Ranking Triad Anime Con

So this past weekend, I embarked on a journey to the area known as the Triad of NC. It was here that a first time con, Triad Anime Con, tried to make a name for itself. Lets see how it stood against my rankings.

Last time we left, here is where everything stood:

7th: Metrocon

6th: Megacon

5th: Exp Con

4th: Ichibacon

3rd: Kira kira con

2nd: Awa

1st: Animazement

Metrocon is still rocking that dead last status, preceded by Megacon and EXP con. Ichibacon comes in at 4th, tailing Kira Kira con.  Taking the top two slots are the power houses of this list, Anime Weekend Atlanta and Animazement.

Disclaimer: These are merely opinions based on my experiences and my expectations for a con.

BE WARNED! MANY, MANY PHOTOS AHEAD!

Triad Anime Con was held in Winston Salem, NC. Part of the NC Triangle, this was Winston's first convention. It was a 3 day convention held from April 6th - April 8th, 2012. A smaller convention than most, this con showed much signs of promise and it really delivered in some aspects. But in others, it failed rather miserably. Lets find out what I thought. 

Trip (3/10): The trip was for the most part tiring. For some ungawdly reason, my body had insisted on waking up at 6 that morning. So the drive in was a fight to stay awake and not crash and die. But that was not all.

Things got rather eventful early in my trip. Driving at my usual 76-77ish mph, I was making good time. It was then that I noticed someone was tailgating me like there was no tomorrow. I mean seriously was probably 2 cm off my rear bumper. I declined to speed up any further and continued my constant but too-slow-to-advance-for-this-guy rate past traffic. I eventually got passed the cars and the guy did his usual gung-ho lane shift and I thought that was that. Until I realized he was right next to me. I glanced over and saw him trying to shout at me. Not that I cared. I merely just looked back forward and kept driving. He then decided to not only put my life in danger but the lives of everyone around him: He purposely tried to swerve me off the road. Thank goodness I reacted so slow that I ended up doing nothing, essentially giving off the feeling that I wasn't flinching. The guy tried it again and when he realized I wasn't fazed by his attempts to 'bully' me, he drove on. 

I made a wish that he would get into an accident and die a fiery death and that I was willing to use up my luck meter to see this happen. Nothing yet, but I'll keep hoping that Death himself removes this dangerous guy off the road.

Hotel (8/10): The hotel's driving point was the rediculously low price for this convention. At only 80ish dollars a night, this has by and far been the cheapest hotel for me to stay at so far for a convention. And the hotel definitely did not skimp on the rooms. It was very spacey and each room had a balcony. Albeit this balcony was only accessible via climbing out the window which I unfortunately did not take pictures of.

In addition I was essentially on the bottom floor. Yay for not having to deal with elevators. And my room was in relatively good position based on where other people were staying. Tiffany Grant apparently had been staying in the hotel room right across from mine. And some new friends I met were in the room next to Tiffany Grant. So it was pretty cool to be next to one of the featured guests and actually be next to people you knew in the hotel. Made transversing between the rooms much quicker and easier :P

Con (8/10):Overall I enjoyed the con. The venue though was tiny. Seriously in terms of total space, this has to be the absolute smallest con I have been to. Luckily only about 200-300 people showed up else there could have been some major traffic issues. What the size did though was make the con look rather packed, despite the low amount of people that showed up. 

I wore 4 different outfits for the con.

Here I am sporting my H. Naoto outfit, which was used to drive to the con and for the end of day 1.

Fedora: Target

Wig: GLW

Blouse: Putumayo

Cardigan: BPN

Pants: H. Naoto

Boots: Burlington Coat Factory

My day 1 outfit "Rainbow Dash inspired lolita"

Cupcake hat: Artist Alley 

Wig: GLW
Blouse: In the Starlight

Jsk: Bodyline

Socks: Sock Dreams

Shoes: Bodyline

 Day 2 outfit "Twilight Carnival"
Tiara: handmade
Hanging star accessory: Grace
Wig: GLW
Blouse: In the Starlight
Jsk: Angelic Pretty
Tomo: Grace
Socks: Bodyline
Shoes: Bodyline

Day 3 "Band of Forest Animals"
Hair accessory: Artist Alley venue
Wig: Anime Stuff Store
Blouse: In The Starlight
Jsk: Princess Pearl "Band of Forest Animals" IW replica
Tights: Hot Topic
Boots: Bodyline

I took plenty of cosplay pics and met a lot of new people

Babydoll and Kagome *I think*

Some kind of a Naruto scene

Rinoa

 You never see white mages :D

I adore cardboard cosplays

Go, Link, go!

