Hi All, I’m scheduling these posts to go up throughout the weekend as J.C. and I present our panels at Anime Fusion 2021. Our first is the ever-enjoyable “Shiny New Anime,” which includes a panel presentation and a hand-out. This should appear on the blog just as our panel is starting (there is an online component this year, so I wanted friends watching at home to at least have access to the handout right away).
Because the video clips will likely only play in a full version of Microsoft PowerPoint (as opposed to the online or Google equivalent), I’ve uploaded the clips into a separate folder if you really want to watch them and aren’t able to within the actual slide show. We chose our featured shows this time around based on both variety and wanting to bring some more focus to series that weren’t as talked-about or got lost in the shuffle (there was a lot of good anime this past year). Download Links are below:
Hi everyone! We had a great time at the inaugural GalaxyCon Minneapolis, and appreciate that they allowed us to run some of our anime programming there. Below are my panel materials from Shiny New Anime. There are only minor differences between this version of the panel and the one that we gave at Anime Fusion, but I was able to swap a couple of things out and added in a clip for Carole & Tuesday, which I was able to watch in the interim (well, the first half at least… thank you, Netflix).
Feel free to download these, share them, and enjoy them. If you re-purpose them in any way, please provide me credit. While I obviously don’t create the anime that are featured in the presentation, I do write up my own descriptions, put together the slide presentation, and cut all the clips which can get time-consuming! Mostly I just want to share my love and enjoyment of anime with the community, though, which is why I offer this stuff with pretty much no questions asked.
Hi all. By this point in the weekend, J.C. and I are finished with our panelist responsibilities at Anime Fusion. We made a conscious decision to cut way back this year, mostly out of a sense of self-preservation. It’s been a year full of personal ups and downs for both of us, and we didn’t want to overwhelm ourselves with convention prep and an overly-ambitious schedule. In any case, below are the panel materials from out one substantial panel this year, Shiny New Anime. If you’ve followed us for a while you’ll like not find much new here; we update the panel on a rolling 12-month basis, so we really just added some stuff from recent anime seasons and took out a few things that were older.
Just a note about the information included in the materials. Firstly, feel free to take these and re-purpose them, just provide credit back here (while the materials themselves aren’t mine per se, it does take a lot of work to compile summaries, cut clips, and watch the series enough to have an opinion of them in the first place). Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, if an anime series you like hasn’t been included, don’t take it as a personal affront; J.C. and I are two people with opinions, and there are many other people in the world who likely share your love for something that we didn’t include. We are just people with limited time who like to shine a spotlight on shows we personally enjoyed, so please take that in the spirit it’s intended.
Let me know if the links are broken or if there are any other issues, and I’ll try to resolve it.
Hi all. I know this is a bit (very) belated, but J.C. and I will be at Anime Fusion this weekend. We’ve deliberately elected to put on less programming than usual since our year has been really full and we’ve been busy. Below is where you can see us this weekend!
Friday, October 18th
11:30pm – 12:30am – Anime By Numbers Trivia Game in Panel 2 It’s our anime trivia game where you don’t really need to know anything, just be a good guesser! All answers are numbers, and it’s a team event.
Saturday, October 19th
4:00pm – 5:00pm – Shiny New Anime in Panel 1 Our annual survey of the anime we really enjoyed from the past year. If you attended this at CONvergence there’s not a whole lot of new material, but we’re happy to see you if you decide to attend!
I will likely not be at the convention late on Saturday or at all on Sunday, since I’m trying to save some time for myself (and to post more updates here!), but I suspect J.C. will be there longer (he’s there now, while I’m still at work… don’t tell anyone!)
You can check out the full convention schedule HERE!
Another year, another CONvergence. I’ve written here before about the convention itself, and I may have more things to say later about the nuts and bolts part of the convention since it was in a new location this year (spoiler: I thought it was a net positive overall). Today I’d actually like to talk about CONvergence’s panel culture and some specific experiences I’ve had related to that, including some positive and not-so-positive ones I had this year. My experiences aren’t necessarily directly related to CONvergence in all respects; I’ve got some personality problems/mental health issues that make certain situations different for me than they might be for others, but hopefully this will all resonate with others to some degree.
This post was originally written for the April 2019 issue of Mangaverse, the anime, manga, and comics ‘zine published by the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F) which I am currently in charge of editing. If you are interested in contributing to Mangaverse, please contact me at jessi@s1e1.com. I am always on the lookout for writers and artists!
This post may have been minimally-edited from its original form to correct minor errors and/or include hyperlinks.
Throughout many of my years as an anime fan, one thing has been consistent – my love of anime (and other fandom) conventions. While I came of age as participant in internet-heavy forms of fandom, it’s the in-person gatherings of like-minded people that have always felt like home to me. When I entered college I joined my University’s anime club, and through the club met people who were involved in the local fandom community. Through them I was able to learn about and attend some of the existing anime conventions at the time – Anime Central, which took place outside of Chicago, and Anime Iowa, which at the time was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I also met and made friends with some folks who were hoping to establish an anime convention in the Twin Cities metro area. Some thought it foolhardy, but they eventually did so – that was how Anime Detour came about.
