Hello. Just got back from KakkoiCon 2008. Here's where I'd give a brief summary of the con and post my image gallery, but unfortunately, I forgot my camera, and since I didn't want to spend 20-30 dollars buying a disposable camera and developing pictures from it that would look like utter crap, you'll just have to do without images from me this year. (I had toyed with the idea of recreating all of the pictures I WOULD have taken with crudely drawn MS-Paint images, but I felt sure such a gimmick would have become old fast.)
So then, here's a basic, in a nutshell rundown of the con:
The Convention Hotel - The Sheraton Bloomington: Probably one of the better convention hotels I've been in--spacious, with all of the action nicely centralized around the pool and ballroom areas. I got the impression that the hotel was basically built for these types of events so it was definitely a good choice as far as setting goes. (For 100 bucks a night con-rate, it had BETTER be good!)
The Room: This year, to save money on hotel costs, I decided to play Roommate Roulette. That is, hook up with a random group I met on the convention forum board and share a room with them. Unfortunately, the room we had reserved only had one queen-sized bed, and even with the extra cots and air mattresses we brought in things still seemed a little...cozy. But I have personal space issues so it was probably a bigger problem for me than it was for my fellows. My roomies were Tony, our goggle-wearing leader (who was sooooo nice and cuddly-wuddly that it was a little uncomfortable for me to be around him, what with my irascible and cynical attitude making me look like an enormous douchewaffle in comparison.) Then there was Androgynous Pink-Haired Person (whom I didn't spend enough time around to even learn what their gender was.) Then there was Hard Luck Girl (who spent most of the convention snuggled under the blankets of our bed and who probably needed to be in a crisis center more than she needed to be at an anime convention.) And then there was Hard Luck Cloud Cosplayer (who had almost as many problems as the Hard Luck Girl, but who had a kick ass
Cloud from FFVII:Advent Children costume.) And then there was me, acting about as bitchy and disgruntled as a thirty-something who's suddenly been transported into a setting filled with high-school/early college-aged people and the drama typical for people that age. Hoo boy.
The Artist Alley: Located in a well-trafficked area and housing loads of talented people, including friend and fairy artist, Meredith Dillman, That Guy Selling the Cool Comic Book The Name of Which I Can't Remember, and the Guy Who Wouldn't Stop Playing the Bass Guitar.
The Dealer's Room: Surprisingly large for a first-time convention.
Junkyspot, my favorite purveyors of dollcrack were there, as were various anime merchandise and DVD vendors. And, of course, the One Guy Who Sells Swords and who has been to every gathering of nerds in existence since 1924. There was even a dealer who sold second-hand kimonos, obis, and Japanese accessories, and that was a cool place to shop. I bought a pair of black tabi socks there which were promptly stolen by aliens, as I have no recollection of putting the bag containing the socks down anywhere. I just sort of realized a few minutes later that it was GONE and that I was no longer holding it. (I suppose I just got distracted by something, set the bag down and then failed to remember to pick it up, but the whole "alien abduction" theory makes me look like less of a dumbass.)
The Game Room: Nicely sized--about as big as a gymnasium (well,a
small gymnasium,) and well stocked with a variety of games. They even had
Portal there, which I picked up and played for the first time. It was soon after that I realized why I don't play FPS games--it's because attempting to guide a character with two analog sticks is--to me--like moving through the gameworld while balanced atop the shoulders of a drunk, ballet-dancing bear. The slightest push from my finger sent my character reeling and I never could get the camera pointing in the direction I wanted it to. I also spent most of the game traveling suuuuper-slowly, since I had a nasty habit of clicking my character into Duckwalk Mode while fumbling with the analog sticks. I mean,
really. Did the developers really expect normal people to be able to pick up on these controls? (Well, normal people with jobs and lives and who DON'T have 8 extra hours per day to work on their hand-eye coordination?) Sheesh.
