Forum get-togethers.

Conventions and other events, fandom, stores, manga-ka, animators, and other people, etc
davemerrill
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by davemerrill »

I'm going to be at Anime North in May and at AWA in September, and it turns out we're going to be at Anime Boston at the end of this month; the timing was finally right for us to make it, and they're going to have me do an Anime Hell show on Saturday night.

We are going to be doing the 21+ mixer at AWA again on Saturday night - I'll be at the show all weekend long but that mixer is a great place to meet up and, you know, mix.
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DKop
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by DKop »

davemerrill wrote:I'm going to be at Anime North in May and at AWA in September, and it turns out we're going to be at Anime Boston at the end of this month; the timing was finally right for us to make it, and they're going to have me do an Anime Hell show on Saturday night.

We are going to be doing the 21+ mixer at AWA again on Saturday night - I'll be at the show all weekend long but that mixer is a great place to meet up and, you know, mix.
I'll remember to put that down, my girlfriend and I are coming and the only thing I'll be planning at the con is doing whatever panels will get accepted by me to do. Shes got family near Atlanta that we can stay at so that's our plan for right now.
Akage wrote:Aw, no worries, Drew. I hope you have fun in SF anyways!

DKop, I will be at Animazement as well!
Sweet, if im not doing stuff around the con I'll be helping out at my friends booth in the dealers room selling stuff. He's the one that sells video games with the giant Saturday Morning RPG banner at his booth since that is his game. I can get a hold of you to meet up when we get there, I also go with a crowed of other people I know to the Flying Saucer who are also podcasters around the Raleigh area, there cool people.
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scriptweaver
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by scriptweaver »

If everything goes well, me and a college buddy will be going to Colossalcon in Sandusky, Ohio. It'll be June 2nd to 5th.

We're going there for potential voice actor interviews as well as getting a chance to meet with and talk to the voice of Shinji Ikari: Spike Spencer.

The other two actors we hope to meet are Vic Mignogna (Hikaru in Super Dimension Fortress Macross & Ed from Full Metal Alchemist) and Chuck Huber (Han from Blue Gender, Yuichi in Initial D, and Hiei from YuYu Hakusho)

If anyone ends up going to Colossalcon as well, let us know and we'll try meeting up with yall.
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PinkAppleJam
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by PinkAppleJam »

Hey all! What's the con most folks from these boards go to? I don't have immediate plans (trying to sort out health issues first!) but it would be nice to attend a US convention for the first time and say hi, at some point in the near future :)
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DKop
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by DKop »

I've been doing Animazement for 10 years now this year, so its always my "go to" con each year. I do plan on making it to AWA, I didn't last year due to stuff coming up and well, once I realized my panel didn't get approved, I wasn't all that interested in going. I will try again with the panel submissions and see if anything goes through instead of being in "tentative hell" for 6 months.
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usamimi
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by usamimi »

PinkAppleJam wrote:Hey all! What's the con most folks from these boards go to? I don't have immediate plans (trying to sort out health issues first!) but it would be nice to attend a US convention for the first time and say hi, at some point in the near future :)
I've never been, but Otakon seems to be THE one everyone goes to. But I do suggest Animefest cuz they've been consistently getting amazing Japanese guests (I mean, the voices of Lum & Ataru last year?! Amazing!)
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Akage
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by Akage »

I will be at SakuraCon, Animazement, AnimeFest, CrunchyCon (they want to call it Crunchyroll Expo...whatevs. 'Tis CrunchyCon!), YaoiCon and PMX.

