I went to Anime San Diego planning to watch the cosplay contest. Somehow, I ended up onstage during it. The important detail here is that I did not enter the contest.
Anime San Diego 2026 was the convention’s first year, so I was already excited to see what the event would be like. I expected a fun day in my Derpy cosplay, some photos, Artist Alley, and to see a lot of talented cosplayers. I did not expect to end the cosplay contest standing next to the host and helping present awards.
My First Anime San Diego
One of the first things I noticed about Anime San Diego was how open everything felt. There was plenty of room to walk around, the air conditioning was strong, and nobody was packed together like convention sardines. When you are spending an entire day wearing EVA foam armor and faux fur, good air conditioning deserves its own award.
Within about ten minutes of arriving, I had already done interviews, met other attendees, and performed emergency cosplay repair on another cosplayer with super glue that I always carry with me. I always bring repair supplies to conventions because I've had issues with my own cosplays.
Surprising @itsgoodburgered with a Good Burger Chain Gift
One of the things I was most excited about that day was giving Kal Smith, better known as @itsgoodburgered, the Good Burger chain I had made for him. Kal had previously hosted the Anime Riverside cosplay competition where I entered my Derpy cosplay for my first ever contest. That competition became a major part of the story behind my most viral cosplay video. You can read the story here. In that video, as I was getting off stage, he mentioned that he saw my video where I went to the wrong convention looking for the Derpy inflatable. I thought that was so funny and included it in my video.
So when I saw an IG video of Kal wearing a gold 3D printed burger chain, I got instant inspiration to make him a more realistic looking one. I asked him if he would be interested in receiving it, and of course he said yes! But, I wanted to make the reveal was a surprise, and asked for permission to record it.
I spent far too much time sanding and painting that burger. I also accidentally stabbed myself while sanding it with a metal detail sander. Art requires sacrifice, apparently. But thankfully, he loved it! I even painted The Good Burger logo on a white paper bag to put it in, just to give it to him. So getting to finally hand it to him in person was one of my favorite moments from the beginning of the day.
Meeting Grey DeLisle
After that, we explored more of the convention, wandered through the Artist Alley, and went to the voice actors area where I got to meet Grey DeLisle. She is such an iconic, beautiful and talented voice actress, and she was incredibly sweet, and complimented my Derpy cosplay. I gave her a tiny Derpy trinket I had brought with me and she gave me a sticker in return, which I was absolutely not expecting. It was such a small meaningful interaction, but those are often the moments from conventions that stick with me the most.
Trying a Convention Photography Room for the First Time
Anime San Diego also had a free convention photography room, which was something I had heard about at conventions before but had never actually tried. The photographers were volunteering their time while helping raise donations for diabetes research, which I thought was such a creative way to use cosplay photography to support something meaningful. I absolutely donated.
One of the photographers, @jrulison, positioned me in a pose I had never tried before. While I was standing there, I genuinely felt like a hockey player preparing for a team photo. But then I saw the finished images....and HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING! They even added smoke! These became some of my favorite photos I have ever received of my Derpy Warrior cosplay. That experience alone made me realize I need to stop forgetting about convention photography rooms. Huge thank you to @jrulison for the photos and to @dat_roshi_photo and the photography team for donating their time and helping turn cosplay photography into something that could also give back.
Then It Was Time to WATCH the Cosplay Contest
Eventually, it was time to watch the Anime San Diego cosplay competition! The keyword here is watch... because I was not competing. After winning 1st Place Journeyman at Anime Riverside earlier this year, I was especially interested in seeing the craftsmanship other competitors were bringing to the stage. I stood toward the back of the audience recording the contestants, and there were some seriously impressive costumes and performances. Then the judges began deliberating, and that's when things became...unexpected.
Getting Pulled Onto the Cosplay Contest Stage
While we were waiting for the results, Kal started talking onstage about the burger chain I had given him earlier. Unfortunately, I missed recording the very beginning of what he said because I was not expecting myself to suddenly become relevant to the cosplay contest I was watching. By the time I started recording, he was looking directly at me. I was looking at him. He was looking at me looking at him. And then he told me to come up onstage. I genuinely had no idea what was happening. So I handed my phone to my boyfriend, and walked toward the stage extremely nervous.
I Ended Up Presenting the Awards
Once I was onstage, Kal told me he wanted me to help present some of the cosplay contest awards. After my initial confusion and nerves wore off, though, it became one of my favorite parts of the entire convention. Being onstage meant I got to see some of the winning costumes incredibly close, and the craftsmanship was insane. The materials, construction, detailing, and amount of work some of these competitors had put into their costumes were immediately obvious when you were standing a few feet away from them. Seriously, congratulations to everyone who competed. Seeing that level of work was incredibly inspiring. It was also slightly threatening. I have more cosplay competitions coming up, and nothing motivates you to improve your own work quite like standing next to people who are extremely good at theirs.
So Why Did Kal Call Me Up?
I eventually asked Kal why he had called me onto the stage in the first place. His reasoning was basically: there was a previous cosplay contest winner already in the audience, so why not bring her up and show off one of the cosplayers who had competed in one of their previous events? Which was actually incredibly sweet. There was also another reason. He wanted a break to eat his cookies, and I respect the honesty.
Anime San Diego Was a Very Good First Year
For Anime San Diego’s first year, I had an incredible time. I met creators and cosplayers, repaired someone’s costume, finally delivered the Good Burger chain, met Grey DeLisle, discovered a karaoke room, tried convention photography for the first time, saw some unbelievable cosplay craftsmanship, and somehow ended up onstage during a competition I had never entered. That is a fairly aggressive amount of activity for one convention day.
What I liked most, though, was how community-focused the experience felt. There were little moments throughout the day where people were creating things, helping each other, performing, taking photos, meeting new people, and celebrating fandom together. Those moments are a huge part of why I love conventions in the first place. And judging by how my recent convention experiences have been going, I should probably stop expecting anything to go according to plan.It is clearly not going to happen.
Watch My Anime San Diego Story
I turned the full experience into a short-form story covering the chaos that led from arriving at Anime San Diego to unexpectedly getting called onstage during the cosplay contest.
You can watch the full video and follow me at @cupof_teea for more cosplay builds, convention stories, competitions, fandom events, and whatever strange situation I apparently walk into next.
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