The Good

* The hotel I stayed at. This year I decided to stay at the Staybridge Suites about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the con, though the walk certainly wasn’t the best part, the room was worth it. It was like renting a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment for the con complete with living room & full kitchen. We had plenty of room for everyone so it wasn’t cramped in the slightest. We also had complimentary breakfast.

* My friends. I got to meet up & spend time with several friends this year, which to be honest made the con for me. Whether it was taking epic pictures with my friends in cosplay, playing games in Tabletop like Stupid Duel or Jenga, just walking around the con or simply chillin’ for the moment  I had a great time.

* Seeing Guests on a regular basis. One great thing about a con like AnimeNext is seeing the Guests even w/o attending a panel or signing. For instance, just walking around the con I saw Greg Ayres & Uncle Yo more times than I could count whether it be in passing or in the Dunk Tank, which was a great addition this year in my opinion. Though not a guest, I was also happy to see some of the crew from Out Of Time productions who do great con reports, etc in passing.

The Bad

* New layout of the con. Though it was great that Staff tried to improve upon the layout from last years con, what they came up with for this year was not great. In fact I think they need to go back to the drawing board. Granted, putting the Artists Alley in one big room instead of a smaller room & cramping a hallway was a good thing, however losing one of your best panel rooms for it wasn’t. There aren’t many choices in the Doubletree as far as decent sized panel rooms are concerned & creating a panel room space in the GSEC was not the answer to remedy that.

* Video Gaming. This year it was moved over to the Holiday Inn separate from the rest of the con, to get to it you had to cross the street in front of the GSEC. At times there was a police officer to help in trafficking people across the street however this wasn’t always the case, the rest of the time attendees got to play real life Frogger. Not cool.

I very much enjoyed the layout of Video Gaming last year with separate rooms for DDR, Rock Band, Modern Games & Retro Games. This year Modern & Retro were combined into one room. Ok I can deal with that, however the variety of games was terrible & there was no Wii controllers. Also not cool.

* The Dance. Why they insist on having the Friday night dance in the place that’s used as the karaoke room in the daytime will forever be beyond me. It is way too small for a con dance in my opinion, thus why I’ll never even try to go to it as long as they insist on holding it there. However I did attempt to go to the Saturday night one held in Main Events. After standing in a line that didn’t even move within 15 minutes I gave up & walked away & mind you this was nearly an hour after the Dance had already started. Guest DJ or not, I refuse to stand in line for a long time just to get in when the sound is about as good as the concert the night before.

* Staff. Ok, I have great respect for con Staff & what they do, in fact I have several friends on Staff as well. However one thing I noticed this year was that I rarely was asked to see my badge. At most cons I’m used to being asked to see my badge several times throughout the con where as this time around, this wasn’t the case at all. I just found it kind of odd if you know what I mean.

The Ugly

* Noise pollution in the GSEC. I take into consideration that Expo centers aren’t the best places to hold several areas of the con in one big space, however this year the noise pollution was terrible, particularly as far as Panels & Main Events were concerned.

For instance I was happy to be able to attend one of my favorite returning panels, Anime Parliament, however it was held in the GSEC in a panel space next to Main Events. I was about 10 rows from the front & could barely hear what the panelists & debaters were saying even though they had microphones. It was so bad I left not 1o minutes later. For the rest of the con, even if the panel interested me, if it was in the GSEC I avoided it like the plague b/c of this.

Friday night they had the Stereopony concert in Main Events which while I was speaking to a friend on Staff near Registration I just had to check out. The closer I got to Main Events the worse the echo of the music grated on my ears, in Main Events itself it was barely tolerable & I was standing near the back next to the sound booth! Granted the sound for the concert was greatly improved over last years Fake concert, I could actually decipher the lyrics this time, it could still use serious improvement.  If entirely possible I think the layout of the GSEC needs to be rethought to make the sound more of an upside rather than a downside.

Overall

Though I did greatly enjoy AnimeNext this year, sadly this was due to my friends rather then the con itself. I still look forward to better programming for this con as well as better thinking as far as how to maximize on con space in this location. Otherwise sadly I shall consider this con as a Social Con, a fun place to be with friends for the weekend rather than a great con that is enjoyable in whatever aspect you look at it programming & all. Ok, I will fully admit I’m jaded by a certain other con, but even so!  Either way I look forward to next years con, kudos to Staff for having the dates lined up in the program book already.

