Tadaima~!
Despite being very very tired, we all made it to the airport in plenty of time and I'm home safe and sound. I think lazing about on my couch for a little while sounds good so... con report time~!
Friday
Despite having prepared directions and everything, we didn't end up heading out to the con until Kat got home from work. I was mostly afraid of leaving Kat to haul my luggage to her car, and didn't want to just abandon double_dear at her apartment. We also knew we couldn't get back /in/ to her apartment if we came back unless she got home, so there was some uncertainty there.
I spent a lot of that time in the process of clearing out room on Damien's old hard drive ("Scorpio") and duplicating the Karaoke database to it. The idea was to let me have a searchable version on my computer in case people couldn't find things in the books.
Once Kat got home though, we headed out pretty quickly and my driving directions actually came in handy!
Parking for staff was a half-mile away across the river, so we split our party in two and left half with the luggage while the other half went to park and then walk back. Luckily we were just in time for hotel check in, and got up to our room with minimal trouble. I put on Masaomi, Kat put on Nozomi, and the Twins got out their Donald and Goofy Kingdom Hearts costumes.
We wandered a bit, exploring the new hotel. We found ops and consuite and the karaoke room, as well as Cosplay signup. I got signed up and them took a little break to go figure out what I was doing with my music. (I ended up using the opening track of the midsummer's soundtrack... which I now need to buy a new copy of. >.>)
We went out to Quiznos for a late lunch/early dinner and then back to the hotel for 'Name That Anime Opening'. By the time we competed, we were up against the uber-team, so didn't make it past our round, but it was fun anyway.
We got a few pictures of Masaomi and Nozomi (and her Hinoe plush) and then headed up to change clothes (I kept my wig on) before Karaoke. We had staff/volunteer shirts this year and we looked so awesome. There were some issues involving sound and computers and we all ended up on eachothers laptops, but it all worked out in the end thanks to awesome sound-volunteer guy. Wherever you are, Jimmy, thank you /so/ much.
Karaoke went quite well after that and then it was back to the room. I stayed out for a little while practicing with my BGM for the cosplay and working a little with poses with my fans. Then it was time for a little sleep.
Saturday
I wanted to get up at 8, but only managed to crawl out of my pillow-fort at 8:40 and wander downstairs to the cosplay orientation. It was much the same as last year and I was again impressed with how organized they are backstage. Afterward I headed up and put on Shimon for the day, though Inori and I never got stopped for pictures, I hear Yasuaki and Eisen were recognized once or twice. I tried Shimon's wig again.... it's still too small and not quite the right style... I'll have to find something to do with it.
We went to a basic costume construction panel that was fun to listen to and then to Mystery Anime Theatre 3000. It was dubbed DBZ. I decided that Vegeta was the original Zuko. Anyway...
Around 2:30, I headed up to the room to get ready while the Kat and double_dear went to line up for the AMVs. I showered, ironed Saku's silk layer and then dressed. It took about an hour and a half to get dressed and made up, but I did manage it all myself, even the obi. The new turquoise sleeves hang about 1" wider on the arm than the silk, but the effect actually looks really nice and consistent, so I like it. I finally sucked it up and cut a slit to put a cardboard insert in the neckband of the turqoise... and it made the outfit. All my lines were much cleaner this time than they were at NDK. I was very thorough and detailed about my makeup and was very pleased with the results. Also, I am in love with her wig all over again.
I met up with everyone just as I made it to the main level and they tagged along as moral support for my craftsmanship judging. I had taken out everything but Saku from the scrapbook, and the judges seemed to really like all the detail presented there. They liked the contrast linings in the sleeves... and said the cut on the wig was great. I didn't get to talk about the Tabi, but they did the the flowers and the fans. They were impressed that all the layers were seperate and complete and not just date-eri types.
baranoneko and I went for lunch after that and then hung out in the room mostly until I had to leave for Greenroom call at 6:30. There were some /amazing/ costumes this year, as there always are, and some really great skits as well. 52 entries... something like 120 people involved. Vulchu was back from Seattle to be the MC and was awesome dressed as Rise from Persona 4. Everyone did amazingly well, and it was a great show.
