So to explain why I picked these stories for today I need to provide a little bit of background information about myself. When I’m at conventions and I meet the amazing actors that contributed to the fandoms I love so much I never expect to make any kind of impression. I mean to me I don’t see how I even could. I’m one fan of many and as far as I’m concerned I don’t really say or do anything that would make me stand out amongst all those fans. With that in mind I’ve gone into every encounter I’ve had with the actors that I’ve met thinking that I’ll be long forgotten before any subsequent encounter. Now, this mindset was not developed from any kind of negative feelings towards the actors or myself. I’ve just always felt from a realistic perspective it’s just hard for someone in their position where they meet hundreds of people sometimes in the span of just one or two hours to remember any one particular person unless it was a particularly memorable encounter. However, recent events have made me wonder if perhaps I have been overthinking things and that I may in fact have qualities that make the people I admire remember me.

Lexington Toy and Comic-Con

In 2021 I went to this convention in Lexington to meet a variety of people one of which was Gabe Kunda, the voice of Rock Lock in My Hero Academia. Gabe is someone that I, every now and then, will respond to their tweets and he was always a friendly person to talk to. Right before his appearance at Lexington, I responded on Twitter that I’ll be there and I’ll bring the wife with me to meet him. When the time came to meet I mentioned the tweet mainly as a conversation starter and to my surprise not only did he immediately recall our conversation but he seemed genuinely excited to talk to us. Honestly, that wound up being the most memorable moment of the entire convention for me, but I’m rather stubborn at times and I never considered the thought that I was memorable at the time just timed my tweet close enough to the con that it was easy to remember.

Soda City Comic-Con

Later that same year, in October, I went to Soda City Comic-Con in order to also meet some people that were in My Hero Academia as well as Fire Emblem. Prior to this event, I got a virtual hangout with Kristen McGuire, who can be heard in Bofuri, My Hero Academia, My Life Reincarnated as a Slime, and more. In that hangout, she did an anime-style portrait of me which I currently use as my Twitter profile picture. This was months prior to the convention so when my wife and I went to meet her in person for the first time I didn’t really know what to expect, but not only did she recognize me immediately but she even remembered my user name. Here was where I started to be really baffled. I really didn’t have any expectation of being remembered much less to that level of detail. Even though I’m stubborn at this point I started questioning my original theory of being forgettable. Also, Kristen does anime-style portraits when she appears at conventions and I highly recommend getting one as she is a really talented artist.

Yama con

Also in the same year, I went to Yama Con to meet Abby Trott, who can be heard in Fire Emblem and Demon Slayer. Now I also got a hangout with Abby via Colorworld earlier in the year but the gap in time was far longer than the one I just referenced. I think this was around maybe 9 or 10 months, but to my surprise, I walked up and she not only recognized me but almost identified me by name. My name is Jacob and she said Jason which is actually really common for me because I speak on the fast side and so it sometimes sounds like Jason to people.

And there you have it. Three encounters all in the span of one year, in fact, all in the span of I think three months. In all three encounters the people I admired remembered me from previous conversations and it was undeniable that I had to rethink my earlier theory. Perhaps without meaning to, I was too harsh on my own character and was too quick to consider myself a random face in the crowd. Now I still don’t believe everyone I encounter will remember me, no I know very well than to believe that. However, I at least now know that I am capable of making some kind of lasting impression on some of the people I meet and it’s thanks to these encounters that I came to that realization.