I’ve been involved with Anime Detour nearly since its inception. First as an attendee, then as a member of art staff, and now, for many years, as a member of programming staff (we put together the panel and event schedule for the weekend, and help to ensure that panelists have what they need). I also run a great deal (some might say an unhealthy amount) of programming, including several panels and the convention’s long-running Anime Music Video (AMV) contest. This level of involvement definitely colors my experience of the convention itself, as I’m often buzzing from panel room to panel room so that I can set up for my next presentation, or trying to fit in a meal during a gap; I sometimes don’t get a chance to see and do everything I would like to if I were simply another attendee.
Convention Logistics
Anime Detour 2019 took place from March 29th – March 31st, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was the convention’s second year in the hotel, which luckily put many of the previous year’s growing pains and other pain-points in the past. Its location comes with its share of challenges, however, some of which my husband and I luckily avoided as members of staff; parking is at a premium, with the attached parking garage coming at a higher cost for three days than many are comfortable with (the convention cut a deal for something like $13/day, but the previous convention hotel came with free parking on a surface lot which is difficult to beat). We were able to snag a hotel room for the weekend (a necessity when you’re on staff), and brought one car between the two of us, which we left in the ramp all weekend. The cost was certainly a price we were willing (and able) to pay. There was a shuttle running between the convention overflow hotels and another parking ramp further out, which helped to make the situation less of an issue. The hotel is also on a major transit thoroughfare, with several bus lines (including the 10, 11, 17, and 18) servicing the closest stops, so this is always a good option for folks familiar with taking transit.
The location is close to several decent food options, though
in this there is somewhat of an issue; aside from a Chipotle, a Vietnamese
restaurant, and Einstein Brothers bagel place, most of the options nearby are
either closed on weekends, or are sit-down options which might be a bit too
expensive for most con-goers to make good use of throughout the whole weekend
(and which take too much time for those of us who need to be in and out
quickly). The hotel itself has a café, which is definitely helpful; there you
can get various sandwich and breakfast options, as well as coffee (which is a
requirement for me these days). Luckily there’s also a Target store a couple of
blocks North of the hotel where one can grab some staples and snacks, and the
Hyatt’s hotel rooms have mini-fridges to store leftovers. This saved me a
couple of times when I didn’t have time to grab other food. My advice to
convention attendees would be to bring things like oranges, bananas, apples and
some various non-perishable items like crackers, granola bars, jerky, and such.
The convention also provides snacks; I believe this is something that’s mostly
a tradition at midwestern conventions, as I haven’t seen them elsewhere. The
Consuite as it’s called provides snacks and rice to all attendees; those who
put in volunteer hours gain access to an adjacent area that has sandwich
fixings, yogurt, and additional items. While the Consuite isn’t meant to be a
substitute for actual meals, it can definitely help when you’re in a pinch.
One excellent improvement from last year is that the food
trucks contracted to park alongside the hotel were there for longer periods of
time, and there were two at a time instead of just the one, which really helped
to cut down on the crazy lines that formed last year. I only got the chance to
try one of the two, but managed to end up with a very tasty barbecue sandwich
out of the deal. This is an amenity that I hope the convention continues to
provide, as it’s very convenient and also helps out some local food businesses
in the process.
Panels and Events
One of my favorite things about cons is dressing up without getting hassled.
While panels might not be a huge draw to many fans (cooler
things like Cosplay, video gaming, and the nightly dance/rave tend to be more
highly-regarded), they’re the reason I keep going to conventions. First,
because I love the discussions (except when they turn hostile – not a common
occurrence, but I’ve seen it happen), and second, because I always feel like I
learn something new. At Anime Detour I spent much of my time behind the
microphone with my husband presenting several panels on various
anime-and-manga-related subjects. He and I are extremely lucky in that we’ve
been doing this a long time and have been able to cultivate relationships with
many of the people who attend our panels consistently. This aspect of the
convention is truly a high point for me and something that keeps us wanting to
run panels (even though we know we run way too many).
This year we (surprisingly) had a chance to attend a couple of other panels. One was presented by Evan Miller, a long-time friend, which focused on the development of anime conventions in both Japan and the US. The second half of the panel went somewhat off-track and became a discussion regarding how conventions can and should handle some of the unfortunate realities of the modern era (one example given was a stalking incident that happened at a convention on the West Coast, during which a person set fire to several cars after being turned down for a date). While there was an interesting debate going, I think the discussion revealed that preventing similar incidents revolves a lot around cultivating certain expectations within the convention community, one example being the “Cosplay is not Consent” motto which was first developed at another local convention (CONvergence, also now held in Minneapolis).
