California Conventions Blog

The Ouran Uniform, 2007-2010

2010-03-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

2007

2008

2009

2010

It really has been that long...

With The Con Schedule I Have...

2010-03-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

The time between January and May is the longest between cons especially if I don't attend Sac-Con in March (which was the case this year). With the con schedule I have, the breaks gets shorter after Fanime: right after Fanime is Sac-Con June 2010, then AX on the 4th of July weekend - so there's about three cons in a month's time - then there's smaller wait between AX and Anime Vegas on Memorial Day weekend, then about another month before SNAFU Con in late October, and then one more Sac-Con in December before we hit the new year - 2011 - and Anime Los Angeles rolls around days after that. Rise, lather, and repeat.

As for the blog, well I'll find things to blog about between now and mid to late April when I start to pick up the Fanime conversation.

Sac-Con March 2010 Update #2

2010-03-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

I hate it when trends falter.
I have to work on Sunday, so no Sac-Con for me. It's a bummer though since I haven't been to any Sacramento conventions since Sac-Anime Summer 2009 and with the plans that I have for 2010 I may not be visiting any for a long time...

Twitter Poll Update

2010-02-26T23:44:00.000-08:00

I was hoping that I would get more people to vote on the poll, but since only one person voted (and that was early on when I first made the poll), I'm going to remove the poll and announce that I will be rolling out a California Conventions Blog Twitter account in time for Fanime (and by "in time for Fanime" I mean "right now").

I will be still providing blog updates and convention tweets on my main Twitter account, but if you just want that and not everything else that I post about my life then follow the CA Conventions Blog Twitter account.

So, about that AX 2010...

2010-02-26T23:34:00.000-08:00

As you all may know, there's a lot of talk going into this year's AX - new CEO, a struggle between the AX staffers and the SJPA, staffers handing in their resignation letters, a lack of Guests of Honor going into March, worries that there might not be a AX 2010, and so much more.

I could write a huge piece about everything going on, but a lot of what we're hearing is just speculation. Thus, I'm withdrawing from any "editorial-type" pieces on AX until I have more information. But I will say this: given what I've seen which are confirmed facts like only having one hotel available and waiting on the other hotel blocks to open up (in comparison, Fanime had all the hotels available from the beginning), AX better get their act together - there's a con in less than 4 months.

Sac-Con March 2010 Update

2010-02-22T19:15:00.001-08:00

As of late, I've been getting Sundays off from work. Sac-Con is next Sunday on March 7th. Assuming I'm off, I will be there.

SoCal Host Club Official Webpage

2010-02-14T00:29:00.000-08:00

So I've mentioned before that I'm managing the SoCal Host Club with Ryan, but did I mentioned a made a website?

That's right, the SoCal Host Club Official Webpage. This is were you will find all the updates related to the Host Club, profiles, convention dates, and much more. There's also a recruiting page if you're interested.

At this point, we're really just drumming up interest and attempting to recruit more members.

Good News and Bad News on ChibiCon

2010-02-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

OK, the bad news. Due to one of our members dropping out of the club and the rest of the members' schedule not freeing up for ChibiCon in March, we have to cancel ChibiCon. Our deepest apologies to everyone who was looking forward to seeing us there, but at the moment we do not have enough members to perform at our optimal level.

However, I am now part of the SoCal Host Club as manager and we are looking at more conventions for 2010. We are having our FanimeCon panel on Sunday at 10am (tentative) and we are looking to attend both Anime Vegas in September and SNAFU Con up in Reno in October in addition to ALA 7 in January 2011. This should give us enough time to regroup, rearm, and come out stronger than ever.

If you are interested in seeing what we are all about or if you want to join us, please either come by the Fanime panel or contact me or Ryan.

The Lost Ouran Host Club Photo from FanimeCon 2009

2010-02-04T23:21:00.000-08:00

I've been looking for this for a long time...thanks Ryan.

Poll: California Conventions Blog & Twitter feed

2010-02-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

As always, I always roll something major out at FanimeCon. Last year, it was the live tweeting and the Twitter Prize Giveaway. However, both of them ran on my personal Twitter account which contains all my other tweets.

As 2010 starts to get serious for the blog, I was thinking of rolling out a separate Twitter feed just for the California Conventions Blog in time for FanimeCon 2010. It would contain all the updates as well as live tweets from conventions.

So I leave it up to you (the readers and fans of the blog) via a poll: Should the California Conventions Blog get its own Twitter feed?

