March, Matt and I-CON 33
To continue my tradition of putting the con 1 year ahead.
..I figured a post con LJ was in order as always.
Icon 32 was this weekend. Actually it's still going on and is available tomorrow for people who still may want to attend. With I-CON's out of no where cancellation in 2013, times have indeed changed for the 'Northeast's largest Convention.' After 2013, 2014-2015 found two cons that was brought to you by the same people as ICON, they were much smaller in scale and were nicknamed LI-CON. After 2016 off, they announced I-CON would be returning. I've attended them all now, and to be honest I have a lot to write...
Well LI-CON was supposed to be smaller in scale and it was noticeably so. Still, especially LI-CON 2 in 2015 I had a pretty good time. To be honest I had picked vacation in 2015 for LI-CON so it was pretty good, despite significantly less panels and a much smaller dealers room I still went and enjoyed it (and got the t-shirt) as I have done for several years now.
Today though I attended the return of ICON. I wasn't able to be off this weekend from work, so I went after working my midnight, I walked in and smiled to myself as I heard the familiar banter and talk of Long Islands geek community. I recognized some faces immediately from years of attending this con. It was refreshing. However, the dealers room was tiny. It was larger than LI-CON but that isn't saying much. I expected much bigger. ICON was known for its exceptionally large dealers rooms where hours could be spent looking at sci fi/anime/fantasy style merchandise. This was kinda a let down for me, however I did buy the t-shirt to show I attended as I always do.
I stayed a short time, as I was alone. It was strange in that sense, I didn't see any of my group friends but I didn't actually plan it out to attend it with them either. I hope that this con did well enough to continue to regrow into what it was once. I know I'll go and spend money as long as I'm able to support this convention which was once the Super Bowl of hangouts for my old and best friends and I. Til next Year...
XGB_Jeff signing out.