I also attended a panel that my husband moderated, which
revolved around the pressures put upon real-life athletes and how these are (or
aren’t) reflected accurately in anime and manga. The convention’s theme this
year revolved around sports and sports anime, and one of the guests of honor
was Chris Kluwe, former Minnesota Viking (and current geek). It was an
interesting panel, as all the panelists had experience in various sports (MMA,
Tai Kwon Do, Swimming, and Football) and could relate that to anime. The panel
itself was streamed and is available to watch on the convention YouTube
channel, for those who are interested (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBaMikHGzQk).
Shopping
Saturday was especially windy this year!
One of my favorite things about attending conventions is
browsing the dealers’ hall. While obtaining anime-related merchandise is no
longer difficult, there’s something about seeing the items in person that’s
appealing to me. Sadly, though the dealer hall is greatly-expanded from what it
was in previous years at the old location, the variety of merchandise felt very
lacking this year. I like to collect anime figurines, and while I’m admittedly
a fan of some niche series, I can usually find a few characters from series
that I enjoy represented at most conventions. Perhaps this is just something
that’s happened over the past couple of years (I had a similar complaint about
last year’s A-Kon convention), but most of the figurines for sale seem to be
similar across the board between different merchants, and I didn’t happen to
find anything unique. It might just be an off year (and perhaps I ought to work
a little harder to expand into some bigger fandoms so I can have more selection
available), but I was disappointed.
I’d also love to see some J-fashion or kawaii-fashion merchants
make an appearance at the convention. Unfortunately, Anime Detour has never
really catered much to that area of fandom, as I suspect I’m one of the few
staff members with any interest in that and my plate is already full as it is.
I do recall a somewhat amusing incident where some panels from our local lolita
fashion community were nearly refused because the individuals handling the
request thought it was a fetish thing rather than a niche fashion unaffiliated
with the famous novel, so I suspect some of those challenges still exist in
some form. While there has always been a place for local designers,
leather/corset workers, rave fashion sellers, and T-shirt merchants, I would
love if someday Anime Detour could invite Lolita Collective to sell in the
dealers’ hall, or even bring in some Japanese fashion guests.
As usual, I found a lot more to my fandom liking in the Artist Alley, which was held in one of the smaller ballrooms. The various fan artists there ensured that a great variety of fandoms were represented, including some of my recent favorites like Golden Kamuy and Devilman Crybaby. The room in which the Artist Alley is located seems as though it has some space to expand, so I’m hoping that future years will be able to accommodate even more excellent artists.
Con Culture
A fun interpretation of the AE-86 Trueno (Hachi-Roku) from Initial D. Photo by Goldeneyeuro.
Anime Detour, like many of the local conventions I attend,
has a robust anti-harassment policy (and has for many years). I know from
insider experience that the convention staff puts in a lot of work to ensure
that staff members are empowered to handle these types of situations, and that
con attendees know that harassing behavior is not to be tolerated. While there
are always people who believe the rules don’t apply to them, for the most part
I find that Anime Detour is one of the conventions where I tend to feel safe
and don’t observe other attendees behaving in an out-of-control manner. The
convention also cordons-off its 18+ programming in a specific area. While this
may seem like overkill to some, my opinion is that this helps to ensure that
the people who are interested in seeing that sort of material are well-aware of
what they’re getting into, and those who don’t want to see it don’t stumble
into it accidentally.
The convention has also latched onto a trend which I hope
will become commonplace at more events like this – it provides a way for
convention attendees to share their preferred gender pronouns in a visible way
if they so choose. This year the convention registration staff provided badge
ribbons (if you’re not familiar with these, they’re printed ribbons with a sticky
backing that you can attach to your attendee badge) with common pronouns
(she/her, they/them, etc.), as well as a blank version for those who utilize
less common pronouns. I’ve seen this accomplished at other cons using stickers,
so this is kind of a variation on a theme. This did, unfortunately, introduce a
venue for those with bad intentions to take advantage of the blank ribbons and
use them to write insults. While I was lucky enough not to see any of these
particular ribbons in person, it was reported to me that some folks were
writing gender slurs and insults to transgender individuals on the blank
ribbons, so something will have to be put into place to help mitigate this for
next year (one suggestion given to me and passed along to convention staff was
to have people choose from a list or enter their preferred pronouns at
registration to have them printed directly on the badge, which I thought would
be a good way to filter out the insulting ones).
One thing that I would love (and this is me speaking not as
a staffer, but as a convention participant and attendee) would be if Anime
Detour would do more to cultivate some more academic, meaty discussions in its
panel programming. We do attract a few individuals who choose to approach their
presentations in this manner, but historically programming is comprised of what
people submit with the intention to run, and what people submit tends to be
more light-hearted fandom content and in-character truth-or-dare sessions. I’d
never want to eliminate these things because that’s obviously what a large
contingent of people want to do, but I feel more work could be done to allow
the more serious stuff to exist more prominently.
Wrap-up
The Gurren Lagann from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Photo by Goldeneyeuro.
