Year: 2009

Con Survival Series: Schedule and Time Management

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Ah, the ever present specter of time marching on. Going to a convention with so many activities on the list can seem overwhelming. How will you ever get to everything? The answer is quite plainly that you can’t. And this isn’t something to complain about to the con staff, rather it is something to rejoice about! The goal of any convention is to give you as little boredom as possible. So while you won’t see each and every event, you can make the most of the time you have.

Almost any convention worth its salt is going to have an early convention schedule online. Tightly run conventions sometimes have a preliminary schedule up a couple of weeks before the convention but most will have it up the week leading up to the convention. Conventions are prone to mishap and delay so sometimes you will only get a schedule as you show up to the convention. Obviously the sooner you can see the schedule the sooner you can start planning your days. Plus you have a good amount of time to look it over and see some awesome events you might have missed in the hectic action of being at the con.

I attempt to get a lay of the land before everything starts. I take a good, long look at the map and, if I’m not rushing off to somewhere the moment I enter the building, I’ll do a quick walkthrough as not to get confused later. Remember, this was printed a couple of weeks before the convention started so any last minute changes aren’t going to be reflected. This also helps you figure out the best route to getting to and from places and you might be able to spot what areas are going to get jam packed as to be avoided. Inevitably there will be some section of the con where the traffic flow is absolutely terrible.

Hopefully the convention you are going to is so jam packed with things to do that you have to make an itinerary. The first thing you have to determine is what your priorities are. My general method is to pick what events I have to go see no matter what and then schedule everything around that. Once I have the key things I want to go to, I fill in the remaining time as I go along. So what are you going to do with the mostly inevitable times where there is nothing to do? Well those are prime times to get food, meet up with friends, browse artists alley, take pictures, and check out the dealer’s room. The fact is though the hardest decisions often come from too full a schedule.

You’ll realize rather quickly that some great things are going to be conflicting with other equally great things. There are a few tips to remember while making your preliminary schedule. Try to compare conflicts if they come up, some things will truly be once in a lifetime opportunities. Also it is handy to have a back up event schedule for the cancellations that crop up or when a panel isn’t living up to your expectations. As a reminder, it is perfectly okay to leave a panel you aren’t enjoying just be quite and courteous about it. Remember to factor in waiting in line times, you might have to miss other events if you plan on lining up early.

Certain panels, autograph sessions, and front seats at the AMVs and the cosplay contest always have lines that start way before the event. Certain top tier guests panels, online meet ups, and for some reason Kingdom Hearts panels will actually have to turn people away. American voice actors panels and a very few select Japanese guests will fill up a room but most Japanese guests are not so popular that you have to worry. You can find what the crazy packed panels are going to be by asking on the message boards. Any other panel you can usually slip in and out of without a problem. Most panels have a regular ebb and flow of people so if you don’t get in you can check back 10 to 15 minuets into the panel and usually a seat will have opened up. You basically have to weigh how much to you want to see a whole event vs how much you want to miss other things. Autograph sessions are the only thing that absolutely requires you to line up early.

I hate to wait in lines so I have researched to make sure I normally don’t have to. People have a weird tendency to WANT to wait in a line. Don’t waste your entire convention in unnecessary lines. For example, there is absolutely zero reason to wait for the AMV contest. They are on a screen, you’ll see them. Also, quite a few cosplay events have cameras set up so you can see them on a screen so whether you are in the back or front makes little difference. These things are easy enough to ask con staff about. Most conventions open their doors a half hour or so before any of the events start, this makes it silly to wait in line to get in if you already have a badge. Equally silly is waiting to get into the dealer’s room, it is open the most hours of anything going on at the convention. You can easily slip in and out through the day. Many guest autograph sessions are totally full up while their panels are only half full. This is a great thing to remember if you really don’t want to wait in line. If you do find yourself in line you can easily make it productive by talking to the people around you, eating, etc.

I have yet to go to a convention where there has not been some schedule change. People will drop out, panelists will have last minute plans and travel mishaps, things will be changed to cater to guests whims, people will need different rooms for equipment, con staff will realize popular panels need bigger rooms, and a million other things can cause a change in the schedule. Your best bet is to start each day with a trip down to the conventions info desk. They will have an updated schedule to look at and with any luck reprinted schedules with updates on them. They will also have unannounced events that have popped up at the last second. I can remember at least three times I have kicked myself for forgetting to look at the revised schedule.

