Post SakuraCon
So SakuraCon has come and gone and I am happy that I went, but not so happy that I stayed.
For a "con" it really blew. I mean goats were just waiting for some loving in the absence of any real paneling and the high pitched screaming of fan boys and girls was enough to drive the homeless out of downtown with ruptured eardrums.
Mind you while it sucked for me as a con, it was decent as an exposition. The dealers room was large and mostly filled, although I am unsure to the need of so many of the same plastic or resin dolls of girls in short skirts. Sure, Rei is cute and all, but dear gawd do we really need 50 different dolls in different poses and outfits?
It was nice seeing some people outside of Norwescon and doing some chatting, but I still always felt that I had to keep moving since nobody else was. The people need to learn how to create pathways for people to travel. Maybe the should consider installing rest area's in the main convention space so that groups can pull over, scream at their favorite characters in this super sonic language that they have created and then chat for bit off to the side rather then stopping at the top of the freaking escalators. Come on people, those don't stop just because you saw a guy (or girl) dressed up as L, not like it mattered since there were 4,000 more people dressed as L and stopped to scream at every one of them you saw.
Panels were horrid and lacking. I am not sure if the lack of panels was worse, or the lack of any sort of real respect for any of the panelists. A couple panels that I was at did not even let the panelists get any sorts of words from their mouths before being talked over by the audience. That and the lack of paneling in general was sad. I mean come on people, you are paying for the space, use it!
I did get to spend lots of time hanging out with Kevin and Ria which was nice. With all of us being in school I had not really hung out with either of them in a while. Ria I have dinner and such every night, but beyond that not much free time to just sort of be around one another.
I also got to learn lots about what to do and what not to do if I.S.S. does go forward with its own Con. I really think that the areas that do cross over are many can be used well. Sakura was not great in what it was, but you learn a lot from what it was not. That is where my education from Norwes, Dream, and Rusty can come into play.
Todd also got some costume pieces done for Ria and I that were awesome. Precision machined aluminum is cool. The buckles simply rock.
Beyond that, I did support a few dealers, we ate good food both in and out of the room, and even had time for a nap (Kev and Ria had time for 2). I think that with some coordination and more of a group effort things could have been better and more entertaining, but I agree with Ria that Sakura is at best a 1 day con for us in the future without some major changes both to us and to it.
For a "con" it really blew. I mean goats were just waiting for some loving in the absence of any real paneling and the high pitched screaming of fan boys and girls was enough to drive the homeless out of downtown with ruptured eardrums.
Mind you while it sucked for me as a con, it was decent as an exposition. The dealers room was large and mostly filled, although I am unsure to the need of so many of the same plastic or resin dolls of girls in short skirts. Sure, Rei is cute and all, but dear gawd do we really need 50 different dolls in different poses and outfits?
It was nice seeing some people outside of Norwescon and doing some chatting, but I still always felt that I had to keep moving since nobody else was. The people need to learn how to create pathways for people to travel. Maybe the should consider installing rest area's in the main convention space so that groups can pull over, scream at their favorite characters in this super sonic language that they have created and then chat for bit off to the side rather then stopping at the top of the freaking escalators. Come on people, those don't stop just because you saw a guy (or girl) dressed up as L, not like it mattered since there were 4,000 more people dressed as L and stopped to scream at every one of them you saw.
Panels were horrid and lacking. I am not sure if the lack of panels was worse, or the lack of any sort of real respect for any of the panelists. A couple panels that I was at did not even let the panelists get any sorts of words from their mouths before being talked over by the audience. That and the lack of paneling in general was sad. I mean come on people, you are paying for the space, use it!
I did get to spend lots of time hanging out with Kevin and Ria which was nice. With all of us being in school I had not really hung out with either of them in a while. Ria I have dinner and such every night, but beyond that not much free time to just sort of be around one another.
I also got to learn lots about what to do and what not to do if I.S.S. does go forward with its own Con. I really think that the areas that do cross over are many can be used well. Sakura was not great in what it was, but you learn a lot from what it was not. That is where my education from Norwes, Dream, and Rusty can come into play.
Todd also got some costume pieces done for Ria and I that were awesome. Precision machined aluminum is cool. The buckles simply rock.
Beyond that, I did support a few dealers, we ate good food both in and out of the room, and even had time for a nap (Kev and Ria had time for 2). I think that with some coordination and more of a group effort things could have been better and more entertaining, but I agree with Ria that Sakura is at best a 1 day con for us in the future without some major changes both to us and to it.