If you're planning on flying over from the UK to attend a con, of these, I'd recommend either Animazement or AnimeFest. Hotel rooms are pretty cheap for both cons, and they both do have a good selection of Japanese guests. Food around the area is pretty cheap and yummy (except the macaroni and cheese with unadvertised jalapenos which still gives me trust issues months after AF). You would probably have an easier time of getting a hotel room through the AF block as that recently opened up. Animazement sells out their hotel block in a matter of minutes.
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DKop
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by DKop »

The Low down and Dirty guide to Animazement (aka the only thing I can really say)

You got two hotels within a 2 minute walking distance from the Convention Center, which is the Merriot and Sheraton. The thing with the marriot is the fact that there is an underground tunnel under the road outside the entrance of the con, so you don't have to worry about traffic or getting caught up with the annoying cosplay teens that hang out and blast anime-carmeldanzing-memes on their iPhones.

Chances are the Arcade might be on the third floor again this year, but across at the Merriot they have been doing extra panel rooms for the convention, which is pretty great to expand in that area. For food your right near downtown, so they got a variety of bars and restaraunts to choose from within a 3 block radius. If you want something (kinda) quick and less than 10 bucks, you got a swarma king place, a semi decent asian place, a ZPizza, and a Jimmy Johns within the entertainment block of the Sheraton and the Bank of America building (which is where my old parking job office used to be). More than likely they have been doing a friday night party thing with a dj and people that dance 70's and 80's music, so its pretty fun to just people watch with cosplayers interacting with "normies" and their kids, I say its a great way for the two factions to come together to the groove of the music.

Now if your feeling adventurous, I have been going with some people for a few years now (including Phil Lee who hosts Anime Hell at Animazement) to a place called The Flying Saucer a few blocks north from the con center, and then afterwards there's a speakeasy bar called The Green Light thats a few blocks over from the convention center, very quaint and quiet bar atmosphere, which is housed inside The Architect Bar behind a white bookcase, super cool (PSST, Here is the link: http://www.architectbar.com/our-story)

So there is just a bit of where I go and what I do downtown Raleigh NC during Animazement, hopefully this might sell you on going to the con, or anyone else in this forum.
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Akage
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by Akage »

I've always stayed at the Marriott while attending AZ. It sells out in minutes. The army of friends and I managed to book 3 rooms between us.

My friends usually drive to Animazement, so we have a small army of cars between us. We could probably fit you in one of our cars. It's much better than subsisting off sub-standard Panda Express type Chinese food. Although, we do walk to The Pit, which is an awesome southern BBQ joint. The portions are absolutely huge and as I roll with a lot of big eaters, we usually go to this place at least once during the con. It also seems to be popular with the AZ guests, and I've seen a couple and their handlers there throughout the years.

We also go to Cracker Barrel and WaHo (Waffle House) during the con too because I whine and moan about not being from the South, and how this is my only opportunity to enjoy decent, non-kale and quinoa fare, so everyone takes pity. And also, because everyone secretly enjoys Cracker Barrel and WaHo. There will also be a trip to Publix, because I need to stock up on my CB turkey gravy for the next year.

Regarding AnimeFest - We use Uber to get around. We'll probably hit my nemesis, the jalapeno macaroni place, again, since it was a good BBQ joint. They also have amazing peach cobbler, which I plan to just make my dinner next time around. And blueberry soda! So good! There's also Pollo Campero. PC is my favorite chain fried chicken place. Popeyes and KFC have nothing on Pollo Campero. I always sucker people into going with me, and even among the pickiest of eaters in the group, there has never been a complaint. Food prices are about the same at both events, with dinner usually being $20-$30. I bring lots of snackies to tide me over while waiting in line.

If guests are your thing, I'd encourage you to look at both offerings this year and the past year. AF has pretty much announced all their guests (minus two...ohohohoho!) this year, and I'm sure Animazement has a couple more. AZ does have a lot of regulars, like Keiko Han (SM Luna's seiyuu), who always attend. AF will have the Yuri on Ice people.
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DKop
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Re: Forum get-togethers.

Post by DKop »

The more years I got to AZ, the more I see Masao Maruyama get older and older. If you ever needed to use a person as a measuring stick on how time passes, Maruyama-san seems to be that stick, at least to me. I hope he doesn't get to Roujin Z levels of convention hall travel by the time 2020 hits, but only time will tell that.
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