ACen 2010
Wow, it's been a while since I wrote a con report, lol. I've just been really tied up, so it hasn't been really easy to even find time to right reports, lol. Well, I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet this time, but basically, just try to get it written, lol.
Precon:
Ah, well, precon was the usual, especially when dealing with ACen. The Artist Alley DH Phillip was great as usual, and he was quick to answer my questions. Later on, when I had to deal with him, the person in charge of comp badges was easy to deal with, too. Just like last year...Frank Ketter III or whatever, DH for panelists was a pain in the butt to deal with >< I had submitted for my three usual panels (well, that includes Urd-chan's, too). Anyways, I NEVER heard back from him either way what was going on with that. I heard from PHILLIP, from freaking Artist Alley, that one of my panels had been accepted, but he didn't even know which one (just knew enough to handle my badge stuff). I FINALLY learned which one it was from the website, like a month before the con when it was listed...>.> I swear, I wanna smack that man! Last year he was horribly rude to me (see my ACen 2009 report for the copy of the nasty e-mail he sent me), and this year, he just outright ignores me. Tell me, what did I do to him!? I never even submitted for panels myself til last year @_@ Well, anyways, we decided to go up a night early, and Wednesday night, Alviss decided to die...($900 job ;_; ). But, we finally headed up Thursday night at like 1:30 pm...
Thursday:
So, we stayed at the Motel 6 for Thursday night, but before we hit our hotel, we decided to stop by and try to get our badges, though it was almost 6...(we stopped at Mitsuwa first and ran into like 4 people we knew who were also going to ACen, haha XD ). Well, we got into the AA without any hassle (cause IRT rocks like that~), but we were unable to get our badges as they weren't printed...and they didn't even have a list to let us know if they had Komi's badge or not...>.> Well, I picked up my packet, found mine and Ranefea's tables, then we decided to forgo Thaila her badge and went back to the hotel for last minute costume work and the Mentalist, lol. We hung Komi's One Piece flag in our window, lol (see pic 001 on the site for it XD ). Ranefea, Kasumi, Kojiro, and Melissa joined us around midnight.
Friday:
Cosplay: Nami, Enies Lobby (One Piece)
Photoshoots: One Piece (6:30 pm)
We got there Friday, just in time for AA to open, and Kasumi, Thaila, and Melissa headed off to get their badges. Fortuantely, reg this year wasn't a mess XD Though Melissa had prereged, the other two hadn't, and they all came back before, or right around, the time AA officially opened. AA, however, STILL didn't have our badges. I FINALLY was able to get my badge through the help desk (AA servers were down...back the stuff up already >< ), around 11, so we had our stuff taken care of relatively quicky, and the help desk was really helpful. The day was sorta slow all and all, and we didn't really do any panels or events...until 6:30, time for the One Piece photoshoot~! We closed down our table like 45 mins early and headed over to the shoot. It was a tad windy outside, but the weather wasn't horrible, and we had a nice turn out. We got tooons of pics, lmao. After that, since things were dwindling down, we did our own private shoot and worried about scraping up food. Thanks to my friends, I was actually able to eat...love you guys <3 We pretty much just spent time goofing off before we finally decided to go to sleep...XD
Saturday:
Cosplay: Faize, Roak Version (Star Ocean 4), Kannagi (Arata Kangatari) -DEBUT- Karaoke: Parallel Hearts, Fiction Junction (Pandora Hearts)
Photoshoots: MangaFox (1 pm), Star Ocean (1:30 pm), Watase Yuu (9:00 pm), Star Ocean (private)
Saturday was a day full of photoshoots! The first shoot I helped set up on the MangaFox forums, at around 1 pm. Of course...no one else showed up, lol. We also learned from a friend that a Star Ocean shoot got randomly scheduled, so we went to that, at 1:30 pm. Of course...we were the only ones to show up, lol. But, still, we got some pictures, and let the other person there for pictures get some before we decided to head out for our own private shoot. We did it out in the open this time, but we got some goofy pictures. Komiko, Kasumi, and Thaila headed up to the room, while I headed back to AA to keep an eye on things until we needed to leave again. Around 4, I got a chance to wander around the Dealer's Room, and stop and see some of the Dealer's I was friends with. AA closed at 7, so after that, we WERE gonna do an outdoor Star Ocean shoot, but it wasn't dark enough, so instead, we ran up to the hotel and changed into our Arata Kangatari cosplays for the Watase Yuu photoshoot. It was a pretty small shoot, too, but at least we weren't the only ones there, lol. The shoot ran only like half an hour, then we decided to get food (thanks again to my lovely friends~). Once food came, Komiko, Melissa, and I headed off to the karaoke room. It was SUPPOSED to start at 11, but we didn't even get into the room til like 11:15 pm and it didn't start til like 11:40...and what started was the worst run karaoke EVER! They had over 8000 songs..but not a FREAKING SINGLE JAPANESE SONG! Once it got started, at least it was moving, but my god, I wanted to cry, a lot....those who actually sung Japanese songs, kudos to you! Especially the guy and girl who did Gong by JAM Project (it was Jackson and Sonny? Something like that XD ). That was my favorite song of the evening, lmao XD We FINALLY got to go at around 2 am, and we did Parallel Hearts, by Fiction Junction (Pandora Hearts Op). Of course, my CD started skipping and they tried to give me lip. I about bit their head off (was reaally tired and annoyed by then). Fortunately, Komi had it on her iPod so we did it that way. We left after that and didn't get to bed til like 3 am @_@ sooo exhausted...! (if only I could sleep at night..!)
