The Challenges and Triumph of Anime Conventions During Omicron
It’s the end of the year. We made it!
The last time I joined you all was during Anime Midwest 2021, which happens over 4th of July weekend. At that point in time, it had been a year without a convention, a year filled with mask mandates, lockdowns, and anxiety . However, when the con doors opened, the energy was unparalleled as people were eager to return to a sense of normalcy, joy and excitement. It was a fantastic return to form despite mask wearing being about 50/50.
Flash forward five months with a brand new variant. How did the smaller Animecon Convention fare?
Triumph #1: Masks Required
One thing I appreciated as a guest/vendor of the con is that Con+Alt+Delete made it a point to email guests that masks are required indoors per the state of Illinois. I was glad to see that every con guest, unless they were eating, had a mask on. Obviously, going to an event with thousands of people while there is a much more contagious variant going around, technically isn’t the smartest idea, but the alternative is being a hermit in the house, so YOLO!
Challenge #1: Where are all the Artists?
One thing that didn’t set right, however, was the fact that when I set up the day before the con, that it was essentially a ghost town. The picture to the right is day 2 of the con. Notice how the tables to the right, left, and back left of my booth are plain white tablecloths. That’s not because an artist didn’t have a set up of their own, it’s because they didn’t show up.
The emptiness of the Artist Alley alarmed me initially. After all, it’s $175 for a booth, and I’m not clear as to what the refund policy for vendors is if you can’t make it. Some artists were able to take advantage of the empty tables by taking up two tables to display their wares. But literally there were only two artists in my row. Myself and hwoodstrictlybizness .
Consequently, this set a very weird vibe for the first day of Con+Alt+Delete. The energy was low. No one seemed excited. I’ve done at least 2 previous Con+Alt+Delete conventions to know that it isn’t the largest con, so I shouldn’t expect to be trampled the first day, but this felt extreme. The added complication to the low energy for me is that back in November, I had been officially diagnosed with Colitis and spent most of the month recovering and getting my flare ups under control. This completely decimated my productivity, so I already came to the con with low stock. Couple this with low foot traffic, I was seriously worried about taking a loss.
Thankfully, this part of the con had a happy ending. Most people showed up towards the end of the first day, and the familiar hum of the con had begun to return.
Triumph #2: Yay, the food is better!
Day 2 of the con started out hopeful for me, food wise. As a reminder, Anime Midwest and Con+Alt+Delete offer “Con Sweet” which is a place to get free ramen, soda and rice. If you’re a budget conscious convention attendee, this is a way to get a free meal so you can save your money for merch.
However, I’m not 19 anymore. Processed food stopped sitting right with me a while ago, and now that I have chronic illness, it really isn’t sitting right with me. Typically I hit up the buffet or the cafĂ© at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare for one good meal a day. Last year the buffet was pre-packaged which made me sad, but this year the buffet was at 90%. The only thing missing is you didn’t get waiters to give you coffee or juice. The juice was self-serve.
It felt good to have plated food again, and not pre-packaged food that absorbed the taste of its packaging.
Triumph #3: Good Vibes
The people that come to Con+Alt+Delete are generally extremely positive people. I linked up with several crocheters and people who appreciated art in general. I even had some conversations about current events with people who stayed informed, which was a welcome change of pace from just sitting at my booth working.
I ultimately appreciated that not a single person complained about a mask mandate or vaccines. People masked up, showed up, and let their light shine.
Challenge #2: Please bring back the Game Room
Good vibes aside, one thing I truly miss is the Game Room they would outsource to an outside company. In The Before Times, The Game Room was vast. You’d have multiple arcade cabinets, multiple rhythm games, and there were more console games to choose from. In Anime Midwest 2021, that was isolated to one room per game type. In other words, one room would have a rhythm game, and then another room would have Smash Bros. The line to access the room would be long and it would be very crowded. The fact that a large chunk of the game room was missing was sad. One could stay there until the wee hours of the morning if panels weren’t interesting at the time.
Challenge #3: Please vet the Panels
With regard to panels, I usually don’t get to go because I’m either working, or I’m tired. But this year, I decided not to work myself to death so I could focus on my health and I had the chance to attend two panels: one about forgotten videos of internet history, and another about Forbidden Fanfiction.
I was really hoping that the Internet History panel would unearth an old, yet hilarious video that I hadn’t seen, or expound on how internet humor has changed over the years. We know that I’m 30 years old, so I remember when we were watching Flash videos on Homestarrunner.com, or other videos on Vimeo. I remember when YouTube wasn’t owned by Google.
Instead, that panel seemed like a big inside joke. There wasn’t really an intro and it was “have you heard about this cringe guy”? and the panel would go “oh yeah!”, or “no” and I wouldn’t be shown any footage to be in on said joke. There was a projector plugged in, so I wasn’t sure if they had technical difficulties, or weren’t prepared, but I was bummed. Additionally, they put The Nostalgia Critic as one of the cringe bits of internet history. Maybe it’s because I haven’t watched his videos since High School, but I disagreed with that one. We walked out.
The good news is that the Forbidden Fanfiction Panel was hilarious. I won’t go into detail (I have an image to uphold), but here’s what I liked:
- The person started reasonably on time
- Spoke clearly into the mic
- Definitely had a prepared intro
- Picked Fanfiction that fell into the theme of being more cringe than My Immortal
- Had fun voices!
I’m an old lady who works in the business world and had to do public speaking stuff for years, so perhaps I’m a little critical when I see people having a presentation I feel is mid, but I would honestly like to be privy to what the vetting process is for panels. Do you have to submit a proposal? Is there a video application? Does it cost money to apply? Because with a lot of the panels, it feels like it devolves into teenagers screaming memes for 50 minutes. The sponsored panels tend to be better, so that’s a plus.
What’s Next?
Ultimately, the con was a success, and I had a good time. Con+Alt+Delete is good because everything is in the hotel and you don’t have to travel far. There are also more bathrooms, and with it being close to the vendor hall, that helped me as I’m still dealing with sickness. It also doesn’t smell as bad as Anime Midwest. The event starting out as pretty mid, I’m going to chalk up to Omicron shenanigans. I’m hoping in 2022, we have a more vaccinated population, or just better treatment options for COVID so we are able to attract more guests and bring back vendors. Con+Alt+Delete 2021 was the first con where I realized that being an Artist is important. We really help make the con beautiful and without us, guests are missing a good chunk of the entire package.
However, if there isn’t some new deadly thing happening with COVID or some other calamity in the world, I may consider other options.
Please stay tuned to my Twitch, Twitter, and Instagram as I will be unveiling new content. Until Next time,
Essence