This year’s Anime Detour seemed to blaze by in a flash,
possibly because I had overbooked myself to the extreme. When your mind is so
consumed with what panel or event is coming up next in your personal schedule,
it’s difficult to take a step back and experience the things that are going on
around you. I tell myself every year that I’ll cut back next time, but that
never seems to happen; it’s difficult for me to say whether or not I’ll ever
learn my lesson.
Anime Detour is what I consider to be my “home” convention,
and to that end this year was another success. I got the chance to see old
friends, chat with other attendees, see pretty much everything the convention
had to offer, and enjoy being in the middle of downtown Minneapolis (not
exactly a novelty since I work in the area, but it’s different when you’re
there for fun). My hope for the future is that the convention will continue to
expand responsibly, to utilize its space more efficiently, and to learn and
improve upon its ability to cater to people from many different walks of life
in pursuit of its fandom-focused mission. Oh, and maybe let me know (gently)
that I’m running WAY too many panels for my own good.
First of all, below are links to my panel materials from the panels I helped run this year (please contact me about any broken links or other download issues):
J.C. and I participated in a total of four panels this year, two of which he and I had primary responsibility for. I feel like this is probably the right amount for us in terms of having something to do at a convention – it gives us something to work on and a way to interact with people (let’s face it, I’m shy and probably wouldn’t be doing much talking otherwise), but it leaves us the majority of time to take in the rest of the con as attendees. Let’s face it: after staffing Anime Detour earlier in the year and running way too many panels there, it’s nice to have a break!
“Anime for Kids” was our first panel on Friday morning, and I thought it went surprisingly well considering the time of day (9:30am on a day where people are still arriving at the convention in many cases). We’d signed up for the panel because we like to make sure that there’s some nominal amount of anime-related programming to begin with (the convention is more of a general “media convention” featuring all sorts of things, of which anime is a tiny part), but I was hoping that some actual people with children would sign up as well so that we could get some confirmation on our choices. Obviously that didn’t happen and it was just us, but it was a fun thought exercise to approach the topic from the standpoint of prospective future parents hoping to incorporate some anime into our children’s life. Having watched most/all of the selections myself, I can at least say that they’re enjoyable whether or not you have kids with whom to watch them. My only disappointment with the panel was actually more on the scheduling side; we found out once we picked up our registration materials on Wednesday that “Anime for Kids” was left out of the printed schedule (it was listed on the online schedule which is what I assume most people use anyway). I was momentarily hurt, but being a member of programming staff at another convention I know how hairy things can get close to the print deadline and all the schedule shuffling that happens when people cancel and such, so I got over it pretty quickly. I also compensated by doing a lot of last-minute social media advertising and even putting up some posters around the convention space which ended up being pretty fun for us.
That evening we participated in “Anime 101” which was moderated by Michael Grimm, a member of the “Anime on the Rocks” podcast (the link goes to the podcast on Soundcloud but it’s obtainable many places where podcasts are available). Besides the two of us, the other panelists were Chrysoula Tzavelas, author, anime fan (check out her anime recs on her site “Anime I Recommend“) and CONvergence invited participant, as well as friend and fellow reviewer/blogger Scott K. “SKJAM” Jamison. The panel was an intro to anime and anime fandom which I believe is of perennial usefulness at CONvergence (I’ve been on it a couple of times in the past several years). Anime fandom is great, but with so much anime out there and all sorts of places to get it, the amount of shows, news, movies, memes and other related material can be overwhelming to newcomers. In the panel we each shared a couple of anime series that we thought would be good jumping-off points for new fans. The thing about anime fandom is that you really tend to come to it as the person you are, so each person’s entry point will be different. I hope we were able to convey the things that make anime a great fandom to be in; as an adult in a fandom that skews young, I always selfishly hope to entice other adults to give anime a try.
Saturday afternoon we were on a panel called “Year in Anime” which I would equate to “Shiny New Anime,” a panel that J.C. and I (and occasionally others) put on at Anime Detour and Anime Fusion. J.C. served as moderator, and other panelists included Chrysoula, Anthony Pecoraro, and Ryan Placzkowski. The previous year this panel was late at night (and I wasn’t directly involved in it, though J.C. was a panelist) and the room wasn’t very full. This year the panel was at a good time but in a smaller room which turned out a little interesting since the room got overfull (I’m not sure what the listed capacity was supposed to be, but there were people standing and also sitting on the floor). It was nice to know that people were interesting in getting some recommendations for new anime to watch! This subject is one I’m passionate about, so I definitely believe I did more than my share of the talking (sorry, fellow panelists!), but I hope my enthusiasm was contagious.
The last panel was one of J.C.’s that I attended, called “Great Art by Horrible People,” a discussion about whether it’s possible to enjoy the creative products of someone who’s revealed to have said or done awful things (spoiler: it tends to be up to each consumer to identify their own tolerance level). I tend to be someone who can drop someone like they’re hot if they’ve done something bad, especially if they’re not properly apologetic about it (“sorry” isn’t good enough). This is also a discussion J.C. and I have had with each-other plenty of times, so I was interested to see that played out in a more public forum. Overall I the discussion was pretty interesting and went a lot of different places. I think my critique would be that I think the panel moderator could have done a more hands-on job ensuring that the discussion didn’t get so out-of-control (there was some impassioned arguing at one point that I don’t think was contributing anything, as well as a panelist who was doing a lot of interrupting and talking over others while also taking audience questions while others were trying to speak). It was also really late at night, which made it difficult for me to concentrate.
