Friday, Day One: First off we have to say how awesome the staff at Auburn Hills Marriott Pontiac at Centerpoint were. From check -in to check-out they were polite, accommodating, and friendly.
Highlights of the registration table were the gigantic and adorable pink alpaca and the assortment of messenger bags available for a small fee above the price of the passes – unless you got a three day pass, then they were free. Sweet, right? Seriously these bags are amazing – pockets for everything and a comfortable shoulder strap. We used ours every day of the con and so did most of the other people we saw. We hear these are a big improvement over the items available last year.
2D6 put on a high-energy nerd rap concert that was funny and clever. The sound system left a bit to be desired but their passion and just having fun with their work compensated. Check them out HERE.
The History of Sake panel was a real treat. We were expecting to only sample one or two varieties, but a total of five were provided. The presenter was crazy knowledgeable and just a really nice guy. He enjoyed sharing what he knew about the Japanese “rice wine” and welcomed questions and discussion. The panel fee was only six dollars and you got to keep your own personal Daiko shot glass. Totally awesome.
We ended the night at the electronic dance party. The room was the perfect size for the number of people there that night, the acoustics were crisp but not overwhelming, and some very smart and on the ball people both on con and hotel staffs made sure that there was a long table loaded with pitchers of ice cold water. The DJs mixed up a great playlist ranging from classic rock to new age techo. And we can’t talk about the dance without noting with great respect the full-cosplay Pony with the flashing unicorn horn who totally rocked it out on the floor. Did I mention in full cosplay? The headpiece was large enough for a small child to hide in.
Saturday began with the Hilariously Horrible Amazon reviews. Wow….what do we even say about that. It was hysterical. The panelists did an awesome job both in selecting material and presenting it in a side-splitting progression from the weird and funny to the kind of story that makes its way into your daily vocabulary. Or, as Greg Ayres would call it, an Inuyasha joke.
From there we sat in on The Best Games You Haven’t Played. The panelist was super organized, presented well, and included a clip from each game being discussed in his PowerPoint, which really helped to make it an interactive and interesting experience. He went out of his way to involve the audience and stressed that he pays attention to the feedback he gets each session so that he can keep his material relevant and engaging. He also had a great sense of humor and a few participants got tossed a prize during the discussion.
Later that night we were part of the 18+ Anime Dating Game, where people from the audience got to be game show guests and everybody helped come up with wacky questions and answers in this hilarious match-making effort. Each of us were able to go up as hopefuls for different “singles” on the show, and we noticed that in the end every single person in the room had participated in some way, no matter how shy and quiet everyone seemed in the beginning. We noticed that something about just all being goofy and raunchy and accepting of each other together made us feel like we had made a bunch of friends.
Sunday started off on a supportive note with Confidence in Cosplay. We have to give the two presenters huge props for their enthusiasm and flexibility as far as topic of conversation. The panel started off with talking about how you shouldn’t limit yourself on your cosplay just by what others think and that you should have confidence both in yourself and your cosplay. After a little while of that, talk moved to confidence in con settings in general. Some in the audience (including Dice), expresed that the feeling that cons give is one of a safe zone where you can be yourself, surrounded by a bunch of people that you automatically know you have something in common with. From there it erupted into everybody talking about everything and it was just an all around good time — which in and of itself did an awesome job of illustrating the original ideas of self-confidence and acceptance of one another. We are glad we did not miss this one. Again, we walked out feeling like we had made friends.
The next event was one or ur favorites of the whole con; Greg Ayres and Why Your Fandom Sucks. This did not turn out to be ANYthing like what we expected it would be when we sat down. He started off by telling us about a personal experience and how it was the inspiration for the topic. He then brought the audience in by asking which of the fandoms we considered to be more extreme, and compared our responses with his own personal list. He had a story about each fandom as supporting evidence, but this did not turn into the fandom bashing rant the title might suggest. He encouraged stories from the audience as well about our own more extreme experiences with fandoms, but yet led the discussion in a constructive and organized manner. Greg is an awesome speaker, very funny, and has valuable things to say. If that panel happens again next year, it will be on the top of our list to attend.
Greg’s panel flowed very smoothly into the closing ceremony. We would like to call this out as very good choreography by the event staff. The ceremony itself was short and sweet but we were given the opportunity to “meet” and show our appreciation and support for the event staff and guests.
Before closing our review we can’t forget to include the Dealer Room, where vendors were selling their goods. We appreciated that many of these vendors had handmade items for sale, although plenty of trademarked audio/visual material, props, and figurine items were available as well. All prices seemed reasonable and the vendors themselves were friendly and knowledgeable about their products. We hope that in years to come there will be more space available so more vendors can come in and show us even more awesome stuff.
Overall, Go! Daiko-Con! was a positive and friendly experience for us, and we can’t wait until next year!