Ichibancon has a reputation of being a small town con with big town con opportunities. With it being the first con of the year for so many it is popular for North and South Carolina residents. This is my second year attending the con.
Pro: A convenient location
This won't be for everyone, but I live about 5-10 minutes away from this convention center, depending on traffic lights. For me I've never had to pay for a hotel at Ichiban and I get to come home to my kitty every night. Oh, and it's easy to stay organized since I'm not having to live out of a suitcase.
Con: The location size
Ichiban is really growing, and that was brought into perspective this year by how difficult it was to move on Saturday while in the autograph hall. This could be easily rectified by moving the autograph hall to an area where there is less foot traffic. There isn't really a great place for this, but I do believe that the character lounge was set in the hotel portion and just up the grand staircase. Perhaps there is more space up there that could be rented?
Pro: The photo locations
Ichiban is a great con to get some sweet photos at. There is the gazebo, not quite the Katuscon gazebo at the Gaylord, but it's far less crowded and thus a decent alternative. There are the rocks of all different sizes. There is the small field which can be made to look huge via perspective. There is the golf course, though technically we aren't supposed to be on it and many attendees were yelled at by the golf course employees. And that is just the obvious locations. I found a few spots that I liked more or that were less obvious, but the photo locations never fail to disappoint. The weather was an obvious bonus for photographers, what with the harsh sunlight staying away for nearly the entire weekend, so this might have been the Charlotte photo shoot con for 2020. We'll have to see what the mini con, Hero's Con, and Queen City Anime Con bring in terms of weather.
Con: The food options
Don't get me wrong, the food trucks were great. But there was little variety to them. Throughout the weekend the food trucks consisted of Texas BBQ (think brisket and pulled chicken), southern food that was mostly fried, a pretzel truck, Japanese stir fry, and stadium style food. Excepting the pretzel truck there were no options that were vegan or vegetarian friendly. Every dish that wasn't a side contained meat. Inside there was extremely over priced food at the hotel bar/restaurant, and there was also a convenience store refrigerator with over priced sandwiches and wraps that had odd hours of operation. I did eat at the food trucks, but I came away craving some veggies for sure. So next year it would be nice to mix in some Indian, Halal, and vegetarian options. Did we really need two southern food trucks?
Pro: The people
For the most part, Ichiban is a super chill and drama free con. I don't mean the higher up staff (that's a whole other story), but the attendees. Everyone is super happy to be there, seems to know everyone, and is just there to have fun. There is going to be a bad apple in every bunch, but with everyone else being so overwhelmingly positive throughout the weekend it is super easy to ignore them.
One thing that everyone I've spoken to about Ichiban seems to agree on is that this is the con to go to if you're looking to hang out with friends, catch up, and just have some light fun. This isn't the con that you go to when looking to be famous, it's the con you go to when looking to just grow a friendship and maybe catch an over priced drink with a friend.
Con: The fire alarm and broken window
On Saturday at around 3:40 a young child pulled a fire alarm. They were not being watched by an adult and decided to pull the fire alarm. From the rumor mill they were about 5 years old. Ichiban has no rules regarding young children needing an adult with them, so I feel that this could have been easily prevented.
On Saturday night there was a window broken on the first floor in the hall facing where the food trucks parked. There are two rumors about how it was broken. The first is that with the heavy winds (there was a tornado watch briefly) when a door was opened it caused pressure to fluctuate and then shatter the window. The second is that a drunk minor broke the window by jumping or falling on to it. I have heard more confirmation regarding the drunk minor, but at any rate it caused the location to tape off the entire side of the hallway and thus give less floor space for attendees to walk on.
Pro: Free parking
I know some folks were complaining that the overflow parking was too far away and that the closer parking was too small, but honestly I didn't have any issues with it. I arrived around 9:30-ish every morning and managed to snag a spot in the lot right up close to the con. I did walk with someone out to their car over in the overflow lot, but honestly it also wasn't bad. I can understand how it would be worse if you have a mobility issue, but as far as distance, not bad at all. It was about a 5 minute walk from the con and I've parked further than that for cons in more urban areas like Raleigh. And the simple fact that it was free and had full come and go privileges was pretty nice handy.
Con: The blaring boom boxes
I don't feel I should have to say this, but if you're within visible distance and playing music, I shouldn't have to raise my voice to be heard when asking you to turn it down. Ichiban has no rules regarding music, unfortunately, and as such attendees are forced to suffer at the mercy of obnoxious folks walking the con floor in circles with their speakers. When it's more of a background music that is actually nice. Or outside where the sound is less contained it isn't nearly as bothersome. But inside...? It's awful. I couldn't hear people I was speaking to, and I could hardly hear myself.
Pro: Better cell service this year
Last year at Ichiban the service was awful. I could barely send or receive Instagram messages and at one point a friend staying at the hotel even put me on the hotel wifi so I could upload a photo and send a few quick messages. This year I had no issues what so ever. The only time it slowed down even a bit was when I was deep in a panel room towards the inside of the building (so it was just being blocked from all the metal and concrete in the building structure) and for about 30 minutes on Saturday at around 3pm-ish (which was during the fire alarm so I think everyone was just on their phones). I spoke to another attendee on Friday at around 2pm and he and I, both returning attendees, were just in shock at the service. He was even streaming a show on Netflix without any issues.
Con: The panels
There were some good panels that I attended, but Ichiban will never be able to claim it had stellar panels in 2019. I did two panels and came in well prepared each time. I attended 5 panels and only 2 of them were well prepared and felt like they made sense. I attended a Miraculous Ladybug panel and the attendees and panelists were throwing things and openly admitted to the audience they only did it for the discounted badges. I attended a panel about books and literature and while good and I did like it, was extremely bias towards books with female main characters. I attended a Cards Against Humanities panel with voice actor guests and during the two hours that it ran we only got through 2 rounds of cards. I attended a meme panel but all it was was screaming and videos about how anime changed from Japan airing to American airing. And I also attended the feedback panel, which was just a standard and always needed panel.
Overall, I definitely want to come back to Ichiban next year. It has become a staple con for me, especially since it's so close and I get to see so many friends.
You bring very valid points about Ichiban 2020. All of those points I do agree upon. I did have a chat with hotel staff on Sunday when walking to the Con and they confirmed the door was broken by a high wind gust when a person was trying to exit. The wind slammed the door backwards thus causing the handle to hit the glass shattering it. A tip that I used while staying within the hotel ( as I booked a room for the con) was to purchase Water, Juice, Soda or other drinks and snacks and some microwavable food items and bring to the room. If you are hungry or thirsty, its easier to go to the room and…