$('#top_search_results_loading_spinner').hide(); $('#top_search_container').show(); $('#top_search_results').html("
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Colossalcon 2023 Water Park Anime Convention<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
Record of Ragnarok\n@funsizedcosplay<\/a> Buddha\n@brandywinecosplay<\/a> Aphrodite <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

So you wanna go to Colossalcon...<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
Colossalcon introduced VIP room packages for 2024.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Colossalcon 2023 Water Park Anime Convention<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
@november.black.productions<\/a> ODSTs from Halo<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Katsucon 2023<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
Industry workshop panels were new for 2023.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

When Conventions Cancel<\/h4>\n published 4 years ago<\/span>\n
The most obvious effect of cancelling a convention is the financial impact. Conventions of any size have many stakeholders. Attendees have planes and hotels booked and cosplays built. Hotels look forward to rooms being filled, restaurants and cafes busy, and meeting rooms booked. Artists and vendors have been producing their wares and hope to make new sales and business connections. Businesses surrounding the convention facility rely on the patronage of attendees. The convention center itself offsets its bills with facility rental and catering fees (most have public funding through tax dollars). It\'s the convention itself, however, that stands to lose the most.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Anime Los Angeles 2020<\/h4>\n published 4 years ago<\/span>\n
Click to watch my new video<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Anime Los Angeles 2020<\/h4>\n published 4 years ago<\/span>\n
I\'d like to give special mention to the main events room and the AMV event. The production quality in general was very good with professional lighting and audio systems. The AMV event was among the best I\'ve ever seen. The videos were organized into sections and each section had an intro video that was very well produced. The selection of AMVs was also very good. Whoever is in charge of this event certainly knows what they are doing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Anime Los Angeles 2020<\/h4>\n published 4 years ago<\/span>\n
California has a lot of cosplayers, including some of the most popular cosplayers in the USA. Even for a relatively small event like ALA (10-15k attendees), it draws a lot of great cosplayers. I was fortunate to meet some very friendly photographers who introduced me to their cosplayer friends. In fact, meeting the photographers was one of the highlights of my visit. Without that experience I probably wouldn\'t have enjoyed the convention so much. Thanks to all of the cosplayers and photographers I met!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
I could write an entire article about non-profit versus for-profit conventions, paying staff, and convention management in general. I had a brief stint as a board member for a local convention and played a key role in obtaining non-profit status and getting an industry booth at Sakura-Con. Operating as a non-profit convention isn\'t necessarily better than being for-profit. Both are vulnerable to embezzlement and mismanagement is common. I\'ve attended many successful conventions of both types and I\'ve seen issues with both types. Having a board usually means there are voting members and that subjects it to a more democratic process of decision making. The devil is in the details of the bylaws, though. Voting rights of the general members are often limited, and for good reason. \n\nSakura-Con is operated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is run by a board of directors under the parent company ANCEA<\/a>. It apparently places a lot of importance on its non-profit status. They are very specific about calling their registration a \"membership\" and not \"tickets\". They almost seem religious about it and the motivation behind it is unclear. Are they afraid of making money selling tickets out of fear that it would jeopardize their non-profit status? There are no valid legal concerns here. Non-profits can certainly sell tickets and make money. Heck, there are plenty of non-profits companies<\/a> that pay their employees millions of dollars per year in salary.\n\nYour membership is only valid for this event and there are no other benefits beyond that, so calling it a membership is a bit of a stretch any way. Even though you are a \"member\", you have no voting rights or other privileges. If you want to vote on who gets a seat on the board of directors, you have to join staff. It\'s my understanding that many of the board members have served multiple terms and receive no pay. Serving multiple terms might sound like a bad thing - think about term limits in government. However, it takes years to gain the amount of knowledge and experience necessary to run a convention of this size. Handing over that responsibility to a newcomer could be perilous. As far as pay goes, I\'m actually in support of paying your employees. The amount of work they put into this event qualifies it as a part-time job in the least, and nearly a full-time job for some.