Blogging with a funny face at Otakon 2010

When I was younger, I would have never dreamed of meeting my Internet friends IRL. Now, some of my closest friends are people I met online. Otakon is the largest convention I attend all year, so it’s the perfect place to meet with people I’d otherwise only get to hang out with on Twitter.

Last year, I posted my Otakon schedule in advance and ran into a lot of cool people I might have missed otherwise. That worked so well that I’m doing it again.

Overall, I will be there from Friday morning to Sunday. I’d prefer to have gotten there earlier, but I was going through a rough patch with money last year when I reserved my hotel room. (I was fresh out of grad school, hadn’t even found my cashier job, and wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to get to Otakon 2011. So glad that’s no longer the case!) Though I was stuck outside during a fire drill last year, this time I don’t plan to leave the convention center at all if I can help it.

And now the details. By the way, I made my personal schedule with the Guidebook app for Otakon, aka the web’s gift to convention attendees. Be sure to download it before the con!

Friday

• 1:30 PM – Anime Parliament. My best friend, who is a bit of a policy wonk, has been talking this panel up to me for years. I think it’s time I finally attend.
• 3:00 PM – Anime News Network. As a journalist and anime fan, how could I not want to meet the ANN team?
• 8:30 PM – Ultimate Lolita Fashion Show. Modeling didn’t work out, but I’m still interested in supporting these indie fashion designers.
• 11:00 PM – Bad Anime, Bad!! This is another of those panels that has been seriously hyped up to me but I’ve never gone.

Saturday

• 9:00 AM – Gyaru Culture Revealed: Destroying the Myths. This is one convention subculture I’ve hardly explored at all! I’ll find out if being a gyaru is everything Super Gals! says it is.
• 10:15 AM – BTSSB/Alice and the Pirates Fashion Show. I also applied to model in this show, and just received an email that they are still considering my application (?) but I’m 99% sure I will be observing this.
• 1:30 PM – Uncle Yo’s Stand-Up Comedy. I met Uncle Yo earlier this year and thought he was great. I want to support his show.
• 4:30 PM – Japanator Meetup. I don’t write for Japanator anymore but it’d be great to see the staff again.
• 8:00 PM – Gundam: What Makes It Great. Hopefully I will be intoxicated during this panel and will get into an argument about various Gundam series.

Sunday

• 11:30 AM – Anime, Manga and Education. My college anime club was a positive force in my life. I met my current boyfriend and I learned leadership skills and how to take risks. I’d love to hear what teachers think of school anime clubs.
• 12:30 PM – Japan’s IP (Intellectual Property) Problem. I could really use a refresher course on copyright law, especially the way it pertains to anime. Maybe then I’ll have something to say when everyone chats about anime’s legal issues on Twitter.

Goals

• Find and report a story.
• Acquire the Gundam model of my dreams.
• Finally replace my blog portrait, which is a photo of me at Otakon last year.

Of course, this is all tentative. I might not get into a particularly crowded panel or I might get caught up somewhere noisy like Artists Alley or the Dealer’s Room and miss my alarm. In these cases, a DM on Twitter is the best way to reach me.

See you there!

1. Costumes

I admired the women the most. Whether from discipline or dedication to their historical characters, they didn’t seem to mind the heat. Though it was 100 degrees with high humidity, they were calmly perched on folding stools, knitting or lightly fanning themselves while wearing full, ankle length dresses.

I knew the heavy cotton of their gowns was just the beginning of the uniform. Underneath were layers of white linen: hoop skirt and pantaloons and bloomers and corsets, not to mention knee length striped stockings and boots. One woman had stripped to her corset and full body chemise. Somehow, she looked more nude than all of us visitors wearing tank tops.

I knew this much about their clothing since I was a reenactor myself. In college, I got the opportunity to camp with the 3rd US Infantry, a union troop. I wore an ill-fitting borrowed camp dress (preserved in a photo so unflattering I won’t post it and you’ll have to visit this link instead) with what felt like two extra outfits underneath to the Battle of New Market reenactment. It was late spring and comfortable. I can only imagine what kind of discipline you’d need in this heat.

