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Wow! After several years of obscurity, due to life circumstances, and, of course, COVID, I found myself invited to two conventions within 2 weeks of each other. After my appearance at Fandom Invasion in Escondido, I flew out to Fort Lauderdale for Anime Iwai.

It was so much fun for me because A, I love to travel, and B, my aunt lives in nearby Pompano Beach. It’s always wonderful when you can go to an anime convention and then catch up with a relative or friend at the same time.

3 days of anime fun!

I arrived Thursday night and spent three nights at the Marriot North. The staff was super attentive and took great care of me while I was there. It was a somewhat small convention but because COVID is still an issue and it was located in Florida, not well known for its COVID protocols, that was fine with me. Everyone wore masks, used hand sanitizer, and took precautions.

I had done my 2 shots and COVID booster so I wasn’t worried at all and spent most of the days I was there at my autograph table in between two twenty-something-year-old actors, Bryson Baugus from Houston, and Brandon Winckler from Los Angeles. They were both adorable and sweet. I was the old lady of the crowd and billed as one of the Grande Dames of English dubbed anime. Hey, someone has gotta do it, right?

Other guests included Jennifer Cihi who was a singer/actress in Sailor Moon, and Ben Brainard, a standup comedian who looks like he is about 12 but was also adorable.

My panel was a look back at Japanese dub nostalgia

In the past, most of my panels have been with other voice actors in a group setting such as with the cast of Robotech or Tenchi Muyo. For this convention, I came up with the idea of doing a panel about anime dubbing in the 80s and 90s and how things are different now. Despite the fact that my panel took place during the Cosplay competition, I had a nice group of fans who attended and it lasted the entire hour.

Attending conventions these days has been a learning curve for me

Of course, the two cute guys I sat in between at Anime Iwai were the most popular guests but I got my share of fans too. One guy was dressed as a full-on Veritech fighter from Robotech which was totally fun, but most of the fans attending were on the young side. Their favorite characters included Monami from Danganropa, Rika Furude in Higurashi When They Cry, Nunnally in Code Geass, and Tachikoma in Ghost in the Shell. Now, if I get invited to more conventions, I’ll know the best photos to bring.

Invite me to your next convention

I’m ready to travel at any time these days. If you are planning a convention or know someone who is, I am available. Just contact me here. You can also purchase autographs here. If you have any favorite characters that I have played, please leave a comment below.

I just started a TikTok page specifically for my voiceover work. Right now it needs help and followers because it’s brand new. Please follow me here. You can also follow me on Twitter here.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been invited as a guest voice over artist to a convention, so I was so excited to be invited to two within a month of each other. The first was Fandom Invasion which took place October 30^th, 2021, in Escondido, California near San Diego. I later attended Anime Iwai in Florida.

It was a multi-genre convention that included all sorts of Sci-Fi, Steampunk, and other fan favorites involving movies, games, and comics. I represented the anime portion because the founders Shawn Mullen and Shawn Richter were fans of my work on Robotech. It was their first convention, even though they have been involved in the Science Fiction Coalition for many years. There were a few bugs to work out, but I thought it turned out great.

Convention Guests

I didn’t know the other guests beforehand, but they were a fun group.

C. Andrew Nelson wore the costume of Darth Vader for 12 years for Lucas Films and did his voice for several Star Wars games. He is also a special effects artist. It turned out he was a fan of my work as well.

Troy Kotsur is a deaf actor and was a Tusken Raider in Mandalorian and has also appeared in many other film and TV roles. Who knew that he would become Oscar-nominated in 2022 for his role in the film CODA?

UPDATE! OMG! Troy Kotsur WON the Academy Award this year for BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR and the film won as BEST film? Now I wish I had spent more time with him.

Carrie Henn was Newt in Aliens. She was a child actress then and won awards for her work.

Isaac C. Singleton Jr, a very funny man, appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean, the Mandalorian and has an extensive film and TV resume.

Alan Fernandes was one of the original Tusken Raiders in Star Wars Episode IV and now works as an animal trainer.

Julie Dolan is a voice over actress who has voiced Princess Leia for Disney rides and theme parks, as well as other voice over, film and TV work and was in VH1 Classic Rock series: “Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp” – Season 1 where she performed various rock idols.

Lee Kohse is an award-winning illustrator, designer, and art director. He’s worked on all sorts of shows from Star Wars to Robotech and gave me a gorgeous poster of Lynn Minmei while I was there.

Selling autographs

Fandom Invasion was the first convention I’ve been to where I sold autographs in the dealer’s room. I know selling autographs is now the norm but having done conventions previously where that was not the case, it took some getting used to. Fortunately, the staff was extremely helpful in getting me up to speed. They made me a banner, prints, and were incredibly attentive.

Train Ride

I took the Amtrak Surfliner down to Oceanside to get there which was fun and then spent a couple of days visiting my brother who happened to be at his beach house in Mission Beach. You can read about that on my main blog, which has nothing to do with voiceovers.

Enjoy these pics from Fandom Invasion 2021. Click on the images to view them full size in a gallery.

I love doing conventions. If you would like to invite me as a guest, contact me here.