Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Still looking reasonably sane

On Friday,  The Gryphon and I got up bright and early to head over for the first full day of Otakon.

We'd left time to get breakfast in the staff suite, where I was happy to discover they were serving a wide range of breakfast foods, including yogurt, cereal, breads and bagels of all sorts, fruit, orange juice, instant cereals and coffee.

I also saw the head of Press Relations, BB, who headed over before I did. The Gryphon and I were going separate ways, so we kissed good-bye and made tentative plans to get together for lunch.

Morning at the press relations room, the primary duty was to register more press arriving to do their coverage.

Also, BB and Gerbil connected with the Guest Relations department head, The Godfather, to set up press interview windows with the guests.

Until things were set up, there wasn't a lot for the rest of us to do. I busied myself tracking down answers for members of the press that would help them get what they needed for their coverage.

In down time, I chatted with them, suggesting good places to take photos, for example. I also ran some errands for BB, running to Con Ops or hanging a sign on the room that would be used for one-on-one interviews, reading, "Quiet: Interview in progress."

I also got a picture of the Dealer's Room, full.

The Gryphon called me at about noon and said that he would meet me in the Press Relations room so we could get lunch together. I waited around for half an hour before calling him to ask if he'd be coming soon. He told me to go get something in the staff support room and he'd join me soon.

So I walked up to the staff support room, where they were distributing different types of salads, including chef's salad and chicken caesar. I got a plain chicken salad with no caesar dressing. The Gryphon called me again and let me know he'd be there soon, so I told him to meet me in Press Relations, where we could eat.

We got a little down time to talk, although he did end up answering some Industry-related questions for the other Press Relations staffers, such as letting them know the policy on autographs for staff members. The industry booth would be collecting items to be signed by the guests when available and then returned later.

Things really started picking up in the afternoon. At 2 p.m., there was an interview scheduled with two of the musical acts, the Australian string quintet Eminence and special guest, Japanese composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, all of whom provide music to popular video games and anime.

BB gave me instructions to go meet them at the hotel lobby where they were staying and escort them over to the interview suite, to which he gave me the key. He handed me a handwritten sign to hold in the lobby and told me the name of the handler for Eminence.

When I walked over the hotel lobby, I didn't immediately see anybody who could be the group in question, but then I noticed a group of people coming in with suitcases, accompanied by one of the translators for Otakon. When I could, I got his attention and, once off to the side, confirmed that the group he was escorting was, indeed, Eminence.

He told me that they were running late due to weather-related travel delays and asked that the interview be pushed to 3 p.m. I told him that should be fine, and I called BB to let him know about the change. He said he would notify the members of the press that the time had changed. This is one reason we have the press sign up for the interview availabilities, because then we have their contact information to reach them if something changes.

Before leaving, I introduced myself to Eminence's handler and told her about the changed plans. I promised that someone would return at quarter of 3 to escort them to the interview. She said that would be fine and confirmed the plans with me, to make certain she understood them correctly.

With nothing better to do, I walked back to Press Relations, figuring that if BB wanted to send someone else back, he could have the key back. As it turned out, he sent me again. Gerbil had already gone over ahead of me to set up the room, put out enough chairs and put out water on the table.

I walked back over in time to meet the group at the appointed time, walking back through the entire BCC as I did, getting plenty of exercise. I also had my entire bag with me, just in case I'd need anything out of it. This way I could also put my camera away so that it wouldn't be obtrusive and make me look like just another fangirl.

When I reached the lobby, I spotted someone wearing a similar outfit to what Eminence's handler had been wearing: a black V-neck top with a camisole underneath, a silver pendant necklace, dark pants and a modern, shoulder-length haircut. I started striding towards her and waved as if I knew her. As I got closer, I realized I'd made a mistake: this was definitely not the woman I'd met with earlier. I apologized: "I thought you were somebody else."

Meanwhile, The Godfather had seen this. He'd been in touch with BB and knew I was looking for Eminence, so he smoothly directed me to the place where they were waiting, in the opposite end of the lobby. Of course, I was mentally kicking myself, because sitting over there was the Guest Relations staffer I'd been told was assigned to Eminence, someone I've known for a long time, whom I'll call Gypsy. He used to play that character when a group of my friends did the Mystery Anime Theater live programs at Otakon several years ago.

He was seated in a corner, waiting for the group, and soon enough, the handler came down the escalator. I recognized her immediately. We found out from her that the rest of the group would be down shortly.

When everyone was there, I introduced myself to the group and to Sakimoto, telling them that I was there from Press Relations to escort them to the interview suite to meet with the press.

At Gypsy's suggestion, we walked across on the sky walk, which would keep them off the street and out of the crowds. However, we didn't anticipate two things: one was the windy weather, which played with the skirts of the women in Eminence so that they had to take small steps and be careful not to let them fly up. Also, we were accosted by a panhandler who claimed to be collecting money for a baseball team but didn't have any team members with him! Gypsy told him we weren't interested.

We also had a group of members come up and try to hand them a bucket, for some reason. I think they were just being silly and had no idea who they were approaching.

As we walked, I made small talk with one of the members of Eminence, mainly about their trip and about Baltimore.

As we got to the interview suite, the press was waiting out in the hallway, and I realized that I was on my own. I wasn't just an escort; I would have to moderate the interview, as well. I made a decision to seat the guests first, which I was later told was the right decision. After they were seated on the couches and armchairs, I brought in the press and seated them on the other chairs we'd set up earlier.

After consulting with the member of Eminence who was serving as translator about how he wanted to proceed, I first had all the members of the press to introduce themselves. Then each member of the group introduced themselves.