Though I sympathized with the women, the men weren’t much better off. Since the Battle of Manassas was the first battle of the war, it was accurate for everyone to be in full uniform, up to the thick, woolen army jackets.

2. Dedication to canon

Accuracy is the first tenet of Civil War reenacting. I remember sitting around the fire with the 3rd US while some of the reenactors poked fun at Renaissance Fair revelers.

“Look at me in my fairy wings, I look like I’m from the Middle Ages,” one soldier mocked. (It’s also interesting to note that the Renaissance Fair diehards I’ve spoken to don’t think much of Civil War reenactors either — they’re “no fun.”)

Reenactors are sticklers for detail. Even in the heat, very few altered their outfits.

“What a pretty dress ruined by those flip flops,” a colonel on his horse called to a woman walking beside him, bonnet on and basket in hand. “And are your nails that pink naturally?” he continued to the first woman’s companion, joking about her anachronistic nailpolish.

After the first day of the reenactment, during which several soldiers were treated for heat exhaustion, a few liberties were taken. Women in camp dresses carried ice cubes and water to the troops. Fallen soldiers came back to life and crawled off the battlefield to cool down in the shade. One corporal poured water into his hat for his horse to drink noisily out of. Actually, that may have been an accurate detail.

3. Acceptance

The battle endured for three hours, after which the Confederate troops prevailed, just like they had 150 years ago. There were cheers in the stands whenever Stonewall Jackson or Robert E. Lee, both present, rode by. White parents bought their children Confederate uniform caps as souvenirs.

I made a point to stop and interview any black female reenactors I saw. I hadn’t seen any at the Battle of New Market. First I met Elizabeth Keckley, a White House slave. Actually, this was a professional reenactor named Lillian Garland who felt a strong dedication to her character. In fact, she’d found 32 similarities between them, from their mixed race status to even their husbands’ names. Lillian’s husband was fighting on the Union side as we talked. Here she is with her freedom papers.

Next I spoke with an Ohio school teacher (in actuality, an Ohio paralegal), whose trip to petition in Washington had been delayed by the battle. She’s the woman on the right in the second photo of this post. She said she’d been reenacting since 1980 when she had joined a sizeable community of black reenactors and history buffs.

“But now, I’m getting old and the kids just aren’t interested,” she said.

We talked about the fact that most reenactors prefer to fight for the South. I suggested that maybe they’re hoping to win this time.

“That’s a good one,” she said, gasping from either laughter or heat. “Maybe they’ll win this time.”

However, she didn’t know any black reenactors for the Confederacy.

I was not so strong as the school teacher, so I made my way to a cooling tent, shaded with a big air conditioning unit inside. On the way, I met Miss Confederacy.

Miss Confederacy is from Kentucky. She’s in college studying to be a nurse. She said she’d love to major in history, but she doesn’t know what she’d do for a living. Her mother sewed the dress she’s wearing.

I asked her if she had friends on the “wrong side” of the war, as Confederate reenactors sometimes call it. She looked nervous, like she knew what I really wanted to ask.

“Once at the beginning of the reenactment, I came over to visit them at their camp. They joked that they should keep me there and let the rebels know they were holding Miss Confederacy for ransom,” she said, smiling.

As with the school teacher, I was too hot to even take out my notepad and get down her name. A Google Search for “Miss Confederacy” brings up articles about Jefferson Davis and the KKK and not much about pageants.

4. Outsider appeal

By this point I knew something was wrong with me. My vision was blurred and so were the photos I was taking. I felt drunk and everything sounded funny. I’d soon realize I was just very dehydrated. Luckily, I was not one of the many people who got heat stroke. A steady stream of ambulances drove over the battlegrounds to aid the unlucky ones.

I stumbled into line at a concession stand to get a lemonade. Standing in front of me was a man with a wet towel around his neck, listening to a tape recorder. I knew he was a reporter.

“How is your story going?” I asked.

“Not sure where it’s going yet,” he replied.

