Anime Weekend Atlanta 2013 - Friday
For this con, the plan was to pick up badges on Friday (not my decision, but I decided to roll with it). Registration at the con was a little odd, though. On Friday, the preregistration line took about 20 - 30 minutes to get through, but the walk-in registration line took, I'd estimate 5 minutes since there was hardly anyone there. Strangely enough, they had one window for pre-reg groups, two for pre-reg individuals, and three for walk-in registration (though one was cash only). I thought that was pretty backwards, and they should have had a 4/2 or 5/1 split between prereg and walk-in reg lines. But eh. When I got to the con, I took my Rinnosuke costume in (which was actually a store-bought costume since I can't make this stuff), and changed in one of the bathrooms.
Pictures: https://caelk.shutterfly.com/pictures/1192
Most of the day here was spent either in or waiting for panels. We attended the Iwata and Asakawa panel, where both the Japanese guests did a Q&A. I honestly remember Iwata's answers more than I do Asakawa's, however... it could be because Iwata was a really energetic dude, and Asakawa... seemed more to be playing it safe with her answers, I suppose is one way to say it. I'll detail what they ended up saying in this panel and the Sayonara panel in a later post, since they were asked questions in each, and for me, they all seem to blend together.
ZUN's panel was next on the list, and we had to put off actual food in favor of granola bars and sports drinks for it. The panel started at 19:00, though we ended up lining up around an hour and twenty minutes in advance. I was actually a little worried about even that timeframe, but as it turns out, it was the right decision to make. We stood around for a while, with the staff constantly checking on the line and arranging it to not get in the way of other people.
And apparently while we were waiting in line, they were handing out tickets for ZUN's autograph sessions later on in the con. You see, since they predicted ZUN to have no end of people who would want his autograph, they didn't do his autographing session as an open, first-come first-served line. Staff would instead be wandering around to give out tickets to people who attended his panels. They only gave out 100 tickets the entire con (though the man himself had some extras), and they'd only be given out at the panels he attended. So, as I'm waiting around in line, one of the staff members tugged at my arm and slipped me a ticket. That was awesome. I forgot to take a picture of my ticket when I got it, but here it is after I got back.
When they allowed people in, I heard them counting off people - I was number 151, and asking the staff earlier told me that they could only allow 300 people into the room without breaking fire codes. So, lining up 80 minutes early turned out to be a pretty good choice. Like the Iwata and Asakawa panel, though, I'll save the questions and their accompanying answers for a later post, especially since it will be long. I will note, however... that every time we saw him sitting down, he had a beer with him. It's no secret he likes his beer.
Really, past this point we didn't do anything much besides dinner. And in all honesty, I think even with just those two panels, I think we filled the day really well. It was a really great start to the con.