Finally, the press took turns asking questions of either members of Eminence of Sakimoto. Since they all needed the audio, the press representatives had arranged to share the audio recorded during the interview, and they passed around a wireless microphone unit which transmitted sound to their recorder.

The only glitch was that I didn't know how to turn all the lights on, which I attempted to do to provide more light for the photography that the press wanted. With the curtains open, the musicians were all backlit. But Gypsy suggested we just close them at the end when they needed to get the pictures, and that's what we did.

Gypsy called me over once or twice to give me some tips on how to proceed, which I found enormously helpful. After all, I'm used to being a member of the press, not a liaison. Overall, I think everyone went smoothly. When the time was over, the press said their good-byes and took their leave. I stayed in the room until everyone moved on, so that I could clean up for the next interview.

I was pretty happy with how it went, despite a few little glitches. When I told BB about it later, he said it sounded like it went well. Back at the Press Relations room, I turned back the key to BB and waited for my next orders.

By now it was about 4:30, and I ended up chatting a little with members of the press who were in the room, including the members of Otaku Life Radio. They'd brought a box of free stuff with them, and I'd picked up a little plastic robot, as well as an identity badge that seemed to have come from a card game, for someone named Bruce Theron. I put it in an extra badge holder behind my staff badge, just for fun.

Elsewhere, other members of our team had been facilitating one-on-one interviews in a separate room. BB and Gerbil had also set up another interview window, this one with voice actress Mamiko Noto. He asked me to meet her and her translator at the close of her autographs session and escort her to the interview suite, where Gerbil would set things up.

When I got to the autographs room, I saw that things were dwindling down. Only a few fans remained in line, and several translators and members of the Guest Relations department were consulting about what was next. I asked someone from Guest Relations who would be translating for Mamiko Noto, and I was directed to Taka, one of Otakon's most dependable translators.

When I got a chance, I told him what that I was there to escort her to the interview session, and we agreed to take her through the back hallways, since it would be fastest.

I walked up to him after the session ended and introduced myself to Mamiko Noto. I'd been told to be sure to always speak to the person you're addressing, not the translator. Of course, just then Taka had a cell phone call come in, which he took in Japanese. Mamiko Noto shrugged that she couldn't understand, and we both stood, waiting for Taka to become available. Truly, it was a mistake in timing on my part. I should have made sure I had his attention and he was ready to translate before I began speaking.

After the short delay, Taka was available to translate, and I told her I was from the Press Relations Department, and I was there to escort her to her interview with the press. I explained that we'd be going through the back hallways which, while they weren't pretty, were the fastest way. She said that was fine.

As we were walking, I became aware of the fact that we were walking at a pretty brisk pace, and I asked her if we were going too fast for her. She said that it was fine. The back hallways were a good choice, because we didn't run into anyone who could have slowed us down, whereas the main hallways by now were packed with members.

We traversed the skywalk to the interview suite, and Gerbil met me in the hallway to show her in. He'd been under the impression, though, that I would be staying to moderate, and I had to explain that BB had told me I was just escorting her. I would have stayed, except that I had already promised to meet another staffer, the Water Ballerina, in the Press Relations room, from where we would leave for dinner. I apologized for the miscommunication. Gerbil said it was fine, and he stayed for the interview.

The Water Ballerina had previously worked in Spec Ops and this year worked in Video Ops. She is part of a community water ballet troupe, Fluid Movement, which puts on quirky productions several times a year.

This year, their original production, War and Fleas, an adaptation of Tolstoy's classic novel, featuring dogs and squirrels instead of people, coincided with Otakon. This meant that she had to go straight from staffing the convention on Saturday and Sunday in order to perform. Friday was the only night she had off, and I'd promised to meet her to go for sushi.

I always enjoy spending time with The Water Ballerina. She's a highly intelligent woman with a dry sense of humor, but she also tends to be quiet and reserved, sitting back and observing people. We first got to talking, as I remember, about music at an Otakon meeting a couple years ago, while we were both helping put together staff badges. The conversation was animated and spurred off into various directions, and ever since then, we've tried to find time to hang out a little at both the annual staff retreat, Com Con, and at Otakon itself.

Sure enough, The Water Ballerina showed up punctually, and I called The Gryphon to see if he could take his dinner break. He could, and he met us in the Press Relations room, which would close shortly anyway. We did have to accompany him to Con Ops for him to deliver something to someone there, and then we were free.

We caught a cab and headed for Matsuri, the hands down best sushi I've had in Baltimore. They seated us at a table near a window, and we all studied the menu. There are simply too many choices there, so it took us all a while to make our selections. I ordered more than I normally would, simply because I was so hungry from all the walking.

As we ate, The Water Ballerina told us about her upcoming performance, and we all shared notes about what we had done so far at the convention. The Water Ballerina said she found Video Ops a much more pleasant place to work, where the only problems were, say, occasional equipment failure, rather than the constant running and troubleshooting she faced as part of Spec Ops.

Although we considered walking back, The Gryphon had promised to return by 8 p.m., so we caught another cab. It took a little while to find one, since it was a quieter neighborhood than the Inner Harbor. While we were waiting, we saw an interesting art car, which is part of something Baltimore does every year, called Artscape.

But soon we were back at the BCC. I promised The Water Ballerina that I'd come to the benefit performance the next day. In fact, I'd already bought myself a ticket.

There's more to tell about Friday at Otakon, but I'll continue this later so that I have time to eat dinner and read more Harry Potter before my evening work assignments!

The Gryphon is amazed by the Friday morning crowd outside the BBC

More on Alyce's Otakon Experiences:

Musings on Alyce's Otakon Experiences

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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