Hello geeks both big and small!
I am back home from my first Koacon experience! Koacon is a fairly new one-day anime convention in Kokkola, Finland, that was held on the 22nd August. The location for the event was the Musiikkikeskus Snellman building and it was free entrance to boot!
Let's go~
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| Koacon entrance. |
I had tried my luck already earlier and applied to be part of Koacon's Artist Alley, especially because they had an extremely simple and beginner-friendly application form, which made it possible for me to apply despite the baby shoes I'm still wearing in terms of my art business lol. I just haven't been able to make a portfolio or any dedicated art page yet and honestly it feels like a jungle to try and figure everything out (I'm easily overwhelmed) while also trying to get my socials up and running at the same time. So yeah, thanks to Koacon not requiring a dedicated portfolio the newbie that is me managed to secure a spot!
As soon as I got the confirmation, which was literally the day after Mericon, I started mentally preparing for my second outing. Now I had some experience to go on and knew what to expect – I also had a hum on where my biggest struggles and weaknesses were and that's very much why I asked Firith to be my helper, although I didn't really need to ask as there might have been an intention to help out by default.. xD Especially now that neither of us was tied down by other responsibilities, as was the case in Mericon. So yeah, needless to say Firith was my assistant and travel buddy!
We left for Kokkola by train on the Friday before the con; our train departed from Kemi 10:40 and roughly three hours later we arrived in Kokkola, also known as Karleby to the Swedish-speaking Finns.
I gotta say here that I've actually never properly been to Kokkola before, we always only ever drove right past it during roadtrips – though last year we did stop here to grab some dinner while heading home from Mericon and that was simply because Kokkola just so happened to be the next town coming up when we were hungry and needed a break from driving.
Because we were on a budget we had booked a room at Hotel Seurahuone, one of the cheapest options available, which also happened to be conveniently located very close to the railway station. I could tell by looking at the facade of the building as we got closer that it was old but I had no clue at the time that it was built in 1894, meaning it was well over a hundred years old!
We checked in and got our room keys – room number 515. On the fifth floor.I walked up and down a lot of stairs this weekend because the elevator was of the kind that triggers my fear of elevators. :') We got to the room and it was pretty decent aside from some surface wear and tear (small dots of peeled paint on one side of the wall, yellowing in the faucet etc) and a hazardous power socket that was hanging out the wall with the cables exposed, lol. Good thing there were other functional sockets elsewhere in the room.
As soon as I got the confirmation, which was literally the day after Mericon, I started mentally preparing for my second outing. Now I had some experience to go on and knew what to expect – I also had a hum on where my biggest struggles and weaknesses were and that's very much why I asked Firith to be my helper, although I didn't really need to ask as there might have been an intention to help out by default.. xD Especially now that neither of us was tied down by other responsibilities, as was the case in Mericon. So yeah, needless to say Firith was my assistant and travel buddy!
We left for Kokkola by train on the Friday before the con; our train departed from Kemi 10:40 and roughly three hours later we arrived in Kokkola, also known as Karleby to the Swedish-speaking Finns.
I gotta say here that I've actually never properly been to Kokkola before, we always only ever drove right past it during roadtrips – though last year we did stop here to grab some dinner while heading home from Mericon and that was simply because Kokkola just so happened to be the next town coming up when we were hungry and needed a break from driving.
Because we were on a budget we had booked a room at Hotel Seurahuone, one of the cheapest options available, which also happened to be conveniently located very close to the railway station. I could tell by looking at the facade of the building as we got closer that it was old but I had no clue at the time that it was built in 1894, meaning it was well over a hundred years old!
We checked in and got our room keys – room number 515. On the fifth floor.
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| Our room was simple but cozy in its own nostalgic way. |
It was a surprisingly hot day – it felt like summer had returned out of nowhere! I was boiling in my Sonata Arctica hoodie by the time we got to the room because I had prepared for the same rainy, cold weather we've had in Lapland the past weeks. We immediately opened the windows to air out the room as there was no air conditioning. Yet surprisingly the room never got stifling hot nor uncomfortable. Except that we noticed that our large Toblerone chocolate bar was all soft when we opened it after it had been lying around the room all day... xD
We were quite hungry and started to check on Google Maps and ResQ what food options we had. There were surprisingly few considering we were basically in the heart of the townwe even had a couch Pokémon Go gym lmao.
