convention

Fanime 2019 Roundup!

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

OK I was at Fanime 2019 and as usual, a quick roundup. This was pretty interesting.

DOMINANT FANDOM: My Hero Academia was seriously dominant in cosplay, Artists Alley, etc. It was clearly The Top Fandom in many ways that makes me recall stuff like Naruto or One Piece back in the day. However, I think MHA has a wider range of appeal.

OTHER FANDOMS: The Fate series had a large cosplay gathering, more than I recall seeing at Fanime before. I also saw a lot of Spidervese characters, with Spider-Gwen being the major character. Jojo seemed to be getting more representation, from all over the series. There were cosplays and stuff from all over, obviously not just anime.

SURPRISES: I saw an Outlaw Star group, and Yuri On Ice was still evident in cosplay and merchandise. Yuri On Ice made an impression (says the guy who watched it twice)

DEALER’S ROOM: Dealer’s room was pretty diverse. Fanime runs a good Dealer’s Room and there was merchandise from all over the fandoms and interests.

ARTISTS ALLEY: As noted, lots of MHA, mixed with other stuff. I also saw some artists who had radically different styles and takes on anime and game art.

PANELS: A few insights, but the panel selection felt deep:

  • Lots of Cosplay panels this year, including advanced techniques and personal branding.
  • There were a lot of fanfic panels, at various levels of interest. These were not just basic panels, but some got deep into craft.
  • Some panels on culture were interesting, from exploring odd theories around anime to queerness in magical girl stories. Very intriguing.
  • There were other in-depth panels like developing mobile apps.
  • My panel on Geeky Productivity was well-attended for a 10 AM panel, and the Self-Publishing panel was very well attended despite being across from a panel on branding (seriously). There’s a real interest at this con on skills, and I had people remembering me and others from before.

So that’s my experiences. If you attended, let me know what you thought!

I plan to be there next year, obviously, but I’m going to return with more panel and panel sequence ideas. There’s a real interest in heavy skill stuff there. If I can lecture dressed as an MHA character, it’ll have come full circle . . .

Steven Savage

What’s Next For Cons 2: The House Con

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

In my last post on the future of cons, looking at “micro-con” replacements for small cons when areas can’t support them, Serdar mentioned a house party he’d hosted, as well as the way some bands had done basement numbers.  This let me flesh out an idea.

The House Con.

Imagine that, for a day, someone with a reasonably sized house makes it a mini-convention.  It’s open visitation (to invited guests) and the house is open for a set amount of hours, so people aren’t there all at once.  Then, you replicate a con in microcosm.

Of course you’d have a schedule, important so people know when to come, what to bring, and to let you use your rooms.  Events could be like . . .

Media Room – One room can be constantly running shows and programs, probably on a schedule.  It’s basically the video room, with one thing at a time.

Game Room – Set up a TV or two with some game consoles and go to town.  Several friends of mine do gaming meetups this way, so why not make it part of a larger event.

Con Suite – Set aside a room or the backyard for a place to hang out and socialize.  Let people connect and enjoy company.  This would probably be the kitchen or dining room so you can have food.

Cosplay – If you got a basement or backyard or want to shut down an event space for an hour, do some cosplay!  Why not?  Make it a bit of a costume party.

Art Show – People can of course put their art up.  OR you could get images of their art, put them into a rotating loop on a display program like Windows Photos and set up a laptop connected to a TV.

Panels – Why not have a few people speak on skills or do demonstrations or just have a discussion time?

Dealer’s Room – Friends selling stuff might bring a few things to deal in, or you could just have a giveaway or exchange table.

Library – Have a place with reading materials.  You could also take donations to create a Little Free Library for the con or with what’s brought in.

Sure its a house party taken in a geekier direction.  But why not give it a try?  Maybe you and your friends could even have one a month, rotating through different houses, ans getting that small con feel in microcosm.

– Steve

What’s Next For Cons

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

When I spoke at Kraken Con last week, it was a bittersweet experience because the convention is shutting down for the time being.  Cons come and go, but this smaller con had a special place in my heart for its positive attitude, precise organization, and fan focus.

The Bay Area has seen many cons change lately, from cancellation to hiatus to restructuring.  It’s not surprising – we’ve got several dominant big cons, and some areas are damned hard and expensive to host in (like San Francisco).  Smaller cons face unique challenges.

I began thinking about how smaller cons have some problems in the Bay Area, and also considered their social role – smaller, more relaxed, more intimate experiences.  This led me to another question – what if we re-think cons, especially smaller ones.  What are “con-like” activities we could have that fulfill the social needs of smaller cons?

So first, let’s ask what these smaller cons provide:

  • The provide a more relaxed setting.
  • They provide a more social setting.
  • They may be specialized in ways larger cons couldn’t be.
  • They can fit into various niches as they’re smaller.
  • For some vendors and artists they may be cheaper to be at.
  • They can experiment.

With that out of the way, allow me to brainstorm some ideas of “con-like” activities that give us the benefits of smaller cons.  These also have an eye towards being easy to do.

Back To Relaxacons – This is something I dearly miss, small one-day cons at hotels where people just hung out.  Some people get hotel rooms, a big convention room is rented for videos, and you hang out.

One-Days – Some cons I’ve seen just do one day now.  Maybe having more micro-cons may provide the needs for the above.  In fact, imagine a con held once a month or so?

Dealer/Artist Get Togethers – Imagine a con (probably one day) that is ONLY local dealers and artists.  Give people a chance to get exposure in an easier way.  I’ve seen various flea markets and events here that operate out of cars in a parking lot (legaly, of course)

Wandering Cons – This is a weird idea that I’ve thought of on and off, but what if you had a small con (say one day) that wandered about every few months, each run by a different team.  There’s still logistic challenges.

Hang At A Hotel – This is something I’ve done before.  Just have people get together at a hotel and hang out.

House Party – Imagine a wandering con that’s basically a small house party.  Sure space would be limited, but people may also come in and out.  A few dealers could attend as well (not sure what the legal issues are here).  Hell, done right in a big area, say the Bay Area, it could be weekly.

Online – There have been attempts at online cons, and this could work well with proper coordination (and no hotel fees!).  Mix webcasts and video feeds and other services, and you can do cosplay and panels at the very least!  Also imagine if you did it right it might be a con that’s going on constantly.

There’s my ideas.  I’d like to hear other ones!

– Steve