\n\nFor-profit conventions generally have a handful of owners who make the decisions. They aren\'t necessarily subject to the wishes of their staff. They don\'t have to call a meeting and gather votes and can therefore move quickly and do things the way they want to. If one of the owners has a particular interest in, say, a music group, they can pursue booking that group without any pushback. This can produce unique and often very fun conventions. It can also lead to nepotism, tunnel vision, and bad eggs.\n\nBeing a non-profit organization is no guarantee of success. Some conventions have put themselves out of business by spending all of their money paying the board of directors. If you have an opinion on non-profit vs for-profit, feel free to drop a comment down below.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Anime Los Angeles 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
Howl\'s Moving Castle\n@micaleen_rodgers<\/a> Howl\n@sarrahnadecosplay<\/a> Sophie Hatter<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Anime Los Angeles 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
If you attend a lot of anime conventions you probably can list the events and activities that they all have in common. Panels, contests, concerts, a vendor hall and artist alley, gaming, etc. They can all start to blend together. Sometimes the only things that set them apart are the venue and cosplayers. Having attended anime conventions since 2008, I\'ve learned that those are exactly the things that stand out to me.\n\nIf you think about well-loved and well-attended conventions like Katsucon<\/a>, you immediately think about the Gaylord National and all of the amazing cosplayers you saw there. For Dragon Con<\/a> it\'s the Marriott Marquis and the crazy mashup cosplays. A convention like Anime Los Angeles doesn\'t quite have that distinction since it moves around to different venues. The Long Beach Convention Center is nice, but I only shot inside at carefully selected locations and used additional lighting. The boardwalk and Rainbow Bridge locations were my preferred shooting locations. The convention center is positioned so that the setting sun falls on the entire boardwalk side of the building, allowing for beautiful golden hour shots.\n\nSince I wasn\'t acting as press in an official manner for ALA I don\'t feel too bad for not checking out any of the panels or events. A quick glance at the nicely produced booklet shows events like an idol showcase, formal ball, AMV Contest, fashion show, Kpop battle, and Cosplay Deviants. The AMV contest stood out when I watched it at the 2020 event, but I didn\'t think to watch it this time.\n\nIf there\'s one thing that stands out about ALA it\'s the ribbon game. This is one of a few of conventions where people make a concerted effort to design ribbons that are shared in various ways. Sometimes you have to play a game or answer a question to get one. Most of the time you have to randomly ask someone if they have a ribbon to give out because they don\'t just advertise it. That\'s part of the game. If you get a ribbon you attach it to your badge with the pre-applied double stick tape. I\'ve seen trains of ribbons grow to great lengths by avid collectors.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Holiday Matsuri 2021 Florida Anime Convention<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
The warm weather and attractions are enough of a reason to attend, but the convention has much to offer as well. Vendors and artists sell their unique wares. Numerous panels, contests and cosplay meetups offer as much opportunity for fun and entertainment as you can find at any anime convention. The people behind the convention strive to offer all of the fun and they don’t shield themselves from public display like most conventions do. They hold live video streams throughout the year to keep fans informed about guests, hotel room blocks, registration, and other important events. You can see their names and faces and ask questions live. Compared to some conventions whose staff members remain mostly anonymous, this is refreshing and something that I\'ll argue produces a better attendee experience.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Dragon Con 2021 - Celebrating 35 Years<\/h4>\n published 3 years ago<\/span>\n
Part of what makes this convention so special is its venues. Dragon Con operates at five host hotels, all within a few blocks of each other. Three of the main hotels are connected by a series of sky bridges, often called “habitrails” by experienced attendees. These hotels are impressive in both their size and architecture. The Marriot Marquis, Hyatt Regency, and Westin Peachtree Plaza were all designed by renowned architect John Portman<\/a> and feature impressive atriums. The Marriot Marquis’ 470 foot tall atrium is so impressive that it has been a shooting location for a number of productions including the recent Loki series on Disney Plus. Interestingly, a large portion of Atlanta’s downtown core was designed and developed by Portman Architects, including the AmericasMart buildings which house the gaming, vendors, and artist alley.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

