Manage that Otakon

I wouldn’t call myself a veteran seeing as this year was only my third Otakon but I have to say that year over year I just become more and more impressed with them. One of the first things that pops into my mind thinking about Otakon 2010 is just how well managed it was. They were able to keep things under control with so many people there so well. It is even more impressive when you think about the fact that the con is run completely by volunteers. You could tell how well they had things under control from the beginning. They used a new printed barcode system for allowing people to pick up their badges and it made the whole process so much easier. On thursday night when I arrived I expected a huge line but was able to walk right up to the badge pickup and be out of there in less than five minutes. That is something that doesn’t happen at small cons. Let alone one with nearly 30 thousand people at it.

Speaking of the attendance I think the fact that there were 30 thousand people there and it didn’t ever feel too insanely crowded was really wild. They had so much going on and everything was so well spread out between the convention center and the Hilton that people were everywhere. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t packed in the hallways, it is always packed in the hallways, but it still felt like I could get places. The one time that you truly had a sense of how many people were there was when the fire alarm was pulled on Saturday.
Thanks to the Reverse Thieves for the pic!
That’s right the fire alarm was pulled on Saturday afternoon at a little before 2pm. At first it seemed like people were ignoring it but soon the entire center was evacuated. As I left the center to return to my hotel room with everyone I was staying with we had all pretty much decided that the con would most likely be closed for hours and we would just goof off in the hotel. Boy were we wrong, thanks to a combination of what seemed to be a well coordinated staff and using twitter to spread information they managed to get everything done in no time. Even having to get the entire mob to move across the street for the fire marshall to clear the building was done perfectly and we were back in the convention center in less than 2 hours. They even extended the artist alley and dealers room hours to make up for lost time!

Otakon really impressed me this year. I wasn’t expecting things to go over as smoothly as they did. Otakon has a reputation for not getting everything really planned out till the last minute and I was nervous because of this. They met and exceeded my expectations and I was thrilled by this.

Comments

[Charles Dunbar]

I agree. This was my second Otakon, and it truly impressed me how smooth everything flowed. Even with the fire alarm, it went off without a hitch. Much better than last year, I must say.