Hello everyone! It's been a minute since I've posted a journal, and I thought I would share some brief details about my experience at IFC.

I meant to write one of these for Anthrocon, but I got busy and lost the motivation to do it, but I'll make a couple comparisons between IFC and AC.

Before I get started, I just want to say that I really enjoyed my time at IFC, but I will lay out my complaints/criticisms here first:

First of all, IFC is obviously a lot smaller than AC, about a tenth of the attendance. But the convention space is over 40 times smaller than for AC, and that doesn't even factor in AC being able to spread out around downtown. In short, IFC was a lot more crowded. IFC's space basically consisted of one fairly long hallway, with about a dozen or so rooms for panels and the like. Most of the rooms were far too small, and so many individuals either had to leave panels early, or not participate at all. The crowding also showed with the heat. The hotel had supposedly upgraded their HVAC system in order to try and fix issues from previous years, but it was clearly not enough. Many rooms got extremely hot from the body heat of everyone gathered inside. One of the worse offenders was the Artist's Alley room. I feel very bad for the artists who had to sit in there all day, because it was unbearable for me to be in there for more than about 15 minutes. It wasn't insanely hot outside either, I just think the air conditioning could not keep up with the volume of people in the space. Even the headless lounge was pretty warm. I ended up having to shower six times in one day because I was sweating so much, and deodorant can only do so much to prevent stink. So, needless to say, I believe the convention has outgrown its hotel, there just isn't enough space for everyone anymore. They even mentioned how only like, 10% of the panel requests could be accepted due to the lack of rooms? Which is pretty unfortunate.

Another issue is that there just isn't much to eat in the area. Your options are pretty limited, although they did have a couple food trucks to help with that. Nonetheless, there are very few options, especially compared to a con like AC (although that comparison is a bit unfair).

Enough complaining, what were some of the things that made this con great?

Well, it was NEW for me, first of all. There were lots of people there who I had never seen before, and also some familiar faces from either AC, or my local area. Also, with smaller con, there's less stuff going on all the time, and so it's a bit more laid back. With AC, my goal is essentially to meet as many people that I know as possible, because tons of them are there! I want to meet people, say hi to them, and get pictures with them. However, with how many panels were happening, how many people I wanted to meet, and how many people OTHERS wanted to meet, it was always fairly rushed. Did I get to meet a lot of amazing people at AC? I sure did, but I didn't really get to *talk* with them much. The interactions were basically "oh hi, let's get a picture, ok bye!". And the few times where I was able to talk with people, it was brief, or I was interrupted and the conversation had to end early. AC is fun and all, but I don't have much time to talk with those I meet until after the con, which defeats the purpose a bit.

However, with IFC, that was very different. There's less people, and less stuff going on, so I was able to spend a lot of time just relaxing and talking to people. I could just stand and yap to people about whatever, and they could yap back to me. I had time to meet with some people as well and hang out, although I wish I could have done it more. But I believe I made a few new friends at IFC, whereas I've only ever made one friend at AC. It's a lot easier to make friends with people and follow up with them later when you can actually talk for a while, and see each other more than once. IFC allows for that, one benefit of its small space is you come across the same people a LOT. You get to interact with them many times, but with AC, you might see the same person a couple times, maybe even more if you're lucky, or you won't ever see them. This also made IFC less exhausting than AC, since there's time to sit back and relax, take a nap, etc. People can certainly find time to do this at AC as well, but it's much harder to find time without giving up on a panel you wanted to be at.

Anyways, would I go to IFC again? Yes, almost certainly. I was very nervous going into it, because it was my first convention that wasn't AC. My main goal at AC has always been to meet people I knew online, and since I only knew a couple people who were going to IFC, I was nervous that I wouldn't enjoy it too much. But I really did enjoy it. I won't, and for that matter, *can't* say if I enjoyed it more than AC, because I'm not really sure. I wouldn't say it was better or worse, it was just *different*. The two conventions have very different vibes, and their own pros/cons. But I really did enjoy my time there, getting to meet so many kind and wonderful people. I can't thank my friend Chinwatt enough for giving me the opportunity to come to IFC this year, and I had a great time handling for him on top of suiting around myself. I would recommend visiting this con if you're a local, but be sure to stay hydrated and bring a fan.

If you read all the way through, thank you so much. I like to ramble, and thought this could be a good place to put some of my thoughts! I hope this was informative. Anyways, I took over 1200 pictures at IFC, and I need to finish sorting through those, so I will get to it!