Conventions?

[ririruetoo]

@SvenTheViking

I agree with you to an extent. But why don't you go to Kumoricon? Its pretty fun....

[Desu_Cake]

Off to Akumakon soon. Mah Reimu cosplay's gonna be seeing some more action.

Oh, and I realized that more than 50% of the people attending conventions have some dramatic background history 0_0
One time I kinda felt too normal for not having something tragic happened in the past besides some mobbing XD

I heard before that 60% of people have had dysfunctional childhoods/families. Whether it's true or not I don't know.

[SvenTheViking]

@ririruetoo I'm planning on it this year, it's just that stuff has come up in the past. However, I'm planning on registering here in a few weeks when I have some spending money again, so I don't have any chance of forgetting.

[Fawn]

The only con in my area doesn't start till this November ;_; Booo.... But, I'm the artist for it so I get free tickets! Yaaay!

I heard before that 60% of people have had dysfunctional childhoods/families. Whether it's true or not I don't know.

It's common these days to have some kind of traumatic life event early on, no matter who you are/what you're into, haha. But I've noticed there's something about anime/manga that can really help a person cope, specially young people. I clung to anime at the most upsetting parts of my life, it made me feel better to watch cute enthusiastic characters' lives to get away from my problems.

Not to mention the prospect of cosplaying another character and "being" them for a day can be very fun.

[MoPark]

Since I'm in the nation's capital, there's quite a few cons in my area. I believe Magfest is going on right now actually. Sadly I am not there, I would have likely enjoyed it immensely!

The next con I plan to show up to is Katsucon. It's my least favorite in the area, but I'm only going to hang out with various people and take photos. I rarely ever buy things anyway. Plus I'll be cosplaying, so it should be a load of fun!

[Thelo]

I've never been to an anime convention, but I'm kind of curious. The things I know about them:

- Some people walk around in cosplay, there may be an actual cosplay event
- Some people sell things at tables

What else is there to do at a typical convention? Are there generally more organized events in some sort of schedule, or is it more of a "walk around and do whatever you want"?

[teacup]

I've only been to fairly small, local anime conventions in my state. I've never had the opportunity to go out of state to some of the bigger ones. :<
My experiences with them have been mainly good, with the exception of the time I got hit with a yaoi paddle against my will...
I make my own costumes and cosplay every time I go - I just love the extra attention you get when someone recognizes who you're cosplaying and wants your picture

What else is there to do at a typical convention? Are there generally more organized events in some sort of schedule, or is it more of a "walk around and do whatever you want"?

Some things that are common to all the conventions I've attended are: cosplay competitions, some kind of cosplay/maid cafe that serves snacks, a room where you can watch anime, a gaming room [they may have tournaments like DDR or Super Smash Brothers], artist alley, and a rave at the end of the day. These things are usually scheduled.

[sake-bento]

A lot of conventions have fan-run panels where people get an hour to talk about something related to the fandom. I've seen people talk about a series they like, do a class on painting anime cels, and I always run one on how to make visual novels.

Most conventions in the west fly in guests. These can be manga artists, show directors, or voice actors (Japanese and English). Guests have their own panels as well, and there are always autograph lines. The bigger conventions have music concerts as well with bands or singing groups from Japan.

[KomiTsuku]

I've attended several conventions myself. Nebraskon, AnimeIowa, and Otaku Omaha are the usual bunch, although I'd like to hit some of the bigger ones this year. Staffed more conventions than I've attended as a regular goer by a 3 to 1 ratio. I've never cosplayed, although that might change this year. (doesn't hurt trying to drum up interest in some of my projects...) There's normally a plethora of events and panels to attend. The only thing that really keeps them from being fun (and the reason I staff more than I attend) is that I am a horribly awkward person at informal situations. Anime conventions are about hanging out and chatting about your common interest. I had enough "fun" being an outcast in every day life, I don't want to pay money to have it jammed down my throat that I can't even make friends even in a highly nerdy environment. At least I'm doing something productive while I am on staff.

Anyway, off my emo train! If you aren't me, they generally are an interesting time and worth checking out.

[Reikun]

I've only been to one convention, but I attended it twice - once as a con-goer and the second time I was an artist alley vendor xD
The con I attended gets a lot of Japanese and English voice actors mostly as guests. Sometimes they have bands too but it's usually 2-3 bands that come every other year. I think the attendance is usually around 5000 people over all three days of the convention.

[Mink]

I have yet to go to a con. There are ones relatively nearby (San Japan in San Antonio, for example, though that's like...a six hour drive), but I don't like crowded places. I have no problems interacting with people, talking to them, etc., but large crowds just make me uncomfortable. Maybe because I'm somewhat claustrophobic. >x>

[Gear]

So, A-Kon has put up the application form for volunteers to get that almighty free badge (though I also volunteer because I love the medical team...) so if you're going to volunteer for the June convention, now would be the time to put your application in before everyone and their dog does.

[Anna]

Conventions are fun! I usually go there to sell doujinshi/VNs/whatever else we make, but begin February I'm going to one as a visitor because of pure luck. Ahahaha, no preparation or deadline stress, hell yeah :'D!

It's fun to walk around with friends there and attending panels is also really really fun!

[bunnypirates]

I love cons I'm not so interested in the anime stuff any longer, but usually I'm cosplaying and I love to just hang out with all the people there because I hardly ever find anyone with similar interests. Last year I had a Tifa (FFVII) cosplay and this year I'm going to make a Bayonetta one. I kinda want to sell art there too but I don't think my skills are good enough because usually the cons are full of famous dA people and they get all the attention. ;_;

I always wanted to visit a con held in the US, they seem to be quite popular (visitor-wise) and there are all kinds of people there

I hope my message doesn't get posted twice, I got some error on the first try

[Dollywitch]

I think I'm kind of done now with cons, TBH. There were too many nasty or insensitive people who were all too quick to label me a problem when I got angry at how I was treated. Lots of "well maybe it's you" nonsense, but really, it is just the con scene I think. Nobody really stood up for me ever and I don't think I should waste my time with it if it's only going to hurt me. I ended up becoming suicidal over how people treated me, once I started to pull myself out of it I decided that was it. Having people you've worked hard to build relationships with you defriend you because you become too depressed is unbelievable. But unfortunately the con scene here is built on the notion of fake niceness, forced positivity, etc. shove all those problems under the carpet and punish anyone who needs to vent no matter how much harm it causes them.