Conventions?

[takenoko]

I've got some vacation time this year, so I was thinking about hitting some conventions. Does anyone have any that they'd recommend? I see that Katsucon recently ended.

[XIII]

DragonCon seems to be a big hit with some of my friends, but that is out in Atlanta

Im only planning on two this year at the moment, London Film and ComicCon and Destination Star Trek, bit out of reach for you. I still need to do a US con at some point, maybe DragonCon if I can stop being so lazy at times

[megate]

really it depends on how much you want to spend on hotel and travel. also watch out as some cons like new york comic con sell out there tickets very fast think last year it was about an hour and they sold out.
best advice is toget on emallists for the ones you want to get info for when ticket sales are for them

[escher911]

If you're looking towards Chicago, Anime Central is the big one that we care about here. It's a decent size and has a lot of stuff going on. It's May 20th-22nd.

I've also got a lot of vacation time and have no idea what to do with it. =(

[takenoko]

I don't think I'd want to go out of the US for a convention. I guess I'll look around California first for stuff about games or Japanese culture, but if there are better ones out of state, I'd like to hear about them.

I know they're having a My Little Pony convention in SF in April, that might be a good start since it's close by.

[otakuako]

I was about to suggest Henshincon in Manila, but you mentioned you're not planning to go out of the US, so yeah...scrap that. :p

[megate]

well if your close to san diego you could always hit up the big comic con that they host every july

[takenoko]

I hear comic con is a pain because so many people go to it. Plus, I like comics okay, but they're not really my thing.

[satoru]

A-Kon is in Dallas, TX the first weekend of June

[Go-On Macaroni]

The only con I really go to is Anime Boston, mostly out of convenience given where I live.

[Slyder5597]

If you don't mind traveling, I usually find San Japan to be fun (San Antonio, TX, Labor Day Weekend) although it's not as big as Anime Expo or Akon.

[XIII]

you could go torment Verus if you went to the Texas one

[takenoko]

I'm guessing I'd probably enjoy a smaller convention anyway.

[yami0204]

I highly recommend Gen Con Indy. It's mainly a gaming convention for tabletop games, card games, board games, and anything else that ends in "game" (even video games, to a lesser extent). It's a very big convention, but it's easy to navigate despite it being a little overwhelming at first. There's a small faction of tokusatsu fans who go (myself and my brother included), and almost every fandom is represented in some way. Vendors range from small game companies trying to get off the ground to Wizards of the Coast, but there are also anime booths and card traders/sellers and foam swords for LARPing and steampunk hatters. Events are varied and have the usual events like a costume contest and panels with sci-fi/fantasy authors, and more eclectic things such as making chain mail armor for teddy bears and gemstone meditation with a witch and True Dungeon (which is D&D-like if it was an interactive puzzle game with actors and special effects and it's really amazing). And, of course, you can play a ton of games, as almost all the booths will have demos available for the games they're selling. I've been going to Gen Con for nearly 15 years at this point and I've yet to get bored of it.

[HenshinForPie]

I recommend Anime Boston, as there are a large variety of events, and some really good tokusatsu panels. It does tend to skew a little younger, but it is still a blast to go to.