Having more personal time with guests is only one of the many benefits of a smaller con like South Dakota’s only anime convention, Sogen Con. The many guests at Sogen Con 2009, including Greg and Chris Ayres, Fredd Gorham, Josh Grelle, Carli Mosier, Richard and Shannon Townsend, and Samantha Rei, could often be found around the convention center just hanging around and talking to fans.
Smaller conventions can be more fun, on a grand scale. Any attendee knows you can have a lot more of a chance to get to know other people, spend more time with guests, and relax at a small convention. There is also less standing in line, which is among the most infamous problems at nearly any convention. At larger cons you may get to meet people while standing in line, but you might never see them again for the rest of the day.
Sogen Con’s fifth year again featured everything you could expect at an anime convention, with dozens of panels and events throughout the weekend in the Sioux Falls Sheraton Convention Center. The video gaming room, open all weekend long, was also big with nearly a dozen games to choose from at any given time.
Greg Ayres raised the roof with his DJ skills once again, having attended Sogen Con for all five years so far. He will also be the DJ for AnimeIowa, happening next weekend in the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Iowa.
Also, a cosplay marriage event, where an impromptu priest (Wolfwood from Trigun) would fictitiously tie the knot for anyone or anything, brought a storm of laughter to the main ballroom. Even fruits were married in the event, as a giant stuffed banana, an orange, and a few other giant fruit plushies took the stage at various times. An anime dating game also rocked the house, giving different characters the opportunity to play the roles of bachelor or bachelorette, reminiscent of the show “The Love Connection.”
View pictures of Sogen Con 2009
According to convention staff on-stage, the family-friendly event did “not” include a small selection of 18+ panels after hours, where guests and attendees could talk about Yaoi and play a game known as ‘Whose Boobs’.
It’s possible to call Sogen Con one of the most expandable conventions so far. Although being in South Dakota puts them far away from large metro areas, the convention has plenty of room to grow in its current convention space. There are five to six smaller ballrooms not purchased by the convention this year that they could expand into, and almost as much space in the main ballroom as Anime Festival Orlando, which could likely fit a little under a thousand attendees (Anime Festival Orlando had at least a few thousand attendees in 2009).
With no other conventions in either Dakota, Sogen Con remains as one of the only options for many fans in the northwest area of the Midwest. They bring several great guests from the anime industry, some awesome attendees, and lots of activities to create the perfect combination of fun for anime fans in Sioux Falls.