I remember a time when going to Otakon every year was enough for me, then I added AnimeNext to the list of cons to attend every year & I’d gladly attend more cons if it was in my budget to do so. It’s an addiction of sorts really. Once you start there seems to be no going back. For some people they can attend a con for a couple years then wait several years before getting back into it, those are the ones who got bit but were able to recover from the con bug, with others it persists for years & gets worse as the years go on.  There are several types of congoers & many of us have this con addiction in common. However don’t even think think we’re suffering, instead we’re enjoying every minute of it!

As for my addiction, plans for Otakon & AnimeNext 2010 have been in the works for months now & I have plans to go to at least half a dozen other cons in the mix, how many of them I actually make it to is another story entirely though.

Big cons take place in convention centers, sometimes with nearby conference &/or arena space, etc. At the big cons, like Otakon for instance, the atmosphere is postively electric & fast paced to the max. There’s so many things going on at once it’s impossible to do it all in one con & enjoy it. There’s well over 20,ooo attendees, chances are you’ll be standing in line at some point during the con if not several. Events like the masquerade, concerts, guest panels, autograph signings & popular fan panels are attended by many so lines are common. Big cons get the  high profile industry guests & normally have an impressive guest list, they also get the anime movie premieres, etc. The Dealers Room & Artists Alley are large enough to get lost in, & can be dangerous to your wallet if you don’t practice self control too.  I’m certainly not trying to deter anyone from going to the big cons, they’re alot of fun, but they can also be quite overwhelming for many.

The midsize cons have a more relaxed atmosphere to them, they also have a more relaxed schedule. The larger midsized con may be in a convention center, however most midsized cons take place in hotel conference spaces, sometimes along with expo centers. Though the guest list will be smaller & less impressive, with more local guests, it’s alot easier to meet them if you so wish. With a more relaxed pace, the con becomes more of a social experience. At a midsized to small anime con it’s easier to meet people, talk & spend time at the con with them. There’s a better chance for friendships that last outside of the con here. That cosplayer you didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the 1st time you saw them? Chances are, you’ll see them again. You have the time to sit down & play that game, etc. The midsized con can be alot of fun, but in a different way.

The small con typically takes place totally within 1 hotel’s conference space or similar set-up, perhaps at a local college.  It may not even be 3 days, sometimes just 1 or 2. This is where the con atmosphere is the most relaxed. With a leisurely pace & a simpler programming schedule, there’s even more time to socialize. Often it may seem more like a cosplay & social con more than an anime con to the veteran congoer or one jaded by the big cons. You’ll see the same people several times throughout the con & rarely is an event packed to the point where you can’t get in.  This is also where many fan panels & whatnot get their start before moving onto the midsized cons.

So each size con really does provide it’s own type of experience & atmosphere. Which one is your favorite or do you like them all despite the differences as I do?

As I tell people, it’s not just an anime con, it’s an experience…

This time around I had a room at the Doubletree, #636 in fact. Wound up being a room of seven, with me, an old co-worker of mine Dennis, an old con friend Tom, newer con friend Khris, his friend Laura & the two that came into the room last minute David & Jake. 

Shall we do this report in the style of the Good, the Bad & the Ugly?

The Good

* The shuttle the con provided from the New Brunswick train station to the GSEC. It was comfy, well air conditioned & the drivers were very nice. So much better than having to take a cab.

* The Hotel Staff I encountered at the Doubletree. The Front Desk Clerks were very nice, had no troubles checking in & out or with acquiring keys.  Someone always seems to forget & keep their room key near their cell phone thus demagnetizing it. Also had no problems acquiring towels from the maids when needed.

* My roommates. Ok, I organized a crazy bunch, I’ll admit it, however we all wound up getting along great, exchanging contact info on Sunday & are organizing a group meet-up in August. We’re also organizing a cosplay group for next years con too, who could ask for better than that?

* Tabletop Gaming. As usual, it was awesome talking to the Staff in there, kudos to Kat, Matt & Harry, seriously! Also loved the new variation cards to Are You A Werewolf & Jess modded some great games Saturday night. Had me a blast.

* Video Gaming was so much improved over previous years, the additional space did this department wonders. I especially enjoyed the Retro Gaming room. Was able to play some games I hadn’t played in years like Offroad Racing & Paperboy on SNES.

* Bad, Anime, Bad Panel. Ok, I’ve seen some bad anime in my time but that Dracula movie was seriously so horrible it was funny. As if the actual anime wasn’t bad enough, the dubbing was even worse. Also, I have to fully agree on this one – Vampires Shouldn’t Sparkle.

