Soapbox Saturday: How Not to do an Anime Reunion for Profit.
Saturday 22 August 2009 @ 4:05 pm | By Abraham 'Velcor' Duarte 35 Comments
Last week I had the bittersweet opportunity to assist to one of the now many otaku gatherings in the city I’m currently studying in. – “It was an adventure!” – of course I could say that but I won’t, simply because this event was light years away from being more interesting than going to the store at midnight to get some milk for my cereal. That would be betraying my own principles and lowering my standard on entertainment even more, which is happens too often in the anime and videogame community nowadays . . .
It all started like any other day, the first week of school when I saw an unexpected poster announcing what could seem like the best small event regarding digital entertainment: The Geekend. The first and hopefully last of its kind, with great design and something few could resist: Alf. The poster had Motherfucking Alf in a Saiyan outfit shooting corporate logos al over the place. For those of you still trying to double-check that last sentence, here it is for your delight:
Motherfucking Alf in a Saiyan outfit shooting corporate logos al over the place!
As I said, the poster screamed all kinds of awesome. All I had liked from previous gatherings would be there, but improved: More videogames, more anime, more staff, you name it; whatever was needed for this to be the ultimate experience for the otaku and the gamer that still enjoys physical social interaction.
Before the event, I went to buy the tickets on pre-sale and was kind of surprised I got ticket #002. “Whoa”, I said, and continued my day.
Now, before narrating the most shocking part of the story, let me remind you that I paid $6.50 for both days. Remember this isn’t either the United States of America or Japan. $6.50 for two days is a little below the medium but nowhere close to the actual worth of the disaster I survived. OK, here we go. . .
On Saturday, when the event started, I was more than ready. The ticket said it would start at 10:00 a.m. and finish at 8:00 p.m. so I got there at 2:00 p.m., when the contests were more likely to be taking place (There were announcements for a RISK and Guitar Hero tournament, among others). As I entered the old building, there was a guy on a small desk receiving the tickets who turned out to be one of the guys I normallly play GGX with (We don’t know each other, just his face, I normally don’t chat with the people I play with at the arcade).
“The event is upstairs.”, he said, and up I went through the dirty and fragile set of stairs; When I finally got to the last step I saw it:
That was all there was. . .all of it. I’ll enumerate:
1. A sushi stand – With the food monopoly in their hands, this was the most profitable booth. I didn’t taste the sushi or teriyaki but all the kids around were delighted; go figure.
2. a Naruto-and-Domo-kun-only merch stand – need I say more?
3. A Toys, YugiOh! cards and used Xbox360-games stand – Some cool BOME figures but I didn’t even ask for prices.
Almost 50% of the assistants were in cosplay due to the false announcement of a cosplay contest that cost around $3.50 (for us that’s average for a cosplay contest, but in this case it was a slap on the face with an iron glove) and in the final moment the organizer delayed it to Sunday; that’s Piss-off #1.
Casting that major event aside, I approached the organizer (note that I went directly to him instead of a staff member… because there weren’t any! It was just that guy in his mid-twenties at most and his girlfriend) and asked him, “Are there any other events? Videogames? Anime? Because right now I’m just seeing some kids playing card games.” And he replied, “Yeah, umm, we’re. . .about to start. . .something. . .yeah, but all the videogame tournaments are moved to tomorrow and today are just the YugiOh! and RISK tourneys.”.
Great. I went there hoping to watch some anime to kill time or play some videogames and there was only 1 projector for a PC used only to loop through 13 Anime OPs (yeah, I counted). If I hadn’t cut my hair a month ago I would’ve been pulling chunks of it by that moment. “Calm down, you can still play some RISK”, I said to myself, and continued to ask the guy, “What about the RISK tourney? Where’s the contender list? Or the registration form?” It seemed I caught him off-guard and rapidly fetched some paper and a pen. “Here.”. It was his only answer.
Anger. It was my only answer.
The scenery was incredible: Imagine small groups of two or three kids wandering aimlessly through the vast, empty, and dusty space; like oversized pigeons with their red, beady eyes looking into nothingness and beyond. Over at one corner were all the cosplay guys and gals who seemed to be having the most fun but I really ignore why. There was no way someone could have fun in that place.
