AnimeLA 2010 Report

It's a new year and a whole new batch of conventions. First up to bat for the Los Angeles area is AnimeLA which has earned a reputation for being a fan friendly convention catering to the Southern California anime fanbase. This year though has an extra special theme with Steampunk Sunday. That Sunday the convention was invaded by huge number of steampunks from the Southern California area and beyond. We here at the Manticore Society were proud to host two panels Steampunk on a Budget where panelists Danny Barer, Jo Celso, Mercades Victoria, Michael Pao, and Rebecca Majoros gave tips and lessons on how to create an affordable outfit and Steampunk 101 with Danny Barer, Eric Chamberlin, and Michael Pao which covered a basic overview of the Steampunk genre. Sadly we were not able to use the slide show which Eric prepared as the the projector decided to be difficult. After going though three laptops we just decided to go low tech. Management would like to express our deepest appreciation towards all whom participated and taken time out of their busy schedules to promote the organization and this interest we hold so dear. We also were pleasantly surprised by the large turn out with almost a packed room. Thank you to all those who came down to our panels. Hopefully we'll have more opportunities for events and panels such as this again.

After the panels many of us made our way to the pool area for a massive photoshoot which required two separate pictures to capture all our glory. A far cry from the handful of participants from the AnimeLA gathering a year ago. Hopefully in 2011 AnimeLA will decide to hold yet another Steampunk Sunday due to the smashing success it was this year.


- Captain Wong Wei -