Because we were tight on money we decided to take a calculated risk and so we waited and waited in the hopes that something decent would appear on the ResQ food waste app. Firith was really hungry and there might have been some sort of a silent mental battle of wills commencing in the room while we tried to reason whether it was worth waiting or if we should cave and go to the newly opened restaurant just across the street with the AI slop logo just because it had inexpensive chicken kebab...
Luckily our gamble paid off and, much to our excitement, a restaurant named Lucky Cat that was nearby had put up several 12 piece sushi box offers on ResQ and so we could get one each! What makes it even better is that Lucky Cat is the exact restaurant we went to last year and so we knew that it was good.
We were quite hungry and started to check on Google Maps and ResQ what food options we had. There were surprisingly few considering we were basically in the heart of the town
Because we were tight on money we decided to take a calculated risk and so we waited and waited in the hopes that something decent would appear on the ResQ food waste app. Firith was really hungry and there might have been some sort of a silent mental battle of wills commencing in the room while we tried to reason whether it was worth waiting or if we should cave and go to the newly opened restaurant just across the street with the AI slop logo just because it had inexpensive chicken kebab...
Luckily our gamble paid off and, much to our excitement, a restaurant named Lucky Cat that was nearby had put up several 12 piece sushi box offers on ResQ and so we could get one each! What makes it even better is that Lucky Cat is the exact restaurant we went to last year and so we knew that it was good.
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| This is how I eat my takeaway sushi at a hotel. :D |
We successfully found our way to the restaurant and were surprised to learn that at Lucky Cat you get to pick what pieces you want on rescued sushi, which we've never come across before! It has always been pre-prepared in all other places we've bought from through ResQ. This meant that Firith didn't have to worry about getting a lot of raw salmon sushi (salmon's so common and Firith has a consistency aversion to raw fish that rarely sees exceptions) and we could both pick our favorites. Satisfied with our sushi hauls (6,90€ each) we waddled back to the hotel to eat them.
After we finished eating it was time to do the preparation work for my Artist Alley booth, which mainly meant writing and cutting out last-minute price signs for all my different products. I had learned from Mericon and various posts on Instagram that clear prices at every item is a must-have and, in hindsight, having a list might have affected my sales because not immediately seeing what something costs (even if the price list is visible) might deter some potential customers. I know I'm nervous of asking what something costs out of fear that I can't afford it and will then have to undergo the awkwardness of leaving, lol.
Oh well, once we got all that prep work done it was time to slow down for the nightcouldn't watch National Geographic this time lol and go shower and do the face washing routines. Unluckily for me I've had some issues with skin breakouts a lot this year and yeah, it's one of the reasons I haven't felt comfortable cosplaying much this year because it's impossible to predict and I don't know why it's been so often this year. Stress? Whatever the case I had blotchy, uneven red skin now too and it made me feel rather self-conscious. :c Not so much I could do about it except accept that it's there for now...
Once I was done with my night prepping I went to bed and put a pillow between my knees like I usually do to support my knees and minimize hypermobility pain. I can't sleep on my back without that extra pillow. I thought I'd just drift off to sleep like normal but alas, how wrong I was!
And this, my friends, was when the most intriguing thing of the whole Kokkola visit happened, namely my paranormal encounter, aka ghost experience.
I gotta put an immediate disclaimer here though and say that, while I'm not a particularly superstitious nor spiritual person, I have still had a small handful of unexplainable encounters before but that's about it – I don't actively practice any faith or spirituality aside from having an affinity for pretty rocks and a general interest in the larger topic. I am a curious, deeply feeling person by nature though and I believe that those who passed can sometimes, due to various circumstances, linger in the fabric between life and death and make themselves known to living persons who meet certain unknown conditions, whatever those may be at any moment.
As I laid on my back I eventually drifted into that weird intermediate state between wakefulness and falling asleep (apparently it has a name: hypnagogia) and I clearly recall seeing the view of the hotel room from where I was lying, and as I was looking right in front of me one second there was nothing out of the ordinary (except that somehow the room looked older?) and then, the next second, there's suddenly a very bright white silhouette of a young lady standing perfectly still just next to the edge of the bed. The white light radiating from her body is almost blinding; I couldn't make out her face or anything except that her hair was tied back and she was wearing the attire of a last century working class housemaid based on the general outlines of the apparition (I studied fashion/sewing back in the days and have an interest in history, hence why I could immediately recognize what I saw). The apparition didn't speak and neither could I move or do anything but be a spectator. I saw her calmly extend her right arm towards me, palm upwards, and that's when I had that nauseous split-second feeling when it feels like your head is being pulled down through the bed and into some weightless abyssal void and that sensation jolted me wide awake in a burst of panic.
