I've done cons solo before, and while it's a weird experience to not have anyone as a built-in group, it can be fun if you know what you're doing and go in with a bit of planning.

I've done both "staying in a hotel with people but we don't really hang out at the con itself" (did that pretty much every con before I started going with my partner) and "hotel room alone," and the latter is the weird one, but it's fine. Being able to just go back to the room and take a nap if you need without worrying about other people? That's really nice haha (Plus it's easier to host people for hangouts since you have so much space if that's what you're into)

It's too late for this year, but my tips are these:
- Plan to go to events. If you find yourself bored, just go to whatever panel or video room or whatever you find even remotely interesting. Plan to see a band you aren't familiar with, or go to a guest panel even if you aren't super into their work, or the Masquerade even if you don't normally go. Find things to do. Karaoke is my top choice, but I'm a karaoke junkie from way back haha
- Make sure you have downtime to just wander. It can be a lot of fun to just wander the halls, people watch, take your time in Dealer's or AA, etc.
- Find ways to meet people. Strike up conversations in line, or join in games in the game room. Wander around and look for cosplayers and talk to them. Go to cosplay meetups for series you like, even if you aren't in cosplay yourself, just to see what people are doing and maybe meet some new fans. It will take some work if you are as shy irl as I am, but you can meet some good people this way!
- If you cosplay, either schedule photoshoots ahead of time or go fishing for photogs. Often there are photographers waiting around the outside portion of the convention center looking for interesting people to take photos of. Go strike up conversations with them and make yourself available for photos. This can be a lot of fun just to see how many photos you can get taken of yourself and show off for a bit.
- Pamper yourself a bit. You don't have people you're with to worry about what you want to eat for dinner, or finding a table large enough at a restaurant? Go and eat a nice meal by yourself to relax. Does your hotel have a pool? Go swimming or laze in the hot tub. Go do a sheet mask in your room between events. Hell, find a nearby nail salon and treat yourself to a manicure (I don't care your gender you deserve a mani/pedi).
- If you know people who will be at the con, even if they are only acquaintances, find ways to meet up and hang out. Don't be the clingy person who won't leave a group alone, but meet up for a bit or grab lunch or something together with social media mutuals or other people you may want to see or possibly build a friendship with but aren't going to spend the whole weekend with
- If you're really bored, make scavenger hunts or games for yourself. You can probably find con scavenger hunt lists online, but if not, do things like try to find the cosplayer or merch from the oldest series you are familiar with, or count how many people are cosplaying [insert series] or [insert genre] or whatever else. See if you can find certain con cliches, like someone eating Pocky or drinking Ramune on the con floor. Try to take a picture of a cosplayer with a wig of each color of the rainbow. If you think about it, you can find fun little activities to give yourself.
- If all else fails, bring a portable gaming system like a Switch and sit down in a corner and play a game for a bit

I haven't been to the particular event so I'm not sure how it works, but I know ALA has cosplay life drawing sessions. If I remember what a friend who went to one described, it basically is a room where you can go in and out and there's models there to draw who are constantly cycling through poses.

I'm a former art model myself, so I imagine something like this would work like most art modeling sessions I've done: Models would work in 20 minute blocks of time with 5 minute breaks between, and models would do different lengths of poses throughout the session (gesture poses, 5 minute poses, 10 minute poses, 20 minute and long poses done for multiple 20 minute sessions). I'd imagine if there were multiple models, there would be one model doing shorter poses, one doing longer poses, one in a long pose for the duration of the session, etc., and that artists could come and go as they please and go between the models to draw who they like. Most of my art modeling sessions were 3 hours total, so the event could be a few hours, or it could be a longer event with models coming and going.

Even with fully clothed models I'd still recommend a no photography policy in the life drawing room for privacy reasons. When I was modeling there were strict no photography policies because...well, I was unclothed, but even so, some of those poses are weird and unflattering from some angles and I'd hate for people to take creep shots of the models, especially if there end up being any wardrobe malfunctions. It's more a respect thing than anything, and you want the models to feel safe (also, modeling for photography tends to pay a LOT more than for drawing haha).

I wouldn't want to head this event up myself, but I'd be happy to help out with the logistics if anyone IS willing to head this up. I have experience in the field, so I'd be glad to lend that expertise!

I was VERY happy with how well the SJCC staff handled the vaccination checks. I'm just high enough risk that I'll only be attending cons that are as cautious as Fanime, and the SJCC staff did a great job in enforcing the restrictions.

I had a lot of fun at the gathering!! <3 This gathering has always been one of my favorites to attend.

Can't wait for next year's! And glad we don't have to wait three years til the next one! xD

Thank you so much for attending!!  I hope your Inuyasha gathering went well! ^_^

You're welcome! And it did, though it was kinda small.

Here are the results!

