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thoughts on anime vegas |
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| A forgotten trip to Vegas turns into a memorable event. |
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| Here's a plan for an odd weekend: have a friend remind you, a week prior, that you had agreed to a road trip that you have completely forgotten about. Leave your home at midnight, and take an all-night trip out to Las Vegas. Oh, and make sure it's on a holiday weekend. That was pretty much the origin for an impromptu trip to a first year convention: Anime Vegas, a free anime con, held at the Cashman Center over the Labor Day weekend. Within an hour of the con having started, already the Naruto cosplayers had outnumbered all other cosplayers. On the plus side, the con appears to have attracted over 600 attendees. The convention is the brainchild of one Richard Stott, who funded the entirety of the convention out of his own pocket. Stott, who works as a Life Health Agent, used to help at San Diego Comic Con as its anime director. He has been an anime fan for almost 20 years, from the days when fandom was a one time ocurence at sci-fi club meetings. He had the idea to create the con as a sort of last hurrah convention for the Las Vegas locals who go to the Las Vegas anime club which is held at the Sunrise Library, since both Anime Expo and Otakon, the biggest conventions in America, were past and done with. And come they did. Almost 700 walk-in's and about 200 pre-registered showed up; a good turnout for something that only became known because of word-of-mouth. For a first year con, with no really notable names as guests of honor, it has taken from Ani-Magic the title of overblown anime club meeting in my book. This truly was the local anime club, renting about 700 square feet of space, and throwing in some video rooms, which they would normally do, and giving their members a place to meet without the constraints of size or noise ordinances. This was a place for those of the club who like to create costumes to show off to other what they've been working on; a chance to brandish weapon replicas, and not have to worry much (even though there was a real gun show going on right next door). Sure it didn't go all night like Anime Expo or Otakon, and it didn't have great lighting for pictures (or many people to take pictures of) like Ani-Magic, but it was done with love and dedication. The staff stayed as much behind-the-scenes as they could, and only came out to make announcements. The fans, though a bit underage and over-energized for most of us at i360, still kept it within acceptable parameters in remembering that it is possible to have fun and not be in everyone else's face about it. For their dedication and effort, and especially to Mr. Stott who says that as long as he runs it, he will continue to keep it a free con, this writer gives you a heartfelt thank you from my inner fandom n00b, for giving so much so that others may be enthralled by the wonder that is anime. But just a reminder, the saying is still "Anime: crack is cheaper".
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