UBCon XXXII (2023) - Review

Me in my Eleventh Doctor (Doctor Who) cosplay, 

which I wore to UBCon on Friday, April 28th.

    In April, I attended UBCon, which a convention that takes place at the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, New York. I attended the Friday of the convention, which was on April 28th, 2023. It was the first day of this year's (2023) convention. As someone who's been to over 40 different conventions over the years, I think I'm pretty well-fit to give an honest review with my thoughts and opinions!

    This was the 32nd year of UBCon, but it was surprisingly only my first time attending. I've been attending conventions for 10 years now, since 2013. Mostly, they've been within New York State, since that's where I live, but I've also gone to some in other states, as well as Canada. For me, it was about a 2 and a half hour drive to Buffalo, so the travel time wasn't too bad for what the convention was, as someone who will often go 5+ hours for conventions pretty much annually.

    Now, since I only attended the Friday of the convention, I can't review the whole weekend, but I can review what I personally experienced. Let's start with the pre-convention shenanigans.

    The first thing that I noticed about UBCon when it came to pre-convention related things were the lack of announcements. Now, I understand that they are doing this convention through/at a college campus and that that can make things difficult when it comes to specific details and announcements, things could've been done a bit better.

    Firstly, the tickets went on sale less than two weeks before the convention on April 18th. There were a mere ten days between when the tickets were posted as 'on sale' and the first day of the convention. The event schedule was posted on April 15th, which was 13 days before the convention. Although, the event schedule being posted that close to the convention is a bit more understandable, as the nuances of schedule can be a bit difficult to pinpoint until it gets closer to the actual event.

    I suppose there's also an excuse for the tickets, as UBCon did mention that they were having issues with specifics from the campus's ticketing office, but nevertheless, it was frustrating for attendees.

    There were also a lot of issues with communication between convention staff pre-convention and the people asking questions on their Facebook page, which is the main source of their announcements. They didn't answer any of the messages I sent them via DM or comments on their posts, and answered very few people's comments on their posts in general.

    The convention also very much took their time announcing their guests, and while I understand that this can be partly due to contracts with the guests restricting things, it was quite frustrating. The first 'paid guest' as they called it, wasn't announced until quite literally the day before the convention started.

    Their first paid guest was Cherami Leigh, who is quite a fantastic individual, so I personally was really excited to meet her, but wish they'd announced her sooner so that I could've gotten another thing to bring with me for her to sign. Luckily, I at least had one item for her to sign, as I prefer getting my own items signed over the prints that celebrities have at their tables, typically.

    The other 'paid guests' were two people I hadn't heard of, but to be fair, I don't know a lot of internet personalities, and I believe they were both YouTubers (QuintonReviews and HippieRat). Unfortunately, the convention didn't announce any other celebrity guests, which was a bit disappointing. 

    If you've gotten this far, please bear with me. I promise that this review won't be all negative things. There were just some struggles early on with things relating to the convention.

    Now, for the convention itself. Things were pretty easy to navigate with the map that the convention put online, which is a bonus. The first thing to do when I got there was pick up my badge, which was pretty straight-forward and easy to find. Although the badge check-in was quite slow, and they certainly messed up how my name was supposed to be written on my badge at first, it went pretty smoothly overall.

    For reference, they had a rule of putting your legal name on the back of your badge and the name you wish to go by on the front. The person checking me in just put my legal first and last name on the front of my badge, which I wasn't too happy about, but I left it be.

    The next step after checking in was figuring out what I wanted to do. I was checked in before the vendor hall or artist's alley opened, and before any panels started, so I had to wait around for a bit. When things did open, however, I made my way into the vendor hall, where many of the vendors were still setting up. Since things weren't quite ready yet, I decided to go to one of the volunteers sitting at a table in the vendor hall to ask when and where Cherami Leigh was going to be signing, since it wasn't on the schedule.