Audience Winner: Young Monsters Copulation Association by drewaconclusion

The other entrant was: Tubster Seductress (people it's bad) by Zane Kordich

Since there were only two entries, both will receive an Amazon digital gift card!

See you all next year!

I had a lot of fun at the gathering!! <3 This gathering has always been one of my favorites to attend.

Can't wait for next year's! And glad we don't have to wait three years til the next one! xD

Thank you so much for attending!!  I hope your Inuyasha gathering went well! ^_^

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dfrsaeliiheo9j4/AAACY1DXe4tNC_ewMPW089Wka?dl=0

Here's mine!

Darn, I missed you there.
I still need to work on my gallery XD

I had a lot of fun at the gathering!! <3 This gathering has always been one of my favorites to attend.

Can't wait for next year's! And glad we don't have to wait three years til the next one! xD

Hello everyone!

We had an amazing evening at our 13th annual Black & White Ball. Like every year, we have gained quite a bit of interest in the playlist! Here is the full playlist for your enjoyment.

Please take note that our playlist is generally set and finalized before the Ball to give our staff some time to edit/cut the tracks and even out the sound if necessary.

If you would like to get a head start and make a request for the 2023 playlist, hop over to our Twitter or Facebook pages, or email us at bwball@fanime.com. Thank you!


