I have been to very few cons, and I can hardly call myself a “con-goer.”
Hell, I can list the cons I’ve been to easily: Lunacon 2002, 2003, and I think 2005. I-Con 2003. Otakon 2006 and 2007. Tekkoshocon 2006. PAS Spring Anime Fest once or twice if that counts. New York Anime Festival.
That’s my entire history with cons both anime and non.
In my sparse experience though, I go to cons for mainly two reasons: panels and friends. I don’t think this is too different from other people, though there may be some disagreement as to which panels are worth the time. I prefer industry panels with Japanese guests, such as artists and directors. Probably my favorite panel so far was Otakon 2006 where the director of Madhouse whose name I keep forgetting despite promising not to was a guest. I try to stay away from cosplay and amv’s because they’re not really my thing, but I have nothing against them.
With what amounts to similar groups of fans going to each and every con, I begin to wonder what separates them, aside from geographical location. Why are the big cons the way that they are, and how do they differ from each other? I know some cons are considered big cosplay cons, and others big amv cons, and others are purely professional.
I find myself planning on going to Otakon again this year, without fully knowing the guests. Is it maybe becoming a habit? I’m not exactly sure what appeals to me about Otakon after all.
OGIUE MANIAX 
Otakon is like a disease! You must stay away! XD;
I honestly can’t stand the disorganization of Otakon and I don’t see that being a reason for me to spend all the ridiculous amount of money that they charge at Otakon hotels. Also the cost to get to Otakon via train or bus is pretty expensive from NY.
It’s a good cosplay con though. I’ve seen lots of great cosplayers that I’ve not seen anywhere else. We’ll see what happens at Anime Boston though, it’s my first one!
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Go to ConnectiCon, it ROCKS!
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In Zenkaikon 2007 in a panel, the panel lead (I don’t remember who) discussed a little bit of the history with anime cons in the States. One thing I found interesting is that one of the reasons why the larger cons were on the west coast instead on the east for the longest time was the communication of clubs. Anime cons in the states were first started by the cooperation of multiple anime clubs. It just happened to be that the west coast anime clubs communicated better than the east to found such cons in the beginning.
Personally, I like the mix between industry and fan-run cons. New York Anime Festival while big was really boring to me. The heavy industry presence made it feel too commercialized. I make my home con at AnimeNext. I think that’s a nice mix between fans/industry and big/small con atmosphere (assuming you’ve gotten used to the Jersey smog like me).
Hopefully, someone can start a consistent con in Philadelphia…
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I dunno. I like cons but I have really no friends that like anime that really get into it despite we all kinda go to Otakon. What I like about Otakon is the Dealer’s room.
I am hoping Yukari Tamura goes to Otakon 08. That would be sweet.
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I like Cons, if only for the fact that it is jus fun to have to be around a whole bunch of people who are like you (unlike school or work), and are somewhat nice to you (unlike the internet). Also there a couple panels which are fairly entertaining, like at Acen “The Gundam Experiance” (who wouldn’t mind talking about Gundam for an hour) and “Your Favorite Anime Sucks” (it is really funny how they point things out in even some of the most gold stuff).
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Hi — found your site while googling.
The Madhouse person you’re thinking about is Masao Maruyama, one of our favorite guests and one of the few folks we keep inviting back. He’s always got something new to talk about (Madhouse keeps winning all those awards, after all, for a reason), and he’s a very good friend to the convention.
There’s a lot of information about Otakon’s history on our website, and some fascinating insight as to how things came to be. As for the cost of Otakon, the worst of that is hotel and transportation, and that hits us pretty hard, too. We do our best to keep our costs reasonable and negotiate decent deals for the hotels, but it’s always going to be cheaper to stay at a motel in the middle of Pennsylvania than downtown in a major city. All the cons (we do talk to each other quite a lot) are facing that reality. And it really isn’t much more expensive to go to Otakon now than it was in 1996 when I first attended.
But I think it’s also quite fair to say that west coast cons benefitted strongly from the very large population centers (LA, SF) with significant asian populations and colleges with media programs.
I think you’ll find Otakon’s 15th con this year pretty rewarding.
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That coming from you! Just “pretty rewarding”? :p
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