The Old School Otaku Lounge

Here's an old flyer I found for Project A-Kon 6 (1995). Ironically, I think this is the ONLY A-Kon from #5 - 10 that I did NOT attend.
(also, I think maybe... 2 of the businesses that were in the dealers room are still around (3 if you count the rebranded AD Vision), the saddest one is Planet Anime, which was the biggest anime vendor in Texas and at one time I think had 3 different branches of their store in Dallas and Houston, and then one day "poof" they were gone)

Hi, I just thought that you guys would like a little glimps of Con Flyers from the UK! Anime Day was the First UK Convention back in 1991.

Notice how the "Komik Market" was inspired by a fan from Georgia? That's me! Selling my zines on a table in the hallway. Making the dealers grumble. Also selling stuff that wasn't zines and treating the whole thing like it was a garage sale, and making the dealers grumble. That's me.

Doing the same sort of thing at AWA in a few weeks, only slightly more structured.

Hey, was A-Kon 5 the one with the blackout? I think it was.

davemerrill wrote:Notice how the "Komik Market" was inspired by a fan from Georgia? That's me! Selling my zines on a table in the hallway. Making the dealers grumble. Also selling stuff that wasn't zines and treating the whole thing like it was a garage sale, and making the dealers grumble. That's me.

Doing the same sort of thing at AWA in a few weeks, only slightly more structured.

Hey, was A-Kon 5 the one with the blackout? I think it was.

Blackout, hell. It was a tornado!

God, I remember that. Lights go out and NOBODY would leave the damn dealer's room to take shelter!

Of course I was the crazy one because I had brought some candles and matches 'just in case' (what can I say? I was also the only one in the dealer's room with a flashlight when the lights went out) but boy there's nothing like trying to go to the bathroom in the dark to change people's attitude.

I know we had matches and flashlights and lighters - there were smokers in our party at that point. Eventually we got candles, but I don't know where they came from. Kind of put the kibosh on much of the weekend, but people had fun anyway.

They shut down the dealers room when the power went out, everybody was thinking it would only be temporary, so tons of fans in a buying mood swarmed out into the hall looking for something to spend money on. There I was, with zines and magazines and toys. I made a lot of money that day. That's part of why the dealers were so grumpy with me.

davemerrill wrote:I know we had matches and flashlights and lighters - there were smokers in our party at that point. Eventually we got candles, but I don't know where they came from. Kind of put the kibosh on much of the weekend, but people had fun anyway.

They shut down the dealers room when the power went out, everybody was thinking it would only be temporary, so tons of fans in a buying mood swarmed out into the hall looking for something to spend money on. There I was, with zines and magazines and toys. I made a lot of money that day. That's part of why the dealers were so grumpy with me.

Dude, I provided the candles! They were those little 'tea candles' but it was surprising how bright those were in a totally dark bathroom. Especially when you put it in a crystal ashtray near the mirror. Just like olden times.

One of the things that made me crazy was, here we were, Tornado warning, power out and so many people decided to camp out in the main hallway...WITH THE GIANT WINDOWS AND SKYLIGHTS!! Oh, yeah, that was safe. Of course the hotel was post-80s built so no handy basement/fallout shelter to protect everybody.

I seem to recall the tornado touched down within a couple of miles of us.

Tornadoes, huh. Anime merch consumerism is far more important XD That's hardcore!! *Salutes*

Once the tornado passes, you're safe. You don't want to sit under the skylights WHILE the tornado is overhead (you'll hear the telltale freight-train sound) but when it's over, it's over, it's not like a hurricane that can sit on top of you for hours or days.

I grew up in the South, and it was a rare spring or fall that would pass without at least one solid tornado warning. We had drills in school and everything - like a fire drill, except you don't go outside.

Hi, Found this, hope it brings back more memories for you all. Sadly I never did get over Sate-side for an Anime Con, but enjoyed my Pen-pals sending me poster and stuff!

Not to be all nit-picky, but I'm pretty sure that everything produced by Project A-Kon will be (c) Phoenix Entertainment, and not "Anime Nostalgia Facility". A-Kon is still a going concern.