AWA Reviews

Castor Troy · Post by **Castor Troy** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:36 am

AWA is always awesome-ness.

I was a little worried in 2007 that the normal people I usually hung out with weren't coming, but I got to hang out with a bunch of new people and others who I haven't hung out with in the past.

I have yet to win an actual awa award besides the guest ones, but I like how different the contests are in comparison to the audience based judging ones.

Not sure if I'm going this year, but I'll be back in the future.

CrackTheSky · Post by **CrackTheSky** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:56 am

From someone who attended his first AWA last year (and only my second con ever), I can say that the best part of the experience was definitely the people. I got to meet so many people I look up to and talk to online, and it was awesome just getting to know them in a more human setting. I've never really been a part of any sort of group or clique in my life, so hanging out with so many people that share the same nerdy interest as I do was by far one of the best experiences of my life.

As for the AMV stuff...well, yeah, that was awesome too. It's funny, because people always say that ACen and AWA are the two biggest cons for AMVs, and as ACen's AMV contest was the only con I could compare AWA's to, I thought it ironic that ACen looked like a joke in comparison, at least when it came to the number of people who attended. Seeing so many people congregate in one place just to watch AMVs was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and getting to walk in front of all of them to accept my award was something I'll never, ever forget.

All in all, AWA is something I'll be attending every year from here on out, no doubt about it

Pwolf · Post by **Pwolf** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:12 pm

SQ wrote:PWolf: How so?

too many people + drinking = problems for me... plus other bs...

Pwolf

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:49 pm

Pwolf wrote:
SQ wrote:PWolf: How so?
too many people + drinking = problems for me... plus other bs...

Pwolf

It's cause I wasn't there.

/ego

inthesto · Post by **inthesto** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:05 pm

What the hell is an AMV?

trythil · Post by **trythil** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:07 pm

Pwolf wrote:
SQ wrote:PWolf: How so?
too many people + drinking = problems for me... plus other bs...

Pwolf

Yeah.

For me, the highlights of AWA 2007 were when I wasn't around a giant crowd of AMV people.

I was lucky to come to this realization sometime Thursday night or Friday morning, because it allowed me to get a lot more out of the con by skipping the awards ceremony, going outside, and doing other things, like cosplay photoshoots. I wasn't smart enough to figure that out in 2006, and had a rather suboptimal experience for those three and a half hours.

The AWA crowd is just too big for me. (Occasionally, it is also too drunken.) There's people in that crowd I dislike (and I do hope they dislike me back; otherwise, what's the point), and there's people in that crowd whose company I really enjoy. But when they all get into the same melange, I just can't wring much fun out of it.

I prefer ACen for this reason, even though the con (a) is much larger than AWA, (b) doesn't have nearly the prestige that AWA does viz. AMVs, and (c) had some serious management problems last year. It's just a smaller, more intimately tied group of people (for now, anyway), most of whom I really enjoy being around.

SQ · Post by SQ » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:29 pm

I like being around the AMV crowd, but there are times I disliking being in the thick of it.
I usually hang out with the same people, and this year I got to meet new people and I was rude and shrugged them off for other people (I feel really bad for that, by the way).

However, as far as con expierence itself goes, I'm kind of the opposite of Trythil.
I used to split AWA evenly between AMV stuff and actual anime stuff. I used to go to panels not AMV related, and other events as well. When I started only going for the AMVs and the AMVers, I liked a lot more, actually.

But that's just me I guess. D:

Brakus · Post by **Brakus** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:50 pm

I think it's both the AMV stuff and the non-AMV stuff that gets me to go every year. I catch up with a lot of friends in the AMV world and elsewhere, I attend some good panels, I love the Dealer's Room there, and the location is just perfect with everything you need only a close drive away (for those of us that rent cars after flying in).

I will admit that I've noticed a lot more hostility from the convention staff at AWA the past two years I've gone. I guess the fans and their hangers-on have infiltrated the AWA and made life a little less pleasant.

As long as there's still a good AMV community, and as long as there's a place to have it, I'll make it a point to go to AWA every year. Just relax, don't worry about what others say about you behind your back, and let the atmosphere take hold.

Unlimited Rice · Post by **Unlimited Rice** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:50 pm

AWA '07 was my first time and I thought it was a pretty incredible experience, AMV-wise. It was pretty cool to go, "hey, I think that was _____ who passed by us" though I think I only got to say hey to about less than 10 AMV people, which I was pretty satisfied with. I think trying to say hey to everyone is too much of a feat anyways. But yeah, AWA definitely did leave that big inspiration for AMVs, though I kinda lost it when I got back home

Corran · Post by **Corran** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:43 am

I wouldn't have flown in from South Korea if it wasn't for the friends. Though, I really like the amv contest, particularly the Pro contest, and the amount of effort Wagner and the rest of the staff put into making the amv community feel welcome there.