[Cons]/Ohayocon 13

Logo and Artwork ©Ohayocon LLC

This past weekend the Kitsuneverse crew found itself in Columbus, OH for Ohayocon 13. Held in the Greater Columbus Convention Center and attracting probably over 10,000 attendees, it's easily the largest winter convention east of the Mississippi and rightfully so. Not only is the space massive with plenty of room to expand but they have some great hotels they partner with in the Drury and Hyatt (both of which we didn't stay at, but wanted to). So we were banished to the land of OSU, but even with that we managed to make a go of things and have a great time. While usually crowded, this year that was impacted with the fact that on the opposite end of the convention center was the America's Got Talent auditions. Some of the contrast that happened between event goers was extremely bizarre and equally hilarious to see. (At least we were amused as hell by it.)

Recomendation: Go. You'll find over the course of the three days that Ohayocon offers, AMV competitions, panels galore, a rave with great DJ's, cosplay competitions and top tier voice actors and musicians from some of the most loved anime around.

*Disclaimer: We did have press credentials for this event that we did not have to pay for. The following is my observations and comments on what we all saw and experienced regardless of that fact.


Due to a lot of reasons we didn't arrive until about 7pm on Friday night via cab, but even then staff was great in getting us our credentials and we were able to hit the halls and the bar in the Hyatt to check things out. (A great place to check out cosplay and have some food and drink btw) Friday night is always interesting and something that we didn't really get to experience last year, so we were quite happy about that. It was pretty obvious right off the bat that this year was definitely crazier and the sheer amount of great cosplay was only the first sign of that, the line at registration was a clear indication as well.

Across the street from the convention center on Sat.

While last year their attendance took a bit of a hit, this year seemed to rebound in a big way. A big sign of this, as mentioned above, the registration was long and stayed that way into the late hours of Friday night and throughout most of Saturday as well. Personally, I'm not sure how long the actual wait was, we didn't have to wait in it, but it seemed to be at least an hour or so. That's not a knock on registration by any means, they have a great system in place and can really chew through people in a quick manner, it's just a testament to the fact so many people were there this year. However, Ohayocon is one of those weird conventions where you almost don't really need a badge. Several people do actually go without one as the halls, general meeting places, bar and food court area are pretty much open to the public. With that in mind, if you want to do a lot of things like attend panels, check out the dealer's room/artists alley or autograph sessions and the like...you're going to need one. So it's just easier to get one and be done with it, trust me on that one and it's worth the money (especially if bought in advance).

An actual food delivery in progress

Speaking of autograph sessions, one of the nicer touches at Ohayocon is that unlike standing in line forever like some other cons out there. Usually you get to sit down and only have to stand in line after you row is called up. This is not only great for those of us on the move all day, but also really considerate for those who may be in some pretty interesting footwear required by cosplay out there. Again, not a major thing but it is something that you notice in a big way despite it being small on the surface of things. That and when you consider the draw that some of the guests that they pull in, it's really quite nice as you could be waiting for a while, especially on Saturday when things really pick up.

One of the other things that we noticed, compared to last year, was that in a few key locations there were information booths set up that were handing out schedules and other info. This was great to see as last year there didn't seem to be as many of these. If there were seen, they were in places that were a bit out of the way and not as prominent as this year's locations. This year they were also projecting the schedule up on a nearby wall for everyone to see as well, definitely a nice touch and helpful in a lot of ways. The biggest one being that there was no online schedule that you could view on your phone or anything. Why? I'm not sure how it happened but the schedule was posted up as an Excel spreadsheet and that's not exactly a really great way to go about it if you ask me at all...next year they should just make it a PDF or GoogleDoc to save the headache for many trying to open the thing.
 

During our travels on Friday night and Saturday afternoon we noticed that the lines for panels were organized quite a bit better this year from last year too. Either that, or we just hadn't noticed it the year before at all...which is possible. Basically, for this year, they had a set up of areas that were marked with blue duct tape on the floors that were across the halls, or at least a good bit from the doors, to allow for the panel rooms to empty out quickly and keep the new crowd at a distance before letting them in. This was a great idea and I'm glad to see it there as many panels were really full and sped up things like badge checks for a few of them and resetting things for the next group in. While we didn't really attend any panels this year, like we almost never do for various reasons, it was still a great thing to see on an organizational level.