He was with the New York Post. I told him I was with nobody, but I am a journalist too so I like to ask questions. I told him about how I wanted to talk to black female reenactors.

“For me, talking to people is the worst part,” he said. I imagined his stories to be full of scenery and observation. I told him I used to be a reenactor, and I found it much easier to ask questions when I was wearing the same clothes as the people I wanted to talk to.

“Have you noticed that the TV reporters here are only looking at the most beautiful and weirdest people they can find?” he said. “I saw the Channel 7 guy interview the most gorgeous southern belle followed by the most scraggly bearded soldier.”

I thought about how TV media covered Comic-Con, focusing on the most scantily clad cosplayers and the most greasy comic collectors.

“Yeah,” I said. “What are people going to think?”

Thank you so much to everyone who left a comment on my good news giveaway! I was so touched by the things you all wrote, but I didn’t want to comment back and accidentally enter myself in the giveaway twenty or so times. But now that it’s time to reveal the winners, I’ll be replying tonight.

Congratulations to…

Comment numbers 15, 18 and 24: Patrick James Moylan, Nick, and Kristina!

Please email me your addresses ASAP and I’ll send your DVDs right along. Thanks to everyone for entering and making this my most popular giveaway yet. Maybe it’ll inspire FUNimation to send me some more swag!

Rule number one: NEVER announce something before you are 100 percent sure.

I never realized how important this was until last week, when I announced that I would be modeling and writing a subsequent article about the Otakon Lolita Fashion Show. Like my maid cafe story in 2010, I planned to immerse myself in Lolita culture and learn all about the Western Lolita experience. I was a bit nervous since I’d have to provide my measurements and modeling shots to be eligible, revealing that I am only 5’1″ instead of a more modelish 5’11″. Luckily, one of the Lolita designers chose me to be in her lineup. And that was when I went to Twitter with my good news.

Good news turned into bad news the following week, when I was informed that the designer that selected me would no longer be participating in the show, so I would no longer be needed. I talked to an Otakon staff member to no avail; he said the only people who would interfere in the fashion show were the fashion show staff. I can’t say I don’t agree with that. Nobody likes a micro-manager!

However, I promised you a show and a story, and this turn of events leaves me neither. What’s a reporter to do? Like any good media person, I’ve decided to crowdsource. So I ask, what do you think I should report on at Otakon? Got a story for me yourself, or can recommend somebody else who does? Is there an event going on that I might not know about? Is there something you just want to hear about? You know where to reach me, and if it’s something you want to share with the class, the comments work, too.

The clock is ticking. I’ll be wracking my brain for ideas, but I’m excited to hear yours as well!

Last week, a 34-year-old man pleaded guilty to coercing a 13-year-old girl he met at a 2010 anime convention.

It’s a sad story, and to some fans, a shocking one. Many fans think of conventions as a safe space, sometimes the only space, where they can truly be themselves. This case reminds us that anime conventions are just like the rest of society: not everybody present has your best interests in mind.

When a tragedy happens, everybody wants to place the blame somewhere. In true samurai fashion, Katsucon, the convention where the offender met his victim, has taken this moment to fall on its sword. They’re planning to “make every effort to check our pre-registration attendee list against local and federally published sex offender registries.”

I love Katsucon and attend every year, but I have a history of disagreeing with their policies. This one, while well intended, puts a huge burden on the convention, one I don’t think they need to bear. For one thing, I don’t think it, or any convention at which a coercion happens, should be held responsible.

A good anime convention needs to provide many services to its attendees. It should have a variety of activities and a logistics team to manage them. It should have an active security staff comprised of professionals as well as volunteers that makes every effort to keep attendees safe inside the convention area.

But it shouldn’t have to police attendees once they leave the area. (It’s important to note that no coercion took place inside the convention.) And Katsucon shouldn’t have to check each of their 7,264 attendees against a sex offender registry. While it’s a noble effort, it’s a huge job. Plus, there are all kinds of snags that can come up, like attendees having common or similar names to sex offenders and being wrongly left out of the con.

