Introduction (first time con)

[amused_]

Hi all,

Just wanted to make an introduction post to the community here.  Not sure if this is in the right spot.

A week ago, one of my old college buddies mentioned that he would be going to Fanime and Clockwork this year.  So I checked the dates and figured I would tag along since I had nothing planned for Memorial Day weekend.  I live in the East Bay so San Jose isn't that far for me and I make the trip down there pretty often to play poker.  In planning the trip, buying tickets became buying costumes became reserving two hotel rooms for 3 nights as other buddies wanted to come, too.  Before I knew it, "tagging along" had become a full blown vacation (albeit only a little away from home).

A little about our group:  We all graduated from Cal between '03 and '07 (Go Bears!) and for those of you that are clever, yes we are in that late twenties-early thirties age group.  Pretty old for anime convention attendees?  I wouldn't know since this will be my first convention ever.  Of course we all share the common thread that we are interested in anime (or at least were interested at some point in our lives).  We're all pretty sociable dudes and love to hang out in loud environments, so I expect we'll fit right in when it comes to convention activities.  I'm looking forward to hitting up some bars and making their patrons feel as awkward as possible, myself.

I have to say I'm getting more excited about attending as I'm writing this post.  In high school I was always the geeky/nerdy type and loved to play video games and watch anime whenever I had the opportunity.  In college, this became full blown as we were given T1/T3 access in the dorms.  I really fueled an anime addiction in my freshman and sophomore years, but I was never motivated enough to attend a convention.  Then graduating from college meant being thrust into the real world and I found myself with a lot less time for my quirky animated shows.  Hopefully this convention will show me a couple of recent anime series that I really need to watch.

With all that said, I don't really have any specific questions for the community, but I'm willing to hear out any suggestions y'all might have for our group of grown geeks.  I saw there's a 21+ meetup thread and that's right up our alley.  A couple of us might even hit up one of the nearby card rooms for some gambling (and yes, I'm entertaining the idea of sitting at the poker tables in costume!)  If there are others out there in our age group that wanna hang out just drop a post in this thread or send me a message. 

Thanks!
Amused

(Okay, so maybe one question.  Would a HP costume be inappropriate at an anime con?)

[DangerHeart]

Personally speaking I've seen so many different costumes at this con even though its mostly and anime/game convention. I don't mind, I love it. I just think its a great place for geeky people to hang out and have fun. And if that means a group of people in Storm Trooper costumes then I'm cool with it.

[GokuMew2]

Welcome! Glad you'll be making FanimeCon your first convention and I hope you have a great time. ^^

There have been a lot more young folks attending lately but there's still a very good-sized older crowd so you'll fit right in. :)

(There are always some HP cosplayers so feel free to pack that along.)

[amused_]

Thanks for the responses.  =)

I'll definitely be in full slytherin garb.  My robes came in yesterday and I put them on during OT of the Warriors/Spurs game after getting home from watching Iron Man 3... Boy did it get hot.  Infuriating game!

I'll also be in a Seigaku tennis uniform one of the days, so if you see an older geek with glasses and a blonde wig, feel free to say hello.  I've always wanted to cosplay since highschool and really only ever get to during Halloween.  (even then, it's popular movies and not-so-geeky stuff!)

[BabyBlueJeff]

Sometimes, I wonder to myself why there are people dressed up as non-Japanese related characters (Storm Troopers, Marvel, DC, Disney, etc.), but I would very much rather have people dress up in costume than not. Conventions are all about dressing up!

[udonoodle]

Hey!
I'm only 18, but I know for a fact that a there are a ton of people in your age group that attend cons (many of them being my friends). I love hearing cosplay stories, and yours has just begun!

It's great that you are going with friends, they'll show you the ropes.

What are you planning on cosplaying?

[Sivartius]

This is going to be the first time for me as well. I'm not in my 30s yet, but I'm not a teenager anymore either.