This past weekend, The Owlbear Lair had the opportunity to attend Animate Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center. In exchange for hosting panels, we received free passes to the convention. This was our first experience with this particular convention. Our team had a good time but left with some mixed feelings.
First off, some background. Animate Orlando is an animation focused event presented by GalaxyCon (formerly Supercon). While GalaxyCon has been holding events for decades under the Supercon name, this was only Animate Orlando’s 2nd year.
Let me start out by saying that this is not a complaint post. It may sound like it at times, but I believe that people genuinely enjoyed the convention and that Animate Orlando will only get better each year. Are there ways that it can improve? Of course. Was it a bad con? Not at all.
We arrived Saturday morning, grabbed our badges, and within minutes headed inside the exhibit hall. Deciding to check out where our first panel would take place, we skipped past the vendors and went straight to the event space.
The vendor and event areas shared Exhibit Hall B4. The hall was partitioned so that the vendors, artists, and special guests were on one side with a walkway leading to the events. Patrons venturing there would find the main stage, a wrestling ring, food booths, the family zone, community groups, designated cosplay meet-up location, an 18+ only area curtained off, the tattoo zone, and finally the tabletop and video gaming areas. Each section seemed to have plenty of space.
Panels – Attempt #1
First stop for the group was the Tabletop Arena hosted by Misty Mountain Games. We checked in with Colter and James who were running the arena. This included the free board game library and several one-shots and learn-to-play sessions scheduled throughout the weekend. With 24 free play and meet up tables along with the 4 TTRPG tables, they had a pretty good set up. People could easily find a table to relax with friends and a game. There was even a place to chill with bean bag chairs in front of a fairy tale backdrop for people young enough to still be able to get out of bean bag chairs.
Our first panel, The Owlbear Lair Answers Reddit’s Top RPG Questions, was scheduled to start at 11:30 am. Looking around we thought maybe we were supposed to hold it by the bean bag forest. After talking to the guys from Misty Mountain we realized that the panels in the Tabletop Arena didn’t have a designated location.
Time to get creative. Without a formal panel room or stage/chair set up, we commandeered a table dedicated to game meet-ups. A panel is basically a meet-up with more structure anyway. Since we couldn’t find any signs listing the arena’s scheduled events, we made our own using dry erase boards we brought to use during the panels. Always trust a roleplayer to come prepared with accessories.
Our 1st panel start time came and went with little interest or acknowledgment from the people around us. We did have one guy come up to us to ask some questions and chat about the game he is currently playing in which was nice. Maybe he was genuinely interested or maybe he took pity on the sad group holding up signs and trying to entertain ourselves.
We’re Free!
After meeting our first obligation for free tickets, Lonnie, Katie, and I took a turn around the dealer room. Kevin headed over to visit with friends at the Outer Rim Guilds booth in the Community Groups area.
The convention really delivered on the animation focus. The line-up of artists, animators, and voice actors came from a wide range of genres and styles.
We got to chat for a while with Steve Garcia, an animator and illustrator known for his work on the Iron Giant. He told us about the process of getting the Iron Giant made. We talked about how people all over can relate to the heartwarming and bittersweet story. For example Ted Lasso Season 1 features a scene where the team gets teary eyed while watching the Iron Giant together.
The exhibit hall seemed packed with artists. Artist Alley felt just as big or bigger than the vendor section. Most cons rarely dedicate this much space to artists when they can charge more for vendor spaces.
While you could find the standard t-shirts, figurines, and Pop figures for sale, just as many booths were selling handmade jewelry, wooden puzzles, and crocheted animals. In fact, I don’t think I saw a single anime body pillow for sale on the whole vendor floor which is a refreshing change.
We never experienced a problem getting through the aisles. I am used to cons where you have to shuffle through the rows or expect to be bumped constantly. I don’t know if they made the walkways wider or if it just wasn’t crowded. Possibly a main stage event drew the majority of attendees away?
In the afternoon, we split up for a while. Lonnie and Kevin signed up for the Starfinder TTRPG Learn-to-Play session. Katie and I went to the 18+ area to show our ID’s for wristbands. Anyone who wanted to attend the panels/events there later had to show proof of age. After that we headed out of the exhibit hall for a break.
They Made Some Interesting Choices
The con organizers made some choices when laying everything out that I honestly don’t understand. Stepping out into the hallway really brought home how strange it felt compared to similar conventions.
For starters none of the panel rooms directly outside the exhibit hall were being used. Several groups lounged around enjoying the quiet. It was so quiet and empty that you could have found a couch and took a nap if you wanted.
One thing you should know about the Orange County Convention Center is that this place is never quiet. Even on convention load in days or before a con opens, a hum of activity lingers in the hallways. Saturday afternoon at anime convention rarely feels as chill as this did.
Also take into consideration that this place is huge. To quote the center’s website, “The main span of the Brooklyn Bridge (all 1,595 feet) could fit inside the West Building’s contiguous exhibit space, which is 2,500 feet in length.” That’s roughly half a mile from end to end. That doesn’t include the panel rooms, theaters, and ballrooms spread over the center’s 3 floors.
Despite having 6 panel rooms reserved for Animate Orlando, 3 were past a bunch of food booths down a side hallway while the other 3 were up on the 3rd floor. Several workshops and all the “after dark” events took place at the adjacent hotel. The exhibit hall contained everything else. I am sure there were many people who never even knew that anything was going on outside of it.
That said, there were other layout issues that could be improved for next year. The main stage events and wrestling matches were so loud that it made it hard to hear in the other event spaces. Have an adult only area for risqué content if you want, but don’t put it directly across from the kids trading Pokemon cards or 40 feet from the Family Zone. Looking at the empty video game and tattoo zones made me a little sad that so few people made it over to them.
Ways to Improve
Most of this could have been fixed with a few simple swaps. Move the tabletop area to the space taken by the 18+ content (which didn’t even start until after 4 pm). Slide the video games up in the tabletop spot. Move the adult area into the far corner where the video games were.
I am not entirely sure that the Deep Space Boutique (18+) or tattoo zone needed to be there at all. Based on general observation, the average age of attendees skewed younger with lots of teens and families with kids. Though GalaxyCon staples at all their events, they wasted a lot of space on places very few people took advantage of.
As for the panel rooms, I am sure that cost was a factor when they chose which rooms to use. At least I hope so. I can’t think of any logical reason why they would spread themselves so thin rather than using the rooms across from the hall.
Panels – Attempt #2
Our panel on Sunday (Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Roleplaying Games But Were Afraid to Ask) went even worse than the first one. With still no signs and just a random table, nobody showed up unless you count the guy sleeping in a bean bag.
Luckily Kevin and Lonnie’s Lightsaber Choreography panel went a little better. They at least had a panel room, though one filled with tables and chairs rather than the empty space they had requested. What was supposed to be an interactive session teaching people hands on stage combat turned into a lecture. The people who attended were understanding about the change.
Final Thoughts
Animate Orlando was not what I was expecting. Overall, the whole thing just felt like a little con in too much space in some areas and not enough in others. While our group did get in for free, I feel weird about not actually getting to present our panels. To be honest, I like presenting more than I like cons in general. GalaxyCon has plenty of experience hosting events so I look forward to seeing how they improve for next year.