New Hampshire Summer 2010 recap - PortConMaine [24-27 June]
First, PortCon's photo gallery.
The text below is approximately 3200 words.
PortConMaine 2010, 24 - 27 June 2010
[Thursday, 24 June - PortCon Day 1]
Kun and I arrived at the Wyndham about 4 PM, right as the con was opening for the day. This was the first time either Kun or I had been there for Thursday, a half-day for pre-registered attendees only. We first rushed to the bathrooms, then met up with Shampoo and made two trips from the car to our room with all our stuff. While unpacking, we met our fourth roommate, Amber, a friend of Shampoo's from her work. (It's still weird to think that she was the youngest of us by two years.)
Our room was nice, though there wasn't much light at night and we only had one room key for the four of us. The latter didn't turn out to be as much of an impediment as I was fearing, what with everyone having cell phones or sticking to people who did (namely, me), but it was still a surprise. ( Last year, we had two keys for four of us.)
Kun changed into her summer Silabus (.hack//G.U.) outfit while I stayed as Jenny Quantum (The Authority) and we headed down to stand in line for our badges. We were originally going to get our badges before moving into the room, but the line was very long -- all the way down to the lobby. It was still fairly long twenty minutes later, but there wasn't a great deal of other things going on at the time and it took maybe half an hour to forty minutes to reach the front. A girl behind us started chatting while waiting and hugging Kun's Chim Chim plushie, reminding me how shy I can feel with strangers at the very beginning of a con before I get into the swing of things.
Once procuring our badges, we wandering the hallways several times with Shampoo and Amber. Not finding much, I believe we headed back to our room to eat dinner from the food we had brought, also discovering that we had forgotten to pack the peanut butter, jelly, and bread for sandwiches. (It wasn't on Kun's and my grocery list since we had all those things at home, but we neglected to grab them before leaving.)
Kun decided to change into Hazumu (Kashimashi) after dinner, so I got into Tomari (same) and the four of us walked around some more, including sprinting down the hotel parking lot (or at least Kun and I sprinted). Shampoo, Amber, Kun, and I played two rounds of Jenga in the Game Room, then briefly stopped in the Carmen Sandiego and Anime MST3K panels, but didn't stay very long in either.
There was a semi-formal dance scheduled for Thursday night in the main tent. As neither Kun nor I had been to it before, we assumed the staff would enforce dress code and had both brought suits, Kun a green Silabus-esque one from Goodwill, me my black suit with white dress suit, intending to go as Bruce Wayne. (I even made and printed Wayne Enterprises business cards.) We found out from signs hung around the con a few hours earlier than the dance would be an '80's theme, which none of us were sure about. In the end, Kun, Shampoo, Amber, and I stuck our heads in for about fifteen minutes dressed as we were and decided it wasn't worth staying or changing for. Disappointing.
We spent the rest of the evening in our room, talking and dyeing Kun's hair for Sensui the next day. This time we used semi-permanent black Manic Panic, previously tested for Gon in May 2008, which at least lasted past the initial application.
[Friday, 25 June - PortCon Day 2]
Kun and I woke up around 7 AM and put on Sensui and Itsuki (Yuu Yuu Hakusho). It didn't go quite as smoothly as our photoshoot at home did, partly because I tried to rub the skin the hair dye had stained with one of Shampoo's sponges and pressed too hard.
Shampoo was staffing in the dealers' room this year, mainly at the PortCon garage sale tables. Kun, Amber, and I roamed the dealer's room just as they opened in the morning and probably spent two hours between there and Artist Alley.
These days, I don't recognize most of the merchandise for the newer series as I don't read manga or watch anime regularly anymore. However, a nice woman from one of the Portland Casablanca Comics stores had brought about eight long boxes filled with back issues at really good prices (something like 3 for $2). She told me the man she had acquired them from was mostly a DC fan, which was evident from the selection, but fine by me. In the past, PortCon hasn't had a good American comics selection, as one might expect from an anime convention -- previous years only sported a small collection of Marvel trades -- so these long boxes really made my dealers' room experience.
