Connichi - Photos
This weekend lasted almost five days, but at least four, from Thursday (September 6th) to Monday, and every day was filled to the brim with awesome, I'm not exagerating. Conventions are like that and even the biggest even though's can't change that.
Like, even though the guys from the light technique almost lit up the whole main hall. How did they do that, you might ask? Recipe for a burning stage: take the headlamps (yes, the pretty colored ones) and lower them as far as they get (that's less than a meter from the stage). Now switch them on (they need to heat up I think). Make sure they are pointed down toward the stage. Then wait untill someone screams "The stage is smoking!!". React calmly, look at the smoking stage, then slowly walk up to your controll panel and switch of the headlamps. Act like it's not your fault. Amuse everyone present in the process.
What else do you need for a manga convention? Oh, right! Mangas! Lots of them!
The Connichi has something called a Manga Library - one guy bring most (not all) of his mangas and anyone can read them for free. Pretty cool, huh? Of course someone has to get the mangas out of the car, onto the shelves, check everything's there, supervise the whole thing during the convention so nothing gets taken, check everything again at the end and put them back into the car. Or van, really, a small bus. I didn't count them, but see for yourselves: (alphabetically ordered)
Now between all the big and small jobs one has to do on a convention someone has to feed those "helpers". Last year we got cub noodles. That was pretty much it. No one liked the shrimp flavored ones though, so this time we asked the company to send everything but shrimp. There must have been a missunderstandin. They only sent broccoli. That was new and... um... well-received is not quite the word. However this year we also got rice with vegetables (to which I were allergic) and potato soup (which was okay). Creativity was in order not to die of hunger or to fall back on broccoli cup noodles. And in case you're wondering, that's tomato rice on toast with cheese. Tastes decent, but nobody wanted a bite. *shrugs* More for me. :)
Michael, Matthes, Raist, Danny
Here's a revelation: I don't go to conventions because I like mangas so much. I used to, but nowadays the plural in the word 'conventions' isn't even appropriate anymore and I much prefer american comics to their japanese counterparts (except for yaoi, I still crave that). I go to one convention, namely the Connichi, because of the people. Most of my friends are helpers there and some I only meet that one time a year. It so happened that Thursday was my 22nd birthday and somehow they actually manages the bake a freaking cake at the convention. I wish I had a photo of that cake with all its 22 candles (I'll add the video a friend made later), but for now, see the remains: (I can't put into words how I feel about my dear friends, they're fantastic, aren't they? THANK YOU, Caius!)
I also got a giant mikado game that we played with on Friday night long after the guests had been out of the rooms:
Kris
These long wooden sticks proved useful for cosplaying purposes as well - see my Wolverine cos: (there was a brilliant Logan cosplayer, but I didn't get to make a photo, unfortunately)
Never fear, the technique helpers have everything under controll! They never rest, always at work, no games... oh screw that: ("Jeanne, you got your camera? Good. Stay right there, don't move." *waits for a couple minutes while I actually had work to do* "Okay, now take a photo!" *four heads appear behind the curtain* "...")
Danny, Hanna, Raist, Verno
Yeah, okay, I admit it: I finally forgot that I had work to do, stayed in the great hall, sat on stage and drew stuff into con hons. When my friends "at work" called I lied and said I had to help out somewhere else. That's what I do, works for me, no one was angry and I ran to work.
Me, Hanna, Raist
One of the best parts of a convention (this one at least) is when all the guests and visitors and whatnot are gone and only the helpers remain; it's Sunday and we hurry to tidy everything up, everything that we had more than one day to build up and the guests had three days to mess up. XD It's our convention. I usually wear an M sized girlie shirt, but just for the heck of it I got myself a 5XL shirt. I fit in there twice, easily. It's a sleeping bag, a tent and a changing room all rolled into one. I was also tol dit looks rather cute, like a child in a grown-up's shirt.
