Last year and the year before, I came only as an attendee. However, due to events over the past year, I became more and more involved with the inner workings of this convention, and this year marks the first year that I am actual staff. I'm sure that this will be a unique experience.
Originally, I was just in charge of having t-shirts ready. But
it didn't stop there. I went ahead and volunteered to help with registration, including badge design. There's nothing like working for a convention, big or small, to give an idea of what goes on.
Reporting for duty.
Much of the day was spent doing my usual routine: sleeping in late and goofing off. There was some packing luggage in there, too. A/V equipment, check. Clothes, usual stuff, check. Gee, I sure am taking a lot of stuff for a con I used to commute to. So I get to the hotel, and I didn't even have to leave the parking lot before I find Marc and directions to the room. So I get to the room, and find Scott Frazier and a bunch of the AUSA crew there.
Hm, expensive food vs. cheap food...
It's quickly decided to eat, and at a classy restaurant nearby. We get to another hotel with said classy (and noticeably expensive) restaurant, and Marc says staff is gonna have to pay their own way... I turn around, mumbling something about Burger King and rapidly depleting unemployment, preparing to leave until Marc offers to pay for my food as well. Ok, that works. So we had a yummy meal, as our esteemed guest Scott spun many tales.
Final assembly of materials.
Back in the room, we set to work folding program books and cutting out badges. Cliff would have begun laminating them, but we didn't know where the pouches were. As it is, we probably have enough supplies prepared to last through Friday. We hope. Eventually, a bunch head back home, one of the benefits of living nearby. I could do that too, but I'm already here and ready for the weekend.
This is nothing, compared to the probable onslaught of the next three
days.
Prepare! For the attack!
Woke up around 8-ish. After a shower, went down to see where to start. Apparently my first duty is to help some of the dealers get situated, ranging from helping to unload vans to watching over stuff. After a couple hours of that, then it was running around placing equipment in various places. Eventually as things got running and stayed running on their own, it got less hectic. Went with Andrew, who I dubbed Chibi-Marc, to make sandwiches while watching Inspector Gadget.
Welcoming people to Anime USA
The events of Friday afternoon and evening are fuzzy. While at the registration desk, I saw some of the gang from York. I remarked that AUSA was going to be a radical departure from Otakon, and the reply was "I hope so."
"Will stay open for money"
Worked registration, then took a break to go into the dealers room. Got a MAX CD, had a brief chat with Christina. Then it was back to work at registration, helping to push t-shirts and sometimes getting taunted by the York gang. Originally, we thought about closing registration around 6. However, people kept showing up, so we couldn't close. Everytime we started packing up, a group of people showed up. After all, their money was still good. Sometime around 9, traffic slowed enough for us to close registration. It never really closes, it just moves to another room.
Food. It's gotta happen sometime.
There was a quick meeting to decide who would take late shifts, then Cliff and I go to Burger King to eat. They're about to close as well, but not while there's customers in there. We still stuff our food in as quick as we can. Back at the hotel, I make a quick call home. Right now, I'm running on that weird, euphoric back-up energy, the kind that when it's gone, I'm down for the count. Kicking back, listening to my MAX cd, and checking out my camcorder. To boost con profits, Steve brought in a ton of Pocky to sell. For one person, it's almost a lifetime supply. He also got a lot of those bite-sized jelly-fruit things that are tasty, but ya gotta be careful not to choke on.
From what I understand, we're already doing better than last year. Maybe because people are starting to get tired of large cons, and the hassle that comes with them. A young fellow I was talking with agreed with the notion that larger cons were becoming bigger than the fans, more... inaccessible.
Sometime around 3 in the morning, I leave a party in the green room. Guests have very interesting stories and comments for small audiences.
The Second Day begins with duty.
Egads, it feels like I've been in this room for much longer than a couple days. Must be because of the Thursday arrival. Woke up around 1 in the afternoon, after a nice 10 hour snooze. Rested up, and it's a good thing. Gonna need it. Grabbed a cheese danish, then my first mission of the day: Fetch cel painting supplies for Steve Bennett's class. Somehow he was coerced into going with me and Mike. None of us have a clue as to where to go, except a lead on a mall. Getting there took us by the Pentagon's infamous hole. It looked a lot bigger on TV.
Well, Steve hates malls, and Mike and I aren't in any mood to be in a mall. Not surprisingly, we find nothing. So it's decided to take Steve back to the hotel, which meant going by the Pentagon again. Lesson: Do not photograph or videotape a Pentagon checkpoint. If you do that, they will take the camera, if not, they tell you to put it away. Fair, and yet not messing around. We wisely have the camera put away. After dropping Steve off, where it's presumed he's verbally reaming Steve Lin for sending us on this mission when we should have had the supplies ready.
Just doin' my job.
With a lead on the store with what we need, Mike and I make a bolt for Vienna, and emerge victorious. Returned, and I was greeted with Steve Lin apologizing profusely. Yeah, this could have been prevented, but I look at it this way: It's a duty that comes with the staff badge.
This is how cosplays SHOULD be taped.
For a couple hours, I zipped around seemingly randomly. Happened to see LizLuna in the course of the day. Settled on the green room, where pizzas appeared. Wolfed down a couple slices, then picked up my camcorder and tripod, and set course for the Cosplay. Choice seating for staff! Got an excellent seat with a good view. The half time show was interesting; Marc tried to play Hand Maid May, but that was my POS Apex up there, and would only play Dual!. He showed one episode of that, then started to play DDR music, and people got on stage and danced until the judges came back.
