Anime Expo 2008: Volunteerism, Ticketed Events, and more!
Hope everyone had a lovely July 4th. Anime Expo was quite fun!
I. Volunteerism: Friday and Saturday, 8 hours total (for 2 One-Day passes)
Friday, July 4: Volunteered for 6 hours total:
1) Registration Hall
- Helped to print badges, rip them, and distribute them
- Directed guests to the front of the printed badge line
2) Hallway in front of Huge Programming Room
- Answered questions pertaining to the Programming Room
- Acted as a line guard, where I prevented attendees from cutting
- Battle Stories: there were some random moments when I was guarding the line from cutters. Out of nowhere, a girl sprinted from nowhere, directly into the door. I guess she was cutting quickly. The main staffer just looked at her like O_o. Another girl and her posse tried to enter the line during a small break and when I stopped her to tell her that the end of the line was "way back there," she whined, "but the security guard told us we could go in," to which the staffer whispered, "You know what, that girl is lying, yo." She ended up sneering at us. I also felt bad for the guy who did the all-con volunteering thing because he wasn't assertive enough to keep people from cutting; like a timid mouse, he went up to the staffer and pulled on the staffer's sleeve. Just kidding...he just told the staffer that people were cutting, to which the staffer frantically yelled, "you need to stop them from cutting!"
3) Hallway near a Smaller Programming Room
- Guarded the doors for about two hours (there were some foine staffers there, too)
Saturday, July 5: Volunteered for 2 hours total:
1) Exhibit Hall
- Answered questions of patrons, mostly concerning when the exhibit hall would open (10:00am) or where to line up
- Scanned badges like a robot with laser eyes
- Battle story: scanning badges was the most intense thing ever. Once the staff let in all the exhibit attendees, I helped check for valid passes. If the people did not have passes or lacked valid passes, we had to stop them and ask them to stand by for assistance. I must have scanned at least 300 passes at this time. It was speed reading for about 1 hour. My head was spinning, as it got close to the hour.
II. Ticketed Events
For the concerts, I waited in line for less than 20 minutes total.
Yoko Ishida & Jyukai:
Yoko Ishida looks the same and sounds the same...she even dances the same.
Jyukai was amazing. The gal's voice was great and the music was melodic.
Shokotan:
Too much cutesy music, but her more poppy stuff appealed to my ears.
For the larger events, I waited in line for 2-3 hours each...
AX Idol:
My expectations of this show started extremely low. However, the actual show was pretty awesome. AX Idol is a competition where talented people compete in Voice-Acting and Singing contests. The gal who won the singing contest danced and rocked her way to stardom. The gal who won the voice-acting contest was talented, but I think the scene selection played a large role in her victory (it was a scene with a fuzzy animal crawling out of her cleavage o_O).
AX Masquerade:
I waited in line with my group (outside for 30-50 minutes, then inside for another 1.5 hours - we played B.S. and chatted). I was a bit let down because I thought the show would last four hours, but it only lasted two hours! A gross underestimate o_O. My favorite skits of the night were: the ninja comedian, the Wii-enlargement skit with Super Smash Brothers, the Final Fantasy battle, and the Sesshoumaru-to-Inuyasha transformation.
III. Amazing Company & HAWT guys ;)
For the first day, I volunteered with bro and mom. They were mostly at the registration hall area. On the second day, I volunteered alone to finish my hours. Afterwards, I sought out Vinh, Minh, Jen, Daniel, Hoang, Michael & Co., and some others. Bumped into Ren twice. Saw Monica. Watched the concert and Masquerade with the cool MASA people :P
So...on Friday, I found a very hot Kakashi walking around the Expo. I vowed to take a picture with him in the near future. Then, A HOT KAKASHI passed by me on Saturday and I shouted for bro to help me take a picture and he yelled at me to gogogo :)
I saw this guy with his mask halfway off and he was sooo attractive! I was swooning ;D I asked this handsome fellow for a picture and he obliged. He made small talk with me, too! He said, "So...this is one of the busiest days of the expo...have you been here all four days?" Then he winked at the camera. I could have fainted from excitement....lol. Silly fangirl who doesn't watch Naruto DESU NE!! Afterwards, I was on the lookout for more hot Kakashi's...and saw one whilst waiting in line, but the one I took a picture with was the best!!! RAWR.
IV. Commercialization & Growth
AX has been steadily growing. The Los Angeles Convention Center was a great place to hold AX, since it was roomy and in close proximity to the concert-hall (Nokia Theater).
However, I went into the Exhibit Hall and all I saw were large vendors dominating the floor. The huge companies had shrunk, relative to prior years. I didn't even see Viz, ADV, or Tokyopop this year! ARGH...what the heck. Haha, and less freebies for all :'( However, bro and I got some awesome Astroboy T-shirts.
V. Conclusion
AX 2008 was much, much better than AX 2007, in terms of location/size and people. I cannot compare the programming because this was the first year I attended AX Idol and AX Masquerade, but those two shows were great - AX Idol was definitely worth the wait!
