Short version: It rocked. :-)

My deepest and undying thanks to my staff, who were stellar. It’s not unheard of for a con chair to rant that their staff was awful, but my staff was so wonderful I cannot even express it in words. I am in your debt for all your hard work, good humor and patience.

I also want to thank our Guests of Honor: Rica, Kat and Eriko, who entertained and charmed all weekend long. And too all our Guests – Dr. Sarah Frederick, Yume no Senshi and Gaijin-a-gogo, all of whom made the con just that much more wonderful to be at.

My only complaint is that I could not have spent more time with you all.

Long version:

I, of course, didn’t do anything I wanted to do – except the dance – but the things I’ve been hearing from the attendees let me know that it went *really* well. Except for the Cosplay, but that’s another story.

If anyone ever wants to know what a Con Chair actually does, the answer is that they make decisions, deliver luggage, introduce people to other people, escort people places, make more decisions, find things, print things, interface with the hotel, keep track of equipment and supplies, and make decisions.

It takes a person who really hates a Con to want to be a Chair, because the one person who will never get to see or do anything is the Chairman.

Thursday night I took the Guests to dinner for Portuguese food (a local specialty) and when we came out it was monsooning. No kidding – walls of rain were pounding the streets. I’ve never seen anything like it here in NJ. So, of course I was late to the Staff meeting.

My staff was so seamless I never noticed they had it finished setup about fifteen seconds after the Staff meeting was done.

We opened Friday and by mid-afternoon, we had all the pre-regged people in. Attendance was about 200, so we were microscopic by most cons’ standard, but the crowd was wonderful.

The Hotel staff were delightful. By the end of the weekend they were mostly sporting various anime characters on various body parts and several had managed to snag a Yuricon t-shirt.

And the Dealers were gods. They were practically *throwing* things at my Guests and Staff. “Here, this is for you!” they’d say as I walked by in a dazed trance of *what was I here for, again – Oh right, that thing that came after those three things and before those five things.*

Saturday went pretty well, but I must have looked like hell, because every single person who saw me asked if I was all right. Random attendees I’ve never met before were checking to see if I’d eaten yet. LOL

The Cosplay was fouled up slightly, (something I now attribute to the dreaded Cosplay Curse, which simply states that dressing up is fine, but Cosplay Events are evil) but the Dating Game was a HUGE hit, which made me so happy. Winners were walking around quoting questions all weekend: “If *you* were a magical girl, what would your power be and describe your magic wand.”

Our Japanese Guests of Honor were so spectacular that I want to adopt them. How many con chairs get back rubs from their GoHs, I wonder? LOL (And darn *good* back rubs, too, I’d like to add.) Tadeno-san blackmailed me by saying that if I ran a Yuricon 2004, she’d do one in Japan. It’s not very nice, because I NEVER want to do this again as long as I live!!! I think you’ve got to be a special kind of masochist to want to do this stuff over and over. And Yuricon 2003 was never meant to be replicated. It was one in a list of “projects to do” for Yuricon.

The Academic Lecture Series was amazing. Our presenters were so stellar that if it hadn’t been for the walkie-talkie constantly paging me, I’d have been riveted to every word. There was an amazing unity about the presentations, too, where one topic almost naturally lead into the next. Let me wax a little rhapsodic about this, because it was *really* good:

Dillon Font’s presentation about the role of the “Good Wife, Good Mother” in shoujo anime was fabulous, and lead so naturally into Keridwen Luis’ talk about “Agency in Shoujo Anime” that it was creepy. Yuuki Hirano talked about ladies comics and “fantasy” in yuri, which was technical, but really interesting. The fact that she used “Mist” comic, of which I have a few issues, just made it that much more wonderful. (Mist is a comic magazine that ran from 95-99 or so that ran exclusively women-drawn yuri stories, my favorite being that of the straight woman who stars in lesbian porn movies, but falls in love with her makeup artist. Too funny to be good, too sexy to be bad.) And Dr. Sarah Frederick’s discussion of Yoshiya Nobuko makes me really want to write that paper about Nobuko’s writing and the Utena movie manga that I’ve been putting off.

The band kicked ass and I have the blisters to show for it and some very compromising photos of Rica getting down on the dance floor with some of the staff and attendees. LOL

I missed all the panels, discussions, clinics and workshops, but I’ve been repeatedly told that they went very well. I *did* get to hear a dramatic reading of selected passages of “Immoral Angel” (a really crappy hentai comic CPM put out, which is so repulsive and horrible that the translators obviously hated it and made it sound worse with simply awful dialogue.)

