
In just a week, tens of thousands of otaku will be flooding the streets of the Inner Harbor in Baltimore to enjoy one of the biggest conventions on the East Coast. Not surprisingly, we're going to be there. In force. Otakon has become our not-quite-official gathering hole, as we fill Hitogoroshi's house to the gills.
So, after a number of questions about this, I've prepared a little Japanator Otakon Guide for you -- who from the staff will be there, what we'll be doing, and how you can meet us. Down after the jump, we've got all that information.
Be prepared: the night before Otakon starts -- Thursday, July 29th, I'll be posting our scavenger hunt guide. Take photos, win prizes, have a good time. In the meantime, though, let us know what you're planning on doing!
Who's Going
A number of us (9 in total!) will be reporting from the show floor. We'll be having an Otakon Scavenger Hunt, and one of the goals is to get your photo taken with one of the staffers. We've got nine of us in total reporting on the show floor:
- Brad Rice
- Dale North
- Colette Bennett
- Tim Sheehy
- Ben Huber
- Jeff Chuang
- Pedro Cortes
- Karen Leslie
- Crystal White
Also joining us are:
What We're Covering
Naturally, there are panels at said convention, and we intend on covering some of them for you. So, if you're wondering what sort of "hard news" coverage you'll get from us, here's a taste:
Friday
Vertical Inc. Industry Panel
Aniplex Industry Panel
FUNimation Industry Panel
Saturday
h.Naoto Fashion Show
Bandai After Dark Industry Panel
Sunday
Tomopop's Japanese Figures, Toys and Collecting Panel
In addition to all that, we'll be interviewing the following guests:
- h.Naoto
- Masashi Ishihama
- Masao Maruyama
- Hiroshi Koujina
- Takamasa Sakurai
- Vic Mignogna
- Felipe Smith
So, if you have any questions for these fine folks, leave them in the comments below. We want to make sure our interviews are interesting for all of you!
Most importantly, we'll be posting pictures. Lots and lots of high-quality pictures.
The Japanator Meetup
You guys want to meet us? We'd like to meet you too. On Sunday, we've got a lot of downtime, so I'm proposing Sunday at 1:30pm, inside/outside the Panel 4 room. Basically, we'll all be at Colette's panel, and we can all meet each other afterward.