I didn't say anything and went back to sleep.
The following morning I told Firith about my weird experience and I learned that I wasn't the only one who had seen that exact same thing?? We compared details and everything matched, even the timing of our encounters was almost exactly the same, down to what hour of the night it occured on, despite both of us being unaware that the other one experienced it too.Firith had even noticed my spasm but had chosen not to say anything at the time. There is no way we could have influenced each other in any way before this occured; it's not like we told creepy stories or watched or listened to anything unsettling that could have made our imagination more susceptible to animate a ghost encounter into the subconscious mind.
What makes it creepier is that it wasn't until this morning that Firith got curious and decided to look it up online and we learnt that, in fact, this hotel is indeed haunted (one Youtube channel even claimed it's the most haunted hotel in Finland) by an early 1900s ghost called Elsi.. and she was a young maid. Ding-ding-ding! According to the story Elsi was a servant girl who fell fiercely in love with the owner of the hotel but her love was forbidden, due to them belonging to different estates, and apparently her immense disappointment bound her soul to roam the hotel upon her death.
I felt no hostility emanating from her presence during my brief encounter; she was more curious if anything? According to those well-versed in paranormal lore the color of ghosts can signal their energy, emotions or what type of spirit they are – with white commonly representing purity, peace or a harmless, benevolent spirit. Exactly the vibes I got.
So yeah, I learnt that this residential ghost maid has frequently been observed by other guests through the years in the form of lights flickering, the elevator moving on its own and stuff like the coffee maker suddenly turning on. I didn't hear invisible footsteps in the corridor during our stay but it wouldn't surprise me if someone else has.One of my other paranormal encounters from a few years back involves invisible, logically unexplainable footsteps in a house where everyone else was sleeping except me.
Once we had briefed our newfound supernatural housemaid visitor's knowledge to a satisfactory conclusion we moved our focus back to the con day at hand. The breakfast downstairs opened at 8:00 and we headed down to eat soon after. I noticed that there was a different receptionist at the desk.I can't remember that yesterday's receptionist would have told us about potential of a spooky lady when we checked in, unless she mentioned it briefly in passing while I was zoning out.
After we finished eating it was time to do the preparation work for my Artist Alley booth, which mainly meant writing and cutting out last-minute price signs for all my different products. I had learned from Mericon and various posts on Instagram that clear prices at every item is a must-have and, in hindsight, having a list might have affected my sales because not immediately seeing what something costs (even if the price list is visible) might deter some potential customers. I know I'm nervous of asking what something costs out of fear that I can't afford it and will then have to undergo the awkwardness of leaving, lol.
Oh well, once we got all that prep work done it was time to slow down for the night
Once I was done with my night prepping I went to bed and put a pillow between my knees like I usually do to support my knees and minimize hypermobility pain. I can't sleep on my back without that extra pillow. I thought I'd just drift off to sleep like normal but alas, how wrong I was!
And this, my friends, was when the most intriguing thing of the whole Kokkola visit happened, namely my paranormal encounter, aka ghost experience.
I gotta put an immediate disclaimer here though and say that, while I'm not a particularly superstitious nor spiritual person, I have still had a small handful of unexplainable encounters before but that's about it – I don't actively practice any faith or spirituality aside from having an affinity for pretty rocks and a general interest in the larger topic. I am a curious, deeply feeling person by nature though and I believe that those who passed can sometimes, due to various circumstances, linger in the fabric between life and death and make themselves known to living persons who meet certain unknown conditions, whatever those may be at any moment.
As I laid on my back I eventually drifted into that weird intermediate state between wakefulness and falling asleep (apparently it has a name: hypnagogia) and I clearly recall seeing the view of the hotel room from where I was lying, and as I was looking right in front of me one second there was nothing out of the ordinary (except that somehow the room looked older?) and then, the next second, there's suddenly a very bright white silhouette of a young lady standing perfectly still just next to the edge of the bed. The white light radiating from her body is almost blinding; I couldn't make out her face or anything except that her hair was tied back and she was wearing the attire of a last century working class housemaid based on the general outlines of the apparition (I studied fashion/sewing back in the days and have an interest in history, hence why I could immediately recognize what I saw). The apparition didn't speak and neither could I move or do anything but be a spectator. I saw her calmly extend her right arm towards me, palm upwards, and that's when I had that nauseous split-second feeling when it feels like your head is being pulled down through the bed and into some weightless abyssal void and that sensation jolted me wide awake in a burst of panic.
I didn't say anything and went back to sleep.
