>Can this be a Florida con/cosplayer/dramu thread?
>dramu thread

Except there's really not any dramu aside from the same stories two or three people keep bringing up from years ago.

Florida cons are packed to the brim with underage weebs, and all the cons fight with each other and end up with many mediocre blah cons instead of working together and having a few really great cons.

Also cosplaying down here is no fun because its always balls hot.

>>5208443
True. You have to either pick really simple, light cosplays, or only do it for the 1 or 2 cons that aren't in summer.

Well the weather down here is completely awful. As for good conventions, i find myself avoiding Metro(a huge one IN Tampa) and going towards AFO and Dragon*Con. I'm sure there are oher good cons, but i hate weebs enough to avoid them unless friend visiting is involved. Not sure about the drama part, i don't practice such nonsense. ;P

florida cons ey?

Anyone remember this Gem?

Was part of the staff that started it up, left the company after the first con. 4 days without sleeping, without pay, and the most drama i have ever experienced at a convention ever, and strangely some really good costumes too.

Well, hope you are okay with an 10 month summer. It is constantly hot, humid and just pain nasty outside. Because most florida cons have smaller venues, crowding is a big problem. Cosplay itself is okay, you have a handful of some pretty impressive cosplayers but unfortunately you will find that about 75% of the con goers here are 13 and under.... major boner kill. Metrocon that is in Tampa used to be a really fun, well organized con with lots of activities, guest and things to get your monies worth out of. Now it's just god awful. To be quite honest the only cons really worth going to are Megacon (because it's megacon, it can do no wrong) and Supercon (Mainly because of guests and amazing cash prizes for it's contests) Have fun! Honestly, this state has it's drama's but it's always the same people... and it's really nothing amazing to talk about. Outside of butt hurt sandy vaginas that come on here to talk about "OMG SHE IS SO FAT!" or "WHY DID THEY WIN?? WAAAHHH"

A friend of mine swears by EXP-con. i haven't been there yet but i hear good things about it. [ Jim Beardsly for the win]

I had gone to AFO starting with AFO1 and just about every year after that until 2005, after that i was out of state and have only been to one since then. It felt a little alien not recognizing most of the costumes or groups. A much younger crowd attending than even when i started going to cons. either way I think the huge number of individual conventions in florida says something about the sheer size of the fanbase here.

>>5211346
EXP con is pretty good from what I hear. I too have yet to go, that drive is just too crazy from where I am. AFO though.... man has that gone down the shitter. It's just not any fun anymore. Honestly, I go to see friends and get piss drunk. I don't see the need in buying a badge since it's just a plain waste. This year was annoying with the anal retentive staff constantly bombarding everyone to see there badge. Most cosplayers don't wear them because they ruin pictures. I heard a few staff members get pissy with some cosplayers and demanded them to wear them or else they would get thrown out. Bunch of crap. I also heard alot of cosplayers this years did not participate in the costume contest because they where told they came too late to sign up saturday morning and that they couldn't enter.... that made alot of people mad since many drove up that very day.

Lots of small cons, and probably around 70% of the attendees are underage.

I would say the best con is Megacon, since it's a comic con the people that go tend to be older. Metrocon is worth it since you'll be in the area I guess. Florida has a TON of conventions for the most random stuff (horrorcons, fandomcons, scifi, fantasy, etc)

Other than that, if you plan to cosplay, pick light cosplays unless you want to die of heat stroke. No drama realloy, other than the udneragefags/attentionwhores that ever state has (eg; cosplaydeviants is based here so you have all of them in and around Florida)

>>5211372

Yeah, that con has had some really shitty staff issues ever since they went to the wyndam. Pushy volunteers and the badge prices get silly, whenever i go i take my Press badges from the previous AFO's and other conventions and normally get a free press pass for the weekend. it is amazing what you can do with a good professional camera, custom made business cards and a few good lines.

The main thing that made me stop going to AWO was the new crowd, if there was an extreme of "those fans" it crawled out of the swamps of florida to attend AWO. and the costume contest registration always seemed to fill up with the same 5 people that are friends of the staff and win every year, then 150 really shitty naruto costumes or whatever is popular that moment.

>>5211346
I remember AFO 1, i spent the con wandering around in a spike spiegal costume with my hair done up into a huge fro. it took days to get that out, the next year there was a parade of spikes.

everyone seems to end up in the same costumes each year.

Yeah AFO is pretty shitty. It's way too overpriced to get a badge. If you go, I'd honestly just go to cosplay and not buy a badge. You only need the badge to go in the dealer's room or panels and those are shit.

That being said, Megacon is way better and there will be better cosplays there.

The AFO rave is also terrible.

>>5211480

Raves at florida cons are terrible. That's about as good as it gets. If anyone tells you otherwise, keep in mind your just in a room with smelly kids who are all in their select corners doing the same hand motion over and over again.

