Columbus Ohio is a popular town for nerd conventions. It was the location of Ohayocon 2010 in January and in June it will host Origins Game Fair, a premiere gaming convention. While considerable in their own right, these conventions will have had to be around for a bit longer to compare with the tremendous Sci-Fi convention we attended May 28th to the 30th. Known for being the longest running sci-fi convention in the Midwest, Marcon (Multiple Alternative Realities Convention) just celebrated its 45th year and we were lucky enough to be there as loyal members of an established organization invaded the Columbus Convention Center.
As the name implies, Marcon fosters a broad number of fandoms, including video game, role-playing, science fiction, zombie fanaticisms and anime. While their prime focus is their diehard sci-fi community, the con respects other interests and we found ourselves not at a complete loss surrounded by earnest Dr. Who-lians and Trekkies. Thursday afternoon the Enthusiasts (with a new van!) set off for this adventure into the unknown, prepared for some zombie killing techniques and Mountain Dew. As it turns out, both of these items came in very handy over the weekend.
Arriving in Ohio on Thursday was a huge relief. We had the incredible good fortune to be able to meet with good friends, CJ and Lisa, who are well-worn veterans of Marcon and accommodating tour guides into a new (at least for me) world of enthusiasts. Not only were they good enough to endure our endless questioning but introduced us into the excitement of Barfleet (more on that later). Our trip would have been messy, expensive, tiresome and difficult if not for the hard work and deep affection these two showed to us. We are terribly appreciative of their work and are looking forward to our next adventure together :).
We checked into our hotel room at the Hyatt, which is connected to the convention center at around 2 on Friday and were able to find public parking two blocks away at a much better price. As per usual, we at the Enthusiasts recommend you don’t let fancy hotels take your money anymore than they already do and seek alternatives when it comes to things like parking and food. A day and a half cost us only 24$ for parking. Convention dues add up quick so this was a nice find.
While Marcon did not take up as much space as Ohayocon, Marcon staff arranged their events and dealers well. Getting around to events and visit tables was easy and nowhere felt especially crowded or sticky. We visited a few panel rooms, the main events hall, the dealers room, art show and the marvelous hospitality suite, but were unable to make it to the gaming rooms. All that we experienced was well organized, roomy and appeared to accommodate all the guests of the convention. The hospitality suite, a standard in the sci-fi convention circuit but a novelty to us of the anime persuasion, provided food and snacks nearly every hour of the convention. Fully staffed, the room provided a full menu free to con-goers and offered a nice place to rest our feet. Needless to say we enjoyed the room immensely and our hats are off to the dedicated staff members who provided and served our hungry tummies.
The tables set up around the con demonstrated the tremendously supportive nerd community in Ohio. From Quidditch teams to an impressive S.T.A.R.S zombie cage, it was clear to outsiders how powerful the fan community embraces this convention. Plenty of space in the viewing rooms accommodated the expected crowds and even the main events area felt as if it was ready for the onslaught of people who rumbled in. Fine preparations were taken by staff to make sure everything was in order, and we applaud them.
Saturday consisted of some of the best convention programming I’ve ever experienced. About mid day a zombie march began from a lot across the street and groaning and lumbering invaded the convention center. Luckily we parked ourselves near the S.T.A.R.S booth and had a front row seat as the military group jumped into action. The S.T.A.R.S. unit and zombies had a full battle right in the middle of the convention and onlookers cheered for the gore and destruction. It was evident planning went into this event and it was crazy fun. The Enthusiasts vote for best zombie? Zombie German Shepard with blood stained paws.
The masquerade was one of the smoothest I’ve ever experienced. With the exception of one skit having sound difficulties, enough time was allotted for each person to show off their costumes and the Master of Ceremonies was just that. With a star studded judging table, a graciously amiable sound and light team, and a solid amount of programming in between the walk-ons and skits, it ran smooth and was fun to watch. The only concerning thing about the masq was the break after judging, which gave people the opportunity to leave and not return for the award ceremony. Hopefully not too many people chose to leave as those awarded prizes certainly worked hard and deserved them.
Following directly after the masquerade was a Steam Punk fashion show which was nothing short of a blast. So much creativity and time go into crafting every tiny detail in these magnificent costumes and to attend an event dedicated to them was wonderful. They were some of the best costumes I’ve seen of the genre and I felt lucky to be able to pay them proper attention. Additionally the announcers for the fashion show were quite entertaining and the whole event was followed by a steam punk prom dance. Process that for a moment. Yes, it was a awesome as it sounds.
