Sakura-Con
Sep. 21st, 2005 09:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dudelovenextOne of those topics I never got around to posting about...guess with vacation I have a little extra time to do so. :)
Wow, how long have I really attended Sakura-Con? And when did I first start? If I can even pick those details from my terrible memory... `^_^
It probably all started with Anime Night. Jon (some of you probably know as Bandon) started this up when our other friend John had stopped Anime Night. We were really into it, and one of us found out about Sakura-Con. This was back in...2001 I believe, when it was up at the Everett Holiday Inn. We had quite a weekend, and it was my first con period. I remember entering (and terribly failing) the Anime Quiz Show, watching the karaoke contest (kinda unorganized at the time), watching cosplay in the theater room (actually the year that I enjoyed cosplay the most, as it was the only year I could see and hear everything), seeing people that I would later come to know much better (who all did I see? To my recollection...Big Chris, Erin, even Freon). I think I even volunteered for the newsletter!
Later in the year, there was an opening on the website for a Message Board Moderator. Sounded like fun, and I was pretty good with people, so I thought "why not?" The message board was run MUCH different back then. I honestly can't remember who was running it, but the rules were extremely strict. Still, people came and had fun and it was all good. :)
The next year rolls around, 2002, and I believe we're in the Hilton for the first time. Once again, I'm "Dude Love" as my costuming skills were next to zero. `^_^ I even had one person recognize me as "Dude Love" the wrestler. *LOL* I was still kind of a quiet person both on- and off-line, so I really didn't talk to too many people. Though it was cool to dance around the room in the conga line when Rebecca sang the Dragon Half theme song. :) That was also the year that one of my best friends asked me if I wanted to dance. :)
During the 2002-2003 year, the message board went through some overalls. Essentially, Adam took over the roll of the MB Coordinator and asked me to stay on as a mod, which I was only too happy to do. It was during this time that I started to go out with Mika. Pretty crazy year. Again, I was Dude Love, but decked out in my utilikilt. :) Due to a lot of personal problems with Mika, it wasn't the weekend it should've been. The limo ride (was that the first year?) was still awesome, but we both ended up missing out on a lot of events. Still, it was fun.
Shortly after Adam asked me if I wanted to take over as the MB Coordinator. Hell yeah (actually, that might've been before SC03 just a tad...)! I think that was a really fun time for a lot of us, as we had a real core group thing going. We were all regulars, and just started hanging out as a group. I want to say that just before SC03 we started our annual Gameworks Meet. Yes, it was that year! Heh, anyway, the calendar year ended on not so good terms, but at least the start of 2004 started out really well with me meeting Reneé. It doesn't seem so long ago...
But SC04 was a lot of fun for me. The roommate situation might not've been the best, seeing as the person renting the room had party views very opposite mine. `^_^ Still, I remember sitting out in the halls during the wees hours of Sunday morning, drinking 99 Blackberries with...gah, what was her name? She was the Cosplay Coordinator and she was Jill Valentine. Anyway, her and some other people.
It was this year that I thought I'd throw my hat into the Director circle. I think everyone that was there still remembers my Vice Chair speech. Oh boy. `^_^ I'm sure I turned red as a beet...*LOL* Well, I didn't get either position (Vice Chair or Publicity), but it worked out okay as I became an Assistant Director.
I want to say that it was later that year that our group kinda started to drift apart a bit. People within our group lost interest, or started dating and breaking up, or a dozen other reasons. Many of us kept in contact, but just as many dropped off the face of the planet. Kind of a sad thing. :(
Anyhow, being Assistant Director of Publicty was cool, though...problems arose, and at the end of the day, I was transferred to being the Assistant Director of Ops. Rob was really cool, and being the ADO at the con was very...enlightening. Not to mention tiring. `^_^ But, most of the time I was in the Ops room, putting my customer service skills to good use, and feeling just as good about my place within the con as I did when I was the MB Coordindator. Despite how much I missed out on the con, overall? Still had fun.
So then we come to elections. Two director positions had become vacant, and I was nominated for Programming and Publicity. As with the previous year, I didn't get either year.
It was finally at this point that my enthusiasm started to damper. Make no mistake, I still loved, and still do, Sakura-Con. I have it to thank for a good portion of my friends and some really great and fun memories. Hell, even my first serious girlfriend!
But...I have to say, there's a selfish part of me that just felt...slighted. My brain recognizes that that's not the case. But my heart doesn't feel so much so. I feel a sense of...guilt that I really haven't tried to help out more with the con this year. But I think even with all the positives that've happened in the past two years, all the negatives just slowly wore me down to this point. And no, I'm not blaming anybody (well, besides the obvious!).
At this point, I'm going to SC06 purely as an attendee...and boy, does that feel weird. Stef offered me a position on his staff, which I've considered. I guess we'll see. I look at how I've really changed within the past five years since that first Sakura-Con. I need to find a way to recapture that vigor I used to have. Who knows how I'll find it again, though. I guess only time will tell.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-22 04:57 am (UTC)Maybe a year off from the behind the scenes work will be good for your soul. And then you can start a new cycle!
I didn't get to enjoy myself thoroughly this year, my first year. Shingles, losing a cell phone, no bf as my first year tour guide...
Next year I feel like I will know more people and have more interests. And being in downtown Seattle???
DL you will have to hang out with me when everyone else is running around like crazy.
It's a shame that I got into it so late... just call me the 30 year-old virgin. LOL
no subject
Date: 2005-09-22 04:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-22 05:06 am (UTC)And yeah, maybe you're right, I can be nice and refreshed after this year. :)
You know I will (hang out with you)! :)
Heh, it's all good. And thanks! I have many more con stories to expand on, even those I don't mind sharing with everyone. :)
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Date: 2005-09-22 05:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-22 05:10 am (UTC)JS
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Date: 2005-09-22 07:53 am (UTC)*glomp*
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Date: 2005-09-22 04:10 pm (UTC)Yeah, *nod*, as part of that group near the end (my first time at that anime night was the one where the cops broke it up due to balcony loudness, how's that for an intro!), I just caught the tail end of some of that. Still, most of my friends (other than a few at con meetings before that) were "met" that night or through folks there. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2005-09-22 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-22 06:17 pm (UTC)You are different than you were 5 years ago. You have grown up. You have become an adult male. You are making your way into a world, of which you never knew as a child. Sakura Con was something that helped you to develop who you are, as any social situation would. You learned to become sure of yourself, and to be who you are in any situation...at least one would hope.
My foray into SC was through Slicks and NIftyKoala, and as such I didn't jump in with both feet. I always was asked, always volunteered, but either got sick halfway through, or right before hand. April is NEVER a good month for me healthwise, and I really never got into the sc 'lifestyle' per se. That said, I have met some every interesting people, I never would have met otherwise, including yourself.
You are growing in ways you cannot fully imagine, and you are moving forward in this life (hopefully) into something resembling happiness. Don't be bitter about the elections, it simply was meant to be...let it be that...and press on...'run the race' of this life as Paul said, and be Stephen, with every fibre of your being.
~Dave
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Date: 2005-09-22 07:39 pm (UTC)I was my relatively-quiet "I don't know anyone here" self, but out there for most of it, as it was also the time I felt I was "crashing" Kate's bday party otherwise, too. And wow did that change... the next year I wasn't just invited, I got a leaping glomp at the end (aww, sweet). ^_^'
SC06
Date: 2005-09-22 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-22 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-23 05:29 am (UTC)