Top 10 Things I Learned at AwesomeCon DC

Hey folks. I'm back after a fun-filled weekend at AwesomeCon DC.  It was, well, awesome! And I'm not just saying that because our BioShock Infinite costumes scored us first place in the costume contest yesterday (YESSSS!!).  We had a great time and it was great to see fellow comic and gaming fans turn out en masse to represent DC. 

As I've mentioned, I work full-time and it turns out I  am running low on time for the blog tonight, but wanted to make sure I got down a couple afterthoughts on "BioShock on a Budget" and AwesomeCon.  To that end, I am going to wrap up with a top 10 list of things I learned at AwesomeCon DC.

10.  Homestuck.  I finally learned about this web comic and who the hell all these cosplay folks are with the bright orange horns.  Thanks to our fellow entrants in the costume contest for educating  me!  

Thankfully, no fire marshals in the room
for Super Art Fight....lots of
spectators!

9.  Hard-Core TableTop Gaming.  Admittedly, board games have never been a big part of my gaming experience--I'm more a console person--but AwesomeCon's "Mind of the Geek" game room showed me that tabletop gaming is alive and well.  Not only that, but people are really serious about this stuff---we saw the Warhammer table break out a tape measure to determine the outcome of one player's movements.  That was a new experience for me.  And hard core. 

8.  Super Art Fight is awesome and showed that it is possible to cover a large sheet of paper with comic characters disguised as Amish gangsters, seahorses, and baked goods.  Who knew there was a whole world of randomly-themed and timed competitive comic artistry out there?!

7.  Cosmetic contact lenses suck. I tried to stick it out all day Saturday with the blue contact lenses for my Elizabeth cosplay, but ended up wandering around with my finger stuck in my eyes half the time trying to readjust my contacts; the other half of the time I could barely see, and just walked uncomfortably around the vendor area. Perhaps a secondary lesson learned should be that spending $9.99 on a pair of blue contact lenses online is a bad idea.  That part of my BioShock on a Budget cosplay was an epic fail.

6.  Ernie Hudson is the same as ever.   It's like he's been preserved in a jar since Ghostbusters.  He looked the same this past weekend as he did when he played Winston.  So cool to see him there!

5.  Cosplaying is an event unto itself.   Since this was my first event truly cosplaying, I didn't realize until this past weekend how much time I would spend just walking around, getting photographed, taking photographs, and talking to other cosplayers...to the point that we missed several panels that we wanted to attend!  But it was great, and I would definitely cosplay again.

4.  Comic and gaming fans are just nice people! In a city like DC where people tend to be very stand-offish, it was refreshing to go to AwesomeCon and be able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone, of any age, any background, and not be judged or ignored.  We really enjoyed getting to meet all sorts of other gamers and learning a thing or two about comics and tabletop games as well!

3.  Comic people helping comic people.  We met volunteers from the Hero Initiative, an LA-based non-profit that raises funds to help comic veterans with financial aid, for anything from medical expenses to retirement to getting back in the industry.  It's a great cause.  You can help out too, via their website, www.heroinitiative.org.

2.  You CAN cosplay on a budget and, moreover, win a costume contest on a budget!! Jon and I were overwhelmed by the support and approval that we received from judges, fellow cosplayers, and the crowd at the group costume contest yesterday.  We're so happy that people enjoyed our version of Elizabeth and Booker from BioShock Infinite!

1.  DC Fandom.  There IS a large comic and gaming fan base here in DC, we CAN have our own convention, and AwesomeCon will be back and even bigger and better next year!