Katsucon: Upsetting Attendees Even Before the Con Begins

Katsucon won’t be starting for another few days. However, that doesn’t mean the convention can’t begin to screw things up big time in the form of something that has been a problem for me in Katsucons past: the policy when it comes to bags in the Dealers’ Room.

During my early years of Katsucon, the conventions bag policy has been somewhat of a problem to me. The first year I attended the convention, I nearly didn’t even attend it at all, with one of the big reasons for it being the con’s policy for not allowing most bags in the Dealers’ Room. While these bags didn’t include camera bags and con bags (the only two bags that I’d bring into the Dealers’ Room in the first place), it still bothered me as I’m usually a person who gets dropped off and picked up at these events. Two years later, Katsucon staff refused to allow the con bags given out on Friday to be brought into the Dealers’ Room. As a result, if I wanted to enter the room on Friday, I’d had to empty the con bag, put it in my pocket, and carry everything in my hands. However, these problems are nothing compared to the policy that the con is doing for the Dealers’ Room this year.

Camera bags? Not allowed. Con bags? Not allowed. Items you bought from an earlier go-round of the Dealers’ Room? Not allowed. Coats that are part of the a cosplay outfit? Not allowed. Long story short, no bags or coats of any fashion will be allowed in the Dealers’ Room at all this year, and people are forced to either return these items to their hotel rooms/cars or check them in the coat check area that’s next to the Dealers’ Room.

So far, I’m not dropping my plans to attend the convention just yet (as I’m willing to heed their rules for the moment), as I’m not giving up my con trip over this crap. However, for a convention that has been filled with problems in the past, the very strict “no bag” policy for the Dealers’ Room is hands down a Dethroning Moment of Suck in my book. Among the reasons for it:

-Katsucon doesn’t seem to realize that a number of female attendees don’t have pockets in their clothes and instead need to carry around purses, which the con will only allow in the Dealers’ Room if they’re the size of a CD case.

-It’s common knowledge that a number of people will line up early for the Dealers’ Room, with them usually bringing along something to keep them entertained as they wait for the room to open. Unless the con staff will allow people to get out of line temporarily (and return to their spot in line) to check their objects in about a half hour before the room opens, it’s going to be a very boring time unless you have a lot of pockets (which will be the way to go for me, as I can put my camera in my pocket so I can still take cosplay photos while I wait in line).

-Let me tell you something: depending on who’s currently running it (and how many people have items checked in), it’s going to be a huge problem when it comes to finding the bags when you come to claim them. At Katsucon 2008, I had to check my stuff in the video game room, and in the end it took forever for the people running to coat check area to find it due to it being buried among other items that are being checked in. Thankfully, it’s going to be warm enough this weekend that I don’t need a coat, but still, the idea of everyone needing to check their bags before they enter the Dealers’ Room concerns me when it comes to the time it takes to retrieve my stuff.

-Right now, I’m still uncertain that I can do the following plan when it comes to checking and claiming my bags.

Step 1: Before I line up for the Dealers’ Room, check my camera and con bag.

Step 2: After I’m done in the Dealers’ Room, I make a switch in which I check in my Dealers’ Room purchases and claim my camera and con bags.

Step 3: The next time I go to the Dealers’ Room, I drop my camera and con bags again (with them with my purchases from the previous go-rounds of the room).

Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 and 3

Step 5: Once I’m done going into the Dealers’ Room for the day (which will likely be before I line up for either the AMV Contest or the Funimation Panel), return to the bag check area to claim all the stuff I bought at the convention that day.

I’m really hoping that Katsucon will re-evaluate the bag policy when it comes to next year’s convention, because I really feel that the convention is dropping the ball with the strict rules in place for this year.