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February 4, 2012

Tag: Conventions

June 2, 2010

Among My Geek Peeps, or Why I Was Gone

by Frank — Categories: Conventions, Social Geekery — Tags: , , — 2 Comments

There’s obviously been a big ass gap of posts on the blog lately, and there are a variety of reasons for it, some which I can get into here at Optimism Central, and others that I can’t. Sorry about that, guys and gals – it’s just that busy lately.

The most public reason, however, was that I was busy being among my fellow members of geekery. A couple posts back I’d explained that I was returning to a convention I hadn’t been to in 4 years. Not only was I doing that, but I was coming back, one weekend only, to a world of geekery that I’d left behind. Even though geeks in general tend to travel in rather varied social circles, the ups and downs of meeting and losing touch with certain folks still apply, just like for normal folks. So it was that I stepped back into staffing anime conventions, finding that while some things changed, much stayed the same.

I was heartened by the fact that aside from a bit of a younger face and a rather unhealthy obsession with things vampiric, most of anime geekery has stayed the same. There’s the same sense of release, as people who typically hide the fact that they like to dress as a ninja with multi-colored hair and a sword the size of a 2 by 4 get to express themselves. There’s the same burgeoning sense of wanting to be accepted by the mainstream and finding ways in which that happens (like with series that make it onto cable television or the news). And most of all, there’s the sense of shared camaraderie, the fact that people, for one weekend, gather together to celebrate mutual geekiness with a laser-like focus – in this case, anime and manga culture.

The event took a lot of work, both before, during, and after the show, and while my role in it was small compared to what I’d been crazy enough to do in the past (like being Convention Chair), it was still an intensive, tiring, yet ultimately fulfilling experience. In the circles that I run in today, that being more of the gaming, social networking, and hobbyist scene, I wish there were more events than just the huge ones for people to go to. There are events like E3 that are closed to the public (even though those are really the professional geek’s way of celebrating the same things), and those like PAX that are huge enough to draw thousands upon thousands, drowning you in a sea of (sometimes literally) unwashed masses. But the small to medium events are few and far between, and it’d be nice to have more of them. Maybe someone who is not me who is nuts enough to do that will find the value in those kinds of conventions – because I think geekery needs them.

But I enjoyed what I did, and am thankful to old friends who let me back in the door. What was it? Well, the good people of Facebook and Twitter who follow me know what it was, but in a rare bit of narcissism, here’s a little of what 3000+ people saw live:

I’ll be back to posting regularly!

May 10, 2010

Convention Staffing – The Real Masochism

by Frank — Categories: Conventions, Social Geekery — Tags: , , — 8 Comments

Way back before I was building community in the gaming world, I was doing the same thing in the convention circuit – anime conventions to be exact. As I prepare this week to come back to a convention that I considered a part of home for nearly a decade, I began to muse about my experience as a convention staffer. In doing so, I came to the same conclusion I did when I left that little circle.

Convention staffing is masochism. You don’t have the whips and the chains, you may not have the purely physical pain, but it is, for many poor, slightly insane, people a form of hurt that does bring with it some pleasure and enjoyment.

At least in the anime convention circuit, the majority of staff members are unpaid volunteers. The fact that people willingly give of themselves and their time, sometimes years in advance, for something that they ultimately do not make a dime off of is perhaps enough. But throw in the fact that you deal with the usual trials and tribulations of interpersonal communication and hours and sleepless nights trying to work with guests, hotel staff, and attendees and you have a recipe of pain that can break down even the most mentally stable individual. The kinds of things you’re used to seeing in a day job or for pay are magnified working volunteer, when the only motivation for some people to stay is usually driven by personal values.

The equation of convention staff to a job is made even more painful by the fact that the centerpiece of it all is the event, and as you all know, sometimes events and plans don’t quite come together smoothly. In the decade or so worth of anime cons I staffed, I’ve seen everything happen onsite, from all kinds of property damage, to last minute staff changes, to the very unusual and disturbing occurrences that happen at 2am in the morning. Let me tell you that once you deal with a drunken Final Fantasy Black Mage costumer or caught two people doing what shouldn’t need to be done in a hotel stairway, you’ve just about dealt with…well, perhaps one-third of what you could potentially deal with at a con. The mental anguish of having to sometimes take responsibility for people who can’t be responsible is like having your delicate, soft body parts put through a vise. Ah, memories.

Geez. I got so carried away that I almost forgot to explain the good part of all this. This is an optimist’s blog after all.

