July 14 2012
Over the years we’ve heard of ConnectiCon but weren’t sure of what it was really about. Its been around for years and this year happened to be the 10th year anniversary. So we definitely wanted to take a day to visit what it had to offer. Coming from NYC where we are based from it was accessible by public transportation which was a huge plus. The event was located in the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford which is a fairly new facility and since its opening has housed the con. And as billed on their website, it’s a massively multi-genre convention. So lets see what we were able to see what ConnectiCon had to offer.
From previous attendees we ran across over the years the one thing they mentioned is if you like games, this was the place to go. We weren’t sure to make of it until we entered the first large event space on the lower floors. As you walked in you were greeted with a massive setup of tables dedicated for tabletop gaming boards. In the back they had a bunch of smaller partitioned booths for group games such as RPG’s or private games. They also had plenty of tournaments you could signup for the chance to win prizes. So gaming is a definite anchor to this convention. As they had games ranging from massive board setups using models down to RPG’s using paper and pencil.
On the other side there was a dealers room and a coat check run by the convention, along with a video game section. The dealer’s section kind of confusing as their artist’s colony was mixed in with it, we also heard they managed to run out of dealer’s booths or artist space to sell. For a convention this large and with that much available space.
Also on the first floor there was the registration area. When we got there in the morning it was empty. Which was strange in our eyes as its usually packed in the morning at other cons. But later on in the afternoon the line picked up and it snaked around. This convention used computerized on-site registration which seemed to work well, people were sent to a computer to fill out their information and then proceeded to the next step which kept everything quick.
The top floor of the convention was for their main events room with panels and workshop rooms to the sides. The panels ranged from being packed to capacity to almost empty workshops, which is typical for any convention. One thing I did notice though was at times the staff was very active at checking on panels to make sure they weren’t overcrowded. They didn’t allow anyone to stand in the back if the room was out of seating. Their main events however still needs some planning on how to handle the crowds. While main events room is setup well with the stage, prior to a major event the lines started to spill into the panel room halls causing a traffic jams where the staff tried to keep it in order.
As we were only there for Saturday. We only got a couple of panels to attend. In the morning we attended “Genre Wars – Anime Versus Science Fiction”, it was an audience participation panel. The panel was setup like a game show where contestants were given points on performance by the Judge panel. To add to the fun each of the contestants was read a back-story by the MC that told the two contestants the character’s bio and the situation. Then the contestants had to improv their way in order to score points for one side to win. They also had a fun gimmick where they had an electric shocker where contestants had to grab a handle and not let go as it shocked them. Overall this panel was a fun panel run by fans.
Another packed panel was the Lolita 101 panel. So they meant by multi-genere, they really meant it. This panel just did a general overview of what Lolita fashion was and went over the basics of the different kinds of styles that encompassed the fashion. The presenters then went into detail of where to buy and what to get clothes and accessories. Then they opened up the floor to a general Q&A session. The crowd really did like the panel and there was quite a bit of interest with people not already in Lolita fashion asking the questions.
Aside from the convention center, ConnectiCon also used part of the Hotel, however it wasn’t that obvious by the signage and as it was mostly used for video viewing we didn’t visit that area. Due to time constraints on our part, the rest of our time was used to take photos of the cosplay the attendees wore. You can see those in the photo gallery.
Being ConnectiCon’s 10th year, this convention has amassed a huge following. They estimated they would have 10,000 people in attendance over the weekend. Though with all the people at the convention on Saturday, it didn’t seem to be that crowded with all the open space. We did notice that there wasn’t too many staff members or volunteers visible in the hallways, but they hired external event security to supplement crowd control. We hope this isn’t just because of age and that the convention actively branch out to get new staff and volunteers into their organization. The crowd attending also was very mixed, you had gaming, sci-fi, fantasy, and anime fans all in one convention. Unlike other conventions that other genre’s just show up, they mixed the programming well enough so everyone was happy in our opinion. Also there were a few young families that attended with their kids, which was nice for being a large attended convention at they had space to move around.
As conpics.ws is New York City based, for us this convention isn’t that far away. In some ways its similar to I-con, but in our opinion even though its three hours away rather than two, ConnectiCon seem to be more convenient to get to. What’s also great about the organization behind the convention is they have monthly free events they call their Members Appreciation Day, visit their website www.connecticon.org for more information. So while the convention is over, they still create oportuntities to connect with the attendees. In all, this convention is definitely one should visit for more than one day, and mark your calendars for next year as they already have the dates for the next ConnectiCon July 12-14 2013. We hope next year that we’ll be able to stay overnight and schedule more time to this convention.
