Neko -Con 12
Neko-Con’s slogan is the Good, the Bad and the Neko. Provides a great layout for my review but instead we’ll begin with the bad.
Since I arrived from out of state I arrived too late for pre registration when I asked the person behind the desk I was told that the line for pre registration will resume at 9:00 am Friday morning. That was not the case as the following morning after arriving in line at 8:45 the line for pre registration did not get serviced until 9:25 though the line for at the door registration had started at 9:00. When we finally received bags (not Neko-con bags but the bags that you get from a take out place that says thank you) with the guide book and three flyer cards we realize something is missing….. a schedule!! When I went to the desk to ask about the schedule no one gave me the same answer twice “oh there’s no schedules this year”, “oh there will be a bulletin board with times” and blah blah. About an hour later a schedule does come out but the times are rendered moot when you arrive at your destination to see a new time posted on the door -_-. Despite the time changes the events and panels didn’t start on time except the Cosplay (masquerade) and the rules for the concerts were not enforced across the board. The concert goers for Suicide Ali’s first concert were screwed out of pictures because of unclear communications (arrgh!). And that’s the bad in a nutshell better communication and organization next time.
Now for the Good that overweighs the bad. The hotel that hosted Neko-Con was wonderful , its one of the few Cons that have suites , it’s good to walk into a suite that has a fridge and microwave instead of just a plain room with two beds. The hotel had a beautiful setup with a skylight, open floor eating area and glass elevators so you can see everything. Not only did the hotel have nice rooms and aesthetics but free breakfast in the morning! Not a few plates of bagels and Danishes breakfast but a full blown breakfast buffet and a special order section where a cook can make you an omelet among many things. The hotel was connected to the convention center via on outdoor walkway so travel to and from was not a problem. The main events room seemed rather small but fit a good amount of people for each main event including concerts. The dealer’s room was large and pretty full of vendors that ran the gamut from anime, video games , clothing, rave gear (such as wigs and glow sticks) and food!! Such as Pocky, gummies and Ramune (Japanese soda) I was particularly happy about the food because all cons cannot sell food in their dealers room so this was a nice surprise. The artist alley was not as big but was filled with vendors selling high quality wares such as posters, bookmarks, badges, t shirts , jewelry etc.
As for events Cosplay was of the feature events of the Con. The skits where very creative and for some reason very musical as most of the skits consisted of singing and dancing . There was a few very unique ones such as the Final fantasy one man skit “the other side”.
This year Neko-Con had three concerts Two Suicide Ali concerts and one Echostream concert. Each concert was followed by an autograph session. The Suicide Ali concerts one on Friday and one on Saturday was an experience to be had. The concert setup had seats in the back for those who wanted to sit and space up front near the stage but as the show continued Goshi (the vocalist) did a lot of furi so everyone sitting or standing could participate. The performance was a lot more energetic than I expected , Goshi and the other members danced jumped around and kept the crowd going until the end. Hiroshi Mc’ed alittle bit using engrish and humor to make the crowd laugh. At the end each member threw signed balls (?) and picks into the crowd. The second concert the following night was as high energy as the first and Hiroshi MC’ed again. This time at the end Suicide Ali’s newest member Kozi was like Santa throwing more balls and handfuls of picks into the crowd. I’m sure after these two concerts and autograph Suicide Ali gained new fans. The Echostream concert was in the early morning of the last day of the con so the crowd was a bit smaller but definitely fans as many of the audience were signing along. One lucky fan who bought something from Echostream’s booth in the dealers room and entered a raffle with a song request won a free shirt and the band played the requested song for them. Though shorter, Echostream’s concert had a just as much energy as enjoyable as the headlining band.
The last part of Neko- Con’s phrase was the “Neko” granted there was a lot of con goers dressed as cats with ears and tails but I believe that all con goers were considered Neko, from the staff to the attendees. The best part of the con was how everyone (for the most part) was kind and friendly to everyone. At any given moment a fellow con- goer or staff may come up to you and start a friendly conversation or give a compliment. It was like being in a really big party or club in which everyone who had a badge saw you with one you automatically became an open target to go talk to or hang out with (sounds corny but its true). This even extended to some of the Guests who stopped to talk to fans or hung out amongst fans in the elevator or in the hotel lobby and lounge. I wish I could say all cons are this way but their not, so to come across one with this aspect was very welcome surprise. I was very sad to leave Neko- Con and Virginia when the con ended (actually I had to leave before the con ended to catch my flight home). Overall my first time at Neko-Con was a great one I’ll remember for a long time.
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