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Tales Of The Industry - Trapped at a Convention


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andyos
ANN Associate Editor


Joined: 27 Oct 2008
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:16 am Reply with quote
Ah, so that's who you were. When can we finish that Saber Marionette conversation?
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MetalUpa1014



Joined: 24 Aug 2013
Posts: 283
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:23 am Reply with quote
Oh god, it's these kinds of people at conventions which give anime a bad name.

Related to this though, I'm contributing over 20 hours of volunteer time at Tekkoshocon next weekend. It's the first time I've ever worked at a con, so it's going to be a new experience for me.
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Supermutant



Joined: 26 Sep 2009
Posts: 377
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:03 pm Reply with quote
Shojo con sounds familiar. Maybe a con that was advertising at animenext on year. That sucks about how the con went. I don't blame you at that point for leaving. Yeah lets cut our loses before anything else goes wrong.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23921
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:32 pm Reply with quote
Oh my God, where do I even begin?

Quote:
"Hentai anime! Get it while it's still warm!" would eventually turn into lines like, "Get yet hentai on DVD! They're easier to clean!"
Laughing

Quote:
...he looked up at me and said in a thick Southern accent, "people ask me what kind of pornography I like. I like the anthropomorphic pornography." And with that, he walked away.
Laughing Laughing

Quote:
the boyfriend of one of the chairwomen was declared the official con mascot, presumably because he was a scrawny guy that they referred to as a "bishounen." He was immortalized in artwork on every sign for the show, as well as the website and program guide, and every portrayal was of him in a spiked dog collar and mesh T-shirt, being led around on a leash by his cackling girlfriend.
Laughing Laughing Laughing

...and then the Saber Marionette story. Has anybody invented an emoticon that symbolizes laughing uncontrollably while having a horrified expression on your face? Because I would need about a million of those.
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thenix



Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 265
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:39 pm Reply with quote
I have similarly started out going to conventions with older more mature attendees, then just one con it seemed to switch over to younger more smarky attendees and felt like an old man around preteens.

and I don't mean to say that back in the day everyone was nice and respectful and now everyone is mean, smarky, and loves homestuck. I'm sure I sound like a grumpy old man but it's really what happened. I hated the cons I went to for the next several years. Eventually I found what I liked about cons and could keep enjoying them. I can relate though
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:45 pm Reply with quote
Justin wrote:
While he was speaking, and while he was making eye contact with me, he raised his hand up to his face. Without breaking sentence cadence or tone of voice, his index finger penetrated a nostril. And in, it plunged.


Ahhhhh

Justin wrote:
Deeper.


Ahhhhhhhhh

Justin wrote:
Deeper.


Arrgggghhhhhhhhhhh

Justin wrote:
He twisted it, finding a target, and then -- after what seemed like hours -- retreating back out bearing a large and particularly wet looking payload.


Aaarrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Fallenmessiahx



Joined: 14 Apr 2010
Posts: 116
Location: Denver colorado
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:53 pm Reply with quote
If you google pics of the con you will find art work and pictures of the cons "mascot". Laughing
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varmintx



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1213
Location: Covington, KY
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:57 pm Reply with quote
Fallenmessiahx wrote:
If you google pics of the con you will find art work and pictures of the cons "mascot". Laughing

You know, I think I'm good with the text description. This article has unleashed enough horrors on my psyche.
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CorneredAngel



Joined: 17 Jun 2002
Posts: 854
Location: New York, NY
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 2:22 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
There was never another Shojocon.


Shoujocon was in New Brunswick in 2001 and 2002 - and stuck around for one more year, though it moved locations to Rye, New York for the final one. Hell, we even did a report!
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bemused Bohemian



Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Posts: 404
Location: central Mizzou (Moral Oralville)
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 2:33 pm Reply with quote
What you described enduring, maybe infrequently enjoying, occurs at model railroad premium shows also. I can relive every nuance you artfully describe at your anime con(s) even though the settings are different and the attending characters' names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Model railroaders, possibly railfans too, are inherently conditional, obsessive-compulsive, and off-putting. I used to look forward to MR cons because I got in free, knew most of the vendors, and we would pal around after hours on the Saturday at restaurants talking about stuff, but not about model railroading or what type diesel locomotive wore what color scheme or variation thereof for xyz years before scrap date or donning new post-merger appropo. It was usually about the increasing creativity of individuals hell-bent on either stealing an $800 item from your booth versus paying for it or at least giving your psyche a run for its money making you feel guilty about having the timerity or unmitigated gall to dare ask for, much less expect a slim profit margin.

