Big con season is about to launch with San Diego Comic-Con, Anime Expo,  Otakon and New York Comic Con all in the next few months and there are more mid- and small-size cons than ever before.

I was thinking about a few cons/events I’ve attended in the last few years and how it seems that every day new bloggers/online journals/small presses/industry wannabees are popping up. Networking has always been a key point in con attendance, and with the expansion of social media it’s ramping up to be a major factor in attendance for just about everyone.

As a result, there’s more business card exchanging than ever before. It’s exhilarating to meet so many exciting and excited people trying to make a change in the anime/manga/comics/illustrative art communities. There’s also a desperate need for a primer on professional networking.

Here are some basic networking tips for folks who have a lot of energy around their projects and want to to make a good impression on peers, vendors, potential sponsors and anyone in the industry.

 – The #1 thing you really need to know when you begin to speak with someone at a con is “What can I do for them?”

This is the single most common mistake at events. People hand me their card with a comment that boils down to ” Here’s what you can do for me.” In 9 out of 10 cases, your card won’t even make it into my pocket. I have no need to do anything for you. You have to impress me, end of story.

– Don’t mistake every card exchange for a lead on a job in “the industry.” In fact, don’t mistake any card exchange for a lead on a job. Consider each card exchange a possibility for a new relationship with the other person.

– Gia Manry adds the addendum that a phone number on a card is not actually an invitation to call! IF you have a strong value proposition and there really is a good reason to call, sure, but think twice before you call with a need or an idea.

–  Do establish context. A *brief* intro of who you are, what you do and why you think being a contact would be beneficial, is especially helpful if it is several days into the event. I’ll be tired, overstimulated and will have talked to a gazillion people. You want to stand out – give me context.

– Don’t guess. OMG, please don’t play “Guess Who I am” in front of me!!!!!!!  No, I’m not the gal at the whatever booth and no I didn’t see you at Micro-small Con. I don’t work for Company X and I didn’t do Panel Y….or I did, but you’re standing there in the middle of a busy aisle playing 20 freaking Questions with me!  I realize that we all meet and greet 14 bazillion people at events – I really, positively don’t expect you to remember me. But rather than playing guessing games, say something dignified like, “I know we’ve met, but at the moment (gesture to encompass large, noisy, crowded area) I’m sorry, I can’t remember when. I’m…(launch into brief intro.)” I promise this will absolutely suffice. Don’t be awkward about it – I get it, I really do. I probably don’t  remember you, either. ^_^

– Have a value proposition that sounds as good when you say it out loud as it does in your head. This one is a tough one, but here’s a few value propositions that I’ve recently heard and what I really wanted to do was pat the person on the shoulder and shake my head sadly.

“This con is too big – it doesn’t really serve fandom anymore, they’ve completely sold out. We’re a new con starting three towns over, for *real* fans.” I have personally heard this at Otakon more than half a dozen times.  The same town, sometimes the same state, probably doesn’t, really, need two cons. You’re doomed. Just…stop.

“We’re starting a new anime blogging website, to really address issues important to anime fans – come write for us, we’ll give you exposure to a large audience.” Do you know how hard it is to start a new anime blog these days? Not hard at all. And free. And there are a zillion aggregating services to sign up for. It would take, like, 30 seconds to develop a small audience for a new blog. The last site that “offered” me this great deal, I went to an analytics site, just as a thought exercise, and compared my readership and theirs. I’m averaging just under 100K unique visitors a month. Not really over the top exciting numbers, but this is a Yuri-focused blog, we can’t all be Perez Hilton. ^_^ However…if you’re going to offer me an unpaid writing job, you’re going to have to do better than 3000 visitors a month.

If your value proposition is to “like XYZ, only better,” you’ve already failed to create value. Get a real idea before you pitch anything to anyone.

Ed Sizemore suggests this one – People selling in the Dealer’s Room are there to sell. Yes, definitely introduce yourself, tell them you liked the panel, but don’t monopolize their time or attention and most of all, don’t monopolize their space. Addendum from me – if you’re *really* going to be mindful and considerate of them, buy something! Seriously, you have just stood in front of my table for 45 minutes and I’ve chatted with your about your favorite series and something you really wish would happen but won’t and your hopes and dreams, you’ve pawed every book on my table, then thanked me and walked away. Then you email me in three weeks asking me for…… Yeah, I’m SO going to want to give you more of my time.

