Otakon 2007 Convention Report
by
The-Real-Link

          Having passed through the midpoint of summer conventions, I was prepared to have a blast as Otakon is traditionally one of my last conventions for the year.  Otakon 2008 as it turned out, would be somewhat similar to past years; save more hotel issues and fewer private photoshoots.

          Several friends and I all packed into a mini-van this year with an abnormal amount of luggage since we are all cosplayers / artists.  Despite the lack of people, the van was full and so we’d all be bearing a substantial amount of cost for gas for this ~10 hour trip.

          Leaving from Ben’s house around Noon, we picked up some luggage and Morgan around 1pm, and then were off on the road to Otakon.  Arriving Thursday night around Midnight (and having to check everyone into different hotels and find a place big enough to park a van), we didn’t get to sleep until past 4am.  In addition to some pre-con headaches, Ben was witness to a car wreck at an intersection barely half a block from us near one of the hotels.  Not much damage was done but he still had to speak with officers briefly and as far as I’m aware, things worked out fine in the end for that.

          This year I roomed again at the comfortable Baltimore Sheraton Inner Harbor (formerly Wyndham Inner Harbor) with some good friends from North Carolina – Jess (Jess_85 online) and her mom Martha.  Although the rooms were decent, several floors of renovation construction left the air being either very moist or dusty near the upper floors where we stayed.  To suffice for the price we paid, we had to deal with several room issues such as rooms not being ready on time, reservations being “lost” (to which Jess’ Mom was furious as she booked them a year in advance), and other minor gripes that were addressed upon checkout.  Obviously, the Sheraton was fully booked but if we should return to Otakon, I think three years in a row of relatively poor service is reason enough to go to a different hotel.
          For the con itself, it was my first time actively being a part of press and also signifies the One-Year anniversary of being with Consplayers Photography.  I went into the lobby of the BCC, submitted my press paperwork, and soon without any line hassles, was able to explore the BCC after the additional purchasing of a regular admission badge.  Mind you, it is the policy of Otakon’s own discression whether to offer compensated entrance and in this case, that was to be naught.  Press Members did get a slick presentation packet however which was quite nice, and the staff that helped man the tables there were friendly and easy to work with.

          Being my 4th Otakon, it was high time to know what to expect, where the great shoot locations were, and the times for everything happening – but whether it was the heat or lack of sleep, the masses of Otaku or concern of our hotel rooms being in limbo which held me from changing into costume, I just could not keep a very clear mind this con.  Despite the paying of a regular attendee, Press at Otakon was good in the fact that it does offer close-up seating for events and photography but a Press Pass in essence is held completely separate from an admitted badge.
Although I may have minor regrets having spent the entire convention shooting for Consplayers despite paying full admission price, there was little I could do during Friday except take photos and wait until the hotel was ready so that I could change.

          The day went on… Since the hotel was not ready yet I continued to stand around by the fountains, hang out with friends, and enjoy the company of so many awesome people.  Around 3pm I took a small stroll for lunch and to the wharves to visit Baltimore’s World Trade Center.  For a very short visit, it was quite fun getting to see the city and to an extent, the convention, from the 27th floor near the port.  By 5pm I could finally get into the correct hotel room and start changing into Link, but the Zelda shoot was long over and any Friday private shoots I had missed.  This was a tremendous letdown both for the people whom I wanted to work with outside of Consplayers as well as for missing one of the main reasons for me being at the con being the Zelda gathering itself.

          I ran into some friends and although I was let down, Friday night proved enjoyable.  After arriving back to the hotel around 1am.

          Saturday marked a fresh and beautiful day – I awoke around 11:30am and changed into costume before even venturing to the BCC for the day.  Got there around 2:30pm and got right back into the fun of taking photos while being swarmed for photos while wearing Link.  The day was typically hot as are most of the late summer days in Baltimore – I think around the upper 80s or low 90s instead of low 100s, but thankfully the cooler air of the BCC was blowing strong.  The chaos of cosplayers and photoshoots easily engaged me for the four hours until getting ready for the masquerade and so around 7pm, I was back in one of the main events halls for that event.

