Katie Livingston is a Team Coordinator at RCGC. As a staff member of KotoriCon, Katie oversees volunteer recruitment and training, and also helps orchestrate the planning of KotoriCon events held at the college. When I asked Katie if she would grant me an interview, she jumped at the chance to provide me with the answers. I’m grateful for her willingness to enlighten me.
Hello Katie and thank you again for agreeing to this interview. Let’s get started. I can’t wait to find out all the exciting things you do with KotoriCon.
Katie: No problem Carthornia! I am excited to contribute to your blog!
Q: What is your role with the anime club, KotoriCon, at RCGC?
KL: I am in charge of volunteer recruitment and training. Essentially, I spend a lot of time begging people via email to help us during the convention. When I’m not recruiting, I am thinking of ways to orient our new volunteers in a fun and relatively painless way. This last year I planned our first annual Volunteer Training Skit Night Funsplosion. I remember going to my first volunteer training event after our Con Chair Susan Glenn encouraged me to help out at the convention. I didn’t really know anything about anime, and had never heard of KotoriCon prior to walking into orientation the day before the convention. It all went so fast, and I had many questions the day of the convention. Where am I supposed to be? Who is the Squad Leader of my area? When Sue recruited me to the planning committee, I decided to take on the task of training our tireless and enthusiastic volunteer base.
From my rushed first exposure to KotoriCon orientation, the Funsplosion was born. The Funsplosion was a huge success, allowed people to meet fellow volunteers, figure out who their Squad Leaders were, where they were working the day of the convention, and see some funny skits about volunteering. I cannot wait to have our second annual Funsplosion. I really tried to communicate our gratitude to the volunteers, and to pound home the magnitude of what we were doing. Not only were we providing a place for the Otaku community to safely gather and share similar interests, we were raising funds for amazing charities and causes. This year we donated to Direct Relief. Our funds helped families recover from the typhoon in the Philippines.
Q: How long have you been interested in anime?
KL: I had really no exposure to anime before joining the KotoriCon planning staff. I have been watching a little anime here and there though… I mainly joined the planning staff because KotoriCon is one of the most positive and happiest days on campus. The Otaku community, one of the most accepting group of people, I have ever known.
Q: How easy is it to get volunteers to help?
KL: Carthornia, it is an exercise in endurance and patience. I’ve spent countless hours designing posters, drafting fun and visually interesting emails to our previous volunteers. Once we have them, our volunteers are the best. It is catching the elusive volunteer that is the tricky part.
Q: What type of people volunteer to help at conventions? Are they all fans?
KL: Most of my volunteers are fans of anime. People come and volunteer and make friends who share the same interests. We do have some people who are interested in the charity aspect of the convention like me. I would be remiss in not mentioning the members of the RCGC staff who volunteer for KotoriCon.
Q: What type of people are the fans who attend the conferences?
KL: Homestucks (Google them- they are one of our more… enthusiastic interest groups), Whovians, anime-lovers, comic-lovers, sci-fi enthusiasts, to name a few. They are a diverse bunch of people.
Q: What is your outlook on anime?
KL: It’s not just cartoons! A lot people think that the illustration medium, must, mean that the stories being communicated must be simplistic. I think it must be a Western idea, illustration is for children, but those who have spent any time watching anime, or reading manga, know that that is not the case. There is just as much character development, and substance as there is in other mediums.
Q: Are you familiar with some of the terms used in anime, such as: Moe, Otaku, Ahoge, etc.?
KL: I am familiar with two of those terms. The term Moe is meant to describe certain archetypes in anime, or manga. When there is a female hero in an anime or manga, they appear a certain way. Large eyes, small mouth, long hair. We expect to see them portrayed in a certain way. Essentially, there is the expectation that social archetypes will be portrayed in a certain manner. The fact that there is a word to describe the expectation that these archetypes will appear a certain way is a nod to the complexity of anime. I know it’s more complicated than that, but being a new convert to all things anime, that is the extent of my understanding for now. The Otaku community refers to the community of anime lovers, and those who participate in the various anime fandoms.
Q: Do you consider yourself an otaku?
KL: I would consider myself a junior detective, exploring the otaku community one fandom at a time.
Q: Does the KotoriCon conventions bring anything to the community?
KL: Absolutely it does. South Jersey is not known to be a hot-bed of culturally diverse activities and interests. I feel like we provide a safe and family-friendly milieu for children, tweens, teens and adults to meet one another. I feel like KotoriCon facilitates friend-making, for those who have not found people with common interest in the hallways of their schools.
KL: KotoriCon also gives first-time con-goers the opportunity to explore different worlds, and to use their imaginations. KotoriCon facilitates people getting hooked on reading, and helps open discussions on film and art. I would be thrilled to have kids who wanted to discuss the duality of man, and awesome fights scenes with me over dinner every night.
Q: What would you like people to know about the anime and its fans?
KL: Anime fans are an interesting set. I cannot speak to all anime fans out there, but I can speak to the anime fans in RCGC’s Japanese Anime Guild. They are wonderful, quirky, entertaining, creative and kind-hearted. They are passionate about anime, and have flexible imaginations.
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