Oh boy.

So Aki Con was a small, local anime convention that took place over October 26-28 across the lake at the Bellevue Hilton. It was one of the most frustrating weekends ever, and I wasn’t the only one that felt that way. The backlash from artists in the week following the con was pretty damn vicious. Things have settled down since then, but only because time has passed, and not because any of the issues have been resolved. I was really busy in the time leading up to the con, and was really busy after  — this is the longest I’ve ever delayed writing a con report, and for any other con, I think I would have just given up and let it go, but if any con needs to be written about, it’s Aki Con.

This is the most relevant photo of the convention.

And in fact, many, many, many others already have, in a much more timely manner than I. There is both a Tumblr and a Facebook group dedicated to calling out Aki Con on its bullshit astonishing lack of professionalism. I’m told a lot that I’m the only person who writes about artist experiences at conventions so extensively, so I think the fact that this many others have written about Aki Con is proof enough that it’s a convention with some really serious issues.

This report is 8,228 words long, to the surprise of exactly no one.

Read the rest of this entry »