Awesome Con Less Awesome In Face of Competition
What do you get when Wizard World Philly, ColossalCon, Fan Expo Dallas and A-Kon are all the same weekend as Awesome Con? Well, unfortunately you get a not-so-awesome con, at least as far as attendance is concerned.
Awesome Con 2016 was a bit underwhelming. After attending in 2015 as well as this year, I got to see the significant difference and the consequences when you have at least five major conventions in the same weekend.
Cosplay Rating 2/5
The cosplay turnout this year for Awesome Con was definitely lagging. While there were some amazing and well thought out cosplays, overall this area fell short. One might ask if it was the hot weather that deterred con goers from going all out while some that I asked had said they decided to attend last minute so cosplaying was a no go. No matter what the reason, I can say that after doing a soft survey, about 50 percent to 60 percent of attendees were not in cosplay. Which is a bit odd for a Saturday.
Panel Rating 4/5
The panels this year were a favorite among many attendees I spoke to. Panels not only covered all things nerdy, some of them hit real life issues such as LGBT Responsibility in Comics and Diversity in the Cosplay Community.
Vendor Rating 5/5
The best part of Awesome Con this year was the artist alley! Many local Washington, DC artists rallied and had some amazing work to show for it. I saw very diverse artists which usually they are at all cons but DC-area artists brought something new to the table. I got the inside scoop from local artist Tony Dortch on his comic series, The Pure. More on that to come later.
Celebrity Rating 3/5
While Awesome Con brought in some notable celebs this year, the clash of ColossalCon and Wizard World Philly definitely took the upper hand. Many people would love to see stars in appearance at Awesone Con, like Adam West (Batman), Karl Urban (Lord of the Rings), and Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter), however others may fancy seeing WW Philly guests Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Hiddleston (all from The Avengers) just a bit more.
All in all Awesome Con this year had awesome things about it but just wasn’t the same as previous. My advice would be to check in with other cons so schedules don’t clash. No fan out there will ever blame you for making it easier to be able to go to every con. But five (or more) in one weekend is a bit much, no?
(Ed. note: Feature photo above is from Flickr user S Pakhrin, via Creative Commons license. Image only modified to resize to web requirements.)
