As soon as we arrived at the fairgrounds we saw an old friend, Jerry Shaw (right).

Heading in to figure out what the arrangement was for dealers setup, I ran into Lenny Winkler (left). Although we haven't interacted much before, he recognized me on sight and told me where to go.

When unpacking everything and setting it all up, we discovered a problem -- we didn't have any of the postcards. I had two or three full or partial cases of them at home, but I hadn't packed them! I'd moved them to the front of the garage to make it easier to put them in Saltine, and then overlooked them. Arrgh. After a frantic phone call or two to Arlene and friendlypinet, we determined that Henry Sierra could possibly be talked into driving up to Lancaster to bring the case that Bessie (his next-door neighbor) had on hand from our recent mailing session. Whew!

Ironically, Henry and Bessie and her kids had already planned to attend on Sunday (right). So it was a special trip just for the postcards. Henry made it all the way up to the fairgrounds, and saved the day. Thank you, Henry!

I had run into Henry at the end of animeexpo in 2007, when he told me he wanted to help. For 2009, he's in charge of our Logistics Department. We're having a big Logistics meeting this coming Sunday at the hotel, to figure out when and how everything's going to move to the convention. Lots of people want to help, lots of stakeholders need their equipment or groceries or whatever moved in and out -- hope we get it all figured out in the hour we've assigned for the meeting.

Melissa, Willow and Sarah met us on-site Saturday morning, and we got to work setting up our space. Folding table and chairs, tablecloths on the tables, rearranging the other chairs to make a little conversational nook at the side of our space. Assembling the wire cubicles along the back wall, taping up posters on the high wall, putting out the snacks and water bottles neatly. Stamping the special coupon code on newsletters and postcards, arranging ribbons for sale. Easily 8 different tasks to accomplish. So we could have used more help! We got it done not long after the hall opened, though, and settled in.

Melissa teased this pirate by taking and wearing his hat, repeatedly. So, this is a rare photo where he actually has possession of his own hat (right). He also happens to be wearing a Pocky box, but I'm sure it made sense in context.

If you have the Animé Los Angeles 4 program book, there's a drawing of him in our Rum Party writeup. le_moose (left) has many friends... Jessica loved the giant enlargements of her art, so at the end of the convention I took down those posters and gave them to her. Konoe Suzumiya wasn't there, so the summer "postcard" went to someone else who fell in love with it, and the winter art poster went home with Melissa.

An interesting fact about our location: we were between Jones Bones, who had brought a small boom box, and some sort of control table just past the restrooms, who had stereo speakers as well. This was where we went for Dealers check-in, and they managed to scare up all our badges. (Many thanks, it took waiting in two lines to get two kinds of badges this month at Pacific Media Expo.)

We're not sure exactly what functions the people at that table were fulfilling, though -- they didn't have a sign. Most of the convention was very sign-poor. Running since 2000, and they haven't figured out from one year to the next where they need signs? Hand-written signs at Registration? I didn't even see any signs showing the name of the convention.

When we were setting up Saturday, Revell offered to let us hang one of our pretty Animé Los Angeles posters on the outside of the Pocky Pavilion. I declined, because we ended up using all of them at our space -- but it occurs to me that if we had put a banner outside, people might have thought the barn was being sponsored by Animé Los Angeles. Really, guys, you don't know about signs?

Anyhow, about the speakers: on Saturday afternoon, Mari Iijima had a performance. It would have been nice if the control table had turned their music off during her concert, and doubly nice if they'd asked the various dealers to turn theirs down as well. People who are "trapped" at their tables can't get to the live program, and a bit of live music is a nice bonus on Sunday!

For dinner Saturday night, Athena recommended we go to Primo Cafe (44599 Valley Central Way, Lancaster CA 93536). It was delicious. I had the chorizo burrito, which probably doesn't come as a surprise to many of you who've been reading my recent escapades.

We missed the Masquerade. Sarah was in it (sorry for missing it!) and she was shocked that her group won "Best in Show." Autolooper has posted a complete set of videos on Youtube, look for "4of7 Ani-Magic 08 Cosplay Contest." I looked at the video. I didn't judge all of the entries critically, but I'm confident their thrown-together skit was in the top three. Most of the other presentations were very weak. The five-minute stand-up routine by the man whose "costume" was a black sweatshirt with "NINJA" in big block letters was particularly excruciating. (Part 1of7, from 2:58 through 7:48, when the tech crew took pity on the audience and cut his mic.) Have I mentioned, by the way, that animelosangeles is looking for a Masquerade Judges' Clerk/Timekeeper?

The "Rum Party" had such a lovely location in the AVI's restaurant the year before (right).

This year it was outside on the side of the Poppy Pavilion (left). But don't cry too many tears, as this just means they're getting back to their roots of a bunch of fans gathering in the dark in front of the convention center.

