My First Momocon Experience

 

Momocon

 Momocon has been one of my most anticipated geek conventions in the world and I finally made the trip this year. For those that don't know Momocon is located in Atlanta, Georgia. It was originally held at a college campus, but now is known for its venue at the Georgia World Congress Center. The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) is a huge convention center. If I would compare it to something I would compare it to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center located in Washington D.C. where Otakon is held every year, but I think that the GWCC is bigger. The GWCC is massive! It's made up of two buildings marked as Buildings A and B which both have five floors, but I think I even saw a sign past the cafe that said Building C, but if there was one Momocon didn't use it. In addition Momocon also uses the Omni Hotel which is the host hotel for the convention. The con's panels were held on the top floors of the GWCC with the bottom floors reserved for the Vendor's Hall/Artist Alley and the game room with the Omni Hotel only hosting panels, concerts, and the rave.

There is so much to do at Momocon. While a lot of cons use the Guidebook app for posting their schedule Momocon has their own app which makes it feel way more official. There was a wide variety of things to do at Momocon in terms of panel variety, shopping, playing games, and just hanging out. This being my first time I was most taken by exploring the venue. I forgot to mention this but Momocon was a four day convention spanning from Thurday May 21, Sunday May 24 and on the first day the thing that got my attention the most was the wrestling stage that was located at the end of the Dealer's Hall/Artist Alley. I've been to a wrestling event at Dragon Con in 2024, but this one was a lot smaller. As mentioned it was regulated to a spot at the end of the Dealer's Hall and the ring I believe was smaller than Dragon Con's with some foldable chairs set up for viewers to watch but plenty of people were standing up watching. I liked this more in this way because at Dragon Con it was so big that I chad to sit towards the back and so I was looking at TV screens most of the time to spectate, but here at Momo I could still get a front row view even with all the seats being taken. It made feel more community like. 

 

A photo from the Persona meetup on Friday.

 

As I explored the convention center I noticed how pristine it looks. I've been to quite a few conventions now and the GWCC center feels different, grander. I liked how there was a spiraling staircase that lead to the main event panels and when I was trying to find the end of Hallway B for my Persona meetup I discovered this neat fountain area outside framed from the inside with these tall windows that already looked good in the gloomy weather we got because it rained the whole weekend, but I can only imagine how beautiful it would look on a sunny day. I found that and a nice lounge in this area that had an overview of the Artist Alley much like bottom food court at Otakon, but the view here was much better and the lounge was vastly more comfortable and uniquely designed while the area at Otakon felt sterile and plain. I've watched a lot of cosplay music videos of Momocon over the years and I finally got to step into the iconic walkway that's near the registration where people transfer from Building A to Building B. This walkway is set with sunroof windows with an all white floor that gives it a pristine feeling. The lighting in here is nice even on a cloudy day and I see why it shows up in so many photos and videos. This year there was a Nothing Bundt Cakes stand in this area and it was my first time trying out these cakes. I first tried the strawberry cheesecake flavor which was euphoric and I also tried red velvet, and strawberry n cream on the following days, but the strawberry cheesecake took it.

Speaking of food I did try out a couple of spots while I was in Atlanta. Someone had recommended me a spot called Atlanta Breakfast Club some time ago and it was not far from the convention, just behind the Georgia Aquarium and the food there was really good, just too expensive. I can't remember the last time I went to a sit down restaurant and they didn't offer free water with your meal. They made you pay for bottled waters and it was $4 each. Normally I bring my own water with me in case I run into something like this, but a few reasons I didn't was that I was out of town so I didn't have my usual water with me, I didn't stop anywhere along the way, and I knew I was going to a sit-down restaurant so I figured I wouldn't have to pay for water and how wrong I was and I was really worried when I discovered this because I'm someone who drinks a lot when eating, but I toughed it out on just the one bottle. I also went to a Mexican restaurant in downtown Atlanta called Tin Lizzy's that had an amazing nacho platter. They offered a lot of food for the price and it was delicious. I didn't try any of the in-convention food as from experience it's overpriced and bland. For the remainder of the con I made sandwiches and got take-out from Waffle House.

Harada at the Q&A panel.

 Speaking of Waffle House one of the guests for Momocon this year was none other than Katsuhiro Harada, the director of multiple Tekken games. I was already planning on going to Momocon, but getting one of the developers behind my favorite fighting game franchise sealed the deal. I scoured my belongings and got my copy of Tekken 6 for him to sign and I was there early for his meet and greet on Friday morning. He seemed like a nice person. I had him sign my game and my badge. I got the idea for him to sign my badge because I saw another person ahead of me do it because he had nothing for him to sign. Also unlike most meet and greets at cons this was completely free. Free photos and autographs. I thought this was Momocon being generous and paying for his autograph fees, but I talked to one of the people handling his session and he told me that it's a Japanese thing. Typically Japanese guests don't charge for autographs. I gave credit to Otakon for doing this for the Final Fantasy developers in 2024, but this piece of information puts that into perspective.