    Unfortunately, the volunteer that I had asked didn't have an answer for me, nor did the other volunteer that they asked. They both suggested I find a convention staff member (since that's different from a volunteer) since they didn't believe that volunteers were given that information. So, I tracked down a staff member, and the first one I found didn't have an answer for me either, and sent me to the registration desk to ask. The staff members there didn't have an answer for me either.

    Eventually, I returned to the volunteers at the table in the vendor hall where I'd started, and politely told them I'd asked a few different staff members and still didn't have an answer. They eventually ended up texting one of the staff members that they specifically thought might have an answer for me. This staff member showed up at the table in the vendor hall and ended up telling me where Cherami would be signing, and that she'd be signing whenever she wasn't in a panel.

    I was first in line for Cherami's autograph after finding her table. She was still setting up when I got there, but when she was finished, I approached her with the wall scroll I wanted signed and paid for her autograph, which if I recall correctly was about $40. That's a pretty fair price for a voice actor's autograph at a convention, so I was happy with that.

    I had a great conversation with Cherami. We got to chat a little bit, since there was no one else in line yet, and she even remembered me from a previous convention I'd met her at a few years prior! I think she was 100% a great choice in guest, so I give props to UBCon for inviting her, even if she was the only guest I had heard of.

    After getting the autograph, I went to the artist's alley, which was split into I believe two different rooms, if I'm remembering correctly. Both of the artist's alley rooms and the vendor hall were pretty easy to find with the convention's signage. They had a lot of fantastic artists! I ended up buying a pin for myself (I can't recall who the artist was) and an art print for a friend of mine (from The Clever Kitsune, one of my favorite local artists), and am very happy with what I got.

    The vendor hall was all set up by the time I got down there after spending some time in the artist's alley, and they had a pretty good selection too. I ended up buying some Pokémon cards, which is really no surprise on my part.

    On my way to one of the other buildings, I was running through the rain and ended up losing my convention badge. Luckily, after going back to the check-in desk, they were able to replace it for me after I showed them my ticket confirmation again. It was a quick and easy fix, and I had sure to hold onto it a bit better for the rest of the convention.

    I didn't attend any panels at the convention, unfortunately, so I can't review that part, as the one panel that interested me was at the same time as the Dungeons & Dragons games that they had going on.

    The Dungeons & Dragons games that they had going on were run by WNY Gaming, and I had a lot of fun with it! It was definitely a highlight of the convention for me. I was in the low-level group, which was for levels 1-3, I believe. I played my lizardfolk monk character. Our group actually had three monks in it, but it was a pretty big group so we managed to balance things out a little!

    I would return to this convention just for the Dungeons & Dragons game and the artist's alley, to be completely honest with you. It was worth it just for those things. I had so much fun with the D&D game!

    Oh, and if any of you who were at the convention happen to be reading this post, although I have a feeling that's quite unlikely, I have one word for you all: Pauwl!

    

The D&D group I played with at UBCon

Photo credit to WNY Gaming*

    All in all, I'd say that, despite the convention being relatively disorganized, I had a pretty good time, and would return to it in the future! I'd recommend this convention for those of you who like the small, more intimate convention environment as opposed to the big, bustling, crowded conventions.

    The attendees were extremely nice, the volunteers and staff did their best to help me with my questions and even went out of their way to help sometimes, such as by contacting the other staff member who they believed would be able to help me with my questions, and the guest I met, Cherami Leigh, was an absolute delight!

    I hope my review didn't seem too harsh, as I know it might've come off that way in the beginning, but I really did enjoy the convention! I suppose I meant this more as some constructive feedback for the convention showrunners, and a bit of a heads up for problems people may encounter as attendees if it's the same going forward.

    Thanks so much for reading!

    -Written By Lexi

*Click here for WNY Gaming's Facebook Page

Click here for UBCon's website and here for their Facebook page

Click here for my social media links

Written By Lexi - About Me

 

    Hello everyone!