You can see Rachel-Elizabeth in both photos, holding Susan's leash in the case of the more recent photo.

In fact, the Rum Party was where I saw the greatest number of people I'd seen at previous Ani-Magics, such as Matt Simmons and Harris Maynard (right), and Captain Jack (of course) and Sheri Jordan (below left).

And we had lunch delivered to us on Sunday! The mysterious control table crew I mentioned above, came around on Sunday offering to bring us back lunch from the local In-N-Out. Score! They apparently had done this Saturday, but we'd already arranged our own lunch by the time they made the run. Many thanks for the thoughtfulness. We should probably steal that graciousness... we've got a Carl's Jr., an In-N-Out and a Del Taco within easy striking distance of our hotel.

Sunday was about as slow as the last day is at many conventions. Dealers started packing up by mid-afternoon. The convention had billed Sunday as a full day, with a Karaoke contest and other activites Sunday evening, but we couldn't stay. In fact, I expect anyone who has driven an hour or more, and has things to attend to Monday morning, would not stay for the Sunday evening events. (This is why I think Pacific Media Expo's Sunday evening Cosfest timeslot is deeply flawed. But PMX gives the concerts the Saturday evening focus.) On our way out of the building, we ran into a couple coming in who were very disappointed to learn things were already shutting down. This isn't the county fair, folks...

We sold a remarkable number of ribbons, and a handful of people signed up for Animé Los Angeles memberships. We did recruit a few people, mostly old Ani-Magic hands (such as Grace, above) for some key positions. (Ani-Magic is sort of like a farm team, in the baseball sense of the word...) Key positions for Events Division: Masquerade/Tech Liaison, and Tech Production Assistants. We are not going to have a repeat of last year's tech problems! You may have already heard that the Mainstage room won't be used for anything but tech run-throughs before the Saturday evening Masquerade. Having additional people on the Tech team is going to help with our goal of a smooth-running Masquerade.

We had gone through a lot of cases of water, and many gummy worms. We right a few granola bars and other snacks on the table as we right, along with a note scrawled on the disposable plastic tablecloth -- Next stop PMX! We were driving Sarah towards home (not all the way) so we couldn't take everything home in Saltine. Melissa consented to let the folding table, four folding chairs, and a cooler with about a dozen bottles of sugar Coca-Cola go home with her. Thank you so very much! We headed out of town, stopping in Palmdale for dinner. Topping off there, we went out to the rendezvous in Santa Clarita -- but we goofed by not gassing up in Lancaster or Palmdale. Ooops! We made it to the dropoff point. (Sarah, you were worried about how far out of our way we went: I checked the mileage, it was only 7 miles off-course. No big deal.)

So we went home, and were in our own beds by midnight.

And as for next year? Revell's 21 October post on the Autumn Dream forums:

Minnasan,

Thanks to you, we're able to think happy thoughts about our tenth anniversary edtion of the Autumn Dream. Now that we know how the fairgrounds works, we can taylor an exciting program for our fantastic 10th year celebration. I can't say enough how happy we were to see so many new faces from the surrounding area and the AV. Some said they hadn't heard about us before. Mind you, we're going to take care of that THIS time. You'll see an Autumn Dream presence at every major anime con next year. People WILL know about us. Just a reminder though: to make a dream happen, any dream for that matter, costs money. We nearly lost our dream in 2007, and had that happened would have become a nightmare for the organizers as bills become due. Somebody would have had to pay. Thankfully our fans would not let that scenario play out, and we're here now, able to talk about plans for next year.

A convention is a labor of love. A love of the anime genre, and a love of people who met and married thanks to being here. When we created Ani-Magic, we created memories, weddings, and now, children. I don't think any other con can lay claim to that. This past con, I've met teens at Artist Alley who remember me from 3rd and 4th grade, and still have the anime key chains I gave them as owner of AREA 51 to prove it many years ago. These kids have blossmed into Tokyo grade CG anime character artist, and they credit the anime presence I've fostered in town for going for it. These talented kids have a future, as does the others who've sewn up their favorite character's costume. Because they're involved in something worth doing, out of harm's way. And you have to ask yourself what would they be doing if they weren't?

As I said, the dream of Lancaster's own anime convention is not free. It needs memberships and it needs your funding. Otherwise, it will wither away into a fond memory.

As we go forward once again, remember something that has taken 9 years to build can dissappear in an instant without your help. This year, the AV has taken charge of the event, as we meant it to all along. We hope you will help us make AD 2009 all it can be for everyone who comes.