All of these things added up to seeing an improvement over our exposure to the con from last year and along with the watering stations, that are set up in various places by the hotel, and general helpfulness of event staff really did leave an impression on myself and the rest of the crew. The only thing they could do to make things a bit easier is provide some kind of map to everyone that's a little easier to read. While we do know our way around a bit, it can be a bit daunting to figure out the labyrinth like atmosphere that covers four floors of spaces in a fairly large area. Sure, it doesn't take long to get your bearings but it can be a bit confusing to new comers as how everything connects can be really strange and disorienting at times.

A look down at the dealer room from Artist Alley

Though we were on a tight schedule, we did manage to make it into the dealer's room and artist alley, but not until Saturday afternoon. This year they were really packed to the rafters and depending on what you were after, some great deals to be had. One of the great things to see is that some vendors in the dealer's area were offering up daily sales and that's always a good thing to see. Too many cons have vendors that are way overpriced and just not worth anyone's time. You can find pretty much anything within the confines here whether it's figures, wigs, t-shirts, anime dvd's or nearly anything else you can think of....it's here. Personally, I still think they could use a larger space as it gets a bit cramped and congested, but that's almost any dealers room these days. That and I'm not quite how they'd pull that off to be 100% honest. Either way, I highly recommend dealing with the crowds and checking it out as there is a lot of great stuff to be found.

Another great thing is that the artist alley overlooks the dealer room from the second floor and really makes the place comfortable to be in. Not only that, but having it be two stories is a really cool touch and in one of the open spots from above, provides for some awesome people watching down below as they go about doing their shopping.

A look down from the 2nd Floor Balcony

Right outside of the dealers room and artist alley spaces are a couple great balconies for looking down on folks as well. One can easily spend quite a bit of time just watching everyone moving about from the larger halls in the convention center to the smaller ones and many do. While sometimes this leads to a few bottle necks, the three story open space here is really great and usually the site of many great photo ops for larger cosplay groups and other such spectacles. It really is one of the better con spaces that you can experience out there and we spent a ton of time talking with people and taking pictures on every level of it. At some point you'll find everyone passing through here for some reason or another during the day and the larger area makes for easier opportunities to grab someone for a photo real quick as well.

It also provides a bit of a nice break from a couple of the more cramped areas that lead from the main stairway and food court, which I'm sure everyone appreciates as well. We kept talking about how you could feel the cooler air and then the heat as you moved between them at various points too. At some points the difference was pretty striking, despite the windy cold that was outside.

A look down from the bar seating area

Speaking of food, we managed to grab a quick bite to eat in the food court on Saturday and kept it simple. This is probably the best option and by far the most popular one. A fair warning: The place is packed and be prepared to wait in line for a little, but generally things were good and priced decently, if a little high. Food quality wasn't bad, but I wouldn't risk something exotic and just stick to regular fare.

If you're in the mood for something a bit more upscale (and obviously a bit more pricey), the bar in the Hyatt that I mentioned earlier, is another really great spot to grab a bite to eat and maybe a drink as well (or so we're told by many). We did spend a lot of time around here on Friday night, as would be the case with us and not much of a surprise at all. The seating area is a bit limited and the bar itself is easily overcrowded, it does extend quite a bit away from the bar area and around the atrium balcony for a fairly relaxing atmosphere overall. Again, this allows for some great people watching on the escalators coming down from the third floor as well as looking down into the hotel registration lobby. Usually there is some kind of insane antics going on somewhere that's amusing or at the very least head scratching enough to make one take some kind of notice.

