ANIME CONVENTION FACTS OF ANTHONY!

1. How many times have you been to a convention? More than 20

2. Do you sleep at conventions? At the convention center, no.

3. Do you eat? If I didn’t, I would probably be dead.

4. Are you shameless at conventions?: Hell no.

5. On average, how much money do you spend?: Usually no more than $100; that’s how much I spent at AB.

6. Do you go to conventions to pick up people? No

7. Do you go to conventions to bang people? OMG NO!

8. How much cellulite do you see when you go to conventions?: I don’t care.

9a. Do you cosplay?: Rarely, don’t have time to make the cosplay.

9b. Do you watch skits on youtube?: No, I watch them on Vidgle!

10. Does your cosplay show a lot of skin? Why?

11. Is your cosplay the epitome of badassery?: No

12. Do you wait in line for things?: I don’t normally wait onlines anymore; in the old days yes. But now since I cover the cons under press, I don’t.

13. How many friends have you met from conventions? Several.

14. Have you ever been drunk at a convention?: No

15. Name your conventions (the early years I am lost at, i think we went to I-CON 21):
2002:
Anime Expo NY
I-con 21

2003:
Big Apple Anime Fest
I-con 22

2004:
I-con 23

2005:
I-con 24

2006:
Otakon

2007:
I-con 26
Anime Boston
Otakon
MangaNEXT
New York Anime Festival

2008:
I-con 27
New York Comic-con
Otakon
MangaNEXT
New York Anime Festival

2009:
I-con 28
New York Comic-con
Otakon
Anime Boston
Katsucon
Zenkaikon
New York Anime Festival
AnimeUSA OR Another Anime Con

16. Do you go to conventions alone or with a bunch of people? Usually with friends

17. Get your own room or mooch off of someone?: Have own room

18. Ever partied hard with a voice actor?: No, I just keep in touch with them.

19. Taken a picture with Silent Bob? I even had an interview with him! That idiot never said a word!

20. Jay too? Nope

21. Gotten home to find out you’ve lost weight from walking around so DAMN much? I probably do with all the stress.

22. Hugged random people? No

23. Kissed random people? No

24. Stalked someone who was cosplaying your favorite bishi character? No

25. Gotten a g/f or b/f out of a convention?: No

26. Hooked up with someone?: No

27. Tell the truth now… : No

28. Had a temporary convention love that ended by Monday morning?: No

29. Raved until you fell over? : No

30. Flirted with a dealer to get a discount?: Yes… that’s why I have so much free stuff in my room! jk

31. Taken pictures of people?: Yes

32. Had your picture taken?: Yes. Including people taking pictures of me wearing a mario hat with the BSOD shirt!

33. Gone to a photoshoot?: Yes

34. Planned a photoshoot?: No

35. Been stalked?: Yes.

36. Been annoyed by someone?: Yes.

37. Done the annoying?: I hope not.

39. Had such a miserable time you wanted to leave but didn’t?: I-CON 28, and thank god I didn’t. Stayed the entire day into the morning!

40. Gotten in a fight?: Not a physical one, possibly a verbal one but I don’t remember

41. Tried to stage a fight? Yes.

42. Success? Yes.

43. Freaked out when you saw one of your most favorite characters?: Nope

44. Someone freaked out when they saw your cosplay? Yes

45. Hung out with random people that you’d just met? Yes

46. Reunited with a friend? No

47. Broken off with a friend? At a con, no I don’t think so

48. Cried at a convention? Yes.

49. Saved trash from stuff you bought?: No

50. Eaten ramen and drunk ramune like they were air?: I have high blood pressuer so I can’t eat ramen.

51. Slept in the same bed as someone you’ve only known a few hours?: No

52. Made any money? With Vidgle’s Con Goer, I wish

53. Made someone else money? With interviews on Vidgle, maybe.

54. Sick of this survey? It was nice knowing you!

55. Okay…last question. Favorite convention you’ve ever been to?
I would say Otakon 2006.

Vidgle has confirmed as of 3:30 PM Sunday, the total attendance of Anime Boston 2009 is 15,438. The attendance last year was 14,339.

Here are a list of conventions I’m planning to go to for 2008:

• IBS Radio Conference – New York, NY: Hotel Pennsylvania ( March 7, 8 )
• Anime Boston – Baltimore, MD: Haynes Convention Center ( March 21 – 23 )
• I-CON – Stony Brook, NY: Stony Brook University ( April 4 – 6 )
• Renaissance Fair – NJ ( ? )
• Sign Business & Digital Graphics, Printwear Show – Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Convention Center ( June 21 )
• E3 Media and Business Summit – Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Convention Center ( July 15 – 18, CID )
• Otakon – Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Convention Center( August 8 – 10 )
• MangaNext – Secaucus, NJ: TBA ( TBA )

Some of the conventions, like Anime Boston, is not giving me a press pass because they believe we don’t cover that much anime. We are hoping by 2009, we will be able to get press passes from all conventions because of the reporting we are doing at all of the anime conventions we are covering with Vidgle this year beginning with Anime Boston.

I truly enjoy going to conventions, I’ve been going to different type of conventions since I was 5. I’ve been to bus shows, trade shows, sign shows, radio conferences, anime and sci-fi, and more. I’ve meet many people, especially at the Live365 conferences in 2004 and 2005 in California. By 2009 or 2010, I am planning to have a radio and internet conference covering podcast, internet radio, and other streaming technology. I’m also in full support for Jon’s idea of our own anime convention which is cheap, small and at a great location. I hope to get those two conventions alive by the beginning of the decade.

Picture above: Justin Taub, Peter Iengo, and Angelo Cannella attending the IBS National Radio Conference in New York City in March 2007. More pictures from the convention are here.

So you want to know the best times I had in 2007! So lets count them down, as 10 being the least favorite and 1 being the best.

10. Screw Prom Day

9. Great Wolf Lodge Trip
8. New Years 2007
7. My No-Celebration Birthday
6. San Francisco Trip
5. Anime Boston
4. New York City Trip
3. MangaNEXT
2. Jon’s 19th Birthday Party
1. Otakon

Wonder what will be in plans for the 2008 list!

This is my first chart ratings of the anime cons I’ve been too this past year. So here are my ratings of the cons I went to, as 5 being the lowest to 1 being the best!

5. New York Anime Festival

I rated the New York Anime Festival fifth, because there weren’t to many things for such a “big” convention in a “big” city. With its attendence expected to reach 10,000, I see the convention smaller than I-CON, which only expects no more than 7,500 a year.

4. I-CON

I’ve been going to I-CON for around 6-8 years now, and its still my favorite con in the New York area. Remember that I-CON is not an all-anime convention, its suppose to be a sci-fi convention reaching an attendance around 7,000 for 2007, which a quarter-half of the attendance is sci-fans.

3. MangaNEXT

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