ACen 2006 Report
acen06_020
Originally uploaded by LeeChan. I'm finally cleaned up, well rested, and caught up from ACen. Time to make an LJ report about the long weekend. Pictures will be coming in slowly.
Artist Alley
I was supposed to have a table, but due to the lack of other people to sell with me, I bailed at the last minute. They moved the area of Artist Alley and Dealers Room this year, to an even larger expo area. Problem? There was too much room. I noticed about 30% of the Artist Alley tables were empty throughout the weekend. That was kind of depressing. Or at least it looked depressing. The talent was there in full force though. I stopped in at the art show and noticed some really nice work.
3.5/5
Cosplay
Wow, you can really tell the difference in cosplay between the smaller cons and the bigger cons. ACen represented Cosplay like WHOAS. The ninja_bitches were out in full force, and I took so many pictures of them. The weather was beautiful all weekend, so there were many opportunities for grand photoshoots. ACen even set up this quaint little backdrop of a sakura tree that you could get your picture taken infront of. I thought this was an excellent touch on the conventions end.
4.5/5
Dealers Room
My same complaint with Artist Alley holds true for Dealers Room as well. It was too big with too much unused space. It was oddly set up. You know how in a dealers room, there's a certain flow to how you walk up and down the ailes, and that flow is determined by how the tables are set up? No flow. After the first aile, I had no idea where to go. I was highly amused at the Vivianne Westwood knock off jewlery that was being sold, but was packaged as merchandise for Nana. I didn't buy much, just a few graphic novels and EGL Bibles.
3.5/5
Panels
ACen is my favorite convention to do panels for. They're so organized, everything works and starts relatively on time, and the staff is pleasant to deal with. There were a few issues getting our badges on time, which made me miss a few events on Friday morning, but that was generally forgotten about by Friday afternoon. We ran "WTB?WTF!" on Friday night, and we were so worried about it. It turned out to be a huge success and was really well received. The rest of our panels ran smoothly, though I was upset that they scheduled our Superflat panel during the Junko Mizuno panel. Someone wasn't thinking there. There's so much to do at ACen, and so many panels to see. Did anyone else on my friends list get to see "Voices for Peace" with janscottfrazier? I really am upset I missed that.
4/5
Staff
I am so impressed with how well the ACen staff represents themselves every year. They are so professional. A lot of the higher up staff members are usually in suits, the IRT (Incident Response Team) guys are always easy to spot with their flap jackets, and I never had a problem with anyone carding our panels. Thank you ACen staff! You make the world go round.
5/5
Hotel
I both love and hate the Hyatt. The beds were the best beds I've ever slept in for a hotel, the rooms were nice and clean and roomy. But OMG, $3.00 for a bottle of Coke in Hotel Supermarket is fucking anal rape. They equipped all the rooms with mini-fridges this year, but wired them so that any change in weight would result in a charge to your room. Kit-kat bar? $3.00 OMG. I wonder how many Otaku got charged that weekend by accident.
3/5
Overall
I love ACen. I really really do. It's my favorite con to go to, and to see my favorite people. But I really think ACen has outgrown the Hyatt Regency and the Expo center. It's time for them to move to a different location. There is no place to eat within reasonable walking distance of the hotel, and everything in the hotel is over priced. I didn't like the layout of the expo center this year, and I think they need to move into an actual convention center, like the one in Baltimore. Regardless, I will be returning next year, and every year after that. Thank you Chicago.
4/5
I had the best time hanging out with anu1, effex0r, and jeepsterjuice on Saturday. I finally got to meet schroteri and iwontsayplease in person, but I didn't get to hang out with them as much as I would have liked. ninjer and I are planning a trip to Chicago for the summer. Be prepared.