Kumoricon 2024: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly!
Hello everyone, it’s that time again. It’s time for my review and critique of the convention Kumoricon. For 2024 the convention was from November 8th to the 10th. The convention took place at the Oregon Convention Center. And once again it had events at the Hyatt the hotel I stayed at.
But this year the Doubletree got brought back into the mix. Not surprising since the con has a long-storied history with the hotel. While I didn’t stay at the Doubletree it’s good to see said hotel get included in the fun. It was also necessary because Kumoricon has grown a lot since the 90’s and early 2000’s.
Over the course of the three days that followed I attended the convention. And this was my assessment of it and the convention center. This assessment's based on my seven criteria for the convention.
The first criteria’s customer/attendee service. This year Kumoricon did a reasonable job at it. Though there were some issues with the ADA but that will come later. There was also a problem with the enlarged pocket guide not getting in on time. But that problem can get excused because the supply lines in recent years haven’t been the greatest.
The con staff were able to answer the customers questions and get them what they needed. So that part is okay.
The next criteria was communication and organization. This is the part where things got kind of messy. There were some issues with the line organization especially around main events. Also, some of the locations for some things were kind of hard to find. That must get considered as getting around the convention can be difficult at times with how big it is.
From what I understand the ADA director and his people had some communication issues. That’s something they need to work on. For a convention to work one must always have those lines of communication open. That makes sure everything works. At Main Events as an example, it was hard to see where the ADA/VIP line was and where the regular line was.
That’s something that Kumoricon might want to watch for next year.
Accessibility is the third criteria. Now this year there were no hiccups with the escalators or elevators. It’s a pleasure to report that accessibility was not an issue this year. In fact, the con has done a very good job on the accessibility front. The handicapped had easy access to everything at the convention center.
Again, no problems on this front.
Enthusiasm is the fourth criteria. Now I could see the Kumoricon staff were having some communication issues. And it did contribute to a bit of tension at the convention. That said, they didn’t take it out on the attendees. If anything, the staff were friendly, courteous, and very helpful.
So, on this part Kumoricon did a solid job. There’s no complaints or issues to point out.
Now comes the fifth criteria for cons. Here are some observations about the panel event variety. For the most part they did a good job. Though some have noted there were a few too many of the 18+ events. I did check out one of the 18+ events.
But I wanted to wander the convention grounds. This was to get a sense of what the people were thinking at the con. That’s not to say I didn’t go to any panels. I did go to some, and they proved very insightful on certain matters that have given me things to think on.
While I admit some of the events were kind of hard to find I did manage to find and attend everything I wanted to. The panel on going from fan fiction to original fiction publishing was fascinating. The panel on overcoming shyness and performing was enlightening. And the cosplay chess events were very entertaining. So much so that they've given me some interesting ideas for something I may want to do someday.
And the cosplay contest at Kumoricon was a blast as always. So, panel/event variety was pretty good this year.
Now comes the sixth criteria food availability. This year finding the food was kind of hard. Last year they had it in an open area where it would be easy to find. But this year they shoved it into small corners of the Kumorimarket. And I found that made getting something to eat a little more difficult.
A good solution would be having some of the food vendors in more open spaces next year wouldn’t hurt. Also, and this criticism isn't aimed at Kumoricon. This goes out to the Levi corporation the people who did the vending at places such as the Orbit Cafe. I noticed you’ve gone full cashless and only had cards.
I’d like to say this to the Levi corporation from the bottom of my heart. I'd like to suggest that putting all your eggs in one basket is a rather unwise idea. Because relying on a cashless card society opens the way for all kinds of issues. As a solution I’d like to offer up this. I propose a happy compromise of cash and card that would work wonders.
So, food availability was a little bit harder than last year. It wasn’t too bad, but it was kind of hard to locate.
Now comes the big part the seventh criteria. This one is how well did the convention keep modern politics out of the convention. Well, I’m pleased to report that Kumoricon did a very-very good job this year. No modern politics flags anywhere. Yes, there was the occasional fire and brimstone preacher, and the ACLU did show up.
But they were outside of the convention center not in. And that’s fine as what people do outside the convention center that’s their business. But with the convention there was not a trace of modern politics and that pleased me to no end.
As I’ve so often said we can have our debates. We can debate which characters are the best. We can debate what shippings are the best. We can debate what worked in a movie or series and what didn’t. That’s fine as that’s fandom.
People can wave flags if they’re for the Survey Corp. as an example. They can wave a flag of the Holy Brittanian Empire. They can even wave a Galactic Republic or Imperial Empire flag. Again, that’s fandom and that’s fine.
So, on keeping modern politics out the verdict is in. Kumoricon you did good on this one, you did real good!
Now with the criteria laid out it’s time for some observations from around the convention. These are thoughts and observations I found from walking around the convention scene.
The registration office was a little harder to reach than last year. People had to go around to the back of the area of Kumorimarket to get to it. I also noticed the enlarged pocket guide was smaller than last year. This was kind of vexing as with my bad vision small print flusters me even when I wear my glasses.
As a solution I’d like to offer up this. I would suggest you make the enlarged pocket guide a little bigger for next year.
Also, I noticed that there was an arena set up outside of the panel halls for dueling. Granted the swords were foam, as they should be. This was an odd change when there were rooms that could get used for such. That said the arena was an interesting change as it allowed more people to see what was going on. So, this change was not so bad.
Another suggestion for next year is see if you can make use of more of the rooms for panels. Try to have some 18+ events at an earlier time. Also, work on the communication and organization a little bit. And see if you can make the enlarged pocket guide a little bigger for next year.
In conclusion Kumoricon has some things they need to work on. But overall, this year’s convention gets a 7 out of 10. Not the best score I admit but it’s not a bad score either. Kumoricon has some things to work on. But it did pretty good this year.
Thank you for reading this con critique. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Do you agree with my assessments? Are there some things I missed? Did you like what I wrote, or do I need improvement?
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