Dokidokon: The First Year Convention of Awesome

Six days and one big post later, the post-convention depression is finally releasing its melancholic grasp on me, which is an emotion that usually affects me (and what I would assume others) after a successful, 3-day con experience. The con that has affected as such is none other than Dokidokon, the very convention I worried about in my aforementioned blog post. Being in its first year, many of my concerns revolved around attendance, events, celebrities, and even the venue were quickly put to rest within my first 10 minutes of attendance… …and I even arrived late on the evening of Day 1. That being said, this first-year con most definitely succeeded my expectations as an anime convention and showed me that even small cons can still surprise and excite people. The convention's motto is "a convention with a heart": It truly had the heart and it was wonderful to be a part of it.

Upon my early evening arrival on Day 1, I was greeted by a nice surprise: An organized registration line for those entering the convention. It was great because I was able to get my badge and head to my table within 3 minutes, and no I'm not exaggerating, it really was within that time frame WITH a semi-long line too. At the table, they were also giving away free playable 'Magic: The Gathering' decks sealed in boxes and some off-brand pocky, which was filled with the flavor instead of the sticks being dipped. So I was sold upon the concept of free stuff. But even then, it got better; All VIP and Guests were allowed access to the Ice Cream Bar on Friday evening and the Pizza Bar on Saturday at noon. As unfortunate as it was, I was unable to make it to the Ice Cream Bar, but did hear about it having a few of the alcoholic beverages up for purchasing... :'D

After time had passed at my table, I heard the sounds of musical instruments strumming along in the Main Events room - kiddy corner away from where I was. Making my way downtown (to the room), I heard the magical sounds of dual harps playing on stage; Harp Twins: Camille and Kennerly (pictured above) were playing the Lost Woods theme from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That sprightly tune reminiscent of my early childhood days lured me right into the room. After a wonderful performance, they finished the show playing songs from Iron Maiden and Aerosmith, performing the latter's 'Dream On', which was by far the most epic cover of the song I had ever heard. So many great events had happened, but it was only Day/Night 1.

The following Saturday morning, I decided to take a stroll through the small, yet sizable dealers room. Typically, there would be a few rows for an "Artist Alley" then several more rows for the dealers themselves. At Dokido, however, the small square room had the artists surrounding the four walls and the dealers and shops in the inside. Even being organized in that way, the room was pretty much easy to peruse through, had enough space to window shop, and still had several interesting items and trinkets that had caught my attention. Oh, and every dealer, vendor, and artist were some of the nicest people to conversate with as well!

Did I mention that I like free food? Well I do, especially when it came to the best food around: Pizza!! The pizza bar at noon had many different types of pizza in the restaurant of the hotel. In all honesty, it wasn't really the best pizza, but it wasn't any "Little Caesars" kind either.

Being a guest, I was able to run in and grab as many slices that I could fit onto my plate (and mouth) and filled my stomach. Like I said, the pizza wasn't great, but nothing is better than free pizza! The food bars implemented by the Dokidokon staff was honestly a great idea and I hope they do this again in the future!

I didn't get to go, but I also heard that there were other events such as 'Cosplay Foam Fighting' and 'Dodgeball' happened! Seriously, if I didn't go to the Smash 4 tournament, I feel like I would've destroyed. Even the panels were good this day! Normally, I would find one or two good panels that I would attend on voice acting, meeting the actors themselves, or even discussions on anime, but the various amounts of panels stuck out this year! One in particular for me was called "Mental Health and Gaming" hosted by the writer and streamer "0ptimystic". Awesome job to 0ptimystic and Dokidokon for recognizing and taking a hard stance against mental illnesses and ways to cope with it! It was such a wonderful 90-minute panel that really opened my eyes to many of the issues that many of us with mental issues face and that the things we do to cope with it is normal! Seriously, a big thank you!

Finally, the day ended with typical 18+ panels and a glowstick dance (which we can unofficially call a "rave"). Though the convention closed up around 2 o'clock in the morning, the amount of people in attendance for everything was extraordinary.

Finally, the 'sad' day came...

Sundays of convention weekend are always the saddest to live through... ...but the happiness and smiles continued! From the re-opening at 10 AM to the end of the closing ceremonies at 4 PM, it seemed as if people were still coming in and registering to attend, the local news channel 3 came and interviewed, and the Harp Twins performed for the third straight day a mash-up of both Friday and Saturday's shows!

The line for the twins' show was akin to the old computer game 'Snake', where the line just kept getting longer and bigger (that's what she said) to the point of blocking other pathways and even the exit! Their performance came with a bit of laughs, a broken E string (jokingly referred to as the G string), and wonderful harmonious sounds of modern songs in the sound of twin harpists playing; it was a great live performance that rivaled the first day's! A huge thank you to the Harp Twins: Camille and Kennerly for making the time to come out and spend time with the con-goers and quite possibly, their newest fans!

Right after their performance, an event called the 'Swap Meet' occurred. Similar to a garage sale, fellow anime fans brought many of their used and old, yet still in good condition, items up for purchasing. Getting a really nice Pikachu hat for as cheap as $2, I have never heard of something like this happening at conventions. Had I known, I too would've brought some of the stuff that I never use anymore for sale. It was nice as well because some of the things I couldn't find nowadays ranging from amiibos to shirts became really nice to peruse through and reminisce upon. I really feel that conventions should have more of these kinds of things! ^_^

During the closing ceremonies, the con-chairs mentioned the attendance of the convention beating it's projected numbers, they decided that the 'Radisson Plaza Hotel at Kalamazoo Center' would be a fitting choice for next year's convention. If that doesn't say anything about how successful the convention and how hype the last hour was, then I don't really know what to say at this point.

Dokidokon's motto is "a convention with a heart"; a motto which was lived up to that weekend. From organization, events, dealers, and down to even the con-goers themselves, Dokidokon was truly one of the best conventions I have ever been to in such a long time. I am glad that I was part of the inaugural weekend of the convention and I cannot wait to see the years to come! Thanks for showing the anime world the spirit and pride of my hometown, Kalamazoo, MI; I hope to write about the convention next year at the Radisson! :')

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to rest my fingers now. xD

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