I had the privilege of attending the LA Cosplay Con this past Saturday and despite being a bit of a smaller con it proved to be loads of fun. Located in the Hyatt Century Plaza, the one day event boasted several panels geared primarily towards those wishing to learn more about cosplay. Whether you were a novice or just trying to add new tricks to your arsenal the organizers gathered some of the more prominent and experienced figures in LA cosplay scene to share their experience. Also present were several YouTubers who had booths on the exhibition floor to meet up with their fans. Not to mention all of them were grouped together for a panel to help those trying to start or promote a YouTube video channel. Of the panels this was easily the most entertaining and definitely my favorite. The panelists were very sincere and charming as they shared advice with their young fans, definitely a testament to how the panelists have been able to achieve the success they have.
The exhibit floor had an eclectic array of vendors selling mostly props and artwork as well as some voice actors, such as Kyle Herbert, present. The aforementioned YouTubers were present and definitely had some high foot traffic at their tables. Dave and Buster’s had a booth as well where I won a bouncy ball, I was so close to scoring a free game card but you can’t win them all I suppose. There was even a bar on the first floor where one could obtain adult beverages, if you’re into that sort of thing. Had I not been going to work later in the day I easily would have made a detour stop there. Then of course was the inflatable jousting area which I feel did not get enough love that day. It’s a freaking inflatable jousting area! There should have been a massive queue of people ready to knock the crap out of each other American Gladiators style but during my time at the con I only saw two toddlers making use of it. At the very least the two younglings were dressed as the Hulk and Iron man. I assume there is some kind of vine video of this fight out on the internet as I am typing this.
My one major qualm was definitely the lack of signage present. The Hyatt is a fairly large venue with multiple events going and thus it was easy to get lost trying to find the event. Thankfully I just followed the trail of nerds and eventually found my way to all the action . However, I may or may not have interrupted someone’s wedding while in the midst of my search.
While I didn’t get to partake in as much of the con as I wanted due to work I still had an amazing time. I would definitely go again in a heartbeat and would make sure to block off the entire day to take it all in. I’m still kicking myself for missing the dance party that took place in the evening as well as the cosplay contest; especially the latter given the amount of incredible cosplays I saw throughout the day. The con has a lot of potential and I could easily see it growing into exponentially over time. So if you didn’t go this year make sure you go in 2016!