    My name is Lexi (they/them). I'm in my twenties and currently live in central New York, about five hours north of New York City. Right now, my biggest goal is to be able to share my writing with the world. Ultimately, I want to be a published author, but I also like to share my writing through forum-based RPG websites. I'd also like to start sharing my writing with you all through blog posts.

    This post is the first of my blog's fresh start. Looking back, you can still find a post on this blog from when I went to Rhode Island Comic Con in 2021, which I decided to leave up to give you all an idea of what sorts of things I enjoy writing about. I love to write reviews, especially about events that I attend, such as conventions, and places that I travel within New York State, out of the state and out of the country.

    If this is your first time hearing of me, welcome! I'm very glad to have you here, and I'm super grateful that you decided to check out my blog. Here you'll find a lot of reviews, from book reviews to reviews of places I've been and events I've attended. You might also find some of my crafting ventures, whether that be cosplay-related things, crochet, or something else. There might be a few other things thrown in the mix here and there as well, such as things related to writing and my adventures toward becoming a published author, but reviews and crafts will likely be my main focus.

    As someone who wants to share my writing with those around me, I also want to know what you all think of what I'm saying and sharing! Comments are greatly encouraged, and if you ever want to reach out to me directly, you can find me on social media at the links that will be on the bottom of this post.

    Thank you so much for coming to see what Written By Lexi has to offer, and I can't wait to write for you all again soon!

    

    -Written By Lexi

Rhode Island Comic Con 2021 - Review

Me in my Fourth Doctor (Doctor Who) cosplay 

with actor Alan Ritchson at Rhode Island Comic Con 2021

 Rhode Island Comic Con (RICC), which takes place in Providence, Rhode Island, is one of the best conventions I've ever been to, and I've been to a lot of conventions over the years. Thirty-four of them over the course of eight years, to be more specific. There's probably only one convention I've ever been to that could possibly top RICC, but we'll save that one for another day.

This year (2021), RICC took place from November 5th through November 7th. I went with a friend of mine, and it was fantastic! We stayed at the hotel attached to the convention center, the Omni Providence. It was a little pricy, but it was definitely worth it to be able to walk directly from the hotel, across a covered sky bridge and into the convention.

On the Friday of the convention, my friend and I were the first non-VIPs in the convention from the Omni bridge entrance. The Omni entrance was definitely less busy than the main entrance was, but you have to be staying in the Omni to use this entrance.

The first thing that we did when we entered the con was go to the info booth to pick up a program. The program had a map of the convention center in it, as well as a lot of other helpful information, and the people at the info booth were very knowledgeable. They were fantastic at letting us know where to go to find things, such as the panels we wanted to go to. They were even giving out free re-useable tote bags to everyone at the con who wanted one.

One of the best parts of the convention was the sheer amount of love that was showered onto cosplayers. Even with my super casual cosplay that I wore on the first day of the convention, compliments reigned in from everywhere. On Saturday and Sunday, in my more elaborate cosplays, people even asked for pictures of me, and sometimes even for pictures with me. Everyone from staff, to guests, to con-goers were extremely friendly.

The vendor hall/artist's alley was huge, and had such a variety of awesome stuff that I definitely spent way too much money there. Some of my favorite vendors/artists there were The Eggo Man, who sold some awesome artwork including some that you could buy in the form of keychains, (obviously I had to pick up some anime-themed stickers!), Crafty Queer Studio, who sold awesome LGBTQIA+ accessories, like buttons, bracelets and other cool stuff, (I bought some buttons from them), and Geek Boy Press, who sold some really cool art prints, among other stuff (I just had to buy their Eighth Doctor art print)!

There were even some really amazing cosplayers with tables set up, such as Cosplay Dad and Brandon The Shapeshifter!

