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When you look at your typical anime convention’s schedule, what do you do? Does your mind seize up with panic and indecision? Do you just say “screw it” and decide to “go with the flow” and just randomly drift between whatever events interest you? (One of my friends and co-hosts swears by this method and seems to have fun at whatever convention he goes to, so maybe it’d work for you too). Or do you whip out your maps, charts, and sextant, and begin plotting your convention course to military precision? Planning things down to the second isn’t necessarily the best idea either – there’s always things going on, events get changed/canceled, etc., so leaving some flexibility in your schedule is always a good idea. Still, being able to at least roughly sketch out what events you’re interested in seeing is helpful. What’s even more helpful is if you could share this information with your friends that you’re attending the convention with – after all, if several people are going to the same event, it would be easier (and perhaps more fun even) to group up with them. So yeah, having at least a basic plan of attack definitely helps. But dealing with paper schedules is such a pain. (besides, generally speaking, you don’t actually get the paper schedules until you’re actually at the convention, and it’s always a good idea to plan things out beforehand). Surely there must be some cool flashy Web 2.0 synergistic XML-based social networking-aware (insert various other random buzzwords here) tech tool to help you out with this?!
If you’re the proud owner of an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, well guess what, there’s an app for that. The new Anime Expo app, to be more precise. Armed with this app, you’ll have just about everything you’ll need to better navigate your way around the convention. Exhibitor listings and information; maps of the convention center, exhibit hall, and surrounding areas; the full programming schedule; listings of nearby businesses and restaurants; schedule updates and alerts; a “you are here” (location-based) feature to help you more easily meet up with friends; and fun little mini-games to pass the time while you’re in those Xbox Huge lines. The app is compatible with all mobile Apple devices, including the iPod touch and the iPad, and is available for $1.99 in the App Store. I will admit that their charging $1.99 for this app when they’re already charging for so many things at con seems a bit crass to me, but at least $1.99 isn’t too bad as things go.
What? You’re not part of the iCollective? No need to fret, because you’ve got SCHED. This Web-based tool will allow you to browse and search through the AX events schedule and mark down which events you’re interested in seeing. Once you’ve selected, you can either print out a paper-based schedule, or you can export your schedule to a variety of different formats (iCal, Outlook, Google Calendar, etc.). You can even link to your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts, and find out what events your friends will be attending. SCHED even has a mobile-friendly version which will allow you to use the site from your smartphone without the need to install any special software or apps (I’ve tested this on Android and it works beautifully; it is also said to work on iPhone, BlackBerry, and Palm Pre). Find out more or sign up (it’s free) here.
Hey folks, it’s been a pretty busy summer so far and so I thought it’s time for another State of the Podcast.
First item on the agenda: the move. It’s going, but at a slower than expected pace, thanks largely to some setbacks that we encountered. Still, it’s nothing we can’t handle, it’s just delaying things. Of course, we’re in the middle of packing, so the place looks kind of like a warehouse that got hit by a bomb. (Someone set up us the bomb!!) Which makes day to day living rather difficult. We’re hoping to be moved in and all settled/unpacked/etc. by August. Whether or not I’ll be able to construct my Studio of Doom(TM) by then… who knows?
