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Ohayocon 2006
Ohayocon had an interesting starting point on Thursday when our caravan
down to the convention was delayed by 3 hours. This put us driving out
of Detroit and Toledo during rush hour. What would have been only a 3-4
hour drive took us 5-6 hours. But other then a few mishaps in Columbus
we made it to the hotel safe and unpacked.
Later that night I
went down to the convention center and hung out with friends and some
staff. A friend of mine went on an adventure to get the free admission
he was promised for having won the DDR contest the previous year, and
despite some run around at the beginning was able to get what he
deserved with little hassle.
There was much enjoyment
over night on Thursday as a group of us ran around the convention center
taking photos of the skyline and other things. Breakfast was free at the
hotel we were at and was much appreciated. From there we got ready for
the registration line. Picked up my pass and then proceeded to pass out
until 6 PM.
So it’s 6:30 PM on
Friday and I rush down to get ready for the AMV contest showing in main
programming. Met up with friends and proceeded to watch a very good
contest. The Ohayocon AMV contest was judged by the fans in the audience
and I thought that way of judging worked out rather well actually. The
ballot was easy to read and work with, and everything was well marked.
The lack of writing utensils in our general area was a little annoying,
but nothing we couldn’t overcome. It was hard to choose my favorites in
each category since the bar was so high amongst the videos.
After the contest there was
a Steak and Shake run for food and it was enjoyable. We got lost on the
way but eventually found it. After our return we had a party with Dr.
Bearsex and there was much enjoyment with random anime openings. A
parody fansub I had done was also played which caused quite a few people
to wonder what I was on when it was made. We then had breakfast at the
hotel again.
It was now Saturday and
after freshening up in my hotel room I headed down to the convention
center to find where the Sailor Moon photo shoot was happening. The wild
goose chase of trying to find the right staffer with the information was
rather annoying. Information didn’t know, con ops didn’t know, and even
cosplay didn’t know. I wound up getting accurate information from a
random cosplayer roaming the halls who pointed me to the stairs.
Before the photo shoot
happened I took a stroll through the dealers room. It was large and
there was a great selection of dealers to choose from. I was
disappointed to find that there wasn’t a cel dealer or an art book
dealer. However some of the dealers had those items as well, just not in
the abundance that I was looking for in order to find the items I
desired.
The sailor moon photo shoot
was small, as there weren’t very many sailor moon cosplayers at the
convention, and only a few were brave enough to show up. I got some nice
pictures however. I then found the Tales of Symphonia photo shoot and at
the same time met up with some friends. Afterwards we took a rather
leisurely stroll through the dealer’s room and artist alley.
I wound up hanging out
with a bunch of different people throughout the day until the Naruto
photo shoot happened. I head stories of last year they were too large
that they were kicked out of the stairs. This year was no different.
They decided to hold it in the large area outside main programming.
Convention center staff was forcing the group to move many different
times until they found a place to take pictures. The gigantic group of
cosplayers did their thing and after about 20 minutes of pictures were
then kicked out of the area by convention staff for the concert and
cosplay setup.
Afterwards a group of
us ran over to our hotel room and played some Naruto 4 in preparation
for the Narutard State Tournament. I crashed for a few hours in a chair
while the Naruto panel happened. From what I found out staff had changed
times on them and didn’t notify. This angered the panelist and I heard
much about it.
I was woken up when
people barged into the room for the tournament. It was a close battle
and we all did our best. In the end Ohio beat Michigan. We then teamed
up for the official convention team tournament. My team was beat out but
another team from our groups wound up taking the prize.
After the tournament I
rushed over to main programming to catch the end of the masquerade. Then
the AMV award ceremony commenced. Each category had a winner and a
runner up. Many great AMVs won awards, and my video in the contest won
the Upbeat category. All category winners were given a nice plaque made
from glass with laser etching. They are very nice looking and a great
item to receive as a winner. The staff pick won the official ballot box
with all the ballots inside. It was decorated.
After the awards I
talked a bit with Vicbond007 and then there was karaoke. Imagine 30
Narutards on stage, myself included, singing a bunch of songs and just
jumping around on stage. That’s what we had.
After we embarrassed
ourselves we then tried to do another Steak and Shake run. But failed.
Miscommunications sent a few of us in different directions until we all
met up at one place. The massive order took a while to get corrected and
served. People’s vehicles were towed, car keys were misplaced, and in
the end things were just odd.
We made it back to the
convention center and then proceeded to create our own con. Stair con
was born. It basically consisted of a group of us just sitting on the
stairs and shooting the breeze. It was much fun and much hilarity
ensued.
After Stair con
dispersed we ate breakfast at the hotel. It was now Sunday. Much of
Sunday was a blur of rushing to pack and get stuff to cars by checkout
time. I got myself in line for a convention badge from Robert Dejesus. I
love the badge! Spoke quite a bit with ACEN people as well as the
Dejesus’ and enjoyed the last parts of the convention before leaving.
We all pilled into cars and
then went to Bob Evans for dinner. I wound up crashing during the dinner
and then afterwards we drove home. I don’t remember the drive, since I
curled up in the back seat and slept the whole way back.
All in all Ohayocon
was a blast and I will most definitely return again next year. Despite
some problems with staff not really knowing what was going on outside
their area, and being unable to point me in the correct direction to
find what I was looking for. I don’t expect all staff to know
everything, but at least they can know who to point you to in order to
find something out.
My first experience
with this convention was great and I can see why it continues to happen
every year. There is a big enough variety in events to satisfy attendees
and the people there make the times between events enjoyable. Great job.
(The
use of the word Narutard is not meant to be offensive. I am one myself
and those of us who participated in the events I dubbed with the name
all call each other by that term.)
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