convention

Godakiko Con – The Vendors speak

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Godaiko Con is an old-school anime con that tries to go back to the day when cons were about promoting anime and many attendees were inspired to art and creativity.  It's heavy on community focus.

They extend their community to include the vendors, and the vendors actually get their own panel.  The staff noticed a lot of vendors were fans themselves, some in fact had grown from fans to professionals, so a vendor-centric panel was created.  So of course, I asked them about it . . .

The Vendor panel gives vendors a chance to introduce themselves, talk about their experiences, and how they got there.  One of the motivations of the panel is to dispel illusions and share information – Vendors see a lot people may take for granted or not realize that they know.

The results so far have been pretty good, getting a lot of attnetion, and even once causing a person to miss "regular" panels because of all the tales.

Sounds to me like Godaiko Con took the idea of "maybe the vendors could talk" and takes it all the way.  Might be an idea to try for your con . . .

– Steven Savage

Go Farther: Anime Cons

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So I discussed how I think Comic Cons can go farther career-wise, next up is a focus on one of my personal favorite: anime cons.  What do I think they can – and should – do career-wise in the years to come?

Well anime cons have a few unique traits:

  • Despite being anime they tend to be multi-media and often cutting edge.  Anime's always had a hip thing going for it, even when it was being made fun.
  • There's a heavy emphasis on creativity and use of talent – art, web-pages, costly, etc.  Go to even a small con and be amazed.
  • The attendees also tend to be very technical – from programmers to being internet-savvy to digital art.
  • There is, in my experience, more emphasis on professional development.  I'm not 100% sure why this is, but I should analyze it.
  • People have a more intimate knowledge of the industries they're fans of.

So my take is that anime cons have a good foundation, but need to leverage what's really unique about them.  To do career events, I recommend anime cons:

  • Leverage the diversity.  You can experiment with all sorts of career panels and events because, if your con is of any size, someone is probably going to want to attend these events.  This gives you a chance to find out what works best.  In short a decent-sized con is a great laboratory.
  • Use the skill-development focus.  Many cons already do such panels, so adding a more professional emphasis to them – such as lists of professional resources and associations – would be a good idea.
  • Try project-oriented educational and career events – from works at a con to a project outside the convention such as a group manga, novel, etc.  Since anime fans tend to be "product-oriented" this will help them and help your con's relations.
  • Feel free to try more technical panels such as ones on web-design, programming, and so on.  You'll probably find a lot of response.  For extra fun, tie it into your own technical elements – such as if you use webcasting for events.
  • Take your industry panels into professional directions, such as talking about trends, industry issues, etc.  There's plenty to cover in international media, video games, and so on.  You'll get a good response I'm sure.

Anime cons are already a pretty powerful package career-wise, with a strong cultural foundation.  Working with this will let you turn it into a powerful career engine.

– Steven Savage

Unemployed? Try Volunteering at a Con

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(This is a guest post by Lauren Orsini.  Thanks Lauren!)

When I was unemployed, my worst enemy was time. It was tough to shift from my identity as a constantly multitasking graduate student to suddenly being a part-time minimum wage cashier living with my parents. I suddenly had hours of free time, which you’d think would be a blessing. But a lack of routine just made me lazy and depressed.
 
I needed to find something to bring structure and purpose back to my life, and fast.
 

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