Help the Department of Alchemy return to South by Southwest!

Basically, there’s a big tech/film/music event called South by Southwest every year in Austin, TX. Last year, I was chosen to speak during the Interactive (ie. tech) festival, and I’m trying to make it back there to give another presentation. SXSW chooses panels/talks by outsourcing opinion via the “Panel Picker,” which provides about 1/3 of the overall score (the rest of the score is formed by the panel judges & staff).

If you’ve seen me in the past at anime conventions, you know that I can dish out a good talk. My proposal for SXSW 2010 is “Lurk Moar: Why Internet Culture Matters.”

So, if you’re inclined to spare 57 seconds of your time, please go to my talk’s page (http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/3203) to 1) vote up, and 2) leave a positive comment. Signing up for the voting is super easy (name, email, password), and you receive practically no messages (if you’re concerned about that).

Thanks for your help!

Department of Alchemy Audio Archive – Episode 2: Anime Boston “Industry Panel”


How we all vicariously feel about the anime industry.

Honestly, I just want to get this second episode online, because it’s taken more than a few months to do so already, so… bullet point time!

- The podcast has been officially named: DoAAA, or the Department of Alchemy Audio Archive. Fitting, since I’m probably always going to upload audio I record at conventions.
- Episode 2 features Chris Beverage from his Anime on DVD panel at Anime Boston 2009. Since there was no real industry panel on Sunday at the convention, Chris’s panel represents the pinnacle of industry discussion that happened inside the Hynes last May.
- I’m sick this week, so I didn’t want my crappy voice getting in the way of the equally-awful panel audio. Thus, I just use my laptop’s voice to host this episode.

Listen below, or use the direct download here.

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Otakon Panel Updates!

No, really, I love Yutaka Yamamoto-san to death.

So, if you’re going down to Otakon this weekend, you might as well stop by a Department of Alchemy panel! As of about 10 minutes ago, one more of our panels has been added to the official schedule. Our new program looks like this:

The Impact of Evangelion – Saturday at 9:00 am in Panel 1

Anime & Manga Studies – Saturday at 11:30 am in Panel 1

The Problem with Otaku – Saturday at 7:00 pm in Panel 5

Without Watching the Anime: Opening and Ending Themes – Sunday at 10:15 am in Panel 3