          The Otakon 2007 Masquerade was neat firstly (having only been the second time I had seen it) due to the fact that it was just so large.  Upon entering the darkness of the two merged events rooms, block after block of 30+ seats deep and 20-30 wide spanned the halls, and four large projector screens showcased the stage acts – two somewhat near the stage about 20 rows back and the other two much further back which created the presence in the dark of a hall that would never end.

          I quickly plopped down in front in the press pit and changed to the longer telephoto lens as the acts commenced to #2 or #3 – I was not early suffice to say but I had not missed much (though still my own fault). 

          The skits, through the upper 30s if I recall, and the numerous walk-ons this year afterwards I felt, were extremely entertaining despite their common and repetitive themes.  If you missed the Otakon 2007 Masquerade, you could summarize it up with three words:  300, Charlie, and Dancing!  (or is that Spartan-clad, dancing, unicorns?!)  Now I’m not saying that no effort was put into many of the skits – many of the similar themed ones as well as the unique ones of the bunch were Amazing.  In particular, a female Link crossplayer had a flute solo that made the speed and beauty of any ocarina pale in comparison, an exceptionally large Fruits Basket skit had huge movable panels and choreographed dancing by atleast 16 (it felt like that anyway) or more people, and a Phoenix Wright “Objection!” skit, the Ryu / Street Fighter skit, and the “10 Steps” skit were all excellently performed.  Sure, the 300 reference skits, the Charlie / Candy Mountain spoofs, and Every… Single… Skit… that had utterly random dancing went over well with the massive crowd and created tons of laughter and joy, but at the same time a few fewer of them would have made a more varied show.  If I didn’t name your skit, forgive me, but the conclusion of this was that I have no problem seeing most anything and everyone that performed did a great job!  Got back to the hotel around 4am and awoke groggily on Sunday by Noon to checkout.

          (Skits mentioned above can be viewed at):
          “10 Steps” - http://youtube.com/watch?v=rtpbv9RquHQ
          “Ryu Street Fighter Skit” - http://youtube.com/watch?v=EuReqzL6BRE
          “Phoenix Wright Skit” - http://youtube.com/watch?v=lSa1HsKHW70
          “Link Flute Player Skit” - http://youtube.com/watch?v=3ZU-crV3tX0
          “Candy Mountain Skit” - http://youtube.com/watch?v=B6BCiJq-Rqo
         
          By Sunday, the worries and chaos of that weekend were as enjoyably behind me as was this enjoyable convention.  Though the hotel could do little to alleviate the concerns of myself or my friends, we already decided to not return to that location for Otakon 2008.  I got to the BCC in time to photograph the Cosplay.com photoshoot (though yet again I fail to ever have the energy or time to actually participate in one by Sunday, haha), and after helping another friend with his private shoot, the con was finished for my friends and I.  After we helped them pack up their art tables and supplies by 6pm or so, we ventured the long roads back to Michigan and reminisced on our overall fun (and depending on the person, profitable), Otakon 2007

          Let’s see, hit the dealer’s room briefly but didn’t buy or see anything that took my fancy – still HUGE and insane.  Artist Alley looked plentifully filled and due to odd dealer’s hours, oftentimes looked even more busy than the dealer’s room itself.  Didn’t get to panels or events other than the Masquerade but that’s typical of my schedule…  Con seemed perfectly fine in handling the seemingly-equal attendance numbers (though the cap was removed this year).  Registration from what I could tell was much better this year and far fewer problems in general could be had from most all areas I witnessed. 

          Transportation is the key to getting to these gargantuan events – but barring that, I don’t see why I won’t be back in 2008.  I will just have to gauge a bit better between shooting, cosplaying, and making sure the hotel is more hospitable for the next go around. 

          Rating for Otakon 2007: B