Hail the conquering heroes, returning triumphant from Anime Festival Orlando!
No, really. Triumphant!
We had (I think ) our best sales there to date. To my knowledge, we began going in '07 (Though '05 may be the earliest year...I cannot find a reference.) Karen Trudeau and crew did the usual incredible job of putting on a drama-free show - at least to all outside appearances. Robin Cascio made the Dealer's Room a smoothly-running economic engine, and pleasant. Always a delight.
The Wyndham Orlando Resort lends a "Village" feel to the proceedings. I kept an eye out for Rovers, but there were none in evidence.
Tara Strong (Voice of PowerPuff Girls "Bubbles", Teen Titans "Raven", and MLP-FIM "Twilight Sparkle") was there, as well as Sonny Strait (DBZ's "Krillin"). The lines for autograph signings made me think the Pope was giving an audience. I believe that the con was the largest yet...the crowds were enough to swing my Discomfortmeter mildly into the yellow zone. I don't go to Otakon....
That said, I DO hope that AFO grows, but it would be a pity if it were to outgrow its current venue. The sense of community, of extended-family-intimacy is a great feel for a con, and the Wyndham is perfect for it. We love the Wyndham, we Aardvarks. And the AFO!
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OK.
I have a question. Where in the Social Contract is the amendment that states that it is perfectly fine for potty-mouthed young women to hang in the MEN'S BATHROOM with their male friends and jabber? I stepped in, saw a chick, hastily beat a retreat to double-check the icon on the door, went back in, and dealt with matters in the stall.
Forget the potty-mouth. Any women! Is there NO place left for a guy anymore? And just forget any feminist remonstrances. It's the men's bathroom, for cry-yi!
3 comments:
Bathrooms at conventions have always been an art and a science to themselves (and usually a poorly executed one at that). I remember being at Aggiecons (and other events at Texas A&M), going into a men's room late in the Con and, just as quickly, backing out again in sheer horror.
Were I scouting locations for a major convention, the location and availability of bathroom space would be a critical consideration.
As for young ladies (potty mouthed or otherwise) hanging out in men's rooms: unfortunately this is the downside of Fandom. So many of us in the Community pride ourselves on living outside of social norms. Unfortunately, this occasionally manifests itself in a severe lack of manners.
Not to be indelicate, but do con-goers (HAH! Goers) save up for a week? Sure appears so.
One WV convention center was apparently given a Real Good Deal on several pallets of Dysentery-Scented bathroom deodorizers. Brand new, out of the box on Thurs. Night setup, the place smells horrendous. One of the reasons I prefer to stay at the con hotel. My digs are at hand, and the bathroom is cleaned to my standards.
Yes, I'm THAT guy. In all my neurotic glory, I am! Pardon me while I break out my Woody Allen voice. Or Wendell Wolf.
The absolute WORST Con-goers are the 17-20 crowd (sometimes a bit older, sometimes younger) who are attending their first Big Overnight Convention and (more importantly) are doing so without supervision from Mommy or Daddy.
It's sort of like the Skiing Class which was available at Texas A&M University. The focus on the students was not so much on learning to ski, but on what would go on during the Class Trip to some ski resort at the end of the semester.
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