Welcome back to the second installment of Otaku Journalist’s trip down memory lane. This time, I’m looking at 11 posts from 2011.
2011 was a completely different year. I got a job as a Flash developer (yes, we were still using Flash in 2011!) and then left in June for my first real journalism job at the Daily Dot. It was a year full of changes and my blog reflects that.
Here are some of my favorite posts from 2011:
When life gives you lemons, etc. etc. I wasn’t about to miss Katsucon just because I broke my foot. This was the year that I was covering the Katsucon fan-art policy fiasco and it was important to me to interview the half-empty Artist’s Alley artists no matter what. Seeing Katsucon from another perspective taught me about how cons can cater to the disabled, too.
2) Should anime conventions screen for sex offenders?
I love anime fandom, which is why I don’t just write about the sunny side of it. If we fans don’t address those in our community who would prey on fans, we’re no better. This Twitter discussion occurred after a man pleaded guilty to coercing a minor at Katsucon 2010.
3) I want to be a voice actor! A surprise interview with Dan Green
In true Otaku Journalist fashion, I called up a major voice acting studio and asked for an interview, even though I wasn’t affiliated with any news blog. I told them my personal blog had loyal readers, and that was good enough for them. What I didn’t know was that the voice acting teacher they paired me with would be Dan Green, the voice of Yugi from Yu Gi Oh!
4) An open letter to Kotaku intern Jen Schiller
I really related to Kotaku’s latest intern, Jen, after one of her articles made a lot of gamers really angry. It wasn’t really about right or wrong, but about catering to an angry male audience. Back in my internship days, I did the same thing! I wanted to write to Jen and let her know that one mistake wasn’t the end of her career and also that she wasn’t alone.
5) How I ended up writing about cat ears, maids, and furries for Forbes
And here it is, the turning point in my journalistic career. I won Susannah Breslin’s contest for young female journalists, and this gave me the exposure I needed to find a job in the field. The best part was learning that I really could write about the things I love for a living.
6) The joy and terror of teaching college
This was also the year I started teaching at my alma mater! I was 25 years old, looked 15, and the students could smell my fear. Even so, this experience shaped me and teaching is one of the three career paths I want to consider for the rest of my life.
7) What I learned about journalism in San Francisco
I’ll never forget the whirlwind that was my first six months at the Daily Dot. I met Owen, whom I still work for today, just at another outlet now. Writing about fandom and Internet culture full time, while traveling to cool cities like San Francisco, Boston and Austin, I learned that there really doesn’t have to be a division between who I am and what I do for work.
At the Renaissance Faire, October 2011
8) The Otaku Journalist Manifesto
Here it is, the set of core beliefs that would, two years later, become my first book.
9) Has anime gone too mainstream?
“Anime has always been cheap and weird. But that’s part of why we like it.” That was a quote that stuck with me from Otakon. I like my cheap weirdness, sure, but I also am glad that higher production values are luring in more viewers and keeping anime fandom alive.
10) How a civil war reenactment is like an anime convention
I had been reading a lot of creative nonfiction at the time, and that’s what shaped this essay. If you’ve never been to a civil war reenactment, I’ll tell you this: they’re as diverse a group of nerds as you’d meet at any fandom convention!
11) What to do when you think your fandom is misunderstood
This was also the year I assisted with a Washington Post article about Otakon. On the tail of that “coercing a minor” case from earlier in the year, this story wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It was a moment of reflection for me as a fan as I tried to wrestle with the good and the bad of being a fandom reporter, something I still haven’t resolved today.
Want more? Check out Otaku Journalist’s 10 top posts from 2010.