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Board has been having fits, but I wanted to post my annual thank you to all those who volunteered their time and energy to put on Otakon. I do appreciate all that you do. 🙂

Since the board will be gone soon, figured I would start my yearly thread one last time. An umbrella for when those wicked thunderstorms come through. Cell phone charger Your medications A wide brim hat to keep the Sun off your face. Sunscreen if you will be stuck outside for extended periods. Remember to reapply when needed and don't skip your ears. (Just saw a mini video from a cancer doctor who said ears are a frequent spot for melanoma) A debit card or credit card. (Convention center is cashless as are some local stores. Cashiers [

There is no ice cold water for only one dollar.

I've done it in the past, and I know hotels do change from year to year, so how were your hotels? Embassy Suites: Stayed there last year too. Pretty much the same observations I had last year as they haven't changed much since then. Their free breakfast is REALLY good; eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, pancakes, cereal, muffins, fresh fruit, and of course the made-to-order omelettes. The suite setup is still great for having multiple people in a room. The bedroom can be the quiet room where people are sleeping while people are doing other stuff (games, fixing costumes, whate

I have no idea who is managing the board these days, but obviously someone is since we still get a new year-specific board each year. Obviously not as many people use it compared to 15 years ago, but every year there's still some new people signing up to ask questions and such. So I had some suggestions to maybe improve the board and perhaps even get it a little more active again. For the current level of activity, there's way too many individual boards. I'd archive the convention topic specific ones (AMV, Artists Alley, Fan Parodies, Guests, etc.) and just use the yea

* Well, not really. I just have Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in mind. In honor of Otakon 30, here's the message on the opening page from the original Otakon 1994 program guide. * History lesson: The original Stormtroopers, led the vanguard of assaults in the latter years of World War I. Juuuuust a bit bombastic, don't you think? 😀 Though I'd say that we're definitely much more in the Happy Lands nowadays than back then. Congrats on 30, Otakon! See you in July for our 30th anniversary!

I find the handling of the situation worse than the instrument they implemented, and like other said, poor/not enough communication made what normally a pain in the butt process even more so. Like don't even bring up fairness, by letting people go on the queue before the communicated time it's already unfair lol. No ownership of the issue, not even sympathy for the affected, not recognizing the problems people have, before and after the fiasco...the non-apology today is just that. If Otakon cares about fairness, use Queue-It. If they want to only do FCFS, at least they can use a solution

As someone else pointed out, Otakon once again went live with the hotels on a Monday, at noon. Some of us do actually have jobs.... I'm frustrated but not terribly worried. Usually over the next 1-3 months additional rooms are released, which is how I got my room last year. If I spot good rooms showing up in the hotel portal I'll post about it here. It's one time the forum being a small community can be beneficial, it won't be seen by 45,000 people.

I mean, it was always kind of a pain in the butt, but it was a known pain in the butt. This though, was just way too much change with way too little announcement. And something I just learned that I don't think has been brought up here: "3. All names on room to ensure double beds" What exactly does that mean? If I book a double-bedded room for me and one other because we each prefer our own bed, am I going to be booted to a single-bedded room because double-bedded is rated for up to 4?

While I knew to expect it today from closing ceremonies, what I did not expect was that I would need to access the site prior to noon in order to be put into a queue to access the page. I appreciate trying to make things as smooth as possible, to ensure that the site can handle the traffic and doesn't take forever to load, but when you expect and plan for massive refreshing of the page starting around noon, only to find out that you should have accessed the page several hours prior... lets just say I am thankful I decided to load the page when I did.

I attended the Beginner's Kumihimo workshop on Friday. I did enjoy the weaving once I figured it out, the comments from other attendees were that they felt it was kind of hard. With some simple changes, it would be easier to grasp for newcomers, like myself. The workshop had bundles of needlepoint thread in many colors on the table, along with some weaving wheels to use, paper bobbins, a ring for starting, and some scissors. There were printouts on each table with the weaving steps on them. There were also hand outs provided with 4 different patterns to try. You start your thread on the w

Likewise!