Song (Source, if applicable); Artist; Dance

• Chihiro no Waltz (Spirited Away); Joe Hisaishi; Waltz
• Azucar Mambo; Orquesta De La Luz; Salsa
• Bye, Bye, See You. (BUBBLE); Riria; Night Club Two-Step
• Lost in Paradise (Jujutsu Kaisen); ALI feat. AKLO; West Coast Swing
• Nobody Like U (Turning Red); 4*TOWN; Cha Cha
• Veo Lu Sluice (Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles); Kumi Tanioka; Tango
• Grapefruit Diet; “Weird Al” Yankovic; East Coast Swing
• Dawn Winery Theme (Genshin Impact); Yu-Peng Chen; Waltz
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Ya Boy Kongming!); QUEENDOM; Hustle/
• Oops!… I Did It Again; Postmodern Jukebox ft. Haley Reinhart; Foxtrot
• Sugar Foot Stomp; Benny Goodman; Balboa
• Sour Candy; WOODZ; Rumba
• RECIPE; Tatsuro Yamashita; Hustle
• DEMONSTRATION; Diga Diga Doo; Benny Goodman & The Rhythm Makers Orchestra; Balboa
• El Choclo; Ikuko Kawai, Dossie História, Gilberto W. Prisco; Tango
• Permission to Dance; BTS; West Coast Swing
• Fiesta en Turbaco Alberto Morales (Mario Bros Theme); Mantono Del Valle Gonzalez; Salsa
• Nobody Else (Under The Oak Tree); Ailee; Night Club Two-Step
• Material Girl (200 Du); Sally Yeh; East Coast Swing
• H’aanit, the Hunter (Octopath Traveler); Sean Schafianski; Waltz
• The Magic Number (Spiderman); De La Soul; Cha Cha
• It’s All Right (Pixar’s SOUL); Jon Batiste; Foxtrot
• Avengers Theme (Avengers); DJ ICE, Alan Silvestri; Tango
• EVERBLUE (Blue Period); Omoinotake; Merengue
• Stealin’ Apples; Glenn Miller Army Air Corp Band; Balboa
• Megalovania (Undertale); MOS; West Coast Swing
• Payaso de Rodeo; El Caballo Dorado; Line Dance: El Caballo Dorado
• Billie Bossa Nova; Billie Eilish; Rumba
• Not in the Mood; Utada Hikaru; Night Club Two-Step
• Bajo El Mar (The Little Mermaid); Alejandro Sanz; Salsa
• The Midgar Blues (Final Fantasy VII: Remake); Mitsuto Suzuki; Cha Cha
• Sankarin Tango (Control); Petri Alanko ft. Martti Suosalo; Argentine Tango
• Kigeki (SPY x FAMILY); Gen Hoshino; West Coast Swing
• Butterfly (Tokyo Ghoul); Avera; Waltz
• Athletic Theme (Yoshi’s Island); The 8-Bit Big Band; Balboa
• Dearly Beloved Swing Remix (Kingdom Hearts); Yoko Shimomura; Foxtrot
• DEMONSTRATION; Gurenge (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba); SLSMusic; Viennese Waltz
• DEMONSTRATION; Lost in Paradise (Jujutsu Kaisen); ALI feat. AKLO; West Coast Swing
• Genshin Impact Main Theme (Genshin Impact); Alina Gingertail; Waltz Mixer
• Slight Distress (Genshin Impact); Yu-Peng Chen; Waltz Mixer
• Sayonara no Natsu (Up On Poppy Hill); Aoi Teshima; Waltz Mixer
• Un Jour Mon Prince Viendra (Disney); Nikki Yanofsky; Waltz Mixer
• Share It Maybe (Sesame Street); Sesame Street; West Coast Swing
• Pork Chop Blues; The Alton Brown Trio; East Coast Swing
• Marble (BEASTARS); YURiKA; Rumba
• Cold Heart (PNAU Remix); Elton John, Dua Lipa; Hustle
• Banana Split For My Baby; Louis Prima; Foxtrot
• Clue: The Classic Mystery Game Main Theme; Marmalade Game Studio; Tango
• Black Coffee; The Six Swingers; Balboa
• Ievan Polka; Hatsune Miku; Line Dance: Tokyo Polka
• The Faerie Ring (Final Fantasy XIV); Masayoshi Soken; Waltz
• In the Dark (Pressure Kay Remix) (Shang-Chi); Swae Lee & Jhené Aiko; Samba
• All I Have To Do Is Dream (Sucker for Love); Akabaka; Salsa
• We Don’t Talk About Bruno (Encanto); Cast of Encanto; Cha Cha
• River (James Patterson Remix); The Knocks feat. Parson James; Hustle
• HINOTORI (Bossa Nova Remix) (hololive); Takanashi Kiara; Rumba
• The Legend of Vox Machina Opening Title; Jamie Evans; Tango
• Pepsiman (Pepsiman); James & Gang; East Coast Swing
• Aitaiwa; iri; Night Club Two-Step
• Still Alive (Portal); The 8-Bit Big Band ft. Benny Benack III; Foxtrot
• House of Bliss (Vocal Version) (Paradise Killer); Fiona Lynch, Epoch; West Coast Swing
• No Time to Die (James Bond); DJ ICE ft. Avery; Waltz
• DEMONSTRATION; Isabella’s Lullaby (The Promised Neverland); Takihito Obata; International Waltz
• DEMONSTRATION; I Want It That Way; Monchy & Alexandra; Bachata
• DEMONSTRATION; Butter; BTS; West Coast Swing
• Danger Zone; The Lethal Weapons; East Coast Swing Mixer
• Monster (BEASTARS); YOASOBI; East Coast Swing Mixer
• Egg Man; Big Bad Bosses; Salsa
• That That; PSY ft. Suga of BTS; Merengue
• Fukai Mori (Inuyasha); Do As Infinity; Night Club Two-Step
• Taco Grande; “Weird Al” Yankovic ft. Gerardo; Cha Cha
• What About Us (Bridgerton); Duomo; Argentine Tango
• Potato Chips; Slim Gaillard; Foxtrot
• Partners - The Game is Afoot! (The Great Ace Attorney 2); Yasumasa Kitagawa; Tango
• Butter; BTS; West Coast Swing
• Chew, Chew, Chew Your Bubblegum; Ella Fitzgerald; Balboa
• Play Back End Roll; Indigo la End; Night Club Two-Step
• Inferno (Promare); Hiroyuki Sawano ft. Benjamin & MPI; East Coast Swing
• Menchi: A Bolero of Sorrow - You Will Eat (Excel Saga); Toshio Masuda; Waltz
• Sakura; Pacific Mambo Orchestra; Salsa
• Costa Del Sol (Jukebox Version) (Final Fantasy VII: Remake): Nobuo Uematsu; Rumba
• U (English Version) (Belle); Belle, millenium parade; Merengue
• Eat Eat; 3Chongsa; Cha Cha
• So Long and Thanks for All the Fish (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy); Neil Hannon; Foxtrot
• Super High School Level Bad Guy (Danganronpa); Triple-Q (Billie Eilish & Masafumi Takada); Hustle
• Café Des Artistes; Laura Sullivan; Waltz
• I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’; Scissor Sisters; Line Dance: Soul Train
• Boogie Ride; Toshinobu Kurota; Line Dance: Soul Train
• Villain; Stella Jang; Argentine Tango
• Great Marsh (Salsa Remix) (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum); Stevenmix: Salsa
• Do You Wanna Taste It (Peacemaker Theme); Wig Wam; West Coast Swing
• Rendezvous (MATZ House Remix); KAHOH, Yo-Sea; Hustle
• Want You Gone (Portal 2); The 8-Bit Big Band ft. Venny Benack III; Foxtrot
• Tango of Tears (Final Fantasy VII: Remake); Nobuo Uematsu; Tango
• Let’s Groove; Earth, Wind & Fire; West Coast Swing

If you are also interested in viewing our previous playlists, you can find them at the links below:

2010: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,16384.msg425094.html#msg425094
2011: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,16384.msg423410.html#msg423410
2012: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,17507.msg444203.html#msg444203
2013: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,17730.msg446669.html#msg446669
2014: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,19570.msg480691.html#msg480691
2015: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,20254.msg486995.html#msg486995
2016: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,20725.msg490707.html#msg490707
2017: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,21193.msg493662.html#msg493662
2018: https://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,21531.msg495393.html#msg495393
2019: https://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,21761.msg496654.html#msg496654