Aki's Edition AARC: Asheville Anime Regional Convention. Time I own up...

  AARC: Asheville Anime Regional Convention


Okay... So you guys know how I am always assuring you that I do things to my best abilities and that I always strive to be honest?
It's time I own up to that.

Going to AARC today was certainly an adventure. Why don't we take a look at the definition of "Adventure". 
Adventure: "an unusual or  exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity"

That means that it doesn't exactly have to be a good thing, so lets go step by step with the experience.

Heiwa, Baka (or Jiyu Kasai Tsubasa) and I got up at 6 AM this morning because we live a good distance away from Asheville. This was a surprisingly good morning because as you all know, I am not a morning person and I am likely to break out in severe sarcasm in the mornings which rubs people the wrong way sometimes however that didn't happen this morning so it was good.
The long drive over was good, got to see some nice clouds and the mountains were covered in fog. Heiwa and I stared and waved at EVERYONE we passed, which was great since we had the pink and blue hair. They really freaked out and it was beautiful..

Anyways, we got to the US Cellular Center about 30 minutes early, which was right on schedule, and got in line for tickets.

The line itself wasn't long just yet and was pretty tamed, there were a few other cosplayers and no one was outwardly rude... However, once it got longer, the lines for people who had already bought tickets and for people who still needed to got mixed together and lots of people ended up going through bag check just to be sent back to the ticket booth and back of the line.

Also, I don't mind having my picture taken when people ask but what I do mind is the "selfie stalker shots" and the straight up "stalker shots". More than once while in line people would go to take a "selfie" but clearly take a picture of us. That is not consent but whatever... Heiwa and I had fun with it and made creepy faces.

There was even more people that would hide behind the pillars and take pictures of us. I might sound paranoid to you but when you make eye contact with the person and they give you a head nod, step out from behind the pillar and take the picture anyways, I deserve to be "paranoid".


To be honest, this next thing was where my biggest problem with AARC came in.
Before you give your ticket in they do a bag check. Now don't get me wrong, I love bag checks and security measures for anywhere but this one was a little off. Jiyu and my bag checking went fine but when Heiwa stepped up she happily gave them their bags and told them she was a type 1 Diabetic and consequently she has to have some form of food on her at all times and can legally have it with her in areas where it's not generally allowed.  There is also this thing called HIPPA which basically, in this case, means that Heiwa shouldn't have had to provide proof that she was a diabetic because that's a violation of her PHI. (PHI= Personal Health Information)
None the less we told the bag checker she was a diabetic, the checker then got someone else to see if it was okay to let her in and we did eventually get in.

This is a huge negative for me because everywhere we have gone so far has been completely understanding and helpful to the point as to let us know what type of medical personal and concessions would be there but for it to be a struggle to get into this convention, I was not pleased.
I will admit that I probably got rubbed the wrong way because of how strongly I feel for Heiwa but that doesn't change a near violation of the PHI.

Okay so moving on!
Once through the doors there were badge handouts, programs and freebies.
The badges were alright, the programs were good and the handouts were pretty awesome. The posters looked really cool but they wouldn't have made it home in one piece so we all opted for a Vizmedia booklet. I am glad we had a spare bag for it to all go in so it didn't get ruined or forgotten.

You guys know how I am a big one for location?
Well... The center was certainly an interesting one. It felt like a cement coliseum and if there was a horror movie/ horror games filmed or hosted there I would flip because it would fit those so well. However it wasn't a very convention friendly building, I understand that there are only a certain number of places that you can hold conventions in Asheville, but still.
Okay, enough beating around the bush. Here are the tactless words.

The view would have been beautiful but the windows were filthy so that ruined it.
The interior looked like a parking garage, literally the "stairs" were concrete ramps.
The vendors room was a huge pit like in a coliseum with seating in the nosebleed section.
The artists alley was in the wrap around hall that led to the seats.
The majority of vendors were either pushy or disinterested, they was a few where I liked their items but wouldn't have purchased them because of the hosts.
A lot of the artists were very young and I would even take a chance to say that this was their first convention.
There was no signage so you either had to ask for directions or follow the flow of people.
The staff were very.. Staff-y. What I mean by that is most of the successful cons that I have been to have the staff mingling and getting conversations going and introducing strangers and its just a ton of fun.
Overall my biggest problem though was the fact that it felt like something was missing.
We ended up leaving and didn't even stay for the later panels.
If you think I didn't give this convention a chance please understand that I went there wanting to love it, I tried very hard to find the good and things that I liked but really only a few things came to mind.
They had "Cosplay is NOT Consent" Signs everywhere which I adore and think that every con should have because people are often confused about that. Even though it should be blatantly obvious that if your soul isn't inhabiting that body then don't touch it.
There was a really cool "Inspector Gadget" cosplayer that was very in character and had a lot of neat tricks up his sleeve(s).
There was actually Supernatural merchandise there which was pretty cool. I did end up in a conversation with someone because I said "I don't think my Mom would like it if I wore a pentagram to church." talking about the protective demon charms that a vendor had. Well I have been thinking about that and I want to clear it up a little bit.
My roommates and family (and friends if I had any) are all supportive and understanding of my eccentric tendencies and nerdy interests. My Mother would probably have not said anything about it and wouldn't stop me from doing it because she encourages and supports me with everything but there is still a fine line between acceptable and disrespectful and I am afraid that buying that and wearing it would have been disrespectful to her. I am not that type of child, I have a very healthy relationship with my parents and they are worth not having a little bit of Supernatural merchandise.

Okay time for the over all ranking.. Obviously I have not been looking forward to this.

AARC Overall-commerce score: 7/10
AARC Overall-personal score: 4.5/10
Would I recommend this convention? If you're in the area and don't have much to do then go for it but if you have to travel say, a few hours, then I wouldn't advise it. It wasn't a favorable convention for me.
Will you be back? That is a hard maybe, probably not. I dunno.. I like cosplay contests.
Ideas for Improvement: Signs. Those are nice. I like to know where I came from, Where I should go, Where I should have come from. Cotton Eyed Joe.



That is all that I have to say for today, I am sure some of you are thankful for that. Hope you all have a good day and remember I care about you ^_^

~Aki Ame Okami