Just a quick thing to point out here as well, you can see all kinds of strange happening outside of the convention center as well. There are plenty of to step outside for a quick bit of fresh air or for a cigarette. A couple of them even had people who brought hookah's along and were sharing as well, which was definitely a nice little touch. Of course it was windy as all hell, but a few of the spaces do offer up protection from the wind and are great places for a bit of conversation that isn't always able to be had on the con floor with cosplayers, staff and everyone else.

Chobits love is always welcome!

Speaking of cosplayers, while I've already posted up some of the cosplay pics that we were able to grab in another post, I really have to say that this year was impressive. There was a ton of great stuff around nearly every bend and we did get to see a lot of things that were just out of left field and not expected at all. So that was definitely a great thing for us, especially some of the older series getting some love. It seemed almost as if there was a bit of a retro revival going on and definitely brought a smile to our faces seeing some of it back again.

That said, there's always the dominant forces at work in the cosplay universe and this year there was definitely a large showing by the Brony, Homestuck and Vocaloid cosplayers. Some of the Vocaloid stuff was great really well done, wish I would've gotten some more pics of them while they were out and about, and the Brony popultion while noticeably down from last year was fairly well represented. There was a point said that the Homestuck crowd was absurdly overbearing though and it was hard to ignore seeing it nearly every 10ft. Even Peachy, our resident Homestucker (is that even a word?) had to agree with the fact that there was too much of it.

A little Spidey photobomb fun

One thing that we didn't get a chance to see or report on first hand, was the cosplay masquerade. This was partly due to the fact that we had to leave just before it began to get home but also the fact that it's 4 hours long. Why? Well, they mix the cosplay and skit competitions together. Normally this isn't such a bad idea, but it's really just too drawn out here. Taking up a 4+ hour time slot on Saturday night is kind of crazy and really one of the only criticisms that we had of the event as a whole. This should be split up with maybe one of them on Friday night or perhaps a break between them on Saturday. Most other conventions split things up a bit and personally, I think that it's for the better when it is.

The only other grip that we had personally was regarding guests, they really should have some kind of press room set up. The fact that we're basically left to stalking, but can't approach a guest before or after a panel or autograph session makes life a bit hard (if not nearly impossible). So while we had wanted to talk to several guests, we passed on the opportunity due to the fact that we didn't want to come across as stalkers and were limited in such a way. Hopefully this is something that gets fixed in the future so that we can bring you that kind of coverage as well!

While our experience was a bit limited this year due to some scheduling issues and the like so we were only there for about 24 hours or so. Which, just like last year, was worth every moment. There is so much to see and do that even in that short amount of time you can have a blast. Most of this is due to the fact that events are scheduled until very late at night and really makes it a nearly 24/7 event in a few ways, there's only a few hours where nothing is planned at all. On that note though, there could be a bit more planned on Sunday's as the pickings are a bit slim but that's just a minor gripe and a personal one for the most part.

So, you've made it this far and may still wonder if it's worth going. Well, I think I've made the case for the fact that it definitely is. Any problems that we ran into were pretty minor and not really event related at all (or specific to our purposes). This con has learned from the previous twelve years, continues to do so and is definitely worth making the trip out for. Sure, there's a few things that can be improved on, but hopefully that will come with time.

However, if you do plan on going, here are a few things to consider:

• Parking: There is usually a decent amount of parking, but all of it is paid parking (about $5-$8 for all the lots). Secondary lots are pretty close by. Though, if you're not staying at the hotels and want a spot, I'd highly recommend getting there early before everything fills up as it can be prone to do.
• Hotels: They fill up fast, so if you're thinking of going at all, make the reservation early. A couple do charge deposits as well, so keep an eye out.
• Food: Can be gotten at the food court really easily and there are some great things to eat there, but as with any food court prices can be high and quality not great. Stick to the basics here and you'll probably be better off.
• Cabs: Watch out for shady cab drivers. We heard a few reports regarding one company that was going out of it's way to get higher fares from congoers stuck at hotels farther away.

We're hoping that next year we'll be able to attend for the full amount of time and are planning for a Thursday-Sunday trip so that we can fully experience everything in a much more comprehensive and relaxed way.