PuffyPowerOtaku
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Posts posted by PuffyPowerOtaku
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we walked down and saw cosplayers. Then it finally hit me. Iv waited a yr to go and im finally here. I started screaming. I was so excited.
So this year when i see baltimore signs from the car i will feel really good!
I know exactly how you feel. When you arrive to the BCC you can feel the energy in the air - or at least I can.
Last year I arrived in Baltimore Thurs. night around 6 pm and while my group was driving around trying to find a parking space we saw a van driving down Pratt Street with "Otakon or Bust" spraypainted on each side of the car! The van also had streamers hanging from it and was driving rather fast
. seeing that confirmed for me that this was going to be an awesome weekend. -
put in my vote for more untranslated manga... But furigana is nice :3
Why do so many of you want untranslated manga? you can't read them, right?
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Thursday is my day to get ready for the con. First of all I get up uber early in the morning that day, get to the airport half asleep and take a flight into Baltimore. Usually takes a couple hours once you get in the air. I spend that time sleeping and tormenting my father usually. Once we get there, we take the shuttle to the hotel. It's usually about noon then. We get unpacked, watch the television, and take a little nap. About 2pm or so, we get in the pre-reg line with a little shoulder cooler and some umbrellas.. (maybe some sunscreen this year, I'm ungodly pale..) For a few hours we sit on the sidewalk, chat with random people and just observe the insanity, sometimes taking photos or videos.
Then the line moves. By the time we get in, I'm out of water... We stand in more lines, get our badges, then we go down the steps toward the exit. And almost every year my dad then uses the restroom and I drink the Chesapeake bay through the drinking fountain.
But this year is special. Thursday is my 21st b-day. So after we rest, I'm going out for some drinks. I still gotta call Steve Bennett and see if he still wants to join me and get wasted (lol)
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I guess people that are actually from the city don't care anymore.
No. They don't. Through my various jobs I've found they know what it is, and they don't care anymore. If this was still 1999, they would. But they're pretty used to it by now!
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plushie, bags, clothes, dvds, manga galore!!
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Isnt it cheaper to just make your cosplay? you could go to craft and thrift stores, ebay, or use stuff in your closet
thats what I do anyway. and I dont know how to sew either so I just hot glue everything 
. works out just fine, as long as i dont wash anything i make.... -
hey does anyone happen to have pictures of the badges from previous years?? i wanna c wat they were again all i have is last years
http://www.flickr.com/photos/animemiz/8630...57600942531821/
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That Sheraton hotel will eat into your bank account.
I steer clear of the Sheraton
I wonder if the new convention hotel will be resonably priced or $300+ per night. i hope not.
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Wow you guys put me to shame! I've never actually made a budget for the otakon weekend....
Ive been to otakon 3 times now and the only thing I did money-wise was go with whatever is in my bank account
. Last year, however I was broke as the joke because I had a loser summer job and most of my $$ went towards cosplay making. but for otakon 07 it was like this:$14 - traveling to and from washington, dc via bus/2 trains
$35 - hotel.... me and 5 friends crammed into one hotel room
$40 - food..... I was dumb and didnt bring ANYTHING to eat, not even water
$50 - dealer's room..... compared to you guys $50 is nothing, lol
$30 - harry potter midnight party.... bought the book
total = $170........ not including my coplay which was about $100
I really want more money so I dont have to be cheap and pass up stuff in the DR because I cant afford it. :::sigh:::
As far as food, when you cosplay its a lot of fun to eat out..... like at the food court or McDonalds for breakfast. I have fun stories about those times. Money adds up when you do that but I think its worth it
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Hmmm...I always end up waking up at 5AM, get ready, fall back asleep until 7 and usually run get there by 8 since I normally stop somewhere to load up on energy drinks and wander a bit.
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OMG last year i was on the elevator at my hotel (dressed as Kairi from kingdom hearts at the moment with a marluxia next to me) and someone who wasnt in the con said to me ''hi miss is this a star trek convention'' i was like >.> WUT?? we dont even look like star trek people >< jebus stupid
Ugh, I hate that. Whenever any of my mom's co-workers ask her what an anime convention is, she always says 'It's like a Trekkie convention. They all dress up; It's really cute!'
It annoys me to no end, and she knows that.
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Thanks for putting some thought in this. I really don't want to discourage you from thinking up ways to do things better; that's VASTLY preferable to simply complaining about stuff.
However, you're suggesting that we change a number of things we *know* work quite well for the vast majority of our attendees and our staff; the beneficiaries of these changes would be people who can't manage to approach a door with their badge clearly visible, at the expense of everyone else. Well, them and the people you unfortunately got stuck behind who were trying to leave through the skywalk doors at lunchtime.
I'm here to tell you: those same clueless people will also put their badges in a pocket or hide them under their cosplay gear, and will have to dig for them anyway. That's a far bigger source of clogs. There is also a lot of variation in the speed with which the external door security folks can check badges. But the quantity and the timing and the other factors involved? These can't be solved by changing a badge.