Anyway, despite all of that pain and suffering, good convention staffers go through it to put on a great event for attendees. They work long hours with little sleep and on a diet of Mountain Dew, potato chips, and Snickers bars to get satisfaction from seeing people have a good time. They want to look at an event they put blood, sweat, and tears into and say “I helped build that community. I helped put that together for people to enjoy their pasttime”. The moments where this happens sometimes seem to be very far away and may only seldom happen in brief flashes. But that feeling of doing good, of creating something that will last, is enough for most convention staffers to keep going, year after year.

I hope that if you attend a geek-related convention, whether it’s for anime, for gaming, for tech, or something else in the geek arts, that you find a tired convention staffer at some point and give them a hug, or at the very least, a cookie. They deserve every bit of it for their part in creating microcosms of awesome community for a few days.

May 6, 2010

Revisiting The New Anime Generation

by Frank — Categories: Conventions, Social Geekery — Tags: , , , — 1 Comment

For those of you among my humble little readership who don’t know, I used to work in the anime convention circuit. For nearly a decade I worked various events, mostly around my native Chicago and surrounding environs. What did I do? Well, you name it, I probably did it,whether it was fetching donuts and coffee or being crazy enough to chair the whole damn show. Of the many things I learned, I do have to say that the most significant was that a diet consisting of Mountain Dew, Krispy Kremes, and half-eaten chocolate bars isn’t quite good for you.

After putting in my time and doing everything I thought I could do, I exited the anime con scene. At the time of my retirement, the realization that anime was a generational medium and not a short term fad was just starting to take hold. TV channels were showing snippets of anime, the awareness of the culture and the nuances associated with it were just coming round the corner, and older fans mingled with a new generation of younger, excitable teens raised on mainstream anime exposure.

Next week I come back to what I consider my “home” convention, Anime Central, for a favor and a chance to check out what’s changed in almost 5 years. While I have yet to see what the fandom has come up with to express their love of anime, I am convinced of one thing – that in the intervening years, anime itself as cemented its place as a significant sub-culture of geek fandom. Anime news, information, media, and other resources have ballooned in the past few years, and finding a way to view the latest and greatest is extremely easy. The number of anime and manga related events has gotten huge, and long time events now hold court with smaller, determined ones that expand the anime exposure. The industry itself may have seen better times, but the fans are still around and holding things up.

More than that, though, I’m convinced the fandom is as generationally sound as ever. The younger fans that I know of that were around when I left are now college aged or emerging into jobs and roles as adults – and some of them might have even ended up on staff. Newer, younger fans (and in some cases, their parents) attend and are as excited about expressing themselves and socializing with those who share their interests. Programming that spans all ages and not just one or two age groups is the norm, and from a costuming standpoint, oldie but goodie classics like Sailor Moon clash with the latest and greatest in series like Clannad.

It’s a good time to be a geek and into anime, and next week, I’ll be heading right back into it just to see how good it really is. Exciting times, indeed.

August 15, 2008

The Geek Essentials

by Frank — Categories: Conventions, Social Geekery — Tags: , , — Leave a comment

Mythic Producer Josh Drescher talked a bit today about fitting a bunch of junk into your little bags for a jaunt, pretty much calling out fellow employee Justin Webb for trying to cram everything into one carry-on bag for a trip to Germany’s Leipzig.

Now I’m not really sure what Justin is planning to do while at the convention, but you never really know – it’s entirely possible that a single bag can be filled by a geek in order to go to a gathering of other geeks. Times like these, we have to be thankful that the things that advance in technology actually are becoming smaller, and not the other way around. Can you imagine fitting a cellphone the size of a giant pizza into your carry-on?

I can’t really make a judgment either way whether or not Justin has the ability to stuff that bag silly. Granted, he has an advantage – he has a loving wife who can help. Women, and especially women geeks, somehow have this extradimensional power to put the necessities in purses – even things that aren’t really, as Justin says, “bits and bobs”.

Let’s take a look at the essential items any geek should take on their trip away from their precious, precious rig and Internet connection:

  • The Mobile Status Symbol - You know all those crazy people who buy an SUV even though the only off-roading they are planning on doing is pulling out of their clean suburbanite street into the driveway? They’re not really interested in off-roading, just saying “hey, lookit me, I gots me a gas guzzler!”. Geeks are the same way. Every geek has one mobile device that they like to whip out oh-so-nonchalantly and look sophisticated and advanced. An iPhone fits the bill nicely. So does a really slick-looking PDA that isn’t a Blackberry (because the geek more than likely has set up Blackberries for a clueless CEOa nd wouldn’t be caught dead with one). The point? Flaunt the technology you have that no normal person could ever hope to understand beyond “ooh shiny.”
  • The Computer – There’s no way a geek leaves home without some way to stay wired and feed their addiction to the OS of their choice. The funny thing is that we have this reverse Freudian thing where we like it small. The smaller, the better, the slimmer, the better. If you have an ultra-slim-light-featherweight computer with an 10 inch screen that you could break more easily than a pair of chopsticks, then you’re doing something right – and you’re saving space, too. Exceptions include geeks using largish computers to show off their latest 1080i render of a fan video of themselves killing the hardest boss in an RPG. See: Mobile Status Symbol.
  • The Sunglasses – Because the resolution of “the real world” is honestly too much for your refresh rate.
  • The Cool Quirky Thing – Every geek has something that they think is unique that they want to show to other geeks who might appreciate it. It might be a pen with light saber sounds. It might be the photocopied script of the latest Batman movie. Heck, it might even be the piece of lint off of Joss Whedon’s overcoat that he wore to the Serenity premiere. Either way, it’s cool, it’s needed, and it’s packed.
  • The Games – Geeks get bored easily, and trust me, you wouldn’t like geeks when they’re bored. Time-wasting games that geeks can bury their noses in are a must for any trip. With their gaming console probably owned by someone who is local, portable devices like a PSP or a DS rule the day. Anything to conveniently avoid unnecessary social interaction.
  • The Clothes – Geeks have three fashions – awake, asleep, and naked. Given the fact that they hopefully will not end up in naked mode at an inappropriate time, the only real difference between awake and asleep is which t-shirt, which unbuttoned or otherwise not-worn-in-the-intended way over shirt, and which pair of jeans or khaki shorts they choose to wear. At least 6 combinations can be had from three pairs of shirts and jeans, and you can count on a geek counting the clothes they are wearing as one combination. Still have space problems? Perpetuate the geek stereotype of being overweight by wearing multiple pairs of pants and shirts. Just hope you don’t get strip searched.
  • The Boring Stuff – toothbrush, soap, towels, undergarments, passport, plane ticket, toiletries, usually stuffed or thrown carelessly into the bottom, top, or sides.

Given all this, is it entirely feasible for someone like Justin to fit the essentials in a carry-on? That depends on Justin, but I’d have to say, don’t be surprised if one carry-on can hold a world inside of it.

August 11, 2008

The Geek Prom

by Frank — Categories: Conventions, Social Geekery — Tags: , — Leave a comment

Not too long ago there was a post on Mythic producer Josh Drescher’s blog about how San Diego Comic-Con is like “The Geek Prom”. That’s actually pretty accurate except for the fact that I don’t recall my high school prom having every other person dressed in spandex or having to deal with the fact that the food and drink was probably as unhealthy as injecting caffeine directly into your head.

It’s interesting to see how those of the geeky persuasion tend to lament the media coverage of such events. Yeah, sure, there appear to be two modes that the mainstream media tend to approach covering a convention of nerdy folks. Those modes are 1: Poorly Hidden Confusion and 2: Look at the Weird People. And yeah, when the media person chooses to interview the person who likes to dress in a chicken costume and talk loudly about cock all day, it might not put geeks like you or I in a positive light.

But geeks shouldn’t hide from this kind of exposure. In fact, they should embrace it. The thing of it all, is that conventions are perhaps the one time out of the year for many people when they can feel good about being the square peg in the round hole of society. You don’t like the fact that people give you funny looks when you show them your extensive Sailor Moon DVD collection, even though you’re male? It’s accepted at a con. You ever see a blank look in the eyes of your “normal” co-workers when you show up to your job with your hair dyed like the Green Lantern, complete with cool decoder ring? No problem for cons. What about the fact that you’re able to recite the entire season 1 episode finale of Heroes and can haltingly speak Japanese like Hiro? That’s all good too.

Geeks may have shunned, or not been able to act normal enough to ask someone to, the prom, but at a convention, even the geeks can get laid, even if it’s with someone who most certainly had trouble fitting into their Japanese high school student outfit. There’s hope, and if the media wants to look at you the same way as it looks at a 5 car and 1 beer truck pileup on the highway, then so be it.

As a convention worker (if you thought attending cons was weird, try staffing them), the best part of a con that I chaired one year was watching a real, actual high school prom who had had the unfortunate luck of being in the same facility as us. Despite our insistence that a picture of someone who thought they could be a ninja at 340 pounds was not the background ambience their event needed, they still wanted to show up. As the normal prom-goers showed up, wearing the latest and greatest in fashion and looking all the world like a 17 year old version of GQ magazine, they were quickly and suddenly surrounded and overwhelmed by costume-wearing, catgirl-calling, decidedly average looking masses of geekdom. And as the geeks looked at the oddly dressed teens with the same looks they got every day in school, you knew this was the modern Revenge of the Nerds.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. And neither should you.