I have some first hand experience with this, having been in that AX line last year and as I often do the JP guest autograph line, I've seen it there are various other cons also. Funko pops (especially limited or autographed ones) are traded like comic books so there is a vibrant second-hand market, which is just another way to say scalping autographs on Funko pops is becoming a big deal. Actually it already has been for a while for dub voice actors, and some have taken various approaches to this. The issue to me is not so much they're traded, but because these autographs now have a market valu

I was just going through some of my old Otakon pix, and as I was looking at some of the ones taken on the outdoor terrace at the BCC it made me realize how much I missed it. There's no real spot in the WEWCC to just go outside and take pictures of cosplayers, or even just spend a few minutes enjoying the weather while still staying inside the convention center. With that in mind, I started to think about other things that I liked when Otakon was in Baltimore - places to go, things to do, etc. A short list off the top of my head (in no particular order): - The aforementioned terraces

I miss the staff at the Day's Inn as well. They really helped me out big time when one of the other "Otakon" hotels actually canceled my reservation just a few days away from the con.

It also might help if the link to the BBS was in a more prominent spot on the main website instead of under the Help/Contact drop down menu. Might also get more people interested in the BBS if it were promoted on the social media pages and discord. There's probably tons of people who have been attending Otakon for a little while now that don't know this board even exists, so there's no telling if they might prefer this over the other channels. Then again, all this could be wishful thinking on my part. At least it seems to be working fine as of this post.

After all these years, I had never thought of bringing binder clips to hold the blackout curtains tight. That's inspired. As well as what others have suggested, I also like to bring a cardboard shipping tube (One of the wider ones). That way if I buy art or posters from the Artist Alley or Dealers Room I can roll them and keep them in the tube and they won't get wrinkled or creased by accident.

Sorry about the test post above. I'd written the stuff below, then the "Submit Reply" button didn't work. I hope the board won't be gone soon! Even though it's not very active, I still really like visiting here! Excellent tips for bringing things to Otakon, Clutch! May I add, along with 2 pairs of shoes -- please have shoes that are comfortable. Lots of walking at Otakon. Binder clip, for hotel room curtains that don't close all the way and leave a gap. Just clip the curtains together. Bandaids and nail clipper (had a nail tear a little once at a show, and it got c

Definitely miss the fact that it was in my hometown. That made it way cheaper for me to attend the con (no hotel, no parking garage necessary; just a day pass for the subway and a little spending money for the weekend). I also miss the fountains which were a good place for photoshoots and a place to cool off (if you were willing to dip your feet/hands in) I also miss the Ice Cold Water Man. Apparently he's still on the grind and his water is still only $1. This update is from a year ago but it's the most recent update I've found in case anyone was wondering what happene

I would think you get into liability issues if you start putting down cigarettes or adult magazines in a place where kids could get to them. The other stuff seems safe.

I think they also had Priss from Bubblegum Crisis" as well. I can picture Anya Forger from "Spy x Family" pointing the entrance of the "Otachan". Lawrence and Holo from "Spice & Wolf" leading everyone to the Dealer's Room.

I’m also beyond confused on where we’re supposed to go for feedback and answers at this point. All their social media says to go to the discord, but the mods don’t have answers (or worse, are giving conflicting ones). I also don’t like how often they’re either throwing the blame back at Maritz for any booking issues and/or insisting that a FCFS queue was necessary. Anime Boston also uses this housing provider and I’ve never had the issues we’re having this year. AnimeNYC has been using queue-it without issue for both the hotel block and panel reservations. also bugs me that we s

I am not sure. Looking at the cancellation email, it has the higher confirmation number. The first one may not have cancelled, but it didn't show me having 2. I think I added an extra character when I put the password in the second time. When I use the first password, there still seems to be a registration. Really nervous that the remaining one is still legitimate. Guess sending the confirmation email again would not hurt? It was pretty overwhelming trying to do this at work, under the gun for the timer on the screen, and it being a different process this year. edit: So it

Something this big should have been officially announced AT LEAST a week before. And I know that maybe this should have been common sense, but I just saw the note about your credit card needing to have an expiration date of 8/25 or further out. I didn't think to check my card until then and realized that mine expires 7/25.

