First Otakon ^_^

Omigosh what an experience! I enjoy myself some anime, but these kids are intense. I took off work last weekend so I could try out my first convention with The Pink Samurai. My family and I took the train up Friday morning with all my swag stuffed in a bright pink rolling suitcase. (we rode backwards and that always messes with my head >_<) Registration was a nightmare. Note to Self: next time pick up passes the day before. It was only 11:30 or so when we got there (the artist alley didn't open till 2:00 pm the first day) and there were already hundreds of kids roaming the streets of Baltimore and the endless maze that is the Convention Center. After going to about 5 or 6 people, we found someone who knew what the hell was going on and got me on my way. The Alley was huge. About the size of 2 or 3 basketball courts next to each other. My little money maker was all the way in the back corner too. Teh suck. But I set up shop and I thought I made a cute little table. Check it:

I had this idea of sticking some chopsticks in the bowls of buttons. People were practicing their skills with the sticks all weekend ^_^ Close-ups of my amazing set up:



Hooray! So like I said, I was about at far away from the action as you could possibly get. It was ok though, cuz the people that came by were awesome. My first sale was so great and it just got better from there. I made up my expenses (cost of the table and registration) halfway through the first day, so Saturday and Sunday were just icing on the cake. Acutally, I had to wake up super early Saturday morn (which sucked cuz we got home after midnight and we're both such homebodies that's super late for us) to make more comic book and anger mark buttons. They were selling like Pocky lol!

The second day is when the people got awesome. One girl came by a few times checking out my "Dirty Laundry" bag. I feel so bad I never got her name! You know who you are though! And Here's a pic of my favorite Naruto fan:

Roxas wasn't feeling very well...eat those Saltines! They cure all ills. But these cool chicks looked great and got the coolest stuff. Thanks ladies ^_^

And I had one girl wander over just looking at my wares, then she picked up a card and said, "Hey! I bought stuff from you online!" And was like, "No way! Forreals?!" And then she showed me her purse:


Donna you rock my button-filled world. I was so excited and felt so cool! Being recognized and seeing people who like what you do really is the best feeling of them all. Oh to have your efforts appreciated ^_^

So yeah...it was really fun and I made pretty good money. Very cool experience. Definitely going to go again next year. Hopefully I won't get stuck in the corner again lol!