And it's our annual review of Anime North, which you get once a year because, well, I'm there every year.
This time I ran a few new events and wanted to cover them – and I had a few interesting progeek insights to share.
THE CON ITSELF:
Was of course, awesome. Last I checked it probably broke 18,000 attendees, there was a lot to do as always, and the people were great. Really with Anime North it's not news it's awesome, that's the norm.
Oh, and local restraint Sushi-Ya continued to be great. New menu though.
The con did seem slightly subdued, I think because there was no Big Fandom. It was even more of a kitbash of anime, gaming, and related properties. If anything I saw a distinct increase in Doctor Who costumes, and I think David Tennant is the new normal. Of course the problem is that for many people you could dress as the 10th Doctor by raiding your closet, so maybe I overestimated. I'm one coat away from being able to cosplay as the 10th doctor.
THE EVENTS:
So here's what we did.
FAN TO PRO: Fan To Pro was a revised version of our usual panel, broken up into four distinct sections, with a repurposed handout. It went pretty well, though I think Bonnie and I, who sometimes work together sometimes don't on the panel, need to work on how to handle it.
STATE OF THE GEEKONOMY: This one went well, but also I think we overdid it. We can't break the Geek Scanner down to an hour and have discussion. Next time I/we/she does this we'll probably focus on top trends in more depth.
CONVENTION CAREER CONNECTION: My first panel based on my book, and frankly it went better than I thought. I had a small audience (it was late on Friday), but it was a very involved one. Several people pointed out convention events could be improved, and one liked my emphasis on handouts and extras.
I also did the anti-good writing humor panel "Fic Fic Boom" and my "Create That Anime" gameshow (RABBIT HATS . . . OK you had to be there).
What was interesting with the career events was the audience. I'm seeing a trend at cons that's very telling:
* Panels that speak to something, like "Why You Don't Have Your Dream Job" really get attention.
* Panels that are more "pro" and say so straight up get less audience, but a much more focused one.
This tells me that in doing career events at cons that the title, the focus, and the audience expectations should set YOUR expectations as well. If you do a panel on "copyright law and writing" you're not going to get the same audience as "I want a writing career."
We'll be making tweaks to our usual presentations. Oh, and for those of you that see us regularly we're working to expand our schedule . . .
END RESULT:
Another great con. If you can make it, and like anime, go.
Wear your Rabbit Hat.