ECAASU 2010 was such and interesting experience for me. This was my first time attending ECAASU and I was indeed excited since I was with my AMIN girls and I was going to see some awesome acts plus meet new people. Friday, we attended the opening ceremony. I have to say I had an awesome time seeing acts like comedian Hari Kondabolu, AfterSchoolSpecial, Taiyo Na, and Magnetic North. We even had the opportunity to meet Taiyo after his performance.
On Saturday, us ladies decided to split up and attend the different workshops given at the convention. I attended one that caught my interest: The Misconception of the Pilipino by Unipro. That workshop really had me asking myself some questions such as; since I am a Filipino-American, why is it that not a lot of people know about us? Or others mistake us as someone else? Are we original or just imitators? It was a very interesting workshop, I intend to learn more about it and broaden my knowledge of the Filipino Culture.
Although some of the workshops were informative, the time spent there could have been used better. Instead of attending only three workshops, the sessions could have been cut shorter so the attendees have more options. Many of the workshops became a slew of opinions one after the other and would become bland after the first hour or so. More of the important topics such as Asian Americans in the entertainment industry should’ve been more in-depth than it was. In that hour and fifteen minutes, we should have been discussing what can be done to break the stereotype instead of leaving the topic for the last minute. Topics such as these were left open-ended and left some unsatisfied with the answers.
Another topic that seemed appealing at the beginning was Asian Americans and Sex. Unfortunately, this session wasn’t all that it seemed to be.The line to get into this session was long and even had to move to another room. After the discussion had begun, the attendees became bored. For the people sitting in the back, it was a horrible session. No microphone was given so no one could hear. Many of the people did not care for the comparison between sex and World War II either. It was a strange and faintly heard discussion that needed lots of work.
Overall, ECAASU had its ups and downs. The highlights of ECAASU seemed to be the opening ceremony and “Illuminate” (the official after-party). It seems that this conference needs a lot of work, especially with the sessions. Although the conference itself was bland. We did have fun meeting new people and exploring the wonderful city of Philadelphia. AMIN would definitely come back to Pennsylvania. ECAASU, not so sure.
Check out the pictures from ECAASU 2010!
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