While browsing through the comics, an older man in a Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform came up to flip through the titles next to me. I commented that it was nice to see Star Trek fans, especially TNG, as I had expected more TOS fans due to the latest movie. The man replied that of course they were doing TNG and that there were three or four other people around in uniform (I think I saw two others over the course of the weekend). He then proceeded to buy every Star Trek comic they had, at least fifteen.
For myself, I picked up the only two Authority issues there (The Authority: Prime #1 and #4), the first three issues of the original Stormwatch, three issues of Gen13 (purely because one had the Authoriteens on the cover and I couldn't remember how many issues the Authoriteens were in), and one issue of Action Comics [Superman] that I had written down on my rec list from Earth-2.net: The Show, but now I think I might have copied the wrong number. (Not that it matters; they were cheap enough.) Aside from a few pins in Artist Alley, half of which were purchased for other people, that's all I bought merchandise-wise.
Before leaving the dealers' room, I said hi to Jekka, who was working the garage sale with Shampoo. It's always good to see her again.
At some point I think we went back up to the room to eat lunch. I don't remember what the four of us did in the afternoon aside from wander the halls.
Kun and I changed out of Itsuki and Sensui and walked to Panera Bread for dinner; we didn't drive as the hotel was undergoing construction in the back parking lot and had to open an overfill parking lot further from the hotel with lovely piles of dirt in the middle and Kun didn't want to lose her spot. It wasn't too bad of a walk, although it was hot. We ate at the same Panera's the previous year, when it had been so rainy and cold that their fireplace was on -- quite a difference.
Since it was on the way, Kun and I walked through part of Maine Mall on our way back. We passed a Yankee Candle store and, low and behold, they had a scent I'd been looking for since the glass cracked on my previous candle years ago. I'd never been able to find it in New York, but they had it here and, as it later turned out, also at the Mall of New Hampshire. I couldn't let this opportunity pass by, but I picked up their smallest size as they're still expensive. (The scent in question is Stormwatch - no relation to the comic, really, though it's a lovely coincidence - and is a lovely blue-purple with lightning on the candle label. It's supposed to smell like a thunderstorm and, though it doesn't quite manage it, I still like it.)
Shampoo texted us asking if we could pick up some nail glue for her, but, amazingly enough, Maine Mall has no drug stores.
Back at the hotel, Kun and I stopped in the room briefly, then rushed into Anime Unscripted right as it was starting to meet Shampoo and Amber, already there. (I felt a bit bad that we hadn't gotten there earlier, especially as Jekka was hosting.) Anime Unscripted is basically "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" and was hilarious, especially the final sketch using the topic of time travel and random slide show photos.
Shortly after Anime Unscripted ended, we all got in line for Extreme Geek, PortCon's 18+ event that is . . . special. It involves a crazy music video (last year was "I'm On A Boat," this year was "Mossels"), dressing boys up in drag, Julie [the con head] creating disgusting food and making people eat it, video trivia, and so on. Last year was the first time I'd been to it since 2004 and 2005, when it was very different and much smaller. Amber, never having been to a convention before, let alone Extreme Geek, bravely volunteered to be on the audience team. Kun and I were safe and sat with the main audience.
Extreme Geek was crazy, as usual. My favourite moment, however, was when one of the men in drag used a Wonder Woman costume for their female wear and looked really lovely in it.
By the time Extreme Geek was over, we were getting tired and headed up to bed.
[Saturday, 26 June - PortCon Day 3]
A big day for Kun as her Tales of the Abyss group was doing Craftsmanship Judging in the morning and a skit in the Masquerade in the afternoon. Kun got into her Guy (Tales) outfit, I into Jenny Q, and the two of us headed down with Amber to print out a reference photo Kun could use. Kun then met up with her Tales group and Amber and I walked around together, then went back up to the room to meet Shampoo, who had left earlier to pick up her cousin.
