Big Wow! ComicFest 2013

This was an ambitious year for Big Wow! ComicFest. Right off the bat, it was reaching out to several new industry and fan guests in order to draw a crowd and create the best con possible. This includes, to everyone's delight, the legendary Stan Lee himself, making it a con that is not to be missed.

I had originally intended to attend for both days, but an outside situation required me to go for Sunday only. That said, the day I was there was filled with hanging out with friends, meeting great guests, and generally having a good time.

Big Wow is held in the San Jose Convention Center, where Fanime will be in a few short days from now. While the center is still undergoing renovations, the rooms Big Wow used were not affected, so the only difficulties came from the hallways. This was also at the same time as a Bitcoin expo was underway, but none of the guests from one bothered those from the other in any way; in fact, it's likely that many from one also had a passing interest in the other.

Matthew Reports: DAiCon 2013

How one year can change.

Last year was the first year of DAiCon, an attempt to form an anime convention that was ran by the Davis Anime Club. It was a small, intimate-type of convention and a lot was learned from its first year.

This time last year, things weren't going my way. Since then, things have steadily improved and I was looking forward to this year's DAiCon in combination with my recent success.

 How one year can change.

Even before DAiCon opened registration at 9am on May 4th, 2013, I was immensely impressed on the strides this convention made in just a short year. Once I arrived, I was immensely impressed on those strides even more, and that was an hour before they officially opened their door at 10am.

Editorial: "Cosplay ≠ Consent" and the Real Underlying Question

NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the California Conventions Blog.

Unless you have been living under a rock in the past month, you've probably heard about  "Cosplay ≠ Consent," this new movement to bring about awareness of sexual harassment at anime and comic conventions. Even conventions like Anime Conji caught onto it and imposed stricter policy when it came to attendee conduct; according to some eyewitness accounts, they caught a long-time "creeper" and banned him from all Southern California conventions. Now, whether this was a result of the movement or they finally caught him after years of sexually harassing cosplayers and the countless reports is yet to be seen.

However, there is a bigger question that lies beyond this, what I consider to be origins of this movement:

Why is it that when people attend anime and comic book conventions, it seems like all common sense gets thrown out the window?

Matthew's Response to "10 Tips For Surviving Con Season"

Click the picture to the link to the original article

This article was published on March 6th, 2013, on the website Nerdist News. The title says it all: tips on surviving a convention season. While the "convention year" is already set in motion with conventions like ALA, SacAnime, and AOD, the "convention season" is when the meat of the conventions, mostly the biggest, prestigious, and costly, occur: the Sakura-Cons, Fanimes, Anime Expos, and Otakons of the world.

I'll be reposting these tips as well as a my personal expertise and suggestions that accompany them.

Matthew Reports: SacCon March 2013

It's been awhile since I last wrote a solo report, let alone a report period. I've been mostly working behind the scenes ensuring that we had coverage for SacAnime as well as ALA and AOD. With these smaller conventions coming up between now and July (Anime Expo), I thought it would be nice to get back into reporting at the one place where I started: SacCon.

Nate's Report: Animation on Display 2013

A new month thus another con to go to; fortunately, it is right here in the bay area. First off, I have never been to Animation on Display before so I was entering this con having high hopes that it was going to be exciting. It just sucks that I was able to only go on Saturday due to my college actually having school on that President’s day holiday. Although I may not have had the full experience of AOD, will that affect my overall view of the con? Well let’s just see.

Ray Reports: Animation on Display 2013

I've been going to AoD since 2011, so I guess I'm one of the more "beginner" attendees here.

I looked forward to this con, more so than Sac-Anime, for a number of reasons. It's more local, which means less travel distance and more familiar folks. It's in Japantown, San Francisco, which is a very nice place for food and some shopping. Finally, I have fond memories of my first time here, mostly spending time with friends--small cons are "hangout cons" after all.

But it seems like I didn't really enjoy myself at AoD this year. There were some bad things that transpired, though my reasons for my lack of enjoyment are different.

(Caution: AoD is a FoodCon(TM), photos of good food will be in this con report. Do not open if you are feeling hungry. ;) )

Animation On Display 2013: Robbie's Review

I have to say, I was really looking forward to this year's Animation On Display. I had been facing two weeks of nonstop bad luck, from failures as a writer to a car crash, so I needed the escape, and I wanted to make this con the best possible. Unfortunately, the universe continued to conspire against me.

Tally's "A Little More Than Late" Anime Los Angeles 2013 Review

Anime Los Angeles, a convention usually set for the first weekend of the new year, was held January 4th to 6th at the LAX Marriot. Chaz Boston Baden, founder of ALA, and his staff worked very hard and made sure every attendee enjoyed the three day convention. Special guests this year included Johnny Yong Bosch and his band Eyeshine as well as Parle Productions' Jen and Kelly, YouTube stars from England. Voice actor Patrick Seitz returned to the convention this year, having been a Guest of Honor back in 2010. His known roles are Ludwig/Germany from Axis Powers: Hetalia and Simon Brezhnev from Durarara!!

Matthew's Editorial: The 64.2 Mile Journey

NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the California Conventions Blog.

A lot of what I'm about to say in this piece I've probably said many times in previous years and may sound like the same song and dance, but it's only fitting that I write this as SacAnime moves to the Sacramento Convention Center.