WonderCon 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
I\'m not your average attendee. My purpose in attending events like WonderCon is to capture cosplayers on video and make my cosplay music videos. If I\'m attending as official press I will make a point to document my experience and I usually try to attend some panels. There\'s a whole world of movie, television, and other professional media events going on at WonderCon that some people aren\'t even aware of. Before the convention I was getting emails informing me about producers and actors who would be speaking on behalf of their latest project. It\'s more of an industry event than many other comic conventions.\n\nIf you\'re a cosplayer you attend WonderCon to show off your new build. There are a lot of eyes to see you there and many more online if you make it into photos and videos like mine. The cosplay content runs the gamut of comic book, movie, anime and more. One of my favorites was an Elsa (Frozen) mashed up with Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat, complete with the detached bloody head of Olaf. It\'s the kind of cosplay I see at DragonCon and it made me smile despite the grisly gore.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

WonderCon 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
I attended NAB Show<\/a> for the first time this year. NAB Show is a massive broadcasting industry event where companies show off their products and chat with their users. I was able to make several interviews with companies like Blackmagic Design, Kinefinity, CORE SWX, and Deity Microphones.<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Anime Los Angeles 2023<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
You have many options to entertain yourself at Anime Los Angeles. The vendor hall is sufficiently large enough to keep you busy for a while. This year it was combined with the artist alley into one large space which occupied the largest room at the Long Beach Convention Center. I’m not a big merchandise person, so I can’t really comment on the quality of the vendors or products. In all honestly, vendor halls start to look the same after a while. How do booths full of t-shirts, figures, and other anime trinkets set themselves apart? ALA may not have grandiose displays from the likes of VIZ, Sony, or Crunchyroll, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less enjoyable. Besides, those kinds of booths are reserved for the mega cons with deep pockets and industry connections.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

WonderCon 2023<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
There are many things that conventions do. They offer panels and programming and host special events such as balls, masquerades, concerts and raves. They provide space for vendors and artists to sell their products. They allow companies to host presentations to announce new products, TV shows, or movies. You can meet celebrities and get signatures and photos taken with them. Conventions also create a place where anyone can come in cosplay and share their creativity. WonderCon offers all of these things and doesn’t care which one you indulge in. As a cosplay-centric content creator, I’ll focus on the cosplay side of things. There is much that could be said about the vendor hall, programming, and other aspects, but frankly I spend 99% of my time at conventions meeting and filming cosplayers.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

WonderCon 2023<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
From a cosplay perspective, the Anaheim Convention Center is a great venue. It has a fantastic outdoor promenade, beautifully landscaped with plants and bushes and lined with tall palm trees. A choreograph of brickwork lines the walking paths while the sun filters through the palm branches. A fountain with jets and colored lights sits at the main entrance which is made obvious by the grand sweeping wall of glass. During the convention it’s plastered with a massive advertisement for the newest TV show or movie. This year it was a new movie called Knights of the Zodiac. That’s okay, because it fits the environment of Comic Con which embraces the production industry and comic-related media.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

WonderCon 2023<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
Convention center staff were polite and even welcoming. They were stationed at the entry points and simply looked for badges. Security checkpoints were mostly visual checks for anything prohibited. There were no metal detectors and I had no problems walking through with clunky camera gear.\n\nI wish I could report on the variety and quality of the programming, but I didn’t attend any panels or events. My schedule is cosplay, cosplay, and more cosplay, followed by a quick run through the vendor hall. Comic Con International is known for hosting industry panels where actors, producers, writers and other professionals participate. Big name celebrities are less common at WonderCon compared to San Diego Comic Con, but they still make appearances. From my experience at San Diego, I’m certain that the panels at WonderCon offer the same professional presentations. The audio and video systems are fully functional and professionally operated. The stages are skirted and have WonderCon skip and repeat backdrops. The tables have paper tents with the hosts’ names on them. At the larger panels with sign language interpreters, they have their own dedicated audio monitor. It’s a big step up from pretty much every anime convention I’ve attended.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

WonderCon 2023<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
The vendor hall is very large, as you would expect. It has a mix of everything from comic book dealers, to guest booths, non-profit organizations, fellow conventions, and general nerdy merch sellers. Funko had a large display selling their plastic statues. People still eat that stuff up, walking out with massive Funko bags full of product. It’s also home to the autograph and photo areas. As with most comic cons, you pay in advance to have your opportunity to meet a celebrity.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

L.A. Comic Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 1 year ago<\/span>\n
The \"horseshoes\" area is a popular photography area during Anime Expo, but is just a valet parking area during LA Comic Con.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Colossalcon East 2022 Water Park Anime Convention<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
\nEven though Otakon is held at the Walter E. Washington convention center, I spent most of my time in the beautiful Marriott Marquis hotel. I hope you\'ll agree that it is a much better looking location for a cosplay video.\n\nI\'ve also posted a complete article about Otakon 2022. The convention saw a record number of attendees this year and while that\'s good in a lot of ways, it also introduced some new challenges. Click the link to read.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n