Con Report: Arisia 2013
This past weekend the Nerd Caliber team hit up Arisia 2013 to see what New England’s most diverse Science Fiction Convention had to offer. You can read my extensive review below, but a long story made short, we were not disappointed!
The Westin Boston Waterfront was a beautiful hotel in which to hold a convention. It’s upscale design and open layout prevented many a-boring cosplay photo by providing interesting, varied, and well-lit backdrops for the convention photographers. The hotel was also a manageable size to tackle even in the toughest heels. The convention was spread out enough so that one never felt trapped in a crowd, but contained enough so that any destination was mere minutes away on foot. The hotel staff stayed very much out of the way and hidden, except for the occasional bar server, peering out into the hallways to catch a glimpse of the cosplayers passing by.
With easy access from the silver or red MBTA line, and ample parking options in the area, the Westin can be accessed in under an hour from anywhere in the Boston metro area. The neighborhood is also a good one, filled with great local restaurants.
The convention staffers were all an absolute delight to work with. We found little to no line at the registration desk, even at the height of the festivities on Saturday morning. The staff whisked us through the lines and quickly put us in touch with one of the several press liaisons on hand. As press, we were given a full rundown of common sense convention rules and policies, followed by a guided tour of the “green room,” con suite, vendors area, and panel hallways. Every staff member that we encountered, even the grumpy ones, were attentive and helpful. Most of them seemed to be in pretty good spirits as well; if they were at all tired, as I am sure some of them were, they did not let it show. It honestly looked like a fun convention to volunteer for, if you or someone you know is looking for a free badge for next year, you may want to keep it in mind. They have set-up and breakdown volunteer options as well so you don’t even have to miss any of the convention itself!
One of my favorite parts of Arisia 2013, and I have several favorite parts, was the shopping. I pay special attention to the venders areas when I attend conventions, partly because I am a crafts person myself, but mostly because I really love shopping, and I’ve seen just about every nerd-oriented product out there. I am happy to report that Arisia had plenty of things that I have never seen before. Where the other big conventions in New England have big name booths selling generic made in china key chains, Arisia had a room filed with artisans and dedicated crafters with handmade, lovingly constructed treasures. There were fewer series-specific items, and a lot more all-purpose costume wear and accessories. Everything from bumper stickers to sex toys were offered, but the majority of the room seemed to be geared towards unique wearable wares.
Arisia did not have a separate artists alley. There were a few two-dimensional artists in the vendors area, but the majority of the flat work was hung in the conventions extensive and well advertised art show. Other conventions that I frequent often have their art show hidden in some obscure corner of their venue. They are poorly advertised and sometimes not even juried. Fortunately, for a change, Arisia gave its artists prime real estate, and hyped up the show with work from special guest artist and illustrator, Roger Dean. The internationally recognized fantasy landscape painter and album artist for the bands Asia and Yes, made several appearances at the convention. My teammate Kelley and I were fortunate enough to actually gain access to a closed, private, guided tour of Dean’s work, led by the man himself. Dean led a group of ten or so hardcore fans through a small exhibition of his work, stopping at each one to talk about his process, inspiration, and the impact of this work. He also had a few very bold words about the fine art world, and the value (or lack thereof) a fine art degree. For more, be sure to check out Kelley’s spot light article on Roger Dean.
My other favorite part of the convention was the FREE FOOD. That’s right. The convention offered free food. For all attendees. For free. The con suite, located right next to the vendor room, had a buffet style table of light refreshments all day long. Everything from chips and cheese to yogurt and bagel bights. And there was hardly even a line to wait in. These free snacks seemed to really boost moral at the convention. One common con problem is people get so caught up in the excitement of the day that they forget to pay attention to their bodies, after hours without food, drink, or bathroom breaks, people start to get sleepy, grumpy, and ready to head for the exits. Or worse, fatigued convention attendees start sitting on the floor, blocking the hallways and blocking traffic flow. We had a chance to interview one of the volunteers working the food station, and he also seemed to think that having food for all attendees really enhanced everyone’s con-going experience. This is something that other conventions should take notice of.
The Cosplay at the convention was sparse at best, likely because the con was made up of a much older crowd than what I was used to. It was refreshing actually, as an adult, to attend a convention where I wasn’t older than half of the people there. Though I didn’t get the chance to attend the Masquerade, and cannot comment fully on the caliber of Cosplay at Arisia, I will say that what I saw in the hallway ranged from tastefully simple, to lavish and dazzling feats of patience, skill, and imagination. The least of the cosplay was still modest and sturdily fashioned; perhaps the winter had something to do with it, but this convention fortunately did not feature any costume malfunctions waiting to happen, messy costumes, or threw-it-together-the-night-before costumes. The best of the cosplay featured intricate steam punks, decorated in sparkling embroidery, metal findings, tubes, and gadgets. There were also some fantastic skirts to be seen–large floating ball-gowns under tiny corseted waists, and long and elegant trains sweeping the con floors. If you want quality over quantity when it comes to cosplay, Arisia is a good place to start. There wasn’t all that much to look at, but what was available were the products of many years of experience.
Overall, I would call Arisia 2013 a huge success. The small things really made a difference at this convention like the coat check and the totally non-existent lines made our whole day more convenient. The panels that we attended ranged from boring to incredibly helpful and informative, but they were all well-structured, well-lit, and again, had no lines. The program had a ton of different things to offer at any given time whether you’re into art, steampunk, crafting, gaming, reading, writing, history or even sociology. I’ve been an adult for too many years now, but Arisia was possibly first convention to make me feel like an adult nerd–and make me feel like that was okay and that there was a place for me in nerd culture as a responsible grown-up woman. You don’t have to stop going to conventions just because you’ve grown out of your super hero pajamas; you may just be looking at different conventions to cater to your more mature tastes. Arisia took away the squealing fan girls, they took away the loitering crowds of unsupervised children in the hallways, they took away the piles of toys and gimmicks in the vending area, they removed the drama, and the hassle from convention going, really, and left us with something great!
I highly recommend keeping an eye on their website, and pre-registering for next year.
Also, be sure to look out for our video coverage of Arisia 2013, coming soon….
Photos by Red Zebra Photography