Second: FanimeCon. In a word, AWESOME. Rumor has it that Fanime this year saw almost 20k attendees – and it sure felt like it. Crowds as far as the eye could see. We may be in an economic downturn, but you wouldn’t know it just by looking at FanimeCon. I’m beginning to wonder if they’re beginning to outgrow the San Jose Convention Center area. (Then again, where would they go? Moscone? Perish the thought…) Still, despite the increased crowds and hectic pacing, the FanimeCon staff were able to put on what I still consider a wonderful anomaly in the con milieu – a convention that has the large size and event roster of a big convention, and yet also has the small-town friendly feel of a smaller convention. The staff were friendly, if a bit disorganized. Oh sure there were some frayed nerves, but still everyone managed to remain at least civil, and I once again detected none of that ‘tude you see at the major conventions. This year saw a dramatic increase in the number of activities (videos, panels, etc.), with events often running throughout the night. There were definitely more late-night events this year than last year, a conscious effort on their parts, and I commend them for it. The sheer number of events, coupled with the fact that we were staying off-site, meant that I couldn’t see nearly as much as I had wanted to. (Pro tip: really, I mean REALLY, consider staying at an at-con hotel. Being in the center of it all has its advantages, chief of which is that you don’t have to travel very far to get to any given event.) I’m still trying to wrestle together a panel to do our usual review of the event, but scheduling conflicts and general laziness have prevented anything from gelling. Soon, hopefully…
Third: my panels at FanimeCon. Unfortunately my podcasting panel happened to be scheduled at the same time as several uber-popular events. Oh well, nothing you can do about that. But the several attendees that were there found it very valuable, and I’d like to take this space to thank you for attending. Remember, all of my materials, including slides and links to the products I talked about, can be found on the Podcasting talk page. My photography talk was also plagued with rather low attendance, but for a different reason: it was literally a last-minute addition to the schedule, and in particular didn’t make it into the printed program guide. It was also at 9 PM. But once again, those few hardy souls that attended seemed to get a lot out of it (and once again, I thank you for your attendance). Extra-special thanks also go to my partner in crime Dave “Paradox” Fayram for helping me slap a reasonably coherent presentation together at the very last moment. I’m working on a page with links to my photo presentation and the products/services mentioned therein. I’ll post the audio from that presentation shortly.
Fourth: my panels at Anime Expo. As previously announced, I’ll be doing the same song and dance at Anime Expo as well. Both of my presentations are on Sunday, July 4. My podcasting panel, “Anime Podcasting for Beginners,” is at the ungodly hour of 9 to 10 AM, in LP 3. My photography panel is at the somewhat more sane hour of 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM in WS 1. (Note: this is different from my original announcement. They changed both my time slot and room assignment.)
Fifth: the podcast. I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think I’ll be able to put anything out before AX (with the possible exception of the FanimeCon wrap-up/review I mentioned above). Things are just too crazy right now.
Sixth: finally, you probably already noticed this now, but I’ve made a few tweaks to the website, starting with an all-new logo. In addition, the main page will always have a link to the latest podcast episode at the top – this should make it more convenient for those of you who listen via the web (and there are a fair number of you) to access the latest episode. Finally, I’ve set up an account at Anime-Planet, which is a website that lets you track your anime and manga consumption, and gives you recommendations based on the series that you liked. It’s pretty cool, and you should definitely check it out. If you join, feel free to friend me up – I’m on as dburr. Since I’ll be updating this site regularly, it’s a good indicator of what I’m watching at the moment, so I’ve put a Anime-Planet banner on the site, and removed the “What’s Donald Watching These Days” and MyAnimeList.net sidebars (which were woefully out of date and inconsistent at that). To replace those sidebars I’ve added several more RSS feeds, including the top anime DVD’s at Netflix and Amazon (although for some reason, the Amazon feed isn’t sorted while the Netflix one is. Haven’t figured that one out yet.)
So that about does it for now. Hope you folks are having a fine summer, and are enjoying the summer con season. Definitely check out our Convention Survival Guide episode if you haven’t already – the tips contained therein might save your life! (Or at least make your con experience much more enjoyable and stress-free.)
Welcome to a very ghetto episode of Otaku no Podcast. I say “ghetto” because I am doing NO editing whatsoever in this episode. That’s because it’s past 4 AM on the morning I’m supposed to be leaving for FanimeCon. Actually I was supposed to leave last night but wasn’t able to get my act together (way too many last minute things, not to mention packing, etc.). So you’ll hear a lot of “umm”s and “ahh”s, and me being scatterbrained in general, because, well, it’s frakkin’ 4 AM and I’m TIRED. (Normally I try and edit out as much of this as I can, to save your sanity.)
