AWA Con Report

[Stan Sakai]

Below is the Anime Weekend Atlanta con report. The Dojo members I met are listed with their on-screen names. Hopefully, a photo of Tomoe will be forthcoming.



Anime Weekend Atlanta 9/22-26/05

Day 1, Thursday: in which I fly to Atlanta

I've attended about 200 conventions over the past 25 years, but anime cons are still pretty new to me. I am definitely out of my element when attending them, because I don't watch much anime, and I'm not a regular manga reader. However, being a guest to these might introduce new readers to Usagi. Besides, I enjoy them, especially the cosplayers. Anime Weekend Atlanta took place September 23-25 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, GA. This was my first trip to Atlanta, and I was a mite concerned a week or so before the event. Hurricane Katrina had passed by a short time ago, and Ophelia had come through a week later. Hurricane Rita was still brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, building up to a category 5 and deciding where to go when I flew out of LAX.

The shuttle picked me up at 6:30 am for a 9:30 flight. It picked up another passenger in Pasadena, then drove down to Monterey Park for two more. The driver got lost along the way, and that added another half hour to our drive. As we were getting off the 105 to Sepulveda and LAX, we were rear-ended by another car. I did make my flight with no more problems, however.

The 8 am Delta flight to Atlanta had been cancelled because of mechanical problems, so my 9:30 flight was full with stand-by passengers. The flight itself was uneventful. I thumbnailed about a third of Usagi Yojimbo #91.

The Atlanta airport is huge, and I heard it is the busiest in the world. It was about a half mile walk from the gate to baggage claim, but there was no one to meet me there. There was some neat artwork to look at while I waited, such as the sculptures of the giant ants crawling on the ceiling. Fred Perry had just arrived from San Antonio, and together we were able to contact someone from the convention. The rush hour traffic was in full swing, and our ride was caught in it.

We were driven to the Renaissance Waverly Hotel, about 20 miles from the airport. All the guests stayed on the 14th floor, the executive floor which required a key to access. After settling in, I went down to the Waverly Grill for dinner. I had the lobster bisque. I hoped that it would be similar to the she crab soup, which I really enjoy and is popular around the south east. I also had grilled pork chop, mashed yams, and collard greens (this is the south, after all). After dinner, back to the room to get some inking done. I had brought the first 11 pages of UY 90 to be inked. I hoped to finish most of them during my stay in Atlanta. The deadline for this issue was September 30.

Day 2: the con opens

A very nice continental breakfast is provided for guests on the executive floor. The con's green room, in a corner suite, is also located on this level. After breakfast, I did some inking, then went to get my badge. The opening ceremony took place at noon. Yoko Ishida, a singer and voice actress, is the special guest from Japan. She and two backup dancers performed a couple of numbers at the opening. It's a different experience to see parapara performed by professionals.

I did a quick tour of the dealers' room to see what was there, and bought a kimono and obi to take back for Hannah. She had outgrown her old kimono years ago.

My first event at AWA was a presentation at 3, followed by an hour signing. There was a cosplayer dressed as Tomoe, one of my characters. It was a very faithful recreation. I then spent some time in Fred Perry's workshop. I was scheduled to conduct a workshop on Saturday, and wanted to know what was expected of me.

I went to the Green Room for dinner. They just had a delivery from The Olive Garden, so Italian food was on the menu tonight. I spent a couple of hours there talking to Lloyd Carter, the con organizer, then went back to my room, called Sharon, and got some work done.

Day 3: Japan Fest and Stone Mountain

John H is a friend that I have gotten to know because of Usagi. He travels a lot on business, and was on long term assignment at Cape Canaveral. He drove up from Florida and he and friends James, Hal, Benno, and I went to the Japan Fest at Stone Mountain about 40 minutes away. JF is an annual open air event, and has worked in conjunction with AWA. It fell on the same weekend this year, as it did last. There were exhibits, demonstrations, food booths, and dealers. I enjoyed the taiko drum performance, but not so much Dani's Mojo Dojo rockabilly band. The kyudo archery was the most interesting thing there. I did have some Georgia sushi for lunch, not a pleasant experience.

