ACen 2011
Haha, yeah, more freetime at work XD Boss is in Chicago today, and meh and the interns are totally not doing our work (whoopsie). Well, I'm printing a print job, so does that count? Not much else to do ^^;
Next con in line that needs a con report is AnimeCentral 2011~ This one is one of the few I do close to home, lol. So, onward to the report!
Thursday/Precon-
Ugh, precon stuff was a nightmare this year! Getting panels and that wasn't too bad, and they even had this extremely nice staff member in charge this year. I think he's my fave head of panels right now, lol. Not only did he respond in fair time to let me know I got one of my panels, he politely told me why I didn't get the other one AND he explained in detail WHY I didn't get it, which I found very nice <3 I mean, usually we just don't get our panels and accept it, but I appreciate him giving us the heads up!
The mess now was with Artist Alley, like usual. The registration this year was a monstrosity. I took off work early to actually get home in time to register, and course, when I did, the registration did not start when it was supposed to. The site totally crashed. The secondary time they gave us was still a no-go, and course, it didn't go over either. They told us that it would be the following day...no one was very happy >.> I was chatting with Dirk (Paradigm Shift), Ranefea, Dana (Ideafish Production), and the Toon Twins the whole time, since we were each having our own mess. So, the next day came around and at least it did open, albeit much later than we were told. The site kept going down and glitching during the process, but I managed to get myself registered within the first like 20 minutes. And, believe it or not, me and all of my friends actually got in, so I guess despite the pain we had getting in, it wasn't too bad. And I was up Thursday night to film something for NeoMikey, so I tried to get my AA badge, but course, wasn't printed. I did at least get to check in. We decided to stay at my house instead of a hotel over Thursday night though...
Friday-
Cosplay: Nami, Timeskip (One Piece)
Photoshoot: One Piece
Karaoke: Fairytail (Kara no Kyoukai), with Komiko under Kco
We started out early and headed up to Rosemont. We got there about 8 am or so, which was what we had planned. This year, Thai, Komi, and Urd-chan all had their badges with me, so we headed into AA in hopes of getting them. And...of course...they were STILL not printed. We went and checked in with panels though so we could get at least some kind of badge. I finally got my Artist Alley badge around 2 on Friday (but my assistants didn't get their badges until Saturday morning O.o). They really need to get that problem fixed. Same thing happened last year, too >.> Well, with our badges gotten and our cosplay on, AA was open and we started off the day. It was pretty slow moving, which is pretty much how Fridays always are, and I just greeted the like 100+ people I know at that con as they passed around, lol. We broke from the table to go to the One Piece photoshoot, but alas, our Chopper informed us she could not make it until Saturday morning, so it was just me and Komi. The shoot was fun, and after it was over, I headed back to AA to finish up the day there. When it was closed for the night, we got ourselves some food and headed off to do some karaoke. I will say, I was impressed. Karaoke Madness, which was so horribly god awful last year, actually improved. I still don't agree with having American songs in ANIME KARAOKE, but at least they actually HAD some Japanese songs this year. Course, didn't have any of our songs, but we always do obscure stuff, so I'm used to that, haha. And even so, their selection of Japanese songs was still pretty minor. We got in pretty early though, so we hung around a little after we went, and then headed back to get some sleep.