Panels we Attended
I don’t want to speak at length about every panel we attended; while most of them were good it would take me a long time to go into detail and I’m sure there are others that can fill in the gaps. I do want to provide a high level of some of my favorite panels and panelists, though.
Some of my favorite panels were, surprisingly, related to building and cultivating an internet presence (something I’m ambivalent about since I have some concerns about being trolled and harassed). “Build your YouTube Following” on Thursday and “Thoughts on Patreon” on Saturday were both helpful to me in terms of learning about ways in which one could turn an internet hobby into something with some financial benefits. I’m not sure if I’m there yet and I don’t ever envision quitting my “day job” to write full time, but it did open my eyes to some options and that was kind of cool. Both of these panels were moderated by Steve “Morjax” Sylvestre, a chemist by day and an internet “let’s play” streamer by night. I found him to be a very good speaker and panelist and appreciated the insight he and the other panelists had into making their internet presence work for them.
I also attended some panels that fit kind of under the general umbrella of diversity appreciation. “Masculinity Detox,” moderated by Dr. Nerdlove (Harris O’Malley), provided a good discussion about the way in which men are damaged by certain expectations of their gender and how this extends to harm others who are male and do not fit into these expectations, or who are other genders and are victims of these expectations in other ways. Toxic masculinity has been on my mind a lot lately and it was good to see it discussed out in the open by panelists with a wide range of different experiences. “Women in STEM: The Road Not Taken” was a cool discussion by panelists working in STEM industries and how they arrived at those careers, sometimes in roundabout ways. They also talked about some challenges they’ve encountered related to their gender – it’s upsetting to know just how often sexism and misogyny still play a part in women’s experiences in the sciences. “Fat Positivity & Representation” gave perspective on how fat bodies are represented in media (spoiler: not well the majority of the time) and the panelists’ experiences in their own lives living in a culture that still has disdain for fat bodies. There was also some discussion about nuances between fat positivity and the body positivity movement (specifically, there are some critiques that the body positivity movement has paved the road for backlash against people who want to gain/lose weight or make changes to their bodies for personal reasons). “It Was a Different Time” discussed media from the past that’s blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. as seen through our eyes today and how we approach those products. It also talked about some current media and what might look terrible to us down the line. I liked all these panels in particular because they’re the best places to listen to the experiences of others in the world and how they interact with fandom, and those are valuable conversations to be a part of.
Besides that there were a few panels that were just fun and fascinating. “Kids Ask a Scientist,” which is unsurprisingly a panel where kids can ask a panel of different scientists the pressing science questions that they have, was very informative, both in the answers from the scientists, as well as in the thought processes of the kids in the audience and the things they really wanted to know about. “A World Without Bees” discussed what would really happen if our bee population went away or couldn’t serve as pollinators for our crops anymore. As it turns out, our agricultural system relies on bee pollinators in ways that are not natural nor healthy, but it’s been a conundrum that no one has been willing to directly address on a large scale. If you ever get the chance, check out the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center presentation; they brought in live birds and discussed how these predators live and behave.
We don’t normally see many main stage events, but this year we caught “Art of the Dress” (a costume exhibition), “Cirque de Vingt” (a variety performance with belly dancers, acrobats, music, and spoken-word segments), and the Masquerade contest (which we thought we had missed – it actually started late so we had only missed maybe two performers!). We enjoyed all of them, especially the Cirque, which was a fun surprise (we stuck around after the “Art of the Dress” and we’re glad we did).
Critiques
Overall CONvergence was great this year and I had a better time than some past years just due to being able to participate more (with my work schedule in the past it’s occasionally been difficult to commit to being on panels and such). There were a couple of aspects of the con this year that, while not necessarily the convention’s fault, I felt were worth mentioning.
It’s news to almost no one that there were some additional requirements of the convention from the Doubletree hotel management this year. While this was true in some previous years, the convention was not allowed to run its CoF2E2 coffee shop between 6am and 12noon so as not to conflict with the hotel’s own cafe in the lobby. Considering that there’s both a Caribou Coffee and Starbucks restaurant across the hotel parking lot, it was fairly easy to support alternate businesses during the time period when many of us like a little caffeine boost. That said, the coffee shop was open the remaining hours of the convention, so it was not such a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.