But I wanted to get an episode out to you anyway, to talk about FanimeCon, but also I figured that since summer con season is starting up, it might be a good idea to gather together our best convention survival tips. These are the tips and tricks that have saved us from many a ride on the FailBus and have helped us better enjoy our time at anime conventions. Hopefully they will help you as well.
Of course, being past 4am and all, the big idiot (i.e. me) forgot to mention that he will be hosting not one, but TWO panels/workshops at FanimeCon; one on podcasting (“Anime Podcasting for n00bs” and one on con photography (“Con Photography: Shoot to Win!”). But if you’ve been paying attention, you’d know this already…
Today’s music: “STARGAZER ~ Hoshi no Tobira” by Negishi Satori (ending theme for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: STARGAZER)
A while ago I wrote about the (then new) Crunchyrollapp for the iPhone and iPod touch, with a note saying that they were working on an iPad app that would be out soon.
This one kinda slipped in under my radar, mostly because I’ve been busy with other things, but also because, rather than updating the already-existing iPhone app to add iPad support (which I would have noticed – I’m pretty obsessive about checking my apps for updates), they chose to release a completely separate app for the iPad (it’s impossible to keep up to date with the latest and greatest app submissions).
And what an app it is. Video looks beautiful, and scrolling through the large movie poster-style thumbnails of the various shows is fun. Unfortunately the app is still plagued with smaller-than-ideal subtitle size, but they are working on it.
Apologies for the radio silence, but between work (crazy busy with the added fun of rush deadlines, joy!), the Great Move, and FanimeCon, I’ve been a pretty busy boy. But, deities willing, I’ll be on my way to San Jose (do you know the way? ha!) tomorrow evening, and will be snaking my way through Reg Hell sometime Friday morning/early afternoon.
Naturally I’ll be blogging (as time, energy level, and bandwidth permits), and I’ll also once again activate the AudioBoo gateway, so you should be able to hear short audio updates as I find things that interest me enough to yak about ’em. Those will come out on the podcast feed.
But more importantly, I have some announcements about my panel. First of all, I now know what room my podcasting panel will be in. (As a reminder, that’s scheduled for Sunday the 30th at high noon.) We’ll be in Panels 1 (Marriott Salon 1:2). So if you’ve ever wondered what this whole podcasting fuss is about, or wanted to know how I run this three-ring circus we call Otaku no Podcast, come on by!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!!! (or, as the great Steve Jobs would say, “…There is one more thing.”)
Thanks to some cancellations in the panels schedule, I will now be doing ANOTHER PANEL! Yes, you read correctly. My friend Dave and I will be presenting a panel, “Con Photography: Shoot to Win!”, which is currently scheduled for Sunday May 30th from 9pm to 10pm in Panels 3 (Marriott Salon 4:6). Yes, as the title implies, we’ll be talking all about the tips and techniques that you can use to get those awesome cosplay shots. Whether you’re a total photography n00b or fancy yourself to be the next Ansel Adams, whether you own an uber-crappy point and shoot you picked up for 20 bucks at a Wal*Mart or a DSLR with more knobs and dials on it than the space shuttle, you’re sure to pick up some tips, techniques, and gear recommendations that are sure to improve your photography. (Or at the very least we’ll entertain you with our lame geek humor.)
One last thing: the full FanimeCon schedule is now online for your viewing pleasure. Now you might be asking “So what’s the best way of keeping up with those inevitable schedule changes that are bound to happen?” Well, FanimeCon has a Twitter account (which they actually use quite liberally throughout the con, for things such as schedule changes and event announcements). But if you have one of those newfangled cell phones that can surf the Intarwebs, then you’ll be thrilled to learn that FanimeCon has a spiffy mobile website version of their schedule. Just type in m.fanime.com in your phone’s web browser, and behold the marvels of modern technology. It even has a nifty search function. Schweet!
Looks like I’ll be pretty busy this summer. Not only will I be presenting a panel at FanimeCon, but today I found out that I will also be presenting not one, but TWO panels at Anime Expo!!