Video programming was amazing. There were exactly zero problems. And I finally managed to see the AMVs – they were surprisingly good, if a little heavy on the Utena.

G-Taste was, hands down, the favorite video showing, which just goes to show you that yuri fans really are pathetic drooling fanboys, but I didn’t say that. ;-) I’m still partial to Hana no Asuka-gumi myself.

Mostly what I remember are the absolutely breath-taking non-sequiturs I kept hearing all weekend:

“Shit, there are alot of trees in that room!”

“Well, I’m usually better with humans, but sure, I’ll help you with your deer.”

“Hey, did you hear about the eyelashes?”

“Whose breasts are these, ’cause they sure ain’t mine!’

Oh, and since Sean Gaffney couldn’t come, we called him during Opening Ceremonies and said hi. :-)

So, yeah, it was great. I’ll never do it again, ever. But it was really alot of fun. And my arms are really buff from lifting boxes.

I’ll admit it – Panels are the only thing at a con I really enjoy…and then, only the panels I’m on. LOL So, at Yuricon, I wanted to make the Panels and Workshops everything I thought they should be at every con!

If you want more detailed information, you can visit the Panels and Workshops page at the Yuricon 2003 site, but here’s a quick overview for those of you who want to know some of the special things we’re offering.

Panels, Workshops and Demos are split up into tracks: Art, Cosplay, Fiction, Academic, Manga Industry, Yuri and Other. Each track has a focus, obviously, and I want just tell you a little about each one.

Our Academic Lecture Series is, as far as we know, a first at an anime convention. We have five scholars from all across North America, presenting papers that deal with women roles in relation to anime and manga, whether as a character, as a reader or as a creator. We’ll follow this up with a Q&A session – and let me tell you, i’ts a blast to ask questions of people who really *know* their stuff. This series is countering our Yurikosplay for those of you who, like me are less into dressing up and more into the history and nature of the beast.

The Art track deals with, obviously, art-related issues. Guests Mike Hayes will show you how to draw manga-style art and Kat Williams will show you how to computer color. We’re even running an Art Clinic, so you can bring pieces in for advice from th experts. And Guests of Honor Rica Takashima and Eriko Tadeno will talk about drawing yuri manga specifically, so you can think about how exactly to draw a sex scene or a kiss.

For folks like myself who find words to be the ouvre of choice, there’s the Fanfic Track. Panels and workshops will discuss all aspects of fanfic creation and even a “best and worst’ panel. We’ve also got a Fanfic Clinic for those of you who want some help on a particularly recalcitratn passage..

The Cosplay Track deals with all things costuming, from traditional kimono tying to experts plying you with advice and answering your questions. We’ve even got a Cosplay 101 for beginners and a Cosplay Clinic the day after the Yurikosplay – so you can learn the hows and whys of beginning to advanced Cosplay.

Of course, we have many panels dealing with yuri and yaoi in anime and comics, and we’re not forgetting American comics, either. We’ve even got panels to discuss men’s and women’s place in yuri and the positives and negatives associated with being a male or female fan of yuri.

And that hardly begins to scratch the surface. We’ve got AMV panels (and an AMV-making demo to follow!) and many other panels and workshops, designed to pique the fancy of every Yuricon attendee. We plan on keeping you busy for three days solid, or die trying! LOL.

Next time: Art, art everywhere…

We’ve got some amazing Contest and Games lined up for Yuricon 2003, and I wanted to take you over a few of the best, so you can plan your days accordingly!

Most of what I’m writing is on the website under our Contests and Games pages, but what the heck, here’s a slightly different take on things!

We’ve already held two online contests, a Fanfic contest and Yuriko’s own art contest. Winning entries will be put up on the Yuricon website later this month, so you can all share in the fun!

But we’ve got more than just that planned:

Anime Music Video Contest – this is an AMV contest with a twist, since most of the entries have a shoujoai theme. I’ve seen a few and they’re pretty great – I can’t wait to see them all. Immediately following the AMV panel, a popular and award-winning AMV artist will be doing an all-night AMV demo, to show you how it works! We�ll show the final result at the closing ceremonies.

Yurikosplay – as far as we know, Yurikosplay is the first and only cosplay event to have a separate category for cross-play, which is getting more and more popular every year! And where else can you see the Cosplay judges get up from their tables and head over to the stage to dance and sing? But I can gurantee that that’s exactly what you’ll see at Yuricon, when Yume no Senshi and Gaijin-a-gogo judge the cosplay, then perform for your entertainment.