I was totally content just to have competed, when Trinity Blood is involved, craftsmanship awards are pretty much unavailable to other people, but I did actually get an award - Judge's Choice. I was shocked and moved because I was one of the only masters to be a solo costume with a fairly simple walk-on type performance.
By the time I got upstairs, it was 9:56 so I got out of Saku as fast as possible, put on some pants and my Karaoke Staff shirt and off we went.
The second night was smoother but crazier as always. Our lovely volunteers kept the line and signups running very smoothly though (THANK YOU~!) There was a lot more demand than we had time in the room, and I would probably want to run longer on saturday next year if we were doing it again. We had a lot of great performances, including the traditional one by MAS Productions. My favorite (yes I'm biased) was revolutionaryjo and killercherrypie singing "Kitto Daijobu". Not only because they ROCKED the song, rap and all, but also because the whole room was dancing along with them. It was the coolest thing I've seen in a long while. Saturday night was an amazing crowd and we got a lot of great feedback from people. I'm really going to miss running it next year. I feel like we're seeing a little baby convention grow up and I'm sad that I won't be a part of it anymore.
After Karaoke baranoneko and I went to Gojira party and danced for a long while, there were some pretty awesome room parties this year... though I didn't know there was a real rave or I would have checked it out too. I stayed out way too late and therefore, it was 10:45 when everyone kicked me out of bed the next morning.
Sunday
I put on Benkei before starting to try to pack all my crap into my bags again. It worked a bit better not in Furoshiki, but being in Benkei didn't really make me more efficient. Once we checked out, we walked to get the car - put stuff in it, then repark it. I hit the Journeyman level costuming panel while baranonkeo went to Phade's AMV show. double_dear was in the room too by the time the panel was over and after talking a bit with the awesome guy helping run it (he works at a JoAnn out there) we headed out to locate our missing Hinoe. We were reunited in the Dealer's Room (still no plushies) and headed out to grab some quick food before departing the con. There was some missundestandings about the possibilty of Karaoke, but I ended up napping through the Mai-hito-yo stage play (double_dear own the DVD, and it is /so/ awesome) and then baranoneko and I hit the karaoke place for an hour or so. I did "Beautiful Days", "Weeek" and "Niji" (the Fukuyama Masaharu one) and Kat got in some of her classics along with some of our favorite group/duet songs. Then we grabbed some Arby's before heading back for Mai-hito-yo special features and the first arc of Ghost Hunt. (I need to watch more now. For serious.)
Monday
We passed out for a few hours before crawling out of bed and into clothes and then the car to get to the airport. My flight was at 6:10 and I was past security and all by 5:15 (MSP is so efficient). I don't remember any of the flight except trying to fall asleep and that when I woke up on the ground in Denver, my iPod was playing "Yorokobi no Uta". My bag was already out waiting for me by the time I got to baggage claim and it wasn't bad to hike out to the pickup point for USAirport parking. I was very glad that I had both jackets on, because it was a beautiful Colorado morning that was just about 30 degrees. So it was back to Hakuryu and home and here I am.
Tadaima~!
I think that may be the first time I've actually written up a full con report in years.
Also, to get the ideas out of my head before I lose them...
The system that we've pretty much perfected now, is as follows:
1) Staffing
Staff A - takes signups, answers questions, deals with the vast majority of the actual performers/attendees/audience/etc. This person is responsible for sending the information from the signup sheet to Staff B and Staff C, and making sure that they are aware of all changes.
Staff B - Lyrics. Once they know the sequence of songs being sung, this staff member starts researching lyrics, putting them together in sign-up order in a text file. Communication of song style and performer preference for lyrics (english, romaji, japanese, etc.) is the only reason that this staff member really needs to deal with audience and performers. The job requires focus, however, and needs someone good at multi-tasking to keep the lyrics on screen moving correctly while still looking up and adding songs to the list. Once the list is complete (signups are filled), then this job gets much easier. Japanese comprehension is a deffinite plus.
