I think I have finally fully recovered from this past weekend and what a weekend it was. Animazement pulled in a new attendance record of 5,374 this year which I believe is a 19% increase from the previous year. I would like to congradulate all the staff and guests that made this year such a success.

The weather this year was just about as perfect as one could hope for. With the exception of some early morning rain on one day, it was sunny and cool which allowed for the attendees mingle outside in the lawn and take part in large games of duck-duck-goose and red-rover. I think this year was the first time in the eight years that Animazement has been held at the Sheraton Imperial that the lawn was utilized to such an extent. Previous year it was either to hot and muggy or wet / rainy to stay outside. Reading the forums, it sounds like a lot of the attendees really enjoyed using the lawn this year and are hoping for something similar next year.

Speaking of next year, Animazement will be moving to the Raleigh Convention Center (RCC) due to outgrowing the available space at the Sheraton Imperial. The RCC is several times larger then the Sheraton Imperial so it should take Animazement awhile to grow out of it. None the less, next year is going to be a very interesting and exciting time.

This year one of my jobs was being one of the convention’s photographers which was really great. I did not have my camera last year and it really sucked not being able to photograph all the cosplayers in their elaborate costumes. I did a lot of indoor flash photography, which I think I still need more practice at. I got to experiment with using the manual settings of the camera for long exposure during the dances including the use of rear curtain flash sync to stop the motion of the dancers before the long exposure ended. I was also a video camera operator during some of the panels which was something new for me to do as well.

I missed watching the Cosplay contest this year since I was taking photos of the groups before then went on stage so that the judges could use them to help them decided on the winners. It did sound like there were some really good ones this year so I hope to be able to see them at some point. Animazement also appeared in the local Herald-Sun newspaper on Monday. You can also read the article online (Registration required to read the whole thing: See my previous post about Mailinator).

Even though I only got around 3 hours of sleep each night, seeing how much fun all the attendees were having and even having some of them come up to members of the staff and thanking them for all their hard work to make it such an enjoyable event seem to make it all worth while. I look forward to helping out next year. See you all there!

Links to more photos in my gallery:
General (PicLens )
Cosplay Contest (PicLens )
Craftsmanship Contest (PicLens )

Just a reminder that Animazement 2008 starts tomorrow. So if you like Anime or interested in Japanese culture, check it out this weekend. For more information on the schedule, pricing, etc.. check out their web site. I’ll be there pretty much all weekend helping out and taking pictures so stay tuned for my post-convention update. C’yas.

Just wanted to congratulate everyone at Animazement for doing a great job in making their 10th year a great success. If I remember right, they had around 4,500 people attend this years convention up from 3,200 last year. They were only projecting 3,500 – 3,600 people this year. I was on-site helping out Saturday and Sunday and thanks to Bex, I got a good workout Sunday with all the work he had me do hehe.. There were some really great costumes this year as well as some really scary ones. I heard someone say that one of the rules to picking a CosPlay costume is to pick something that is the complete opposite of your body type.. Any ways. Congratulations once again, See you all next year.

Here are some YouTube videos I found to give you an idea of what you would have seen at Animazement (AZ-X). If you’re lucky you might see me in one.

More Videos

http://www.animazement.org/

If you’re into Japanese Animation (Anime) and/or Manga, be sure to visit Animazement 2007 in Durham, NC. this weekend. A friend of mine heads up this convention and I lend a hand during the weekend if they need it.

http://www.animazement.org/