Convention Flyers (Pre-2000)

[davemerrill]

I had forgotten it was a 2-day show in the early days. "Corn Pone Flicks" was Matt Murray and CB Smith and David G. Wilson III and myself, and we rode over to A-Kon with FGOH's Lauren and Leslie Forrester in a convoy of 2 vehicles from Atlanta. A-Kon 2 was the year I swapped a giant Devilman drawing I made to Tim Eldred for a t-shirt from "Broid", the comic he was doing for Eternity at the time. We got bored and started throwing ice at each other in the hallway of a floor of the hotel that was under construction, and the next year that turned into water gun fights, which in a particularly stupid turn of events led to a security guy assaulting a con guest (there was some tension between the people who were at the convention because it was a convention and that's what you do, go to conventions and the people who were there for the Japanese animation) and the water gun stuff being moved outside.

I went to the first 10 A-Kons, mostly driving from Atlanta. One year I flew out because I had to be back in Atlanta quickly on Sunday for a wedding. There are still people from Atlanta who go to A-Kon every year, but none of the original gang attends any more. It's a really large convention, but it's no longer the cutting-edge must-attend event for anime fandom in the US (and admittely it was only that event for a few years).

[SteveH]

I want to go back to A-Kon, but mostly from a nostalgia tip. I fear it's more like Dragoncon now.

I will never, EVER forget that year with the live-action role players all over the place, the dude that was a 'vampire' quietly chanting "I'm invisible, I'm invisible, I'm invisible" in the hallway. It took a major effort of will to not do something rude to him. And I'm not the kind of guy who does stuff like that but it was so, so annoying and laughable and pathetic and just needed to be busted up. If I had some small water balloons to hand, it would have been tragic.

[davemerrill]

Part of the deal with A-Kon is that it is THE fan convention in the Dallas area; the Texas "Fantasy Fairs" went under in 1990-1991 (owner had some tax troubles) and so if you were any kind of fan - gamer, Trekkie, LARPer, whatever - you went to Project A-Kon.

There was always a little friction between the anime people, the people who'd come from Oklahoma or Chicago or Atlanta or California because it was an anime con and there were only two or three of the things anywhere, and the regular Dallas fans who maybe liked anime, sure, but anime for them was just another fan thing along with Dungeons & Dragons and Cerebus The Aardvark and Terminator movies, and I always got the impression that they couldn't quite figure out why we were so obsessed with it.

It would be interesting to go back and see what it looks like now. There was always a very specific "look" to the Dallas fans, they were really into the mullets and the long black trench-coats (in Dallas summer weather, yet!!) and the fedoras way before it became a "thing". Body types were either ectomorphic mantis-like skeletons or the morbidly obese, and not a hint of sunlight ever reached their skin. I wonder if the Dallas fans still look like this. Quite the opposite of the stereotypical mental image of the Texan, to be sure.

The last one I went to was in 1999. It was crowded, the dealers room had nothing I wanted, the AC in our hotel room didn't work, the security staff hollered at me for walking around with a beer bottle downstairs in the convention area, and my main recollection is the look of sad confusion on the face of a plump teenager obstructing traffic in a hallway while dressed as Link. My own face mirrored his; I was wondering what the heck I was doing there myself.

[usamimi]

The comparison to Dragon*Con is pretty accurate, I think (though I haven't been there myself, but I've gleaned enough through people's stories to get an idea of it all). A-kon, while called an anime convention, is now more of a general geek convention: there's a lot of anime cosplayers and stuff to buy in the dealer's room, but there's also generic fantasy & sci-fi stuff, video game stuff, comic stuff, etc. (And not to mention the Homestuck and MLP cosplay & panels that are plaguing most conventions nowadays...I don't think anyone's been immune to that.)

This year was the first at the Anatole, and I have to say that it was a big step-up from the previous location. The AC was consistently on & never broke down, there were little to no escalators to break down, and the con itself was spread out enough to were it didn't ALWAYS feel like you were squished up against someone against your will. (Unless you were waiting in line for your badge...ugh. I really hope they can find a solution to that, because all those people crammed into a narrow hallway was not very pleasant.) They obviously still have some bugs to work out, but so far, I like this new location A LOT better. (Also the fact that there's more food options--FOOD TRUCKS!--was a welcome change.) I was also happy that the dealer's room has WAY more space...so much easier to move around the cosplayers who insist on doing their shopping in very large and elaborate costumes.

[gaijinpunch]

Shivers down my spine... any time I see stuff from Dallas in the early/mid 90's. Only went to A-kon 3 (and I think 4) but went to a ton of mini-con's and partook in the VCR daisy chain assembly line. Haha.