Conventional Conventions

So I was at Ichibancon all day today here in Charlotte, NC... and, well, I'm going to be brutally honest: it wasn't all that great.

So I'm going to talk about that for a bit, no pictures today. Sorry.

We paid $25 per person to get in for today only because no one really wanted to go for more than today, and to be honest I was just going to take a look at the merchant's hall. I'm going to go down the list of how decent things were.

The viewing rooms: There was really only one viewing room and it was small. To save time and effort, I'm going to let you know that the location was a poor choice, as it was a small portion of a hotel with narrow hallways, and in turn everything was smaller than it needed to be. Next, they aired nothing of real interest unless you like boring slice of life anime such as K-on.

The Dealer's Room: One of the only rooms that was an okay size considering this was a new up-and-coming anime convention. However, the lack of legit dealers was a little unnerving; instead of seeing nothing but DVDs, Manga, japanese snacks and so on from various internet stores, we got to see a handful of real dealers and the other booths were taken up by people who seemed like they were people from off-the-street and sold various things that had nothing in common, also a handful of things that weren't even related to japan. It'd be alright if it were like some webcomic trying to sell their merch; that's acceptable for a convention, but no.

The Game Room: Honestly? I can't say anything bad about the game room. It was small, but it had plenty of content despite its small size. They even opened another smaller room specifically for Rock Band 3. They made up tournaments of various games, and hosted the biggest one (The Super Smash Bros. Brawl tourney) in the larger lounge area. I have no complaints about the game room, I give them props for that.

...And really, that's about all I really dealt with. The panel rooms (except for the two main events rooms which housed maybe one or two things worth seeing; as with any convention) were too small for us to fit in without getting there super early, and there was always a line. Which also made things terribly difficult for people who wanted to walk around. Normally I'd bash on the fact that they could only get two real guests - a webcomic artist/author and a voice actor, but for a convention that is still in the early stages, I can obviously let them slide.

Now, before you take me for a 'negative nancy', I can still say I enjoyed myself. I've been spoiled by the larger convention, Katsucon, in my experience of conventions, so I know that a newer convention can't even try to compare at first. I gave it a little slack, but there were still things that even a newer convention could have done better. But I digress. I still enjoyed myself due to the one thing that makes a convention.

No, it's not the games, or the merchandise, or the guests.

No, it's not the girls in skimpy outfits... Although that helps, and you're close.

It's the people in general. People like you (or maybe not you, it depends on how much of a nerd you are I suppose) make a convention enjoyable. As long as you can make the experience enjoyable for yourself, unless you're just a douchebag, you can make the experience enjoyable for everyone else around you - even the people you don't know. So if you're reading this post and you went to Ichibancon, or if you've ever been to a convention before, thank you for helping to make the experience enjoyable for everyone else. Even if the con sucks, find a way to enjoy it.

And that's all I've got for this week.

-Arlon The Enigma