This guy wasn’t going to get the best of me. . .well, he already had my ticket money but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of enjoying my suffering and INDIGNATION just yet. I got a RISK box and went to sit to a nearby empty table. I quietly started to shuffle the cards, making enough presence to gather the attention of some kids. Thanks to my innate ability to cause commotion, the organizer sat next to me and proposed a “test” game of RISK due to the fact that I was the only one registered for the so-called tourney. Needless to say I ended up teaching a bunch of kids the rules and guiding them through the 4 hours we kept on playing. It was troublesome, tiring, and not satisfactory (If you find the idea of explaining a strategy board game to four kids below the age of 12 ‘fun & entertaining’ then I greatly consider you to be either a natural teacher or completely insane).
After four whole hours of moving little plastic men and horsemen around a cardboard map while throwing loaded dice I proposed to myself to kill someone if I didn’t get out of there in the time lapse of three minutes. Sadly I left the building at 2:47 and no blood was shed.
It was dark.
It was cold.
I was cold.
I was uneasy.
I was deprived from the glee that normally went along with my Saturday.
I was angry.
And worst of all, I was anchored to that place for one more day with the promise of a better tomorrow, a place with at least 1 videogame to play. . .and. . .y’know. . .in the end. . .they didn’t lie.
I returned on Sunday, my hopes as high as the Empire State building waiting to see that guy keeping his promise, and there he was. I think he was wearing the same shirt. There were the same kids I played RISK with, the same kids playing YuGiOh! and the same guys doing cosplay. I hurried to the organizer and asked him, “Yo, where are the games, man?” (My charade had to be perfect, I was not going to let him know I was angry at him”). “Oh yeah,” he told me in a prideful manner,”There IT is.”. “It?” – I askedthe man, a little taken back at the singularity of his sentence, “Yeah, look over there”. Pointing to the small scenario where the computer was, there was a Wii, a Wii Guitar Hero guitar and a drum Set, along with 4 Wiimotes. “We’re going to put the Smash tourney (just 4 guys applied) on the projector for everyone to see, and then the Guitar hero band tourney. You need a guitarist, a drummer and a singer, since there isn’t another guitar. Oh and you can’t play solo”.
I don’t know what happened at that moment but there was this instant of calm; I saw into the horizon and heard nothing, like if my head was submerged in a bucket filled with lukewarm water. I just replied, “OK, thank you.”, and quietly played RISK with the same kids I had so much trouble with the day before, until the sunset reminded me to return home.
THE END
Please tell me how I should feel about it. Should I lose all hope after this one incident or wait for the next poster with Alf or a more epic eighties icon on it?
What would YOU do in this situation? Any similar stories you’d like to share?
And finally, did you enjoy my overly dramatic-yet-real story?
Please tell us in the comments. It will be appreciated. Velcor out.
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Abraham 'Velcor' Duarte
David 'KidKobun' Bruno
Ivan 'Nahu' Lozano
Random J
Sol
Sounds like a weekend of Risk than anything else. I would give up hope unless you can motivate the organizer to do more.
This is what happens when someone attempts to start their own convention, but doesn’t have the resources to do so.
This happened in a city around here. It lasted about 2 years, then was phased out.
Fantastic post though.
why, thank you! I have had a lot of misadventures like this one and I decided that this one HAD to be told to the internet.
This is one of those situations were I would have been skeptical from the get go. All those logos for one. Then there was the ticket price for two. Then three, the building. At that point I’d have just walked. It’s not enough money to ask for a refund, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be enough money to make me want to suffer that. They’d have to pay me to stay. had I actually go in there, there would have been one less organizer.
I think i have been very fortunate enough to never attend to something like that (the closest thing i attended was a rave. A strangely commercial one, as in ‘all the stands sell something counter-cultural or pins at the very list’. Raves and stands? Only from Radioglobal.org) I have seen simmilar cons at highschools and they are not that bad, at least lots of kids go. They wander aimlessly, they clash, laugh and get harrased by yaoifans, some are wearing cosplays (most are bellow average, some are comical and others are as unfit as a Mai Shiranui who is 20 pounds overweight, or say, a Bible Black girl that has nasty orangeskin in her legs, and some loverolls at it)
It gets weirder when you get to see a VideogamesAnimeComics convention AT THE BEACH.
yeah… you forgot to mantion we have a shit load of these in this city xDD
we only have 1 convention that i feel is worth the while, and a close runner-up.. the rest fare as good as this one…
I would have LOST ALL HOPE after the last step.
If it was ME in that situation I would become an even more of a Hikikomori than I already am.
wonderful-yet-real-horror story, probably the longest post I seen yet =o
Wow, it’s amazing how you kept your cool under these circumstances.
I almost came to tears after reading this.
