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With no apologies to Chuck Klosterman, who is a Terrible Writer.
Katsucon is the first large convention I've ever been to, and while they haven't gotten around to releasing final attendance numbers, I think it's fairly safe to say there were at least 15,000 people at the Gaylord for this year's version. Given that this year's experience was pretty much a mixed bag, I'm not sure I'll be going back next year, especially if this year's roommates insist on taking a room at National Harbor, where rates start at extortionate and finish in OMFG territory even with the convention discount. On the other hand, considering parking fees and associated overdrafts ate $200 that I had other plans for, maybe staying at the Marriott Residence across from the Gaylord might not be such a bad plan after all...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
( Would you like to know more? )
tl;dr - while there was a buttload of programming (six panel tracks, not including the three academic tracks or the kids' track or the three workshop tracks) and four enormous video rooms, not a whole lot of it was relevant to my interests, and it seemed that way too much of what I would have liked to have seen was at some God-awful hour of the morning, i.e. before noon. There was also (aside from the academic panels) not much in the way of adult programming that wasn't about sex. If I were going to be staying in the DC area past next summer, I might be motivated to get involved and change some of this, but I'm not. Going to have to think long and hard about whether I want to do this again next year, especially with the prospect of more expensive hotel space.
Katsucon is the first large convention I've ever been to, and while they haven't gotten around to releasing final attendance numbers, I think it's fairly safe to say there were at least 15,000 people at the Gaylord for this year's version. Given that this year's experience was pretty much a mixed bag, I'm not sure I'll be going back next year, especially if this year's roommates insist on taking a room at National Harbor, where rates start at extortionate and finish in OMFG territory even with the convention discount. On the other hand, considering parking fees and associated overdrafts ate $200 that I had other plans for, maybe staying at the Marriott Residence across from the Gaylord might not be such a bad plan after all...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
( Would you like to know more? )
tl;dr - while there was a buttload of programming (six panel tracks, not including the three academic tracks or the kids' track or the three workshop tracks) and four enormous video rooms, not a whole lot of it was relevant to my interests, and it seemed that way too much of what I would have liked to have seen was at some God-awful hour of the morning, i.e. before noon. There was also (aside from the academic panels) not much in the way of adult programming that wasn't about sex. If I were going to be staying in the DC area past next summer, I might be motivated to get involved and change some of this, but I'm not. Going to have to think long and hard about whether I want to do this again next year, especially with the prospect of more expensive hotel space.
