I know it's got a bad rep but anyone going to Alcon???
I wanna go to Aya but im too skint so a few mates have convinced me to go to Alcon with them (gotta love cheap accomodation )

Anyone else going and if so, who you cosplaying?

So far my decision sits at Gokudera (KHR), Oneesan (BR) and possibly Maka from Seto no Hanayome (if i ever finish that bloody Gi.....)

xx

Not going, they made me change in the loos and had an unsuitable masquerade venue. I tripped down the stairs there. Metal stairs.

Tab

I'd like to go because some of my friends will be there but I don't know if I can.

If I did go tho I'd most likely cosplay Itachi (akatsuki, ANBU and pre-massacre) and the Hunter



I'm suprised at this, isn't it the same venue as Amecon? I've never actually been to ALcon before, I only found out about it after it was over last year. I understand your reasons tho, I had a bad experiance at Minamicon13 and haven't been to it since.

I think it's a different Venue- there are two universities in Leicester. The masqurade pretty much took place in a pub. Not very nice for the difficult costumes.

Tab

I'm going to be at Alcon, although not certain about cosplaying yet due to costs.

I've been to last two Alcons - '07 had a lot of problems which led to it having a bad rep, but they did listen and solved the issues for '08. I enjoyed both of them (cons are about the company for me) and '08 was probably the best con I've been to. There was accomodation available for everyone, it was affordable and everything very close together (accomodation & venues), only about a minute walk between each.

I did compile a feature on Alcon '08 which will provide you with loads of information and give you an idea of what to expect -

http://www.animetion.co.uk/features/alcon08/alcon08main.htm

Yeah Amecon is at the university of Leicester and Alcon is at demontfort uni...at least it was when I went the first year. When I went the masquerade kept getting rescheduled and so my friends never actually got to watch it which was a bit annoying! It ended up just being about 15 people in a cramped room! O.O

I'd say it's a good con if you're not a cosplayer. But me being a pretty hard core cosplayer means that it really wasn't a good con for me. They just didn't have good organisation when it came to dealing with us.

Tab

i was at the last Alcon, and went despite hearing the bad reports about it. it wasnt that bad a con for me, though i was a little put down by the fact that 90% of the cosplays seemed to be bought Naruto cosplays. i have nothing against this par-se, but a lot of them were elitest to the people who had made their costumes. one girl cosplaying Hinata laughed in the face of my friend also cosplaying Hinata, because my friend had made hers.

and, like Uber-Nerd said, the masquerade was really messed up. the times/venue were changed a lot, messing people around. i also found it hard to get down the stairs in my full Darcia cosplay. not well planned at all.

other than this, it was a pretty good con, and i will be attending it this year as well.

I've been to both Alcon's, the one in '07 when it started and the second one in '08. Gotta say its definitely improved considerably over that year's time! The venue it was held in was a lot nicer, and closer to all the halls and stuff, and it generally felt like a more pleasant venue to be at.

I know the masquerade got a bit muddled, as we spent most of the day running around asking where on earth it was meant to be so the organisation was rather lacking in that respect. Generally the people were very nice I agree there was a huuuge amount of Naruto fans there and neither me or my friends are into Naruto at all, but we didn't really mind all that much.

It was very nice and had a relaxed atmosphere with everything - the bar was nice too haha. So, if you're looking for a serious big con with good Organisation, large ares for Omake's and a large dealers room (admittedly Alcon's dealers room was very very squished) then go to something like Aya, but on the whole I rather enjoyed it as a fairly small but generally nice convention.

It's weird about the Naruto thing! I wonder why that is... I mean there is always a great deal of Naruto fans at any con but Alcon seems to be swarming with them! Not that I mind all that much, but i'm not into naruto and when we were playing anime character charades and pictionary and things it was always Naruto...so I was sitting there like -_-;; XD

I dislike elitists like that, especially when they bought their costume and not made it. I'm guessing the Hinata who made her costume was HarpyGirl? I like her costumes, they looked well made to me.

I'm even more suprised about the 2 uni's, I thought they were just one university ^^; and so many Naruto fans? wow. I know I'm a huge naruto fan but to be around so many sounds.... overwhelming.

it was Harpygirl yeah, one of my best friends IRL. was there when they laughed at her, wasnt nice, and she got upset

I know her from Fuyucon (my hotel room was opposite Sirens) I think it's not right when someone who's too lazy to make their own costume goes elitist on someone who actually put effort into it. Especially after seeing the kimono she made, I honestly thought she'd bought that straight from Japan ^^
I just hope there won't be anyone like that at this years ALcon, they'd really ruin it.
Anyway, what's this ninja vs vampire vs pirate thing? it sounds interesting :3 (why no zombies?) do you think it's where the teams do little minigames and stuff and the team with the highest points win?

the whole clans thing is quite fun actually, i found it to be a really novel idea. asically, when you sign up you chose your clan. your conbadge has art on it dependant on your clan, so if your a vampire, you have an anime style vampire on it, if your a pirate, there is a pirate on it. when they do the events like the masquerade, the skits, the pub quiz, and stuff like that, the winning teams score points for their clan, and at the end of the con, the winning clan gets honoured, and a trophy for the leader

Most of the people of my university's anime club will be going to Alcon...for many of them it'll be their first convention so there'd better not be elitists to ruin it (or things may get violent...we are Glaswegian after all lol)

So far we've got planned a group Fruits Basket cosplay (I'll be Uo-chan) and a small group of us will be doing Rozen Maiden cosplays (I'll be Suigintou), along with some others doing Pokemon, Naruto, Bottle Fairies, and Angel Sanctuary. My third cosplay is as yet unplanned but could be Alexiel from Angel Sanctuary or Skuld from Ah! My Goddess.

Thats fair enough Tab, I didn't cosplay so didn't see it from that point of view. Those stairs couldn't have been good for people in costume.



I didn't see any elitistism when I was there, so I hope the above incident was a one-off. There was a lot of Naruto cosplayers but that is because there was a lot of first time congoers at Alcon who were younger. So maybe Naruto was one of the few anime they have seen and that is the cosplay they went for.

I really really enjoyed Alcon 2008, moreso than almost every other con I've been to and I've been going to cons in the UK and abroad since 2001.

Go for the fun and the atmosphere and the ridiculous games/clan rivalry *coughgopiratescough* It's a very social convention!! But yeah, as Tab has said, some things are organised on the spot which can make things precarious for very fragile/uncomfortable cosplays.

I will be attending AlCon this year, and I think it's set to be the best yet! I've heard mixed reviews, they're not ALL bad, but I guess it depends what you go to the con for in the first place and what kind of company you like to keep and what events you like to take part in ^^

I think AlCon seems individual in a few respects like the clan wars (I'm a vampire, don't let Twilight fool you into thinking we're all nice, sparkly in sunlight, frothy young teens XD), and other smaller gaming and puzzling events. I think it's a social kind of gathering, and I like that. It will be a different experience to the big cons I think ^___^

As for the masquerade, well, I hope it's better run this year because both Fishyfins and I will have costumes that could get awkward. I'm sure if they were complained to enough that they will have ironed out this bug.