Introducing A New Staff Member

2010-02-03T00:06:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen yet, there's one more entry to the Staff bios. I would like to introduce Ryan Silva, the newest (and first) staff member of the California Conventions Blog as a photographer and videographer. I first met Ryan back at FanimeCon 2009 when me and him hooked up to do the Ouran gathering - which we are co-hosting again this year - as well as taking a few shots of him at the Saturday Gundam gathering. Recently we reunited at ALA and hung out the whole entire weekend; thus the majority of the pictures, videos, and articles have him listed.

If you are looking to be part of my blog, please don't hesitate to contact me via e-mail, AOL instant messenger, personal message at the Cosplay.com or FanimeCon forums, or in person at a convention.

FanimeCon 2010 Budgeting Update

2010-02-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

It's the second day of February, meaning there's less than four months away to FanimeCon. While I haven't put all my focus on FanimeCon since I have ChibiCon to worry about, I have updated my budget.

While I originally thought of just buying breakfast, drinks, and snacks for the hotel room, I am considering adding in lunch as well; I'm still allocating a line item for dinner, although if anything my projection is on the high side. I also found out that there's two FoodMaxx supermarkets in San Jose, all within a reasonable drive without getting lost. With their reputation for having low prices, I can save a considerable amount when buying food there.

I also slashed spending cash, but the reason for that I will tell another time...

ChibiCon in San Jose?

2010-01-26T23:54:00.000-08:00

ChibiCon?

According to the SoCal Host Club (which now I am a part of), we are supposed to be at ChibiCon at Branham High School in San Jose on March 20th, a Saturday, holding another Host Club event like we did back at ALA.

The funny thing about this is that so far, my con outlook for 2010 has dramatically changed - I went to ALA instead of Sac-Anime in January, now ChibiCon in addition to Sac-Con in the month of March, and possibly skipping Sac-Anime AGAIN in favor of Anime Vegas in September since the SoCal Host Club is looking to be part of that convention as well.

For some reason, I don't feel like driving all the way up and back in one day. Since Ryan is headed up there to host, I might take the train down to San Jose, have him pick me up at the train station, we go to the con together, have him drop me off back at the train station, and take the train back up to Sacramento. Given it takes $~30 for a full tank of gas and I burn most of it with that distance, it's only about $20 more with a student discount (and another $10 for parking). The only problem is that the first train out of Sacramento that will arrive before the con starts is 5:40am, so again I have to be up early to head down there. At least the ride is 3 hours both ways, so at least I can catch extra sleep before and after the con.

I will be talking to the SoCal Host Club again to finalize this, and I will post more soon as we get closer.

FanimeCon Staff Meeting Mini-Report: January 2010

2010-01-24T19:51:00.000-08:00

I've been hinting with some people, but today I had the chance to pitch an idea to bring a Ouran-style Host Club to FanimeCon. Despite some of the roadblocks that me and the SoCal Host Club founders are facing, we have a ton of options out there to explore and somehow we will have a separate event from the actual gathering, which I also got some information on. Overall the staff was very helpful in answering all my questions and explaining everything to me. When this is your first foray in event and gathering planning, you probably want to make sure you got everything covered. Plus meeting the con chair was awesome. A good use of a asked weekend off (in addition to visiting my good friend that lives in the Bay Area).

It may seem a long time, but FanimeCon 2010 is quickly creeping up...get those rooms reserved and get crackin' on those cosplays!

UPDATE: After talking to the members of the SoCal Host Club, they have decided to push back the idea and try for FanimeCon 2011. I agree with decision given how much it takes to get a large event planned out. There will still be an Ouran gathering, so all is not lost here.

Sac-Anime Flashback: January 2008 - Reaction Video to Skit #2

2010-01-19T21:57:00.000-08:00

This one is pretty self-explanatory. I get on stage at the Masquerade at Sac-Anime Winter 2008 (January 2008), and I film the audience's reactions.

That's all I have for the flashback videos.

Sac-Con Flashback: December 2007 - Masquerade

2010-01-19T15:53:00.000-08:00

I have three videos from the Sac-Con December 2007 Masquerade featuring Phoenix Wright cosplayers, candy, and The 12 Days of Christmas.

Sac-Con Flashback: December 2006 - DDR

2010-01-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

I took video of people playing DDR back at Sac-Con in December 2006.

Sac-Anime Flashback: July 2005 - The Coconut Song

2010-01-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

Even before I had this blog up, I was still taking pictures and videos. This is one of them, from the 1st ever Sac-Anime that I attended back in July of 2005 at the Sunrise Mall - the only time it would be at the Sunrise Mall.

Keep in mind: this was before I graduated from high school. Then things got better.

I should of been doing this a long time ago, transferring my old videos from my main account and reuploading them to the blog account. Be on the lookout for more of these flashback videos.