We walked over to the Stone Mountain Conferderate Memorial that afternoon. Stone Mountain is the largest piece of granite in the US, and carved on one side is a huge monument of Jefferson Davis , Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. I'm a bit of a civil war buff, so it was a treat to see this place in person.

I was scheduled for an autograph session at 3, so returned at 2:30. However, the area where I was to sign was not set up, so the event was cancelled. I went back to my room to do some inking.

My drawing workshop at 6 started on time. That was followed by an hour signing. One very pleasant surprise was meeting Usagi from the UY Dojo Boards.

John picked me up at 8:30, and our party of 11, including Brian Stelfreeze and Tom Feister, went to Fat Matt's BBQ, an Atlanta institution. I had half a rack of ribs, cole slaw, sweet potato pie, and sweet tea. Fat Matt's is a small restaurant with a live band. One of the guitarists had to move whenever someone opened the restroom door. Wanting someplace quieter to talk, we went to the Fat Matt's take out restaurant next door and sat outside. They were closing but said we could stay outside. We talked until 11. When John dropped me off at the hotel, the party here was in full swing with cos players everywhere around the lobby and a mob around the elevators. Typical Saturday night at a con.

Day 4: The last day of the con

Except for Closing Ceremonies, I had no con commitments today, so I inked a couple of pages before going down to the convention floor. I had lunch with an old friend, Bob Fonda, and his wife, Angela. I had not seen Bob for about 13 years, and he had just recently reestablished contact. We had a wonderful lunch at the hotel. A golf enthusiast, Bob, with my permission and assistance, had some golf balls printed with the Usagi head logo. He gave me a dozen balls, even though the only golf I play is of the "mini" variety.

It was just a couple of hours before the end of the con, so I went to say good-bye to friends and do a final tour of the dealers' room. I picked up a few books, and a couple of t-shirts for Hannah and Matthew.

At the closing ceremonies, all the remaining guests were reintroduced and each said a few words. Some had already left, including Yoko Ishida who was on a musical tour of the US.

I had dinner with Rod Espinoza, from Antarctic Press. We drove to a nearby Japanese restaurant that someone had recommended. We had soft shell crabs as appetizers, and sushi and tempura as main courses. This sushi was much better than the ones yesterday.

Back to the hotel room to pack for tomorrow's flight, and do more inking. So far, I had finished 8 pages.

Day 5: Return to LA

My Delta flight was scheduled to leave at 1:50 pm. I had breakfast in the Executive Lounge, and had already checked out when we met in the lobby at 10. Guest relations director Stan Dahlin had already ferried a group over to ATL. I was in the second wave of departing guests.

CNN had reported thunderstorms just north of Atlanta, with expected flight delays in Atlanta of up to 90 minutes. It was just drizzling that morning. I checked in, and was at my gate with 2 hours to spare. I used that time to finish thumbnailing UY 91. On the flight, I wrote out a synopsis for UY 92. The 100th Dark Horse issue of UY is coming up, and I've got to think of an appropriate story arc leading up to that. Perhaps Jei?

Next week, I'm off to Seattle.

[john h.]

Stan,

I'm AMAZED that you remembered so much, especially the people's

names. Our party kept getting larger. Yeah, that Georgia sushi & Japan

Fest cuisine was REALLY disappointing. Had a great time.


See you next time,

John H.

[Steve Hubbell]

Attached are a couple of photos of Tomoe from Anime Weekend Atlanta. I forgot to get the name of the cosplayer.

I still have not tried posting photos on the Dojo discussions boards. If you can, please post one or both of the photos on the News board under the AWA travel report thread.

[Stan Sakai]

Thank you, Steve.

That's a really nice costume. I regret that I did not get her name.

[Usagi]

Wow! That is one amazing and very cute costume of Tomoe! I love the little paw prints! That is just to adorable!

Iv always had a lot of hassles with flight delays or cancellations when leaving or going to Atlanta. Back in March, I flew out for my great grandmother funeral and the flight to Atlanta was delays for 7 hours....

