I used to be there for the principle ten A-Kons. The conference changed into a yearly ritual for our Atlanta gang, a revolving crew of which could perchance perhaps pile into about a cars and drive twelve hours by means of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Meridian, Jackson, Vicksburg, Monroe, Shreveport, Longview, and Tyler, sooner or later reaching the Dallas/Fort Price “Metroplex.” For most of us it used to be our first avenue outing with out fogeys or credit playing cards or moral automobile repairs and even AC on about a journeys, and to within the meanwhile I marvel we got there and motivate so many cases with out more failures than we had.
You understand what anime cons are like within the meanwhile. They’re overcrowded, there’s a line for the entirety, rather about a events you don’t care about are sucking up con time and space, and also you would possibly perchance perchance’t stroll 5 toes with out a con staffer telling you to crawl in different places or a con photog complaining you’re ruining their shot? That last A-Kon I went to used to be impartial initiating to edge into that territory, rather about a followers taking on rather about a space and me within the heart, wondering why I’d advance a prolonged manner to now not have confidence powerful relaxing.
You see all of it delivery as a lot as occur in a Let’s Anime column I wrote in 1997, one in every of the few cases I’d take a seat down and element a total A-Kon scoot. Since 2020 goes to be the principle 300 and sixty five days since 1990 with out an A-Kon, I believed it used to be time to scoot this 1997 half out, give it a going over, and negate it as a historical, fully subjective, perchance clinically narcissistic doc of what it used to be like to focus on with one in every of the few anime cons in The US on the time.
 |
| early Project A-Kon program books |
First the facts: Project: A-Kon 1997 used to be held Might perchance perchance 30-June 1 on the Harvey Hotel Addison in Addison Texas, impartial north of Dallas moral. Company integrated Amanda Winn, Steve Bennett, Kuni Kimura, Neil Nadelman, and James “Extensive Inconvenience In Small China” Hong, along with Hiroyuki Kitakubo, who worked on Mobile Swimsuit Gundam, Pop Chaser, Robotic Carnival, and Golden Boy, though none of his intensive animation credit are mentioned in A-Kon’s program e-book.
Events on the exhibit integrated opening ceremonies, karaoke, the costume contest (simply titled “The Cos-Play”), RPG gaming including Battletech, Stellar Horizons, Ani-Mayhem, and Japanimayhem, the Vampire The Masquerade LARP, the Hyper Combating Suppose video gaming event, Cyberpunk RPG, Bullet Conditions LARP, a Writing Fan Fiction panel, a cel painting workshop, a scavenger hunt, Anime Jeopardy, a water gun combat, Name That Tune, an Anime Video Contest, a dance, a mannequin and little painting contest, an art exhibit, a digital painting demonstration, an performing panel hosted by James Hong, a panel by a gaming lobbying community, and a panel about publishing fiction on the knowledge superhighway. One thing missing: panels about Jap animation. Within the event you’re noticing a type, you aren’t inaccurate; anime programming used to be getting skinny on the ground on the longest-running anime con in The US.
However don’t rob my 2020 phrase for it, let 1997 Dave describe you the memoir.
1. Beer Me
So it’s good to learn about A-Kon 8? Let me describe you about A-Kon 8. First off we were an hour unhurried even getting started on our 12-hour avenue outing. Every 300 and sixty five days the quantity animated to manufacture this hellish scoot shrinks. We’re down to 2 cars. Quite rapidly it’ll be one guy on a motorbike and the remainder of us will uncover brains and flee. Anyway, 12 hours, awful meals, rather about a pee breaks, and 4 impart traces later, we arrived in Dallas, checked in, met mates Ed, Neil, Anna, Max, and so forth., and proceeded to break up for buffalo fajitas at a nearby upscale Mexican restaurant. Had the principle beer of the con, a Corona. More to practice. The resort is jammed with of us checking in, taking a gape lost, asking where the heck other of us are.