I've been going to fan cons, academic and scientific conferences, trade shows, festivals, and all sorts of similar events for a solid 20 years now, and I'm here to tell you, they all require you to wear badges so that the badge can be seen. And producing an ID to access public buildings begins as early as middle school; it is simply something they'll have to get used to. You'd think that frequent business travelers would be wise enough to be rpepared this many years after 9/11. And yet, there is always a guy in front of me who hasn't managed to figure that out and I get the privilege of waiting for him.
We got through about ten *thousand* pre-reg pickups in a few hours on Thursday because we have got the management and setup of those lines down to a fine art that others simply have not. And switching to the current badge style and process was a big part of that. We got a lot of complaints about ditching our laminated badges, but eventually people realized that the lines moved MUCH faster, and we had fewer gofers with burnt fingers.
That doesn't mean we're not open to new things, but you have to think about the problems you'll create in trying to solve the problem at hand.
Case in point here: Every *second* matters because we have thousands of people waiting.
The cost of the stickers isn't the problem. It's the time it takes to apply them.
The cost of larger badges isn't the problem. It's the time it takes to fold them, and that still doesn't solve the verification problem.
But having said that, convention badge styles range in price by huge amounts, and at the quantities we need to buy them, it's going to matter if we jump by a a penny or two per badge.
So I suggest that you're looking at the wrong problem here. The problem is not that the badge has only one side. The problem is that the badge flips around.
The answer to that is to find a design that doesn't flip around so easily. Except the one we have now was picked at least partly to avoid ANOTHER problem: the badge flips and takes the lanyard with it, gradually choking the wearer. We had that problem a lot when we used the little chains.
If you can find a badge and holder design that solves this problem more effectively without adding significantly to the cost, and without adding anything at all to the time it takes to get your badge to you, I'm sure you'll find us willing to hear you out. I'm just trying to give you a better idea of what you're up against.
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if i had no budget omg i would make every cosplay that could be made and sell them xD lol making cosplay is so much fun so i wouldn't mind
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I have my cosplays made as well as making my own from time to time (there wasn't an option for that)
A friend of mine that's a clothing designer usually makes mine for me, but we have a clear understanding of exactly what it is I want, and it helps me since I rarely have the time to make a whole cosplay myself. I pick out and buy my own material, print my reference pics, and have a lot of input on how things progress. So it's not like I just drop off a picture and my measurements and tell him "Make it so". But I also know the satisfaction of making my own cosplays as well, but again it's very time consuming so, I'll probably wind up having my made again this year.
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dont really have a 'budget' for cosplay cause i dont buy all of my material at once so i really dont keep track, if i c something wen im really not even looking for it, ill buy it lol, unless the thing is small and really expensive ><
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You get such a great feeling that you finished something so cool that I can't not wear something that someone else made. It makes it all that more fun.
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im spacing out right now i totaly forgot >< when does the pre-reg doors open?? i feel like such a noob now
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i start to cry and get reaaaallly sad that its all over T_T and then i start thinking about all of the times im goin to have the next year and the new stuff they r going to have and the new cosplay im going to do and then i get happy and excited for the next year xD lol plus my feet need to rest from all the walking ><
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The cake is not a lie!... in a way >.> you do go in an oven... it means... YOUR THE CAKE!! Mwuahahaha*cough* I mean
;; it's a pretty fun game, a bit of a brain puzzler but not too much to make you throw out your hamsters through the window... (okay that was one time...) I recommend. -
im also thinking of going to dinner thursday night after picking up badges, i did last year with a bunch of friends and my boyfriend
it was was fun, i go to a very nice restaurant called mathews on eastern avenue 
they have whole pizzas for like 8 dollars everything is reeeeally cheap and its nice -
I always make my cosplay , have made misty, yuna, sasuke, jill valentine, atoli and kairi
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So, what's faster?
Being in the front of the main entrance to get your badge Friday morning since like 6:45 AM
OR
Picking up your badge Thursday night, and going into the other line around 7 AM.
Which of these will get me into the dealer's room line faster?
I imagine the line for those who already picked up their badges is probably longer than the one for those who havent yet picked up their badges, or am I wrong. But I'm just wondering, if I'll get into the actual convention faster if I go thursday night, or will it be faster if I go Friday.
Thanks!
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the line on thursday isnt even necessary to stand in. if you just wait and go get your badge at like 7-8pm there is no line and you can get your badge in less than 10 mins. but i think some people like standing in line on thurs because its fun for them.
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I booked hyatt hotel last year in like april and it was fine getting a room, but i called yesterday and they were completly booked T_T hopefully people make cancelations ><
what you neeed!!
in Otakon 2008
Posted
when you go to otakon i must say you need to bring aloooot of things with you, but wat is the one thing you have to stock up on the most. When i go my bag is full of glow sticks for the rave