OH… MY… GOD O_____________O;;;;;;;;;;;
Here’s some grand advice: RUN. FAR AWAY from where you currently live. Run to America! You write English pretty damn well so you’d survive wonderfully! I just don’t think you’d find any more fun than in the country you’re living in now if this is the biggest event your city can cook up…
I appreciate your lovely comment but please don’t take us (Mexicans) wrong. This was the worst I’ve been to; the very bottom of the hole. Next week I’ll go to another one from the same city, only that this time I’m more friends with the organizers / staff and I know these gatherings can turn out pretty awesome.
A report about it is obvious and well deserved.
the convention sound awfully familiar… what city are ye in?
and yah… we’re not that bad, while a lot of people don’t miss the chance to try and profit from just about anything… those of us who feel really passionate towards something (other than money of course xD) we can turn out pretty awesome stuff. =)
Ensenada, B.C.
the city that caught the Whales.
Aah, Mexico, huh? Okay, I believe you :D
no wonder it sounded familiar xD
i’m from Tijuana and was there not long ago and also read of it on some forums…
i’m glad i didn’t go, and i’m sorry you had to endure such horror xD
the one i did go to was Avalon, and it fared decently for being the first.
Regarding your Avalon post: Heh, we might have had crossed faces; I was the one with the laptop taking care of the music and karaoke contest. Small world, eh?
i was 2nd place in the Drawing contest xD
black trench coat and fedora hat xD
and indeed a small world it is xD
Wow, that really sucks. Ive been to better organized Brawl tourneys xD
This has got to be one of the spheres of otaku hell. Great storytelling, man!
we live such horrors at least 5 to 7 times a year in the neighboring city of Tijuana, from where this one took place @.@
last sunday we had one that for some reason it included a car show…
Please forgive me for trying to sound over-optimistic but. . .did any of those cars have anime-themes like the ones in Japan? :3
sadly, none at all…
like i mentioned before.. we only have one worthwhile con and a close runner up xD
and this one was in a mall, car show and all xD
i totally understand your feeling Abraham i was in that “convention” with my girldfriend it sucked i was there like….hmm 30 minutes maybe?(i dont know how you managed to be for 4 whole hours X_x) my girldfriend apologize to me like an hour because she though it was gonna have lots of videogames and comics and everithyng they promised u^^….but well i didnt expect less from the cueva de yoshi >_> those guys only want money…
well im so glad
i didnt go
i know the organizer of that event and i told him to be careful. but he took my advice as an offense.
swear of god i tried my best to help him with advice.
am saya pm me on the foro or in the msn i got a project for a comic and i need writters
i write a bit, but the forum’s link seems to be dead… i’m from Tijuana like i mentioned before by the way xD
Yoshi do not live in caves, that should have been the first warning!
xDDDD jajaja never though about it before xDDDD
amm sry i ddidnt meant cueva de yoshi xDDD thats other store withc sucks what i meant was kame house xDDD i dont know why i said cueva de yoshi xDDDD
The purpose of conventions is to have a great many young women dressed in very revealing anime costumes.
So, basically, you need to promote it to exhibitionistic women.
Given large quantities of female cosplay, the men will arrive naturally. First the photographers will come. Then the common gawkers. Then the bold souls who will try to mack on the babes.
Abraham i understand What you felt, the same as Azure and you i went with my girlfriend to that “small convention”.As most of the people that went to Geekend i thought “ok is going to be fun, my girl is gonna be happy showing her two cosplays..hell is gonna be a good weekend”but at the moment that i’ve went up, 20% of the space of the local was used and 80% was empty, the toilets where fucked up( it reminded me of how my brothers room is) really was an epic Fail..but at least it make my girl happy spending quality time with , making friends. but damn is the second time i waste money on something really bad(the first Time was going to the theaters and watched Cañitas).
R.I.P memory of Alf may you never be used for some epic fail.
[...] Soapbox Saturday: How Not To Do An Anime Reunion For Profit. [...]
[...] be aware that this will not be as intriguing and dramatic as my last experience; I just had to tell you guys about the contrasts there are between the two of them and why I liked [...]
Just as a curious note: Today I found that mother****er at school, with his Weeaboo attitude selling FORTUNE COOKIES of all things. Out of pity, I bought him 1.
Oh BTW I was referring to the organizer.
[...] Clearly a much better experience than the previous debacle. [...]
I was there. I entered for free through some tweaking ( which I regret since it was a lot of effort and was not worth it. And I applied for the Smash Brothers Brawl Tournament, it was not just 4 people, there was about 15 by the time it started.
And yes, it was awful.