 |
| roadside monsters viewed on the kind to Dallas |
Friday morning we arise unhurried, trundle some crap downstairs to living up our fan table, damage up with Ed to earn liquor and meals and uncover his cooler from his home in Euless (a solid 20 miles away), pet his pets, and return. The dealers room is kinda average and quite so a lot of the dealers are pissed off due to A-Kon made up our minds now not to allow SM CDs, that are some earn of Taiwanese-Korean-HK-Malay knockoff pirate designate that advance ten bucks cheaper than the valid article. Quite a bit of the day’s liquor toddle includes Lone Extensive title, Corona, and a few Molson as a nod to our Canadian traffic, who don’t drink anyway. Lone Extensive title is a form of beers that first rate beer drinkers (which technique, “snobs”) turn their noses up at. Neatly, screw ‘em, which technique more for me. Plus, shove a lime wedge down the longneck and it ain’t half awful. The prize of the day is Sailor Moon social gathering plates and napkins stumbled on on the local Wal-Mart. This presents you a principle of what more or less con this used to be – I be conscious more referring to the liquor stores and the Wal-Mart than I enact referring to the con itself. The fan table work used to be stupid… now not many individuals are attracted to fanzines and comics after they have to aquire lesbian furry zines and anime persona cheesecake pin-ups. I know sex sells, nonetheless here it looks sex is all that sells.
 |
| essentially the most Sailor Moon we stumbled on at this conference |
2. The Ballad Of The One-Legged Cigarette Bandit Of A-Kon 8
Anyway, an even friend in Atlanta had arranged with A-Kon that we, the Atlanta crew, would host a “Twentieth anniversary Captain Harlock Party” within the fan video room, ignoring my decided cries that 1997 is, really, the nineteenth anniversary of the Harlock TV series. It doesn’t subject powerful, due to mentioned good friend didn’t in actuality support the social gathering and of us didn’t appear to care one manner or one other about Harlock typically. As a replacement we confirmed contemporary Corn Pone Flicks stuff and a few shorts while I handed out beers and snacks within the motivate of the room. I rejoiced performing crucial lime-set up surgical treatment on prolonged-suffering longneck beers, nonetheless because it changed into out, I missed what has turn into the 2nd most violent event ever to occur at an A-Kon – the attack of the one-legged cigarette bandit of A-Kon 8!
The Ballad Of The One-Legged Cigarette Bandit Of A-Kon 8 (as knowledgeable to Dave Merrill)
Neatly, there were a bunch of what looked like heart-ragged building team inserting out within the resort bar on Friday night. Along about eleven PM, one in every of them – bald, obese, sweaty– goes to earn cigarettes. The cigarette machine doesn’t work (explanatory display for 2020 – a “cigarette machine” used to be a merchandising machine, negate in bars, restaurants, and resort lobbies, that provided packs of cigarettes. People who smoke would insert coins or payments – a pack of smokes used to be $5 in 1997 – and then pull a knob to resolve their designate. These machines were as soon as a ubiquitous phase of the American landscape). Mister Baldy gets infected and begins whacking it with his cane. He’s got a cane for some reason. I guess he limps. That explains the “one-legged” phase. The A-Kon security guys see this guy whacking away on the machine, so they technique him cautiously. Mr. Baldy sees ‘em coming and begins strolling away rapidly. He begins attempting doors. They’re all locked. Door after door is locked. The con security is closing in. Issues are taking a gape grim for our building employee good friend. With out notice, a door opens, and Fatty shoots internal. It’s a conference video room – darkish, pungent, and filled with stout raveled guys. He fits moral in. With the exception of that the con security guys advance moral in after him and hit the lights. Busted! This time the resort security is in on the sport as successfully, and despite the truth that Sweaty begins laying about with his cane like Custer at Small Extensive Horn, he goes down. John Legislation arrives and Fatty is able to be inserted into the patrol automobile (a tough industrial in and of itself) while a con security guy presents his version of the memoir to the cop. Because the epic ends, Fatty speaks up.
“Officer, there are about a objections I have to that memoir…”
Addison’s Most attention-grabbing turns to Bald, Elephantine, and Smelly.
“Aw, shut the FUCK UP!”
Win one for the Addison Texas Police Department!