The Bad

* Air conditioning. When the weather is in the 80s with high humidity making the air feel sultry, A/C can be a wonderful thing. Unfortunately all weekend I felt like a wilting flower because the Doubletree & the GSEC didn’t seem to believe in it.  All con weekend we had the room A/C cranking so we could pop in to cool off on a regular basis it was that bad.  Thank goodness for water coolers in the Doubletree!

* Food. Ok, there wasn’t many options  unless you wanted to risk losing your parking spot to drive a few miles. Friday night we ordered pizza. Saturday me, Khris & a friend decided to check out the buffet at TK’s Pub in the Doubletree. The salads and desserts were good. However, the main part of the buffet was masquerading as Chinese food. Seriously Chinese flavored linguine with scallions does not constitute as vegetable lo mein! That’s all I wish to say on that.

* Towers of Terror. The elevators in the Doubletree earned this nickname. Rarely were all 4 working at once, one of my roommates even got stuck in one, & 2 of them literally shaked all the way up to the 6th floor. Thankfully our room was right around the corner from a stairwell. Most of us in the room took the stairs instead of the elevators the majority of the time.

* Panel Programming. One of my favorite parts of an anime con is going to assorted panels. Unfortunately I only made it to 2 of them this time. Many panels were either cancelled entirely or moved to other panel rooms &/or time slots. I had full intentions on attending Anime Parliament, however when me & my friend got to the panel room it had been moved to, the smallest one, there wasn’t any seating room left, & the panel had just started. I did however make it to the Guests Uncensored panel, however the 2 guests that were on the panel weren’t the originally scheduled ones who didn’t show up but guests that were pulled from the hallways by veteran congoers wanting a panel. This department could use some better organization next year & I look forward to it.

The Ugly

* Trash. Where is that Captain Planet cosplayer when you need him? The Doubletree by the end of the con sadly to say looked trashed. From footprints on the doors of the elevators, trash scattered all over outside, to trash all over the hotel. The 6th floor was like a veritable minefield of take-out trash all over the place from Saturday on.  Why did a certain percentage of congoers treat this place like we were in Philthydelphia? It was uncalled for, I’ve never seen a location after a con look so bad.  Let’s just say, that if AnimeNext is not invited back to this location for next year, it wouldn’t truly surprise me.

Overall

I must say, it was certainly an interesting con this year. I did have fun, but that was more due to my roommates & con friends than the actual con programming itself. Whether AnimeNext comes back to this location next year or not, I do look forward to a more organized con. Certain departments like Tabletop Gaming & Video Gaming got a total revamping & thrived at the Doubletree & Training Center. Where other areas like the Artist Alley could use some more rethinking. Either way I do look forward to a more improved AnimeNext for 2010!

This happened to me at AnimeNext a few weeks ago. A day before the con I’m informed 2 people have dropped out of the room, so I posted a thread on the forums & 2 con friends joined the room. It was an interesting weekend & everyone in the room became friends by the end of the con. One of the craziest & most fun room experiences I’ve had in all my years of going to cons actually. Except for one person, everyone was a con friend I’d met at some point.

It shall be an interesting weekend for Otakon this year. Baltimore & the BCC are trying to improve themselves, so we’ll be seeing construction here & there. New restaurants have opened up in the area, others have changed names. Just up N. Charles St. up in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Artscape will be going on, the largest city Arts Festival in the country. There you’ll find artists, concerts, food vendors, etc.  

Now if only the weather will be nice to us. In previous years Baltimore has proven it can be very hot & humid to the point of being almost unbearable, with a rainshower at any given moment. Thankfully the last couple years haven’t been so bad weatherwise.  However, will we be so lucky this year? I can only hope…

This will be my 9th year going to Otakon & I’ll be bringing 3 friends who are attending Otakon for the 1st time. It shall be quite an interesting experience for a veteran congoer like myself. Every year since ’02 I’ve had one friend or more in my room who I’d gone with to Otakon before. When I first went in ’01 we had a group of 4, in ’02 the group separated & half of us joined a group of 3, which lasted adding & losing a few members until ’06. Only one of them came back in ’07, a friend who hadn’t attended since ’04 came back in ’08, this year it’s only me.  Ah my Otakon journey has been an interesting & memorable one…

So, many people will be beginning thier own Otakon journey less than 2 weeks from now. For those of you who are, prepare to be amazed, to be awed, possibly to feel overwhelmed. I felt that way my 1st year & that was when the attendance was just under 11,000 & the con didn’t even use the entire BCC. I can just imagine what it would be like now if I was walking into the BCC for the 1st time.

