Things I Learned At Comikaze Expo

 I admit that I started to write this the day after I went to Comikaze Expo. I also admit that I then became distracted by lots of shiny objects, a pursuit of employment, Thanksgiving and many other things. Don't judge. I finally did it, and I am pleased. 

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend Comikaze Expo's debut. The cast & crew of Awkward Embraces was asked to be on a panel, and we accepted! That meant I was extended a pass to attend the whole event. Wooo! All in all, a good time was had. Aside from a few inconveniences, (floor plan a little wonky, announcements that sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher), I would consider it a success. I look forward to the next year.

So here's what I learned. If I were you, I'd remember this for your next Con.

-Take Pictures

Lady Steam and Her Beau

Whether you use your phone or a nifty digital camera, take pictures. Even if you don't think you'll post the picture later, take it anyway. Half the fun is walking around and snapping pics with your favorite cosplayers. No, I didn't know them all of the costumes/characters, but it was still fun. My biggest regret? I never snapped a picture of a wee little Ghostbuster, complete with wee little proton pack. There were also several wee Captain Americas. Come to think of it, I believe the toddler cosplayers were my favorite.

He's Got a Towel, Now Jessica has try to Not Panic

-Budget Accordingly

Cool Stuff Here

Luckily, Comikaze believes in an inexpensive ticket price. ($12) But then there's the parking at the Convention Center ($12), the over-priced food, and most importantly - THE STUFF! So if you're on a limited budget like I currently am, bring your lunch, carpool, walk, take public transportation, so you can your monies for important things - LIKE COOL STUFF!




-Find Your Twitter Friends/A Con is Like a Big Party
Both days I came by the con all by myself, as I was staying in Manhattan Beach. When I walked in to the convention center, I was lost in a sea of people. And even though I had a map and Jessica texted me where she was, I couldn't find her! I couldn't enjoy the spirit of wandering around when I didn't have anybody to wander around with. But then, I found her:

And then, I found these lovely people:

That's right, I found the interchangeable Sarah Kuhn and Jenn from JustJenn Designs at the table for the League of Extraordinary Women. It was like coming home.

Once that all fell into place, it was like walking around a giant party all weekend. You find someone, you chit chat, you move on to the next panel and mingle some more.


And you know what else is great?
The panels I attended were always filled with friends.

It must have due to the fact that Jessica was on 5 panels, (and she even got pulled onto a 6th!), good people attract more good people, ya know. That's a fact.

Here are some pics from the Star Trek Q& A Jessica got to moderate. Garrett Wang was the first to join her.

The audience was packed just to hear the stories from Garrett, as well as Celeste Yarnell and Bobby Clark

-Being on a Panel is FUN!

 I admit to being nervous, but really, I was sitting a great group of friends. We're all goofballs and dorks. I think the Awkward Embraces fans were pleased.

A Friendly Audience!

Jessica & Our Lovely Moderator Stephanie Thorpe

Steven, Lyndsey, and I Try Really Hard to be Sexy. 

Candis Only Looks Nervous

 I wish our panel had been longer, it went by way too fast. Somebody else get us on a panel so we can regale you all with our hilarious hijinks. Please?

I also got a chance to find Twitter friends I had never yet seen in person. Bonnie Burton, Andre the Black Nerd, David Nett, and Taryn O'Neil. That's a thrill let me tell you. Silly me, I didn't get pictures with everyone. (See? Take Pictures!) But I did take a pic or two of Andre:

Two days of walking around with friends is just plain fun. It's why I like a good party, I'm a social butterfly, what can I say?

@chrissypedia, @TheBDAG, @Spytap, @ladimcbeth, @TheStephThorpe, @JenniferLanda, @SizzlerKistler

-Don't Take Yourself Seriously
I think a Con is just supposed to be fun, whether you're a fan, a Super Star, or a Co-Producer for a webseries. I think Comikaze Expo really allowed people to have fun on every level. Allow yourself to geek out whether you're on a panel, you're in the audience, or you're having lunch with your troupe of friends.

