After two weeks, I feel like I'm just about settled in to the new place. My bed feels comfortable again, I'm getting a feel for the neighborhood, and it's starting to feel like Home instead of The New Place. It's a great, relaxing feeling.
Which, of course, means that yesterday I got on a plane and flew to Seattle for a weekend.
I'm at Sakura-Con this weekend, though not in any truly official capacity. I'm here because, on a fundamental level, I still enjoy going to conventions for the fun of it. As some of you at ACen 2006 found out, one of my favorite activities is just wandering around and hearing people's stories.
In that spirit, I spent some of yesterday stalking my old friend Genjitsu of American Cosplay Paradise. My time in Seattle started in the basement of a Barnes and Noble talking to him about his current site growth projects as well as our various states of employment, but after talking shop it was back to business for him. Not wanting to get too far separated from people I know, I spent some time following him around as he flitted from cosplayer to cosplayer taking pictures like a bright pink butterfly.
I said it once before when I want to Winter Comiket a couple years ago, and I'll say it again now: cosplayers are crazy folk. I saw people running around shirtless or in shorts + bikinis in the Seattle weather, and it wasn't just raining yesterday - it was snowing! In March! That's crazy talk to a Bay Area boy like myself.
After a few minutes of following my boy Genri, I floated around the convention floor, and eventually found myself in the State of the Industry panel, which was interesting but almost turned into a shouting match at times. Midway through the panel, a staffer seemed to recognize me, and grabbed me for the Meet the Guests reception, which started immediately after the panel.
The funny part about the Meet the Guests reception? Yeah, I had fun talking to some America n voice actors and Takarano Arika of Ali Project. But then I sat down to talk with Rob and Sabrina, two of their executive staffers, and two hours melted away as we talked shop about the sustainability, security, growth, and planning of conventions. It was a fascinating, involved discussion of the various dos and don'ts of convention planning and management, and was also probably a sign that I'm getting old, since I didn't feel an urge to run around getting autographs or anything.
Today? Well, I think I'm going to run around in costume to try and get back in touch with my inner nerd, and who knows what else will happen? All I know is, this is a lot of fun, and given that people are practically begging for me to make more appearances, I might just wander the convention circuit again on an unofficial tour.
