Niko
(Crossposted from NikoScream)
OMGcon
is a fourth-year convention in Paducah, KY. That’s basically right on
the border of Kentucky and Illinois. It’s a fairly small town, and the
small con complements it. It’s attendance last year was around 600, and
it does seem to have grown from when I last attended in 2007. It’s held
at JR’s Executive Inn, which is right on the Ohio River and actually
fits the convention quite well with elbow room.
OMGcon is a smaller con than I usually go to and blog about, and
that has its perks. People seemed far more willing to talk to us at the
MTAC table than at larger cons like AWA or Ohayocon. The people in
general, from staff to volunteers to congoers, seemed generally
friendlier than the larger conventions with multiple thousands I’ve
been to. That holds especially true to con chair Daniel Dodd and his
wife and executive officer Gabrielle. I’ve talked with them at con
trips and at MTAC where they had a booth, and they’ve been nothing but
nice. We, my friend/fellow MTAC staffer and I, were just going to walk
around and hand out fliers, but they let us use an extra table they
had. Very kind of them.
OMGcon also really enjoys being giving to its attendees, having
hundreds of giveaway items. That includes over 200 anime DVDs and over
100 manga volumes, as said in their program guide.
Speaking of the program guide, that’s one of the unique things I
like about OMGcon. The guide itself is a simple enough book with all
the necessary info, but it comes in a DVD case that has a cover for
this year’s con. OMGcon has been doing this every one of its four years
to my knowledge. I first saw it at the second OMGcon in 2007, my first.
For $5 each, attendees can buy an OMGcon DVD to go with the DVD case.
The DVD likely includes footage from the entire convention that I would
often see them filming.
OMGcon also has some interesting events. While the otaku dating game
seems questionable (didn’t see it), the cosplay chess that I did see
looked like fun. The gaming rooms were well laid out and seemed to have
something for everyone, even rooms just dedicated to LANs and
tournaments. There was even a map of the gaming rooms in the program
guide showing what game was played where in the room, something I
thought was pretty nifty.
Really, the only downsides I could think of are fairly picky and
opinion-based. The guests were all the same as last year, which is
great for people who really loved them and not so much for people
wanting more variety. The dealer room was actually not too bad. I saw
some things I was interested in. Really though, a dealer room needs a
nice selection of tokusatsu and UC Gundam merch to impress me, and that
doesn’t happen at the larger cons I’ve been at. There was also a lot of
running and being rambunctious in the halls, but they do have the space
to do that in. Oh how I envy wide and spacious halls.
Also, out of their control, the Executive Inn was undergoing
renovation, so the connection between the hotel and con space, where a
little mall and restaurant are located, was cut off. It was most
assuredly an inconvenience for congoers and staff alike, but if they
return to the same location next year, I’m sure it’ll be smooth sailing.