I redo my schedule a ton of times. Unexpected things always come up as with anything else in life. But it is in my nature to try and control it somehow. The whole point of making a schedule is to help slay that overwhelming feeling that a convention can bring about. Haven’t you ever had so many things to do that you just end up doing nothing? That is what we are trying to help you avoid. But don’t be rigid, go with the flow, and you’ll have a good time even if you don’t get to every little thing on the schedule.

The funny thing is for all the highlighting I do ahead of time I tend to constantly look over the schedule and make decisions on the fly. You are going to change your plans a million times during a convention but I find you are much more secure in doing so when you mapped out plan from the start. But without a doubt the most important thing is to make sure you do the most to have a good time while at a convention. As Theophrastus said, “Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.”

Ongoing Investigations: Case #032

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Got the books 18-20 of Blade of the Immortal in a recent Dark Horse sale, which makes them mildly affordable. We are at the end of the prison arc and I couldn’t be happier. I found it to be mostly boring, but it did do one very important thing. Rin has come into her own more, she is brave and decently strong. She also is thinking on her feet. Rin has just plain matured and it is very nice. Though at moments she is still a bit deer-in-the-headlights. If we didn’t know how Rin felt about Manji before (which you would be stupid not to), we certainly do now with her daring rescue attempt. Also Manji fights dudes while being chained to a wall. You have no idea how happy I am to see that man back in action. There was not enough bad-assery with him in jail. Though Doa is proving herself to be one crazy, deadly woman. Looking forward to the conclusion of this arc in 21 and then we are on the alleged home stretch.

I immediately read Hitohira book three as soon as I got my hands on it. We see the results of Mugi’s first stage performance. It uses the old manga trope of the play that is a metaphor for the main plot. It is a well done trope and quite enjoyable. We then see the the result of a bet made in book two and the fall out for all the characters. Bittersweet triumph and heartbreaking disappointment are the watchwords for this volume but that is not all there is. All in all I like this series more and more because I really see myself in Mugi. Her low self-esteem might easily turn away some readers but it is a very realistic portrayal of it. I am eagerly awaiting the next story. I am curious to see what happens now that a good deal of the relationships between the characters have changed. The art remains average but cute without veering into saccharine. I should really sit down and see if the anime adaption is any good. You can read a preview for volume three, too.

Got the second Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro at Yen Press’s booth at NYCC 2009. Thanks! This book continues the melancholy, traveling adventures. But as an added bonus we learn a lot about Kuro’s past and her travels when she was much younger. We also learn a little more about Sen (the bat), who I am very curious about. One traveler Kuro meets looks like he has stepped out of Sherlock Hound. As I was pondering if this was a reference or a coincidence, I see the manga-ka’s little comment in the back. He makes another Sherlock Hound reference so I knew it was on purpose. This is so rare so he gets extra bonus points for doing so. As with the first book, there are many beautiful color pages to enjoy throughout. Looking forward to the next one!

Tengu-Jin by Sumomo Yumeka is the story of a Japan that has been divided into two separate antagonistic nations due to a cataclysm. It centers around two brothers named, Mozuku and Shinonome. Shinonome has become a bit of an oddity at his school because anyone who pray to him has their wish granted. It turns out that Shinonome is a very important tengu that represents Eastern Japan. When a marriage between the tengu of the East and West seems to be the only way to stop a war between their respective countries how will this effect the brothers’ relationship? The first half is mostly comedy with a bit of drama. The last half is a flash back to a previous life that switches the formula with mostly drama with a bit of comedy. The art is nice with plenty of pretty boys being the majority of the cast. Once again like the Manzai Comics I get very light BL. There is nothing more than a little cheek kissing and a few longing glances. I can’t say that I really had any strong feelings on the story. Nothing in it was particularly objectionable nor did anything compel me to continue reading. I definitely enjoyed the comedy aspects more than the drama which I think is why it came off as so fulfilling. You can read a preview here.

Read the first book of Pluto which is coming out in VIZ’s newly revamped Signature line. The printing quality is a bit better, there are some color pages, and the book even has French folds (flaps). The story seems to pull influences from everywhere but maintains it’s ability to tell its own story. The mystery has already got me hooked! Are the deaths of these robots and humans related? No human traces at the crime scene, but robots aren’t supposed to be able to kill humans! It is a detective story so of course it gets extra bonus points from me. The only thing I found strange and maybe it is explained more later on, but the name Pluto is what they are calling the killer. In the story two characters are talking the deaths. They start going through all the names for the God of death in different cultures when they reach Pluto, they for some reason think that one is better than all the others! Uh. . . okay. I also really like the international setting of the series. Can’t wait for the next one!