Barrett is Hotter Than Ever

My Dad Envies This Mustache

Beth and Her Sexy Polar Bear 

Recommending A Voice Over Class

Not only is my friend Richard Tatum, loveable, hilarious, brilliant, talented, goofy, and married to my friend Tracy, but he's also a talented voiceover teacher. Richard has worked in voiceover a goodly time now and has been teaching lessons for about 10 years now.

I took a class from Richard in the basics of voiceover and I loved the atmosphere that he set up. First of all, it's just darn fun. If you're a teacher and you're about the fun and not the fear, you're all right with me. Second, every one had a chance at the mic in every class. We explored different types of voiceovers, (animation, commercials, video games, etc.), and we had feedback at the end of each session. I learned quite a bit!

Richard has another round of classes coming up, starting October 6th. It runs for 6 weeks and will cover animation! Topics will include character creation, parsing scripts, making characters dynamic, and creating and maintaining a character repertoire, as well as broadening your range, audition preparation, and styles.  All students get on the microphone repeatedly every class!

So if you're interested, check out his company, Absolute Voiceover , to see what other classes he has coming up, check here. You may also find Absolute Voiceover on Facebook and Twitter.

Richard is also a wonderfully smart actor and director. If you saw Group the Musical and The Insidious Impact of Anton this year, then you've seen his directing work.

If you're an Awkward Embraces fan, than you know him as The IT Guy. Below is my favorite episode of his.

Awkward Bragging

I have to say, the Pattyverse is filled with inspiring talent. I'm surrounded by such determined, dream-oriented people. It's thoroughly inspiring.

In the past three years or so, many friends have started working in the world of the webseries. It's still a new frontier, a Wild West, if you will. You may of heard of The Guild, The Bannen Way, and Stalker Chronicles. 

My roommate, Jessica Mills is amazing. Last year, she created a webseries called Awkward Embraces. I got to help out a bit, and if you look closely, I'm the Skank in Episode 5, and if you don't blink you'll see me briefly in Episode 9. Hee. Jessica got tired of the "industry" telling her in order to get seen in the world of acting you had to A + B +C, and there's no way to bypass a damn thing. She got her good friends together and decided to make a webseries. Just about a year later, she's blown up all over Twitter, the Geek World has embraced her, and the premiere of Season 2 is just around the corner!! (February 18th, yo!).

The neatest thing about it all? Jess asked me to help co-produce! Weeeeee! What it means right now? Oh, I have a wide assortment of random duties. Is that normal? Dunno. But it's pretty fun. So far, my biggest job is to help get the word out about our fundraising to complete Season 2. Also, if you follow the hashtag #AwkwardTrivia you will see what happens when we start to tweet random silly "facts" about the cast and crew. Last night, the damn thing blew up with fans coming up with their own trivia, and damn was it fun! And really humbling when you think about it - so many people, from so many different places like Awkward Embraces that they want to engage and play along with us!

You know what else is grand? A week ago, Jessica launched the second Indiegogo campaign with the dreamy goal of raising $10,000! Holy cow! Holy mackerel! Holy holy! You know what else is even more amazing? Right now, at this very moment in time, we've raised $5,303!!!!! Just over half way there, and we have two months to raise the full $10,000.  Jessica and the gang are so delighted, in awe, thankful, and downright giddy. I can tell you right now, the emails are on fire within the troops. Just you wait, you're going to be amazed at what we have in store for you.

I'm gonna finish this blog with one final plug: On February 18th, we will be celebrating the premiere of Season 2. What's the icing on that cake, you ask? The party is sponsored by Comikaze, an expo for the Los Angeles fan of anything geektastic. It's doubly a charity fundraiser, to benefit Gamers United, an organization that brings video games to children's hospitals across the world. If you're in the Los Angeles area - please, please come! You get in by either donating $10 to Gamers United, or you can bring a new comic book or video game. How cool is that? AND there will be dancing, fun gifts, and even Michelle Rodriguez will even be guest DJing. Ah-mazing.  Reserve your tix here.

All right, here's the Season 2 trailer:


And here's our Indiegogo video:


Please spread the word about Awkward Embraces! It's truly a work of love and fun.