As Shampoo had to work a shift in the dealers' room, Amber, Shampoo's cousin (whose name I'm not listing as I'm not sure I'd spell it correctly), and I spent most of the day together. We wandered the dealers' room and Artist Alley again before roaming the halls, eventually ending up in the Board Game room. The three of us started with Jenga (acquiring a small audience), then played Apples to Apples. It was the first time I'd played the latter, but it was very fun and we had four random people sit down to join us during our second game.
After Shampoo's shift, we went up to the room to grab some snacks, then got in line for the Masquerade. Standing around for an hour, even with lots of people (and one almost-naked man in golden underpants and bunny ears), isn't exactly the height of entertainment. Jekka and a man I didn't know hosted the Masquerade dressed as Chrono Crusade characters.
The Masquerade was shorter than most years and I only knew maybe half the outfits, but it was still enjoyable. Kun's Tales skit was funny and clever, so much so that they won the Best in Show and Group Craftsmanship awards. Woo!
Before the awards were announced, a bunch of the Masquerade participants got up on stage and danced.
Post-Masquerade, Kun changed and went out for dinner and a drink with her Tales group. Shampoo, her niece, Amber, and I headed to the mall for dinner, where all of us except Shampoo's niece got Taco Bell. While I was deciding what to eat, in my Union Jack tank top and pseudo-leather jacket for Jenny Q, one of the restaurant employees asked if I was trying out for the Beatles.
After dinner, the four of us briefly stopped by the main tent for the Anime Music Videos, but didn't stay long, partly because we had to bring Shampoo's niece home, partly because the volume was turned up ridiculously high. Kun got back just as we were about to leave and was thinking of going swimming with her Tales friends, so we gave her the room key. Thinking we might be back before Kun was finished, I grabbed her glowsticks and took them with us.
Amber and Shampoo's niece sat in the back while I rode next to Shampoo; it was really good to have a long conversation with my older sister again. I met Shampoo's relatives and we stayed to talk for a little before heading back, going through a patch of rain on the way. Shampoo and I talked about music, discovering we both liked The Birthday Massacre, while Amber played with the MP3 player.
We got back about twenty minutes after the Rave started and met Kun at one of the tables near the hotel café. She told us a little about her night and we started breaking open the glowsticks. Somehow, all but two of Kun's glowsticks were dead (Kun said they were old), so we mostly used Shampoo's, including some huge ones she had that looked like test tubes around your neck.
The rave was very fun, although they didn't play "Cotton-Eyed Joe" or some of the other dance songs they used to. When we took breaks and sat on the grass, it was a bit buggy, but nice otherwise.
Back in the room after the Rave, Shampoo learned that her cat, Ebony, hadn't been eating. (She is doing better now.)
[Sunday, 27 June - PortCon Day 4]
The last day is always the slow day. I got into Jenny Q, but Kun stayed out of cosplay. We did one last lap through the dealers' and Artist Alley, during which Kun picked up more manga and a few Green Arrow/Black Canary issues, and then said goodbye for now when she left around 10:30 AM. While I walked Kun out to her car, we passed by two Warriors cosplayers, which was very unexpected but cool.
Shampoo was still on her garage sale shift, so I went out to the lobby with my luggage to wait for my mom and grandparents to pick me up. Amber waited with me the whole time and we talked a lot about languages, Japanese in particular, life, and anime. My mom arrived around 1 PM, just as Shampoo was getting off her shift, and I hugged and said goodbye to her and Amber before putting my luggage into my grandparents' trunk and leaving PortCon for another year.
During the Con, Shampoo, Kun, and I talked a lot about PortCon and how it's changed over the years. (Kun also talked a lot about missing her puppy, Sam, but that's another story.) PortCon was the first convention for both Kun and myself, her in 2003 and me in 2004. It's also the only con that I (in 2005) and Shampoo (2006-2010) have staffed at. I've only missed it for one year, 2006, when I went to AnimeBoston instead.