Westin (Formerly Renaissance) Rooms seemed decent enough, though for some reason the AC would cut off in the middle of the night. Could turn it back on immediately via the thermostat, but still annoying to be woken up in the middle of the night because the room got too clamy. Also they initially split up my 2 rooms between floors. When I asked if they could put them closer they said no because they are completely booked. Which seemed like an odd response since, sure, all rooms may be booked, but not everyone has checked in yet, right? Plus, if you are going to pre-assign the room

First a request for the Guidebook app: Panels for 'Saturday night' go into Sunday and that leads to confusion, and clutter the following morning. If it's possible to adjust guidebook to treat the end of a day as the end of the activities into 2 AM, that would help the app as well, however one way or another I would absolutely appreciate and request a return to the printable schedules. Second: I understand the Guidebook app has taken over, however one of the most fun and necessary things I've done at every con was to break out the printable schedule and outline where I wou

Hampton Inn first time staying here (usually I stay at the Cambria and loved it but they’ve been in a real state of disrepair the past two years. Happy to see it’s being shut down and put under new ownership tbh) Rooms: stayed in a two queen “suite”. Room had been recently renovated and beds were very comfortable, but there was barely enough space to move around. The room was very cramped even with just two people and our props, and lacked a lot of hotel basics like an iron/ironing board, safe, closet with hangers, ect. But did have a microwave, TV and mini fridge. Bathroom was huge

It's funny - I didn't even get involved w/ this until I started looking for a 30th anniversary ribbon. I was down at the museum room when I saw a bunch of people in line for a stamp. I grabbed a guide, saw the stamp page, and went from there. I ended up with one of the folders - I picked it up after the Dealers Room so I could go straight to the hotel w/ all of my loot. (Though TBH I still would have preferred a ribbon.) I must say I'm surprised there aren't any of those folders up for auction. Someone put up a 2024 program guide the day after the con. I have to give kudos to the staff wh

Scalpers ruin autograph sessions. Scalping of Funko Pop figures in particular is the number one source of the problem. In 2023, Anime Expo's autographs were marred by a large group of organized scalpers (~30 people) who engaged in highly disruptive behavior in the waiting lines and when interacting with a certain Japanese guest. All of them brought Funko Pops to be signed. This year, AX banned Funko Pops from being signed by Japanese guests. As a result, scalpers lost their incentive to participate. Other cons are learning from that. San Japan now also forbids Funko Pops from being s

I went to a good number of panels this year! In roughly chronological order: Cat Culture in Japan: Only caught the tail (heh) end of this, but I loved what I saw! Great mix of cute, funny, and informative. Genderbending Makeup: The first full panel I saw, and a great one! The panelists were knowledgeable and funny, and the tips were great! I was able to use them to level up my Link cosplay the next day (thank you Egg!) Lovecraftian Horror in Anime: Mixed bag on this one. The panelist was clearly struggling with both the lack of his usual copanelist as well as AV problems, and a

I enjoyed the premise behind this. I was kind of hoping I'd also get the 30th Anniversary badge ribbon for it. Ahhh well.

I did that a few times when I was in Baltimore. I used to carry a large "golf" umbrella that can cover 3 people if positioned right.

When we had to wait in line outside the Baltimore Convention Center on Thursdays I used to have a towel to sit on, an umbrella for shade, a bottle of water, a few snacks, my mp3 player, and a book to read. I was one of the lucky ones allowed in when the temperature got too hot the one year. That was 2002. (I know this exactly because I bought a copy of a magazine to read while in line, and looked up when it was published.) I was in the same situation - the person in front of me had a Sailor Moon Moon Princess costume on and nothing to protect her from the rain. I held it mostly over he

Sorry to bring this up again, but Otakon 2024 is getting closer and the maps still say 2023. Could someone please look into this? Many thanks!

I honestly don't know how Funko Pops wound up becoming so frequently scalped. I'm guessing it's because they are cheap to obtain (~$15 per figure) and there is a huge variety of them for every fandom, so a buyer exists for every figure. They are also uniform in size so they are easy to store and display. Regarding autographs on Funko Pops, the big advantage that Funko Pops have for scalpers over other types of products is how easy it is to manipulate an autograph written on the packaging. When Japanese guests autograph an item, they will frequently personalize it by writing the recipient'

There are some people I miss from Baltimore; the staff at the Days Inn was always friendly and helpful for me and my family. They watched our kid go to her first Otakon at a whole one year old. The Wharf Rat was also our spot. If I'm being honest . . . that might be it.

