Being a fanboy is becoming a second job for me. I run an anime club, work two conventions as staff, and now I run a monthly anime event at a trendy sake bar.
In-between all of those responsibilities I spend a lot of time promoting each of them and simply being a fan. It takes a lot of energy to do all of this and sometimes it’s the only thing I ever talk about, as friends on my facebook and followers on my twitter already know.
As I do all of this, I try to stay positive and energetic while at the same time mindfully avoid repeating mistakes that those who were doing things like this before me have already made. I can now understand why some people in this line of fandom have turned out the way they have because it is so easy to become negative during all the chaos we face.
Despite the risks, I keep doing these things because I love to and this year I will be traveling to a whole lot of events. Here’s is the full list so you can see how busy I will be!
Orlando Anime Day – This event actually happens this Saturday. I’ll be there to give out new flyers for AFO 11 and to talk up that convention. I honestly don’t see any other reason to attend. This event doesn’t really do anything to promote anime and is more or less a quick money making venture for anime convention vendors. They have a costume contest because cosplayers will go to anything if there is such an event. Yeah…
Nerdapalooza – The following weekend is Nerdapalooza, a music festival dedicated to nerdcore musical acts. I am extremely excited about this because The Adventures of Duane and BrandO will be there along with The Protomen and MegaRan. I look forward to seeing them and others I have not heard yet perform!
MetroCon – The weekend after Nerdapalooza is Metrocon, the self-proclaimed largest “anime” convention in Florida. I have mixed feelings about this one.
I really wanted this to be the convention I go to as anime fan because I spend so much time working two other conventions in central Florida(MegaCon and Anime Festival Orlando) that I end up missing a lot of cool stuff. Looking at their schedule this year, it looks like anime is that thing on the side and focus seems to be on cosplay, Pokemon, videogames, Twilight, Dr. Horrible, and every other aspect of internet geek culture.
(For the record, I love videogames but I can attend better talks from people well educated on the subject at videogame conferences so videogame panels at anime conventions don’t really excite me.)
The convention’s big event is their “Anime” Human Chessmatch that happens on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. It seems like they put all their resources into that event and the rest of the convention is an afterthought. (This is a shame.) I do enjoy watching about half the Chessmatch when I go but the other half is painful to sit through and the ending always pisses me off.
Usually, some “secret character” comes out to kick ass and save the day. For a couple years it was Sepiroth and last year it was Darth Vader. What the hell does the latter have to do with anime? See what I mean? How hard is it to bring out someone dressed as Goku to do a Genki Dama? The whole crowd could throw up their hands to “donate” part of their life force and it would be awesome crowd interaction and RELEVANT.
I don’t know any of my friends who are actually excited to go to Metrocon. In fact, many are just going because other people are. I’m going because I pre-registered months ago thinking that it could be good this year and since I can’t get my money back I might as well go. At least all my friends are excited about…
Anime Festival Orlando XI – Coming the first weekend of August, I will once again be busy with my ragtag hand-picked crew to do another weekend long live action game. It’s called Skies of Orlandia and it features a lot of fun things that convention attendees can do to earn experience points, level up, and help one of four factions win the impending conflict! Myself and other returning veteran staff have learned a lot about this kind of game over the past two years. Because of that, this year there will be a game better than any of the ones held at any prior AFO.
Once again, it’s the marquee event at the convention. That’s exciting; however, what do this have to do with anime? I have been wondering that for quite some time. It certainly is a fun event and does help AFO stand out. Lots of people like the live action game as well. I like it a whole lot. But where is the connection? I do not know.
However, I am going to balance things out with a couple key anime panels taking place on Friday and Saturday night respectively. The first will be my upgraded- and mostly rebuilt -hit, “It’s MANIME! The Manly Anime Panel!” This is a panel that EVERYBODY should see! It’s that good and you will be a better person for going.
I will also be doing a sequel panel to “Is Anime Already Dead?” that I did at MegaCon earlier this year called “How to Make Anime Cool Again.” It’s a lofty task but I am sure that Fuzzy and I will get a strong message delivered to our audience.
I’m also wondering how the fans will feel about all the Power Rangers guests we have this year. By the time AFO begins, the guest list will be split near the middle between representation of anime industry guests and those involved with the spandex-clad hero franchise. LOTS of people love returning guest Jason David Frank, but are we over doing it now? I may be thinking about this too much since everything will be fine and everyone going to AFO will have a good time like they always do.
(Disclaimer: The views of Kent Ward do not reflect those of Anime Festival Orlando or any of its staff members.)
I’ve seen the full list of AFO events(many are yet to be announced) and things are looking really good. There will be lots of fun for everyone, especially those attending because they are anime fans. It’s too bad I’ll be working the convention all weekend and will miss most of the panels and events I want to see!
Anime Weekend Atlanta – I haven’t been to a fandom-related convention outside of Florida since DragonCon in 2006 so Anime Weekend Atlanta(one of the ten largest anime conventions in the United States) has got me pumped. It’s about six weeks after AFO so I have plenty of time to recover from the gauntlet of summer conventions and festivals. I look forward to meeting Shinji Aramaki and many other guests they plan to have.
Yesterday, I got an e-mail approving my MANIME panel to be on the schedule that Saturday at the same time as their costume contest. This is great because I know already that I won’t miss anything that I care about! I hope that AWA can be the convention I can go to and enjoy as an anime fan.
That’s it for the year. Friends are trying to talk me into going to DragonCon and EXPCon but I am going to pass on both. Perhaps I will change my mind on the latter if something really cool gets announced. Other than that, my schedule is getting packed! Hope to you at some of these events!