But a number of things have changed. None of us keep up with anime or manga as much as we used to and, although a number of the main staffers are still at PortCon (Julie, CJ, Jekka, Weerd, and so on), Shampoo tells me they've had lots of new people since 2008. PortCon's grown slightly larger each year, to the point where we actually reached 2,000 attendees this year, but it's still pretty small compared to other Northeast conventions. Kun and I both thought the dealers' room was better this year than last year's, but we also agreed that one of the appeals of larger conventions is more diversity in the cosplay and a greater chance of small fandoms being recognized. I didn't expect anyone at PortCon to know The Authority (especially Jenny Q, who only appears as a teenager in the later parts of the series) and Kashimashi - especially the outfits we ended up using - is pretty obscure, but no one made any comments to us about Sensui and Itsuki. Kun tells me a number of Yuu Yuu Hakusho fans didn't watch the Chapter Black arc and it is an older series (early '90s), but that lack of recognition still took me by surprise.
Where am I going with this?
None of us are sure if we're going back to PortCon next year. I'd miss not seeing Jekka or going to Anime Unscripted, Extreme Geek, the Masquerade, and the Rave, but except for those events, we did spend a lot of our time either wandering the halls looking for things to do, playing board games in the Game Room, or talking in our hotel room. As Kun noted, we can do all those things together for free whenever we see each other.
PortCon's still convenient for me, being so close to my aunt and maternal grandparents, and Shampoo also has family in Maine, but we'll see what happens. If we, or some of us, end up going again, it will probably only be for Friday and Saturday. For our main convention next year, we're thinking ConnectiCon in Hartford, Connecticut, or, possibly, Otakon in Maryland. Personally, I'd like to try a comic book convention, partly because that's what I'm more into now, partly because I'm curious to see how different it is from an anime convention, but I don't know if I'd want to go by myself and the closest ones would probably be either Boston or New York City.
Whatever happens, it was a good six years overall. Without PortCon, I probably never would have met Kun, Shampoo, Tomo, and Jekka, and for that I'll always be grateful and PortCon will always have a place in my memories. Thank you, PortCon, and here's hoping your tenth anniversary next year is good whether we make it or not.
The text below is approximately 3200 words.
PortConMaine 2010, 24 - 27 June 2010
[Thursday, 24 June - PortCon Day 1]
Kun and I arrived at the Wyndham about 4 PM, right as the con was opening for the day. This was the first time either Kun or I had been there for Thursday, a half-day for pre-registered attendees only. We first rushed to the bathrooms, then met up with Shampoo and made two trips from the car to our room with all our stuff. While unpacking, we met our fourth roommate, Amber, a friend of Shampoo's from her work. (It's still weird to think that she was the youngest of us by two years.)
Our room was nice, though there wasn't much light at night and we only had one room key for the four of us. The latter didn't turn out to be as much of an impediment as I was fearing, what with everyone having cell phones or sticking to people who did (namely, me), but it was still a surprise. ( Last year, we had two keys for four of us.)
Kun changed into her summer Silabus (.hack//G.U.) outfit while I stayed as Jenny Quantum (The Authority) and we headed down to stand in line for our badges. We were originally going to get our badges before moving into the room, but the line was very long -- all the way down to the lobby. It was still fairly long twenty minutes later, but there wasn't a great deal of other things going on at the time and it took maybe half an hour to forty minutes to reach the front. A girl behind us started chatting while waiting and hugging Kun's Chim Chim plushie, reminding me how shy I can feel with strangers at the very beginning of a con before I get into the swing of things.
Once procuring our badges, we wandering the hallways several times with Shampoo and Amber. Not finding much, I believe we headed back to our room to eat dinner from the food we had brought, also discovering that we had forgotten to pack the peanut butter, jelly, and bread for sandwiches. (It wasn't on Kun's and my grocery list since we had all those things at home, but we neglected to grab them before leaving.)
Kun decided to change into Hazumu (Kashimashi) after dinner, so I got into Tomari (same) and the four of us walked around some more, including sprinting down the hotel parking lot (or at least Kun and I sprinted). Shampoo, Amber, Kun, and I played two rounds of Jenga in the Game Room, then briefly stopped in the Carmen Sandiego and Anime MST3K panels, but didn't stay very long in either.