The Cosplay: I was one of the workmanship judges for this year's competition. As far as I could tell, the contest was nicely coordinated. (The pool of entrants was small, so that helped matters a bit.) Overall the entrants were fairly solid: A lot of the costumes I gave average marks to--I would usually find something really cool and impressive about them, and then I'd find something shoddy--an unfinished seam or hanging thread--that would detract from their score. I'm not sure how judging happens at other cons, but if the judges have any regard for workmanship, then they'll care as much for the parts of the costume that AREN'T seen as for the parts that are. (This is why it's important to turn under and sew all hems, to line things, stitch neatly, to SEW details on instead of just gluing them on, and to just take care to present a neat, crisp appearance. And IRON YOUR COSTUME! Presentation is every bit as important as construction! If you're staying in the con hotel, you most likely have an iron in your room, so there's no excuse for wearing a costume that looks like it's been slept in.)
The Guests: Awesome. Cosplay Goddesses Yaya Han and YuffieBunny were there. They were nice, professional, and not "diva-ish" at all, to my knowledge. I would have liked to have spent more time with them than the time I spent at the Masquerade, but I suppose it was good that I didn't, lest my creepy fangirlish awe become more apparent to them than it was. Also, I don't think they were official guests, but I have to tip my cap to the Brudlos Brothers from
Alpha Shade, my favorite webcomic. They seemed nice and tolerant of me despite my uncomfortable fangirl admiration, and tendency to trail off when I speak. -_- The goofy costumes I always seem to wear when I'm around them certainly don't help to reinforce the notion of my sanity , I'm sure.
The Events: A limited number of them, but widely varied in scope. About the only event I was interested in was the big Ball Joint Doll Meet, which I took my dolls to. I was a bit disappointed that it was held late on Sunday--not only does it
not give me the chance to cut out early and get home in time to catch up on my work, but also, everyone is poor. When the time came to offer items for sale in the Doll Bazaar, no one bought or sold anything, because everyone had already spent their con money. I'm hoping that next year the Doll Meet will take place earlier in the weekend to avoid this kind of thing. (At least one good thing happened--my Bobobie Weylin won the grand prize in the doll cosplay contest for his
Link from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess costume. I almost had a matching Zelda costume for my girl doll to wear to the event, but I couldn't get her wig finished in time for the convention. I'll post pictures of both dolls in their costumes as soon as I'm able to complete them.)
The Con Suite: NONE!!! Epic fail on all accounts. I know this is a first year con so hopefully they'll be able to work out the logistics for this for next year. I brought a lot of extra food with me to the con in case there weren't any restaurants nearby, but I wound up giving most of it to my roommates because they were strapped for cash and starving. Not that I begrudge this, but I was hoping I could've taken some of the food back with me to eat for the rest of the week, as I'm not exactly rolling in money either. (And I really shouldn't have had to act as the chuck wagon for my roomies because, in my opinion, there SHOULD have been a con suite to offer them snacks or at least some white rice to eat. Can we all agree that a well-stocked con suite NEEDS to be a requisite staple for all anime cons from now on? I wouldn't mind paying out a little extra on the price of the con tickets to ensure this.)
The Room Parties: Good, on the whole. Special thanks to Lady Kaede and her tea room (a room adorned with wall scolls and bamboo, with a short table and pillows in the middle. And some really kick ass tea and Japanese snacks.) It made for a nice quiet alternative to all of the loud "thump-music" parties that seemed to be going on everywhere else.
Overall: Good. About as well-run as a first year con can be, really. Other than the lack of a con suite, I've really nothing to complain about. I do hope that the numbers grow next year and that we can have more panels and events (and a CON SUITE!) And I hope that next time I actually remember to
bring my freaking camera so I have actual honest to god pictures to show you and not just..well...
this:
The Con Hotel
Roommate Roulette (I'm the bitter one in the cot.)
Artist's Alley (With MS-Paint Princess Peach. Note The Bass Guy in the back. Be thankful you can't hear him.)
Dealer's Room (LOL!!! SWORDZ!!1111)
Joseph and Christopher Brudlos from Alpha Shade (Note the "If we keep smiling, maybe she'll go away" expressions on their faces.)
FIN. (See, I told you that would get old fast...)
