When I last left "Rank em Week: Anime conventions" the rankings looked like this:
6th: Metrocon
5th: Megacon
4th: Exp con
3rd: Ichibacon
2nd: Anime Weekend Atlanta
1st: Animazement.
Care to take any guesses as to where Kira Kira con landed? Stay tuned and find out.
Kira Kira con was held in Charlotte, NC at the University of Charlotte *UNCC for short*. It was a 2 day con that lasted from March 3rd-4th. Small even on the scale of small cons, this con suffered from several issues outside of its control. And the results showed. But despite the major setbacks, the staff were not only relatively professional and organized, they made the best of their situation.
Trip: Uneventful to say the least. It was easy going for the most part. No unexpected stops. Well until I got to Charlotte anyways. I tried to be ninja-esque like my friend Grace and back road around I-85's awful traffic. That backfired so miserably that I will never ever try it again. Though I blame my Tom Tom for absolutely refusing to re-route through the backroads.
Hotel: This was a very awkward con to get a hotel. March Madness unfortunately fell on this weekend and the closest hotel I could get to the con was a Wingate 6 miles away. Not that I minded too much. It was very cheap. But even this hotel was packed with immature basketball fans who apparently had nothing better to do at 5 am in the morning than to knock on everyone's door and wake them up.
Now Kira Kira con was meant to be a small con. But remember how I mentioned that basketball tournament just a second ago? That, combined with Kira Kira con being scheduled during UNCC's spring break + an outbreak of tornadoes the day before the con + Saturday's terribad weather, caused Kira Kira con's attendance to sour. Saturday's attendance never even broke 200 people. Sunday probably saw less than 100. And its saddening, considering that 2011's Kira Kira con was said to have had up to 500 people. But once again, there were just things beyond the control of the Kira Kira con staff and they made the best out of a shitty situation.
The lolitas once again showed up in force, with much of the Charlotte community coming out to support the con. Several out of town lolitas *myself included* also showed up for the con. And though I did not show up to any of the panels *lolita ones included* it was a lot of fun getting to see everyone again in their con best. Here are just some of the pictures taken at Kira Kira con
My day 1 coordinate, Aqua Princess OTT
Jsk + Choker: AP's Aqua Princess
Blouse: In the Starlight
Socks: Bodyline
Shoes: Bodyline
Tiara: handmade by yours truly
Rings: Random jewelry mall booths
Bracelets: Random jewelry mall booths (left hand); Savannah jewelry market booth (right hand)
Mini stars hanging off tiara: handmade by Grace valentine
My outfit day 2, Rainbow Dash inspired lolita
Jsk: bodyline
Wig: GLW
Blouse: bodyline
Socks: sock dreams
Shoes: bodyline
Ms. Grace Valentine in her awesome Decoration Dream coord
Ms. Jessica Jones, fellow brolita ^_^
Ms. Mary and her too awesome bonnet
More pink than you have room for >;)
Staff member lolita :)
O yea. Great scene :p I have actually been inspired to now modify a skirt to represent a Mario scene(s)
O yea. So I got some much needed experience "running" a panel. Walking into the Para Para panel, we finished the Love and Joy dance rather quickly and had time for another. So I did a super quick re-learn of Cirno's Perfect Math Class and taught everyone the 2 minute version of the song. And despite my terrible teaching tactics, this helped me gain some MAJOR experience points for the brolita panel I will do sometime in the near or far future.
The dealer's room was probably the smallest I had encountered so far but definitely somehow had enough things that made me buy more than I usually do
Shown here are 2 rainbow rings, pink butterfly ring, a rainbow-ish bracelet, a pink tomo bag, and my lovely rainbow tail you see me wearing for my Rainbow dash inspired lolita.
So this wraps up my say on Kira Kira con. To summarize, it was a good con plagued by several issues that came together to nearly bring it down. But good organization and professionalism helped this con stay afloat. And from what I have heard, they have begun planning for next year's con. So its good to hear that they were not discouraged from this year's fluke.
But now to the not-so-almighty rankings. How did Kira Kira con fair?
7th: Metrocon
6th: Megacon
5th: Exp Con
4th: Ichibacon
3rd: Kira kira con
2nd: Awa
1st: Animazement
There you have it, Kira Kira con against all odds breaking into a top 3 spot. Once again I would like to thank the staff for staying positive and providing everyone with a great small con experience.
You look so adorable in your aqua princess coord! >w< and the rainbow dash one looks so fun! And miss Jessica looked really pretty too : ) if only the skirt had a little more poof...XD
ReplyDeleteI've never been to US con, so I don't have much to say about that XD but it was awesome the staff were so professional.
It looks and sounds like it was so much fun!! It's amazing how the professionalism of staff members can so heavily influence an event's outcome. Everything can always be traced back to its foundation~.
ReplyDeleteI need those sprite thingies. Especially the Mario-related ones. I am a HUGE Nintendo fangirl.
Once you start going to all these cons, you begin seeing the small things staff do *or did* to make things happen. Metrocon is a prime example of staff making a potentially good con shitty. Same with Ichibacon.
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