There was a semi-formal dance scheduled for Thursday night in the main tent. As neither Kun nor I had been to it before, we assumed the staff would enforce dress code and had both brought suits, Kun a green Silabus-esque one from Goodwill, me my black suit with white dress suit, intending to go as Bruce Wayne. (I even made and printed Wayne Enterprises business cards.) We found out from signs hung around the con a few hours earlier than the dance would be an '80's theme, which none of us were sure about. In the end, Kun, Shampoo, Amber, and I stuck our heads in for about fifteen minutes dressed as we were and decided it wasn't worth staying or changing for. Disappointing.
We spent the rest of the evening in our room, talking and dyeing Kun's hair for Sensui the next day. This time we used semi-permanent black Manic Panic, previously tested for Gon in May 2008, which at least lasted past the initial application.
[Friday, 25 June - PortCon Day 2]
Kun and I woke up around 7 AM and put on Sensui and Itsuki (Yuu Yuu Hakusho). It didn't go quite as smoothly as our photoshoot at home did, partly because I tried to rub the skin the hair dye had stained with one of Shampoo's sponges and pressed too hard.
Shampoo was staffing in the dealers' room this year, mainly at the PortCon garage sale tables. Kun, Amber, and I roamed the dealer's room just as they opened in the morning and probably spent two hours between there and Artist Alley.
These days, I don't recognize most of the merchandise for the newer series as I don't read manga or watch anime regularly anymore. However, a nice woman from one of the Portland Casablanca Comics stores had brought about eight long boxes filled with back issues at really good prices (something like 3 for $2). She told me the man she had acquired them from was mostly a DC fan, which was evident from the selection, but fine by me. In the past, PortCon hasn't had a good American comics selection, as one might expect from an anime convention -- previous years only sported a small collection of Marvel trades -- so these long boxes really made my dealers' room experience.
While browsing through the comics, an older man in a Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform came up to flip through the titles next to me. I commented that it was nice to see Star Trek fans, especially TNG, as I had expected more TOS fans due to the latest movie. The man replied that of course they were doing TNG and that there were three or four other people around in uniform (I think I saw two others over the course of the weekend). He then proceeded to buy every Star Trek comic they had, at least fifteen.
For myself, I picked up the only two Authority issues there (The Authority: Prime #1 and #4), the first three issues of the original Stormwatch, three issues of Gen13 (purely because one had the Authoriteens on the cover and I couldn't remember how many issues the Authoriteens were in), and one issue of Action Comics [Superman] that I had written down on my rec list from Earth-2.net: The Show, but now I think I might have copied the wrong number. (Not that it matters; they were cheap enough.) Aside from a few pins in Artist Alley, half of which were purchased for other people, that's all I bought merchandise-wise.
Before leaving the dealers' room, I said hi to Jekka, who was working the garage sale with Shampoo. It's always good to see her again.
At some point I think we went back up to the room to eat lunch. I don't remember what the four of us did in the afternoon aside from wander the halls.
Kun and I changed out of Itsuki and Sensui and walked to Panera Bread for dinner; we didn't drive as the hotel was undergoing construction in the back parking lot and had to open an overfill parking lot further from the hotel with lovely piles of dirt in the middle and Kun didn't want to lose her spot. It wasn't too bad of a walk, although it was hot. We ate at the same Panera's the previous year, when it had been so rainy and cold that their fireplace was on -- quite a difference.
Since it was on the way, Kun and I walked through part of Maine Mall on our way back. We passed a Yankee Candle store and, low and behold, they had a scent I'd been looking for since the glass cracked on my previous candle years ago. I'd never been able to find it in New York, but they had it here and, as it later turned out, also at the Mall of New Hampshire. I couldn't let this opportunity pass by, but I picked up their smallest size as they're still expensive. (The scent in question is Stormwatch - no relation to the comic, really, though it's a lovely coincidence - and is a lovely blue-purple with lightning on the candle label. It's supposed to smell like a thunderstorm and, though it doesn't quite manage it, I still like it.)