I. Volunteerism: Friday and Saturday, 8 hours total (for 2 One-Day passes)
Friday, July 4: Volunteered for 6 hours total:
1) Registration Hall
- Helped to print badges, rip them, and distribute them
- Directed guests to the front of the printed badge line
2) Hallway in front of Huge Programming Room
- Answered questions pertaining to the Programming Room
- Acted as a line guard, where I prevented attendees from cutting
- Battle Stories: there were some random moments when I was guarding the line from cutters. Out of nowhere, a girl sprinted from nowhere, directly into the door. I guess she was cutting quickly. The main staffer just looked at her like O_o. Another girl and her posse tried to enter the line during a small break and when I stopped her to tell her that the end of the line was "way back there," she whined, "but the security guard told us we could go in," to which the staffer whispered, "You know what, that girl is lying, yo." She ended up sneering at us. I also felt bad for the guy who did the all-con volunteering thing because he wasn't assertive enough to keep people from cutting; like a timid mouse, he went up to the staffer and pulled on the staffer's sleeve. Just kidding...he just told the staffer that people were cutting, to which the staffer frantically yelled, "you need to stop them from cutting!"
3) Hallway near a Smaller Programming Room
- Guarded the doors for about two hours (there were some foine staffers there, too)
Saturday, July 5: Volunteered for 2 hours total:
1) Exhibit Hall
- Answered questions of patrons, mostly concerning when the exhibit hall would open (10:00am) or where to line up
- Scanned badges like a robot with laser eyes
- Battle story: scanning badges was the most intense thing ever. Once the staff let in all the exhibit attendees, I helped check for valid passes. If the people did not have passes or lacked valid passes, we had to stop them and ask them to stand by for assistance. I must have scanned at least 300 passes at this time. It was speed reading for about 1 hour. My head was spinning, as it got close to the hour.
II. Ticketed Events
For the concerts, I waited in line for less than 20 minutes total.
Yoko Ishida & Jyukai:
Yoko Ishida looks the same and sounds the same...she even dances the same.
Jyukai was amazing. The gal's voice was great and the music was melodic.
Shokotan:
Too much cutesy music, but her more poppy stuff appealed to my ears.
For the larger events, I waited in line for 2-3 hours each...
AX Idol:
My expectations of this show started extremely low. However, the actual show was pretty awesome. AX Idol is a competition where talented people compete in Voice-Acting and Singing contests. The gal who won the singing contest danced and rocked her way to stardom. The gal who won the voice-acting contest was talented, but I think the scene selection played a large role in her victory (it was a scene with a fuzzy animal crawling out of her cleavage o_O).
AX Masquerade:
I waited in line with my group (outside for 30-50 minutes, then inside for another 1.5 hours - we played B.S. and chatted). I was a bit let down because I thought the show would last four hours, but it only lasted two hours! A gross underestimate o_O. My favorite skits of the night were: the ninja comedian, the Wii-enlargement skit with Super Smash Brothers, the Final Fantasy battle, and the Sesshoumaru-to-Inuyasha transformation.
III. Amazing Company & HAWT guys ;)
For the first day, I volunteered with bro and mom. They were mostly at the registration hall area. On the second day, I volunteered alone to finish my hours. Afterwards, I sought out Vinh, Minh, Jen, Daniel, Hoang, Michael & Co., and some others. Bumped into Ren twice. Saw Monica. Watched the concert and Masquerade with the cool MASA people :P
So...on Friday, I found a very hot Kakashi walking around the Expo. I vowed to take a picture with him in the near future. Then, A HOT KAKASHI passed by me on Saturday and I shouted for bro to help me take a picture and he yelled at me to gogogo :)
I saw this guy with his mask halfway off and he was sooo attractive! I was swooning ;D I asked this handsome fellow for a picture and he obliged. He made small talk with me, too! He said, "So...this is one of the busiest days of the expo...have you been here all four days?" Then he winked at the camera. I could have fainted from excitement....lol. Silly fangirl who doesn't watch Naruto DESU NE!! Afterwards, I was on the lookout for more hot Kakashi's...and saw one whilst waiting in line, but the one I took a picture with was the best!!! RAWR.
IV. Commercialization & Growth
AX has been steadily growing. The Los Angeles Convention Center was a great place to hold AX, since it was roomy and in close proximity to the concert-hall (Nokia Theater).
However, I went into the Exhibit Hall and all I saw were large vendors dominating the floor. The huge companies had shrunk, relative to prior years. I didn't even see Viz, ADV, or Tokyopop this year! ARGH...what the heck. Haha, and less freebies for all :'( However, bro and I got some awesome Astroboy T-shirts.
V. Conclusion
AX 2008 was much, much better than AX 2007, in terms of location/size and people. I cannot compare the programming because this was the first year I attended AX Idol and AX Masquerade, but those two shows were great - AX Idol was definitely worth the wait!
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