T-Mode: Would I come back next year?
Well, I have recovered enough to give my experience to this past weekend's T-Mode. Delaware Anime Society won 15 passes to attend T-Mode, and I decided to attend (with reservations) this event. I rode down with Pete and Nai to Arlington because I didn't want to drive down this con around because I'm attending Nekocon in November. I decided for this con I not to do the volunteer thing during T-Mode so I can spend time chilling out with fellow DAS'ers. The Dealers Room was quite small with only 5 vendors (the biggest was House Of Anime, which had already packed up its goodies by 12 Noon Sunday). I was able to but a bunch of Pocky and other J-Snacks plus a To Heart 2 figure, a Comic Party figure, and a R.O.D. The TV figure which I haggled one vendor to lower the price from $22 to $20 if I paid cash, and he complied (plus he wouldn't accept a Traveler's Check anyways).
As for the Panels, I only attended one; the panel with the Voice Actors on Saturday. I also checked out the AMV's as well that same day. As for the Saturday Night Cosplay, I didn't there was much of a "cosplay", with only 2 skits and plenty of "walk-thrus". The whole event wasn't even an hour.
Other than the voice actors, there were other guests that prevented the event from being a colossal disaster; the musical guests. There were 4 diverse music acts; (1) Peelander-Z's Friday night concert (which ran 2 hours late) was high energy and full throttle J-Punk at its craziest!! This 3-some never failed to amaze all, and even randomly pulled attendees onto the stage (including yours truly) to play "percussion" (banging on metal bowls with drumsticks). But the real clincher was they pulled 3 attendees to play their instruments (including a Misato Katsuragi cosplayer playing bass while the drummer of Armcannon was pulled to play drums), while the band playing human "bowling". Peelander-Z put on one fun-filled performance. (2) Armcannon thrilled con attendees with a loud and rocking hour of cover songs ranging from the Power Rangers theme to "Ghostbusters". (3) Natz, who put on a very nice and quiet change of pace with his acoustic guitar and soothing tunes on Saturday night. This was an appetizer for...(4) The Captains! This quartet delighted the crowd (especially the ladies) with its blend of power pop and Beatles-style harmonies. Even the singer would mingle with the concert attended and even pulled a "James Brown" in front of a couple of female fans (he would collapse on stage and then the other band members would coax him to get up). After the exciting performance, the Captains, as well as Natz, held autograph sessions for their fans. I would love to see these 4 acts at another con real soon.
T-Mode game room was quite a change of pace. I was able to check out the majority of the games (even a couple Wii games) and there was no "stench" from other attendees. The was even a "Final Fantasy" ball (which ran 2 hours late as well) on Friday night, where cosplayers dressed up as their favorite Final Fantasy characters. There were some really good Final Fantasy coplayers.
Overall, despite its shortcomings (and there were quite a few!!), its guests of honor really saved the weekend. It's amazing how the T-Mode staff were able to pull rabbits out of their hat and got some really great guests, especially the voice actors. Which were Chris Ayers (yes, HE is Greg's brother), Kyle Hebert, Michele Knotz, Lucien Dodge, and Bill Rogers. As well 3 professional cosplayers; model/cosplayer Yaya Han, and cosplay duo Pixiekitty & Neon Genocide (whom were among the judges of the Final Fantasy Ball cosplayers.
Would I come back next year? If DAS won another 15 passes next year, I would go. But I would pay to go back? Hard to answer, honestly. But give the T-Mode staffers a break. It's their first time running their con. And things aren't expected to run smoothly all the time. So, maybe they learn from their mistakes and next year will be better.
As for the Panels, I only attended one; the panel with the Voice Actors on Saturday. I also checked out the AMV's as well that same day. As for the Saturday Night Cosplay, I didn't there was much of a "cosplay", with only 2 skits and plenty of "walk-thrus". The whole event wasn't even an hour.
Other than the voice actors, there were other guests that prevented the event from being a colossal disaster; the musical guests. There were 4 diverse music acts; (1) Peelander-Z's Friday night concert (which ran 2 hours late) was high energy and full throttle J-Punk at its craziest!! This 3-some never failed to amaze all, and even randomly pulled attendees onto the stage (including yours truly) to play "percussion" (banging on metal bowls with drumsticks). But the real clincher was they pulled 3 attendees to play their instruments (including a Misato Katsuragi cosplayer playing bass while the drummer of Armcannon was pulled to play drums), while the band playing human "bowling". Peelander-Z put on one fun-filled performance. (2) Armcannon thrilled con attendees with a loud and rocking hour of cover songs ranging from the Power Rangers theme to "Ghostbusters". (3) Natz, who put on a very nice and quiet change of pace with his acoustic guitar and soothing tunes on Saturday night. This was an appetizer for...(4) The Captains! This quartet delighted the crowd (especially the ladies) with its blend of power pop and Beatles-style harmonies. Even the singer would mingle with the concert attended and even pulled a "James Brown" in front of a couple of female fans (he would collapse on stage and then the other band members would coax him to get up). After the exciting performance, the Captains, as well as Natz, held autograph sessions for their fans. I would love to see these 4 acts at another con real soon.
T-Mode game room was quite a change of pace. I was able to check out the majority of the games (even a couple Wii games) and there was no "stench" from other attendees. The was even a "Final Fantasy" ball (which ran 2 hours late as well) on Friday night, where cosplayers dressed up as their favorite Final Fantasy characters. There were some really good Final Fantasy coplayers.
Overall, despite its shortcomings (and there were quite a few!!), its guests of honor really saved the weekend. It's amazing how the T-Mode staff were able to pull rabbits out of their hat and got some really great guests, especially the voice actors. Which were Chris Ayers (yes, HE is Greg's brother), Kyle Hebert, Michele Knotz, Lucien Dodge, and Bill Rogers. As well 3 professional cosplayers; model/cosplayer Yaya Han, and cosplay duo Pixiekitty & Neon Genocide (whom were among the judges of the Final Fantasy Ball cosplayers.
Would I come back next year? If DAS won another 15 passes next year, I would go. But I would pay to go back? Hard to answer, honestly. But give the T-Mode staffers a break. It's their first time running their con. And things aren't expected to run smoothly all the time. So, maybe they learn from their mistakes and next year will be better.