A new convention started up this year: Gamevention in Hamburg! I was there as a walking act both days, and here’s my experience.
I was travelling with Zibartas cosplay from Denmark and stayed with some friends in Hamburg. In the weeks before the convention, there was a lot of information communicated to all of the walking acts. Unfortunately, the organizer did not want to talk English, so I had to translate everything to Zibartas. It’s fair, but I do find it odd that a convention of this kind would not be interested in attracting an international crowd.
The convention itself was cozy, but kind of small – but that was to be expected and for a first year, I think it did a lot of things right. There was a cosplay area with lots of seating space, a photographer and cosplayers with booths showing off their cosplays etc. There was also a (very popular) repair booth.
Walking acts and cosplay contest participants had access to their own backstage changing area with changing room, some drinks and space to put on makeup and take a break. This was a great thing that many conventions miss, but I do wish they warm it up or add a carpet next year.
Speaking of cold – the walking acts were supposed to stand in the entrance area and greet people at opening, but it was so cold there that many opted not to.
I signed up for the contest with my Dreamwalker druid. The pre-judging felt a bit weird. For some, the judges spent a lot of time talking, for others only a minute. I was sad I didn’t feel like I got to say much about my cosplay.
The stage was small, but worked well, and the presenters did a good job. All in all, I think the cosplay show was very smoothly organized.
On the second day, we had basically seen everything. Apart from the cosplay area, there were a few booths with games and merchandise, and a few other booths, but it was kind of small. On the 2nd floor, there were a lot of streamers, but they were mostly busy streaming, so it wasn’t really an area to do much in.
We were also very cold. There weren’t that many people, so the halls didn’t warm up proper and it was actually quite cold. In the end, we decided to leave early, since we had a long drive.
To sum it up: It was a great first attempt. A little more focus on temperature, international friendliness and trash bins (of which there were very few), and it has the potential to become a great thing!
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