Ichibancon was, by far, the most disappointing way to start my 2022 con year.
I didn't hold out much hope for Ichibancon based on how they were presenting themselves online, but I had booked photoshoots as a photographer so I decided to attend anyway.
I hadn't planned to purchase a badge either as in the past two years the content has been much the same and others had said it didn't change much before that even, so I didn't feel that the event itself had much to offer. However a few days prior a mutual cosplayer and I were chatting at they decided to not attend and traded me their pass for a location photoshoot in February. So in the end I did have a badge. And I'm so glad that I didn't spend money on a badge.
Pro: Location
This is likely not a pro for a huge amount of people, but seeing as I live within a 15 minute radius of the venue it does make it handy for me. I don't have to book a hotel room and it's easy for me to attend. The venue isn't anything special, in fact I bounce back and for between if the venue is too big or too small for Ichibancon (everywhere except the stairwell in the hotel lobby feels fine, but that stairwell is consistently overpacked).
The photoshoot locations aren't anything special either, but for me Ichibancon is always a fun exercise in trying to stretch myself and my skills as so many photographers rely on the rocks. The rocks aren't bad, but they aren't special either.
Con: COVID enforcement
This was, by far, the item that bothered me the most. Approximately a week prior Ichibancon stopped avoiding the topic and implemented a mask requirement. However at the con you never would have been able to tell.
Staff members weren't wearing a mask, about half of attendees weren't wearing masks, and when I discussed this with numerous staff members it seemed that this issue was actually the result of conflict between two members of the executive staff. One wanted attendees to not wear masks for the sake of "freedom" while the other wanted for attendees to wear masks in efforts to keep Ichibancon from becoming a super spreader event.
One of the reasons I was told as to why they weren't enforcing the mask requirement is because they didn't want to have any fights from attendees. However for the few events that I went to where I sat next to people not wearing masks and I asked them to wear masks the attendees I spoke to were all too happy to do so when I asked nicely. One group of attendees didn't have masks, asked if I knew where they could get some, and then one of the party went and got masks for their entire group and wore them without saying anything rude, negative, or even annoyed. I saw them a bit after the event even and they were still wearing the masks.
This lack of enforcement is what made me decide to not got to Triad Anime Con this spring. (For those unaware, Ichibancon is owned by Nostalgia Cons who also owns Triad Anime Con. See this webpage here for all cons owned by Nostalgia.) I previously was planning on attending and just taking a few shoots and hanging out with friends, but frankly after Ichibancon I'll skip Triad this year to see what some of my mutuals who are attending say regarding the mask enforcement.
Pro: The boba truck
B&K Tea Cafe had a truck at the event and I'm so happy someone mentioned it to me. On Friday of the con I got a matcha boba milk tea and it was DELICIOUS.
Normally I'm not one to buy drinks, I'm not a fan of coffee or tea and I can make hot chocolate at home pretty easily, but boba milk tea is less common and so fun that I decided to splurge. And honestly it was worth every penny.
The truck was there on Saturday as well, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get one as I had back-to-back photoshoots and thus barely had time to eat lunch, much less also enjoy a boba milk tea.
Side note, if you know of good boba places in Charlotte that offer matcha boba milk tea send me the names, I'd like to try a few locations and decide which is my favorite so that I then have a favorite drink place and can feel fancy just like everyone who drinks tea and coffee.
Con: The cosplay masquerade
This was, an absolute disappointment. The event was supposed to be a two combination of cosplay performances and cosplay contest. However it instead turned into 90 minutes of cosplay performances, 20 minutes of banter regarding downloading Genshin Impact from the hosts (you should download it and play it as a side) and 10 minutes of the cosplay contestants being ushered across the stage at top speed with a military color guard display happening in the background and minimal announcements.
I've embedded a tweet of the trailer for the show that my friend NoodleBoyMedia posted to his twitter (he was the videographer for the event).
There seemed to be no time limit to performances and no limit set to the amount of cosplayers accepted to perform. And out of all of the performances very few I found to be worth spending time watching which to me indicates that they had little to no pre-con acceptance for which solos or groups would be accepted to perform.
And while I applaud their inclusivity, maybe this wasn't the best place to display it. Or rather there may be better places for inclusivity to be shown at the event all together?
Overall, this was one of the worst cons that I've been to. I know I didn't share much, but know that if you missed it you didn't miss much.