Still, it was great to meet him and I went to his panel later that day which was a complete Q&A session with the fans. I hesitated for lining up as I couldn't immediately think of anything and by the time I did the line was already too long. I should've got in line anyway and while I was waiting I could've thought of something. While watching the Q&A I did wonder what his favorite Japanese and Western foods were. This panel also revealed to me that the woman that was translating for him at the autograph session was actually the voice actor for Nina Williams and she voiced Christie in one game as well. I wish I knew that beforehand because I could have asked her to sign my copy of Tekken 6 too. The Q&A was quite interesting. I learned a lot about his process in making games and of course someone, actually two people brought up Waffle House. So in Tekken around the end of 7 or the start of 8 I can't remember fans on Twitter started requesting Waffle House to be a stage in Tekken. It got to Harada and people sent him videos of fights happening at Waffle House and it became a thing where he was confused and intrigued. He acknowledged it and confirmed he would try. At his panel a fan brought it up again and Harada said that he reached out to Waffle House three times but they never responded. Another fan asked him if he ever got the Waffle House experience; went there at around 3AM and ordered some food and watched the chaos unfold. He said as of yet he hasn't. It was genuinely wholesome. The whole panel was a great experience and I'm glad I got to attend. Now I've met developers of two of my favorite video game franchises ever. This is really a dream come true.

Oh and I also got to meet Paul Dini, writer of multiple animated Batman projects. 

The Dealer's Hall of Momocon. 

I still haven't talked in detail about the Dealer's Hall and Artist Alley. Momocon's is big. I would say it is the same size as Otakon's. If it is bigger it is only slightly so as there was the car exhibit also in this room. The variety of things to purchase was very good. I saw keychains, prints, posters, pins, and plushies of course, but there were also used game vendors, trading card vendors, manga and anime vendors, nerdy home decor, figures, stickers, props, furry accessories, clothing, etc. Me? All I took home were just some pins, stickers, and keychains, nothing fancy. I also got a couple of free bracelets and keychains from attendees. I also liked just walking in that area. There is a lot of walking space and the bustle of the people is just exciting and comforting to me even when I'm not planning on buying anything. The Dealer's Hall/Artist Alley was very good.

I was also surprised by how late Momocon stays open. The GWCC was open until 2AM each night. One of the things people like to do at Momocon at night is hang around the courtyard area at the entrance of the convention center. It's a small courtyard with a grass patch. People hang out and talk and some bring out speakers and play music while people dance. It's a chill environment. I even saw people bring animals. I saw a snake, an African bird, and a lemur. Even though I liked that it was there as a lone attendee it did make me feel awkward as it seemed that everyone there was with a friend group already and while I did meet people at this convention I wasn't able to become part of their group and after I talked to a couple of people for a while and then they had to leave I was left feeling a bit awkward so I eventually left. This happened Thurday and Friday night with me. I didn't go to any raves or afterparties until Saturday. On Friday night however I decided to venture to Cascade Skating Rink, the famous skating rink from the hood movie ATL. I'm an inexperienced skater and I learned that I went at the right time before 11:30pm because that's when the skate rink is adults only and all of the skilled skaters come out. The skate rink is very nice and I even tried some food, just some fries and an Icee. I want to go back with some skill next time and come back next year for the 11:30 crew.

I waited too late to score the official afterparty tickets for Saturday so instead I went to Trap Sushi's party which was held at a venue called Monday Night Garage which the location reminded me a lot of a the area where DC Brawlesque has their shows in Washington, D.C. Someone warned me to go early and I should've heeded those words because the line to get in was so long by the time I got inside I could only dance for an hour and a half. I also saw people just skipping the line and going straight up to I assumed was a VIP line. For how big the venue was I wasn't sure why the line moved so slowly. I ran into someone I knew that night and since I uninstalled Instagram I didn't see that she messaged me and told me of a side entrance I could've snuck into which is what she did, but I did like the environment once I got in I was just disappointed that I had such little time to enjoy it. I also saw so many Atlanta cosplayers I recognized here and at the con.

 Momocon had a ton to do which I appreciated. Although I enjoyed myself and met quite a few people from this I did still a bit empty at points and after the con. I've been going to cons alone for 8 years now and it's really starting to hit me and though some people say that other people don't care it did seem like a lot of people I interacted with thought it was weird that I was alone. The initial contact when I met some people were fine, but when I kept running into them and I was alone each time and the looks on their faces gave off that they seemed uncomfortable to me even though all I was doing was saying hello or making small chit chat and even with some of the people I exchanged contact info with I never heard from again from the rest of the con or afterwards. It's a lingering feeling.

Overall Momocon was a great experience. I would definitely go again. I'm not sure if I want to go again next year as there are still a few other cons I want to try, but I just might. It's a very good con.