Went back to the room to collect my thoughts, when Keith came in for sleep. In order to tend to my notebook, I head to the green room again.
Not just any haggis, but VEGGIE HAGGIS!
What happens when there's a room full of half-drunks, and you throw in a camcorder and a can of vegetarian haggis? Whatever it is, I got it on tape. Gah, my late shift begins in two hours. I'll try to get in that much sleep.
Video schedule glitch! YOU make the call!
Instead of only an hour of sleep, I get three. Video 3 is showing Noir since the Trigun DVDs to be shown got stolen, which is a low thing to do to a con. Since that's going, I meet Cliff in the cafeteria and we talk for a bit. Hm, Video 3 stopped. No Saint Tail DVDs. So Gene Shaft gets picked. Held the fort there for a bit until a gopher shows up to relieve me of duty. Sometimes 3 hours of sleep is plenty for me to get through the day. This is not one of those times.
Hm, working and sleeping at the same time...
After making sure that was up and running, I get pressed into duty to guard a panel room for an hour. I line up a bunch of chairs to take a nap on, until Marc comes in for a panel. That's my cue to take care of more personal tasks, and stuffing my things into my car.
It's Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!!
Eventually it came time for the Anime Tractor Pull. It's the panel for things too odd to have their own panels. Two hours of oddness, covering almost everything. After that, I swing into the dealers room, but didn't really get anything. Oh well.
This is where it starts to slow down.
After that, worked the registration. By afternoon on Sunday, we weren't really charging for people to come in. No point in squeezing 15 bucks out of someone and then kick them out a couple hours later. Somehow, I got a thought to go back into the dealers room, and found a bunch of Parapara remix cds for cheap, and an Eva doujin, about a few minutes before they closed for the weekend.
Of good-byes and thank-yous... and veggie haggis
Wandered around for an hour, and came across the York gang again. They pushed me to get a copy of the cosplay that they starred in, and we talked about how the weekend went. It was clear they had fun at this little convention. When it was time for them to finally go home, it was also time for closing ceremonies and the feedback panel. Closing ceremonies mainly consisted of thank-yous to and from guests and staff. As for the feedback panel... Well, there really wasn't anyone left to give us feedback. Somehow I managed to luck into getting the Veggie Haggis box, and Steve Bennett signed it, and gave me a quick sketch in my notebook in return for a copy of the cosplay.
Observing the fallout
By now, the con itself was generally over. Helped a little in the cleanup, and picked up extra badges to give to friends, even though I physically have the originals. Ok, then. Ever seen the dealers room after they've all packed up and left? Messy. Empty boxes, excess packaging, food wrappings, trash all over. Found a couple buttons; kept those. Among the things I've inherited, was a big can of honey roasted nuts, various bags of munchies, extra program books, that sort of thing.
How much raw fish can YOU eat?
Thought about just going straight home, but free food at the Dead Dog party called for me. All you can eat sushi. Can't resist that. The restaurant was warned there was a lot of people in our group, but somehow more people showed up. Filled up on basically free sushi, as staff and guests had free food. Others had to fend for themselves. Finally, as my stomach said "enough with the raw fish and rice!", I decided that it was time to depart. Oddly, everyone else had the same idea. When we left, it had started to rain. By the time I pulled out of the parking garage, it was pouring. It rained the whole way home. The fact that I've driven that road hundreds of times already didn't hurt. But I was hoping for more gentle weather. Oh well.
Got home, kinda tired. Decided to wait till tomorrow to unload
my car, partly out of sheer laziness and mostly because I didn't want to
get it wet. Nah, mostly laziness.
Attendance: Approaching 500
Highs:
Got to hang with Steve Bennett
Saw people I knew helping to support the con by showing up
the Green Room parties
free food, room, whatnot
official support for taping cosplay
all the other perks that come with a STAFF badge
Lows:
emergency run for cel-painting supplies
running on little sleep on Sunday
all the other little annoyances that come with a STAFF badge
Food: Burger King, sushi, pizza, various munchies and pastries, and a fancy dinner that I narrowly missed paying for.
So... Now that AnimeUSA 3 is over, what now? Well, Marc's getting out of the convention biz. No wonder, being convention chairman is no picnic. I'll be in for it next year, doing roughly the same duties, plus whatever else needs to come up. But as a changed man, to be sure. I've been to many cons, but this is the first time I've actually worked for a con. Yes, it was exhausting, but it was an exhausting fun. Will I do something like this again? Yes, but not for awhile. Too pooped. I have a much better understanding and respect for what staffers for other cons go through. Sudden changes of plans, running on little sleep, discovering things that should have been taken care of but weren't... There's also a better idea of how cons work, and how long it takes for things to be even remotely ready. Learned the hotel situation matters a LOT. Whether or not we fill the room block can make or break a con. As for the t-shirts, they're still more of an expenditure than an income, until we can consistently sell more of them.
I could go on and on about how much I've learned, but a lot of it can't be put into words. So I'm going to leave it at this, and concentrate on other things, like the next convention, finding a job, and all sorts of little surprises waiting for me as I left AnimeUSA and returned to reality.
Now concluding the AnimeUSA 3 report.
Up next: Ohayocon 2!