Over the last few years one key fact that we at CLS have learned is that Otakon is never really a convention so much as an adventure.
Sent by
JDStopchick
Over the last few years one key fact that we at CLS have learned is that Otakon is never really a convention so much as an adventure. Frist, there is planning the trip. If you're one of the 27,000 people attending this event you'll know that doing this con requires a bit of work ahead of time. From on con nerd to another, I tell you, bring food, bring water, and don't lose your map! With this little of foresight you'll save yourself a lot of pain. Another good tip is to get to the con early. Allow my to illustrate why with the image to the left. See that, that's a line!
Another great peice of advice, pace yourself! This year we really should have paced ourselvesn we learned the hard way what can happen if you don't. By mid-saturday Chambers feet were all but useless, and I was so sick I had to leave for half the day to rest.
Otakons biggest benefit is definietly also its biggest weakness. The con is big. So big you can't do nearly everything they have to offer in the three days the con goes. A great example is the game room. This room had everything video game imaginable. Unfortuanately if you wanted to play in a tournament you would need to show up an hour early and hope that you were one of the first 64 or 128 people in line. That was the general number allowed in the tournaments. As much fun as it would be to be in one of these tournaments, its better to stick wtih just gaming unless you plan on being ready to get in line an hour early.
There was no shortage of Anime playing on the big screen but one odd thing to notice was there was no distinctly special or new anime showing at this convention. Considering the sheer quantity it was still enjkoyable, but it would have been nice to see something I had never heard of at this convention.
A great place to be this year was the Artists Alley. There were a huge number of artists from all over. This isn't really much surprise since this room is always full, however one thing to really note is the web comic artists. If you're not careful you can end up talking wtih them for hours, they always have some great stories to talk about and are great people to know in general. Opposite the Artists Alley was the dealers room. This place was packed. This year seemed to be missing the major anime distributors it had last year. This didn't mean you couldn't find what you wanted, it was quite the contrary in fact, however if you wanted to see many of the major anime companies there, you were going to be dissappointed.
The biggest key to this con is bringing friends, and not being afraid to make new ones while your there. Having a group you know with you really makes the experience that much better. All in all we had an absolute blast at the convention once again spending more money then we had planned on; Otakon merchandise, rare DVDs and most of all food. Was it worth it, damn straight but only because of old and new friends alike.
Otakon 2008
