Con Report: PortCon 2013
Portcon 2013 was a ‘delightful year of decadence’ and delightful it was even with the threat of rain hanging heavy over southern Maine. All came out of the woodwork from far nothern Bangor and up from Massachusetts alike to Maine’s number one gathering of nerd culture. Not strictly listed as an anime convention, I have always been fond of Portcon’s inclusion of webcomics, video games, tabletop gaming, and comic books alongside their anime cousins where some conventions are not as friendly to that which has not hailed from Japanese soil. Friday seemed a little emptier than normal to begin even with reports of record pre-registration sales but the hallways of the Doubletree filled up with lively cosplayers, many of which were experiencing Portcon for their first time. Some of the shops in the Maine Mall run discount for the costumed masses, a great incentive to spend money on the local businesses and give a boost to a tourist-dependent community.
After stopping by the Ask A Homestuck panel to give some moral support to a friend, I headed to the Lolita panel. Curiosity and yet another promise of moral support brought me here and I was not at all left in the dark during this hour. The panel, run by an enthusiast of the lolita fashion and culture, was extremely informative to the facets of lolita giving beginners and the curious plenty of ideas as to the dos and donts of their unique sub-culture. I learned quite a bit from an observant’s point of view about facets of lolita I did not even know existed. Were this panel to return another year run by the same panelist, I would highly recommend it for those interested in learning about lolita. No one can deny the influence of the Internet on the anime convention culture.
Tumblr bloggers involved in the role-playing community are likely familiar with Cards Against Humanity and its risque, often politically incorrect adult-themed humor. Restricted to an eighteen-plus crowd, the Cards Against Humanity panel was perhaps the event I enjoyed most over the weekend even if I was unable to stay through the whole thing. A cousin card-game of Apples to Apples, a black card depicting a saying or situation such as “It’s a shame kids these days are all getting involved with _____” is chosen and then the other players play their white cards with nouns and other quirky things and one Card Czar declares the winner. I can only hope it’s in a bigger room if returned next year!
While I spent some of Saturday running private photoshoots and braving my first female character costume, it was spent primarily on getting to meet attendees from all walks of life to come under this grand umbrella that unites us. One fan photographing another, playing cards together, complimenting one another and welcoming the younger crowd into the culture. The security staff did a fantastic job of ensuring all went smoothly on the busiest day of the convention. Everything slowly came to a quieter end on Sunday, the exhausted but smiling faces gathering for one last hurrah before having to return to priorities and life. I had gotten roped into my first major event during this convention as well.
Due to lack of sign-ups, the Cosplay Chess turned into the Cosplay Death Match. For those unfamiliar, two characters are brought on stage, one is chosen as the victor by the crowd and the winner “slays” their opponent until only one is left standing. It is a quirky and rather entertaining event that can bring forth amusing results like “What would Shizuo do when confronted with a Companion Cube?” or “In a fight between Rock Lee and the nation of Prussia, who would be the victor?” Improvisation is the name of the game after the winner is chosen and a great game it is.
PortCon continues to prove itself as a staple on the road map of the New England convention circuits. Despite its size, the popularity seemed to be growing especially with the younger crowd looking to dip their toes into the water of convention-going for a modest price. Veterans and older crowds are not lost here however. There is still plenty of not-family-friendly programming to go around. Just hope any rainfall holds off until after the convention!
