psicom

OZINE FEST '09 was held last April 3-5 at SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 2. I was fortunate enough to be there for the last 2 days. The event featured cosplay, toys and collectibles, game demos, art contests, a maid and host cafe and much more. This year Ozine also featured the National Cosplay Summit following the World Cosplay Summit standards.

Entrance to the convention area was PhP100.00. We were there early enough and there was a huge crowd gathering already. I wasn't at the last Ozine so I really can't compare but from the way it looks they did make sure to try organizing this event properly. According to Magnetic-Rose, the event was a vast improvement from last year. Personally, I am just glad that they used a bigger event space than Megatrade Hall 3. A map of the convention space was available for viewing at the entrance which made it easier to navigate. I suggest they give out maps as well to all the participants.

Me and Sese Maxwell did some costripping on Day 2 at the convention as ninjas   (and if you are asking, no, not as Naruto). It was fun and we were able to go around and see the different booths and exhibitors. The floor plan of the event made also sure that they cleared an area in front of the stage area to make sure there was room for the audience. Unfortunately, it wasn't big enough.

AniCon '08 was held in SM Megamall at Megatrade Hall 3 last October 05, 2008. This was to be an Anime, Console, & Online Gaming Event. You can see the details of the con from the Otakuzine website at http://www.otakuzine-mag.com/.

I later found out that this con used to be the original GX-con which was revamped and renamed to Anicon. In my opinion a good move as the previously mentioned con did carry some, or in my case a lot, of bad blood. As a critique, I believed that it was my duty to re-evaluate the convention.

They held the convention in the same space they held it last year, which is by far the smallest convention area of the three Megatrade Halls. As you can imagine, it was cramped. From what I hear, the convention organizers got the Trade Hall at half price because no one had booked the location. The management of SM saw it fit to lease the hall at reduced price instead of leaving it unused on Sundays. This kind of caused last minute preparations for the convention. One of the exhibitors, whom I personally know, was given like a week for them to prepare for the convention. Talk about cramming.

I went with a friend to the convention. We paid PHP100.00 each for the entrance. This year they had freebies, not that it's important, but it's definitely welcome. I don't mind not getting freebies if I feel that it was worth my time and money to come. Though I wondered why they changed the freebies they were planning to give out last minute. Not a big deal for me, really.