After 8 years though, I’ll be walking into familiar territory, it kind of feels like coming home in a sense. The moment I get to Baltimore a part of me wakes up excited for the weekend ahead. Otakon has an atmosphere uncomparable to other cons & once you feel it, it may take years before you can fight the want to come back for more. The ones I know who haven’t gone in a few years still want to come back, it just hasn’t fit back into their lives yet to do so. Me? I just haven’t ever considered not coming to Otakon yet. Then again, I’ve always made sure to make my experience different every year.  Now I’ve officially joined the other side of the con & I’m ready to experience Otakon in a whole new way again. 

Perhaps you may see me there, perhaps not. Either way I hope your having as good of a time as I am!

* BCC = Baltimore Convention Center

#10. Pre-register for the con

With over 25,000 anime fans in attendance, it’s definitely worth it to Pre-register for Otakon. When you Pre-register, you not only save $10 on your con badge, you have the right to pick it up on Thursday.  This allows you to be able to walk into the BCC at 9am or so Friday morning instead of waiting in the line that is wrapped around it for a few hours.  Also keep in mind that the line Friday morning is always longer than the line on Thursday.

#9. Reserve a hotel room or find crash space as soon as possible.

There are roughly a dozen hotels located in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. In recent years these hotels are nearly booked solid within 4-6 months before the con. This is why it’s important to reserve a room or find crash space as early as you can.

If  Otakon is just around the corner, don’t despair! You can still get a room outside the Inner Harbor unless you manage to snag a cancelled reservation. As for crash space, check the Otakon boards, there’s always someone with extra space in their room to cut down on costs.

#8. If you haven’t yet, become a member of the Otakon boards.

Located on the main website www.otakon.com, the bulletin board is a great place to get information about the con. If you can’t find an answer to your question among existing threads, don’t be afraid to start a new one & ask. Several Staff Members are regular visitors to the board. Often times news is posted to the boards before the main site is updated as well.

#7.  Arrive in Baltimore on Thursday.

There are reasons to arrive on Thursday other than just picking up your badge you know. You could take a walk around the Inner Harbor to orientate yourself to where things are at. You can also settle into your hotel room, take a look at everything in the con info bag, have dinner & sleep a few hours before all the action starts.

Another bonus is it’s less of a headache to find a garage to park your car in if you’re driving in. 

Before you go, here’s a few things you may want to bring with you – Photo identification to get your badge, print out copies of Pre-reg & hotel confirmations, map of Baltimore, your cell phone charger, a power strip for extra outlets, umbrella, a towel, a swimsuit if your hotel has a pool plus drinks & snacks. 

As far as getting to Baltimore is concerned, whether by car, train, bus, boat or plane, we all find our own way of getting there.

#6. Make sure to eat & drink.

As for eating, there is no excuse to not eat. Surely you can find time where there’s something you can stand not going to & instead go out to eat lunch or dinner. Organize ahead of time to meet up with friends to get food. At the very least, you’ve always got food concessions located throughout the BCC. However for cheaper better tasting food, you must venture outside.  There are restaurants of nearly every type of cuisine located within the Inner Harbor, be adventurous & try a new one.  Baltimore is best known for crab, particularly crabcakes, of which the best ones can be found outside the Inner Harbor area. Scoping out local restaurants on the internet before getting to Baltimore isn’t a bad idea.

Otakon being in the middle of the summer in Baltimore means chances are it’s going to be hot & humid. Plan accordingly. That means drinking plenty of fluids, preferably water.  There are water coolers located all throughout the BCC. Nothing wrong with bringing a water bottle. If you plan on drinking any alcohol during the con weekend I recommend waiting till after dark when it’s cooler, alcohol dehydrates you nearly as badly as caffeine does.

#5. Remember to sleep & shower daily.

Yes, it is possible to survive Otakon weekend with no sleep, however it certainly isn’t recommended unless you enjoy being really cranky by Sunday & literally crashing into a near coma when you get home.  The con is closed between 2am-9am, use this precious time to grab a few hours of sleep before you get ready for another day at the con.