Katsucon’s statement says, “Even [with] all of these measures, many times persons of a predatory nature are difficult to identify until it is too late.” This is absolutely true. While this incident was a tragedy, it was not the convention’s fault. The blame lies squarely on the sex offender himself. As attendees, we can start to keep more incidents like this from happening simply by choosing not to coerce fellow attendees.

This is a complicated topic, so I asked my Twitter followers to weigh in on the question: Do anime conventions have a responsibility to screen their attendees for sex offenders? Here are some of the answers:

Thanks to everyone for weighing in. I wish I could have posted every response. It is now clear to me that, well, there is no clear answer to this question. Feel free to add to the debate in the comments.

(Source)

It was news to me that I would be interviewing anime voice actor Dan Green tonight.

Last month, I set up an interview/mini-voice acting lesson with Edge Studio, a New York based voice over coaching and production agency. I signed up for a Skype session with an anime voice over specialist. I had no idea that this instructor uses an alias for his anime work. He was none other than Dan Green, a voice actor I’d definitely heard of — and heard — before.

The man behind Yu-Gi-Oh!

As I tried getting my recording program to work (and it didn’t! Believe me, nobody is more upset about this than me), I had to ask Jay/Dan about Yu Gi Oh! the Abridged Series.

“I get asked to do Abridged impressions as often as I get asked to do Yu Gi Oh ones,” he said. Even though Abridged pokes fun of Yugi’s voice actor as much as Yugi himself, Dan thinks the series is hilarious and isn’t at all offended.

After I was able to get over this surprise, Dan introduced me to the basics of voice acting. According to him, it’s all about the range you create with your voice. He told me that most people have a much wider vocal range than they think. For example, after hearing my voice (never heard it? Listen to it on O-Talk), he accurately guessed that I was pretty young, but supposed with training I could play any character from a teenage girl to a grandmother.

Voice acting techniques

Dan led me through seven techniques that voice actors use to improve their voices: pitch, texture, nasality, diction, dynamic range, volume and pace. It sounded like I was listening to seven different people over the phone. (When I told him that, he jokingly remarked, “you should see the inside of my mind.”) When Dan raised his pitch, he sounded just like Yugi, but by lowering his voice and increasing volume and diction, suddenly I heard the Pharaoh. By giving his voice a gravelly texture, he started to sound like the bad guys he played in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

He said these techniques are like “knobs you can turn up and down” to increase your vocal ability.

Many people already have ample control over their voices, but Dan said that it’s unlikely that an anime fan could make the transition to voice actor without any lessons. His usual suggestion is to take at least five in order to get these techniques down.

Experiences for aspiring actors

“It’s more than just the voice. Even if you have natural talent, you might be competing against actors with natural talent as well as training and experience,” said Dan.

He used fansubs for an example. “Not to diss on fansubs since it’s great people are doing them, you can recognize the difference between a professional voice actor and a fan.”

Dan said that acting and singing are two examples of experiences that can help aspiring voice actors go from fan subs to anime studios. He recommends acting experience because voice over directors speak like they’re speaking to actors: “I need this kind of energy, this kind of emotion.” Singing is helpful because dubbing anime requires a good sense of rhythm. When you’re trying to give a genuine performance while your lines are restricted by how long the animated character’s mouth opens and closes for, a sense of timing is key.

Pursuing voice acting

At the end of our session, I asked Dan what would be the next step if I really wanted to take voice acting lessons. I would first have a one hour private session where Dan would test my vocal range and control. After that, he’d make an estimate for how many classes I’d need. Sometimes he suggests six or more for inexperienced actors, and other times it’s just three. Finally, it’d be time to make a demo reel of a few character voices to send to anime studios.

I came for an interview, but I had so much fun I might actually sign up for classes. But at $577 for Dan’s recommended five classes, it’s something I’ll have to think about. It’s probably a better investment for people who want to seriously pursue voice acting than for someone like me who just wants to try out weird voices and listen to Dan’s hilarious impressions.

Your turn. Would you consider taking voice acting lessons? Have you ever tried them out?

