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AHHHHHHHHHHH MY BANNERRRRRRR
Now that I have slept and eaten and am feeling less sick, I can type up my Anime Boston con report.
Long story short: This was the best con ever- not only for the people I hung out with, but for my advancement as a designer and having - literally - thousands of people appreciate my work. I was smiling all weekend, seeing people reading through the program guidebook I designed, or getting all excited seeing the huge banner hanging above the convention entrance. And, of course, the convention merchandise selling out at record speed.
Thursday
Much of Thursday was spent running around Boston, picking people up and making sure they got to where they needed to go. I spent most of the time with halcyonjazz, this being the first time I've met her face-to-face, and she was AN ABSOLUTE DOLL. Much of the day was spent discussing Sherlock Holmes, manly men, and combinations thereof.
After picking up badges, we had dinner at an awesome hole-in-the-wall sushi place, then booked it to the bus station to pick up adesso and moonsheen. Whose bus was late, which would be the pattern for the rest of the night. I made it back to the convention center just in time for the final staff meeting, then headed home. While at the bus station earlier, after hearing of departure delays, I arranged for meltedpeep to take a cab from the bus station to the hotel, and mithrigil, puella_nerdii and lindensphinx to take one to my apartment, so I wouldn't be stuck at the bus station until 2am and could get some sleep. That worked out very well! Then there was much passing out.
Friday
Shin from Dorohedoro. Photos by mithrigil.
I hadn't cosplayed for two years, so this was a real treat. Even though I was recognized by about only four people (but one of them was Joseph SK in the Artists' Alley, so that was awesome). I met the crew of the Anime World Order podcast, which was one of my goals for this con. My panels went well, too! I had three that day: The Swastika in Anime and You: Or, Why It's Not Cool to Cosplay as a Nazi (hosted with several other staffers); Kawaii Culture: Cuteness in Japan (which the GeekNights guys appearently liked O__o); and my first 18+ panel, Beyond Bishounen, which was excellent and I am definitely doing again. (And Clarissa from Anime World Order attended it, which made me go kldsklslkklsklslksohonored.)
During the discussion/question section of that panel, it was recommended that I check out the work of Yayoi Neko, who does bara-esque boys' love OEL manga. I high-tailed it to the dealers room on Saturday morning to pick up her series Incubus (which is EXCELLENT in a shoujo-y, manly way), and her Sherlock Holmes doujin.
Saturday
Switzerland from Hetalia. Photos by mithrigil.
Another busy day, but we all slept in and didn't arrive at the con until noon. We went to the Hetalia group photoshoot for a bit, then kind of split off to do different activities. We met up again for halcyonjazz's excellent character design panel, then I went off to do more panels while the others hopped in line for the Masquerade. I finally to hit up a Dubs that Time Forgot panel, and chatted with Mike Toole a bit before it. I had another panel today, Recent Trends in Anthopomorphizaton, with the Ninja Consultant podcast.
I went back to my apartment pretty early that night, still exhausted from Friday's long day. Oh yeah, I also lost my badge at some point during Saturday night, but I just picked up a fresh one from registration on Sunday morning. The perks of being staff~
Sunday
A short day at con. We went pretty much to just buy stuff in the dealers room and artists' alley. I did manage to hit up the Japanese Punk Rock panel, which was awesome. Then we went back to my apartment to finish packing, watched Sherlock Holmes, then went to the bus station. halcyonjazz spent the night at my place, before going to the airport early this morning.
Overall, a very awesome weekend! Even though lack of proper sleep and food means I am staying home from work today.
All the design stuff I did for Anime Boston has been uploaded to my Flickr.