Anime Boston 2017 – Part 3 of 3

June 19th, 2017 | by Trevor
Posted In: conventions

SUNDAY:
The final day of the con, I got up and checked out of the hotel, and headed to the breakfast spot I always meet up with friends right by the convention center, my gear in hand. We were joined by Jennifer Brazas, who used to work on comics and now operates her own shop at anime cons. We had a good time fueling up for the final full day of the con, and then headed to the floor for set up and selling.


Curious what the seller side of the table looks like?

I didn’t have any panels on Sunday, so it was just friends stopping by to purchase or ask questions. I got to hang out with the staff a bit, who helped coordinate my being there in the first place (and who gave me such a premium spot on the floor), and then started packing up so I wouldn’t miss my flight home. I hopped a cab with Krazy Krow and his wife, and we headed to the airport early so we could grab some much-needed dinner and drinks to relax and celebrate our amazing (yet intense) weekend.

We eventually went to our waiting area, and alarms started going off at the airport. We couldn’t figure out what was going on, but the planes outside were all stopped as well (there was a massive line of planes on the runway, waiting for their turn to take off). Whatever happened, it delayed all the flights about 30-45 minutes; but thankfully didn’t cancel our flight home. We debated going to get foot rubs (standing for a 13+ hour sales floor 3-4 days in a row makes my feet a little sore…am I getting old?), but decided sitting felt too good to get up.

Eventually they started boarding, and we were on our way back to Chicago.


Waiting for the flight home with Krazy Krow and his wife

Anime Boston was, once again, an amazing time. It’s an exhausting show, with a long sales floor and an intense schedule, but it’s a lot of fun and has an amazing staff that makes you want to keep coming back year after year. I hope to be back again next year!

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Anime Boston 2017 – Part 2 of 3

June 16th, 2017 | by Trevor
Posted In: conventions

SATURDAY:
Morning came too quickly, as it often does at a con, and I grabbed a quick bite and went to set up the table. I got a text message from Johnny Young Bosch (Power Rangers), inviting me to hang out that night and grab some dinner. It’s been a while since he and I had a chance to hang out and catch up, so I was very interested.


This is the face of a (sleep-deprived) man who wants to sell you some comics

My helpers showed up around noon, and I headed off to my first panel of the day (with my good friend and Spinnerette creator, Krazy Krow), Crafting Fictional Worlds. This was a fun panel, and was the first time I had done it in ages. And the first time I had done it with another creator. Learning about his process, and talking about my own (and how it’s changed over time) was a lot of fun, and informative for the audience. We talked about how even worlds based in “reality” (like Batman, or Strangers in Paradise) still need world building. They have rules, and you can’t break them or else the reader gets taken out of the story.


Crafting Fictional Worlds panel – standing room only, and (believe it or not) our least attended panel for the weekend

After the panel ended, we headed back to our tables and kept selling. I had a helper get me a little lunch, and then had to pack up again for my final panel for the weekend: Writing for Comics. This is always a fun panel to do (once again, Krazy Krow joined me), since we get to talk about techniques, styles, overcoming plot holes and “writer’s block,” and talk about our stories. How did we come up with them? Where did the characters come from? And the audience gets to learn about us, our process, and how they need to get started in comics.


My table helpers for the weekend, cosplaying as character from Spinnerette

After the panel ended, we went back to selling at the tables (and managing the hordes of panel attendees who came with more questions, or to buy from the table). The night ended soon enough, with time to break down before heading to the restaurant to meet up with Johnny and Polo (his friend and band member). I walked into the restaurant and found them already enjoying a relaxing beverage, and having ordered their meals. I grabbed the waitress and made my orders, and sat down and chatted them up. Johnny and I did a series of cons together several years back, seeing each other several times a month throughout that particular year. I haven’t seen him as much since then, but it was good to get to catch up and talk cons, anime, and his favorite thing to watch on Netflix right now (Samurai Gourmet).

After dinner, I went back to the hotel and tried to unwind by watching some Samurai Gourmet, but the bandwidth wasn’t working so well and I gave up trying to stream it after a few tries. I went to bed later than I should have, ready for the final day of the con.

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