3. I In actuality feel Quite Underneath the affect of alcohol
Anyway I missed the total thing and needed to console myself with one other smoking adventure attractive my acquaintance “A.” Correct by means of the video room social gathering I wandered over to the Karaoke event which Ed Hill used to be running; which technique, Ed needed to pay for the karaoke machine himself. I seen the bill. Attain on, cheapskate conventions, pony up. Anyway, I sat within the resort bar and watched non-singers painfully strive to voice. My good friend “A” drunkenly wandered over, and we started talking. He used to be talking a blue scoot about something or other, and when he’s drinking he’s gotta smoke, and it being the 90s he’s gotta smoke clove cigarettes, which I on the total hate nonetheless I’ll tolerate due to, hiya, A-Kon absolute most life like comes as soon as a 300 and sixty five days. Neatly, what happens is some con security particular person comes over and tells him to achieve the clove out, due to smoking anything besides cigarettes is unlawful in Addison. Pipes, cigars, hookahs, and cloves are all forbidden! It’s even within the con program e-book. I’m sure there’s a silly memoir within the motivate of that law, nonetheless for the time being, “A” sadly snuffs his clove and we phase. An hour later I see “A” again, panicked, agitated, bouncing off the walls, babbling incoherently, clearly in a clove cigarette withdrawal downward spiral. Don’t delivery, kids. I poke over and enact my phase to support out. “Hey man,” I direct in my calmest, most down-to-earth tone, “it’s time to name it an night. Hit the sack, huh?” My responsibility done, I pass away from this accident ready to occur. The scene ends when A-Kon security forcibly puts him to mattress in an A-Kon team room. I guess he used to be on team? Or did they impartial kidnap a guy?
4. Con In Security
So the video room social gathering thing ended. A total multi-impart crew of us assembled and proceeded to search out someplace lets plant our beer-soaked carcasses and talk all night, as multi-impart assemblages of mates have a tendency to enact. We sat within the hall, and security knowledgeable us to pass to the mezzanine. We sat within the mezzanine, and security confirmed up again and knowledgeable us to pass. “What the f*** goes on?” we howled indignantly. “What kinda f***ing con is that this where we can’t f***ing take a seat out within the con space and f**ing talk? I imply, what the f***?!” Our say of English used to be noticeably hampered by our liquor consumption, alternatively our level used to be made, delivered, and comprehended by the hapless security thug, visions of an inebriate-fueled pummeling visibly contorting his aspects. At last after session with the greater-ups, they deigned to let us take a seat in an empty panel room. We trooped in and occupied our territory, taking handle a watch on of our destinies till about four within the morning, at which level I staggered to my resort room in a decided bustle against the rising solar and my have falling consciousness.
 |
| the A-Kon “artists alley” / “fan table” space |
5. Let’s Dance
Saturday seen me upward thrust before noon, animated to accompany Ed and varied mates on a paranormal scoot deep into the heart of Dallas attempting to uncover liquor, paychecks, and Dealey Plaza. Ed’s contemporary automobile performed magnificently, Dave III loved seeing where JFK used to be perforated by a crazed lone gunman, and booze used to be stumbled on. Plus, we got to play with Ed’s dog; nothing takes one’s mind off a conference like trucking on home for pet time. Upon our return we stumbled on it 5pm; we’d missed quite so a lot of the total day’s value of conference activities. With fanzines and merch retrieved we again living up our fan table, and were straight knowledgeable, by yet one other self-crucial security jerk, that we were now not allowed to promote fan stuff delivery air of long-established dealers room hours. I ask you again, what kinda f***ing con is that this? We helped Carl Horn living up his Evangelion-themed martini social gathering, we positioned on some snazzy duds for Saturday night social gathering hopping, and I handed out memento promotional AWA foam-rubber handguns to these ready in line delivery air the costume contest. This 300 and sixty five days the competition had moved from last 300 and sixty five days’s too-tiny feast facility into a too-tiny con feature room. I tried entrance, used to be rebuffed by security, entered by means of one other door, stood on a chair within the motivate of the room to review out to scrutinize what used to be going on, and used to be halted by yet one other security goon. Then I tried – okay, uncover this; in most cases conventions will patch a video feed of widespread events to 1 other space, preferably a video room with seating, to offer alternate event viewing alternatives. What A-Kon did here used to be to patch a video signal to a TV that used to be positioned in a hallway. So even as you tried to gaze the costume contest on the TV that used to be positioned namely for the functions of staring on the costume contest, yet yet another security staffer would fabricate you pass along due to you were blocking off internet site traffic… by attempting to enact the very thing they attach the TV there for.
 |
| uncommon photo of Carl Horn with out a tie |
Okay, anyway, the remainder of the night integrated more drinking, more wandering, the Eva social gathering, and a few unhurried-night hot tubbing. We did talk to the dance, which used to be a now not-gigantic series of desperately random tunes that failed to encourage the team to enact anything rather then roll their eyes. We left after they started enjoying “My Sharona.” Okay, it’s a power pop traditional, nonetheless now not exactly a groove-shaking dance ground tune. So we missed the low level of the night when all negate were pushed from the room by – what else? The Macarena. Why does God punish us so? What crime have confidence we committed, what offense have confidence we made? Record me, O Lord!
