BayAnime.com

BayAnime hit its first convention ever — San Francisco-based “Animation on Display” (AOD) — on Valentine’s Day 2009! AOD is an annual fan-run not-for-profit event celebrating animation in all its forms. Drawing a smaller crowd of mostly younger locally based anime fans, the club-like atmosphere facilitates close interaction between con-goers and provides an especially welcome venue for local artists and cosplayers to share their creations. In this article, BayAnime staff member Steven Lim weighs in on his AOD convention experience!

The first anime themed convention I ever attended was “Tales of Anime” 2007 in San Mateo. Back then, I couldn’t help but feel just a wee bit lost as I roamed around aimlessly trying to figure out what to do. Of course I was deeply impressed by all the cosplayers with their lavish costumes and quirky performances, as well as the lively atmosphere of the main hall. Yet I still felt somewhat detached from the whole experience, kind of like the guy who quietly stands in the dark corner of a party constantly sipping his drink, looking like he needs to pee really badly. As I stumbled around in circles on the convention floor, my insecurities began to grow. Ultimately, I found myself mentally preparing to make my exit.

Suddenly out of the midst of the crowd emerged a familiar figure, someone I had wanted to meet in person for years. It was Tifa Lockheart! Everything went into bullet-time as I reached for my camera thinking that if I could walk away with anything worth any value that day, it would be a picture of Tifa. I carefully positioned myself to discreetly take my shot unnoticed as she walked past me. But then the unthinkable happened; she spotted my camera!! I froze in my shoes expecting Tifa to give me that annoyed look that would make me blurt out “I’m sorry!” and run away flailing my arms into the horizon. But instead she gave me a smile and struck a pose, waiting for me to take her picture! It all played out like clockwork, and that, my friends, was the magic moment that opened the gateway for my appreciation, admiration, and enthusiasm for anime conventions.

Fast forward to February 14th, 2009. It was Valentines Day and I spent it with BayAnime at AOD in San Francisco. AOD was my fifth art-related con and third anime con, and as usual I was able to continue my streak of having each con experience be more enjoyable and educational than the last. Unlike previous years, I decided to grow some balls and take a stab at some light cosplay.

Who did I go as? I cosplayed myself from my Flash animation series XIN (I’m one of the dudes who gets beaten up in session #2). I felt really self-conscious as I was putting on my wig and tie inside the convention building, but as soon as I walked into the main hall I felt right at home. My censor bar sunglasses ended up getting more attention than I’d expected. My rule was that if you wanted to try them on, I got to take your picture. Only two guys had the guts to actually do so.

Unfortunately, we will never know who they really were.

Despite the fact that no one at the con recognized my character and I couldn’t see a damned thing behind that censor bar, I still had a blast talking with all the people at the Artists Alley and taking pictures of the many cosplayers performing in the main hall. Costumes ranged from amazing representations of popular anime/video game characters, Japanese school uniforms, and adorable maids, to original concoctions like the guy below on the left with the kickass mask.

In a nutshell, there was no shortage of “AWESOME!” at this con.

People from the cool side.

I learned that it’s a good idea to attend cons as a group and an even better idea to bring food! Picnics like the one below could be seen around the convention area.

Some of the best eye candy also came from the Artists Alley. Moving from table to table, I was amazed at the variety of mediums that were displayed. I got to check out everything from hand painted pottery, anime tote bag designs, embroidered characters, intricate hand-made doll dresses, and of course a whole bunch of awesome illustrations.

Hanging out with BAAU is always a good time.

Unfortunately, I made a few mistakes this year. First off, I missed my chance to buy or commission anything from the artists. I just got too caught up in taking pictures and chatting; before I knew it, most of the tables had closed shop for the day. Next time I’m planning on taking care of this business right on the spot! My biggest mistake, however, was losing a ton of great info by being careless. While I made sure to get a website address or Deviant art page address from all the artists I talked to, many of these addresses were written on small snippets of paper that were mercilessly shoved into my jean pockets. When I got home I pulled all my hair out, crying in agony as I realized that more than half of the URLs collected had been FUBARed or gone MIA! I’ll definitely be more careful in the future, but still I’d recommend that artists hand out business cards or URLs written on sturdier material.

Here’s a list of artist website URLs that I salvaged:

www.baau.org
www.taretarekun.deviantart.com
www.elliskp.deviantart.com
www.sukyan.deviantart.com
www.nikkicole.deviantart.com
www.carrielicious.com
www.theprintedotakus.webs.com
www.travelvalenti.blogspot.com
www.wannabehokage.etsy.com
www.reallifecomics.com

Before I attended AOD I didn’t know much about it except the word on the street was that it was a really small convention. I think that almost every con can be considered “small” when compared to something like Fanime, but like many of the finer things in life, this experience showed me that size doesn’t matter in order to have good time! Thinking back, I’ve certainly come a long way since 2007 as a con-goer. At the end of the day I walked away from AOD with way more photos than I had taken at the “Tales of Anime” con. However, the pictures themselves take a back seat to all the memories that are linked to each and every shot. The real value of the convention was in all those quirky little interactions, conversations, and laughs I had with different artists, staff, and cosplayers. I hope that I get the chance to see them again at future conventions… and I hope that you will, too!

AOD official website: www.aodsf.org