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[May. 27th, 2009|10:49 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | JAM Project - GONG | ] |
So here we go again, my 7th Anime Boston (6th on staff) has been completed, and as has become the norm, my duties continued to increase, but I didn't mind. This was my first year on staff that I wasn't within the security department, instead I served as the facilities liaison. Hopefully I am not jinxing things by saying that it is my genuine feeling that I not only want to return to the position for 2010, I think I may be the first person in the position in that both wants to return to it and is wanted back in it.
On to the day-by-day, review.
Wednesday
At 1PM we had a sit-down meeting that was several members of the executive staff and various members of the Hynes staff including general management, security, and others. This was a small meet and greet to ensure we were all on the same page and make sure no one was caught off guard. It was easy to see that there were some concerns about how Anime Boston was going to be after the line issues last year, but being able to prove that we had plans in mind really seemed to put those fears to rest. After that we did a short walkthough just to double check any and all conditions. With new carpeting and paint in many areas the place looked really sharp. It was a bit of a relief to see that the areas that would see the highest amount of traffic were slated to be done AFTER the convention. Toward the end of the walkthrough, several of us excused ourselves early so we could go over to Medford and load up the rental truck with all of our stuff from storage. Thanks to having been part of the organization of things a few days earlier, I could take charge and get things moving on the level where stuff was being stored while Mary directed the packing downstairs where the truck was. It sort of set a tone for a lot of the convention this year. Having gotten more involved with planning stages and just having more general Convention Operations experience under my belt, I could take charge in situations that required it. After everything was out of the storage units, I made my way to the loading area to help get everything on the truck. As in years past, it was a very close fit, but we got everything in the truck. Even if it meant shoving things in as we closed the door. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be the last year we can use only one truck. (More on that later). After loading was done, we had the traditional dinner for people that helped with loading, and I was very glad that I didn't have to run out early and miss it. Then it was back to the Sheraton to check in and catch up with a few people. I joined a few people for drinks but decided to turn in a little early to ensure I got at least one decent night's rest.
Thursday
Got an early start and some good breakfast in me in time to meet up with people getting ready to head into the Hynes. I noted that the group of people have breakfast together in the Prudential Center before we can enter the site grows every year. We got in and started getting settled as we waited for trucks and staffers alike to arrive. I did my fair share of moving around to ensure things were running smootthly in many different areas. At 3PM there was a meeting similar to Wednesday's with the Hynes, only this time with the Sheraton. It went well and surprisingly fast.
At some point (I honestly forget what time) the custom Anime Boston hockey jerseys I had organized an order of arrived. With 47 people ordering them (as well as one for the Charity Auction) I was a little worried that people would be displeased with the final product, but thankfully everyone seemed really happy with them and I got quite a few thank yous for organizing the idea. As we set things up, many of us began to wonder how the new registration system would work but word came through that things were running smoothly. Even during the all-hands meeting, things kept on running smoothly. At the end of the night, word came around that the longest anyone ever waited to pick up their pre-registration badge was all of 40 minutes. Yes, you read that right.
A small crowd gathered in one room to relax and chat about stuff in one staffer's hotel room. I stayed for a little bit, but started to feel somewhat tired, having not slept too well the night before, and excused myself to try and get some decent sleep.
Friday
First day of the convention and things were running pretty smoothly. Again, I was running around a decent amount tending to various matters, but no major issues seemed to come up. Things that did come up were taken care of quickly. While walking around I ducked into various panels, programs, etc just to see what was going on. I did a few walks in the dealers' room and was a little bothered that I didn't have more than the $11 I budgeted myself, but found the latest volume of the Tsukihime manga and was content with that find. I did a fair share of visits to the Manga Library too as it was a nice place to find a quiet corner and take a breather for a few moments. Having one friend and one acquaintance (not quite a friend, but getting there) that I don't see often enough working there certainly made the visits all the more worthwhile. I missed my chance to see the AMVs on Friday night, but sort of planned on that and made alternate arrangements to get the list of finalists later. (Though kudos must be given to Nicole who told me about one finalist, who later won "Best Drama". It was a really good one.) It felt a little weird to be shutting down things at the Hynes at Midnight, but I understood the reasons behind it. Things at the Sheraton were still going decently well, and I stayed up a little longer than my designated "bedtime" to just relax more with the overnight staff and make sure things were running smoothly. After that, I headed up to my room and fell asleep pretty quickly.
Saturday
I got up and got going pretty quickly. Even with taking my time to get ready and chat with a couple staff members over breakfast, I was back in the Hynes by 9:30-9:45, earlier than I needed to be, but with things running smoothly I wasn't feeling too exhausted. I took care of various small issues that came up, unlocking / securing rooms, etc, requesting water refills, etc. Nothing too serious really came up. I met up with the group for the Mecha panel just to review our game plan and make sure all the PowerPoint worked properly on Lou's computer.