Garden of Sinners: Paradox Spiral kicks up the length of the Garden of Sinners movies by being twice as long. It was interesting that we hardly see Mikiya but in his place for most of the movie is the proto-Shiro otherwise known as Tomoe Enjo. Shiki saves Tomoe from a pack of thugs and learns that he thinks he killed his family but it appears that his family is still alive. Tomoe is clearly troubled but what truly happened in Tomoe’s bizarre apartment complex? Has it been tied into everything else that has been happening to Shiki? Once again ufotable studio creates another beautiful movie. They continue to put a good amount of artistic flair to everything from the fight scenes to the conversations. The fight scene in the apartment complex balcony is worth the price of admission alone. You have to sit down and clear your mind before starting this movie more than the other four because they tell the story in a non-linear fashion. The parallels between Soren Araya and Kirei Kotomine are obviously lampshaded by the creators by them having the same seiyuu. Writing this review has totally reminded me that I forgot to ask for a release date for the first book from Del Rey when I was at New York Comic Con.

In honor of my Blade of the Immortal mini-marathon, this is the pic of the week:

NYCC 2009 ICv2 Conference

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Having a few free vacation days I decided to check out the ICv2 conference on Thursday before the NYCC proper. Since I was going to NYCC as press, ICv2 was allowing those same people into their conference for free. Two major themes popped up again and again. One was obviously the economy and the other was how the internet is affecting comics.

Every panel touched on the economy and its ramifications on comics without fail. It was an unavoidable cloud over the whole conference. Everyone mentioned that while the entertainment business is often thought of as recession proof, it is anything but. No one was telling tales of apocalyptic visions but it seems like everyone was bracing for impact. The assumption is that best-selling titles will see little to no drawback but everything that is not A-list will be hit hard. Smaller publishers could be in trouble and small titles might start dropping like flies. Everyone also expects to see a lot less experimentation this year.

The other major theme was how was the Internet is going to affect the comic industry. Everyone agreed that it is was an excellent tool for promoting comic sales, getting out information, and developing comic communities. However, everyone also agreed that they need to develop a greater Internet presence. The major problem is still not having fully figured out how to use unique features of the Internet. No one has successfully created a way of selling comics for download and companies have yet to truly realize the potential of web exclusive content. If there was a universal portable book reader this would change quickly but so far the iPod of book-readers has not appeared yet.

I noticed two major things on the manga side of the equation. The first was the big news that everyone has been taking about. The manga bubble has clearly burst. Manga sales were down approximately 17% in 2008. Despite the fact that most companies kept insisting that the growth would only level out it has in fact gone down. I predict we are going to see a bunch of manga companies disappear in the next couple of years. Those who stay around are going to start to being more conservative about their licenses. Unless they are VIZ and have crazy amounts of Naruto money to back up their lesser titles. Another thing I noticed was an increasing amount of resentment for scanlations within the manga industry. This struck me because I feel the anime industry did the same exact thing. They started out seeing fan-subs as a necessary evil. People were using them to watch stuff for free but it gave the companies a good idea of what to license and was publicity for the commercial product. But as time went on and fan-subs improved, anime companies began to take an increasingly negative view of them. The same thing is starting to happen with fan-scans. While they are different industries and there are different factors that weigh into their markets, I am sure that we will see an increased number of people in the manga industry complaining and possibly going after fan-scans sites.

The highlight of ICv2 was Art Spiegelman’s keynote address. He is obviously a very knowledgeable man and his lecture of the history of comics was both fascinating and well researched. He starts with the earliest proto-comics and works his way to the present while hitting most of the major milestones including the popularity of newspaper comics, the Comics Code Authority, the rise of manga, all the way to web-comics and the Internet. He examined the unique nature of comics as an art style and means of expression with its own language. He was a little too insistent in a comic equivalent of the Auteur theory. He seemed to push the theory that all the great works are produced by individual artists over long periods of time. I think that is a narrow perspective. I can’t say I agreed with everything he said but it was a well informed opinion from an expert in the field. Heck, he even knew what yaoi was.

If anything was obvious from this conference it was that 2009 will be an important year for comics in general but manga specifically. A bad economy, an increase in pirated materials, and the challenges of adapting comics to new media are all important issues. I am sure that we will see the death or shrinking of several manga companies this year. I also see many B and C-list manga titles being dropped, put on slower release schedules, or put on hiatus. These are not really radical predictions. It is obvious that these things are going to occur just by looking at 2008. But every year has major challenges that have to be overcome. I am curious to see which companies are going to rise to the challenge and which are going to fall behind.