Too much pony awesomeness

Yoko

Panels (7/10): There were several very interesting panels that I ended up going to and enjoying. The first panel I sat through was a My Little Pony video panel, basically showing several custom made videos containing MLP: FIM scenes set to various music and other stuff. 

Just 1 of the many videos shown at the panel. Lots of ROFLing

The next panel I went to was the LOL *Laugh Out Loud* Improv show. These guys basically ran a "Whose Line is It?" panel that was hilarious. They had 3 different panels, 2 of them all ages panels held Friday and Saturday night

This was just 1 of the crazy funny videos that I video recorded. Also... sry about the side view. I have no idea why I did that. But this was one of their funniest acts from Friday.

Interesting story: I actually recognized one of the host comedist as one of the members of an improv group who had been at Animazement 2011. I was very excited to confirm that Laugh Out Loud was also known as Deceptively Labeled Carpenter's Guild. Though sadly I must say DLC > LOL. 

http://aluseph.hubpages.com/hub/Animazement-2011-Saturday-Afternoon-and-Evening

A blog that talks about DLC and then mentions DLC being LOL 

 

Very dark because no one turned on the primary lights. But once again another very funny skit done Saturday night.

LOL also hosted an 18+ improv panel Friday night. This was the panel of the weekend I was looking forward to and this was a true make or break panel for Triad Anime Con. The host and hostesses smartly allowed did not allow any pictures or videos to be taken of this panel, since things were sure to get out of hand. It was only all too unfortunate that the panel was ruined by an audience intent on forcing 18+ themes, rather than letting it happen. The 18+ panel ended up being the least funniest of the 3 panels LOL hosted. And when I found out LOL = DLC, it hurt this 'score' even more, since DLC's 18+ panel was one of the best panels I had ever gone to.

Other panels I went to included a lolita panel and a League of Legends panel. Both were slightly interesting but for the most part were beginner informational panels, panels that I try to avoid since they tend to not be my cup of tea. They tend to bore me and make me fall asleep, which is rude. So I just avoid them in the first place. But I went to the lolita panel regardless to show off support for a fellow lolita.

Triad's Artist Alley was not too shabby. They had a pretty decent collection of tables who had a good variation of things to sell. Ranging from lolita accessories to custom made shirts and purses to mini top hats, there was something for most everyone at this con. *Kind of see where I'm going with this... Well you are about to find out*

 Heather sold me a pair of pink ring roses :3

 

She sold me a small compact mirror

 Just some things I bought at Artist alley

On the other hand, Triad's Dealer's Room was the worst dealer's room I have been to thus far. There was only 1 slightly amusing dealer and only because she sold Nyan cat scarfs. But because I don't particularly enjoy Nyan cat I didn't overly care for it. Everything else was the same old anime figures/manga booths that you see at every con. There was really no variety and I spent a grand total of < 10 mins in that dealers room, by and far the least amount of time I have ever spent in a dealer's room.

*Insert pic of nothingness here*

This is what I bought from Dealer's room..... O wait, that's right. I didn't actually buy anything from them. What a shame.

So rather than spend money on swag I blew all my money on food XD Delicious food that included visits to Mellow Mushroom, International House of Pancakes, and Ollie's Bakery. The very latter was my personal favorite and here are some dishes I ordered from them. 

 Strawberry shortcake

 Raspberry deliciousness

Of course, Triad Anime con became more than just a con. It was a time for seeing friends all over again and making new friends. 

Grace, Jessica, and I posing

Jessica and I doing more posing

Jess and I huggle-ing. Tomos getting in on the action too :D

 Grace and I having a huggles pic

Grace let me dress her up ^_^

Joshua and Christina, whom I met through Jessica

Dressed up Christina :3

And of course, saving the best for last were the lolitas of NC who showed up to support the con.

That ends my con spiel in a nutshell. To recap: The con was rather enjoyable, hosting various interesting panels that captured my interest. The artist alley was 200x better than the Dealer's room. I met a lot of new people and made some new friends. The hotel was awesome. The venue, not so much. Overall, a solid convention that has the potential to be even better next year.
 

So where did this con rank against the other 7? Lets take a looksie:

8th: Metrocon

7th: Megacon

6th: Exp Con

5th: Ichibacon

4th: Kira kira con
3rd: Triad Anime Con
2nd: AWA
1st: Animazement

And there we have it. Bumping KiraKira con down to 4th and taking over the 3rd slot, Triad anime con had shown early promises of taking the #2 slot. But a weak 18+ panel combined with a horrendous Dealer's Room derailed that notion. But Triad can take comfort knowing that I vastly enjoyed the con and that I thought quite highly of them :)

Until next time!