Staff C - Sound. As they get the requests, this staff member builds the iTunes playlist that will determine the order of performance. For us, she also does all the announcing/MC business. As songs are moved into the playlist, she makes notes of who is singing them, and makes sure that the sequence is kept correct. It is very important that cancellations, song changes, and any announcements go to this staff member, so that they don't end up calling for performers who have left or playing the wrong song.
Volunteers - We had a great team of volunteer assistants this year. Volunteers can help by taking over any of the staff jobs when it becomes neccessary, but are especially helpful in being empowered to organize and answer questions during the signup phase. Keeping the books circulating, keeping your crowd organized and helping the situation stay overall more controlled. I highly recommend at least two people in the organization/control position, be they staff or volunteers, so that they have someone else to back them up.
Operational Notes:
-know your policies and time limits, both by hotel/con rules and your staffs preference. Will the hotel or security need you out of the room at a certain time? If you have a crew willing to run until 6 am, great! If your lyrics guy turns into a pumpkin at midnight and no one can replace him, you might want to consider opening earlier or training someone else to cover for him.
-Take only the signups that you have time for. Going over by 5 minutes because someone sang "Forever Love" is one thing, being stuck there for an extra hour and a half because you took 15 more signups than you should have... not so fun. If you have to have people come back to see if more space has opened up, set a very specific time at which you will make the decision.
-Be open minded. You may not like the song from portal, but that doesn't mean that someone can't sing it once.
-Make rules - "Life is like a boat" is a great song. Do you want to hear it three times a night both nights of the con? Because if not, perhaps you should advise people when their song is already reserved, or start a list of popular songs that have already been signed up for to prevent duplicates.
Now... I think I'm going to start on Tomomori. Or possibly first on the screen design for Kiyomori. Since my legs are still really really sore today. :3
I hope everyone had a great con. And that the few new people I've friended don't think that I'm too nuts. ^_^
Friday
Despite having prepared directions and everything, we didn't end up heading out to the con until Kat got home from work. I was mostly afraid of leaving Kat to haul my luggage to her car, and didn't want to just abandon double_dear at her apartment. We also knew we couldn't get back /in/ to her apartment if we came back unless she got home, so there was some uncertainty there.
I spent a lot of that time in the process of clearing out room on Damien's old hard drive ("Scorpio") and duplicating the Karaoke database to it. The idea was to let me have a searchable version on my computer in case people couldn't find things in the books.
Once Kat got home though, we headed out pretty quickly and my driving directions actually came in handy!
Parking for staff was a half-mile away across the river, so we split our party in two and left half with the luggage while the other half went to park and then walk back. Luckily we were just in time for hotel check in, and got up to our room with minimal trouble. I put on Masaomi, Kat put on Nozomi, and the Twins got out their Donald and Goofy Kingdom Hearts costumes.
We wandered a bit, exploring the new hotel. We found ops and consuite and the karaoke room, as well as Cosplay signup. I got signed up and them took a little break to go figure out what I was doing with my music. (I ended up using the opening track of the midsummer's soundtrack... which I now need to buy a new copy of. >.>)
We went out to Quiznos for a late lunch/early dinner and then back to the hotel for 'Name That Anime Opening'. By the time we competed, we were up against the uber-team, so didn't make it past our round, but it was fun anyway.
We got a few pictures of Masaomi and Nozomi (and her Hinoe plush) and then headed up to change clothes (I kept my wig on) before Karaoke. We had staff/volunteer shirts this year and we looked so awesome. There were some issues involving sound and computers and we all ended up on eachothers laptops, but it all worked out in the end thanks to awesome sound-volunteer guy. Wherever you are, Jimmy, thank you /so/ much.
Karaoke went quite well after that and then it was back to the room. I stayed out for a little while practicing with my BGM for the cosplay and working a little with poses with my fans. Then it was time for a little sleep.
