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Ikasucon 2005
As we arrived to Ikasucon the first thing we noticed was a line of
people that wound almost the entire way around the convention center,
our initial reaction was “oh shit, the attendance here is going to be
nuts" and "can they fit that many people.” However, unluckily the long
line was only due to technical difficulties with the registration
computers. That was the first omen.
The second omen came when attempting to retrieve badges for
press, unfortunately the technical difficulties had not stopped at the
registration lines. While the staff was mostly accommodating having to
wait six hours for our badges and being bounced all around the
convention was rather annoying. However, once we actually got our badges
things went smoothly for the most part.
Overall con-ops seemed to have many problems, while the
people were very nice and very apologetic it seemed that things were for
the most part disorganized and done haphazardly. As well, if there is
one part of a convention that should NEVER close no matter what the
reason, it is your base of operations. At all times during a convention
there should be a single place open to the staff and public where people
can go in case of an emergency instead of having to hunt down the
straggling remains of con staff.
While bouncing around the convention Friday I noticed one
very intelligent thing, the Dance Dance revolution room had been located
in the fitness center of the hotel, which meant insanely good
ventilation. Not once during the con, even during the tournament, which
started ridiculously late Saturday night, did that room smell like
fanboy. It was rather nice of the staff to use step mania however and
even nicer of them to allow someone (*cough us) to bring in and install
the In the Groove and In the Groove 2 songs and step files. The only
real gripes I have about that was the use of soft pads and ridiculously
over duct taped pads… please, those of you who run game rooms, get steel
pads at the very least. Red Octane has the new after-burner pads, very
affordable and very very good quality. A convention that is going to run
DDR/ITG should be able to handle that at least.
Unfortunately for those of us who still have noses, the
other game room, one dedicated to current and fighting games reeked of
fanboy funk. However they did have a nice selection of games, it would
have been nice to see another copy here and there of some games, seeing
as all weekend long the Naruto games had a line at least three people
long, but aside from that, I have no real complaints.
A huge up for this convention was the masquerade, not
necessarily the skits or performances in it, even ours “The kitty girl
dating game” could have used a bit more practice and execution but the
way it was run was very very smooth and coordinated. The masquerade
green room was entertaining and kept things in order so they ran
quickly. They even took donations and grabbed a pizza… though
personally; I think they should have just taken orders, because more
then a couple donators felt a bit ripped. The show it self ran on time
and as I mentioned before very smoothly and the constant train of
walk-ons then performances which was well communicated by staff kept
things easy and fast.
One large gripe I have about this con in addition to
con-ops being shut down during the night, was the fact that not only was
it con-ops, but every thing else as well. At one am, in a sold out
hotel, there were a total of perhaps eight people at the con. That was
just sad. I realize there were room parties and what not going on, but
by that time everything had been shut down. Even the game rooms and rpg
room which at most takes one single staff member to watch were closed.
There were more then enough staff members and security members walking
around who could have and probably would have rather sat in that room
and watched.
Over all Ikasucon was definately another big hang out con,
it seems to be the trend with Ohio conventions. It was mostly made up of
meeting people, getting to know staff, catching up with old friends and
what not. It was fun in the way that was slow and less eventful. It was
a trip worth making for that sake alone.
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