Katsucon 16

[ClosetOtaku]

Katsucon 16 is being held in the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center at National Harbor in Maryland through Sunday.

The change of venue is long overdue and greatly appreciated. For some time, Katsucon (and its twin sister Anime USA) have bounced around the DC/Northern Virginia area, finally ending up in the dreadful Hyatt Regency Crystal City. Moving to the National Harbor promises to improve attendee flow, convenience, and quality of environment.

Now to the bad news: the conference was woefully organized (again). The entire point of pre-registration is to get people into the conference more quickly, but if you show up without registration, you stand a much better chance of getting your badge long before the pre-registrants do. Fortunately, line discipline at the Gaylord is much more easily managed than at the Hyatt, and at least you don't have dozens of people cutting in front of you while you wait your turn.

The importance of sticking to a schedule also seems to elude the staff, so many events did not start on time (or even close to on time). Despite the age of Twitter, ubiquotous cell phones, and high speed data lines, most staff were in the dark as to why masses of people were waiting in long lines well past when events should have begun. "We're checking that out," became the mantra of the day.

Technical problems almost torpedoed the second AMV contest showing which, after a lengthy delay in starting, had technicians wondering why they couldn't project both channels of the stereo sound system. So they boosted the bass -- fine if you are dancing, but when you are trying to listen to lyrics and watch the AMV, you are lost. Many people walked out after only one or two numbers. We stuck it out and were rewarded - if you can call it that - with another delay that finally fixed the system halfway through the event.

The Dealer's Room was well-stocked; Artist's Alley less so, but a few vendors had some really nice works for sale. I was able to find a couple first-run series that have been out of print and circulation for a while.

Not quite as many panels or first-run videos as have been seen in the past; I suspect there is some crackdown on fansubs being shown; of course, there aren't nearly as many titles coming out.

Soon to be added to the Do Not Discuss List: Mnemosyne (Rin). In the "Don't bother, it's only fanservice held together by a flimsy theme" category: Strike Witches. Promising: Soul Eater.

Cosplay -- which Katsucon is famous for -- was not lacking, and it is good to see people still enjoy getting dressed up (and how some are sticklers for technical detail).

Overall, if Katsucon can tighten up its act as far as organization, the Gaylord is an ideal location for a convention (perhaps Anime USA can follow suit). Here's looking forward to Katsu 17!

[Blitzkrieg1701]

Well, you need to remember that the location wasn't the only new thing this year, over HALF the staff at Katsucon was new as well. With that in mind, it's impressive that they manages to pull the con off AT ALL.

But yeah, Katsucon was pretty disorganized this year. I had several panels moved around on me, and some of the lines weren't handled as well as they should have been (the Lolita Fashion Show's line was something of a disaster), and the schedule itself wasn't very clear ("does that say 7:00 or 7:30?") but overall, I had a very good time. It MIGHT have something to do with the fact that I usually do stuff that requires little staff involvement (like cosplay photoshoots) but the overall impression I got was good despite the chaos.

While I hope Katsucon is able to stay at the Gaylord for a good long while (and word is they've got a three year deal with the location), I DO hope more fast food locations open up nearby before next year. The restaurants in the convention center itself were WAY too expensive for this impoverished con-goer, and there weren't many other options in walking distance. I ended up eating out of the mini-fridge all weekend

(PS, for more thoughts, check out my webcomic below )