– Have a lot more business cards than you think you need. Have several different cards, so you’re not handing out your Life Insurance sales card to someone who is interested in your blog and not handing out blog cards, when someone wants to talk about web design. But, seriously, having a cool card is the very last thing that you need to worry about.

Deb Aoki also recommends spending the few bucks to get your card printed on good paper stock. Also consider having your business card translated into Japanese. Japanese industry folks really appreciate this. (I keep separate Japanese language and English language cards, myself, but yes, I second this!)

Deb also gives these critical pieces of advice:

“When networking in person, please don’t assume that I’ll recognize you by name or by face if I only communicate with you via Twitter, especially if you use an anime character that doesn’t resemble you at all as your avatar and you use a pseudonym or nickname as your Twitter handle. Consider using your real name online — it makes you look more credible and professional.

Also, when networking in person, please look me in the eye when you talk to me. I understand that this isn’t easy for some people who do most of their interactions online, but this little thing can make the person you’re talking to feel a lot more comfortable.”

These are both so critical for professional communications. I’m not as obsessed about people using their real name online, but I came up from the old days of UseNET and expect online handles. However – I do expect you to say, “Hi, I’m Matt…mattiboy on Twitter.” This goes back to provide context. And yes, work on those basic in-person social skills! Practice with co-workers and friends until you can fake the “nice to meet you” conversation well. This is a must-have life skill, so really, get comfortable with it.

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The floor is open to my fellow bloggers and industry folks – what tips do you have for networking at events? I’ll share really good ones in the body of the post!

Last week, something very important happened. An American, upon leaving Canada to re-enter America, had his laptop, iPhone and iPad searched and was detained when the Canadian border official found manga that they considered to be child pornography.

There have been several excellent write-ups of this case and I strongly suggest you read them. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund immediately took up the case. Here is the CBLDF discussion of the situation. Also, Brigid Alverson wrote a cogent synopsis on Comic Book Resources. Obviously, I urge you to support the CBLDF in their defense of this person – it could be any of us.

Which bring me to today’s topic – self-defense.

In a perfect world, adults would be free to read anything they like without fear of repercussion. This is not a perfect world. And it behooves every one of us to be smart in order to be safe.

Let me digress for a moment into an analogy. If we hear of a woman who has been attacked,  we are outraged. However, if evidence came to light that she was wearing provocative clothing, walking alone in an abandoned, poorly lit area, late at night, there are people who would become less sympathetic. In the same way, we are outraged to hear that a person’s laptop or mail was searched and they were charged with a crime by virtue of artistic expression. When facts come to light that some of the material does in fact include virtual/drawn/imaginary child porn some people will feel less sympathetic to the person charged. In both cases, there is a tendency to think “Well, then they weren’t very bright. They didn’t take precautions. They didn’t do the things a person should do to stay safe” or “Eww, that person’s a creep – they deserve it.”

The point of today’s article is not to argue with that human tendency to scapegoat. I do not in any way agree with it, but it is human. A woman should never be blamed for being attacked. No one should be prosecuted for reading a comic book.

But we can and should discuss the ramifications to our own behavior this case will bring. In the same way that, because it is not a perfect world, women need to take precautions against people who do not respect their persons, it behooves all of us in the manga and comics industry to take precautions for ourselves.

Be Aware

You might argue that no one has the right to search your laptop or mail, but this is not true. The Postmaster has every right to search your mail – Border officials have the right to search your laptop. Whatever you feel about the rightness or wrongness of this is irrelevant. These people have the right – and the responsibility – to do this very thing.

Watch What You’re Carrying

When you travel by any means that involves a security check, take some time to remove manga images from your electronic devices. You don’t really *need* that screensaver, do you? If you do need it, save it somewhere on the cloud and download it when you get there. Or perhaps you can put that presentation on a zip drive, which can be put in a bag inside your carry-on.

Be smart about manga you carry with you to read for fun. Perhaps Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Vivio would not be the smartest choice.

Don’t Assume a Reasonable Person Will Understand

Of course the manga you carry or the images on your laptop are not child porn. But – and this is quite possibly the biggest but you’re going to run into – do not assume that a reasonable person will understand that, or defend your right to have it.

Here’s why. In most legal contexts, obscenity is defined as something that a reasonable person would object to.

