Anime Central 2012, Day Four+: What's Next?

A little over a week after my first convention, I can't stop thinking about my second.

While I made it clear in my Day Three post that I'll be returning for Anime Central 2013, I'm rapidly beginning to think that's not good enough. I went into ACen expecting it to be Penny Arcade Expo practice and my only convention of 2012. The former remains in the distance - I can't afford to go to Seattle this fall, and all the badges sold out in 48 hours anyway - but the latter has become almost unthinkable. ACen 2013 is still over a year away! Derek want more dork time!

Should I take the plunge on another convention close to home, there are three obvious options:

Geek.Kon 2012, a convention in Madison that Tim and I were pitched at ACen Friday and may still go to Sep. 7-9 even though it drew a record attendance last year of 1,625;

Chicago Comic-Con, an Aug. 8-11 gala at my now-familiar stomping grounds in Rosemont that appears larger (70,000 by the Tribune's count in 2010) and more mainstream than ACen but, comparing its site to ACen's, seems to come with a sickly corporate culture;

and Gen Con, an Indianapolis institution running Aug. 16-19 that would be the leader in the clubhouse if I didn't have to persuade my friends to come to Indiana.

(Mercifully, I've already missed C2E2 and, as mentioned above, both PAX's. An insane part of me wants to visit the granddaddy of them all, San Diego Comic-Con, but it's also sold out.)

Regardless, I'll carry to my second and all future conventions the hard-won lessons of ACen 2012. I made several great calls and some awful ones throughout the weekend, and they show exactly how I can improve my performance and avoid a sophomore slump.

GOOD IDEA: Buying a badge in advance

Simply dedicating myself to going to ACen early and throwing down the money for a badge saved me at least two hours in line Friday and $10. I ended up waiting in line with other people anyway, but jumping early and grabbing the best deal and peace of mind was my first great call of the weekend.

BAD IDEA: Agonizing over my weekend schedule

The most laughable part of my ACen experience was the gigantic amount of panels I penciled in to my schedule after I ordered my badge and needed more things to plan. Aside from the Exhibit Hall and other distractions I wouldn't think of missing next time, I forgot that going to panels requires waiting in line and being in the right place at the right time. Next year I'll pick about four panels each day to consider attending and leave it at that.

GOOD IDEA: Bringing an iOS device

The Guidebook app was a lifesaver not only in customizing my panel schedule - right - but also in helping me find particular booths in the Exhibit Hall and telling me operating hours for each section of the convention. Frequent updates throughout the weekend kept me up to date as those who relied on the physical book got a steadily more hilarious array of printed inserts each morning.

BAD IDEA: Not reading the physical guide first thing anyway

Despite the immense amount of information in the Guidebook, the physical guide featured more detailed schedules, including the exact timing of Friday's Assassin's Creed wedding. On the other hand, that goof allowed Tim and me to get acquainted with some fellow congoers, adjust to the Hyatt and produce this deleted scene:

GOOD IDEA: Spending a lot of time at the Exhibit Hall

I very much enjoyed the panels I did get to, whether they blew my mind or not, but around those isolated moments of awesome were cosplayers, artists and exhibitors that served as vital connecting tissue. Exhibit Hall isn't the headline of ACen, but it's the backbone, and it's the single part I'm looking forward to most for 2013.

BAD IDEA: Walking like crazy

The unfortunate result of my Exhibit Hall fixation was absolutely murdering my legs; I was limping right along with Forsuk Sunday, so next year will require less travelling on foot or a much healthier, fitter me. Stay tuned.

GOOD IDEA: Tormenting my friends until they agreed to come too

I'm not proud of my methods, but two solid months of teleharassment resulted in a varied, omnipresent cast of friends - one of whom had never attended a convention and another who hadn't visited ACen - making my weekend one not only to remember but to reminisce about as well. With any luck they'll invite their friends and pack the convention even more full of awesome next spring.

BAD IDEA: Refusing go to panels alone or wait in long lines

This was partially because I hosted that revolving door of friends, with whom I waited in line and did about five total circuits of the Exhibit Hall, but of the plethora of panels that interested me at ACen I made it to only six. I missed Oregon Trail, Anime Hell, the Masquerade (which was cancelled anyway), Soap Bubble and a variety of topic panels including Halo, Ren Faire and Pokemon. I'm sure I still would have missed some, but flatly saying "I will not go alone or wait in line longer than 30 minutes" instantly ruled out a lot of things that might have been worth the effort.

GOOD IDEA: Making time for the little things

While I fell well short of my panel projections, it was more than worth it to test Dance Central 2, discover Wits and Wagers and generally soak up the atmosphere at my first convention. I didn't even mention playing Metal Slug with Jack or watching a friendly Wii player rock the first level of Resident Evil 4. I'll come back to ACen sharper, more focused and ready to accomplish concrete goals, but taking a laid-back approach paid major dividends this year.

BAD IDEA: Showing up early

As much as I wanted to squeeze every last moment out of ACen, the action didn't ramp up until about noon each day, and on Sunday in particular I wasted a lot of time waiting for things to happen. Since I still managed to be exhausted around midnight each day despite my iron will, a noon to 2 a.m. schedule is closer to ideal.

GOOD IDEA: Staying at a hotel

As tired as I was by the end of the weekend, it would have been ten times worse had I cheaped out and driven to and from my dad's in Peotone each day rather than bunking at the DoubleTree in Schaumburg. I may stay at an on-site hotel next year, but if they're booked early or too expensive, Schaumburg is a fantastic Plan B.

BAD IDEA: Eating spoiled food

You'd really think, at 23, I'd know this by now. Let's just move on.

Finally, I should credit a few folks not mentioned in my posts who made ACen amazing: my coworkers, Matt Troutman and Mishele Wright, who picked up the reporting load Friday while I took a vacation day; a few friendly cosplayers whom I saw repeatedly all weekend and came to refer to as "frequent fliers," including a very shapely Lara Croft, a woman with Toad on her head, a Naked Snake with a box over his torso, both varieties of Yuna and a pretty poor Capt. Falcon (other entertaining cosplays included Adam West Batman, Domo Kun, Jesus, several Links, Missing No., Undertaker and crossplaying Yuna); and my former Chronicle-Tribune compatriot Melissa Vogt, from whom I shamelessly ripped off the title of my aforementioned Day Three post.

Feel free to send me any questions you have about ACen either in the comments here, at facebook.com/derek.beigh or on Twitter @zorak9379. I'd love to convert another couple friends to attend future conventions.

With that said, good night from Anime Central 2012. I can't wait to continue this series in 2013.