Convention Review: Genericon 2015

Well ladies & gentlemen, fellow Otaku & metalheads, Genericon 2015 has come & gone. I saw familiar faces, and encountered plenty of new folk as well. There were some fun panels, the guests were great, and despite a couple hiccups, the overall experience was as good as it’s always been for me! As I promised, I’m presenting for all of you a review of this year’s convention. I certainly have some strong opinions all across the board, so without delay, here’s my review for Genericon 2015. Enjoy!

Good Points
Definitely some good points to talk about!

First off, I’ll talk about the point I enjoy, and that’s the people. Each & every single Genericon I’ve been too, I’ve come across plenty of awesome individuals, many of which became dear friends of mine. There were plenty of familiar faces I saw, but there were many new ones as well. Everyone I came across was in a good mood, with nary anyone having a foul temperament. I came across people from New York City, and even California, who were all at the convention to have fun!

On a small spinoff, Genericon’s staff was great. Despite one hiccup (See “Bad Points” below), I thought that they professional, helpful, and surprisingly patient. They were certainly helpful last year when I had issues with my “Companies of Borderlands 2” panel, and they helped out this year as well. Although they seemed a little frazzled once in a while, on the whole they could be counted on to help out, and do a damn good job at the same time!

Activities were great at this con. While I didn’t go to many of them because of my habit of talking to con-goers, when I did go to something I was enjoying myself. I went to a Hetalia Q&A, a Ouran Highschool Host Club Q&A, the Cosplay Deathmatch, participated in the Cosplay Chess event as one of the hosts (Dressed up as Mr. Torgue from Borderlands 2), and many other things that I sadly can’t remember at this moment. Regardless, there was a variety of panels, workshops, and other fun activities for the con goers to participate in. I certainly wasn’t bored, that’s for sure!

To conclude the good points about Genericon 2015, I want to quickly talk about Jazzman’s Café. Located in the main hall, Jazzman’s Café provides cookies, pastries, coffee & tea, and many other little food stuffs to buy. The pricing for everything is inexpensive, so if you don’t want to go out for lunch/dinner, then this is most definitely an option!

Okay Points
One thing I noticed about Genericon 2015 is the more meaty composition of Sunday. In the past, Sunday is always the weakest day of Genericon, and of all conventions in general. This time around, there was actually more things to do or see. For me, I went to more panels/events this past Sunday than any other Sunday at Genericon. That said, this was still Sunday, and as such it’s typically the weakest day of the convention. Definitely some more substance this time though!

Bad Points
There are only 2 gripes I had with Genericon 2015. One was very personal for me, and the other was probably something a fair number of attendees talked about as well. I’ll go over the second gripe first.

The number of dealers this year were...lacking to say the least. I can certainly understand why there weren’t as many in 2014: Genericon 2014 was originally supposed to start on Valentine’s day, but due to scheduling issues, the con was pushed back 2 weeks, and because of this shift, many dealers couldn’t make it. This year...I don’t think there is a good excuse. I’m forgetting as I’m typing, but I believe there were 7 or 8 dealers this year. This severely limited shopping options for the con goers, myself included. 2014 & this year was difficult for me, as it’s my tradition to bring home at least 1 DVD. While I have come home with DVDs, the selection was incredibly lacking (This year especially). Coupled with scheduling issues & the dealers area not opened on Friday because of said issues, and the window for shopping is shorter.

So from the second gripe, we come to the first. I had a panel to host at the convention. An 18+ panel, to be exact. I got my notice a few months ago saying it got in, and in the convention booklet the description for it can be seen clear as day. However, along with the con booklet you’re given a schedule/time sheet, showing off when & where panels are taken place. My panel took place from 12:30 to 1:30, but my panel wasn’t on the sheet at all. Only a blank space was where my panel was supposed to be. I went to the con staff to talk about this, and they stated that the individual in charge of the sheet forgot to put it on. To make up for this, they posted a sign on the door to where I was to present the panel, but the damage was done. I had about 10/11 people at the start, but by the end I had 4 to 6. This really irked me, and for a split second, I considered not sending in a panel for next year’s con.

Overall Opinion & Rating
Don’t take the bad points the wrong way. Genericon 2015 was an absolute blast of a convention! The things the worked right were perfect, what got stuck in the middle stayed there for the most part, and the bad things irked me. If I started this blog a few years earlier, and did reviews of Genericon then, I would have given a 9 out of 10, maybe even a 10 from time to time! Sadly, the bad points were noticeable enough that I couldn’t do it this time around. That said, I enjoyed myself as I always do, and I’m glad that this was my 6th Genericon. Looking forward to seeing everybody at my 7th!

Genericon 2015 gets a 8.75 out of 10.

Well, this was my review for the con. I hope the staff appreciates this, and any Genericon attendees enjoy this. See you soon!



***
Don’t completely believe this, but at the “Closing Ceremonies” event on Sunday one of the staff said the attendance number was 2,200 for Genericon 2015. Not the biggest attendance boost for the convention, but it’s a little noticeable. I’ll put up the official number when it gets announced in the coming days.