OhayoCon 2009

Brigadier General Cammy, here with the con report for Ohayocon 2009!

Friday, January 30th: After a bit of a late start we leave on our what should be a 2 hour drive but I can make it in 1 hour and 15 minutes ride to Columbus. On the way up we make our con plans, discuss how anyone in the pokemon world can eat meat (it can all fight back!) And take pics of the snow for Shannon! 

Once we make it to the hotel and check in, we find out to our horror that we are sharing the hotel and convention center this year with a cheerleading competition and meet. Now, for those of you not familiar with Ohayocon and the Greater Columbus Convention Center, they are ALWAYS booked. For the past 5 years I’ve been attending there’s always been other things going on. Military meet, bridal shows, home and garden expos, and we’ve never had any problems with it. 

Not this year. 

More on that later. Anyway, when we first got there and got our badges I had a Legend of Zelda panel which was awesome! The first Hylian Summit was a success! Later on that night Tom (my husband) also had our Final Fantasy and Handheld Gaming panel which we made some new friends at!  Afterwards, we had our first run in with.....the cheerleaders. 

When we got back to the hotel we noticed that there were not only older cheerleaders but dolled-up 4 and 5 year old girls with their sparkly eyeliner and hooker-red lipstick EVERYWHERE. And their parents were none too please to see us, the strange dressed up people. But hey, why do I care! I had a roast to go to! So I ignored them for the time being and went to the roast of Matt Greenfield and had a blast. After which, I returned with my roommates for some well deserved rest! 

Saturday, January 31st: The morning of the M.S.A panel! After getting up early (glarg), snagging some breakfast from the free buffet while fighting the cheerleading horde I headed off to the panel room with my laptop and camera in bag! Once I get there, I start to set up and run into the first techno snag.....

The screen won’t display what’s on my laptop.......

So after a frantic call to the tech guys (because everything was fine on my end)I start the slideshows on just my laptop and answer questions. In the meantime, for some reason (probably because the panel was butt-early in the morning) people were attending in shifts. I showed the first group the slideshow and answered questions and they left, and another group followed and I did the same. However, in the last group of people I met the con chair of ColossalCon! Travis will be attending and it’s also one of the cons I cover so we had a nice chat. 

It was only after all of that I realized I was fiddling with the laptop so much I forgot to take pictures.

Drat.

So on the way back, I run into yet another fun addition to the convention center.

A youth Christian convention.

Now, I do not care about other people’s religious beliefs. It’s only when you run around high-fiving people for Jesus ALL DAY that I start to wish God would smite you where you stand.

Which would have been the entire food court.

God smite those who get in the way of my Chinese food.....at least that was what I was hoping for.

So on the way back to my room to help my roommate paint herself black because she cosplayed as Inner Sakura I overhear some cheerleaders talking about the “freak convention” going on. Passing the front desk I hear a mother complaining about “people in masks that could be dangerous” to the desk.

Ah, ill-informed people.

The rest of my day is filled with awesome cosplay watching, dealer’s room prowling, and yet another panel later in the day (anime and games to live action). I also went to the Chris Patton shares too much panel (hilarious!) And Greg Ayers’ infamous rave!! Afterwards, back to the room for more sleeping..... 

Sunday, February 1st : After a hectic morning of last-minute autograph sessions (Jerry Jewell, Vic, and Chris Patton) we set out again for home! All in all, it was a great con as it always is. Just have to get those cheerleaders banned.....