Anime Expo is, I would wager, one of the US’s largest anime conventions (44,000 attended in 2009), and is held every July 4 weekend in Southern California. This year’s event will be held Thursday-Sunday, July 1-4, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Unlike most fan-run anime conventions, AX (as the cool kids call it) is much more of an industry affair. Don’t get me wrong; you’ll still find plenty of traditional fan favorite events at AX (AMVs, masquerade, various fan-run panels and workshops, console and tabletop gaming, artist alley, etc.), not to mention a dealer’s room of epic proportions; however there is a decidedly industry-heavy focus to the live programming lineup. This is where you’ll see the industry heavyweights — Bandai, FUNimation, Tokyopop, et al — trotting out their latest offerings, and giving glimpses into their plans for the future. (There are also, I’m sure, quite a few “behind closed doors” industry meetings as well.) Keeping up with the news around AX time is difficult, what with all the announcements and press releases flying about. Many a hot property has had its world premiere in an AX film or video room — for example, at last year’s AX, FUNimation premiered the US release of Evangelion: 1.0 – You are (not) alone, the Eva reboot.
Unfortunately, this year’s AX is marred by controversy between the new management at AX’s parent organization and much of the convention staff, who resigned in protest, citing a long chain of grievances including excessive travel expenses (and other financial shenanigans), restructuring of the chain of command, inexperience with the anime industry and how to run a convention, unjust terminations of key staff positions, offending Guests of Honor and industry guests and refusing to honor their contracts, and heavy-handed censorship of staffers’ Internet postings. The other side naturally counters that their accusations are unjust, and all changes in staff, power structure, etc. were done to make AX and SPJA a more financially sound organization, and to increase attendance from both exhibitors/guests and attendees (whose growth has flatlined for the past few years). Which side is right? Well, one way or another, we’ll find out in a little less than two months.
Anyway, this year’s guest list does look pretty good, including such heavy-hitters as Shinichi “Nabeshin” Watanabe, Kenji Kamiyama, Toshihiro Kawamoto, and musical guests Sophia, MELL, and AKB48 (huh… Morning Musume last year, AKB48 this year… the circle is now complete??!). There are also rumors that legendary expatriate otaku Danny Choo himself will be there, no doubt promoting his latest anime-related project Chinka. Of course, there will also be your usual convention fare, including a truly awe-inspiring dealer’s room, artist’s alley, AMV contest, masquerade, console and tabletop gaming, and various and sundry panels and workshops.
AX hasn’t gone totally industry, however, as there are still quite a few fan-run panels and workshops in the lineup – and yours truly, as it turns out, will be running two of said workshops (yes, I’m finally getting to the point of this long-winded post!). “Anime Podcasting for Beginners” is basically the same song and dance I’ll be giving at Fanimecon (with changes based on my experiences there). If you’ve ever wanted to start your own anime or manga related podcast but just weren’t sure how, then this is the workshop for you! According to the preliminary scheduling info I’ve been given, this fine event will take place on Sunday, July 4, from 9:00 AM-10:00 AM (sorry folks, I have no say in the matter), in LP3. My second panel, “Convention Photography 101: How To Get The Shot (and make it look easy!)” will help you if you’ve ever had that experience where you take a bunch of pictures at con, excitedly hurry home and load them on your computer, but are greeted with only pain and misery (and a bunch of blurry or sub-optimal shots). We’ll show you how you can get that great shot, whether you’re armed with a crappy point and shoot or a DSLR with more knobs and buttons on it than the space shuttle. If you think that sounds familiar, yes we did talk about it on the podcast. (Unfortunately my friend Dave who was my co-host on that episode won’t be able to make it to AX.) That workshop will also take place on Sunday the 4th, at 12:30, in WS1. (Note: this is a new room and time!) So if you’ll be in the LA area come July 4 weekend, come on down!
Pre-reg for AX as well as hotel registration is online at the AX website.
