This is a series of posts on convention running and my journey through conventions. For the entire series click here.

Running conventions is the gateway drug to professional fandom

It was Labor Day Weekend of 2009. At the time, I was reeling from a bad breakup and living with my Grandmother back in my hometown while working to save up to get back into school. A friend of mine had reminded me that week that there was an Anime Convention going on in downtown Portland, and thought I’d enjoy the experience. It was somewhat of a spontaneous adventure that got me to call up a friend with a car, and convince them to drive into Portland in the middle of the night for donuts and to drop me off at a plush Downtown hotel where I had no reservation and proceed to crash on the floor of a friend of a friends booked room. I got up early, waited in line for the chance to purchase a weekend ticket to the event, not knowing what events I’d go to or things I’d see.

The convention itself was largely uneventful for me. I went to a few interesting panels about AMVs (Anime Music Videos, or fan-compiled videos set to specific music) and a strange panel for a group called “The Anime Hunters” whom did a YouTube channel of their shenanigans in cosplay making and being fans. I saw a few of the guests and, more than any of that, I witnessed the staff working hard and experiencing serious problems with the venue, attendees and their own limitations.

I knew a little bit about how hotels work, having been the front desk manager of one for a year or so at that point, and could see that a lot of what they were suffering stemmed from a fundamental disconnect between the convention staff and the hotel.

There was a revolt among the attendees about the treatment of their throngs by the security and staff of the hotel, and the complications in rectifying this with staff of the convention. There were forum threads where people pledged anger, frustrated boycotting of future conventions.

I did the best I could to explain why the convention was struggling with their venue, why other venues wouldn’t work and the options the convention had at their disposal to improve the situation. I encouraged people who were negative to get involved – and then I took my own advice and started conversing with the heads of the convention; showing up to the general/elections meeting that year. Fast forward a month and I was asked to take the position of Facilities Liaison, a director level position that built the relationship between the hotel and the convention staff. Fast forward a few years and I have held 4 of the 9 Director level positions at that convention and have been a part of its growth from a 3000 person event to a platform convention recognized across the country that benefits from a beautiful convention center in Portland.

In that time, I got a degree in communication, I liaised with conventions across the country and businesses around the globe to learn more about what it takes to make a convention work.

But I am not the first to do that, and certainly wont be the last. I met with people who ran conventions as non-profits and 100% volunteer run, and convention runners whose full time job was producing events in fandom. And that was the bug that bit me, the thing that kept me up at night. If these people could make a living as “secret masters of fandom (SMOF’s), why couldn’t I? I found there was a whole community of people working to make a stable living inspiring others and building fandom. That is the journey, that is the hope. Lets see how long it takes.