Saturday-
Cosplay: Gwynaeth, church version (As Written in the Stars)
Karaoke: Shunkan Sentimental (FMA Brotherhood), with Pinky; Nowhere (Madlax), with Komiko & Thai under KCo
Panels: Anzai Nobuyuki
Started off the day super early again, but this time, I had Urd-chan head down to the alley to open up, while Komi and I sprinted off to grab Thai just in time for the Anzai panel. Of course, it was super far away, and we went to the wrong hotel first, so we were late...first time I've ever been late ;_; Only like three people showed, cause of how super early it was, but the panel still went by okay, despite that. We rushed down to the hotel to get Thai in her cosplay, then I headed back to AA, while Komi and Thai went to help NeoMikey with something again. AA was a lot busier on Saturday, as to be expected, but I did manage to find some time away to go say hi to my friends in the dealer's room, and wander a bit with Thai and Komi, since we had our matching cosplay <3 Once AA closed for the night, we grabbed some food and literally ran down to karaoke with our pizza in tow, haha. We ate it while waiting in line, which was a good thing, considering how long the line was already by even then! Still, despite that, we got in fairly early into the line, especially since we had our songs already in tow <3 I agreed to a duet with Pinky, and we went first, and then a couple songs later, was our chance to show off all the work we put into the song Nowhere. In the hotel room, right before we left, we taught Thai her part, lol, but she had a lot of fun doing it. We left shortly after that, and ran into Kasumi and Amaya, who were apparently coming to see us sing (oops XD ). We headed back after that and went to bed though, since we were exhausted.
Sunday-
Cosplay: Nami, Timeskip (One Piece)
We started early again, so we could get all of our stuff down to the car easily. Thankfully, this year, we were on the same floor as the parking garage, which helped a lot, so no elevators needed~! I headed down to AA to take care of stuff there, and good thing I did cause boy was Sunday busy, even for Saturday! I did manage to get a little time away to go wander around with Thai and Komi, but it was mainly because I wanted to get a picture of the three of us by FuNimation's booth, lol. The day was pretty uneventful, and when AA closed, we packed up, said our farewells, and headed out to the car. We got some photos really quick, before we left, though Thai had already changed out of her stuff, and then with everyone in the car, we headed back to Indiana.
Well, overall I had a blast at ACen, as I do always. I don't generally get away much to actually do stuff, and though I had wanted to see Flow, it was at the same time as the One Piece photoshoot, so we ditched the concert for it, lol. I love how many of my friends I see at this con, and that it's so close to home. I do wish that they would straighten out their issues with AA, cause it's super frustrating. At least they got rid of that meanie running panels though, and the new guy was awesome <3 I actually like the staff running AA, too, since they are nice and polite, and quick to answer.
The rating of this con is 5/10. I'll be back next year, lol. Just hoping to get AA issues resolved.
Next con in line that needs a con report is AnimeCentral 2011~ This one is one of the few I do close to home, lol. So, onward to the report!
Thursday/Precon-
Ugh, precon stuff was a nightmare this year! Getting panels and that wasn't too bad, and they even had this extremely nice staff member in charge this year. I think he's my fave head of panels right now, lol. Not only did he respond in fair time to let me know I got one of my panels, he politely told me why I didn't get the other one AND he explained in detail WHY I didn't get it, which I found very nice <3 I mean, usually we just don't get our panels and accept it, but I appreciate him giving us the heads up!
The mess now was with Artist Alley, like usual. The registration this year was a monstrosity. I took off work early to actually get home in time to register, and course, when I did, the registration did not start when it was supposed to. The site totally crashed. The secondary time they gave us was still a no-go, and course, it didn't go over either. They told us that it would be the following day...no one was very happy >.> I was chatting with Dirk (Paradigm Shift), Ranefea, Dana (Ideafish Production), and the Toon Twins the whole time, since we were each having our own mess. So, the next day came around and at least it did open, albeit much later than we were told. The site kept going down and glitching during the process, but I managed to get myself registered within the first like 20 minutes. And, believe it or not, me and all of my friends actually got in, so I guess despite the pain we had getting in, it wasn't too bad. And I was up Thursday night to film something for NeoMikey, so I tried to get my AA badge, but course, wasn't printed. I did at least get to check in. We decided to stay at my house instead of a hotel over Thursday night though...
