Atlanta’s MomoCon 2017

I spent Memorial Day weekend at MomoCon, a geek convention for gaming, anime, animation, and comics in Atlanta. MomoCon has grown considerably in just over ten years, with over 30,000 attendees this year. In terms of panels, guests, and vendors, this con in comparable to Atlanta’s Dragon Con, which takes place each year over Labor Day weekend.

In some ways MomoCon has advantages to bigger cons, like Dragon Con. For instance, the con mostly takes place in one building, The Georgia World Congress Center, so it is easier to get from one panel to another. Also, with less attendees, it’s less crowded and easier to find friends. However, there were still long lines to get into the more popular panels and events.

Overall, I had a great time at MomoCon. This was my first year attending and I’ll probably go again. On Saturday I cosplayed as Daria. There were tons of great costumes. Popular cosplay this year included Team Skull, Rick and Morty, and Steven Universe characters.

MomoCon had a large selection of table-top games and an arcade area, where con-goers could play American and Japanese arcade games and pinball for free. Marisha Ray hosted the Indie Game Awards Showcase, where well-known judges ranked the top-five indie games of the year. Many professional gamers come out to compete in tournaments as well.

 

The biggest negative about this event was that the convention had clearly grown from previous years and there were issues regarding preparation and space, like people being turned away from popular panels. On Saturday night MomoCon hosted a rave and enforced that everyone with bags check them at the door. The con gave you a ticket to retrieve your bag when you left. The whole process was poorly planned as well as unnecessary and it resulted in long lines both coming and going from the party. Otherwise, MomoCon was a positive experience with great panels, vendors, and games. Even the rave was fun once we got in.