ALA Cosplay Chess 2010 Videos

2010-01-18T21:10:00.000-08:00

Finally there's some videos up of cosplay chess at ALA 6 (2010). Credit to RowinDincht69 for the videos.
For now, I'll post three from that set of videos:

California Conventions Blog: Now With a Facebook Page!

2010-01-18T02:23:00.000-08:00

I decided "Hey, let me make a Facebook Page for my blog!" So in the late night hours of Monday, I did. However, I did stop blog updates on my main Facebook account as now they go to the Fan Page.

I hope this page improves the interaction between myself and the people who visit my blog. Become a fan and enjoy the coverage & insights!

anime los angeles 2010 ++ l. a. thunder

2010-01-18T01:22:00.000-08:00

Scarlet Rhapsody's report of ALA 6 (2010) is up. Go read it!

Also, finally!

Listed on The Cosplay/Anime Costuming and Masquerade Links Page

2010-01-18T00:35:00.000-08:00

I have been contacted by the webmaster, Widya Santoso, a number of times in the past about having my con reports and photos on my blog posted on a site called The Cosplay/Anime Costuming and Masquerade Links Page based out of Australia. The most recent contact was for my reports and photos for ALA, which have now been posted on the site. However, there is a 404 error on that site when you click on the link to the photo gallery, and its credited to my Photobucket name rather than the website itself. I e-mailed the webmaster and I hope that gets fixed soon.

Anyways, thanks for putting my blog on your site.

ALA 2010 Vlog Post-Con - Review and Feedback

2010-01-16T21:28:00.001-08:00

ALA 6 (2010) Report: Part 5 - Epilogue

2010-01-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Even before I left ALA 6 on Sunday, I knew that I would be coming back in 2011. There was certain vibe with the staff and the attendees that really never got out of Sac-Anime outside of the Gaming Room. Maybe it's the SoCal scene that I've been missing since I started to do convention coverage in 2007.

With this being the first con in a new decade, with so many things changing in over a small weekend, I feel that this may be a start of a new convention me, forgetting about all the negative past experiences, forging new friendships, and starting new adventures. The journey may have ended for this con, but I believe that this is the start of something much bigger.

Anyways, that concludes my ALA 6 report. If I don't see you all at FanimeCon or Sac-Anime (or, AX!) I will be back for ALA 7!

私のレポートを読むためにありがとう。
Thank you for reading my report.

-ALA 6 Report End-

ALA 6 (2010) Report: Part 4 - Sunday

2010-01-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

Wait a minute, did I just pull an all-nighter? What time is it?

It's 7am. And really, I just pulled an all-nighter. So, what to do now...hey, I can pack my things up, take another shower, and prepare to pull another day before I sleep on the airplane ride back home!

By then the Veoh upload was done and I was able to post that as soon it was done encoding, and with that I went downstairs. Actually, I did take a 20 minute power nap behind the Artists Jam (or whatever they called it) before finding out that both my roommates were out by 9am which was the best-case scenario. With that, I call it a day from the room, get everything downstairs before everyone else got their things downstairs, and check out. I also stop by Starbucks again, but this time my breakfast was a tall glass of Tazo® Black Shaken Iced Tea Lemonade and fruit bars my roommate left.

By 10am the CLAMP gathering is about to start.

After that I spend a lot of time with the Emperor Lelouche, Suzaku, and Ryan (as Ashford Lelouche) taking shots.

And then I get these three shots.

With autographs, I help Ryan out with getting the last few that he needs. By now it's into the afternoon, and it would be a few hours before my auntie would pick me Ryan up to get a much-need-post-con meal. We stick it around the Game Room, Dealers Hall, and Artists Alley while trying to keep up with Ravens/Pats and Packers/Cardinals.

By 3pm, an hour before we leave, I went to check out the Sunday Steampunk demonstration that they were doing down in the patio area. Diet Coke and Mentos all around.

I also saw Russia and America from Hetalia fighting, which got to me explaining to them the plot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 and 2 as told by the characters of Hetalia. I got close.

With 4pm around the corner, I say my last goodbyes before heading out to the center of Los Angeles, and to a well-known Los Angeles landmark...

Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles. Oh yeah.

All this, plus the Mac and Cheese? I'm set.

Since Ryan came along, I got this shot -

- which prompted me to make this when I got home -

Yes, I had to.

We dropped off Ryan back at the hotel, where we had our last goodbyes, although we would meet again at Fanime. I got to the airport around the time I wanted to get there, but with no security line. So for the time being I wait around and suck down a McDonalds shake to kill time. By the time I got on the plane I was already knocked out thinking about everything I did over the weekend.

I arrived back in Sacramento just before 10pm, and finally my 62 hour marathon journey was complete.

-Day 3 & ALA 6 End-