Sunday
Cosplay:Kannagi (Arata Kangatari)
Panels: Anzai Nobuyuki
Well, my panel schedule got switched off by an hour (at least from last time I had checked it online), so I just spent my morning taking commissions in Artist Alley. At around noon, Komiko and I headed to the Embassy Suites for the Anzai panel...which, of course...no one showed up to >.> Bad scheduling, like usual... Our friend Albert actually came, and then there was the staff member in charge of our room, and a general staff member. I actually managed to make the panel run an hour though, LMAO! I love that mangaka too much...XD I broke my Kannagi shoes on the way back, but Komi was nice enough to run down to the car and grab my tennis shoes for me <3 so I striped out of those shoes and then finally, at around 3:30 pm, had a chance to meander through AA. I was soo tired that I missed alot of the people I meant to stop by, but those of you I did talk to, it was great X3 Found lots of awesome artists~! We packed up around 4 and it didn't take us long to get everyone ready to move. We bid farewell to our friends and then headed out to the car, and finally, the trip home.
Umm...soo much for keeping this short, LMAO! But I suppose it could have been worse. I need to get Tekkoshocon's written up eventually (I started XD ). But yeah...overall, the issues with ACen were minimal, and the IRT and other staff members were really friendly and helpful, which always makes for a great con. I really think they need a new DH for panels, but I love AA's, and he rest of the staff were easy enough to deal with. I hope to god the people who ran karaoke are NEVER allowed to run it at a con I go to...ever...again @_@
So...the overall score...a 6/10! Not bad for this con XD It lost points cause of the aforementioned issues, but overall, I had a blast and I loved it~!
Check DSOD in like an hour and I'll have the html for the images written up! (they are already uploaded, lol).
Precon:
Ah, well, precon was the usual, especially when dealing with ACen. The Artist Alley DH Phillip was great as usual, and he was quick to answer my questions. Later on, when I had to deal with him, the person in charge of comp badges was easy to deal with, too. Just like last year...Frank Ketter III or whatever, DH for panelists was a pain in the butt to deal with >< I had submitted for my three usual panels (well, that includes Urd-chan's, too). Anyways, I NEVER heard back from him either way what was going on with that. I heard from PHILLIP, from freaking Artist Alley, that one of my panels had been accepted, but he didn't even know which one (just knew enough to handle my badge stuff). I FINALLY learned which one it was from the website, like a month before the con when it was listed...>.> I swear, I wanna smack that man! Last year he was horribly rude to me (see my ACen 2009 report for the copy of the nasty e-mail he sent me), and this year, he just outright ignores me. Tell me, what did I do to him!? I never even submitted for panels myself til last year @_@ Well, anyways, we decided to go up a night early, and Wednesday night, Alviss decided to die...($900 job ;_; ). But, we finally headed up Thursday night at like 1:30 pm...
Thursday:
So, we stayed at the Motel 6 for Thursday night, but before we hit our hotel, we decided to stop by and try to get our badges, though it was almost 6...(we stopped at Mitsuwa first and ran into like 4 people we knew who were also going to ACen, haha XD ). Well, we got into the AA without any hassle (cause IRT rocks like that~), but we were unable to get our badges as they weren't printed...and they didn't even have a list to let us know if they had Komi's badge or not...>.> Well, I picked up my packet, found mine and Ranefea's tables, then we decided to forgo Thaila her badge and went back to the hotel for last minute costume work and the Mentalist, lol. We hung Komi's One Piece flag in our window, lol (see pic 001 on the site for it XD ). Ranefea, Kasumi, Kojiro, and Melissa joined us around midnight.