Shampoo texted us asking if we could pick up some nail glue for her, but, amazingly enough, Maine Mall has no drug stores.
Back at the hotel, Kun and I stopped in the room briefly, then rushed into Anime Unscripted right as it was starting to meet Shampoo and Amber, already there. (I felt a bit bad that we hadn't gotten there earlier, especially as Jekka was hosting.) Anime Unscripted is basically "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" and was hilarious, especially the final sketch using the topic of time travel and random slide show photos.
Shortly after Anime Unscripted ended, we all got in line for Extreme Geek, PortCon's 18+ event that is . . . special. It involves a crazy music video (last year was "I'm On A Boat," this year was "Mossels"), dressing boys up in drag, Julie [the con head] creating disgusting food and making people eat it, video trivia, and so on. Last year was the first time I'd been to it since 2004 and 2005, when it was very different and much smaller. Amber, never having been to a convention before, let alone Extreme Geek, bravely volunteered to be on the audience team. Kun and I were safe and sat with the main audience.
Extreme Geek was crazy, as usual. My favourite moment, however, was when one of the men in drag used a Wonder Woman costume for their female wear and looked really lovely in it.
By the time Extreme Geek was over, we were getting tired and headed up to bed.
[Saturday, 26 June - PortCon Day 3]
A big day for Kun as her Tales of the Abyss group was doing Craftsmanship Judging in the morning and a skit in the Masquerade in the afternoon. Kun got into her Guy (Tales) outfit, I into Jenny Q, and the two of us headed down with Amber to print out a reference photo Kun could use. Kun then met up with her Tales group and Amber and I walked around together, then went back up to the room to meet Shampoo, who had left earlier to pick up her cousin.
As Shampoo had to work a shift in the dealers' room, Amber, Shampoo's cousin (whose name I'm not listing as I'm not sure I'd spell it correctly), and I spent most of the day together. We wandered the dealers' room and Artist Alley again before roaming the halls, eventually ending up in the Board Game room. The three of us started with Jenga (acquiring a small audience), then played Apples to Apples. It was the first time I'd played the latter, but it was very fun and we had four random people sit down to join us during our second game.
After Shampoo's shift, we went up to the room to grab some snacks, then got in line for the Masquerade. Standing around for an hour, even with lots of people (and one almost-naked man in golden underpants and bunny ears), isn't exactly the height of entertainment. Jekka and a man I didn't know hosted the Masquerade dressed as Chrono Crusade characters.
The Masquerade was shorter than most years and I only knew maybe half the outfits, but it was still enjoyable. Kun's Tales skit was funny and clever, so much so that they won the Best in Show and Group Craftsmanship awards. Woo!
Before the awards were announced, a bunch of the Masquerade participants got up on stage and danced.
Post-Masquerade, Kun changed and went out for dinner and a drink with her Tales group. Shampoo, her niece, Amber, and I headed to the mall for dinner, where all of us except Shampoo's niece got Taco Bell. While I was deciding what to eat, in my Union Jack tank top and pseudo-leather jacket for Jenny Q, one of the restaurant employees asked if I was trying out for the Beatles.
After dinner, the four of us briefly stopped by the main tent for the Anime Music Videos, but didn't stay long, partly because we had to bring Shampoo's niece home, partly because the volume was turned up ridiculously high. Kun got back just as we were about to leave and was thinking of going swimming with her Tales friends, so we gave her the room key. Thinking we might be back before Kun was finished, I grabbed her glowsticks and took them with us.
Amber and Shampoo's niece sat in the back while I rode next to Shampoo; it was really good to have a long conversation with my older sister again. I met Shampoo's relatives and we stayed to talk for a little before heading back, going through a patch of rain on the way. Shampoo and I talked about music, discovering we both liked The Birthday Massacre, while Amber played with the MP3 player.
