Alas, the parasols will not be ready for these two labor day weekend shows, but we will have lots of great books nonetheless.
Yaoi Press and Netcomics will be at Anime Vegas Sept 1-3. This is the first show we are operating on Netcomics behalf. We have two booths for Yaoi Press, and one booth for Netcomics across the hall. We’ll be holding an industry panel at this show.
Yaoi Press will also be a Kumoricon thanks to West Coast convention staffer Crystal Blu.
See you there!
The talented studio KOSEN has kindly agreed to do the artwork for the parasols (Saihoshi, Stallion). The first design drafts are really spectacular.
We’ve also chosen a different parasol design where the spokes are all underneath the canvas. This will keep the art from being bisected. This is more the style we’re looking at:
Yaoi Press is working with a manufacturer to create ‘Yaoi Parasols.’ Below is a picture of the same style of parasol they’ll be making for us. Ours will have color pretty-boy images, and the word ‘Yaoi’ prominently on both sides.
This is an attempt to create something similar to the success of the yaoi paddles, which are essentially carried around like big signs saying ‘I’m a yaoi fan.’ The parasols will work the same, and have a hint of gothic lolita mixed in.
One of my tasks right now is finding the right artist to create the artwork. This has to be moved on quickly to come out in time for Yaoi Con.
The Good: Wyndam By Request.
I decided at some point to sign up with every hotel and airline reward program since I travel so much. Up until Anime Festival Orlando I never saw any benefit to it. Then I stayed at the Wyndam in Orlando. Since I was a ‘By Request’ customer I had a fruit basket in my room, and an ice bucket with two free bottles of water and two cans of diet coke. When I signed onto the Internet I had the connection fee waived by putting in my ‘By Request’ number. It was nice. I will attempt to stay at Wyndam hotels now. I guess their ‘By Request’ program worked on me. I’ll be ‘requesting them.’
The Bad: Wellsfargo
There’s a series of Wamu commercials here that make fun of ‘big banks’ that charge ridiculous fees. I wholeheartedly believe that Wellsfargo is the prime target of the jabs. I agree with the commercial: Why do I have to pay a $2 fee at an ATM, and then be charged another $2 fee by Wellsfargo for using a non-Wellsfargo ATM?
Still, at least that fee can be rationalized. The one I just saw on my statement can’t be. (It’s time to switch banks). July was a month of big conventions. With Anime Expo, Anime Next, Otakon, and San Deigo Comic Con (as well as the smaller Sac Anime) I was depositing large amounts of cash into my Wellsfargo account. The other day I say a huge ‘Cash Deposit Fee.’ I emailed asking them what the meaning of this was. They replied saying that when you deposit more than $5000 in cash in one month you’re charged $.10 for every $100 over that amount.
In other words, Wellsfargo penalizes you for putting money into your bank account with them.
What possible logic can they have for this ridiculous fee? They claimed that it was expensive to organize and sort cash deposits. I say bullshit, because in California the ATMs are capable of taking cash deposits. You put a pile of 30 bills in and it sorts and organizes the money right there. I presume that the 20s are put in with money the machine spits out to people withdrawing cash. Thus requiring less money to refill the machines with. As for cash deposited at the branches, I’ve seen them ’sort and organize it.’ It goes in a bill sorter and comes out in neat piles of $1000. And might I add that when you deposit cash you already ‘pre-organize’ it for the bank. You put all the bills face side up, all in the same direction. If you don’t the teller shoves the disorganized pile of bills back under the bullet proof glass and tells you to get it ready for depositing. Shall I now bring in a trashbag of wadded up bills to make sure I get the benefit of this ’sorting and organizing’ fee I’m paying for?
Of course, having too much cash to deposit is a problem everyone would like to have. I know you may be groaning over this rant. Please understand that this July money was spent back in January. Conventions are paying the bills for Yaoi Press. I’d rather put the money Wells Fargo robbed me of towards mailing a galley to the LA Times.
Good and Bad
First class flying.
The return flight from AWO was the first flight where I had enough miles to upgrade to first class. It was the first time I’d flown in First Class in my life. I saw how the other half lives, and considering I’ll have to go back to coach for many flights thereafter, I call this both good and bad.
I was on US Airways. I don’t know if all other airlines handle the coach/first class division the same way, so I won’t generalize. I can only tell you how this airline handled this flight from Orlando to Las Vegas.
The bad is that it seems the airline is making First Class more desirable by making coach worse, rather than first class better. I never knew that you see a different movie in First Class than in Coach. Our movie was Spiderman 3. Coach got that movie where Hugh Grant was an aged 80s pop star (the title escapes me).
Yes, in First Class you get free headphones, everyone knows this. However, the free headphones in first class are large comfortable padded things with little wings that you hook on the tops of your ears. The headphones that you have to pay for in coach are ear buds. ??? So First Class = Not only free but better. Coach = You pay for it, and it’s cheap garbage.
One reassurance was that the Bloody Mary I had in First Class was just as awful as the one I’d purchased during the flight out in coach. They need to stock airplanes with olives.
Yaoi Press will be at Anime Weekend Orlando this weekend, and then there’s a much needed break until Anime Vegas and Kumoricon in September.
San Diego Comic Con was great for networking and had sales that were only slightly better than an average regional Anime convention. Our table location wasn’t the best logistically. The voice of Jimmy Neutron was autographing at the table to the right of us, and the voice of the Animaniacs (there promoting ‘Biker Mice From Mars’) was to the left of us. Shooing children from the table was a nonstop chore.
I met with Heewoon Chung of Netcomics again. There are several things of note agreed on, but at this time the only thing I’d like to announce is that Yaoi Press is taking over Netcomics USA convention exhibits. This will begin with Anime Vegas. We have two tables for Yaoi Press, and across the hall we have two more tables for Netcomics, complete with their displays and free giveaways, but being operated completely by my staff. Anime Weekend Atlanta is the next show we’d like to do this for them at. I meant to write a press release about this…and still might, but I didn’t have time for now.
One other thing to mention: After School Nightmare was robbed! Boo Eisners! Boooo! (I don’t even know who actually won in the category. I just knew it was nominated. It’s one of my favorite series.)