Saturday
I wanted to get up at 8, but only managed to crawl out of my pillow-fort at 8:40 and wander downstairs to the cosplay orientation. It was much the same as last year and I was again impressed with how organized they are backstage. Afterward I headed up and put on Shimon for the day, though Inori and I never got stopped for pictures, I hear Yasuaki and Eisen were recognized once or twice. I tried Shimon's wig again.... it's still too small and not quite the right style... I'll have to find something to do with it.
We went to a basic costume construction panel that was fun to listen to and then to Mystery Anime Theatre 3000. It was dubbed DBZ. I decided that Vegeta was the original Zuko. Anyway...
Around 2:30, I headed up to the room to get ready while the Kat and double_dear went to line up for the AMVs. I showered, ironed Saku's silk layer and then dressed. It took about an hour and a half to get dressed and made up, but I did manage it all myself, even the obi. The new turquoise sleeves hang about 1" wider on the arm than the silk, but the effect actually looks really nice and consistent, so I like it. I finally sucked it up and cut a slit to put a cardboard insert in the neckband of the turqoise... and it made the outfit. All my lines were much cleaner this time than they were at NDK. I was very thorough and detailed about my makeup and was very pleased with the results. Also, I am in love with her wig all over again.
I met up with everyone just as I made it to the main level and they tagged along as moral support for my craftsmanship judging. I had taken out everything but Saku from the scrapbook, and the judges seemed to really like all the detail presented there. They liked the contrast linings in the sleeves... and said the cut on the wig was great. I didn't get to talk about the Tabi, but they did the the flowers and the fans. They were impressed that all the layers were seperate and complete and not just date-eri types.
baranoneko and I went for lunch after that and then hung out in the room mostly until I had to leave for Greenroom call at 6:30. There were some /amazing/ costumes this year, as there always are, and some really great skits as well. 52 entries... something like 120 people involved. Vulchu was back from Seattle to be the MC and was awesome dressed as Rise from Persona 4. Everyone did amazingly well, and it was a great show.
I was totally content just to have competed, when Trinity Blood is involved, craftsmanship awards are pretty much unavailable to other people, but I did actually get an award - Judge's Choice. I was shocked and moved because I was one of the only masters to be a solo costume with a fairly simple walk-on type performance.
By the time I got upstairs, it was 9:56 so I got out of Saku as fast as possible, put on some pants and my Karaoke Staff shirt and off we went.
The second night was smoother but crazier as always. Our lovely volunteers kept the line and signups running very smoothly though (THANK YOU~!) There was a lot more demand than we had time in the room, and I would probably want to run longer on saturday next year if we were doing it again. We had a lot of great performances, including the traditional one by MAS Productions. My favorite (yes I'm biased) was revolutionaryjo and killercherrypie singing "Kitto Daijobu". Not only because they ROCKED the song, rap and all, but also because the whole room was dancing along with them. It was the coolest thing I've seen in a long while. Saturday night was an amazing crowd and we got a lot of great feedback from people. I'm really going to miss running it next year. I feel like we're seeing a little baby convention grow up and I'm sad that I won't be a part of it anymore.
After Karaoke baranoneko and I went to Gojira party and danced for a long while, there were some pretty awesome room parties this year... though I didn't know there was a real rave or I would have checked it out too. I stayed out way too late and therefore, it was 10:45 when everyone kicked me out of bed the next morning.