We got back about twenty minutes after the Rave started and met Kun at one of the tables near the hotel café. She told us a little about her night and we started breaking open the glowsticks. Somehow, all but two of Kun's glowsticks were dead (Kun said they were old), so we mostly used Shampoo's, including some huge ones she had that looked like test tubes around your neck.
The rave was very fun, although they didn't play "Cotton-Eyed Joe" or some of the other dance songs they used to. When we took breaks and sat on the grass, it was a bit buggy, but nice otherwise.
Back in the room after the Rave, Shampoo learned that her cat, Ebony, hadn't been eating. (She is doing better now.)
[Sunday, 27 June - PortCon Day 4]
The last day is always the slow day. I got into Jenny Q, but Kun stayed out of cosplay. We did one last lap through the dealers' and Artist Alley, during which Kun picked up more manga and a few Green Arrow/Black Canary issues, and then said goodbye for now when she left around 10:30 AM. While I walked Kun out to her car, we passed by two Warriors cosplayers, which was very unexpected but cool.
Shampoo was still on her garage sale shift, so I went out to the lobby with my luggage to wait for my mom and grandparents to pick me up. Amber waited with me the whole time and we talked a lot about languages, Japanese in particular, life, and anime. My mom arrived around 1 PM, just as Shampoo was getting off her shift, and I hugged and said goodbye to her and Amber before putting my luggage into my grandparents' trunk and leaving PortCon for another year.
During the Con, Shampoo, Kun, and I talked a lot about PortCon and how it's changed over the years. (Kun also talked a lot about missing her puppy, Sam, but that's another story.) PortCon was the first convention for both Kun and myself, her in 2003 and me in 2004. It's also the only con that I (in 2005) and Shampoo (2006-2010) have staffed at. I've only missed it for one year, 2006, when I went to AnimeBoston instead.
But a number of things have changed. None of us keep up with anime or manga as much as we used to and, although a number of the main staffers are still at PortCon (Julie, CJ, Jekka, Weerd, and so on), Shampoo tells me they've had lots of new people since 2008. PortCon's grown slightly larger each year, to the point where we actually reached 2,000 attendees this year, but it's still pretty small compared to other Northeast conventions. Kun and I both thought the dealers' room was better this year than last year's, but we also agreed that one of the appeals of larger conventions is more diversity in the cosplay and a greater chance of small fandoms being recognized. I didn't expect anyone at PortCon to know The Authority (especially Jenny Q, who only appears as a teenager in the later parts of the series) and Kashimashi - especially the outfits we ended up using - is pretty obscure, but no one made any comments to us about Sensui and Itsuki. Kun tells me a number of Yuu Yuu Hakusho fans didn't watch the Chapter Black arc and it is an older series (early '90s), but that lack of recognition still took me by surprise.
Where am I going with this?
None of us are sure if we're going back to PortCon next year. I'd miss not seeing Jekka or going to Anime Unscripted, Extreme Geek, the Masquerade, and the Rave, but except for those events, we did spend a lot of our time either wandering the halls looking for things to do, playing board games in the Game Room, or talking in our hotel room. As Kun noted, we can do all those things together for free whenever we see each other.
PortCon's still convenient for me, being so close to my aunt and maternal grandparents, and Shampoo also has family in Maine, but we'll see what happens. If we, or some of us, end up going again, it will probably only be for Friday and Saturday. For our main convention next year, we're thinking ConnectiCon in Hartford, Connecticut, or, possibly, Otakon in Maryland. Personally, I'd like to try a comic book convention, partly because that's what I'm more into now, partly because I'm curious to see how different it is from an anime convention, but I don't know if I'd want to go by myself and the closest ones would probably be either Boston or New York City.
Whatever happens, it was a good six years overall. Without PortCon, I probably never would have met Kun, Shampoo, Tomo, and Jekka, and for that I'll always be grateful and PortCon will always have a place in my memories. Thank you, PortCon, and here's hoping your tenth anniversary next year is good whether we make it or not.