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Akiko's
Connecticon 2003 Con Report

Adventures in the Dealer's Room

Connecticon is a small local con in its first year. It is a multi-genre con, so we got to hang out with storm-troopers, photograph Jedi, and see Anime cosplayers, including a stunning Belldandy whose wings actually folded and unfolded.

Li and I went the generic costume route for this convention. The first day, I wore my china dress and she wore the Yukata we finished that morning. Friday night we finished my Yukata and both wore them on Saturday. Sunday we did the neko-girl thing, with Li as her original tiger-girl Audrey (from her story "Animal Half"), and I went as a generic domestic cat schoolgirl (with actual cat-eyes).

For Li and I it was convenient as it is close to our hometowns, so we could skip hotel costs. Li Izumi and I went to Connecticon to work - Li for her comic book shop Comicopia and me at an Art Table in the dealer's room. As a result, we spent most of our time (okay, all our time) in the dealer's room.

For us, the con started Thursday night. We met Matt, one of the con organizers as we unloaded and settled in the Dealer's room. The chance to talk with the con organizers was actually one of the coolest parts of this convention, and was not limited to the Connecticon organizers. I got a chance to talk with the leaders of Anime Boston and Bakaretsukon, and get a sense of the inner workings of these conventions.

As it was the first year of this convention, the schedule was flexible - the opening of the Dealer's room was postponed until Noon on Friday, to allow a couple additional dealers a chance to set up. For those of us who had gotten there between 7 and 9 when the room was originally set to open, there was little to do but hang out with each other until the room finally opened. For the artists, this was a chance to really get to know each other, and made for what was probably the greatest aspect of the convention. There was a large webcomic contingent, including Shawn from Staccato and Mookie of Dominic Deegan. We bought each other lunch (thank you so much Eric!) shared muffins and brownies (thank you Mookie!) and chatted about other Cons. By the end of the weekend, Sarah, Li and Mookie had plans to carpool down to Otakon together, and I had bought one of Andrea's paintings.

Connecticon is a small local convention (as I said before) which, in Connecticut, meant it was attracted a different audience than we've seen at other cons. The audience seemed younger overall, and there were more families. We even ran into one of our teachers from High School, who had brought his daughter to the convention!

Perhaps as a result of the slightly younger audience, one of my drawings ended up being much more controversial than I realized it would be when I drew it. I am somewhat active in the world of Harry Potter Fanfiction. So I drew a picture of Draco hugging Harry for those in the fanfiction fandom. However, this picture drew double takes, and more comments than anything else I've ever drawn, including several pronouncements that it was "just wrong". Thankfully, a member of the fandom who wrote fanfiction stopped by on Sunday, and took the piece home with her.