Otakon has gone and went and this year was alright. As I write this, I am getting this Con Goer project together with everyone so we can get it up as soon as possible. And with our air conditioning not working in my office, our computers keep overheating and we are sweating to get this done.
So how was this Otakon, well I had a great time but I felt like I could of done more with my time there. My allergies were bothering me and that caused me to be a bit ill during the weekend. On Sunday, I realized that it was the air conditioner in my hotel room and throughout the hotel I stayed at, the Hilton. If you don’t know about my allergies, I have a disease called eczema which effects my skin. If there is something I am allergic too in the air, such as dust, mold, etc., my skin will get infected quite quickly. And if my skin does get infected, it means that the air is not clean; not only for me but for everyone.
This Otakon was quite relaxing though we were working hard for Con Goer. What upsets me about this year’s Otakon was the panels. I inquired a panel I wanted to do earlier this year and they declined me. And I asked everyone about this panel, and they thought it would of been awesome. So, that panel is going to need to wait for another convention.
Otakon had many interesting guests that I know or don’t know. I was able to have a press conference with Tony Oliver and Travis Willingham. Many thanks to Otakon Press and Otakon Guest Relations for making that possible. The press conferences will be uploaded sometime next week.
There was once again another opening animation from MadHouse. Not as good as last year’s, but it is still hilarious to watch. And as we promise to Otakon, this animation is not available on Vidgle or anywhere else. So if you didn’t see it, WHERE WERE YOU?
This is my second time covering Otakon under press since I started Con Goer back in 2008. So our coverage will be going up in the next two weeks and each episode will be up every other day.
Some people have asked why we haven’t get the videos up all at once. Well here is why, because we are available in iTunes, Microsoft Marketplace, TV, Veoh, Google Video, and other platforms, we upload each video every other day so each third-party site can pick up our videos. Some sites, like iTunes, tends to skip videos if videos are posted too close to each other. And yes, XBox 360 and Wii people, we are working on a module on the Vidgle website that will allow you to watch Vidgle on your XBox360 and Wii. Playstation 3 users will still need to wait.
More Otakon reports to come… remember the coverage of Otakon is available here.
And also, stay tune in August as we launch Vidgle 2.0, a new version of the website that will replace our old watch gallery, which is currently in 1.3. The codes are totally being re-written and everything will be sitting on our podcast module.
All I have to say is “wow” about our Otakon coverage two weeks ago. As the leader with four reporters, four photographers, producers, cameramen, and a few contributors; we had a total of over 3,000 photos and eight hours of video coverage! Otakon marks as the largest coverage that we’ve done with our “Con Goer” series; Con Goer is the most viewed series on Vidgle. The photos has been posted, and the video podcast episodes are coming in weekly since Otakon.
I would like to thank Jen, Sarah, I-hsiu, Kim, and especially Jon Ko who have taken pictures of Otakon like mad! Most of the pictures are up, but the ones missing are most of the masquerade photos. Those will be up very soon. You can take a look at our pictures here.
With the video podcast coverage, we are getting many hits with our current two episodes. We are planning to launch the Friday episode in a few days! There will also be a Saturday and Sunday Out and About coverage, and a wrap up report in the upcoming weeks. We will have videos of the Phoenix Wright Trail panel and JamProject’s press conference as well. Again, you can watch the videos here.
We did run into a mic issue when we were interviewing with a Mr. Game and Watch cosplayer (which will be on the next episode). It turns out that one of our reporter microphones died so we got stuck with one and prayed that the second one won’t die for the entire weekend. We normally bring extra microphones but the connector part from the microphone to the camera broke, so a microphone replacement won’t do and a trip to the Best Buy down the street won’t do either since the part is not found in stores.
We will be publishing a review of my Otakon experience in the upcoming week on the Vidgle blog and everyone else will be a writing a response as well.
Our next con coverage for the Con Goer is New York Anime Festival in September. The final con coverage for this year will be MangaNEXT, which will take place on Halloween weekend. We will then have the “Best of 2008″ in December as the reporters and crew sit down at our studios and discuss their favorite cons of this past year.