There was also a much greater police presence at the convention this year in comparison to past years. My understanding is that this was not by the convention’s choice, but another requirement of the hotel due to security concerns of theirs. Convention staff released a video discussion with one of the guests of honor, Michael “Knightmage” Wilson (a cosplayer and stuntman, also a sheriff’s deputy) regarding the police situation; I’m not sure that it satisfied most critics of the situation, including myself, but I understand they were trying to provide some information to con-goers. Having such an overt police presence is threatening not only to communities of color, but other marginalized communities which have been disproportionately targeted by police. I’m hopeful that next year’s convention will be able to go without the added “security.”
The “big” issue this year was that the hotel imposed new rules regarding alcohol served at room parties. For those of you who aren’t familiar with CONvergence, one thing that draws people to the con are the cabana room parties which are often decorated elaborately and which serve themed alcoholic drinks (not all do, but many do). Party hosts were informed about a month before the convention that the Doubletree would be requiring alcohol service at the parties be provided by their own (hotel) bartenders at a price of about $75/hour. I also believe they put limits on what types of foods could be offered a the parties as well. Considering the expenditure of running one of these parties (I’ve been a member of a group running one a couple of times), and the fact that at least some of the cost is recouped in tips, the new regulations made it difficult for some groups to afford to run their event. I don’t drink, but I know a lot of people who do and who enjoy CONvergence as a place to “let loose” in that way, so I experienced some secondhand frustration. I know several parties dropped-out and having strolled around the party areas later on Friday and Saturday, I could tell things were much more subdued than normal. I can understand the hotel’s point-of-view regarding potential liability issues, but CONvergence has done a good job over the years policing itself and its party hosts about providing alcohol, so it seemed like just another rude move.
I’m gathering that the hotel is hoping to change the types of events it hosts and to focus more on smaller events with a higher profit margin; I don’t know how true this is, but they’ve made it pretty clear that they’re not all that interested in accommodating events of CONvergence’s size and type anymore.
Looking Ahead
It’s been an open secret in the local convention community recently that CONvergece was looking at moving, and it didn’t surprise me to learn that the 2019 event is going to be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. This is the same hotel that housed Anime Detour earlier this year, and hosts several other geeky events including Furry Migration and AniMinneapolis. I’m really looking forward to seeing how CONvergence utilizes the extensive multi-floor event space in the Hyatt (including multiple decently-sized ballrooms – I bet some of the events and programming tracks that ended up in the Sheraton this year could be reincorporated into the main con hotel space). There’s also an area on the ground floor that works perfectly for a merchandise hall, so no more merch being split into multiple smaller rooms! It’s been a fun exercise to take my memories from Detour and drop CONvergence into that space, so I’m looking forward to what the CONvergence convention staff comes up with.
I had a lovely time at this year’s CONvergence, and I’m going to echo the words of many others who have spoken out this year – CONvergence isn’t a place, it’s a people. It’s an environment where I get to hang out with my friends, meet new people, talk about things I like, and generally have a good time away from the concerns of my boring normal life.
Hello, friends! J.C. and I are at CONvergence this weekend. If you’re also attending the con, come see us! We’re on a few panels this Friday and Saturday:
Friday, July 6th
9:30-10:30am, Atrium 2 – “Anime for Kids” – We talk about anime fandom, how you can introduce it to your kids or other kids in your life, and how you can enjoy watching anime with your family. Plus some recommendations.
8:30-9:30pm, Sheraton Whalon – “Anime 101” – need a general intro to anime fandom? This is the panel for you!
Saturday, July 7th
3:30-4:30pm, Sheraton Whalon – “Year in Anime” – a discussion of the panelists’ favorite anime series from the past year. As usual, we have handouts!
11:30pm-12:30am, Plaza 3 – “Great Art by Horrible People” – A discussion about engaging with media when the creator reveals themselves to be awful.
Come see us, say hi, and I hope you enjoy our panels!
It’s not unheard of to have snow during the weekend of Anime Detour; in Minnesota, Spring is often not so much a physical state as it is a state of mind. But as the convention embarked on its first year at a new, larger venue in downtown Minneapolis, the frigid wind funneling down Nicollet Avenue and chapping the faces of cosplayers, gamers, and anime fans making their way to the hotel was in sharp contrast to the warmth of the convention atmosphere and the high spirits of the many attendees.
As a member of Anime Detour’s convention staff and a prolific panelist, con weekend is one I both look forward to and dread each year as it approaches. I never feel quite as prepared as I would like to be and I always wonder why I signed up to present “so many freaking panels,” (*spoiler* it’s because I love chatting about anime with others even if I may be under-qualified in my own mind to do so). That said, it’s also so much fun to see people who I only get to see once or twice a year at local cons and to experience the feeling of being at a great anime convention in a city that I know and love (snowflakes and wind be damned).
