This was my favorite picture that I took at MomoCon. It’s slightly out of focus, and the framing on it stinks because I was using a portrait lens and had to take like 15 steps back, and I hate making people wait for me to push the goddamn shutter as it is, so I admittedly rushed it.
However it’s still great because it’s the kind of picture that evokes a real response, in my opinion. I know I take way more pictures of girls than I do guys, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m pretty selective and superficial when it comes to deciding on the things I want to take pictures of, but when the day is over, it’s pictures like Fiddlesticks versus a 6-year old Captain America that really makes me stop and smile at a picture that I took myself.
I could probably drag out a thousand word narrative like a low-rent Stephen King about everything that’s right about this picture, but I’ll just cut to the chase and say that I like this picture because I think it kind of captures the fun that conventions are supposed to be.
As far as picture taking goes, I do believe I have a lot of bad habits I need to break in the future, and that I probably need lots of reinforcement. Namely, I need to take my time. I have this inherent fear that I’m pissing people off if I’m taking too long to shoot a picture, and I know I rush when I feel like I’m inconveniencing someone. Frankly, if a person wants to diva up on me, then I probably wouldn’t want to take their picture anyway. There are way more talented people than me who might put up with it, but I won’t.
But yeah, I need to take my time. I do believe I’ll have to remind myself of this a lot in the future, almost like a mantra.
Anyway, I’m still working on processing pictures from the convention (AKA yeah that’s right, you’re going have to wait oh snap), so give me a day or so, and I’ll start putting them on my brog.
As for the convention itself, it was okay. The real draws of MomoCon for someone like me, is that aside from the fact that it’s a venue for me to continue to work on trying to improve taking pictures of things that I like seeing, is the fact that it’s basically the smaller rendition of Dragon*Con that all us geeks love going to every Labor Day weekend, on account of the fact that it’s at the exact same location, being the Downtown Hilton and Marriott.
However ultimately, in spite of the location, it’s still very much a different event, what with MomoCon very much marketing themselves as a more family-friendly event, and justifiably so. Subsequently, there is way more of a younger crowd, which is another way of saying there are a ton of teenagers that act stupid (as if I wouldn’t know), and the way the convention is operated is still very much an evolving work in progress.
Seeing as how I didn’t stay at the convention itself, I didn’t really drink at all during the weekend, and the curmudgeon grown-up in me is kind of resentful for that, because there were times where I really wish I could have had a nice buzz going on, so I could mellow out and simply enjoy things more than watching people quietly. Or maybe it’s just because the raging alcoholic in me was envious of watching my friends being able to indulge while I could not.
But the thing I really wanted to bring up is the fact that apparently in 2015, MomoCon is going to be moving (again), to the Georgia World Congress Center. Personally, I have to say that such a development is exactly why I probably wouldn’t consider going next year.
Simply put, the location stinks. GWCC is on the edge of Downtown that borders the ghetto, and there’s really not a whole lot of things around it. Potentially exacerbating the problem will be the developing demolition/construction of the new Atlanta Falcons stadium which will essentially be attached to the GWCC over the span of the next two summers. Ironically, the few promising restaurants and paths to night life will be conveniently obstructed by the aforementioned construction.
Operating within a convention center takes the notion of a centralized hotel out of the equation too. People who fall for the claim that the Dragon*Con hotels (Hyatt/Marriott/Hilton) are within walking distance are going to be sorely disappointed when they have to walk numerous city blocks and up and down the giant Baker Street hill in Georgia summer heat. There are a few closer hotels like the Omni and a Hilton that aren’t bad in their own right, but I can’t speak for whether or not they have the convenient bridges and tunnels that allow people to seamlessly bounce from one to another to find and meet up with cohorts.
Another thing (partially) lost in the move, is the convenience of MARTA rail for those who come in from out of town; sure, Philips Arena is MARTA accessible, which is a stone’s throw away from the nearest hotels, but again, walking outside in Georgia summer to get to them. Yes, I understand that I’m making walking a block sound like rolling boulders uphill, but from the perspective of conveniences lost I’m pointing out everything I can. Regardless, even if MomoCon people try to spin it as being “still” the same number of MARTA stops as Peachtree Center is, I’m curious to whether or not they’ll mention the now necessity for a transfer and not just any transfer, a transfer at the notorious Five Points station, which serves as the unofficial center of the entire city, and where aside from the quality of people that loiter there, on a Memorial Day weekend, will be likely be very crowded and a pain in the ass to lug luggage to another platform and wait for another train.
And then there’s the whole notion of operating out of a convention center. When it comes to conventions, I frankly don’t enjoy those that operate out of convention centers as opposed to running from within hotels. I get why convention centers are convenient from an operating standpoint, but from my perspective as an attendee, I don’t like them all. Namely, the fact that the centralized point of operations and people gathering has an actual closing time, be it 7 PM like a Comic-Con or a 2 AM one like an Otakon, but at one point or another, the doors will close, and everyone gets kicked out; what happens afterwards is typically a clusterfuck, and it’s so easy to lose track of people and plans.
Also, most convention centers don’t allow booze. I’ve gotten to enjoy getting a tad buzzed during conventions, and I do not like the idea of that being taken away from me. On second thought, if MomoCon is a family-friendly motif, then I guess this idea isn’t the worst in the world.
Regardless, I’m not too keen on the idea of MomoCon for 2015, because it’s at the GWCC. However, at the rate things are going with there being a convention not just every month somewhere in the country, it’s getting to a point where there’s almost one every month in the greater Atlanta area nowadays. So maybe another Dragon*Con Junior is on the horizon somewhere else.
Who knows, things change. Maybe I’ll be pining for the opportunity to take some pictures, I won’t have anything planned for Memorial Day weekend, the area magically develops some promising attractions, or any combination of the above, and I’ll go. But the pessimist in me isn’t holding his breath.