As exciting and engaging the convention was, it was not without some sense of caution. The tight connections between staff and participants is palpable, as is their wariness of strangers. This is not to say anyone was impolite; the contrary, staff was tremendously accommodating. There was however a sense of concern regarding our presence there as possibly new attendees but most certainly as press. Upon arriving we went to press operations to pick up our badges and were told we had to leave our driver’s licenses with them until the convention was over to insure we didn’t run off with the press badges. This limited our travel significantly as you can imagine. It also made our choice in liquid for consumption problematic because two of our number only recently enjoyed the twenty one years of life celebration and do not look of age. No other convention has ever required photo i.d. to remain with convention operations The sense of uneasiness began there and throughout the weekend it became more apparent that something was up.
At one point I went to visit the art gallery and meandered over to the adult art section. When asked for my i.d. to prove I was old enough to go into the section, I explained that my i.d. had been taken away and showed off my press badge. Just as I was about to walk in another member of staff stopped me and explained that if I was lying about my age and they let me into the restricted section I had the ability to write about it because I was press and could write a scathing review. Therefore, they would call con ops to make sure I was the right age “just in case”. As I muttered about it not being that important and I would go elsewhere, a staff member ran off to press ops to double check. Upon returning with the affirmative and a nod to say I could go in, I went in, browsed the ten or so pictures and left quickly feeling responsible for a great stir. I wasn’t aggravated with the reaction from the staff members just surprised. It was as if they were expecting me to be dishonest, or at the very least had been tricked before. I don’t mean of course that every staff member gave us a piercing eye whenever we showed up, but it did occur often enough to get us to thinking. Had something happened before? Why such resistance to a press agency? Or was it because we were newbies to the entire world of Marcon? With such a family feel to the entire weekend it felt as times as if we were interrupting a closed family reunion. We were treated graciously but certainly with some suspicion, as if we had some dangerous weapon as the position of press. More than once, with a smile, we were instructed to give a good review. We at the Enthusiasts believe that all this strange behavior and concern must mean that robotic chickens must have gotten loose in the convention center the last time press covered Marcon and the staff were worried that another “Foul Fowl!” article would surface on the web leading to angry emails from P.E.T.A. Joking aside the behavior was odd and we hope we did not offend.
I mentioned earlier that we were outsiders, but I did not want to imply we were unwelcome. So many traditions and rituals flew over our heads as we desperately grasped at them and we were lucky to have someone to show up the ropes. The ribbon game for instance, a got-to-catch-em-all style festivity in which attendees print ribbons which can be stuck to their badge holders and swap them to see who can garner the longest train, was a lot of fun but I don’t know that we would have been included if not for our awesome hosts. We saw quite a few attendees wandering about and by their lack of badge bling and confused expressions, one could gather they were new. We were lucky to have a guide through the rabbit hole of Marcon; others were not so lucky. And I am not sure how we would have done on our own.
BarFleet may be the most exclusive and exciting part of Marcon. It is the comparable backbone of Marcon, a self entitled social club with a sci-fi problem and the hosts of the party to attend while at the convention. And by party I mean parties. Four to be exact. A nerd fraternity and sorority, members of BarFleet are all fans of drinking, having fun and mixing their varied interests into their parties (and don’t get me started on what they mix into their drinks). The Columbus branch of this national group is called the U.B.B. Columbus and it hosts a wily crowd of bridge, engineering, medical and officers with the intent to have a long and marvelous night. At Marcon the group took over an entire hallway of a hotel floor and required tickets to even get down the hallway to attend the open bar. This massive party nearly shut down every other merrymaking event, leading to quite a few without the ability to party. As I’ve said before, we were luckily given tickets for every night but that goes to show the exclusiveness of the event. It was a great party and we did a fair amount of embarrassing ourselves so our nights were pretty great. But my heart goes out to those not able to attend.
Was Marcon worth it? Totally. We had a blast even if we were a bit off our game. Despite whatever uneasiness existed, we hope the staff enjoyed us as we certainly appreciated them .We are so glad to have been able to experience what we did, especially being first timers. Here’s a hearty toast to our hosts, the con staff and a new fandom we hadn’t tapped. And if it’s BarFleet pouring our drinks, we’re in for one hell of a night.
Tags: Anime, BarFleet, Columbus, Convention, marcon, Ohio, Review, Sci-Fi
