CostumeCon Report

[aya_blue]

Costume-Con report time!

Quick summary: If I could only go to one convention for the rest of my life, this would be the one! This was our first year at CC, so hopefully this will be helpful for other noobies next year.

Comments

[aya_blue]

Its SO MUCH FUN. You should plan on it!

[natastic]

I had such a great time. The T-shirts were great - and everyone seemed to appreciate it. My main complaint about the venue was the COLD. I wore a pretty heavy sweatshirt and I was STILL frozen.

Oh and the American Flag outside our room was pretty Epic. :)

[aya_blue]

I liked snuggling with you. Hypothermia!

Lots of good responses below if you want to check them out.

[natastic]

XD Hypothermia!

[auroraceleste]

So what kind of panels would you like to see next year? I know they're asking for programming recommendations right now, so I'll pass on anything you want. I think a lot of time the CC programming comes from what people want to see and what people volunteer to do.

[aya_blue]

Hi Aurora,

I'll start thinking up a list and forward it on. I guess I can't just bitch and dash, huh? ^_^

[mutive]

Huh, interesting. I remember hearing the same thing at Fanime. The annoyance over the "conceptual" panels and the love of the few that actually went into detail as to how to work the craft.

Then again, the one I did that way was demoted to the worst time slot on earth. So maybe there's a discrepancy between what people want and what con organizers think people want...

[aya_blue]

I get the conceptual panels everywhere, so I was hoping CC would be different. I understand why, though; I think the crafting panels would be considerably more difficult to prepare, not to mention the supplies you would need to drag with you.

Good to hear that other people feel the same way.

[mutive]

Yeah, and it seems odd that they can't get anyone to do them...

I hosted one and it's really not that hard. But I think that conventions often prefer not to do them as they can make a mess, etc. Just sort of sad...

[auroraceleste]

I really don't think it's lack of getting anyone to do panels, but lack of ideas for what people want to see. Costume Con is planned by a small core that goes every year, and they (we) can loose sight of what new people want to see and what they want to learn. Instead they plan either a) what worked last year, or b) what they'd like to see. Combined with the fact that a vocal part of the planning core is new to the internet and congregates in small, specific areas that don't include forums like cosplay.com it results in panels that they are interested in but don't always appeal with the majority of newer folks.

That's why I'm really looking forward to a list of panels you guys would like to see. I'd love to get a copy as well as Lisa, because there are other conventions I'd use those panels for if Costume Con can't utilize them. I think my panel repertoire has gotten kinda stagnant and I'd love to develop some stuff people actually *want* to see, especially here in the East.

[darthmarysue]

Ooooh, I really want to go to costume con next year! I've been wanting to go for a while, but next year is even somewhat geographically feasable, so hooray!

I grew up with ICG competition guidelines, so actually some of the US rules confuse me sometimes. But the re-entry guidelines are a bit less rigid; a lot is left to the discretion of the masquerade director, but it's not unheard of to enter a costume that's won a minor or even a major award at a significantly larger competion, or at a higher division. (Fun documentation from ICG...because I'm a huge dork, really, and think the system is kind of interesting.) I also love that the judges can choose not to present a major award in any given category and eliminate people winning by 'default'.

Yup...huge dork.

[aya_blue]

I HOPE you can make it, it really is amazing.

I do like the ICG guidelines. Unfortunately a lot of American conventions aren't familiar with them. Thanks for sending on that link, that is definitely something to print out and read in the tub ^_^

You should really really really come next year XD