The (Belated) Connecticon Experience

Alright, I was planning on writing this about a month ago. I got really busy since then though and also wanted to space out the coverage so that my article wouldn’t get lost in all the buzz. But above all else, I am extraordinarily lazy and I am just now getting to it.

We showed up Thursday. It was a rather straightforward night, grabbed my pass and checked in the hotel room. Also got room service, but that’s really more a matter for Yelp! than a Con article.

Friday is when it really started. I should explain: I’ve never been to a big con like this before. My first Con was Genericon, a small upstate New York Con, which until recently I was somewhat impressed by. The vendor floor was one hallway, and there were only a handful of panel rooms. So imagine my surprise on going to the press box and seeing this:

The vendor room alone could have fit all of Genericon in it. And then there was the game room:

After that I wandered around and did what anyone does at a con, joined a cult:

This was (if I remember correctly), Azrael Vertis Mephastopheles XIII. He used the sign of the Yellow King (a character from cosmic horror) to spread interest in H.P. Lovecraft and that genre. It’s a great idea to create an entire character and persona the way he did to spread an interest in books that way. So I thought it would be decent to give a quick shout out here:

After that it was finding some great cosplay and then ruining them with low quality pictures! (click for larger)

Also an honorable mention for this guy, he gave me a quest and helped me level. Thank you brave WoW quest giver.

Saturday started off much the same way. Walking in and out of some of the panels and taking bad pictures of good cosplay:

In particular I really liked Van Pelt. Jumanji has always been one of my favorite movies, and look at this guy, he’s amazing:

And also in the great category was this Aeris/Aerith (it will always be Aeris to me), who gave me a flower when I took her picture:

Along with this were some panels and my cosplay. I also did a BBC photo shoot that was covered here. So fast forward to that night. Had some fun party time in the room, and then headed down to the hotel bar. And who did we run into at the hotel bar and clink glasses with?

Deep Roy. That’s my friend Keith taking a selfie with him after buying him a drink, after which he came around and introduced himself to all of us. Easily the coolest thing to happen all con. Really friendly man, and it was great that he came by and said hello to all of us. Then we wandered into the courtyard and ran into a magician by the name of Kody Hilldebrand. He had a little cart he rolled up and gathered a decent crowd doing some great stuff just feet away. On top of that he was great with a crowd. Solid magic and comedy, definitely hoping to run into him again next time.

Also, that Rapunzel looked like this at night:

The last day I didn’t get to do much due to packing and getting ready to leave, so just more cosplay pictures.

Connecticon was amazing, and for the first big con I’ve ever been to it was quite an experience. It was so busy and full of friendly people. The whole thing was kind of overwhelming and went by very quickly, and I was exhausted at the end of it. So in short, I can’t wait to go again.