The following morning I told Firith about my weird experience and I learned that I wasn't the only one who had seen that exact same thing?? We compared details and everything matched, even the timing of our encounters was almost exactly the same, down to what hour of the night it occured on, despite both of us being unaware that the other one experienced it too.
What makes it creepier is that it wasn't until this morning that Firith got curious and decided to look it up online and we learnt that, in fact, this hotel is indeed haunted (one Youtube channel even claimed it's the most haunted hotel in Finland) by an early 1900s ghost called Elsi.. and she was a young maid. Ding-ding-ding! According to the story Elsi was a servant girl who fell fiercely in love with the owner of the hotel but her love was forbidden, due to them belonging to different estates, and apparently her immense disappointment bound her soul to roam the hotel upon her death.
I felt no hostility emanating from her presence during my brief encounter; she was more curious if anything? According to those well-versed in paranormal lore the color of ghosts can signal their energy, emotions or what type of spirit they are – with white commonly representing purity, peace or a harmless, benevolent spirit. Exactly the vibes I got.
So yeah, I learnt that this residential ghost maid has frequently been observed by other guests through the years in the form of lights flickering, the elevator moving on its own and stuff like the coffee maker suddenly turning on. I didn't hear invisible footsteps in the corridor during our stay but it wouldn't surprise me if someone else has.
Once we had briefed our newfound supernatural housemaid visitor's knowledge to a satisfactory conclusion we moved our focus back to the con day at hand. The breakfast downstairs opened at 8:00 and we headed down to eat soon after. I noticed that there was a different receptionist at the desk.
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| My breakfast. Yay for cantaloupe melon slices! |
Not gonna lie, I was excited to see a waffle iron available and immediately followed the instructions listed to make a waffle.. only to notice that the iron was stone cold. It wasn't turned on for some reason and now I was stuck in an awkward waffle humiliation limbo because I couldn't just abandon the quest and leave the dough in there for the next person to find and wonder how long it has been there... xD So yeah, I stood parked in front of the thing for what felt like forever and waited for said waffle iron to heat up so that I could get my damn waffle. At least I wasn't the only victim of this unfortunate fate as a middle-aged woman ended up doing the same mistake soon after me, lol. And she kept impatiently lifting the lid so that her undercooked gooey waffle got stuck on the lid and tore all over the place lmao. Worst part is that the waffle didn't even taste like anything when I finally got it out. :c
Once we were done with breakfast we headed back up to the room to do our makeup. I wasn't cosplaying but I still had a wig and some alt fashion accessories with me to change things up. Thankfully blasting my mug with foundation and some powder hid the worst of the awful breakout signs. I felt experimental and somewhat whimsy and so I did my makeup look a bit more extra than usual~
Once we were done with breakfast we headed back up to the room to do our makeup. I wasn't cosplaying but I still had a wig and some alt fashion accessories with me to change things up. Thankfully blasting my mug with foundation and some powder hid the worst of the awful breakout signs. I felt experimental and somewhat whimsy and so I did my makeup look a bit more extra than usual~
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| View upon entering Koacon. Cloakroom to the right. |
We took a taxi to the con with all our Artist Alley stuff in tow. Once we arrived at the con venue at around 10:15 we noticed that there was a handful of people guarding the entrance but it was easy to get clearance by just telling them that we were Artist Alley vendors, which probably was pretty obvious anyway with all that luggage and me carrying a bulletin board lol.
We were guided to an available table by a friendly dude who was courteous enough to apologize for a mistake on their end – you see, a few days before the con I had messaged Koacon about the possibility to reserve one of the few in-between sized tables (the small ones would be borderline too small and I didn't want to take the largest ones from someone who really needed those due to big vertical displays etc) and I had been told that it was possible and with an implication that it will be handled. But when we arrived those odd-sized tables had been taken by others already, meaning Koacon's crew forgot about it.
Luckily though there was one big table left, which we claimed.
Me and Firith started putting up the table and it at least felt faster than last time? We had a general idea on where to place things, although it wasn't all that different from the Mericon setup as the only difference in merchandise was that I now had two new InuYasha character keychains. The table itself had a slight improvement though because now I had a table runner with my logo on it instead of just a laminated A3 held up by masking tape. :'D I also had a single grid box to lean the bulletin board on instead of a random drawer lmao. You can see a quick video of my table display here.
Technically Artist Alley people were allowed in already as early as 9:00 but we knew we didn't need two hours to get the table up and it would have been very tight to arrive that early anyway as the hotel breakfast only opened at 8:00 and after that we still had all the getting ready stuff to do.
