This weekend begins my 2023 convention season with my return to Anime Boston. It’s a show that is near and dear to my heart. It’s the first convention I ever exhibited at, and returning to it whenever I can always feels like a homecoming.
This year, like last year, Anime Boston will be my first show of the season. I’ll have been away from crowds and fans since the DragonCon of the previous year, so I’ll have not had touch with new and random people for months. Working from home has its advantages, but being away from the buzz and excitement of nerds is a drawback.
So this year, like last year, I’m looking forward to Anime Boston as the show that reintroduces me to crowds, fans, and what I hope will be pleasant interactions with new and familiar faces.
I don’t believe that people are only extroverts or introverts. I am very much both. When it comes to conventions, my extrovert mode hits overdrive. I’m excited to talk to people, pitch my work, and nerd out about comics and games and the artistic act of creation. When the show floor is open, I never leave my table. I like to be On and Open for anyone and everyone that comes by, from first thing in the morning to the day’s closing hours. But when it’s closing time, I become an ultra-introvert. My social batteries are Spent and I need to decompress in silence and relative solitude. Many colleagues over the years have invited me out to dinner and/or parties after-hours, and I have had to politely decline because I literally have Nothing Left.
And man oh man, do I enjoy the act of going from overdrive-extrovert to ultra-introvert. It’s like a social workout. It gets my heart rate pumping and my adrenaline flowing. And after a marathon of exercise like a convention weekend, it makes the cooldown feel all the sweeter.
Come on by Anime Boston this weekend if you can. You’ll experience my energy levels at their freshest, and I look forward to depleting them over and over.