July 27, 2008

Fan Convention Tips for Celebrities

by Frank — Categories: Conventions — Tags: , — Leave a comment

With this weekend being the geek orgy event that is Comic Con, I’m starting to see from my highly comfortable yet envious seat back here in the Midwest that there are a bunch of people who are first-time celebrities to Comic Con. Either they’ve become famous in the past year or so, or they’re heading to the event for the first time and are barely hiding their “deer in headlights” looks during their interviews. Well, it’s not like any of them will take the time to check out a random blog like this one, but for those people who just might mistype their domain search and somehow end up here, I’ve got a quick survival guide for you.

  • Minimize Direct Contact – The geek or fanboy that comes to these conventions takes care of themselves slightly better than an elephant at a zoo, and they probably look like one too. Watch for the telltale signs that they are about to try to touch you – including uncontrollable slobbering, nervous tics, and complete lack of speaking ability when in front of you. If you don’t want to go back to your mansion with something worse than the plague, deny the handshake.
  • Costumer Craziness – There will be costumers of every size, shape, and color at a typical con. Don’t worry – they mostly want attention on themselves and not you so you don’t have to worry about them fainting all over you and crimping that $5000 suit you’re wearing. Just be wary of the telltale signs that the screws are not quite tightened. Red flag – they’re costuming as you.
  • Crowds Can be Dangerous – Don’t think that just because you’ve become the Internet’s darling over the past year that you don’t think the massive crowd won’t trample you at a moment’s notice to get to the free giveaway or contest at the booth behind you. You are away from your limo and your entourage, and while you can count on the con organizers to provide warm bodies to get smashed while you make your getaway, make no mistake about it – there are people everywhere. Hope you aren’t claustrophobic.
  • Watch What’s in the Air – Because yes, that distinct odor is the smell of, literally, the “unwashed” masses.

Good luck this weekend, Comic Con virgin celebs! Don’t get scared off, and I hope we here at Overly Positive have given you the tools you need to survive to that next multi-billion dollar movie deal.

July 11, 2008

Cosplay Care

by Frank — Categories: Conventions — Tags: , — Leave a comment

Not the cheeseThose of you who have actually made the really awesome committment to, you know, not be an anti-social shutin and go outside once in a while must have an idea of what cosplay is. If you’ve ever been to one of those geek conventions out there where you actually meet all those truly obsessive people who post 1200 times a day on forums, you know it’s costuming by fans, for fans.

Sure, some of these cosplayers have more business filling a potato sack rather than a costume of someone 8 sizes smaller than them, but hey, you have to be positive and give them some props for being bold enough to dress for success. It’s good to know that there are some geekish folks out there who might actually be confident enough not to give a shit about the way they look. More power to you, hairy guy in schoolgirl outfit!

If you’ve ever felt the need to get more pictures with people in two days than you’ve had in a lifetime, and to be the darling of much entertainment over Flickr, then you’d better be prepared. We’re here to make sure that you’re completely prepared for the wholesome process of being stalked by creepy fanboys with cameras and grease for hair.

Don’t forget the following:

  • Attention-Getting Signage – Nothing says “attention” more than a sign. Make sure you use only black marker, write in all caps, and simulate the spelling of a 6-year old for maximum exposure. Don’t forget to throw in a buzzword like “hugz”, “kisses”, or a phrase like “I Lick Anyone Dressed Like a Ninja”
  • Unnecessarily Large Props - There’s no way you’re going to ever be able to get an actual weapon that looks like it could slice or blow up a city block. So the next best thing is to make it yourself. Make your character’s weapon of choice using PVC pipe, sheet metal, or, in a pinch, cardboard or even hotel room items. Be sure to wave it around to the point of knocking over small children and cart-pushing vendors, because safety is second to you looking like you could get in one good blow before being arrested.
  • Assets – You know, you might not have been dealt a good hand in the looks department, but this is all about working with what you have, right? Got hair longer than sin because you refuse to cut it? I hear there’s this “Sephiroth” guy you can be who somehow gets all the chicks despite having mommy issues. What about skin that hasn’t seen sun on it since your last grocery run for instant ramen and caffeine? Be someone moody, because teenagers like moody. Got a battleship for an ass? Shake that moneymaker by playing Jabba the Hutt or your favorite anime character before Jenny Craig. This is all about being adaptive, people.
  • Febreze – Because apparently showering is optional for some, and a little spritz will get you seemingly rosy fresh all day. Just don’t let anyone who talks to you get downwind of you.

Armed with this and many more “protips” you can find on communities of people who feed on the drama of living a fantasy as a game or anime character, you can’t lose! Now go out there, and make us proud by making as many “normal” people stare at you and shake their heads in disbelief as possible.

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