We were in the clear by the time a volunteer came over to inform everyone that con visitors will start arriving at 11:00 and that hopefully everyone has their setup completed by then.
We were guided to an available table by a friendly dude who was courteous enough to apologize for a mistake on their end – you see, a few days before the con I had messaged Koacon about the possibility to reserve one of the few in-between sized tables (the small ones would be borderline too small and I didn't want to take the largest ones from someone who really needed those due to big vertical displays etc) and I had been told that it was possible and with an implication that it will be handled. But when we arrived those odd-sized tables had been taken by others already, meaning Koacon's crew forgot about it.
Luckily though there was one big table left, which we claimed.
Me and Firith started putting up the table and it at least felt faster than last time? We had a general idea on where to place things, although it wasn't all that different from the Mericon setup as the only difference in merchandise was that I now had two new InuYasha character keychains. The table itself had a slight improvement though because now I had a table runner with my logo on it instead of just a laminated A3 held up by masking tape. :'D I also had a single grid box to lean the bulletin board on instead of a random drawer lmao. You can see a quick video of my table display here.
Technically Artist Alley people were allowed in already as early as 9:00 but we knew we didn't need two hours to get the table up and it would have been very tight to arrive that early anyway as the hotel breakfast only opened at 8:00 and after that we still had all the getting ready stuff to do.
We were in the clear by the time a volunteer came over to inform everyone that con visitors will start arriving at 11:00 and that hopefully everyone has their setup completed by then.
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| Turriperseet väsymyksestä huolimatta valmiina päivään.. (◕‿◕) |
I remember one of my early feelings being that of some kind of "oh shit" mixed adrenaline and the former was because, strategically speaking, having a table at the far corner is one of the not-so-good placements, especially when the intended walking route is to veer off towards another direction just in front of said table. I noticed this a lot in action by just watching; you'd see a fair amount of people throughout the day browsing the opposite side and not even realizing that there was one more table left behind them before moving on to the next section of the room. And I'm not gonna lie, it was quite disheartening at first; the first two hours were so slow I started to fear I wouldn't even get the table cost back (which was 25€). A part of this stress was in relation to my Mericon selling experience where the first hours were the best ones and that was, at the moment, my only point of reference to go on.
I did notice though as the day went on that the pace picked up, not just to me but to other nearby tables as well – and I guess I can attribute this to people first making a round through all tables and taking mental notes before deciding on what to buy. I guess I tend to do the same sometimes so it makes sense, unless of course I see something that I absolutely need in my life.
I did notice though as the day went on that the pace picked up, not just to me but to other nearby tables as well – and I guess I can attribute this to people first making a round through all tables and taking mental notes before deciding on what to buy. I guess I tend to do the same sometimes so it makes sense, unless of course I see something that I absolutely need in my life.
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| One of the Artist Alley rooms and the one I was in. See Firith at the far back for our placement, lol. |
As the day went on the prospective outlook steadily got better. Of course there were silent moments during popular activities like the cosplay competition and the various k-pop dance shows etc but these breaks in traffic were also a good opportunity to eat your snacks and go to the bathroom, lol. Especially now when we remembered to bring edibles with us! Coconut mochi and energy/electrolyte drinks sustained us...
For obvious reasons neither of us attended any scheduled activities, mainly because there always needed to be someone at the table and it's just not as fun to go watch something alone. I know I wouldn't be able to focus on leisure time without feeling that tinge of guilt, aka "I should be at my table in case there's a situation I'm needed at right now". :'D
Surprisingly enough it never got boring to sit behind the table (thanks to various interactions and of course banter between us two) and I didn't get too antsy although I had my anxiety cranked up to eleven. At least I had been smart and taken my anti-anxiety medication before arriving, to stay calm better. And I did have my sketch book with me that I was drawing on to regulate myself when my mind got loud. I'm not sure if I imagined things or not but it sure felt like people came closer and lingered more when I was focused on drawing and looked busy...? xD Maybe other anxious people deem you more approachable when you aren't actively looking in their general direction? I know I get uncomfortable if someone looks at me lol, although I do actively try to not look people directly in the eyes when they're approaching because it personally makes me feel pressured if someone does it to me, haha.
Throughout the day I ended up selling out some of my embroidered hand towels, in particular all the Dark Souls themed ones. I wasn't prepared for their popularity because they didn't sell that well at Mericon and so I bought less of my total stock with me this time, leaving some at home to make the carrying load a bit easier to deal with in public transport. Towels take up quite some space, after all.