The Hotel
Being in a new venue is always a challenge, but something that made the transition a little bit easier was choosing to attend another convention (Furry Migration) that takes place at the same location and to gather an impression of and familiarity with the space beforehand. This helped us have a plan when we met to decide how to utilize the programming space and what we could realistically do with what we had. The hotel itself, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, has tons of space to grow into, with multiple floors of rooms with varying sizes, and very friendly staff. There’s a lot of open space in the hallways, even during the most crowded points in the weekend, and plenty of places to hang out and sit (tables, seats, ect.). One of my favorite spaces was the front lobby seating area, with a lot of seating space and a fireplace. The guest rooms are also very nice, with large bathrooms. While the (affordable, quick) food options in the immediate vicinity aren’t that extensive, one can travel on foot through the skyway or at street level to several places within a few blocks (including a Target, which was really useful considering my sudden last-minute need for cough drops and eyeliner).
The one big downside of the space, at least in its current configuration, was that there was a big problem with sound bleed. During the day this didn’t end up mattering all that much unless someone in an adjacent area was yelling or playing some footage that was really loud. At night, though, with the rave in full swing, both the rooms across from Main Programming as well as those in the area directly above vibrated with so much sound that it was difficult or impossible to hear what was going on. I think some kind of reconfiguration will be in order going forward, especially if we want to prioritize good panel content (which I hope we do!).
Dealer’s Room/Artist Alley/Art Show
I’ve been to some bigger conventions in the last couple of years, and one thing that’s always thrilled me about them is that their dealers areas are so huge and contain so many treasures to uncover. In the last few years it had gotten difficult to move around in Anime Detour’s dealers room just due to space reasons and the fact that it was created from combining two awkwardly-shaped rooms together into one larger area. This year the dealer area was in its own area on the ground floor in one pretty large space (I’m not quite sure how the space compares to previous years in terms of size but it felt bigger) and there was a lot of room to navigate between booths. My only qualm with the area was that, as in years past, I don’t feel like there was enough variety, especially since I like Japanese street fashion like lolita fashion, otome, etc. and there are rarely any sellers at Anime Detour related to that. There was one booth selling general kawaii clothing, but I was questioning the quality of their wares. In any case, I would love to see some more fashion stuff in the future!
Artist Alley was similarly blessed with a lot more space this year, which made it much easier to navigate. I saw a lot of familiar faces as well as some new ones, and loved looking at the art for sale. My one regret is that I was so over-scheduled that I only made it in there once very early on (before a couple of tables had been set up) and didn’t get a chance to go back and buy anything later in the convention.
I was happy to see that the art show had been revived and given its own dedicated space this year. While it wasn’t quite to the caliber of CONvergence’s art show (what is?), it was fun to visit. It made me want to make some art to put up for sale.
Panels/Programming
I’m a member of programming staff at the convention, but the fact is that I tend not to have some of the same responsibilities as other staff members since I’m generally in charge of so many panels/events that it would become a problem to try to do much more at-con. While I love doing a lot of panels and events, I’m sometimes sad that I don’t have time to attend other panels put on by my friends or some of the other frequent panelists who volunteer to provide the convention with its great content.
One of the new things we tried this year were “moderated” panels in the style of CONvergence, and I think they went well. I was on one of them, which analyzed anime through the lens of Murdock’s “Heroine’s Journey” idea. I was really impressed with how J.C. put things together as moderator, as well as the great discussion provided by our other panelists and the audience. I also enjoyed putting on my annual suggestion panels, since I like sharing anime and manga that I like with others. They’re a lot of work and I’ve come to appreciate more analytical panels than ones that just give suggestions like that, but people always seem happy to come and thankful for our lists and handouts, so it doesn’t bother me to keep doing them. I was overtired at some of the panels this year, though, which made it less fun for myself and probably others as well, but I’m hoping to take a slight step back next time and give myself some more down time to collect my thoughts, so hopefully this will be less of an issue in the future.
My other big staff responsibility is running the AMV Contest at the con, which is fun and gives me the chance to see a bunch of really great AMVs. Holding the contest and judging the entries always makes me want to edit some of my own again – we’ll see if I somehow have the patience to do that in the future. It’s easy to have those thoughts when presented with a lot of excellent examples, but actually editing something can be an exercise in frustration. Besides that, I think we’re going to try to do some category shuffling for next year, just based on the number of entries we got for our current categories this year. Trailers seem to have fallen out of popularity for the most part, whereas having an overly-broad category like “Drama” caused us some problems as well in that it had almost three times the submissions as other categories and it made it difficult to narrow things down from the several excellent entries. Anyway, look for some changes in the future!
Overall
There’s always some nervousness that comes with switching to a new venue, and even though I’d seen the space both as it normally is and as a convention space, I still didn’t have a good idea of how that would translate to our convention. While I do think that the space could be allocated differently going forward and I have some qualms with the noise bleed, especially at night, I also got the feeling that our convention belonged there, and that’s really the important point to be made. I think it’s a space that we can grow into and enjoy for years to come.
As for other stuff, I have some of the same regrets as previous years. I’m sad that more people didn’t ask for my picture (though the ones who did seemed really excited about my lolita fashion) – it’s not that I necessarily want my photo floating around everywhere, but I feel like that’s a big way to engage with people at a convention and I feel like I miss out on that sometimes. And, like I said, there are several panelists who do great things at our convention, and I wish that I could do the things that I do and also have a chance to see their good work. I’m not sure what the solution is to that, but perhaps some time in the future I’ll take a step back a bit and I’ll get my wish. Thanks to all the panelists who post their work on the web for download, though! It’s not the same as being there, but at least I get a feel for the things you’re talking about.
