February 15-17, 2013

Katsucon this year was interesting painful this year. Not due to the convention itself but the venue’s management screwing up. To start off because of the Gaylord Hotel chain was bought out by Marriott all the management and systems started to transition. So a lot of attendees found that their room reservations had been lost. But being a large hotel they had space to move people around. The other major problem is they decided to book another large group the BBYO a youth leadership organization into the hotel which blocked a ton of the major arteries to foot traffic in the hotel. This caused clashed between the Katsucon and BBYO groups. So all weekend long both organizations fought with the hotel management to solve issues. Lets hope next year the hotel management is ready.

Friday had wonderful weather, everyone was outside enjoying the weather so the crowding inside was non-existent. Everyone seemed to not be bothered until the night time with the other large group. As night rolled around parts of the hotel were cut off and people weren’t sure what to do and getting frustrated. Saturday the weather wasn’t as nice so people jammed up the the halls. We went in places that nobody would of normally thought of venturing into in the hotel because there was no other place to go. The BBYO as they rented the Ballroom was gracious enough to work out a compromise with Katsucon with the Gazebo walkway allowing both groups a way to flow through that area.

Event wise we covered the WCS with photography. This year it was only a WCS qualifier round rather than the final round for who represents the US for WCS. So there were far fewer groups involved over the previous year. All the skits were kept to the strict time limits and everything went by pretty quick and orderly. Unfortunately the skits themselves looked like most of them needed more polish to them. In the end the two groups were chosen to move on to the next round. Karmaluna Cosplay won first place and the group Fox Gloves was the runner-ups. Other good things about Katsucon is how the guests they choose interact with the fans. For their autograph signing sessions we saw guest stay at the table for hours after they were scheduled for to meet as many of the fans as possible. The panel rooms were all consolidated into one area which were constantly packed so lines kept spilling out into the hallways with people lining up for them. In all Katsucon was a mixed bag for everyone attending. Some people had a great time while others were frustrated with the overcrowding and changing of rules. So until next year.