Ushicon organizers got a surprise for their inaugural convention.

They booked the Four Seasons Sheraton Hotel on the north side of Austin, Texas, the largest hotel they could afford on a limited first-year budget. They expected to have 500 people for the entire weekend. But by the end of the first day they had gotten 370 fans, and had 760 by the end of Saturday.

The Austin hotel was the smallest facility this author has seen used for an anime convention, even smaller than the motel used for Sakura Con in 2000. That led to some crowding, especially in the dealers room which often was packed on Saturday, but no one seemed to mind. There seemed to be a lack of complaining among the fans at the first-year event, fans who were just glad that they had an anime convention in their part of Texas for the first time.

The convention was staged in an unique setting, next to a double-deck highway interchange and soaring on-ramp that towered over the hotel. The surface street which ran past the hotel had a relentless flow of traffic - and people who took advantage of the vehicles, stopped at the traffic signal, to ask for donations (the author saw a bunch of guys in basketball uniforms and signs - and no, they were not in University of Texas orange).

One advantage of the hotel's small size was noted at the opening ceremonies, when organizers asked about the lack of elevators in two-story hotel, and the fans nearly cheered.

The organizers said that they want a larger downtown Austin hotel in 2003, but they're not planning to head near the city's airport (which has the dreariest surroundings the author's seen in his convention travels).

This first year convention had a suprisingly sophisticated group of costumers, including a memorable meeting of 5 Digi Charat costumers at once in the lobby. If the costumers seemed to be mostly female from the pictures posted on this site, that was the way it turned out at the event. There were a few crossdressers, including a Melfina from Outlaw Star and the phantom from Boogiepop Phantom, complete with cute short skirt.

For once, the big Saturday night costume event was not a contest. It was a stage show with no judges and no prizes. Convention organizers explained that they wanted to be different and see how that worked. The author didn't hear any complaints about the new idea, especially when the contest, with just under 30 entrants, lasted less than one hour.

Texas already had two anime conventions, the mid-spring Project: A-Kon and the late-summer AnimeFest. Some A-Kon fans and staffers held a room party, but there seemed to be more AnimeFest shirts than A-Kon shirts at the convention, and as many first time fans as con veterans. Lots of parents took their kids to the event, and there were plenty of happily noisy parties in the hotel wing where the author had his room. He had asked to be placed in the middle of the action and got it... but the noise was no problem. The trick is to carry earplugs, a habit of the author's from his race track and airline travels.

The author was called upon to present a panel on photography, and thanks Jack Thielepape for helping him explain all of that obscure camera geek stuff. There are few brags from this author, but he's proud to claim that the panel started and ended exactly on time - but it had to end on time to make way for the ADV Films panel that followed. The Texan anime dubbing and distribution company had a large voice actor and former voice actor presence at the convention, including one actor who wasn't on the guest list but showed up anyway. 

And one of those actors, Brett Weaver, who usually is a guest of honor, spent most of weekend as the convention's guest coordinator.

The former ADV actors, Amanda and Jason Lee, were very popular and their comments on the Evangelion movies were welcome. Despite the production progress - the basic dub is finished - fans still are patiently waiting for the home video release of those movies, long after Manga Entertainment announced the acquisition of the title at Anime Expo in 1999. From the screening of the final movie at Ushicon, the Lees' efforts will make the patience pay off. The Eva movie is a harrowing, intense experience that could overwhelm some fans because of the way it treats their favorite characters from the series, but it looks and sounds great.

The author's cosplay picture sales were more of an organizational success (the artists' alley location was a great place from which to cover the convention) than a financial success (the author had to get a fresh printer when original one broke down). But it was fun to hang out with the artists, and watch the way that people were delighted with Diana Sprinkle's cute artwork that she displayed at the table next door.

A lot of people were impressed with the quality of color prints from the author's Olympus C-2100 camera and and Epson ink jet printer, especially a sample print of a  Japanese cosplayer in an elaborate Rose of Versailles costume from Anime Expo in 2001.

The author plans to take the new printer and the same camera to Katsucon in two weeks, where a different cast of characters will move into Baltimore for what promises to be a huge convention in a new location - Maryland seafood instead of Texas beef.
 

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