Meeting guests for autographs and selfies was set up with a pretty smooth system. They had lines in front of their tables, one of which I believe was a VIP line, and the other for general admission. Autographs and selfies (as well as photo ops, which I'll get to later) were to be pre-paid for, which you could either do online, or at the Epic Photo Ops booth that was set up outside the guest area/vendor hall in the main building.

I pre-paid for one autograph/selfie combo from Bryce Papenbrook, a professional photo op with Justin Cook, and a professional photo op with Alan Ritchson. The guest list was absolutely huge, and filled with amazing people, so deciding exactly who to get autographs and photos from was tough when trying to stay within a budget, but what I did end up paying for was totally worth it!

When I met Bryce Papenbrook on the Friday of the convention, he was super upbeat, welcoming and friendly. He signed my Sword Art Online wall scroll for me, which admittedly, was a bit of a struggle given the table space and the size of the wall scroll, but he didn't complain. He talked to me about Sword Art Online and mentioned the upcoming movie while he signed my wall scroll, which he offered to personalize with my name (and I accepted). Then, we took a picture together, and when I tell you that you could tell he was smiling despite wearing a mask, I mean it. That man looked happy, and it made my day.

My friend and I met Justin Cook on Saturday. We went up to his table so that she could get an autograph from him. It took a lot of self-control not to get an autograph for myself as well, but just seeing their interaction with each other was really cool. That, and he even complimented me on my cosplay of Himiko Toga from My Hero Academia! My friend is a huge fan of Eijiro Kirishima from My Hero Academia, and Justin Cook voices him. She had him sign a figurine for her, and they talked about all the awesome Kirishima-themed stuff she had with her, including but not limited to, her Kirishima hoodie and Kirishima-themed nails that she had done.

Later that day, we went to the photo op with Justin Cook. This photo op went pretty smoothly. We were two people of the very small group that was in line. They moved us through at a reasonable pace, and we got to get an awesome picture with him! He remembered us from earlier in the day, too. Masks were required at the convention, but we were allowed to take them off for the photo op if we were comfortable.

We also went to the My Hero Academia voice actor panel. All of the voice actors from the show who attended the convention were there, and it was a Q&A-style panel. It was really enjoyable, and although I didn't ask a question myself, since I didn't really have one, it was really neat to hear all of their answers to people's questions! It was very well-organized, and I would love to go to a panel like that again.

On the final day of the convention, which was the Sunday of the convention, I went to a panel that was hosted by some Rhode Island authors. It was a panel about including diversity in writing, and as someone who strives to be an author, it was really informative. I got answers to all of the questions I had, and it's something that I feel I'll be able to use when writing the novel I'm working on. I loved the idea of having panels for writers at a comic con! You may be surprised at how many people love the non-fandom-specific panels that get hosted at some conventions. Personally, they're some of my favorite panels sometimes.

After the diversity in writing panel that I went to, it was time to get my photo taken with Alan Ritchson. The flow of photo ops at that particular time of day on Sunday was admittedly not the greatest, as there were huge crowds and it was hard for them to keep things moving along. This was likely because there were a lot of big-name guest photo ops going on at the time, so I really won't blame them for it too much. It was likely just a blip in scheduling that could have been worked out a little bit better.

When I finally got through the crowds of people that were waiting for photo ops and into my actual line for the photo, it all went much more smoothly. There were only about six or seven of us in line for the photo with Alan Ritchson, if I remember correctly, so it moved really efficiently from that point forward. Meeting Alan was great, as he was super friendly! He even complimented me on the hat I was wearing, which was a part of my Fourth Doctor (Doctor Who) cosplay.

The guests I met were some of the kindest people I've ever met at conventions, and I would love to be able to meet them again sometime. They were all fantastic people!

Other cosplayers were great to interact with, too. I even met a few who I've kept in touch with since the convention. I would return to Rhode Island Comic Con in a heartbeat, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's up for a big, welcoming convention community.

If you want to see more pictures that I took at RICC, check out my Instagram, @caitircosplay

-Written By Lexi