Sunday
I put on Benkei before starting to try to pack all my crap into my bags again. It worked a bit better not in Furoshiki, but being in Benkei didn't really make me more efficient. Once we checked out, we walked to get the car - put stuff in it, then repark it. I hit the Journeyman level costuming panel while baranonkeo went to Phade's AMV show. double_dear was in the room too by the time the panel was over and after talking a bit with the awesome guy helping run it (he works at a JoAnn out there) we headed out to locate our missing Hinoe. We were reunited in the Dealer's Room (still no plushies) and headed out to grab some quick food before departing the con. There was some missundestandings about the possibilty of Karaoke, but I ended up napping through the Mai-hito-yo stage play (double_dear own the DVD, and it is /so/ awesome) and then baranoneko and I hit the karaoke place for an hour or so. I did "Beautiful Days", "Weeek" and "Niji" (the Fukuyama Masaharu one) and Kat got in some of her classics along with some of our favorite group/duet songs. Then we grabbed some Arby's before heading back for Mai-hito-yo special features and the first arc of Ghost Hunt. (I need to watch more now. For serious.)
Monday
We passed out for a few hours before crawling out of bed and into clothes and then the car to get to the airport. My flight was at 6:10 and I was past security and all by 5:15 (MSP is so efficient). I don't remember any of the flight except trying to fall asleep and that when I woke up on the ground in Denver, my iPod was playing "Yorokobi no Uta". My bag was already out waiting for me by the time I got to baggage claim and it wasn't bad to hike out to the pickup point for USAirport parking. I was very glad that I had both jackets on, because it was a beautiful Colorado morning that was just about 30 degrees. So it was back to Hakuryu and home and here I am.
Tadaima~!
I think that may be the first time I've actually written up a full con report in years.
Also, to get the ideas out of my head before I lose them...
The system that we've pretty much perfected now, is as follows:
1) Staffing
Staff A - takes signups, answers questions, deals with the vast majority of the actual performers/attendees/audience/etc. This person is responsible for sending the information from the signup sheet to Staff B and Staff C, and making sure that they are aware of all changes.
Staff B - Lyrics. Once they know the sequence of songs being sung, this staff member starts researching lyrics, putting them together in sign-up order in a text file. Communication of song style and performer preference for lyrics (english, romaji, japanese, etc.) is the only reason that this staff member really needs to deal with audience and performers. The job requires focus, however, and needs someone good at multi-tasking to keep the lyrics on screen moving correctly while still looking up and adding songs to the list. Once the list is complete (signups are filled), then this job gets much easier. Japanese comprehension is a deffinite plus.
Staff C - Sound. As they get the requests, this staff member builds the iTunes playlist that will determine the order of performance. For us, she also does all the announcing/MC business. As songs are moved into the playlist, she makes notes of who is singing them, and makes sure that the sequence is kept correct. It is very important that cancellations, song changes, and any announcements go to this staff member, so that they don't end up calling for performers who have left or playing the wrong song.
Volunteers - We had a great team of volunteer assistants this year. Volunteers can help by taking over any of the staff jobs when it becomes neccessary, but are especially helpful in being empowered to organize and answer questions during the signup phase. Keeping the books circulating, keeping your crowd organized and helping the situation stay overall more controlled. I highly recommend at least two people in the organization/control position, be they staff or volunteers, so that they have someone else to back them up.
Operational Notes:
-know your policies and time limits, both by hotel/con rules and your staffs preference. Will the hotel or security need you out of the room at a certain time? If you have a crew willing to run until 6 am, great! If your lyrics guy turns into a pumpkin at midnight and no one can replace him, you might want to consider opening earlier or training someone else to cover for him.
-Take only the signups that you have time for. Going over by 5 minutes because someone sang "Forever Love" is one thing, being stuck there for an extra hour and a half because you took 15 more signups than you should have... not so fun. If you have to have people come back to see if more space has opened up, set a very specific time at which you will make the decision.
-Be open minded. You may not like the song from portal, but that doesn't mean that someone can't sing it once.
-Make rules - "Life is like a boat" is a great song. Do you want to hear it three times a night both nights of the con? Because if not, perhaps you should advise people when their song is already reserved, or start a list of popular songs that have already been signed up for to prevent duplicates.
Now... I think I'm going to start on Tomomori. Or possibly first on the screen design for Kiyomori. Since my legs are still really really sore today. :3
I hope everyone had a great con. And that the few new people I've friended don't think that I'm too nuts. ^_^