I understand that Pacific Media Expo wants to keep the party alive, so that is why they moved to downtown Pasadena because of the nightlife spots. However, I prefer my convention nightlife at the convention location. In the LAX Hilton years (2006-2009), we had that huge lobby where foot traffic was always on the move. I felt bad for stopping traffic to get my photo taken. Yet, it was also hard trying to get a clear spot to take pictures of cosplayers and fashionistas. A main concern Stan had while exploring the Hilton grounds prior to PMX was cosplay gathering space. While there was hardly space in the hotel, the office building next door had plenty of room at the front for large gathering photos. Even the programming rooms felt very small. The main events room (CosFest, concerts, etc) felt like it went in half from last year. The dealer’s room was just as cramped as Anime Expo 2010 where it was hard to navigate and get through aisle ways. The same can be said for the artist alley and swap meet.

It was also tough trying to find a decent place to eat, even for just a grab and go. I could only take so much of hotel pizza. Not to mention, the hotel restaurant was not event open for most of the time. I miss the sushi / ramune combo deal at Pacific Media Expo. While there were lunch trucks, reports of waiting for an hour for the dumpling and kogi trucks were ridiculous. At one point, the Nom Nom truck ran out of food once we got to the end of the line. We did stop by Island’s at Paseo De Colorado, but the service was fairly slow and we ended up missing Stan and Ramsey’s Tokusatsu and Super Sentai panel.

Many Pacific Media Expo patrons expressed a return to the LAX Hilton. While this is at the discretion of the convention, I would prefer Pacific Media Expo not to return to the Pasadena Hilton. I would like to see Pacific Media Expo at a larger hotel venue equivalent or just a bit more to the LAX Hilton. Pasadena Hilton is a nice hotel, don’t get me wrong, but it is a wrong fit for PMX much like how Anime Expo is a wrong fit for the Long Beach Convention Center (but it’s just appropriate for Long Beach Comic Con).

However, this is not to say that Pacific Media Expo was a downer. There were things to do and explore. I really liked the pocky tasting room and maid café. I would have stuck around longer at the maid café if they had their sushi / ramune deal back. The maid café looked like it was fun because the maids were playing board games with the patrons and they seemed to be very friendly. Another event that I would have loved to have gone to was the Anime Nightclub events on Friday evening, but had to miss due to my day job. Friday traffic only allowed me to arrive just as it was about to wrap up. This would have been a cool event to attend and see the friends I made within the Robotech and Macross fandom.

People complained that there was not much to do. I think the problem lies in the fact that there was not an onsite program guide. I had to find things to do by just walking around and poking my head inside panel and programming rooms. Pacific Media Expo did have some fun events going on, but if Pacific Media Expo published a mini program guide with descriptions of what was going on with each of the panels and events, this would have solved the “Pretty Meh” vibe at the convention during daytime hours. Deb was not able to find the karaoke room until I pointed it out to her on Saturday night.

I have to thank Janice for setting up our Awesomely Bad Filipino Movies panel. I was very happy to finally host this panel and add more to Pacific Media Expo’s growing programming. Part of what makes Pacific Media Expo fun is the programming and contribution from the fans. If you have something Asian pop culture related you want to present that you cannot at other conventions, Pacific Media Expo is the place to do it. In addition, many thanks to programming ops for helping us out setting up my old Fujitsu laptop to the projector.

Pacific Media Expo is still a good convention and one that I enjoy every year. For a small convention, it manages to bring quality guests of honor from Asia that can attract an audience. This is also known as “Party Media Expo” to some, but we did not have much of that going this year compared to other years. The LAX Hilton was much roomier compared to the Pasadena Hilton which provided more space for attendees just to sit back and relax and hang out with friends. I would return next year regardless of location, but I would like to see improvements because I know that this staff is capable of pleasing their attendees without trying too hard.

Many thanks to Mike, Todd, Paula, Janice, and the rest of the PMX staff for throwing another event. Many thanks to the Scarlet Rhapsody staff for their contribution for the report. Many thanks to Yumi Fujiwara of Innocent World for helping me pick out what to wear. Having the designer pick out clothes that best suit the customer adds more value to the already expensive designer outfits. Many thanks to my friends and the people who made PMX a great way to close of the 2010 convention season.

2011 remains a mystery. Ask me about my 2011 plans in 2011. Until then, if you have any questions or wish to get a hold of me, I can best be reached via email (v @ scarlet-rhapsody.com).

It was quite surreal that people remembered me from my AMV days as Karen-chan...  

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