Maybe you’ve heard. I got a new job and journalism is not just my side project anymore. I’m enormously happy about everything that’s happened and I want to share my happiness with you. What better way to do that than a giveaway?

I’ve got three special edition DVD sets of Summer Wars to give out. With metallic details on the cover and 4 premium art cards included, they’re nicer than the copy of Summer Wars I bought for myself! These come brand new from Funimation.

Here’s a shot of the copies:

I’ve been sitting on these for a while but I think this is the occasion to give them away.

To enter, first be sure that you can view North American DVDs in your region. I don’t mind shipping abroad, but it’s not worth it if you can’t watch them. Next, leave a comment on this post before Monday, July 18. That’s it. Good luck!

Dear Jen,

First of all, congratulations landing an internship at Kotaku! That was one of the trickiest internships I ever managed to obtain, so that tells me right away that you’re a savvy young female writer.

You know, being Kotaku interns isn’t the only thing the two of us have in common. We’re both writers, gamers, women and oh yeah — we both majorly screwed up. You can read all about my screwup right here, complete with all the embarrassing details.

Our mistakes aren’t exactly the same. For example, you actually did an interview and research while I just waxed philosophic about a meme. (Lesson of the day: that kind of thing is what kills a meme.) That should cheer you up!

I see what you were trying to do with your article. The sassy, flippant style you used is standard in mainstream news. Traditional media treats stories about our geeky interests lightly, categorizing it as “News of the Weird.” Even though we’re geeks, we’re also journalists, and the temptation to write like our more famous, well-paid brethren is tempting. You weren’t trying to alienate your audience at all. You were doing the best you knew how. You couldn’t have known just how seriously the Kotaku audience takes games until you tested it.

Even though you didn’t mean to, the mistake is out there. You’re embarrassed, I feel you. I’ve been there. So here’s what to do now:

• Block 4chan from your computer, especially /v/. In fact, avoid the Kotaku comments on your article as well. These people are strangers who don’t have the first idea about who you are, nor do they deserve to. Don’t feed the trolls.
• Avoid vanity Googling for a few days until people find something else to talk about. (Though I have to admit, I just Googled you and the coast is almost clear.)
• Enjoy the mountain of hits this is bringing to Kotaku. My article was one of the most-read intern articles of the summer. Kotaku needs hits to be successful and it doesn’t matter where they come from or why.
• Remember that it’s better to royally screw up one time than make a ton of little mistakes over and over. I’ve never forgotten about making that public mistake, and perhaps you won’t either. This memory will make you a better journalist. It will always remind you how far you’ve come.

For the rest of the Internet, this will go away quickly. My mistake would have been long forgotten if I didn’t keep dredging it up. And the net is limitless, full of space for your future accomplishments to follow in the wake of this temporary mess.

If you take one thing from my letter, here it is: this is not the end of your game journalism career. It’s only the beginning.

Your friend and fellow geek,

Lauren

Congratulations to number 11, Anji Savage! Anji, please send your address to Mara K. in an email so she can send you your prize.

As usual, this drawing was done on Random.org. We removed myself and Mara from the list of people who “liked” the Facebook page first, of course.

If you didn’t win, don’t despair! You can still use the code “otakudeal” to get 15 percent off your Supermeow! order. But hurry, the deal ends on July 12.

If you work at an office, you already know what it’s like. Long hours, dry meetings you’re not sure of the point of, bosses you don’t always like but still have to suck up to, menial tasks you thought you were above.

Of course, there are two big differences. First, you don’t get paid. And second, you and all of your coworkers are more passionate about this job than anything else in the world.

There are some practical reasons, too, for getting on staff at a con. You’ll save money on lodging and food, make friends, and meet the movers and shakers of your fandom. Here’s how to get on staff at a con.

Show your dedication

Anime USA was the first convention to give me filming and interviewing privileges despite my student status, lack of press credentials, or more than basic knowledge of how to operate a video camera. But through a sense of duty brought on by gratefulness as well as some student ingenuity, I produced three mini-films about the convention.