And another thing you may notice. Every time a contest ends you will get rage on con threads. No one is ever happy with who wins contests, but that's probably just the game. What's unique to our state is that we get the usual complaints of "the same people always win meaaahhhh" Yeah it's true, the same people do tend to win every time. But when asked, no one can really say who SHOULD HAVE won instead of said people. I'm sorry, but your original neko neko cat girl naruto character isn't going to beat someone with an elaborately beaded dress or suit of armor. It's not because they know the judges. It's because florida's competition are completely the opposite of fierce.

>>5211432 AFO's and other conventions and normally get a free press pass for the weekend. it is amazing what you can do with a good professional camera, custom made business cards and a few good lines.


Staffer here. I'll be letting them know to research every press badge from now on.
So get your fake site ready cause you are going to have to work for that badge now. Go on, you have months to do it.

>>5211603
Still not very hard to get into your con without a badge though. NOTGONLIE.

>>5211620

I'm actually fine with that.

It's not as if you've got to have a badge to BE there. If you're not interested in the dealer's room, panels, contests, etc, then a badge is a HUGE waste of money.

>>5211372
>>5211432
>>5211476
>>5211480
>>5211670

For every person that says "So and So con is different/has gone downhill/used to be so fun/I only go for my friends and don't buy a badge cause I don't go in the rooms anymore"

Welcome to growing up. Once you go to 5 yrs of cons and realize it's the same thing over and over well no shit you now only go for friends or to get drunk.
That's what people said years before you only you didn't notice cause you were 13 and at your first con and omgitwassomuchfun.

>>5211603
Yeah they have been "researching press badges" for a long time now, and i still get in with my own Every fucking time i go there. Hell I got into the industry/press day at the tokyo game show like this.

One email ahead of time is all it has ever taken to register and get a press pass and even the times i didn't get to do that I still managed to talk my way in. It also helps that for a good number of years i did work in a press outlet.

>>5211711
Started going to these cons well after the point i could legally get hammered with my friends. they really have deteriorated or become stagnant over the years.

There are only so many times you can hear the same stable of VA's answer the same questions or sit in on story time with Steve Bennett before you start looking for something new.

>>5211745

I am press for a few cons...
Even if you do get in, thanks for making it harder for everyone else dick.
That's pretty much how the world runs anyways. Everyone is nice, then someone has to lie about something so now they have to make sure everyone's not lying.

>>5211711
That's cool except I didn't say anything like that in my post so I don't know why you've quoted me...

>>5211670

Still I've heard other cons outside of Florida trump ours. I've never been to one out of Florida, but I wouldn't mind a change of scenery for once.

>>5211711
I ain't even mad anon. I had way more fun when I was in high school at a con by far

What cons are good in North America? I've been meaning to go to something outside of Florida, but I want to do some research before spending all of that travel money.

>>5211898
AWA is a good start. Decent hotel, pretty good crowd, and depending on your location it is a at most 9 hour road trip (from palm beach county or lauterdale) get a couple friends and make a little trip to atlanta.

>>5211898
They're awesome! My favorite has got to be ACen in Chicago. Ohayocon and AWA are both pretty rad, too.

>>5211914
I second the AWA post. Con is a blast every year. I have also heard great things about Anime Central, Anime Boston, and Otakon. From what I've heard that are all way bigger then any Florida venue can produce. Also Dragoncon, but you don't go to Dragoncon to cosplay.... you go to actually be at the con

>>5211432

>the costume contest registration always seemed to fill up with the same 5 people that are friends of the staff and win every year

Judges, participants, coordinators and staff are and will always be a revolving door. The alternative is the have staff hold zero respect for cosplayers at all, and just have media guests or unqualified staff judge, or worse, simply make it an applause-based contest.

In the many years I have watched costume contest aftermath, people complain about familiar faces but never point out who specifically should have won. This leads me to believe the complainers are contestants who did not win, or more likely, friends of friends or random audience members who don't understand how contests work.

>>5208316
Con drama itself is virtually nonexistent, except for the inevitabilities of a young fanbase: run of the mill weaboos, people who don't shower, worshippers of the cartoon network flavor of the week, and all the things you know to expect already.

The drama is primarily confined to 4chan, so don't expect any fireworks at the con itself.

>>5211947
Most certainly. Everyone in this state that tends to cause drama never dares to bring it up or confront anybody at the con itself. Everything is done via internet. Unfortunately people can be very fake to your face and slander your name all over the internet behind your back. But this is nothing new. CGL threads that revolve around a con's contest tend to be a cluster fuck of "Well this person" this crap. Even worse is when people who win in contests constantly make a big stink when they don't get a higher award.... in which that is when trolling is very appropriate.

bumpuuu for moar debates