Revell Walker
Chairman, Autumn Dream 2009

He talks about money and funding, and about an exciting program for the 10th year celebration -- which he calls the tenth anniversary. No, "10th Annual Convention" and "10th Anniversary" don't mean the same thing. If the convention started in 2000, then 2010 is the tenth anniversary. The second annual convention was the first anniversary of the first convention, i.e. one year after, right? So... oh, never mind. And as far as weddings and children go, his "any other con" claim is so weak it's hardly worth puncturing.

On the drive home, Sarah asked me if there was any anime convention that I didn't have some sort of criticism of. That stopped me for a bit, and I had to figure out how to say what I wanted to say. I mean, I'll cheerfully be critical of the mistakes I've made with our convention, so why should I hold back anywhere else?

I finally explained that my issue with most regional anime conventions has to do with my view that the Con Suite is the heart of a convention. You can have a convention that just has nametags and a Con Suite, and it's still a convention. (A "relaxacon.") Hospitality, and the fact that people like to hang out with each other and break bread together: these are important. You see at other anime conventions that people create socializing spaces, usually in the lobby. Why not have one of those socializing spaces have a few snacks?

We've done "mock con suites" at many local conventions, including Ani-Magic last year and pmx this month. Some people have started calling our Peanut Butter rooms "the con suite." (Another reason to not go to every convention every year: we're not providing a reliable service for XYZ-con, we're trying to promote our con at XYZ-con. XYZ-con attendees shouldn't end up confusing our operation with something official provided by the con, because then we lose the benefit of them associating the Peanut Butter Room with Animé Los Angeles.)

I'd like for other conventions to decide that a con suite is valuable, and worthwhile, and of benefit to their members. I think the fans have already discovered the value, we just have to wait for the convention staff to see it and work for it.

Comments

[roguemarvel.livejournal.com]

Is it weird that i was very much looking forward to this post from you this year. I was invited to ACC this year (and enjoyed it very much) so I missed AM for the second year in a row. I haven't hear much reports from anyone and knew that yours would be honest and interesting.

I just got a new jobs so i now know I will have the weekend of ALA off and I think I would like to volunteer this year. I will probably be a bit limited since I only have to weekends off even during the holiday but as long as my boyfriend doesn't mind giving me up for the weekend I would like to throw my hat in and help with your fine con

Reports

[hazelchaz]

Welll, it's not that weird, on the other hand I have a very skewed point of view. I mean, consider that at most conventions (including Autumn Dream) about 10%-20% of the people there (plus or minus) are "chained" to one location all weekend. In my case, because I'm sitting behind a table, or up in a Peanut Butter Room -- either way, I don't get out and see much of the rest of the convention.

summoner_lenne9 was there and saw a bit more of the convention than I did. Sarah, do you want to tell us more about your experience? You never did a post-convention report after your pack for Ani Magic post...

Volunteering

[hazelchaz]

Well. Glad to have you aboard. Do you want a small job, or an important one? Do you want to spend most of the weekend working, or just (say) the first 4-6 hours of Friday and Saturday (or maybe Thursday/Friday))? Or, perhaps, just something that gives you a great view of the Masquerade and doesn't tie you up too much the rest of the weekend?

(And has the whole "pay-this-year/pass-on membership to next year" system been explained to you? The "Staff" membership rate is very reasonable.)

Types of jobs

[hazelchaz]

(There are "important" small jobs, actually. That's what I get for posting my first draft...)

Doesn't mind

[hazelchaz]

Oh, your boyfriend's welcome to come and make himself useful too... that is, if you think you'd both enjoy having him along... :)

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

The question I always ask about a convention is What makes this con different, not what makes this con better. I hate when somebody asks what makes this con better. I wish Anime USA would do more con tables especially at Otakon and NYAF. They don't want to spend the money at those cons.

Re: Volunteering

[roguemarvel.livejournal.com]

I liked to be involved so a bigger job is more my speed. If its still available I was thinking of hotel liaison assistant, but I'm not sure if I should be driving from irvine to burbank once a week, but its only for a few weeks. I don't mind being busy all con, I've staffed before, I just couldn't be around Friday during the day since I have training for my new job.

And I know about pay-this-year/pass on to next year. I did that at anizona.

Re: Doesn't mind

[roguemarvel.livejournal.com]

the boyfriend has been drafted into staffing with me before and he isn't to keen on doing it again. He did say he doesn't mind if I do it this year and he may con to the con to hang out but he isn't sure yet.

Re: Volunteering

[hazelchaz]

Okay, so Friday day this year is out. I assume because of the driving thing that Thursday ("Day 0") is out as well?

One option that immediately comes to mind is video camera operator. We need three, and I think we have one or two so far. Mostly it would be Saturday afternoon/evening, and it doesn't matter if you've operated a camera before as long as you can sit in one place and follow instructions.

As far as Thursday nights go: call me, 714-20-MANGY, if tonight might be a good night for driving to Burbank.

