shadowspawn

Yeah, the Otakon hotel Hunger Games get worse every year. I've been doing this for 23 years, and this was even worse than last year. The 2 double beds rooms in the Marquis sold out in the 1.5 seconds between when I saw them available and when I mashed the button to reserve one. I did score a king bed room in the Marquis, but before I could request a second room, everything sold out. We need beds for 3 people, and at that time the Hampton Inn (0.4 miles away) was the closest room available, so I grabbed a Hampton Inn king bed. At about 1:45, a King bed in the Courtyard jus

Kind of interesting. May be a few useful nuggets in it for people who are responsible for such things: What we learned about COVID-19 safety from a NYC anime convention | Science News

Just curious. Back in the 2000, 2001 or so era, my then-teenage daughter participated in LARP (Live Action Role Play). It was fun. At some point, it dropped off our list of things to do, so I didn't think about it for some time. Today, it occurred to me that I had not seen it on the program for some time. Did LARP just die and go away?

The Good: This felt like the best-managed Otakon of the 20 or so Otakons that I've attended. I usually have a few gripes about line management, how panels are handled, video room operation, etc. This year, just... nothing. Otakon Staff and Gofers were on point, the Convention Center security and other staff, of all shirt and jacket colors, were friendly but firm, and we had fun conversations with a few of them. At least where we went and what we did, it was a nice, smooth, no gripes convention. Sitting on a end seat (left side) rather near the front of the AMV room du

As someone who has stayed at the MM every year, I'll add to the chorus of "no microwave". But you could do a lot worse than greek yogurt and granola (which is what I am likely to do). A little cup of Chobani is 110 calories, but has 12 grams of protein (25% of your daily requirement). I live on that stuff in hotels.

I have a question out of curiosity (purely curiosity, as I have masks out the ying-yang and plan to bring a good supply with me). Will there be a "mask station" for people who lose / forget / whatever their masks ad don't have one?

I'm skeptical that there could be a virtual AMV Contest. Very early on, when Anime Boston was new, they used to pipe the AMV Contest over a hotel TV channel so that people could watch it in their hotel rooms. When they stopped doing that, the explanation was that they got heat for "broadcasting" copyrighted material.

This is a wise observation. So, things are proceeding in a smart way it seems.

So, it is starting to look like this CORVID-19 thing might (as in "maybe", not for sure) be turning into total poopshow for months. Anything to share about the current thoughts and inclinations of the Otakon officers and staff? My wife is 68 years old and still has a compromised immune system from chemo a couple of years ago, so we're wondering how Otakon is leaning in regards to the next convention.

I looked at it around 12:03, and it was still available then. Out of curiosity I checked again at about 12:08, and it was gone.

I wonder if the Marriott will allow reserving 2-bed rooms this year. Last year the Marriott rooms were 100% "Run of the house", which means "Whatever room we feel like giving you when you show up". Not a nice situation for families or people with a group of 3 - 4 people.

We got ours today. This might have already been discussed in this very long thread, but just in case it is useful or helpful to someone... We had two different shipments coming to one address. One arrived Friday, but no one was here to sign for it, so they left the card in the mailbox. Today, the second one arrived, and when the carrier had me sign for the one that arrived today, I showed him the card that was left Friday, and asked if he had that one. No, it was at the post office. BUT, he said, if I signed that card and gave it to him, or just signed it and left it in the mail

I've been coming to Otakon for many years, and I've never seen chaos like this. What the heck is going on? The Hyatt tells me that the "Otakon Members" rate is sold out -- not "Locked until 6 months before the convention" as claimed in another post; sold out. The Hyatt quotes me $489 for a room. In 2002, I made a reservation there 3 months bfore the convention, and got a nice room on the Club Floor for a very decent rate. The Sheraton says that they have rooms: for $1160 per night (!) The Marriott Inner Harbor told me on the phone that the hotel is completely sold out. But