Otakon?
So, I'm on the fence about going to Otakon (or Katsucon) this year. I love anime a lot, but I really, really did not enjoy myself at any of the anime cons in the area I've attended.
As I was painfully reminded at the last Otakon (not to mention Katsucon), being an introvert, I need friends who are willing to hang out with me and do stuff to an enjoy a con, or at least willing to talk to me between events and decompress, perhaps eating together. This means willingness to co-ordinate on things like activities, hotel rooms, rides and food, rather than being like "oh, it would be cool if you were there, you should come" and then disappearing on me for 99.9% of the con, like nearly everyone who urged me to go to Otakon last year did.
So, frankly, I'm disinclined to go unless I know there's going to be a group I'm going with, and it's actually going to be a group. I mean, I don't ask for much -- my "group" for Intercon Mid-Atlantic was like two people, plus a few other people I knew would be there, but the fact that we drove there together, actually actually ate together, and talked about stuff between events made the con enjoyable for me.
And just so you don't think I'm being totally passive-agressive here, I'll mention most of the same people who I didn't see hide nor hair of at Otakon and Katsucon hung out with me at Intercon Mid-Atlantic and made it fun, so my friends are total hoopy froods. I'm not sure why co-ordination didn't happen with the anime cons. I tried to organize some of it myself, and got little enthusiasm -- or I simply couldn't find my friends.
Such whining aside, the other problem I've had at the local anime cons is... Very little anime. This makes very little sense to me, but I saw more good anime at SF cons like Minicon or Stellarcon than I saw at Otakon or Katsucon. There was tons of cosplay and everything possible that's related to anime, and yet it was like pulling teeth to find any actual interesting anime to watch, let alone find it in the maze-like complex of Otakon's convention space.
Maybe I should just try to get a group together for Balticon or something.
As I was painfully reminded at the last Otakon (not to mention Katsucon), being an introvert, I need friends who are willing to hang out with me and do stuff to an enjoy a con, or at least willing to talk to me between events and decompress, perhaps eating together. This means willingness to co-ordinate on things like activities, hotel rooms, rides and food, rather than being like "oh, it would be cool if you were there, you should come" and then disappearing on me for 99.9% of the con, like nearly everyone who urged me to go to Otakon last year did.
So, frankly, I'm disinclined to go unless I know there's going to be a group I'm going with, and it's actually going to be a group. I mean, I don't ask for much -- my "group" for Intercon Mid-Atlantic was like two people, plus a few other people I knew would be there, but the fact that we drove there together, actually actually ate together, and talked about stuff between events made the con enjoyable for me.
And just so you don't think I'm being totally passive-agressive here, I'll mention most of the same people who I didn't see hide nor hair of at Otakon and Katsucon hung out with me at Intercon Mid-Atlantic and made it fun, so my friends are total hoopy froods. I'm not sure why co-ordination didn't happen with the anime cons. I tried to organize some of it myself, and got little enthusiasm -- or I simply couldn't find my friends.
Such whining aside, the other problem I've had at the local anime cons is... Very little anime. This makes very little sense to me, but I saw more good anime at SF cons like Minicon or Stellarcon than I saw at Otakon or Katsucon. There was tons of cosplay and everything possible that's related to anime, and yet it was like pulling teeth to find any actual interesting anime to watch, let alone find it in the maze-like complex of Otakon's convention space.
Maybe I should just try to get a group together for Balticon or something.