Boomslank at the con

As most of you know, this past weekend Boomslank was at our very first convention. Don't get me wrong, as individuals, we have been to conventions. This time though, we went not as individuals, but as Boomslank, so yea, kind of a big deal. We always knew we would have to do a con sooner or later, but we've been to Animazement in Raleigh, NC and have seen how overwhelming they can be. In other words, we were.....kinda scared. So we decided to start small at the artist alley at IchibanCon in Charlotte instead. Great idea, I thought.

Going as a regular person, I kinda know what to expect from a con. Walk around a lot, look at some awesome costumes, take a break by watching one of the many anime showings, check out the dealers, etc. Going as an artist/dealer, it is completely different. For starters, you have no time to actually "go" to the convention. You have to man your table at all times, lest your wares be pilfered. As a result, you come to the end of 13 hours, and find that you have sat in the same place for 9 of those hours. Very sad thought. And then there is the preparation, oh the horrible preparation. Did we forget anything, how are we setting up our table, who do we talk to about this, who do we talk to about that, just so much to think about. Add to that the fact that we were going as sponsors, so there were certain obligations we had to meet. Stress levels were a little high.

But all in all, it was a fantastic experience. We have been to two conventions earlier, and we have to say this was the first authentic con experience we have ever had. Since we were sponsoring the con, we were given a pretty rocking spot for out table. Our neighbors were pretty awesome too. We sat next to the SpacePod club wear table, and those guys were great fun. All in all, this was a major learning experience. We gained some tips on how to run a successful artist alley table. Here are some of the main observations we made though:

Celebrity guests at the con rock!
With all the anime we watch, we had never given a passing though to how it would feel to meet the voices behind our favorite characters. But when Vic Mignogna (Full Metal Alchemist, Dragonball Z, Bleach) came by our table to redeem his gift card, we have to admit that was a pretty special moment. Apparently he likes mechs, as you can tell from the picture. He is one of the funniest guys you will ever meet. Lisa Ortiz (Pokemon, Slayers, Yu-Gi-Oh) was another hilarious one. She was super nice and was a huge fan of Airport. She even tried one on! Looking good Lisa! Our artist was absolutely ecstatic to hear their kind words for his work. We love them all and hope to see them in more cons.

There is way more anime out there than one could watch in a lifetime, and that makes me sad.
We can't even count how many cosplays we saw. It is just mind-boggling how much anime there is to see. In some ways it's a good thing, 'cause you will never be without something new. In other ways it sucks because you could never see all that you want to. I have made this pledge to myself though: I am going to watch Hetalia this weekend, because I am pretty sure I was the only one there that didn't know what it was.

Get plenty of sleep!
I can't stress this enough. On the last night I probably got about 3 hours of sleep, and there aren't many things I have regretted more. Our artist P-Shinobi was smart about it, and got his 7+ hours. Thankfully he was there to pick up my slack 0:D. Working a busy artist alley table is hard work. Do not take it lightly.

We would like to thank Nostalgia Conventions for throwing one bangin' con. We thought it was well-organized, and we cannot wait for next year. They were willing to give us a chance, and as a result, they are good in our book. We would also like to thank the celebrities (Vic Mignogna, Lisa Ortiz, Veronica Taylor, and Eric Stuart) for being super awesome! I mean, if they were any more awesome........man they were awesome. Last of all, we would like to thank everyone that attended the con, especially everyone that visited our table. Boomslank will be nowhere without its wonderful fans, and we are absolutely thrilled by the new friends we made over the weekend. We will be trying to make it to more cons, and will keep you posted. Till then.....

See all the pictures from the convention on our Facebook page

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