But that’s just our contests – our games will be sure to tickle at least your funny bone.

Hate them Darts is the perfect chance to take out your frustration on those characters that stand between your favorite lesbian couple. Folks who hit the bulls eye get a little something to remember their marksmanship by.

Yuriko’s Dating Game – It *totally* doesn’t matter if you�re gay, straight, pan- or a- for this game. The questions are silly and everyone’s a winner. If you meet the partner of your dreams, that’s great, but it’s so not the point. LOL

Drag Show – About every other cosplayer these days is dressed as the opposite sex. Why not take it one step further and just do it? Forget cosplay – this is about dressing up and having fun. It’s not a contest, just a chance to look hot and have some fun.

We’ll also be offering all the usual – trivia contest, and an anime improv (go ahead, BE funny at 2AM) and silly Yuricon Mad Libs – style games, and I expect to see you all at all of them, having a lot of fun!

Next time: Panels

I know I’ve been really bad about updating this blog, but I think I have good reasons. 1) Blogger totally trashed two of my updates and I didn’t have the time or energy to do more; 2) There’s only one week left before Yuricon 2003!

Yes, only one week left before you can talk, watch, eat, drink, breathe, dance and buy yuri and shoujoai out the wazoo. This is going to be a spectacular once-in-a-lifetime, never to be repeated event, so I hope you’ll all make it for the big show.

Because there’s SO many things happening at Yuricon, I thought I’d spend the next week highlighting one or two extra special things each day. Today, I want to let you know about some of the incredible Video programming we’ve got lined up:

U.S. Premier of Alien 9 – this short OVA is destined to be a classic. It’s a dark allegorical tale of abuse, love, childhood and death and ought to appeal to all you Gothlings. We’re very proud to be the first US con to show Alien 9. CPM has been a terrific corporate partner to us, so buy lots of their stuff at Yuricon! LOL We’ll be showing Alien 9 Friday night and again later during the con.

Devil Lady Marathon – this series is quite possibly the *yuriest* anime series ever made. And although ADV hasn’t finished releasing it in the US, they’ve given us permission to show all of it in one fell swoop! Friday night, all night, you can get your fill of creepy goodness, while Jun mutates into the sexiest, hunkiest Devil Beast of all…watch as Asuka tortures her with her incredible sexuality, as Kazumi makes her crazy by suggesting they share a bed…as love grows and sex and hate become the same thing – all with not a single sex scene in the damn show!! LOL This is a classic series from Go Nagai, I promise you’ll love it.

Hong Kong/Live Action Marathon – We’ve got some great live action movies lined up, too, from the yuri-filled Naked Killers, to transgendered He’s a Woman, She’s a Man and Sennen no Koi and a host of other funny, silly, tacky, wonderful titles. Make space in your schedule for the hottest yuri live action ever – Peony Pavilion. This movie absolutely melts the screen – again, without any actual sex. I have never in my life seen cards played like that….

We’ve got a Chicks with Wepons track – marginally yuri, but hot as hell, we wanted to share them with you: Tsukikage Ran, One Piece’s Nami and the like, they are cool, they are hot and we know that if they met the right woman, they’d be ours for life! LOL

Yaoi at Yuricon – Well, so many of our fans like it too, that we thought we’d show you some of the silliest and cheesiest yaoi. We’ll leave the cutting edge stuff to Shoujocon and Yaoicon – we want you to see brilliant fan sub parody, Boku no Sucky-sucky!

One more thing to note – we are NOT holding a henati-thon at Yuricon. Why not? Because I hate the damn things…they always lump a bunch of crappy hentai together really late at night, so only insomniac perverts can watch. Well, speaking as an insomniac pervert, I want to see hentai whenever I feel like it! And we’re not afraid of hentai at Yuricon. Our audience is all grown up, so we’ll be showing it any time we damn well feel like. Check the Video schedule for some high-quality (either story *or* animation, but not usually both at once) yuri hentai all weekend long.

We’ve been working for months to bring you yuri, yaoi and transgendered anime from the very first Ribon no Kishi, through the classics, to the newest releases we can find. And I hope you’ll spend the weekend with us marveling at all the amazing, hunky, sexy lesbian heroines that anime has for us to enjoy.

Next time: Games and Contests