Well, those of you who have been particularly observant may have caught me making vague references to this on Twitter or Facebook, or on some of my past video podcasts. And if you were paying attention to last week’s audio episode, you almost certainly heard me announce this. Well, now it’s officially official: I will be putting on a workshop at FanimeCon!!
FanimeCon, to those of you not “in the know,” is a rather nice anime convention held in San Jose, CA, around Memorial Day weekend each year. Many moons ago, when I for a brief time lived in the Bay Area during my first (and, I am chagrined to say, rather unsuccessful) attempt at obtaining a higher education, I attended my first FanimeCon with my friend Charles (I remember seeing Iria: Zeiram the Animation – an anime most fans these days probably have never heard of – there when it was still fairly new – that’s how long ago it was). Unfortunately, because of having to move back home (remember, failed education?) I wasn’t able to return until last year when, on a whim (and thanks to some unused train tickets that were about to expire that I found while cleaning my desk), I decided to check it out. Boy was I glad I did, because man, has it grown! When I went in 2000, attendance was a paltry 2,300; the attendance at the 2008 show (the most recent data I was able to find) was a whopping 14,926. (No, I’m not gonna say it…) The 2009 show, which is the one I went to, felt even bigger than that – I’d say at least 20,000. That’s still less than a half of the mega-cons (Anime Expo 2009, for example, with 44,000 attendees), but still quite impressive by my book. Despite its growth, however, FanimeCon has still managed to remain a fun and worthwhile experience, and lacks the ‘tude that you sometimes see at the larger cons; as I noted in my review of last year’s event, it has that unique and rarely-seen mixture of big-con excitement and smaller-con friendliness and breadth of events. Not surprising, as they to this day bill themselves as a con run “by fans, for fans.”
This year’s FanimeCon is shaping up to be yet another awesome event, with guests such as musicians LM.C and Haruko Momoi (who totally rocked my socks off at last year’s FanimeCon – I’m so glad she’ll be returning!); Daisuke Ishiwatari, creator of the Guilty Gear franchise; Hiroyuki Yamaga, one of the founding members of a little anime studio called GAINAX; and many others. Aside from the usual con happenings (AMVs, Masquerade, a pretty happening dealer’s room, gaming, etc.), FanimeCon also features a refreshingly broad lineup of panels covering a wide range of topics, including cosplay, gaming, entertainment, gatherings and debate, how-to/demo, manga, webcomics, music, working in the industry, and many more.
Well, yours truly will be responsible for one such panel, and if you’ve ever wondered how I put together this little dog and pony show we call Otaku no Podcast, you might want to stop by. My workshop, “Anime Podcasting for n00bs” is currently scheduled for Sunday, November 30, at high noon. So far only the preliminary schedules have been drawn up, so this time and date may change; also, since it’s just a preliminary schedule, I don’t yet have a room assignment. I’ll definitely let you know when I find out more.
While I’m at con, I’ll also do my best to bring you some audio and video highlights from the event — and yes, I’ll actually try and get you some real interviews for a change! So be sure and keep an eye on the website and the podcast feed come Memorial Day weekend. Bandwidth and technology willing, I’ll be posting as much stuff as I can before collapsing in an exhausted quivering heap at the end of the day.
FanimeCon will be held on Memorial Day weekend, Friday-Monday May 28-31, at the San Jose Convention Center in downtown San Jose, CA. For more information, links to pre-register, etc., check out their website.
A big wave of controversy hit the anime scene recently, thanks to a blog posting by Bang Zoom president Eric Sherman, basically railing against fansubbers and anime pirates for ruining the industry. Well we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to comment on this. So strap yourself in and get ready for a… controversial show!
Be sure and check the Otaku no Podcast website for full show notes, including links to the stories we discuss, as well as our picks!
![[Play Now!]](http://media.otakunopodcast.com/images/PlayNow.jpg)
![[View our eBay Auctions]](http://bayfeeds.com/images/Right_Now_108x45.gif)
Well, those of you who have been particularly observant may have caught me making vague references to this on Twitter or Facebook, or on some of my past video podcasts. And if you were paying attention to last week’s audio 