The level is, the con used to be demise a painful Saturday night demise, suffocated by awful music, lack of seating on the costume contest, and few events. We therefore stumbled on ourselves motivate in our resort suite, bitchin’ and moanin’ with Alec and Neil and the leisure, when we stumbled on ourselves blasted into what changed into out to be essentially the most attention-grabbing thing that took impart the total weekend!!
6. The Rumble
Most ceaselessly, this enthusiastic three mates of mine. Pal One (let’s name him Riff) used to be on the dance, hitting on a chick on the dance ground. Associates Two and Three, Tony and Bernardo, were additionally on the dance, sitting on the sidelines. The target of Riff’s attention disengaged herself from Riff, prompting derisive comment from Tony. Riff responded with a low hand gesture, and Bernardo countered with an even ruder comment touching on mentioned hand gesture. Riff riposted by attempting to yank Bernardo over the railing setting apart them, and failing this, biffed and baffed Bernardo about a cases referring to the head and face. Riff then left the dance, adopted closely by an agitated Bernardo. Riff entered our resort room, where we were all smashed to the gills, and he explained the preceding events to us impartial in time for Bernardo to bang on the door, anxious to “talk” to Riff.
 |
| nerds |
At this level I, drunk as a lord, took circulation. Underneath the affect of alcohol circulation. I knew that if I let these two strive to resolve their variations mano y mano, nothing good would advance of it. The days are past when men could perchance perchance combat every other to a decision and then shake fingers and thereafter be mates. Any combat between these two would result in a lifelong feud and the shattering of a circle of mates that had absolute most life like now not too prolonged ago learned to work collectively. This predicament wanted resolving, and absolute most life like drunk me could perchance perchance enact it. So I knowledgeable them both that Bernardo wasn’t gonna uncover wherever near Riff, that Riff wasn’t gonna uncover wherever near Bernardo, that what Riff did used to be atrocious and he have to silent in actuality feel awful about it, and that my mates weren’t gonna combat every other as prolonged as I could perchance perchance support it. Or words to that destroy. Memory is hazy. Love I mentioned, I used to be blitzed.
Anyway it looked to work. Bernardo left, Riff calmed down, and the memoir used to be knowledgeable and re-knowledgeable to everybody else who got here in. The leisure of the night used to be uneventful, if fairly marred by a exiguous bit cookie tossing and a few technicolor yawning, nonetheless again, that’s what happens have to you uncover drunk. Don’t delivery, kids!
7. Sunday Morning Coming Down
Sunday? I provided some zines, sooner or later. Spent some table time sketching some of Dallas’ more distinctive examples of sharp fandom facial physiognomy (there are some in actuality… attention-grabbing taking a gape followers with some attention-grabbing type picks within the DFW scene. Imperfect pores and skin, unwashed hair, trucker caps, sad trenchcoats in June, poorly fitting t-shirts decorated with airbrush renderings of teach lesbian furry art). Closed down the table, did some pool volleyball circulation, and then a trim community of us decamped to Planet Hollywood Dallas, which deserves its have review – let’s impartial direct it closed in 2001 and is now not always missed.
 |
| precise anime followers in their pure habitat |
Sunday night we settled up the resort bill. The “Bernardo/Tony” half the crowd left for home within the heart of the night. The leisure of us wakened Monday morning, packed the entirety, mentioned our goodbyes, and started the prolonged drive Atlanta sure.
In some unspecified time in the future unhurried Saturday night, in between the fistfights and the vomit, Alec and I in contrast notes about that 300 and sixty five days’s exhibit. At one level I mentioned “next 300 and sixty five days” with the caveat “if I DO wind up coming motivate.” Alec laughed and responded “you’ll be motivate, Dave. You’re hooked.” And I guess I’m, for the explanation that regarded as returning to Dallas in actuality does enchantment to me, if absolute most life like for the chance to throw an even greater social gathering, to wallpaper the con with flyers for our exhibit and hand out more foam rubber weapons.
