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Japantown Anime Faire - Author's Notes - 2005 At the Japantown Anime Faire in San Francisco, this writer set a new personal record for most distance traveled for a rainout. The old record was 800 miles traveled for a race in Florida; the new record was around 2,200 miles for a Mari Iijima concert. The concert would have been the highlight of the one day we had to spend at the California event. It was scheduled, like several other events, outdoors at the peace plaza that is the centerpiece of the Japan Center. It would have been a great setting, with the stage set up at the base of the pagoda tower - but the weather got in the way. Friday was chilly, gray and foggy. Saturday dawned warmer, but there was a light drizzle at mid-morning. Around 11 a.m., a steady rain began and didn't let up for hours, washing out any chance for outdoor events that would be attended by anime fans. The rain might not have discouraged 49er or Raider fans (the football teams' losing records already did that), but there was no way that anime fans would stand in the rain for concerts. So a couple of events were moved indoors. The Random Ninjas hauled their equipment into the Japan Center and put on a show in a hallway, while USA Musume took over a meeting room (actually a closed storefront) that had just enough room for their song and dance act. But time and space ran out for an Iijima concert; she happily signed autographs for fans, but had to head back south on Sunday. This writer had roughly the same schedule. We had to miss half of the convention because of its two-day schedule that began on Saturday, and our need to get back home by Sunday afternoon. Travel time was so tight that we had to break away from the faire on Saturday night and rush to the airport for a two-leg flight east. We missed the costume contest and Stephanie Yanez concerts. This writer had mixed expectations for the event because it came one week before Christmas, and events near major religious holidays can have trouble drawing a crowd. For a few minutes on Saturday morning, we thought the anime faire wouldn't have a useful crowd...then we wandered downstairs in the center and found a hallway of fans ready to register. The line extended outside the building and nearly to the corner. Attendance was pretty good, although one person made a useful observation that hinted it could have been better. This person, a convention fan we've seen at other events, spotted us and asked why we were there along with all of the costumers. When we responded that the Japan Center was hosting a convention, she replied that she never heard of the event - even though she shops at the center all the time. We were surprised that people were surprised that we went to the event. The trip made sense to us - we wanted to get in one more convention trip before the year was over, and it seemed to be a good idea to go to the last event of 2005. The Japantown Anime Faire gave this writer a chance to see a part of San Francisco we didn't see during our March trip to Anime Overdose. It also got us out of town and away from the snow that's likely to stay on the ground for a few more weeks or months. Since this is our final convention trip of 2005, that gives us the chance to write something reflective about the year's events. First, the convention offseason is still just a couple of spots on a calendar, and nothing like the months-long gap that existed a few years ago. We'll jump back into the convention scene in three weeks with a trip to Ohayocon, followed by trips to Ushicon and Katsucon. The three-week gap between the last U.S. convention of 2005 and the first of 2006 is a little shorter than some of the 2005 gaps we experienced - and it'll seem shorter for this writer because we'll head to an indoor auto race in Fort Wayne on the weekend before Ohayocon. Second, 2005 seems to have had more high-profile convention failures than most years. The collapse of the Con no Baka in Toronto before the weekend was over, the cancellation of the Narutocon in Pasadena, and the dismantling of two promised Kunicon events made a big mark. The lesson from these wrecks would seem to be that planning counts more than promises. Third, these failures haven't stopped fans from trying to schedule new conventions for 2006. We count at least ten new events for 2006, more than enough to make up for the 2005 cancellations. Fourth, we'll see most than one convention scheduled for most 2006 weekends during the good-weather spring, summer and autumn months. We count 13 weekends so far in 2006 with from one to four U.S. conventions. That won't matter much to fans - with a population of 300 million, the U.S. should have enough people to support those events. The factor that might change that convention proliferation would be the reaction of dealers. With the fees they pay for tables, dealers are the underappreciated financial engines behind many conventions, and if the dealers think they can't make money or are being overstressed, they might decided to stay home on more weekends and put a lot more pressure on convention organizers to make ends meet. The best two convention stories of 2005 were at Ohayocon, where actor Vic Mignogna worked as an ambassador between anime fans and a Christian youth group that came up short in a tolerance test sprung by the youth group's organizers, and at Anime Fest, where fans got a introduction to the real world when victims of Hurricane Katrina were housed down the street from the convention hotel and rescue teams shared the convention halls with costumers. The worst convention stories were at Katsucon, where fans are still talking about the anger vented by so-called security volunteers, and Fanime Con, which took a step backwards with a lackluster guest list. Rob Miles, who is going to be one of the people in charge of Fanime Con in 2006 and volunteered to help at the anime faire, said emphatically that Fanime Con is going to have a far better guest collection in 2006, with one Japanese guest already announced and several more expected in the weeks to come. He also said that Fanime Con is going to work hard to make sure that fans have more to do than just wander the halls in 2006; if Miles' plans for some events comne thbrough, it sounds as if you're going to have to work hard to be bored in San Jose. Best and worst convention of the year was the Star Wars Celebration: best because of the huge crowds of dedicated fans, and worst because of the indifferent event organization and sometimes shoddy treatment of the paying customers. Advice for convention organizers: starting on time really is important, printed schedules are just as important and shouldn't be changed, and being in charge of something is less important than being responsible for something. Japantown Anime Faire Main Page