I'm incredibly jealous of people who have Amtrak in their area. I live at the VA/TN border where we barely have any public transit at all (like a few of those short busses in a limited area since it's really rural most places here). There's been talk for years of expanding Amtrak through VA down to TN, but at this rate if it ever happens I'll likely be an old man by then. We did get a bus line though called Virginia Breeze that runs from Bristol, VA, where I'm at, all the way to Washington, DC, but it leaves Bristol at 11am every day and takes about 7 1/2 hours to get to DC. I think it leaves

Actually, there was only 2 things that I missed Otakon being in Baltimore. 1- I used to enjoy being at the Inner Harbor and staying around until Monday morning because I used to hang around with friends post-convention time (shopping at the mall, eating at the food court, playing video games and watching the Anime that we bought at the con in our room). At least I didn't have to drive home tired right after the con. That started to change when less and less people that I know were showing up to the con, and the mall was becoming an empty shell of itself as the years gone by. I was al

Well they'd better re-activate that page ASAP, given how we've got only a month left.

The USS Constellation was such a great photo op especially for naval or Pirate themed anime/games. The Inner Harbor was nice in that you could leave the BCC, get a bite to eat and visit some of the local hot spots. I feel like in DC you're basically tethered to the WEWCC all weekend although I do like that there are so many food options within the con itself. The BCC was so outdated in that regard. I remember them haphazardly setting up a meatball sub bar on the second floor of the Camden Yards side of the BCC in one of the later years.

I take the plastic zippable containers which bed sheets come in and use them for toiletries. The first time the toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, hand lotion, body wash, etc. pops open in your bag, you will wish there was something separating them. There are probably small, clear, makeup bags that zip up which serve the same purpose. Also helps keep the volume of what you bring down to a more manageable size. Travel size toiletries cost more than regular containers, but the space savings are worth it in the suitcase. Make a point of using up any extra travel size things you buy after getting hom

To be honest, I'm already on Discord somewhat (basically for the AnimeNEXT staff, (which leaves a lot to be desired). I prefer what we have here now. I know other cons has already ditched their forums, but I would think that Otakon would at least keep theirs. It's like one of the only "old-school" things that at least we still have.

I second that suggestion, because it is a restriction which will affect those who are unaware of it at an inopportune moment. Someone will be pretty upset waiting in a line for a long time only to find out the food they have been wanting can't be purchased. Funny thing is that using card only forces higher prices because the extra charges are passed down.

Hololive and vtubing is a big draw at a lot of conventions. They have a Meet and panel program that would be good to see at Otakon, and seem to be pretty responsive if conventions reach out to them.

Also, I've found the people at TripAdvisor.com to be really helpful with trip questions (almost all the time). You might want to tell them the dates of your travel, hotel name, cost of parking, and ask if they can recommend a cheaper place that's safe. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28969-i39-District_of_Columbia.html If the url doesn't work, you can get there by: www.tripadvisor.com click: More (near the top) click: Forums click: US click: District of Columbia

Just saw a blurb on this. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/akira-toriyama-dies-dragon-ball-creator-anime-dead-age-68/

I see a bunch of shows, but no stars. Could you fix that, please?

Another thing I have noticed is that some places are charging extra for credit versus debit. Had that happen at the car repair shop the other day. You get some safeguards with credit cards which are not available in debit cards.

A few years ago I went into a D.C. coffee shop for a cup. Place my order and dug out my cash and they told me they don't take it. Had to cancel the order. I suspect you will find fewer places down there who will accept it. The Safeway in D.C. is probably one of the few places that will be cash all the time. Even the home centers are starting to make it difficult to use cash. 1 register takes cash, the rest use credit card or electronic payment, so I wave people through until I can get to it. I picked up a pre-paid card and used that where cash was a no-go around the convention last year.

I would love to see Cyyu this year frfr. But also: Jonah Scott Max Mittilemen Ben Balmaceda Nazzeh Tarsha Makoto Furukawa Matthew Mercer Ben Schwartz And for J-Pop/Rock bands: Asian Kung-fu Generation Unison Square Garden One Ok Rock I know this is impossible but a girl can dream but : EVE Joe Inoue Jin(the Kagerou Project guy, not k-pop guy, would like LESS KPOP THIS YEAR in general, not a fan of it and the business behind it)