Now, seriously, go look at your manga collection. LOOK at it. Think about what your aunt or uncle might say about, say, Gokujou Drops.  Or Qwaser of Stigmata. Or Lychee Light Club.

Now, think about trying to defend those against 12 average, reasonable people. Don’t forget that right now Tokyo itself is seeking to regulate books like these. This means that any lawyer who is going to defend you with the argument that social mores are different in Japan, might be met with a prosecution that knows that, and counters that Japan is itself beginning to reject such material.

Assume the Worst Might Happen

If you gentlemen reading this shied away from the above statement with a perfectly natural “But…why?” you now know exactly what every women everywhere has to contend with every day, all the time. We are required to dress in certain ways, walk in certain places, have companions, be aware of our surroundings, maybe carry a whistle, a weapon, a phone, our keys in our hands, our hands free, in well-lit places….

And now this applies to all of us…all the time. You no longer can assume that your have the right to purchase certain manga by mail and have them shipped to your house. You cannot assume you have the right to carry a few doujinshi on your laptop to read while on the plane. You cannot assume it won’t happen to you. You *must* presume that you will be searched and that someone who is not reasonable will have the right to decide whether what you are carrying looks questionable.

If this sounds wrong to you – and it should – please support the CBLDF in their fight.  Let’s shape the future into the one we want to live in, where we have the right to read whatever the hell we want.

I’m just like any other fan. I like what I like and want other people to like it, too. I want anime and manga simulcast, subbed well and available on whatever platform I feel like using. I want to make my own choices about language, price, distribution and content.

Unfortunately, right now both the Tokyo government and the makers of hardware have begin to involve themselves in the above issues – and not in a way that facilitates freedom of choice or expression. No, the powers that be in government and in e-reader platforms have decided that the absolute most important thing they have to deal with is “protecting” people from things that they themselves don’t feel are appropriate. How’s that for ‘freedom’ folks? Apple says no to LGBT works on their shiny clean iPads, and Tokyo says no to marginal manga…are you really going to say “well, you know I think it’s okay to censor somethings I don’t like” and expect to be safe yourself?

I will stand up for the the rights of people I cannot stand to read manga I find repulsive because I stand up for the rights of everyone, everywhere to read whatever they damn well please.

This week on Otaku in Review,  I get up on this soapbox and have my say. I don’t agree with the episode title – I don’t believe I am going against the world. I stand with the world. And I’ll fight to the last to protect it.

I hope you’ll fight with me – don’t let Apple, Kindle, or anyone limit your freedom to chose content, don’t let Governor Ishihara limit your freedom to buy. Let’s stand up for the world, let’s stand up for freedom of the word.

Thanks to Scott and Michael for being such gracious hosts and giving me the chance to get my rant on. ^_^

Enjoy!

When spring rolls around (or, when in theory it should be rolling around again, but instead the weather steadfastly lingers at near-freezing and it pisses us all off…) I get the urge to answer questions. Why? I don’t know! But I do.

So, once again, I am taking questions from you, my dear readers about life, love, Yuri, whatever. As always, there are a few ground rules:

1) I will not answer questions about “what is your favorite….” I find them difficult to answer, as I really don’t have favorites.

2) No “ham or cheese” or “Coke or Pepsi” questions, please.  They aren’t all that interesting for any of us and I can tell you honestly, the answer is almost always “neither of the two.”

3) If you want to ask me what I see as the future of Yuri or why I like Yuri, I beg you to read all the previous iterations of my answers to these questions. If you have a real question about Yuri that I have not previously addressed, bring it on!

4) Please, please, no questions that can be answered by 30 seconds of actually READING one of my reviews here. Also, asking me “what do you think of so-and-so anime/fandom” is not going to give you the external validation you crave nor will I rise to the bait of using it as a springboard to rant about a fandom, either.

5) Lastly no “define the term” questions. The answers have been posted here: http://okazu.blogspot.com/2008/03/okazu-glossary-of-terms.html.

Now, I realize that this makes it harder to ask me questions. But the harder you work at the questions, the harder I have to work at the answering, so it’s a fair deal. The funnier the question, the better chance of an amusing answer. ^_^

I will also be cheating this time and perhaps using more of the questions I got for the UBC lecture, but didn’t have time to answer. ^_^

I don’t promise definitive answers, just the best I can come up with without moving an inch from my sofa.

Feel free to post your questions here in the comments! I very much look forward to them.