However in actual fact that A-Kon ‘97 used to be now not an even con. The negatives a long way outweighed the positives, especially pondering the space traveled and the cash spent. The con used to be over-toddle with jerky gamers, vampires, Klingons, and other varied non-anime persons, so gaming-crazed that they felt the have to destroy an A-Kon leaflet campaign warning followers to “dangle onto their Magic playing cards due to they’d perchance perchance uncover stolen!” The dealers’ room used to be a clone of last 300 and sixty five days’s now not as a lot as stellar dealers room. Video programming used to be lackluster; greater titles were being fansubbed within the resort rooms. Con traffic were absolute most life like scheduled for one panel, and even as you missed it, too awful! The con security team treated attendees like inmates to be herded and controlled, now not like, direct, fellow followers. It looks A-Kon’s developed from a tiny, relaxing anime-centered exhibit into a bigger, jerkier, gamer-centered conference that happens to have confidence an anime room and a few VHS tapes and toys within the dealers room. The straight forward truth is the conference wasn’t relaxing for me this 300 and sixty five days.
 |
| Project A-Kon 8 registration |
In A-Kon’s protection, it bears declaring that two of the organizers had health points this 300 and sixty five days and weren’t in a achieve to stunning tune the con as successfully as theymight have confidence. Love every exhibit, some things fell by means of the cracks, for instance like crediting the particular person that provided the 8th Man artwork viewed at some level of this device e-book (that used to be me, by the kind). Since the demise of the Dallas Legend Ravishing, there in actuality hasn’t been a conference for the local weenies rather then A-Kon, so I factor in A-Kon has to trade a chunk to meet the needs of its constituency. And sure, I loved the contemporary tub, and I loved seeing my mates, and A-Kon did hand out exiguous flashlights as a memory of a outdated A-Kon when the ability used to be knocked out for half of the con, that used to be super.
Next 300 and sixty five days? Will we return to Dallas ready to renew our campaign to pressure Jap animation motivate into the maw of this ostensible Jap animation conference? Time will describe!
With a pair an extended time’ hindsight it’s straight forward to scrutinize where things were headed with A-Kon; more gaming, more SF, more media traffic, less “anime”. Otherwise you would possibly perchance perchance perchance direct “anime” muscled its manner into the mainstream of nerd entertainment and changed into yet another hook to hang a total media popular culture conference onto. Whichever. I attended the 1998 and 1999 Project A-Kons and by the destroy I used to be wandering at some level of the DFW Hilton, as soon as again being hassled by security, asking myself why I used to be bothering coming to Dallas, I had my have conference to alarm about!
 |
| anime t-shirt preference circa 1995 |
However silent, 2020 would possibly perchance be the principle 300 and sixty five days since 1990 with out a Project A-Kon, and that’s a loss. Despite no subject grumpy points I had with the exhibit, A-Kon has entertained hundreds and hundreds of followers over three an extended time and the realm is poorer with out it.
Any other takeaway from 1997 is the brutal truth, reconfirmed for the length of years of event organization, that a winning con depends on a bewildering diversity of variables. These form of substances you would possibly perchance perchance handle a watch on, and others you would possibly perchance perchance’t. Whether or now not or now not any teach attendee has an even time – in my e-book that’s the correct yardstick of “success” – is tied up with things like the weather, the attendee’s health, the impart of their relationships with their at-con mates, the dimensions of the attendee’s checking fable, and whether their expectations were in step with the conference’s targets, or whether the attendee had his or her have hierarchy of needs that could perchance perchance now not have confidence anything to enact with the conference at all. It comes down to the question, that metric I mentioned earlier: did the attendee have confidence an even time? It’s a roll of the cube for every single badge provided. It turns out in ’97 powerful of A-Kon used to be attracted to rolling the cube for saving throws for the length of RPG gaming, which is undoubtedly now not what I drove 12 hours for.
And yet, despite the truth that my have 1997 experiences don’t accurately mirror the total panoply of A-Kon totality, I wasn’t on my own in feeling miffed that the principle impart we’d stumbled on to gash out our have territory away from the sneers of the Trekkies and the gamers and the total sci-fi nerds had been changed into moral motivate over to them. What had temporarily been our have special impart used to be now impartial like every other conference. Did this skills have confidence an imprint on our decisions as soon as as we went home and started our have anime conventions? It sure did. 23 years later, we’re silent seeing the consequences of these decisions.
Or we can, when we delivery having conventions again. Protect stable accessible everybody! Wash your fingers, wear a conceal, quit home, see you in 2021!
