We arrived Thursday afternoon and got in the pre-reg line. After a few minutes in the sun I decided to leave the kids and just go to the Gofer Orientation where they gave us our badges. I only volunteered eight hours but it was a great experience and I recommend it to anyone who is thinking about doing this.

The pre-reg line was long but moved well. Our check-in at the Hyatt using the kiosk was smooth.

Friday morning I got to go in a little early because I was gofering at the AA. I heard that the doors didn’t open on time. This is really frustrating to people waiting at the various entrances, especially when they see some people getting in from other doors. Is there some reason they can’t just open all the doors at the same time every morning?

I attended the AMV contest on Friday afternoon. It started right on time and ran flawlessly. I heard there were some problems with Saturday’s show. This is the best AMV contest I’ve ever seen. Every single AMV was well done and very entertaining.

I didn’t wait in line but just walked in after the crowd for the Kanon Wakeshima concert so I missed part of the Geist performance and had to sit in the back. Geist looked like they did a great show, although I’m sure some people there probably weren’t into that style of music. Not a good job of matching genres. Kanon gave one of the most unique and entertaining shows I’ve seen in a long time. A mix of karaoke singing and live cello. Fantastic. The only downside was that she started 30 minutes late and only played for half an hour. While I enjoyed seeing her show I would think that, flying all the way from Japan, she might be willing to play a little more? When she announced her last song a bunch of people got up and ran to get in line for her autograph. This really looked rude but, in their defense, it also demonstrated their liking for Kanon. Why not have the autograph session completely separate from the concert?

All of the other showings and presentations I attended started on time and were well ran.

The art show and artists alley had a large assortment of good works. The dealer’s room was packed with great items and some really good prices.

I only ran into one staffer on a power trip and I just laughed at her and walked away. Every other staffer I saw was working their butts off to give us a great weekend and all of them seemed to be doing it with a smile and great attitude.

One of the best Otakons I’ve ever attended.

My sincere thanks to everyone who worked so hard so that we could all play. I can’t wait until next year!