New one day event, so here’s my debrief/review!
Context/expectations
Cosplay Meet XL a fan-made event and I prefer those over commercial events, mostly due to the smaller size and activities. I have seen their (Cosplay meet’s) smaller events on Instagram, but I never managed to snag a ticket for those, so getting a ticket for this one was something I wanted. Just to see if it is something I’d like. While their Instagram posts looked professional, they missed intent, frequency and actual information. So I grew doubtful on attending in late November last year, which is 3 months before the event. I was convinced by a friend to keep the ticket and go, but my doubts never really cleared. I’ll make a list of concrete things that I missed around that time, so everyone can learn:
- Information about the photosets: How long can you use them? Is there always a photographer or a model there? What interactions with the set are allowed (can models sit on tables, are prop rearrangements allowed)?
- Activities next to the photosets: Are there workshops? Is there a place to relax in between? Who can we meet there? Are there games to play? Is there a photographer/model “speed-date”? Would there be an “art gallery” with cosplay pictures of attending photographers?
- Information/rules on the cosplay competition (especially after prolonging the deadline twice): Information on what to expect when entering this competition. What is the stage lay-out? What are the important things to keep in mind when picking a cosplay to apply with? Do competitors need to submit their own music/build book/proof of making it themselves?
Also before they added rules: No rules means no feedback. It would not be a (beginner) competition without feedback, it is a show. If you want to read my ranting on this misinterpretation by quite a few conventions, this “tutorial” for events can provide some insight. - Information/rules on the photography competition: Is it mandatory to use a set for the picture you want to enter? Does the picture have to be made with a photo camera? Can I enter with a selfie? Does the photographer and cosplayer combo have to be new? Can you use AI (ew) in these pictures?
- Information on the market area: I have seen some posts with stand holders, but I’d love to see a lay-out. How much focus is there on shopping? What can I buy in my down time?
- A program: I have no idea if I can fill my day here and I’d like to plan things with friends. Saying we will go to x or y together makes an event more fun. Is it just workshops and shopping or can I do other things in my down time too? And when is the cosplay competition? When are the results? Do I need to stay the entire day for just that?
I know that this is a fan-made event, but they have done smaller events before, so I expected more professionalism of them. I was severely disappointed in the cosplay competition having no rules and thus being shit for beginners. I did send them a message and that spiraled into me having to spend an evening to convince them why rules matter, especially for beginners. It wasn’t a very pleasant discussion and felt like the organiser didn’t want to understand. Later, I heard more people had this feeling as they also raised their concerns and didn’t get a good, constructive talk out of it.
Hence I started this day with a negative feeling.
Day of the event
For this event, I had decided to wear the White Mage cosplay (FFXIV) I had already made. So no stress there! Fhant has helped me before with getting dressed in this outfit, which makes it way easier. The last bit of make-up and the wig were left till I arrived at the venue. I feel more comfortable traveling like this. 🙂 The estimated travel time was between 30 and 45 minutes. After waking up, breakfast and getting dressed, we leisurely drove to the location. I would have plenty of time getting ready with the last bits there.
Picture by The Court of Photography
After parking the car, Fhant and I walked inside the venue (which didn’t have much of an indication that this event was going on) and immediately ran into theCourtofPhotography (and KayleeFirecat a little while later). Fhant and I were allowed to skip the line due to the cosplay competition I participated in, but we got pointed back-and-forth for a bit, which was very confusing. When we got our badges, I changed in a changing room. Those were kinda small, so I did the rest of the dress-up outside the changing room. We were unpleasantly surprised that the bag storage was €5 per bag and coat storage was €2 per coat. So we jammed as much as we could in one bag to leave there, instead of taking proper care of storing our stuff neatly.
Now, all ready to explore, I found there wasn’t much to explore. I had seen the map, but since I hadn’t been to the location before I had no real scale of it. It was very small. The lecture space was straight across the bag room and it was just a few chairs with a screen, laptop and a couple of tables. I’d expect the hosts of the workshops had a difficult time to be heard. Catering was also very small and nothing really themed to fit a convention. (Aka no Asian snacks or drinks, kinda sad about that. I like my boba tea!) Across the catering was the shopping area. Just two rows of stalls and with it being very calm, I didn’t feel comfortable browsing stuff. (I’m so sorry, artists! I’m just nervous.) Behind that, was the last bit of the con: the photo sets and the main stage. I was kinda feeling that the photo sets were too close to each other, limiting the angles that are posssible to shoot in.
Picture by KayleeFirecat
TheCourtofPhotography and I decided to make use of the flower wall first, because there was a really nice sun beam on it that helped with fun lighting. Then we moved to the dual light set-up and then to the “garden set”. It was pretty quiet at this point, so sometimes we had to wait a little, but most of the time that was like 5-10 minutes. Only the “Pirate cabin” was crowded most of the time, so we left that for last. When it was vacant at some point, another cosplayer wanted to use that set as well, but they didn’t have a photographer. TheCourtofPhotography stepped up and I just goofed around with my mobile phone to show some alternate angles. This was quite fun. 🙂 After they were done, it was my turn and we got some cute pictures.
At around 11:00 I had to show up for prejudging, but that took a while longer than communicated. There were no chairs to sit down on, nor was there any info on why it took so long. Only when it was my turn, I heard the excuse that the PowerPoints weren’t working on the laptop. It would have been a lot nicer if we were informed beforehand, so I could have picked up a coke before the pre-judging. I was kinda crashing at that point. Since I was crashing, I don’t really have a recollection of what I said and what was asked. My bad :<. I headed straight for the cafetaria to get a drink.
Then, Fhant, Elianzi and I went through the shopping area, where I visited Minque for Vampire teeth. I had contacted them beforehand, as I have sensory issues in my mouth and I wanted to know if their set would work for me. It felt like it’d would work, so I bought those for my Malzeno armor and Vampire Queen OC.
I was really low on energy now, since it got busy and people weren’t as nice anymore. This really made me tired and a bit grumpy and I tried keeping an eye on the competition time, but it was difficult to know what would happen when. The sound system either not up to the task or improperly set up, but many others and I couldn’t make out what they wanted to say when the hosts were talking.
Picture by The Court of Photography
The competition itself was weird. Since no one could hear their music (or pick something, the event picked our music and did not tell us what we had) and there was no timer or other method to know when time was up, many contestants hurried on and off stage. I really haven’t had the feeling this was a competition. The lack of preparation of what we could do, was probably one factor. But lack of communication, information or rules at first, made this not a good experience for a cosplay competition.
When the competition was over, my feet were hurting. The heels were killing me, as I don’t wear heels often. (I slowly wear them more often, but still.) I sat down on the side of the con, to rest my feet. AraAra approached me and we decided to also shoot together. However, since it was so busy now, we had to wait over an hour before we could use the set. And when we got to use the set, we were asked by a crewmember to leave. He said that we had been hogging it for over an hour, while we only had done two poses (and let at least 5 people go before us). That made me feel like it was time to pack up and go home. Which Fhant and I did. We got home around three o’clock and where happy we did.
Picture by The Court of Photography
This event was just boring and some extra thought in all aspects would really have improved a lot of things. Any feedback to them will not matter, as they announced it was a one off event. So, for future event organisers: read the text at the start, and understand what’s behind all those questions and remarks and then get working on all that. I believe in fan events, I truly do. Just take your time, listen to feedback, be transparent and enjoy your hard work! I really want to see what you come up with. <3
Keep on crafting!
Amirine