Friday-
Cosplay: Nami, Timeskip (One Piece)
Photoshoot: One Piece
Karaoke: Fairytail (Kara no Kyoukai), with Komiko under Kco
We started out early and headed up to Rosemont. We got there about 8 am or so, which was what we had planned. This year, Thai, Komi, and Urd-chan all had their badges with me, so we headed into AA in hopes of getting them. And...of course...they were STILL not printed. We went and checked in with panels though so we could get at least some kind of badge. I finally got my Artist Alley badge around 2 on Friday (but my assistants didn't get their badges until Saturday morning O.o). They really need to get that problem fixed. Same thing happened last year, too >.> Well, with our badges gotten and our cosplay on, AA was open and we started off the day. It was pretty slow moving, which is pretty much how Fridays always are, and I just greeted the like 100+ people I know at that con as they passed around, lol. We broke from the table to go to the One Piece photoshoot, but alas, our Chopper informed us she could not make it until Saturday morning, so it was just me and Komi. The shoot was fun, and after it was over, I headed back to AA to finish up the day there. When it was closed for the night, we got ourselves some food and headed off to do some karaoke. I will say, I was impressed. Karaoke Madness, which was so horribly god awful last year, actually improved. I still don't agree with having American songs in ANIME KARAOKE, but at least they actually HAD some Japanese songs this year. Course, didn't have any of our songs, but we always do obscure stuff, so I'm used to that, haha. And even so, their selection of Japanese songs was still pretty minor. We got in pretty early though, so we hung around a little after we went, and then headed back to get some sleep.
Saturday-
Cosplay: Gwynaeth, church version (As Written in the Stars)
Karaoke: Shunkan Sentimental (FMA Brotherhood), with Pinky; Nowhere (Madlax), with Komiko & Thai under KCo
Panels: Anzai Nobuyuki
Started off the day super early again, but this time, I had Urd-chan head down to the alley to open up, while Komi and I sprinted off to grab Thai just in time for the Anzai panel. Of course, it was super far away, and we went to the wrong hotel first, so we were late...first time I've ever been late ;_; Only like three people showed, cause of how super early it was, but the panel still went by okay, despite that. We rushed down to the hotel to get Thai in her cosplay, then I headed back to AA, while Komi and Thai went to help NeoMikey with something again. AA was a lot busier on Saturday, as to be expected, but I did manage to find some time away to go say hi to my friends in the dealer's room, and wander a bit with Thai and Komi, since we had our matching cosplay <3 Once AA closed for the night, we grabbed some food and literally ran down to karaoke with our pizza in tow, haha. We ate it while waiting in line, which was a good thing, considering how long the line was already by even then! Still, despite that, we got in fairly early into the line, especially since we had our songs already in tow <3 I agreed to a duet with Pinky, and we went first, and then a couple songs later, was our chance to show off all the work we put into the song Nowhere. In the hotel room, right before we left, we taught Thai her part, lol, but she had a lot of fun doing it. We left shortly after that, and ran into Kasumi and Amaya, who were apparently coming to see us sing (oops XD ). We headed back after that and went to bed though, since we were exhausted.
Sunday-
Cosplay: Nami, Timeskip (One Piece)
We started early again, so we could get all of our stuff down to the car easily. Thankfully, this year, we were on the same floor as the parking garage, which helped a lot, so no elevators needed~! I headed down to AA to take care of stuff there, and good thing I did cause boy was Sunday busy, even for Saturday! I did manage to get a little time away to go wander around with Thai and Komi, but it was mainly because I wanted to get a picture of the three of us by FuNimation's booth, lol. The day was pretty uneventful, and when AA closed, we packed up, said our farewells, and headed out to the car. We got some photos really quick, before we left, though Thai had already changed out of her stuff, and then with everyone in the car, we headed back to Indiana.
Well, overall I had a blast at ACen, as I do always. I don't generally get away much to actually do stuff, and though I had wanted to see Flow, it was at the same time as the One Piece photoshoot, so we ditched the concert for it, lol. I love how many of my friends I see at this con, and that it's so close to home. I do wish that they would straighten out their issues with AA, cause it's super frustrating. At least they got rid of that meanie running panels though, and the new guy was awesome <3 I actually like the staff running AA, too, since they are nice and polite, and quick to answer.
The rating of this con is 5/10. I'll be back next year, lol. Just hoping to get AA issues resolved.