Friday:
Cosplay: Nami, Enies Lobby (One Piece)
Photoshoots: One Piece (6:30 pm)
We got there Friday, just in time for AA to open, and Kasumi, Thaila, and Melissa headed off to get their badges. Fortuantely, reg this year wasn't a mess XD Though Melissa had prereged, the other two hadn't, and they all came back before, or right around, the time AA officially opened. AA, however, STILL didn't have our badges. I FINALLY was able to get my badge through the help desk (AA servers were down...back the stuff up already >< ), around 11, so we had our stuff taken care of relatively quicky, and the help desk was really helpful. The day was sorta slow all and all, and we didn't really do any panels or events...until 6:30, time for the One Piece photoshoot~! We closed down our table like 45 mins early and headed over to the shoot. It was a tad windy outside, but the weather wasn't horrible, and we had a nice turn out. We got tooons of pics, lmao. After that, since things were dwindling down, we did our own private shoot and worried about scraping up food. Thanks to my friends, I was actually able to eat...love you guys <3 We pretty much just spent time goofing off before we finally decided to go to sleep...XD
Saturday:
Cosplay: Faize, Roak Version (Star Ocean 4), Kannagi (Arata Kangatari) -DEBUT- Karaoke: Parallel Hearts, Fiction Junction (Pandora Hearts)
Photoshoots: MangaFox (1 pm), Star Ocean (1:30 pm), Watase Yuu (9:00 pm), Star Ocean (private)
Saturday was a day full of photoshoots! The first shoot I helped set up on the MangaFox forums, at around 1 pm. Of course...no one else showed up, lol. We also learned from a friend that a Star Ocean shoot got randomly scheduled, so we went to that, at 1:30 pm. Of course...we were the only ones to show up, lol. But, still, we got some pictures, and let the other person there for pictures get some before we decided to head out for our own private shoot. We did it out in the open this time, but we got some goofy pictures. Komiko, Kasumi, and Thaila headed up to the room, while I headed back to AA to keep an eye on things until we needed to leave again. Around 4, I got a chance to wander around the Dealer's Room, and stop and see some of the Dealer's I was friends with. AA closed at 7, so after that, we WERE gonna do an outdoor Star Ocean shoot, but it wasn't dark enough, so instead, we ran up to the hotel and changed into our Arata Kangatari cosplays for the Watase Yuu photoshoot. It was a pretty small shoot, too, but at least we weren't the only ones there, lol. The shoot ran only like half an hour, then we decided to get food (thanks again to my lovely friends~). Once food came, Komiko, Melissa, and I headed off to the karaoke room. It was SUPPOSED to start at 11, but we didn't even get into the room til like 11:15 pm and it didn't start til like 11:40...and what started was the worst run karaoke EVER! They had over 8000 songs..but not a FREAKING SINGLE JAPANESE SONG! Once it got started, at least it was moving, but my god, I wanted to cry, a lot....those who actually sung Japanese songs, kudos to you! Especially the guy and girl who did Gong by JAM Project (it was Jackson and Sonny? Something like that XD ). That was my favorite song of the evening, lmao XD We FINALLY got to go at around 2 am, and we did Parallel Hearts, by Fiction Junction (Pandora Hearts Op). Of course, my CD started skipping and they tried to give me lip. I about bit their head off (was reaally tired and annoyed by then). Fortunately, Komi had it on her iPod so we did it that way. We left after that and didn't get to bed til like 3 am @_@ sooo exhausted...! (if only I could sleep at night..!)
Sunday
Cosplay:Kannagi (Arata Kangatari)
Panels: Anzai Nobuyuki
Well, my panel schedule got switched off by an hour (at least from last time I had checked it online), so I just spent my morning taking commissions in Artist Alley. At around noon, Komiko and I headed to the Embassy Suites for the Anzai panel...which, of course...no one showed up to >.> Bad scheduling, like usual... Our friend Albert actually came, and then there was the staff member in charge of our room, and a general staff member. I actually managed to make the panel run an hour though, LMAO! I love that mangaka too much...XD I broke my Kannagi shoes on the way back, but Komi was nice enough to run down to the car and grab my tennis shoes for me <3 so I striped out of those shoes and then finally, at around 3:30 pm, had a chance to meander through AA. I was soo tired that I missed alot of the people I meant to stop by, but those of you I did talk to, it was great X3 Found lots of awesome artists~! We packed up around 4 and it didn't take us long to get everyone ready to move. We bid farewell to our friends and then headed out to the car, and finally, the trip home.
Umm...soo much for keeping this short, LMAO! But I suppose it could have been worse. I need to get Tekkoshocon's written up eventually (I started XD ). But yeah...overall, the issues with ACen were minimal, and the IRT and other staff members were really friendly and helpful, which always makes for a great con. I really think they need a new DH for panels, but I love AA's, and he rest of the staff were easy enough to deal with. I hope to god the people who ran karaoke are NEVER allowed to run it at a con I go to...ever...again @_@
So...the overall score...a 6/10! Not bad for this con XD It lost points cause of the aforementioned issues, but overall, I had a blast and I loved it~!
Check DSOD in like an hour and I'll have the html for the images written up! (they are already uploaded, lol).