NEKOCON 12 IS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 6-8, 2009!

MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS NOW!

Ask for the NKO rate, $134 per night!

This is a convention center con but the Embassy Suites is right next door with a mostly covered walkway. You want to stay at the Embassy Suites Hampton. Give them a call right now, 800.362.2779 and reserve a room! You will want to stay at this hotel for this con!

NEKOCON XI 2008 review:

We arrived at the hotel Thursday evening. Plenty of free parking. Checking in via the hotel kiosk was a breeze and we were in our room in minutes.

Both the registration and pre-registration lines at the con seemed to move slowly all weekend and I didn’t see any signs letting people know which line was which. (Since we ran a couple of panels we just went straight to con-ops Thursday evening. Very smooth check-in!)

The opening ceremonies started a few minutes late but moved along well.

The dealer’s room was very good this year with a large number of dealers. All the usual stuff, plus some really special items. Lots and lots of anime! From what I saw the dealer’s room opened on time all three days.

The Artist’s Alley was great! Lots of good work. The Art Show was only so-so. Some really good works, some really bad. The art auction and charity auction was a big disappointment with very few items and a late start. (Why, if the auction is supposed to start at 10AM, would you wait until 10AM to start moving the art to the auction?)

The panels mostly started on time and, the ones I attended, were very well ran. The moc combat panel with Chris Ayers was great fun. Greg Ayers gave a three hour passionate plea for everyone to stop downloading anime, then went on to sign autographs, do a solo panel, and participate in the guests uncensored panel. Greg and Chris give so much to anime and to anime conventions. A big big thanks to both of them.

My thanks to everyone who joined us for “Are You a Werewolf?” Friday night. We had a great time. My thanks to to everyone who came out for “The Ten Greatest AMVs of All Time!” Saturday morning. I’m going to work on a new show for next year, “The Ten Funniest AMVs of All Time!” Visit the forum here and let me know your suggestions.

The anime rooms were great. Good quality and sound and a nice selection of anime.

The AMV contest was very well ran with a few really good AMVs.

Echostream was amazing! They took the stage with an air of professionalism and a sound mix rarely seen at any convention. Two outstanding shows! Why can’t other bands mix their sound like this?

Speaking of which, GPKISM… This band may have been good, but with the way they mixed their sound, who could tell? They came across like noise. Maybe that’s what they were trying to do?

The dances were great. Greg Ayers brings such energy to the entire room. Fantastic. The Saturday night dance was every bit as good.

Bottom line. This was one of the best ran conventions I have been to all year. My sincere thanks to the staff and volunteers. Everyone who gave their time so we could play. Looking forward to next year!