Give your talents the stage they deserve!
As the first Japanese pop-culture convention in Singapore to give our participants the opportunity to hone your skills on stage and perform like a super star, EOY is proud to give you a spacious stage, professional sound system, and most importantly, an enthusiastic crowd!
Title: Give your talents the stage they deserve!
Author: Angie Ng
Date: 27 Oct 2010
Danceroid members Aikawa Kozue and Ikura are barely out of their teens, but already, they're a phenomenon to enthusiastic fans who revere their skillful dance moves and spunky performances. From performing in their own rooms, they have moved on to greener pastures, EOY's stage being one of them!
With advanced technology becoming more affordable and the increasing popularity of social networking websites, getting that few minutes of fame (and maybe few hours if you're really outstanding) is no longer an unreachable rockstar dream. On the other hand, this is also a double-edged sword. Almost anyone who's anyone can now create videos to post online. Much as I remember some star-quality performances, the nonsensical ones that made me go 'what did I just watch' made a greater impression.
Kozue and Ikura are lucky lasses. Despite the flood of dancing videos online, their home-made videos garnered millions of views on video websites like Nico Nico and Youtube, gaining them the international recognition they deserved. They are signed on by an entertainment company, enabling them to do tours around Japan and even overseas. But luck doesn't count for everything. The girls are undoubtedly talented, and more importantly, they are brave and quick to secure opportunities that allow them to show off their funky moves to more appreciative audiences.
Arguably, the internet is the largest global stage. But would you be able to hear the audience's enthusiastic cheers and claps, see the ecstatic faces of the crowd as they drown in your performance, witness their yells of 'encore' as you step off the stage, and most importantly, ensure that every angle of your performance, every note of music and vocals, are unhindered with the use of well-positioned stage lights and a clarion sound system?
Only a good performance stage gives you all these. And right here at The Republic Cultural Centre, we have just the stage for musicians, dancers and cosplayers who want to showcase your talents to the community! This year's venue for EOY isn't called a 'Cultural Centre' for nothing. The performance stage and theatre has been used to showcase many quality performances by students from the school as well as professional acts. The stage is huge - it can fit around 10 to 15 elephants comfortably. The equipment is top notch, most of the fixtures are even better than those at the Drama Centre, the venue for EOY 2009.
The Republic Cultural Centre was carefully handpicked after the organizing team toured countless places - The Expo, Esplanade Concert Hall and Theatre, Singapore Conference Hall, Pit Stop Building, *Scape, Downtown East, UCC @ NUS, SP Convention Hall, Intercontinental Hotel Ball Room, Ritz Carlton Ballroom, SMU...... So much so that by the time a decision was made, Tim, the organizer had racked up shocking bills for his petrol. All in all, the effort was worthwhile, as right from the start, we knew that it was never an easy task to pick a place that not only offered a good stage but also spacious grounds for a large scale convention. Performers who have performed at previous EOYs will be delighted by the improvements, while new performers will hope for a stage of similar quality for future performances.
EOY's motto has always been "Keeping every person's dream and creativity alive". Despite inviting professional artistes to do guest performances at our event, our favourite performers are still You. EOY takes pride in seeing new performers gain new fans from our event, as well as seeing returning performers improving year after year.
Danceroid is not the only phenomenon at EOY 2010. You too, can join them on stage to inspire your loved ones, supporters and everyone else in the community.
Registrations for performers and the group cosplay competition close on 31 October 2010. Don't let slip this precious opportunity to perform like a star!
~ Article written by Angie Ng - EOY's editor
Click here to register as a Performer now!
Run the Show as Games Master!
EOY is thrilled to be the first Japanese pop-culture convention in Singapore to give all participants the opportunity and space to run your own Games Booth! If you're puzzled over the excitement and why you should sign up for a Games Booth, read on and find out!
Title: Run the Show as Games Master!
Author: Angie Ng
Date: 11 Oct 2010
There is something I really like about Japanese culture, and that is how festive their events usually are, be they for religious events or school events! At large-scale celebrations, it's common to see lots of people dressed for the occasion, buying food and souvenirs and indulging in activities unique to the event from make-shift booths!
I believe many Japanese culture enthusiasts agree with me on this, since festivals organized by Japanese schools in Singapore enjoy good turn-outs every year! Small wonder this is, for the fun and entertainment value derived from such school festivals are regularly thrown into the spotlight in anime and manga set in a school setting. While most of these school festival scenes in anime are exaggerated, it's pretty much fact that school festivals in Japan are great opportunities for students to express their creativity while having fun and strengthening friendships.
Creativity, fun and friendship. Incidentally, that's our theme for this year's EOY! To add a new twist to our usual range of activities, we decided to go for a festive spirit and implement the concept of games booths, knowing that you will love it. These games booths will not be run by the organizing team. They will be run by you, the participants of EOY!
But why run a games booth when I can have a more relaxing time playing at different booths or just sitting behind my table?
