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Convention Report for Anime
Central
written
by The-Real-Link (Doug)
If there’s one thing to say about Anime Central (ACEN), it’s that they’ve really grown and catered to a multitude of events over the past years I’ve attended this great convention. For me and many Michigan friends, it has become a May staple – easily the largest convention in the US mid-west and is hosted time and again with Rosemont’s wonderful Hyatt Regency O’Hare hotel and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
This special year marked the 10th anniversary for Anime Central, and as such, I presumed it would be nothing but good times and that I’d probably see some special events happening during an extended stay from Thursday afternoon to Monday afternoon this year.
Sharing a carpool down and back, not to mention jumping between two different groups of friends in two rooms made the stay interesting but one that I believe, worked out well in the end with respect for all parties and I’m glad that if differences arose, they waited until after con to be discussed. Packed up with several Michigan friends and new acquaintances and left the Detroit area around 6am Thursday morning to arrive in Chicago around Noon.
Part of the reason I had wanted to arrive so early was to not only ease into the convention outing, but also to behold and study the amazing new architecture that the hotel had undergone since Consplayers had attended the previous year. Gone is the “Warp Core” fountain and columned pool area above – replaced with more mahogany-paneled meeting rooms and a nice central stone staircase. The check-in lobby originally on the ground floor is now moved to Lobby Level 2, and the general tropical theme and stonework of the Hyatt’s original décor has been completely removed and replaced with far more ritzy, elegant, and professional business furnishings. Nothing but nice granite, limestone, various panels of wood, and floor-to-ceiling glass and stainless steel doors (as well as a slight peek into the newest stainless steel and glass elevators soon to be installed) made for a very fresh, not to mention confusing, experience (not to mention a first time con-goer’s confusion as well). Another major achievement was the complete replacement of the main facades of the lobby with beautiful stone and some of the largest revolving doors I’ve ever seen! The central lobby now has renovated escalators and fogged-glass stairs to both the second floor and lower levels of the hotel as well. Undoubtedly, Consplayers must be very surprised at the changes, as I was! I do feel however, that with the completing of the renovation (please, please bring a pool back for starters), the hotel has very successfully given itself a fresh and professional look, while being even more open to large cosplay groups and having more open spaces. Any wall created a beautiful backdrop for photos, and I felt no qualms whatsoever about the lack of quality of the interior architecturally when taking photos.
Now that my architectural assessment is finished, I’m sure you’re wondering about the convention! After spending the time with friends downtown Thursday night, I went refreshed into the foray Friday to the same enjoyment of music, screams of joy, and amazing costumes that have become an ACEN staple – from both the secluded vantage points of the balconies above and obviously, the insanity of a 12,000+ (estimate) person convention head on! The Spoony Bards were relocated this year to the main level near the smaller ballroom in the lobby and that was nice in it gave them a lot of space to play, the music could still echo for atmosphere, and there was no interruption of events nearby.
To gauge this ACEN on the merits of its events is not something I feel I can fully gauge as I had only attended a portion of the Charity Ball and the entirety of the Masquerade during the weekend as I had been more focused on photos of cosplayers and some groups. What I came across though – with a dash of patience mind you, was inviting, helpful, and relatively well managed for as large of an audience both events garnered. The Charity Ball appeared well-run, coupled with the fact that it was a more limited event in attendance and hosted at the Embassy Suites (a nearby hotel). Though I was unable to attend for the duration of the event, it felt very organized, professional, and dare I say, nostalgic of a prom or wedding event. All attendees, whether in costume or not, were well dressed.
The Masquerade (being only my second to fully photograph) was again, the pinnacle of cosplaying-oriented events at Anime Central this year. With a mixture of familiar names helping with skit transitions (Stripper Vash and Heavy Arms Dan for example), combined with many, many new performers and skits, there were very few concerns left to be voiced over despite the abundance of Final Fantasy / Kingdom Hearts skits. Though the Press Pit was very crowded, there was easily enough room for all members, albeit the viewing angle was more extreme and we faced the walk-off section of the stage, preventing many head-on photographic opportunities unless the cosplayers turned toward our direction. I’ll simply reside in the good fact I decided to bring my telephoto lens along, for I certainly needed it!
A moment of additional note I believe is warranted to congratulate and thank the fellow photography group of Deathcom Multimedia for their profound assistance and aid to me during the Masquerade when for an unknown reason, my camera failed. I had sequentially eliminated a large handful of errors without success prior to the starting of the event and yet, could not determine the cause of my problems. Tim, Mike, Samantha, and everyone else at DCM helped greatly in lending me a camera while mine underwent sensor cleaning – only to temporarily work then fail again – during the starting of the skit presentations. Another 10 minutes and a second cleaning later jump started everything and I returned to using functional gear aside with the passing of a few skits for which I do apologize. To end on this note, rather than the common practice of one-upsmanship if you will, speaks volumes about the character of fellow photographers who helped me out, and the general courtesy and friendliness of con-goers in general and is very much so a part of why I like the community so much. The camera worked great that evening and all of Sunday, only to fail fully that Monday (ie. after con) due to mechanical failures of the shutters so things worked out as well as could have on that end.
Sunday revolved around packing, tetris-sizing the van with our luggage (again), and hitting the dealer’s room to an overwhelming array of merchandise that ACEN is known for. Found the cars in the car show to be very neat, including the boldly-styled blue Soulcrash ACEN Supra, and also saw the classic Initial D AE86. Relaxed and generally walked around doing nothing Sunday evening, and left by Monday afternoon to what I must say, was a fun time overall.
On the final note of this fairly lengthy report, I once again thank those who made my time and experience wonderful including Vic Walter, the Press Coordinator of Anime Central; and thank him for the opportunity to experience my first ACEN in this capacity. Likewise, Michigan friends who made this trip fun and enjoyable – Thank You!
That does not mean ACEN’s 10th extravaganza was without flaws. Severe registration problems made a good portion of attendees (both pre-registered and those doing their registration at con itself) wait for many more hours than was absolutely necessary. I can understand circumstances beyond the immediate control but this MUST be fixed in the future if ACEN wishes to continue growing as I know a good number of friends that may not attend next year already on this fact alone. Secondly, from my understandings, the fire alarm that was pulled Friday morning was actually from one of the hotel’s delivery trucks having to drop off various supplies at the dock and in doing so, sheared off a sprinkler head. This changed the pressure and triggered the alarm system so thankfully, the convention itself did not have to worry about that issue in terms of an arrest or fine.
Thirdly, hopefully the Masquerade “issue” this year of starting at ~5pm (actual start time due to tech difficulties was 6pm which was not too bad) only happened due to the abundance of concerts that were simultaneously booked this year – a whopping 4. I have no problems with alternative entertainment mind you, but this rescheduling caused a great deal of headaches and concern prior to ACEN this year that I feel may be possible to avoid in the future. By convention time however, I heard little in the ways of complaints and believe ACEN did the best it could to accommodate all parties and timeslots.
In conclusion, as certainly anyone may tell from this report, ACEN was quite fun this year and very fresh in appearance. From the meet-and-greet, to tons of cosplay gatherings, to a special 10th anniversary badge and nicely printed guides, there was definitely in my eyes more to like this year than to worry over. I’m not saying all was perfect – even from the slightly skewed perspective as it may be from a member of Press – but I am certainly leaving in hopes with the belief that a year’s time will help ACEN to rectify the few issues it has left to overcome in creating an extraordinary experience for everyone who attends.
Overall “grade” = B
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