Worst railroad cons I can recall occurred in North Platte, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado. North Platte offered a dirt floor, non-existent AC for mid-July in a confined space, biting horse-flies and mosquitoes whose requisite feedings required tourist blood. The Denver show was held in a building suitable for 1950's events but not much else. The killer here was the hike to where we were assigned to set up from rear of trailer proximity unload: the measured equivalent length of 2 NCAA collegiate football fields placed end-to-end. I lost 10 lbs that weekend blazing that trail; likely the most exercise I encountered since high school gym workouts 50 years ago.

I won't dare mention anything about the OKC model rr shows held in Oklahoma just before Christmas. None of it will be positive. It's best that venue be explored for a future Dungeons & Dragons gamer spectacle. Go to the Horse Show held next door instead. At least the scenery over there will rival any beauty pageant your Mind's Eye can imagine, be it two-legged or four-legged.

Anyway, the result of becoming over-exposed was hating a once beloved hobby. From that experience I learned a lesson. With anime I avoid cons so I can remain enamored with the hobby instead of despising it.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4498
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 3:35 pm Reply with quote
I can see why you'd leave early at that point. There is only so much boredom and weirdness that a person can take before the trip home seems more entertaining. I have observed some rather odd behavior at cons (not to the level of picking your nose in front of people) but enough to make me wonder if being at a convention makes some people lose track of basic etiquette and social cues, or if they never learned them in the first place.
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rizuchan



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 976
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 3:36 pm Reply with quote
Maybe it's just the local fandoms, and the fact that most of the conventions here are on the smaller side, but I've found that I can't enjoy conventions so much for the same reasons Justin described here... too many weirdos.

It's sad. I want nothing more than to make RL friends with some other people that enjoy anime. Why are they (we?) all weirdos? You guys all seem cool and normal online!

Quote:
I have observed some rather odd behavior at cons (not to the level of picking your nose in front of people) but enough to make me wonder if being at a convention makes some people lose track of basic etiquette and social cues, or if they never learned them in the first place.

I wonder if there's something to this, too. I mean, walking down the street in a frilly magic-girl type dress I would definitely be "weird", but at an anime convention no one bats an eye (except maybe to take pictures). Since those kinds of "weird" behaviors are normal there it's harder to filter out what kinds of other weird behaviors are still appropriate or not. Plus the anonymity of being in costume. When I was cosplaying I felt a huge sense of empowerment because I was completely unrecognizable.
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MakoMori



Joined: 18 Feb 2015
Posts: 19
Location: Switzerland
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 3:48 pm Reply with quote
Oh. My. God. Poor you, I bet that image got stuck in your head...even I have a very hard time right now not imagining that guy and his...bounty. Seriously, WTF?

I have not been to many cons (there are few in Switzerland), but I can see what you mean by being surrounded by otaku and having nothing in common with them. When I was at a manga store the other day, there was a girl with cat ears and peculiar clothes and accessories in general (it was a normal day, so I suspect that was her everyday outfit), who was squealing a lot. I felt a bit bad for my horrified reaction, I don't want to be mean to fellow fans, but yeah, there are weird people out there. And annoying ones. Really annoying ones. I'm just glad said girl did not start throwing Japanese phrases around, it would probably have been impossible to stay quiet if she had.
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Felis



Joined: 01 Dec 2012
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 4:02 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
While he was speaking, and while he was making eye contact with me, he raised his hand up to his face. Without breaking sentence cadence or tone of voice, his index finger penetrated a nostril.

I stood there, temporarily unable to move or form words. Finally, fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. Still aiming for politeness, I managed to say, "I'm sorry -- I can't talk to you anymore." And I ran. Oh, god, how I ran.

I happened to be reading this while I was eating lunch. Thanks for that image Laughing

If this had happened to me, I would have just turned around and left right then and there without saying a word. Aiming for politeness would be the last thing on my mind dealing with someone like that.

Quote:
She then noticed that a gaunt, oddly-costumed young man was clumsily peering at her from behind a pillar. He wasn't trying to stay hidden, but chuckled to himself as if he were a comic relief cartoon villain. Confused, she asked, "what are you doing?"

"Heh heh, I'm schtalking youuu!"

Something like this happening to me would probably be enough to keep me from ever going to a convention again.

I don't like dealing with crowds so I've never been to an Anime convention before. I don't have any friends into Anime either, and wouldn't want to go alone to a convention, so I doubt I ever will go to one.
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SnowMusket



Joined: 08 Jan 2012
Posts: 52
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 4:44 pm Reply with quote
MetalUpa1014 wrote:
Oh god, it's these kinds of people at conventions which give anime a bad name.

Related to this though, I'm contributing over 20 hours of volunteer time at Tekkoshocon next weekend. It's the first time I've ever worked at a con, so it's going to be a new experience for me.


I hope you have fun. I have volunteered at Tekko multiple times, I've even been a department head one year. I've always enjoyed it. My mother will actually be volunteering in Con Ops this year.
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