The past five conventions that I’ve been to were during a time of no employment, forcing me to experiment with innovative cost control methods including but not limited to, not buying much of anything, no fancy restaurants, sharing a room with 10 other people, not getting a room at all, and actually working at the convention in order to forego the larger expenses.
In short, they were fun, but not relaxing. However, now is a time when I have an income, and I can finally afford some of the luxuries that I had once cast aside. So when Ohayocon came within a month, I figured now as a good time to relax and buy some goodies and indulge again in some of the things that I once thought necessary for a proper convention experience.
I was gonna leave WHEN!?
The original plan was to leave before dawn today. Ha ha. Instead, I oversleep like usual, setting my launch time a little bit past 10 AM. Just means more sleep, which is better before a long drive anyway. Since it’s just me that’s going, I have no need to clean out Ai-chan, and I just have a couple bags to put in.
I like the drive, and the drive likes me.
So I finally get moving, full tank of gas, and from there it’s non-stop aside for a couple potty breaks. I almost had to slow down because of snow on the PA Turnpike. Then again, it’s always snowing on that road. A little moist weather-wise, but the lack of traffic made it a smooth trip overall. Listened to k-pop for well over half the time in the car.
Northrop Grumman to the rescue.
After a slight scare while getting my room (they lost my reservation, but another room “mysteriously” popped up at the same rate, with the same features) I set out to get my registration for the convention. I get a badge, and a piece of string to wear it with. The string is steadily unraveling. Not trusting it, I pull out a real lanyard out of my pocket. It’s one I got from work, a real thick monster. I could put badges on this and my neck would break first. Hooked up the badge and some Totoro dangly things that Aeris gave me.
Everyone’s waiting for program guides, which may or may not show up. So I wander around, meeting a bunch of people I had known before, and one of them from online. I’m sure Dave’s gonna be here, but I haven’t seen him yet. Hung out with Sarah and Jason, dressed up as Fujiko and Lupin, as they were working at the AnimeUSA table, and we munched on some cold pizza.
To the right! Right! I meant the other right!
After the dealers room closes, Steve asks me if I’d like to go along to a Japanese steakhouse. Of course! I’m paying my own way, but still, it’s a treat. We go in Steve’s van, which could seat a dozen if it HAD seats. Instead most of us are sitting on the floor or boxes and stuff, making even small stops quite noticeable. We get there alive, and Steve literally gets out and kisses the ground. In the restaurant, we get seated right at the grill, as we watch the chef flip the food around and set it on fire and other cool stuff.
Not tonight, I have a headache.
During the dinner, something went wrong. Started to have a headache, and got tired. Glad I didn’t drive. Uh, not good. When we got back to the hotel, I just went to my room, drank some water, and fell asleep.
The con itself: I gotta say, it’s a bit rough around the edges. Looks like this convention is suffering from Second Year Syndrome, where a lot of things aren’t working out like they probably did the first year. The second year is where a lot of conventions have a rough time. There are exceptions, but Ohayocon isn’t one of them. Program guides not here yet, the video rooms are using TVs instead of projectors, and cheap materials. Haven't seen TVs used in video rooms since AnimeEast in '95. Well, you work with what you have.
Amazing what a good night’s sleep can do.
Woke up sometime around 10 AM again, feeling much better. Must’ve been just one of those periodic shutdowns that happen to me sometimes, and they get cleared up by a dozen hours of sleep. For breakfast I scarf down the leftovers from last night’s dinner, get a shower, and head out.
Getting back to this convention thing...
Before going into the artist’s alley, I find they finally got in program guides! But no printed video schedule. Um, ok. So I stop by the AUSA table, and hang out there for a bit, standing in when they had to go do something. Nothing in the dealers room to make me jump for joy. It’s kinda small. If I want DVDs, a local Suncoast probably has a much bigger selection than here.
This is Otakudom...
And this is also why most other cons use projectors and screens. It’s a fan parody in the afternoon! It’s funny, but I had to stand on a chair in the back of the room to see it. Big screen TVs are good for home theater, but not for mass viewing. Too low to the ground. If it were sitting on a table, that would have been acceptable, given the relatively small size of the room. After the room clears out for a few minutes, Hanaukyo Maid Tai starts. It’s untranslated, which I’m ok with. A boy inherits a mansion full of maids. Is a translation really needed for this? Not really. LOTS of blatant, shameless fanservice in this one. Especially for 3 in the afternoon. Yuppers, doujinshi fodder. Of course I sat and watched it all, ecchi fanboy that I am. ^_^;
Real classy...
