The Long Stance on Conventions

Normally I would have a larger post planned out but it's not quite there yet. So in the meantime I'm making a different post to fill the void while I work on art and possibly prep another blogpost on some plans for when "gamedev season" begins.

In what feels like a repeat of last year, conventions are currently in an interesting place. Due to the ongoing pandemic last year continuing into this year and the vaccines just starting to make the rounds, conventions are still being postponed and canceled. As of this writing, two of the four major cons I usually attend announced they would either be converting to an online format or canceling entirely. And to be honest even if they were held in person I would still not want to go with all the new cases flying out left and right.

For me, a convention isn't really a convention if I can't attend it IRL since it's impossible to translate an entire convention into an online format. Conventions are about the social experience, the dealer's room and artist alley, the cosplay, and the panels. Most online conventions, as I've seen them do across 2020 and the first several months of 2021, can only replicate the panels aspect of a con (with one attempt at a virtual artist's alley I've seen) and if you're someone like me who's more into the interactive elements, these online cons sadly just can't capture the same magic.

Looking back, I always attended cons first and foremost to meet and support artists, meet up with friends that I otherwise wouldn't be able to see, and explore the settings of each convention. You cannot come up with an even greater/cooler landmark to host a convention than the Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken (I will miss you so much), the Atlantic City Convention Center, the Cradle of Aviation, and the Javits Center. Most of the panels I would see had a greater purpose than just the content on show- in those cases it was to support friends or an internet personality I really liked or otherwise supported. They were an extension to the convention trip, not the trip itself, is what I'm saying.

Either way I don't expect to get back to a convention for a good while, and if I do it'll be something local or smaller scale that won't really be worth bringing up until it becomes safe enough in my terms to return to a big-name convention. Plus there's a few things I need to attend to first in regards to my physical form which has been suffering since the pandemic and lockdowns were initiated. If anything comes up regarding major conventions, I'll let you know otherwise.