Geek Babble- First Time at Otakon 2022

 

There was a point in time where in terms of attendance, Otakon was the second largest anime convention in the United States.  Held in Baltimore, Maryland during the months of July or August, it was a staple convention for both Angela and Ty for many years (See Angela’s review here), with my friend Steve having started attending a bit later.  However, it was not a convention that was on my radar for a long period of time, mainly due to the fact that the lodging arrangements seemed expensive and logistically unappealing unless you were able to get a room at two of the hotels relatively close to the convention center.  The fact that several of my friends reported being accosted by homeless people whilst waiting for badge pickup also made me hesitant in attending.  In the late 2010s, however, Otakon’s attendance steadily declined, having been eclipsed in its attendance figures by several other conventions.  Several factors include an attendance cap of 35,000 attendees implemented in 2014, protests in Baltimore in 2015, and a change in venue to Washington DC in 2017.  The change in venue meant there were more feasible lodging options, and it was this year that I finally was able to work it into my convention schedule.  So, is it now a convention worth attending, even if it had long lost its place as the US’s second largest anime convention?

 

Well, Otakon didn’t really impress me with its dated and text-heavy website, but I was at least pleased to find an option for badges to be mailed to attendees, even if it cost an extra $15.  Otakon’s high hotel pricing was also a tough pill to swallow, with many if not all hotels costing over $200 per night, but reserving a room was not difficult.  We stayed at the Renaissance at Angela and Ty’s recommendation, though the Marriott Marquis is closer and also directly connected to the main Walter E Washington Convention Center by underground entrance.  However, one drawback is that Otakon’s website did not allow one to cancel or modify hotel reservations, instead telling us to call the “housing service provider” used to coordinate hotel reservations during the limited times the phone lines were staffed.  In the end, in order to cancel or modify a hotel reservation, one must instead call the hotel, a needlessly complicated annoyance.  Another annoyance is that Otakon’s schedule was released two weeks before the convention in small chunks rather than all at once and underwent significant changes in those two weeks.  For instance, there was an optional sake-tasting event should one wish to pay for it, but by the time I had learned of its existence, there were no more available seats.

 

Thankfully, upon arriving at the hotel, the issues were easily sorted out, but badge pickup was another story.  Due to the required vaccination checks, it was a multi-step process, requiring that even those who had badges mailed to them find a staff member to obtain a paper wristband to signify that said vaccination checks had been done.  (see featured image for example of wristband) Furthermore, attendees were turned away late into Thursday evening at least an hour before badge pickup closed due to long lines already having been formed, with staff members telling attendees to return on Friday morning at 8:00 AM.  Thankfully, lines moved quickly on Friday morning, and staff, despite logistical and communication challenges, managed to maintain order and stay organized, a theme which would continue well into the weekend.

 

Now, like Anime Boston, panels at Otakon started very early on Friday morning, around 9:00 AM, and there were quite a lot of industry panels at the convention.  While the panels I had attended were quite informative and analytical, I was not prepared for the huge numbers of attendees trying to get into the Studio Trigger industry panel on Friday morning.  Ah, yes, it was going to be one of THOSE conventions.  The ones where attending specific events required lining up well ahead of time to avoid getting turned away at the door, including the dealers room which opened at 12:00 noon on Friday.  Despite also missing out on that, there were two big things that I noticed Otakon got right.  One was to house the dealers room and the artists alley at opposite ends of the hallway in the convention center which resulted in crowds getting spread out more.  The other was to set up enormous banner-like signs to direct attendees on where to go for things such as dealers room and registration.  The artists alley itself did not open until 1:00 PM on Friday, but it was well worth it, with many vendors present selling not only drawings and paintings but also many handcrafted nicknacks.  What was also noteworthy were the wide hallways separating the different rows of booths allowing for lots of space to walk around, making this the best artists alley out of any anime convention I have attended.

 

However, after I had finished making the rounds inside the artists alley, I then learned of another Otakon surprise:  being able to get back into the convention center was not as easy at it sounded.  Only certain entrances at the convention center were being used to allow badged attendees reenter the venue, and it was not clear which entrances were being used or which line to queue in.  Lines became a problem at different times of the day, resulting in waits of anywhere between 15 and 75 minutes just to get back into the convention center.  Thank vaccine and bag checks for that, plus inadequate numbers of Otakon and convention center staff having to deal with a huge increase in attendees, whether it was caused by pandemic demand or with attendees wanting to attend the various K-pop concerts taking place during the weekend.  But the best part is that despite the huge number of attendees, all of the convention and venue staff I interacted with or saw remained professional, courteous, and caring.

 

It wasn’t until Saturday that I was able to make it into the dealers room, which was the largest dealers room out of any anime convention I had attended.  Not only that, but it was as if each vendor had something different to sell to the attendees, not only when it came to the series being represented, but also in the types of merchandise being sold, and I will give a special callout to those looking for art books.  Give yourself plenty of time to browse around if you are wanting to purchase items, and again, thank you, Otakon, for keeping the hallways wide.  There was also a small car show and video game systems set up with several racing games, but unfortunately I was not able to locate any store selling convention-centric merchandise.  Also, while there were also several food vendors in the dealers room, these were mainly pushed into the corner, far away from not only the dealer vendors, but also the tables where other conventions were being promoted.  I did not have a chance to try any of them, and the other convention center food vendors either had long lines or high prices.  Go elsewhere, such as the many restaurants at the nearby Chinatown.

 

But “go elsewhere” would not be something I would recommend for Otakon, as this is one of the best convention experiences I have had in a long long time.  I wish I had gotten a chance to experience Otakon several years earlier, as I would have gotten much more out of it.  From the best dealers den and artists alley I have ever been to, to the excellent programming selection and of course the wonderful staff, this is an excellent convention and one I would highly recommend.  The enthusiasm of convention attendees is slowly coming back, but the question now is whether the attendees themselves will keep coming back and whether or not the convention will continue to grow.  In fact, Otakon this year grew by over 30 percent compared with 2021, and there is not a lot of spare capacity at the convention center during peak times.  Otakon must do something about its long lines and waits, and while they are at it, give the website a complete overhaul and change the procedure on how to make and change hotel reservations.  Yes, the convention costs a lot of money and has a few irritating quirks, but it also offers a lot for your money.  But work around these inconveniences and you are in for an amazing experience.