Two weekends ago, I’ve attended another fine Wicked Event called Totally Normal Event (TNE for short and sweet). The event was once again operated by “the” Jeff Mach and was also a charity event for the SPARC Summer program (www.sparcsummer.org). So far this year, the Jeff Mach events were ranked highest for WRAJ and Vidgle, (Wicked Faire being first, New York Comic Con second, TNE ranking third, beating Long Island’s based I-CON in forth).
Just like the Wicked Faire back in February which we reported from, TNE was a bit better with the hotel. The faire was a bit more spacious than at the Holiday Inn for the Wicked Faire. The crew who were on assignment, Jen, Fred, James (new), Fred, Kim (new), and myself; had a great time.
“Everyone should go to a Jeff Mach event,” which alot of interviewers said to us in front of a Vidgle camera. Jen and James were reporting and got a chance to interview with Voltaire and the band Freezepop (and the con-goers as well). We hope to the interviews up by Friday (or maybe even earlier). Fred will be having his own version of the Con Goer called “The Fred Show” which will be premiering on Vidgle, and the show will actually let the viewers see behind the scenes of Vidgle’s most popular show.
Complete coverage of the Totally Normal Event can be found on the Vidgle site by clicking here, which includes pictures, videos, and blog posts.
The next convention I might be attending is MetroCon in Tampa, FL. We will not be doing a video report from there but we will be taking pictures! But the next convention with reporting and nonstop pictures will be Otakon in Baltimore, MD. Jesse (aka Optimus Prime), Jon, Jen, Louis (aka Mega-Tron), and Fred will be reporting!
Wow, I did a lot of things last weekend. I first went to Baltimore for a conference, which is mainly about expanding my company Jenthony, which owns and operates WRAJ Internet Radio and Vidgle. After entering a new chapter earlier this year with podcasting, now it will be entering a new chapter later this year. It will be the launch of SavePointDesigns, which we will be designing and selling t-shirts online and at conventions we plan to attend. I hope to talk more about this exciting new chapter in a few weeks.
It was Jen’s birthday on Sunday. Jon, Chris, Jeff, Merideth, Fred, Mike, and Sarah was over to celebrate, and so was the rest of the family! Above is a picture of a cake Sarah made, it is suppose to be the Final Smash Ball from Super Smash Bros. Brawl (and yes, it can be the spinning pinwheel of death).
To see pictures from Jen’s birthday party, click here.
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.
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!
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.
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.
MangaNEXT was hard to decide with either the second or third place slot. With its attendance reaching to not even 3,000 people, there is not that many panels or things to do, making it more of a relaxing con than any other. If the fire alarm doesn’t go off again at 4 in the morning, I won’t mind going again.
What a great convention. With its great location at the Haynes Convention Center in Boston, it made it easily accessible to the attached mall of the convention center and other nearby attractions. It is definitely a convention I would like to go again next year.
Otakon, once again, is my favorite con of the year two years straight. The convention has a great location at the Baltimore Convention Center, which has a variety of hotels, restaurants, and a mall right across the street. I can’t wait till Otakon in August for next year’s visit.
Its about time, I’m going away this weekend. However, I’m not calling it a ‘vacation,’ just a weekend to hangout with several friends. If you can understand, I feel like getting out of my house for a weekend. I’m willing to go own a private vacation, but its not going to happen until May when my spring semester is over.
This will be my fourth con for this year, the following con will be in December. I will try to relax a little bit at the con, i am not sure if I will be dressing up again.
Second, Jen and I are giving this a try, staying with Louis and friends in an hotel room. And that’s not all, 10 people will be staying in the room. And I agreed to myself, “If I don’t like the experience, I will never do it again.” Which again refers to other conventions, including AnimeBoston, and Otakon. But I am sure that it would be a lot of fun!
I can’t wait for the big blast at the con and I’ll see everyone there.
The next convention for me is Manga Next! I will be going with the typical folks, Jen, Sarah, Fred, Jon, Louis, Chris, Meredith, Jessee, and the rest of the group. I will be staying in Louis’s room with 9 other people. If I can’t survive that room, I won’t do it again; I rather stay in my own room.
I am not sure if I will be cosplaying as Mario for the con. I will be bringing the stuff, but might not wear. I am trying to organize my next costume, hoping to be a Pokemon Diamond or Pearl character.
The last convention was Otakon, which was a great weekend, with some minor setbacks. I hope that the weekend will be good. More details to come!
