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Attending the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention of 2013 was our first foray into MTAC, but it was an awesomely incredible experience nonetheless! While we may not have known exactly what to expect beforehand, we jumped in headfirst and had a terrific time!
Friday was spent getting my bearings of the Convention Center and finding the Media Room. It was here where we undertook our interviews of the show’s featured guests and spent the majority of the day. Afterward, random photos were taken of cosplayers before attending Opening Ceremonies and then a few quick photos inside the My Little Pony-themed Grand Galloping Gala Ball. That was enough to burn out any super hero (or even a child-driven Mech without his sugar rush). And if we’re too tired to attend the Risque Cosplay, that’s really telling!
With a little rest, Saturday began very early. More cosplay pictures were taken, along with a few more interviews and a couple of panels (including MTAC Jeopardy with a couple of smart-aleck voice actors, superb!). Next it was time for one of the weekend’s highlights, the Midday Cosplay Costume Contest. It was really fun to attend. Hosted by Ana Aesthetic, among others, the show moved at a brisk pace. While the judges were huddled, there was a Para Para dance performance. When the awards ceremony had concluded, it was time to hit the GMX Pub Crawl! We only made it to three bars before our night had sadly concluded.
Sunday started with the Deviled Egg Rush! How fitting, since the theme of the entire show was Devil’s Dozen, and this event took place on Easter! So, there were many Easter Eggs to be collected on this day. Dropping by the Charity Auction, we caught Jonathan Klein undertaking the difficult duty as Auctioneer of the Charity Auction. Many great pieces of art, anime and video game peripherals were signed by various celebrities and sold to benefit a few local charities. Off to the beginning round of the Ramen Eating Contest… it was very messy and very fun to watch! A few great photos were taken before catching up with Sailor Moon herself, Jennifer Cihi. We enjoyed our interview with her before catching the Symphonic Anime Orchestra in Concert (another highlight). Absolutely wiped, the Closing Ceremonies couldn’t have come at a better time!
Overall, it was a VERY busy weekend in the Nashville Convention Center, to say the least. It was billed as Tennessee’s Largest Fan Weekend because also taking place at the same time and same location was the Full Moon Tattoo & Horror Convention. It was very busy, indeed. With that in mind, the final attendance figures
logged in 20,000 people in total attendance.
After all the MTAC organizers recognized their more than 200 hard-working staff members, it was time to look ahead to the Geek Media Expo Volume Five, which also takes place in Nashville on November 1st through 3rd. Speaking as a host and contributor was none other than Star Trek: Voyager’s Garrett Wang, who was looking forward to the convention. Afterward, GMX Vice President Steve “Zot” Unverzagt spoke about things to come, and presented his “God Made a Geek” video, which truly tugged at the heart strings!
Last but not least, Zot revealed some breaking news: The Halo voice actors of Cortana (Jen Taylor) and Master Chief (Steve Downes) will both be attending the Geek Media Expo later this year. Most likely, there will be a LAN party of Halo gamers and both voice actors can mock those in attendance. How cool is that? To be publicly mocked by none other than Cortana and Master Chief? It’s unbelievalbe. I can’t wait! It’s gonna be great!
For More Information:
MTAC
Geek Media Expo
GMX Twitter
Another GMX Twitter account