Zenkaikon 2013 Experience

Zenkaikon 2013

Experience By Panel…

Cosplay Smarter

Pretty good panel experience.  Had a decently sized room for the panel, but I could have dealt with smaller (probably the biggest room I’ve had to date).  It was the first panel of the entire con, which was ‘exciting’ to experience >.>  Like usual, room for improvements & I definitely want to buttress some of the sections a lot more, but at least I didn’t go over time, so there’s that.  The audience was pretty chill & patient, made some good friends, & got some good advice (& suggestions on how I can improve the panel).  Overall, good experience.

Obscure J-RPGs You should play

This was the panel I was looking forward to present the most!  Had fun presenting it, pretty sure the audience enjoyed it, & I loved making it.  My only real gripe is I wished I was allotted an hour & a half or 2 hours for this panel, because doing something like this with only an hour & 15 minutes is hardly enough time to present this (I could have talked about any of the games I mentioned for about an hour & 15 minutes let alone that’s what I have to work with, period ~.~).

Had a slight tiff with Persona 4 because I failed to pay attention to the fact that the release of the new anime has knocked P4 up to super stardom (which the audience was quick to let me know).  To elaborate, when I played this game it was way before there were any talks about making an anime let alone ppl. knowing about it & it was probably buried treasure status at best.  So, of course the inner hipster in me (that everyone has whether you want to admit to it or not) was pretty much like, “I played this game before it was popular; therefore, technically still obscure. Just a matter of perspective -_-,” which was dumb ‘cause, in either case, I was running super low on time by the time I hit that point in the presentation, so there was no point in arguing anything at that juncture.  Either way, it’s staying on the presentation, I’ll just move it to my “honorable mentions” section >.>

Like eluded to already, I had major timing issues (but still managed to make it to the end, like a fashionably late boss <.<), namely due to not having nearly enough time as I needed for this panel.  Just to make sure I didn’t derp on my end, I checked my copy of the panel submission form but there’s no section for listing how much time you need, just what days are good for you & what time of the day (morning, afternoon, evening, etc.).  So, shame on Zenkaikon for that snafu, I’ll just make sure whatever con I submit this to allows me an hour & a half or more.  Of course, pacing needs to be worked on, but I honestly made this panel for a 2-hour slot vs. the measly hour & 15 I got.  Timing issues aside, loved doing this panel (all night long ~.~)

General Experience – Zenkaikon 2013…

Overall, I had a great time while here!  The panel selection was slightly lacking, but still a good programming track.  It was a nice sized con center (for a smaller con) & a pretty nice hotel (Marriott) & parking was only $5/day (if you had the voucher), which is the lowest I’ve ever paid for parking >.<  The area was relatively nice too.  There was a Subway nearby which pretty much reminded me of Otakon in that I ate there every day, so that happened…  Anyway, it was relatively easy to access all of the panel rooms & everything was pretty much close enough that it made it easy to navigate the con center in general, so the new center is a definite win.  This was my first time attending this con so I don’t know what the old con center was like, but I haven’t heard all that many good things, however, this con center was definitely pretty snazzy.  My only real gripes are that the Dealer’s Room was kinda lacking (no videogame vendors X/) but the Artist Alley was really nice, & I personally felt there were too many cosplay panels for a con with not that many programming slots (with me as no exception).  I mean, if you don’t really have that much space for a lot of panels, I feel you definitely shouldn’t devote too much space to several panels about the same topic.  It’s not really fair to other panelists who could have brought variety to the venue & the con attendees who don’t want to be deluged with cosplay advice panels.  Also, it would be great if they brought back Cosplay Chess for next year, but one can only hope…

Driving up to the con was interesting because my GPS decided that it was the perfect time to show me what Amish country looked like (since the con’s in Lancaster, PA, which is pretty much dead-set in Amish…living areas[?]), which was a heckuva drive with the rolling hills, carriages, horse crap all along the road, & greatly shifting elevation.  Made for an interesting drive, to say the least.

Cosplay wise I was Katherine McBride from Catherine & Cliff Fittir from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.  Although the last minute wig stylin’ worked out okay for Cliff, Katherine’s wig was blonde when it should have been brunette…so that was fun to deal with ~.~  Ultimately, the Katherine cosplay held together really well & it was fun wearing a corset for the first time, but for future cosplays of her I need a new wig X/  Cliff was a nightmare when it came to using the lavatory due to the freakin’ chaps (which were fun to make, not fun to wear), & I forgot to put on his accessories (neck tattoo & earrings) for a majority of the con before I realized it.  I definitely plan to do his cosplay again, for Cosplay Chess purposes, but I need to fix a few things for his costume but Katherine was pretty much a catwalk.  Unfortunately, I missed Droo’s photography shoot for all 3 days so my cosplays went un-photoed, but I’ll just wear at some other con so I can get pictures of them.

Overall, it was a pretty snazzy con experience & I definitely plan to go again some time in the future.  Personally, I also wanted to try presenting panels at Tekkoshocon next year, but it’s pretty much 2 weeks right after Zenkaikon so I’ll possibly slip out on Zenkai for Tekkosho next year, but I’m not sure yet.  Heck, I may just do both depending on where I am in finances & living facilities >.>