Remember now, it’s the middle of summer & if it’s hot & humid you’re going to sweat everytime you’re outside. Even if it’s not hot & humid outside, you’re still going to find areas not as cool as others in the BCC due to all the people. Please do yourself & your fellow congoers a favor & shower at least once a day. Don’t contribute to Otafunk!

#4. The Dealers Room

Ah, the Otakon Dealers Room, over a 100,000 square feet of shopping paradise for the anime fan & more. This place is large enough to launch an F-18 if you didn’t mind it crashing thru a wall on it’s way out.  I have a few tips for this particular area:

 Since there’s nothing worse than being at Otakon with only a few bucks left to your name, (unless you got there that way to begin with, I’ve been there) don’t spend all your money in the Dealers Room. Don’t spend all your cash either, trust me by Saturday finding an ATM in or near the BCC with money in it can be a bit of a challenge.  Also keep in mind that not all the Dealers accept credit cards, or sometimes even if they do the purchase must be a certain amount or over before they’ll swipe.

A couple tips to help save a few bucks in the Dealers Room -

Make a list beforehand of what you’re looking for in the D.R. When you get there, browse the room a bit before purchasing anything, there’s nothing worse than finding out the item you just bought was say $10 cheaper at another Dealer’s booth.  Know your prices. do some research on the internet before you go, after all not everything is a deal in the D.R. Also, for the best deals wait for Sunday. Since many dealers want to take back as less stock as possible, they’ll hold special sales. Just remember to leave yourself enough money to get home!

#3. Plan accordingly

Since there’s so many things scheduled, it’s nearly impossible to do everything. So just try to do as much as you can handle, for some things there’s always next years con. Otakon will release a pre-schedule within the week before the con so you can plan your weekend, then when you get there you’ll have the pocket program guide &/or schedule as well. Mark down everything you want to do but don’t neccesarily expect to stick to it. Many a year I’ve planned my schedule, then figuratively threw it out the window once I was in the BCC b/c of all the stuff happening around me. However it’s still great to be able to pull out that guide & at a quick glance see what interested you in that time slot.

#2. Take the time to explore Baltimore.

Don’t forget, there’s more to Baltimore besides Otakon. If you can manage to pull yourself away from the con or have some time on Thursday or Sunday, why not play tourist & explore your surroundings? There are several things of interest in Baltimore to do or see, especially in areas such as the Inner Harbor, Fell’s Point, Little Italy, & Mt. Vernon  where you’ll find restaurants, shopping, museums, culture, historical sites etc. 

On the historical side, there’s the U.S.S. Constellation docked in the Inner Harbor, Ft. McHenry, Edgar Allan Poe gravesite, B & O Museum, Babe Ruth museum, etc.  There’s an amazing art museum (The Walters) & the 1st Washington Monument located in Mt. Vernon, the city’s cultural district & how nice, both the Walters & the Baltimore Museum of Art north of Mt. Vernon have free admission.

So don’t be afraid to go & see if you can find out for yourself why Baltimore is nicknamed ‘Charm City.’  Just remember that you are in a city & to bring your common sense with you.  Also, keep in mind that areas directly north, south & east of the harbor are common for tourists, west past Martin Luther King Blvd  & south past Federal Hill not so much. Doing some research to find things that are of particular interest to you beforehand is an excellent idea.

#1. Have fun & talk with your fellow anime fan.

Above everything else, don’t forget your here to have fun. Soak up some of that magical atmosphere special to Otakon, do something you didn’t plan on doing originally, etc. One of the main reasons to go to an anime con is to meet new people with similar interests. Start up a conversation with the person next to you while waiting in line or for something to start, they could become your newest con friend!

Otakon is what you make of it, if you go intending on having the time of your life, chances are you will.

1. There was a time when I would come home from an anime con & write a report of my experience at said con. Somehow I stopped doing that, so this year I will try to get back into the habit of posting a con report for every convention I attend in the future.

2. Speaking of anime cons, I’ve been thinking of writing a thing or 2 for newbies & such. I’ve been reading some of them on different sites & they’re always so general. I’d like to be more con specific, since as much as all anime cons are similar to each other, they’re also different in aspects.  

3. I have opinions just like everyone else. Sometimes I feel the need to share my opinions with the world, so that’s what else I’ll use this blog for, my opinion on whatever I feel like sharing.  Don’t be too surprised if the topic is anime or anime cons cause as we all know there is no cure for anime addiction & I’ve been addicted for years…

That’s all I can think of right now…