Time, money

[hazelchaz]

"What makes this con different" -- yes, that's certainly an easy question to answer, and a good part of that made up my "34 reasons" list.

One of the things that I emphasize when I'm talking to someone in person, especially if we have some time to talk, is the "memberships" and "We are all us" aspects. Members of the convention run the convention.

Getting out there takes some money, true, but even more, it takes time and effort. I think there's a great value in going to other conventions (of any stripe) and seeing how they do things differently. I think Sugoicon's "Noise Room" is brilliant, for example; it's not a con suite, but it's definitely a socializing space that's much bigger than the hotel lobby.

Re: Volunteering

[roguemarvel.livejournal.com]

i could do Day 0, just after i finished training.

Tonight is a good night to drive to burbank. I called and left a message.

Re: Time, money

[hazelchaz]

This is approximately what our "34 Reasons" flyer/sign looked like.

Animé Los Angeles 5. Friday-Monday, 2 to 4 January 2009. Make us your first convention of the year. It's in the winter, so you can wear your warm layered costumes.

34 REASONS TO REGISTER FOR ANIMÉ LOS ANGELES TODAY

1. Voice Actor Guest of Honor: Johnny Yong Bosch.
   
2. Artist Guest of Honor: Scott Ramsoomair ("VG Cats").
   
3. Editor Guest of Honor: Zac Bertschy (ANN, "Protoculture Addicts").
   
4. Fan Guest of Honor: Kevin Lillard ("fansview.com").
   
5. Toastmaster: Tadao Tomomatsu ("Mr. Shake-Hands Man").
   
6. New Year's Day Ice Cream Social & Dance. Dances every night. More glowsticks.
   
7. Many more participants on our live panels including Robert Axelrod, Kira Buckland, Craig Miller, and Pete Tarkulich. More will be confirmed as the convention grows closer - check our website for updates.
   
8. A full music track of live concerts and karaoke every day, including music from The Black Crystals, Eyeshine, DJ Heavygrinder, Ghost Town, Maja, Random, SIGMA Project, Vaeidos and Tadahisa Yoshida.
   
9. Free snacks at the Con Suite, open to all members, to keep you going between meals.
   
10. Costume Repair Station. Five or six master-class costumers with nothing to do all day but help you put your costume back together, or help you figure out how to finish it.
    
    
11. Cosplay Chess on Friday.
    
12. AMV Contest on Friday.
    
13. Rum Party on Friday. No alcohol, just pirate foolishness until very late at night indeed.
    
14. Three video rooms: anime, live action, and one just for AMVs and other short videos.
    
15. A well-run Masquerade under ICG rules. And the masquerade green room is twice as big as last year.
    
16. Large Artists. Alley room (next to Dealers Room) with fifty different artists.
    
17. Everything under one roof: the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. Rooms are $115/night plus tax single, double, triple or quad, use group code, ANIANIA at www.LAXmarriott.com
    
18. Costume Exhibit. (It's not too late if you have a costume you'd like to display there.)
    
19. More beanbag chairs.
    
20. More "art benches" custom painted by artists - fans like you. (It's not too late if you'd like to paint one.)
    
    
21. Hall Costume Awards.
    
22. Fan tables where you can learn about other conventions.
    
23. Fashion show on Sunday. We're still accepting applications if you'd like to show off your creations.
    
24. Beautiful program book, pocket program schedule, and local restaurant guide waiting for you when you pick up your badge.
    
25. Game room with video and tabletop games, with STEVE JACKSON GAMES demos & tournaments.
    
26. Photo Area with lights and backdrop.
    
27. Charity Auction on Sunday to benefit ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.
    
28. Workshops and demos on origami, basket-making, calligraphy, and ikebana (flower arranging).
    
29. Cosplay workshops.
    
30. Bedtime stories with Barbara Wong (bring your pajamas) and late-night panels until 2:00 a.m.
    
    
31. Sunday's theme: "OLD SCHOOL."
    
32. Members under 15 can bring a grown-up for free.
    
33. WE HAVE A MEMBERSHIP CAP OF 2700 ON SATURDAY.
    
34. SAVE 10% with coupon code ______. Pay just $40.50 for the whole weekend, or $36 for students & military. It'll be $50 at the door, so sign up today! Sign up here, or register online at www.animelosangeles.org
    

Re: Reports

[summoner-lenne9.livejournal.com]

You're right, I never did. Got lazy as I tend to. But sure, no problem, I'm sure I remember enough (heck, not remembering EVERY LITTLE DETAIL is probably a GOOD thing. :D.) so, sure! I'll do that this weekend. :).

[summoner-lenne9.livejournal.com]

By the way, about that presence at every major anime con...

Did you see them at PMX? I didn't....