Thankfully, the sound cues that appeared not to be saving whenever I saved and closed the document, were working perfectly fine, so I didn't have to rework anything and we were ready to go. We had a medium sized panel room, and filled every seat, with a few more people standing in the back and to the side. Having/making the time to really plan out the PowerPoint this year definitely paid off. The impromptu sing-alongs that happened with the sound cues of the various theme songs I had in the "5 Titles You Should Know" added an extra element of fun. While sometimes I wonder how I could make the panel more academic for other settings like PAC, I definitely enjoy the "not too serious" angle that is a cornerstone of how the panel is run at Anime Boston. We're there to entertain more than educate. All in all, the panel was successful for another year. I've made it sort of a rule that if I only have one "fun" thing to do each year at AB, it's that I do my panel. I hope to continue with it.
After the panel it was back into the fray, but again, things were still staying pretty soon. I commented to more than a few people that it felt both gratifying and troubling to hear from several staffers that they were still waiting for the annual disaster, as we seem to always have one thing that goes really wrong, but it never came in 2009.
Some of the best news to hear was that for the second day in a row, both on-site and pre-con registration lines had no wait time. Even better was the number that the longest wait time recorded was no more than two hours.
I ducked into the masquerade toward the end to see what the "Tetris Ninjas". Having spent a good amount of time hanging out with them at Otakon, being present in the room as they started to plan things, and being sworn to secrecy for some of their ideas, I had to make sure I caught their final product. It was fun to see that exhibition skit, as well as one before that where a guy proposed to his girlfriend. (D'awwwww) It's not the first time I've seen one attendee propose to another at the convention, but as far as I know, it's the first one that's been done on the stage of the masquerade.
There were a few more events after the Masquerade, but not too much and once again it was time to close up things at the Hynes and move ConOps to the Sheraton for overnight. There was a bit of extra work to do with some small issues, but nothing too dire or out of the ordinary. Between these issues and not feeling too exhausted from the rest of the day, I hung out in the Overnight Ops room for a little while longer than I was scheduled before finally retiring to bed.
Sunday
Once again, I was able to get something of an early start thanks to not getting too swamped the day before. It feels a little awkward to say that once again there's not too much to comment on. Things went pretty smoothly overall. The biggest SNAFU was at the end of events as we packed things up. I took charge in coordinating things to be brought down to loading docks and stuff was running smoothly, but due to some issues that I wasn't present to see, getting things loaded quickly just didn't happen, leaving some people to show up a little late to the Dead Dog Party. This serves as another indicator that it is probably time to start using two trucks. Anyway, while the truck loading was getting finalized were off to the Dead Dog Party. Since others were dealing with the loading, it fell to me to manage things on site, which was Boston Bowl. Having no hand in the planning of this event, it was a little difficult to take control, but somehow, I managed. Some staff members complained about the venue for various reasons, but given the lack of options with Good Time no longer being open and many places being unavailable due to the Red Sox game, it wasn't a horrible choice, if anything was wrong with the choice of venue, it was that there wasn't really a private section to have for ourselves. From the other side of things, I felt the facility was ill-equipped to handle our group, not getting many things ready until we arrived, and again, not having an easy way to make us be seperate from the rest of the patrons. It was a little difficult to be the one in charge of the scene and not have clear answers for questions like when food was coming etc. I stayed for awhle until others arrived and just relaxed, chatted and ate with people. I can't complain too much there as in that sense, the DDP served its purpose. I also got revenge on Phil for the hooker-boots incident last year, making them have to walk around with them in order to obtain his hockey jersey, which I had him thinking got misplaced and wasn't in the shipment. It kinda worries me how well he walked around in them, and then continued to keep them on and pose for pictures. (I definitely need copies of those). After coming back from the DDP I got drinks with people and hung out with people for awhile both inside the hotel as well outside the lobby, just chatting about the weekend. Finally, the day caught up with me and I caught some sleep
Closing
Overall, I would say that the event was one of the best Anime Bostons to date. I had a great deal of fun and for the most part, things ran pretty smoothly. There were snags both pre-con and during the event, but things got overcome. It irks me a little at times to see some people getting staff burnout and having certain issues with different parts of how things are planned, managed, and run. On one hand I fully understand the idea that with this being a volunteer run event, people need to know when it's time to move on, and if they are no longer having fun, they should stop doing it. Yet on the other hand, I feel like sometimes people have issues with things that they either a) don't speak up about enough or b) make some matters too personal.
Personally, I continue to have a lot of fun with my involvement with NEAS and AB, and think there's a great deal that I can help with, and grow/learn from. I guess the hardest part is when the people who are having trouble are friends or at the very least, people I respect on staff getting the itch to move away from AB. The convention staff has become such a significant part of my life and has helped me meet some fantastic people that seeing them leave does make me feel like I'm losing something and/or people are moving away from something that has a really positive effect. This is especially true for people on staff I'm just starting to get to know and would like to know better. There's a unique (albeit small) pang of pain that comes when you feel like a potential friendship is ending before it really had a chance to begin.
Well, I think I've written enough on AB 2009. I'll slowly start moving my thinking toward 2010. |
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