After feasting on video cheesecake, I head back to the room and order a pizza sent up. Stuffed a couple of slices in me, and another couple in the styrofoam thing from last night. Grabbed my camcorder and headed for the cosplay line. A goodly amount of people, but I’ve been in worse lines.
Um, shouldn't this be over before my tape runs out?
For reasons that are vague, the cosplay itself runs a bit long for a con this size. I was kinda hoping that all of it would run under two hours, but there was a lot of stalling. At least the skits fit on one standard tape. After that, I don’t really care where I do a tape break. I’ll save the T-180s for Katsucon and Otakon, where I know they’ll be really needed.
At a lot of conventions, I’ll go into the dance without actually dancing. Mostly it’s to soak up the energy and listen to some really fast music. A lot of these people probably don’t dance anywhere else, and a lot of them probably don’t think about whether they look silly or not. But that’s ok. We’re all in our element here. We can expose our inner geekness to each other at these cons, and dancing like we have two left feet is no exception.
I recognize a lot of the songs in here. It’s a lot of anime/jpop, which is cool. I can’t understand why some cons can’t do that. Plug in some really fast anime/jpop tunes, crank them up, and people will jump and writhe around to them just the same. Personally, I can’t see myself dancing to it; it works better as driving music for me. Sometimes too good, as my driving record is never completely clean.
Looking at what I’ve spent at this convention, and I notice that my operating costs are greatly outweighing my goodies cost. I’ll look tomorrow for something to buy, despite the lackluster dealers room. Then again, this is convention #30 for me, and I’m at Anime Pavilion frequently. Now being employed, I can buy a lot of stuff now; too bad it’s not here this weekend. The other day, when I met Laura in person, I noticed that in under an hour she had bought about several large bagfuls of Asuka Langley stuff. Ah, I remember the days when I did that with Urusei Yatsura stuff. Such memories...
This convention has actually been quite refreshing for me, aside from that odd “power loss” on Friday evening. I can come, stay, and go on my own terms. The hotel bill doesn’t exceed a car payment. Parking is free. Basically, this con isn’t a chore to attend. On a functional level, I’ve seen better. But the functionality isn’t as important this time as the freedom is.
Well, the video rooms are shut down for the night, and a lot of the live events are over for the evening as well. I’m gonna call it a night.
Woke up a little before the alarm went off, oddly enough. Plenty of time to shower and pack my bags. After loading my stuff back into Ai-chan, I officially check out of the hotel room. Gotta love that feature of checking out throught the TV. Sunday is here, convention’s just about over, and I know from experience that it’s gonna go quick.
An Otakudom encore
After another jaunt for goodies, I check out the encore showing of This is Otakudom. Just as funny the second time. Tried to buy an Ohayocon t-shirt, but all they had was last year’s shirt in a size too small. Nothing for this year at all. Hm. So after that, I moseyed about with Jason through the dealers room, delivering the AnimeUSA 3 Cosplay tape to Steve Bennett and working hard at wiping out the rest of my money.
About ready to go, but lo and behold!
It’s Dave! He literally flew in just for Sunday, and was hanging out with a few friends that he met somewhere. One of them was on staff here, (sorry I forgot your name...) and explained some of the shortcomings. We all went to Wendy’s to eat, and even more strangers to me/friends of Dave showed up and sat down with us. After we were done eating, I left and got gas, and went back to the hotel for closing ceremonies. Well, the later I stay here, the later I get home.
Five PM, and my back turned to the sunset...
Full tank of gas, some anime/jpop/kpop CDs, and a big drive ahead of me. Good thinking time. During the weekend, there could have been more that happened, but it’s likely for the best that I didn’t stretch myself. Maybe that’s where I’ve been going wrong over the past couple years, maybe I tried to do too much in one weekend. Or maybe this past summer taught me about what I’ve been taking for granted. Back when I was still working at Oak, the thought of needing to work during a convention in order to attend it barely crossed my mind. Back then, times were a little rough, but still good comparatively. The overall urge to attend these events even without a job forced me to more than think about it sparingly, but to act on it.
Attendance: somewhere over 1000
Highs:
had more money to play with
didn’t have to do any work at all
This is Otakudom
easy travel
room was ALL MINE
Lows:
sudden heavy fatigue on Friday night
TVs used in video rooms
hotel bill was ALL MINE
Sustenance:
Pizza, sushi, Wendy’s, about half a case of Dew.
Am I going back next year? I could. I had enough fun, so despite whatever problems the con had, I’m glad I went. It was refreshing. I’m certainly glad I went. Let’s hope that I can say that about the next con I go to.
Up next: Katsucon 8.