Yoshi, me
Other than that? We had so much fun! A friend showed me a ladder behind the stage that lead up the the helpers' room. We took a few photos, here's one: XD
So yeah, that was it. :)
Oh, and did I mention that the helper tickets were super hero themed? :D
Like, even though the guys from the light technique almost lit up the whole main hall. How did they do that, you might ask? Recipe for a burning stage: take the headlamps (yes, the pretty colored ones) and lower them as far as they get (that's less than a meter from the stage). Now switch them on (they need to heat up I think). Make sure they are pointed down toward the stage. Then wait untill someone screams "The stage is smoking!!". React calmly, look at the smoking stage, then slowly walk up to your controll panel and switch of the headlamps. Act like it's not your fault. Amuse everyone present in the process.
What else do you need for a manga convention? Oh, right! Mangas! Lots of them!
The Connichi has something called a Manga Library - one guy bring most (not all) of his mangas and anyone can read them for free. Pretty cool, huh? Of course someone has to get the mangas out of the car, onto the shelves, check everything's there, supervise the whole thing during the convention so nothing gets taken, check everything again at the end and put them back into the car. Or van, really, a small bus. I didn't count them, but see for yourselves: (alphabetically ordered)
Now between all the big and small jobs one has to do on a convention someone has to feed those "helpers". Last year we got cub noodles. That was pretty much it. No one liked the shrimp flavored ones though, so this time we asked the company to send everything but shrimp. There must have been a missunderstandin. They only sent broccoli. That was new and... um... well-received is not quite the word. However this year we also got rice with vegetables (to which I were allergic) and potato soup (which was okay). Creativity was in order not to die of hunger or to fall back on broccoli cup noodles. And in case you're wondering, that's tomato rice on toast with cheese. Tastes decent, but nobody wanted a bite. *shrugs* More for me. :)
Michael, Matthes, Raist, Danny
Here's a revelation: I don't go to conventions because I like mangas so much. I used to, but nowadays the plural in the word 'conventions' isn't even appropriate anymore and I much prefer american comics to their japanese counterparts (except for yaoi, I still crave that). I go to one convention, namely the Connichi, because of the people. Most of my friends are helpers there and some I only meet that one time a year. It so happened that Thursday was my 22nd birthday and somehow they actually manages the bake a freaking cake at the convention. I wish I had a photo of that cake with all its 22 candles (I'll add the video a friend made later), but for now, see the remains: (I can't put into words how I feel about my dear friends, they're fantastic, aren't they? THANK YOU, Caius!)
I also got a giant mikado game that we played with on Friday night long after the guests had been out of the rooms:
Kris
These long wooden sticks proved useful for cosplaying purposes as well - see my Wolverine cos: (there was a brilliant Logan cosplayer, but I didn't get to make a photo, unfortunately)
Never fear, the technique helpers have everything under controll! They never rest, always at work, no games... oh screw that: ("Jeanne, you got your camera? Good. Stay right there, don't move." *waits for a couple minutes while I actually had work to do* "Okay, now take a photo!" *four heads appear behind the curtain* "...")
Danny, Hanna, Raist, Verno
Yeah, okay, I admit it: I finally forgot that I had work to do, stayed in the great hall, sat on stage and drew stuff into con hons. When my friends "at work" called I lied and said I had to help out somewhere else. That's what I do, works for me, no one was angry and I ran to work.
Me, Hanna, Raist
One of the best parts of a convention (this one at least) is when all the guests and visitors and whatnot are gone and only the helpers remain; it's Sunday and we hurry to tidy everything up, everything that we had more than one day to build up and the guests had three days to mess up. XD It's our convention. I usually wear an M sized girlie shirt, but just for the heck of it I got myself a 5XL shirt. I fit in there twice, easily. It's a sleeping bag, a tent and a changing room all rolled into one. I was also tol dit looks rather cute, like a child in a grown-up's shirt.
Yoshi, me
Other than that? We had so much fun! A friend showed me a ladder behind the stage that lead up the the helpers' room. We took a few photos, here's one: XD
So yeah, that was it. :)
Oh, and did I mention that the helper tickets were super hero themed? :D