Otakon in DC

August 5, 2006

We love Otakon. We've been going for several years, and we want to be able to keep going, and enjoying it, in the years to come.

But Otakon 2006 is definitely not as enjoyable as previous Otakons. It is obvious to anyone who is attending that there are too many people for the space. The crowding not only degrades the con experience considerably on its own, but seems to have exacerbated the normal snafus we know come with running a con: this year they seem worse than usual.

One solution is to lower the attendance cap back to 2005 or 2004 levels. That would work, but it would mean less people could enjoy Otakon, and it would mean Otakon wouldn't be able to grow anymore.

The better solution is to move Otakon to the Washington DC Convention Center. The DC convention center is much larger than the Baltimore Convention Center.

-Otakon 2006 con chair, Jim Vowles himself said: "Realistically, unless the BCC is leveled and rebuilt, it will not be a serious competitor with DC"

-The DC convention center is located conveniently close to a Metro (commuter rail) station, so people could stay in cheaper hotels in MD and VA and take the train in.

-Great part of town, plenty of restaurants, located in our nation's capital!

Every year the registration price goes up, but more people just get shoved into the same space. We encourage you to choose the option that will both give your fans what they want and allow Otakon to keep growing and thriving.