This was a critical year for Otakon. Their attendance numbers have gone down ever since they announced they were leaving Baltimore. On top of that the year a convention moves they always experience a drop since they lose some long time local attendees who are rarely equaled out by fresh blood in their new home. A good number of people take a wait and see approach just to make sure the convention does not implode in the new location before they start going again. While this year could have been a disaster that Otakon could have recovered from it would have been a wound that would have taken years to recover from. A good 2017 would put them on the fast track for recovery. Many of fence sitters (and their friends) could be swayed by a great debut year.

Thankfully Otakon was able to pull off an amazing transition year. Did everything go smoothly? Certainly not. They had the normal mix of standard convention mishaps you would have even at most stalwart of locations alongside some inevitable problems you always get from any change of venue. That said it went about as well as a move could go. I think they really hit the ground running in DC and proved the move was a much-needed and appreciated change. While the road to this transition was rough I think it will benefit the convention and the attendees in the long run.

At this point, I could be accused of getting ahead of myself with this introduction. You usually save a sentiment like this for the conclusion. In this case, we are going to have a lot of people reading this review just to see if Otakon pulled off the move. I think it did so brilliantly. Anyone who just wanted a simple yes or no was probably just going to skip to the end anyway. Everyone else probably wants the initial verdict and then the reasons why we came to that conclusion. The best conclusion would be some ways that Otakon could up its game to be even better for their big 25th anniversary.

 A move could result in a disastrous first year even for the veteran staff of Otakon. However, I’m happy to report that Otakon’s debut in Washington DC was anything but a disaster. (OK, that unexpected waterfall in artist alley on Saturday night would count as a disaster.)

From lines to where events were in the convention center, the staff did a masterful job in the new space. There were some minor adjustments after Friday, and at con feedback they already said somethings will be shifting around in 2018, but overall there was a enough room for everyone and everything.

As someone who didn’t really want to leave Baltimore, I have to admit that I quickly became an evangelical for DC after a single day.  Continue reading →