Yep- Stan your right on that, the Atlanta Airport is one of the busiest airports. Again, I try to avoid as much of the Atl airport as I can, and Drive down to Birmingham Alabama airport....in some cases its worth the drive. --And on holidays, it's so backed up...XD.....Now you can say "I went through the Atlanta Airport."

For me- That whole week was College cram, because I knew that I would be stuck with two exams after the convention and I had a Neurosurgeon the Thursday before the convention.
I was able to make up my 8 am class that evening at 6- and took an online exam for my internet basics, which when well.

Fri- My step mom , grandma, and little brother drove from St. Louis to Atlanta. I’m sure you know how it is being in the car with a two year old cranky boy.
We got to the con that late Fri night. I met up with my sister and other brother and we walked around the center for a while, catching up on sibling gossip. Then I went to bed...

Saturday, I cosplayed Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland. And my little brother wanted to cling to me for a while, so I took him downstairs with me to get registered. That wasn’t much of a hassle as I thought it was going to be.
Stan had asked me months before, to go to the Con as his Guest, and I took his offer wholeheartedly. Thanks again Stan ^_^

After I got myself registered, my step mom and grandma and my brothers went to Stone Mountain for the Pumpkin Festival. They had their fill of the con experience. XD

From around 9:30 am to about noon I didn’t sell any of my artwork and by then, I was getting tired, so I left for a while to the dealers room to go and buy some CD's. I bought Ayumi Hamasaki and Boa, and Yoko Ishada. One of the con people who were in charge came up to me and told me that she was doing signings so I went to get my CD's signed . She and two of her back up dancers signed my CD's and my badge. That was my highlight of the afternoon. On a side note- a man who was with her interviewed me for a moment or two and we got to talking about Yoko's visit to AWA. I did not think to write down his name and information or exchange of Email-- Happiness takes over your mind sometimes ....

After random Photography shots, I finally made it back to my table were my sister was, and we switched spots. By later afternoon my work finally started to sell. One of the Con Coordinators came to my table and we talked a bit-after a while, I went back up to my room and changed out into normal clothes- Then about 4:30 rolls around and a girl walks up to me wanting me to do her commissions. Being the nice person I am, did her two full commotions just in time for Stan’s Drawing demonstration.

I met there with my friend Tony and Jason and we sat through Stan's Demonstration- In my head I was hopping with joy- yet writing everything he said about the Color spectrum and the CMYK color spectrum. I learned a lot from the demonstration and I’m sure Stan Enjoyed it too-- he went a bit over time he said, but that was ok.....I’m my head I wanted him to keep talking XD....I would have asked questions, but after hearing some from the group- I got shy about the topic of Inking and getting deeper in to the Print world...and believe it or not....Paper...I wanted to ask about paper. After the demonstration, I was able to Finally meet Stan!- You know that good feeling when you meet a hero?...Yea I know the feeling. One thing that just blew my mind, was how much traditional styles of work matter to some people. Stan I had our picture done and I gave him the Art peace I did for him. I was tickled pick he saw through my work too. I felt down I couldn’t stay Sunday, but you have to see your glass half full right? After my tight good by I went back to my room and packed my things, form there, I spent the night at my moms house, and saw the family, and best of all...I got to meet my “Biggest fan club”...My Sniggles, and Angel Bunny. Though, my stay was a short one, this was the best AWA Iv been too.

[Stan Sakai]

After I got myself registered, my step mom and grandma and my brothers went to Stone Mountain for the Pumpkin Festival.

Yes, The Pumpkin Festival with the giant talking pumpkin tree. It's a Christmas tree, but decorated with pumpkins (they weren't real pumpkins). I had my picture taken with the giant straw pig.

I met Yoko Ishida in the con Green Room. She and her back-up singers posed for a photo for me.

[Usagi]

Ha! Thats so cool, you went to the Pumpkin fest. my stepmom took pictures of that big Christmas pumkin tree. I was laughing to much because Georgia always has to do something to their Christmas trees.

You got pictures with that Pig! Thats too funny! My little brother got some pictures with that big pig, I really like that can that is for the pigs noise. I think it was thier first time to Stone Mountain too- Did you know they have lazer shows after dark on the Mountain?

Awww you met Yoko! Thats so Cute!-And at a green roon Never hurd of that XD