Hi folks. As is my way, I’m making my panel materials available here for those who could either not attend our panel, or for those who’d like access to our supplemental materials (links, bibliography, etc.). You can download the PowerPoint presentation below:
For those who have been following for a while, there are no big differences between this version of the presentation and previous ones. However, there are a couple more links and we included some discussion items that came up during previous iterations of the panel. We had a little bit longer of a time frame this time, too, which was nice.
This was my first time running programming at a larger convention, as well as my first time running programming outside of Minnesota. My husband and I have cultivated a pretty cool community in our area of fans and friends who we see on a regular basis at our local conventions. I’ve been reticent to reach outside of this community because I’m personally not someone who wants or needs to feel “famous;” while it’s kind of funny to talk about anime fandom as a road toward becoming a “known” personality, it’s a choice that many people make and some people really thrive off of this type of exposure. For me, I’m more interesting in just finding more like-minded anime fans to talk to, and being a panelist has turned out to be a decent way to accomplish that. I also find that running panels allows me to enjoy a convention more; even if the convention doesn’t offer a lot otherwise, if I’m running some programming I know I’ll have a good time and be able to fill my day with something.
Anime Central is large enough that finding things to fill up my calendar isn’t an issue. At times, there’s such a wealth of different things to do that choosing just a few is a difficult task. Still, once J.C. and I decided to attend the con, it was natural for us to submit a couple of panels, just to see if they’d be accepted. We submitted three; one of them was scheduled. J.C. was a bit disappointed (one of the benefits of being a panelist at ACen is that, for every panel you run you get 50% off the price of your badge, so two panels equals a free admission), but I saw this as a large convention deciding to take a chance on two unknowns. We also didn’t realize that the panel submission deadline was so early, so our submissions were pretty late in the cycle which likely factored into the decision to some extent.
In any case, we both appreciate the people who elected to spend their first time-slot at the convention hanging out with a couple of folks from Minneapolis; while the room wasn’t packed, the audience was kind and willing to listen, which made what was a nerve-wracking experience for me turn out to be very fun. We’re hoping to be able to bring more content to this convention in the future!