Let's face it. Do you seriously want to spend EOY just sitting behind your table? Running a successful games booth is indeed no mean feat, but running the show is a lot more fun than being a participant! The sense of satisfaction is immense when people not only queue up and pay to play your games (oh yes you do get to charge a fee for providing the entertainment!) but walk away with prizes, great memories and big smiles on their faces! The experience will leave an endearing wonderful aftertaste long after EOY is over, and you'll be able to meet many new faces and make new friends.
On a practical note, games booths tend to attract more attention than the average sale booth, which translates to more earnings! If you were intending to sell your art and crafts at EOY, why not sell them in a more innovative way by giving them out as prizes? Your customers will not only remember you as the artist who draws great so-and-so fanart, they'll remember you as the great artist who gave them a unique and engaging experience at the EOY! They'll come back to you for more in the next EOY!
Best of all, the fruits of success aren't the sole benefits. As you work together with your friends to create the game store booth that you will all be proud of, you will establish stronger bonds with your friends, while learning valuable skills like team work and managing your limited resources. The entire process from designing games right down to sourcing for material for your booth will certainly get those creative juices flowing. If you're an artist, the design of your booth will be yet another venue for you to score points with the art lovers!
Sounds like great fun, isn't it? Are you tempted to apply for a games booth yet? Perhaps the next question you might be asking is 'What sort of games should I organize at my booth?'
When you think of Japanese Festival games, I suppose one classic game that comes to mind quickly is the Haunted House. I won't deny it, I'm terribly excited about EOY this year because I'm hoping someone will be game enough to set up a Haunted House booth! But of course, carnival games aren't limited to Haunted Houses. You don't even have to use games from Japanese school festivals, although these would be good sources of inspiration.
If you already have ideas in mind, good for you. If you don't, you can source for ideas from the things you love. Anime, video games, carnival games, game shows, the in-exhaustive world wide web, your family and friends...
To ensure success of your booth, either go with the flow and design games that people generally like, or be daring and create something so extraordinary that everyone simply has to flock to your booth to look! We aren't placing limitations on the types of games you can play at your booth. They can be as serene as a board game, or as adrenaline-pumping as a 100m sprint! Just as long as it isn't dangerous, damaging or against EOY's rules, you should be good to go. Most importantly, you must enjoy and love your own games!
Now that you've got some great games in the making, how should you design your booth? You're the game master, so you make the decisions. Again, just as long as your booth's visuals are not against EOY's rules, cause inconvenience to other participants, or prone to leaving damage or a great mess behind upon deconstruction, feel free to do as you please. A helpful tip to get you started on your design would be to choose a theme that reflects the type of games you will be having, and base your booth's design on it.
Bear in mind the amount of floor space you get for your booth and games when planning the design and layout of your booth. Apart from a table to collect money and display instructions and prizes, you will need space for your game. Do not get carried away with your booth visuals and leave too little space for your game to be played!
Details for the floor space will be released soon. In the mean time, you can write to us to provide suggestions for the floor space, or let us know in your registration form how much floor space you're looking for. As long as you have a great idea in the making, we will try our best to cater to your needs!
It is important that people can tell what your booth offers just by looking. You wouldn't want to be asked the same questions over and over again, or to have people avoid your booth because they're too shy to ask you. The types of information people generally want to know are prices, games available and how to play them. Do write these information in nice, big handwriting using colours that are easy to read and incorporate them into your booth design. Game instructions should be short and sweet, and you could elaborate by speech if you have to.
But all these require materials, and materials need money! What if I can't recoup my expenses?
First of all, don't feel compelled to come up with the perfect booth with mind-flooring visuals and expensive prizes.
The games booth is a new concept to many of us because it's the first time EOY has implemented this, and EOY is in fact, the first Japanese pop culture convention in Singapore to invite participants to run your own games booths. Professionalism in games design and booth visuals is a bonus, but not a must. At the end of the day, it will be your good attitude to your customers and the enthusiasm and sincerity you invest in your booth that impress.
And what this means is that not all your game props and materials need to be store-bought! You can base them from things you already have from home or make them yourselves from scratch. However, do test your games and props beforehand to ensure that your props are sturdy and do not fall apart during EOY!
Prizes don't have to be bought. Apart from giving away self-made crafts and artwork, you can give away your own items that are in good condition but not in use. One man's trash is another man's treasure!
Here are some tips to save you money, resources and time! Start off by planning and confirming the games you want. Make a list of all required props and items needed, and design them. Discuss the practicality of the designs, bearing in mind that however creative it looks, it's useless if it doesn't meet its purpose. Make sure your team agrees with the designs, and only start work on making or sourcing for the items when they are confirmed. This way, you don't waste money and time on things that you end up not using!
All right! I'm convinced that I can run my own games booth! I will go plan for a booth soon!
Soon? Make it now! Grab your friends before they make other holiday plans and start planning your games. Registrations close on 31 October and by then, you should confirm the games you'll be having. Booths are limited, so don't wait too long to register!
~ Article written by Angie Ng - EOY's editor
Click here to register for a Games Booth.