I am also beyond thankful for J.C., who somehow manages to tolerate my passion (and tunnel vision) and has also come onboard with providing content. His support is invaluable.
Did you attend Anime Detour this year? Do you volunteer as staff at any conventions? I would love to hear your thoughts!
Hey anime fans, it’s that time again – time to let you know just how nuts I was scheduling myself for panels and events at Anime Detour. As a programming staff member I have an intimate look at the type and volume of panels that are submitted, and often find myself compelled to “fill in the gaps” with my own ideas. I also have some old favorites that return from year-to-year. I also run the AMV Contest… this is my “home” convention, and I go all-out! In any case, this is where you can find me at whatever time of the day. Come up and say hi!
I’d like to give special kudos to my husband, J.C., who has not only put up with my enthusiasm for running panels, but has wholeheartedly joined in on it. Many of our panel ideas this year were his, so please make sure to give him some love, too!
Please note: Panel materials will be posted in a separate post following the convention.
Friday, April 6th
3:30pm – Manga for Grown-Ups – Manga recommendations for older fans, or fans looking for things outside the mainstream. Not a value judgment; I just know that many older/experienced fans have a more difficult time finding things to connect with in the fandom.
5:00pm – The Creative Women in Anime – A presentation about women in the anime industry (focused on directors/writers) with some recommendations for shows they have created or been involved in that you might be familiar with.
6:30pm – Second Chances in Anime – We’re testing out a new panel format, and this is one of three of these “moderated” panels talking about anime wherein the main characters get a chance to repeat parts of their lives (Re: Zero, Tatami Galaxy, Steins;Gate, Erased, etc.), and what makes these stories compelling.
8:00pm – Anime by Numbers Trivia Game – J.C.’s awesome trivia game with all numerical answers. You don’t have to know much or anything about most of the shows to have fun, you just have to be a good guesser/estimator!
11:00pm – Don’t Judge an Anime by its Cover – Our annual game where we show hilarious anime OPs and EDs (both current and classic) and our creative audience members use clues found within them to “describe” the anime they’re associated with. You can win “awesome” prizes if you participate!
Saturday, April 7th
9:00am – AMV Showcase – A showcase of the exhibition entries submitted to the Anime Detour AMV Contest. We’re going to have voting ballots to award an audience favorite this year, so if you’re awake at this hour be sure to stop by!
10:30am – Structural Storytelling – A new presentation J.C. has put together describing how structural elements in anime episodes (OPs, EDs, repeated animated sequences like transformations, etc.) contribute to their storytelling.
12:00pm – AMV Contest – The primary AMV contest in which the entries are judged and eligible for prizes. We got a 90 minute time slot this year!
3:00pm – Heroine’s Journey – A second moderated panel. The idea of the “hero’s journey” (introduced by Joseph Campbell) has, for many years, served as sort of a default standard for what makes a good, compelling story. There is a counterpart, established by Maureen Murdock, that describes the heroine’s journey, which differs as a storytelling standard. We’ll discuss how this concept features in anime.
6:00pm – Anime for Grown-Ups – Recommendations for anime (both old and new) that might appeal to older/adult fans. Again, not a value judgment (I watch and think pretty highly of shows that I wouldn’t feature in this panel) but I know it can be harder for some older fans to connect with anime fandom so this is kind of my way of appealing to those people to stick around.
10:30pm – Devilman Crybaby (18+) – J.C. and I challenged ourselves this year to come up with an 18+ panel (we tend to believe even panels that deal with “adult” subject matter don’t necessarily have to limit themselves to adults, but the higher-ups wanted more “grown-up” content, so here we are) but this show is very violent and sexual, and I also wanted to talk about it because I love Masaaki Yuasa and also this series tore my heart out and stomped all over it. I’m hoping to discuss such stimulating topics like how the series has a cyclical structure, the okay-but-imperfect way it features multiple queer relationships, and how Satan was the main character all along.
Sunday, April 8th
10:30am – Family Fantasy: A New Genre? – A discussion panel focused around shows like Steven Universe and The Eccentric Family that feature supernatural elements but also deal with characters defining/redefining family structure as a dramatic element.
12:00pm – Shiny New Anime – This tends to be our most popular panel for some reason. I am basically an anime-watching and clip-making machine, so I put those (dubious) talents to good use by talking about the anime from the past year we watched and loved, and showing entertaining clips to try to convince others to watch them, too! We always have handouts, too, so you can remember what shows sounded good and keep track of them to watch after you leave.
1:30pm – AMV Awards – This is where we announce the winners for the various categories in the AMV Contest. Stop on by if you’d like to see some of the best entries another time, and cheer on the winners!
