Hey Everyone, here’s a Spring update. Things are busy and we haven’t had time to catch up. A few things on the list have to be taken care of like revamping the whole site. But that’s going to take a long time. But for now here are the events we got to attend so far.
February 14-16, 2014
Katsucon or another KatSNOWcon. This time everyone was a bit more prepared for a snow storm. And thankfully no other convention was competing for space but with the snow outside everyone kept the indoors crowded and alive. Going in as a regular attendee we didn’t cover the events. WCS this year wasn’t as prominent and not putting it back to back with the masquerade definitely gave our fellow Press teams that did cover the event an easier time. Given the new management photography was a hot issue with cosplayers and photographers. Even though the Hotel has full rights to disallow it as it is private property. People were confused and frustrated about it. Hopefully next year they’ll work it out. The best part is people had a good time. Even though older attendees were bothered by some closures and new limitations. A few first time attendees we know really liked the convention.
March 15 2014 (Springfest)
April 6 2014 (Castle Point Anime Convention)

For these two conventions we’ll lump them up into a comparison. Springfest and Castle Point Anime Convention(CPAC) are two college conventions close enough in time but vastly different from each other. Springfest 2013 had some lingering issues where they first decided to charge for the convention and the line mess. You would think they would of learned from their mistakes to make their wait time to get into the convention shorter. But somehow even with opening up Friday night for people to pick up badges it was just as bad. There were people waiting at 9AM in the morning to only find the doors were opening at 10:30 which is inexcusable. On the other hand CPAC had problems last year but they made sure it wouldn’t happen again. Their lines are long, but their attendance has grown from 500 to 3000 over the past 6 years.

One vs two days. In the beginning both conventions have started humbly small. One day was packed with activities to do. However Springfest has spread it between two days with horrible results. Panels and events are spread out with not much to do. Hopefully CPAC remains one day so we have one action packed day rather than two mediocre days.

And finally Staff. Castle Point just has a lot more staff involved and a lot of alumni support. With the least amount of disrespect as possible. Springfest just needs a larger staff dedicated to getting this to work out. That goes for any convention. Its hard to get people to volunteer their time and effort to make one run. But make sure you have that core group that’s willing to make the necessary sacrifices before you decide to have a convention.