When I was finished, I put the videos up on my blog and shared them with the staff. I showed them to two of the Vice-Chairs, Rob and Theo, when I ran into them at another convention. Afterward, they told me they were looking for a marketing director and asked if I’d like to fill the position. Gobsmacked, I said I’d love to.

At the time, I thought they were really impressed by my technical skills. But I have since learned that Theo is a talented filmmaker while Rob is a professional Web designer. My student film didn’t show them I would be a good addition to the staff. It was the fact that I had enough passion for their convention to make a film in the first place.

Don’t give up

I’ve never outright said this on my blog, but I knew it and I know the rest of the staff knew it — I was a terrible marketing director. Passion is great, but being a 23-year-old student with no job experience is another thing. I’d never even volunteered at a convention before, and here I was managing my own staff.

I liked to think of my team as scrappy. I recruited my boyfriend as my assistant director since unlike me; he had staff experience. Chris, the graphic designer, was a friend from college. My recently-promoted press liason was a soft-spoken college student. Siham, bless her, was a student about my age with lots of experience, but chose to run the maid cafe and host club so she didn’t have time to work as a director. I am certain that working with me must have been trying. Theo did promotion work and his brother, Greg, was the con’s longtime program book designer.

I was worried about screwing up to the point of paralysis. But I invited them all to a party at my boyfriend’s apartment, where I served homemade onigiri. My first mistake was that I spent more time making snacks than planning the meeting. Things went off the rails almost immediately. Siham took the shy press liaison under her wing and I could see his eyes bulging with the new pressures of his job. Nobody thought of me as the group leader since Mark, a staff member who was really high up in the ranks, showed up to the meeting, too.

After the meeting, my press liaison quit with an email. I wanted to quit, too. But I didn’t because I love Anime USA. Some things I did terribly, like mismanaging press and leaving poor Tom in the guests department to figure out the interview schedule. Other things, like the prospectus and official blog, were my own brand new additions. I was really proud and hoped that the things I improved outweighed my mistakes. But I wasn’t surprised when Mark demoted me and put a more experienced staff member in charge for 2011.

Now, I’m Anime USA’s press liaison, a job that I’m much more adept at handling. But if I had quit halfway, I would probably just have been given a kick out the door. Passion got me the job. But effort helped me stay on board.

Bring new ideas

After working on Anime Boston’s official blog, I wanted nothing more than to bring that idea to Anime USA. It was a great way to archive the most important events of the con all in one place, plus give people who couldn’t attend events accurate coverage. Everyone at Anime USA was on board with the idea but incredibly busy. If I really wanted this blog, it was up to me to make it happen.

Rob gave me a domain at blog.animeusa.org, and I set to work customizing a WordPress theme. I recruited bloggers by giving them writing tests. I tried to get Internet working consistently in our convention hotel. And most importantly, I promoted the blog so people would know it existed. And I did this in the most eye-catching way I could think of, by putting QR codes all around the convention center.

My convention-eve at FedEx printing strange symbols paid off. People paid attention to the codes and some even made their own spinoffs. I loved that part; fan innovation is my favorite part of fandom. The convention got thousands of attendees, so I was happy when the official blog received thousands of hits.

Fans and geeks are brilliant people. We’re on the cutting edge of new technologies and trends. And yet, when it comes to our conventions, we’re so caught up in getting the basic necessities fulfilled that we’re sometimes behind the curve. That explains why we’re only recently using Conventionist and blogging. New people know these things can be just as important to attendees as a well run dealer’s room. They keep new ideas flowing.

–
While I’m also on staff at the much larger Anime Boston (I was recently promoted to a producer role on their Creative Media Team), I will always be thankful for Anime USA to giving my start in convention reporting and staffing. Even though I didn’t have it on my resume at the time, Anime USA gave me the experience I rely on the most at my actual office job. In fact, my number one suggestion for unemployed geeks is to get on staff at a con.

By the way, I didn’t change any names in this article. If you’re at Anime USA this November and you see these staff members, be sure to say hi. And tell them I sent you.