Arisia 2013: Part 2

 There was quite a bit to see besides the Student Art Gallery at Arisia. There were panels, merchandise, advertising, and other things going on at this convention. There was even free food in this one area. Unfortunately it was all mostly cheap snack food that with a "first come first serve" rule, but most conventions I have been to only had free water available. There didn't seem to be any known restaurants in the immediate district of the Westin Waterfront, so they probably didn't have many options. Sure the hotel had a food cart selling food, but it was all considered expensive for cheap food.

I ran into two people I didn't expect to see at this convention. One was a college friend, the other a former coworker. I was really glad to see them both. All three of us appeared to be there not just to see the convention, but to participate in it as well in one form or another.

Among a few of the panels I went to were "Artists as Entrepreneurial Heroes", "Write What You Know?", "All About Kickstarter", and "Making a Video Game". These panels seemed very interesting and very helpful for certain aspects I am considering.

 Here's the Program Guide they gave everyone for the convention, of coarse there were other forms that they gave as well in order for people to figure out where and when to go. It was a little complicated, but this was an interesting image to see.

There are plenty of conventions for all sorts of reasons everywhere you could possibly think of. I even picked up a form for a Fairy Convention. There's a science convention that will be at the Westin called Boskone, there will be a 21+ Anime convention in Provincetown in Cape Cod called Nauticon, and there will be a science-fiction/fantasy convention in New York called Lunacon. These are only a few conventions on the East Coast of the US. There are a great many more conventions on almost any subject. It will usually just require for people to save up money to go to.

 There were quite a few tables selling merchandise ranging from board games, cards games, and video games to used books and leather gear. Here we see a business card for Crossed Genres.

 Anna Erishkigal, author of the fantasy book series "Sword of Gods" had a table at this convention to advertise her books. I found the covers interesting to see, and from what I heard, this series is about warring angels including Lucifer.

Arisia has already picked out a date for next year. I find that hard to believe considering that most conventions I have been to have withheld posting dates for next year until after a few months go by.