COMICS CULTURE SHRAPNEL from CBEM 379
I'm going to combine two cons into one report, to make up for the lack of a column last week and partly because I'm too lazy. Sure, I'll have to think of an actual topic next week, but I'm not totally incompetent and I'm sure something will come up.
Two weekends ago was Shoujocon, in East Brunswick, New Jersey. I was Publicity Staff, so you can accuse me of all the bias you want. But speaking as someone who spent more time hanging out than actually working, I think it went well. A strong turn-out of genuine shoujo (girl's anime and manga) fans, since most of the mainstream fans were drained off my Otakon the next week. The dealer's room was nice and big, with a large selection of stuff, I actually spent a lot of money there. There were no real lines for anything, either because it was well managed or there were less people. I suppose it doesn't matter, as long as everyone has fun. And fun was had. The Whack-A-Thon (pinatas of hated characters), the Parliament (a live action role-playing panel), and a live band for the Saturday dance were just some of the unique attractions at the con. We were also graced with a nice selection of guests, including the Friends of Lulu. The attendees were nice, and they even helped clean up the streamers from the dance (I note this since I was the one who gave them the streamers in the first place). There was a rather nasty incident on Saturday Night concerning attendees from another convention (Waterfest, a VW gathering), but Con Security handled it well and most of the attendees were unaware anything was wrong. Running into these jerks in the hallway leading to my room just confirms why I love anime fandom: for the most part, we're well-behaved.
I wasn't looking forward to Otakon too much, mostly because it disappointed me last year. I was expecting something like Shoujocon but bigger and more diverse, and I didn't really get that. This year was better. Otakon was one well-oiled machine, with few events getting rescheduled or running late, no major mishaps requiring intervention by security, and a good spread of programming that was generally well-attended. This year the con had use of the entire Baltimore Convention Center, which posed the biggest problems. It was too damn big, and getting from one place to another was tiring. Especially when things were blocked off, mostly for security reasons. Having to go up then down to get from the dealer's room to the art show sucked, and getting downstairs at night was hard PERIOD, because most of the staircases were blocked off. The layout of the Center is also a bit confusing, and the map didn't help much.
Also, they didn't know how to use the space well. The fan-track video room (where they show anime music videos, fan parodies, and documentaries) has some great stuff to show, but filled up too quickly and dangerously, I hope they put it in a bigger room next year.
I was generally pleased, even if it was a bit boring (not even a fire drill this year), and can't wait for the next Otakon, or even my next con. See you on the circuit.