Youmacon 2013 – Double-Con Weekend

This must be the quickest follow-up con post I’m doing so far, photos have all been edited and posted in the gallery if you must see. But I also have things to say.

This marks my 3^rd year Youmacon, probably the best one yet, it was more organized and had some interesting panels (which I sadly didn’t get a chance to check-out) then previous years. I was mainly busy with my usual photoshoots and video-shooting for the con, but I’ll probably cook something up with the vids later on…

Rave Dance was full of energy!

Once again, Youmacon was using the GM building and the COBO con center, with events more or less divided evenly between the two spots. I enjoyed both venues, especially with the new open area at the COBO building, really fantastic and grand. There is one issue that pops up in my mind though, with the convention taking place at these two different venues, it almost seems like there’s two different conventions happening. The venues are close to each, but still far, especially in cold and rainy weather. The people-mover train helps for sure (great idea for weekend passes for it!), but I’m almost hoping the convention takes place exclusively at the COBO building. I’m not certain what percentage of the building is being used, but can say it’s an excursion to get from one place to the other, I believe it’s still a transition from building to the other at this point.

There was plenty of great costumes to see this year, lots of creative takes like the long pony thing from Adventure Time, a guy who had this 2 meter-tall turban hat, another man had this wooden musical box which he played music out of, from rotating paper rolls! Friday was my busy day with mostly video shooting, hung out at the J-pop dance around midnight for a bit. I met up with some folks throughout the day including the dance, though not too many Canadians showed up this year, I still had a blast with the Americans, now if I only didn’t have so much trouble with remembering people’s names!

This group of Attack on Titan cosplayers were too cute!

I watched a part of the Steam-powered Giraffe band perform and have to say they are quite entertaining, very good showmanship and I love their make-up design! Check them out if you get a chance to.

Security at the GM building, once again, gave photographers hassle for one thing or another. Sometimes you can shoot here, other times not, sometimes “pro” equipment, other times not, tripods (including light stands) also sometimes not acceptable. GM at this point is doing more harm to their image then anything else. If they don’t, they need to start understanding nobody is going to be using the out-of-focus wall behind the cosplay model in a commercial way, we’re here to get good-looking shots and make the place look good.

As I mentioned I didn’t get a chance to check out much programming but can say the list looked pretty decent, hopefully I can make more time next year to check out some panels. The dealer’s room was also arranged better this year with dealers on the left side and artists on the right side, a good way to split the groups. I didn’t get a chance to purchase anything as I was busy getting footage and had no way to carry it.

One of the many Halo Spartan/ODST variations at the con!

On Sunday I woke up a bit later and realized I had to head-down quickly. Little did I remember from all my Sunday mornings in con hotel experiences, the elevators are always full and it takes forever to get down. So what did I do when I arrived at the elevator on my floor with my luggage and saw 8 other people waiting to get down? I obviously took the stairs… from the 55^th floor!

The drive down and up from Detroit was a lonely one, I’m not used to driving by myself to and from cons : ( Border-crossing was a breeze. I love that Youmacon is right at the border, helps retain my Rogers cell signal (sometimes) and roaming charges! : )

If you haven’t, go check out the photo gallery to see what you didn’t see at Youmacon 2013

Mike