NYCC was crazy! Javits seems to be a fairly large convention center, but everywhere you turned there was something else shoved into this corner or crammed over there. So much to do and see!
Let me tell you about the adventures of Han and NYCC. I attended only on Friday and Sunday. It was a rough weekend: my LSAT was on Saturday. (cross your fingers for me >o<) So in between con-madness, I took a five hour test that will determine the course of my future. YUP SOUNDS LIKE PAR FOR THE COURSE.
Anyway! On Friday, I arrived early to pick up my con badge. I got an idea of the layout and to catch up with some friends who were selling on the floor. Overall, the con was kind of a bumblemess. I am not sure if the construction had anything to do with it, but it was super confusing to get around with the various steps and ways to get from Point A to Point B, and security would flip out whenever I tried to go through certain entrances since I had a Press badge. That was just weird. 😐
The NYCC stuff was huge, and took up a majority of the center. By extention, NYAF was kind of shuffled off to the side, shunted across the con as far from the Comic stuff as possible. Which kind of makes sense…I doubt the comic people wanted to be around the super desu crowd. But the dealer’s room had only two rows of anime related booths: all of which were at the OPPOSITE side of the building from the NYAF set up! That was just strange. I think it would have been stronger to have let the NYAF room have its own dealer’s room within itself. Actually, speaking of the NYAF room…I realize that Maid Cafe is kind of a “thing,” but having it actually IN the AA room made being there really aggravating. I do not like Maid Cafe, and it was loud, obnoxious and inescapable throughout the whole room. Very bad news bears. I hope they change that for next year. However, I do have to give both organizations props for combining the two. That was a tough feat to accomplish, and attendees did not kill one another. Impressive. 😉
Near the end of the day Friday, I heard rumors that Saturday sold out. Kind of glad I wasn’t there, since I heard you would be lucky if you could breathe.
On Sunday, I made it in kind of late in the day. Got dropped off, ran right into the AA room to find people I was looking for on Friday. It was SUPER crowded on Sunday though, so it was a little tough to get around. Met up with some of my friends, and finally found my buddy Iggy who gallivanted with me for a little while.
There were some people I wanted to meet and find, but it was really tough to get around. The maps and artist lists were misleading and confusing. For instance, say you would be standing at the (south) end of a row, looking at a map. You would be looking North, UP the aisle. The map would be oriented upside down, so you would think you were looking at a particular booth, but that booth was really behind you. Many of the booth numbers were either wrong or changed at the last minute. It was really hard to figure out.
I ended up not making any purchases at this con. The only thing I even remotely wanted was an onigiri pillow that looked like a panda, and I simply couldn’t justify it.
On the one hand, this was a poor con for swag. However, on the other hand, it was a GREAT con for media, pop culture and a look forward at things that are to be released over the next year. Definitely an awesome taste of what is to come. However, it would be more beneficial for the con to be a little more organized in terms of getting people around, directing the traffic flow and having a decent place to sit down. Making a list and a schedule of events you want to attend or people you want to meet would be incredibly beneficial for this con in the future. Be prepared for a wild ride, but it is totally worth it.
~H
Girls With Comics 