Koacon clearly had the Dark Souls fans because I sold several sun bro keychains too – he was my most popular design. :') Never underestimate how passionate some gamer fandoms can be!
Artist Alley corridor area, aka what you first saw.
Due to my Artist Alley obligations I didn't have time to properly explore; I have no idea how the con flowed outside of the room I was in and I'm sure I missed to even see all the things Koacon had to offer because yeah, based on their program schedule there were board games and an accessory workshop (ears and jewelry) in some other rooms I don't think I ever saw during my quick walkthrough? It's not like I could have participated anyway but I like documenting and mapping out events to have a full idea of what they offered. :) I even heard afterwards that there had been a kendo display at some point although I didn't see any mentions of it being a thing?
I feel like this summary is harder to write than usual because I basically only experienced one part of the con (aka being a vendor) and that makes it harder to imagine what it would have looked like from the eyes of a visitor who gets a more complete picture, if that makes sense? Obviously I would never regret being in the Artist Alley – I loved the experience and I had some really lovely and memorable interactions once again. ;_; Few things in life give me as much joy as seeing people feeling seen by my art and crafts!
I realized, after the fact, that I interrupted a few chatty and nice customers by talking before they had finished their sentences and I absolutely didn't mean to talk over anyone – what actually happens is that my brain works so fast that I end up blurting out my thoughts before I forget what I wanted to say; I'm just too excited to connect and to show that 'I understand' aka can relate to what you're telling me. This is one of my more prominent struggles with being on the spectrum and I'm legit terrified of someone thinking I'm intentionally and maliciously interrupting them
Towards the end of the con I noticed other artists starting to pack up early, aka when there was like 30 minutes left of con time – Koacon closed at 19:00 but I heard that the doors would stay open after that due to some other program being held in the Snellman building. I figured we might as well start dismantling because the last hour was basically dead anyway.
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| Free-for-all boffer soft combat outside the entrance. |
A little bit before all artists started packing up this one blonde guy came over and made a purchase at my table (he had showed interest before but was probably busy running errands, he seemed to be one of the con workers) and on the same go mentioned that a boffer foam combat activity would soon be starting outside and asked if we'd want to join. I've wanted to try this kind of soft weapon combat for years but always been either too shy to participate or had unsuitable clothes on. But as we finished packing away our stuff I got so sweaty
Back at the hotel I yeeted my shirt off and soon enough it dawned on us that heck, we're hungry! Unfortunately for us the clock was already around 19:30 and some restaurants would already be closed or close to closing. We were starting to worry if we would even get budget-friendly dinner tonight
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| Boba fruit teas tasted so good after a long hot day. |
Needless to say we bolted out the door and speedwalked over to the shopping center in which Lucky Cat was located. We made it in time and even ordered some bubble teas as the money saved on the sushi allowed us to get something nice to drink. :') And no, eating sushi twice in a row wasn't a problem at all, especially when it's of decent quality!
The rest of the night we counted the cashbox and overall profits and then repackaged everything more properly because yeah, during the con we just put stuff wherever it fit as the space we had to work with was crammed. We had some head-scratching moments at first with the amounts not matching up but we found the error and, luckily, there were no mistakes!
Not gonna lie about one thing though – we were nervous to go to bed after the spookiness of last night lol! Firith wanted to sleep with the lights on but I said no as the main lamp would have been right in front of my face. xD There was another, less distracting, lamp near the bathroom though which we decided to keep on. And I don't know if the lights mattered or not but I saw no Elsi ghost that night – just one of my regular, deeply unsettling nightmares. Would have preferred the ghost, ngl.
Morning came and so did departure day. We went to eat breakfast again
We walked over to the train station and while waiting for the train to arrive we did a couple raids on Pokémon Go (there was a Psyduck with a cute swim ring outfit). The rest of the trip home went fine, nothing out of the ordinary. We did kinda lament that we hadn't had the forethought to buy an extra box of sushi that we could have saved and consumed in the train.
All in all I was positively surprised by Koacon
Of course since it's still a new event (this was the second Koacon, first one was last year) they are still finding their groove and footing – and that makes it hard to know what choices were deliberate and what were down to inexperience, you know? One thing in particular is how the artist tables weren't assigned by the Koacon team but available on a who-claims-it-first-on-site-gets-it system, which is unheard of, from what I know at least? I can see both pros and cons with this approach, generally speaking – it adds a lot of stress and pressure to be among the earliest to grab a "good spot" although, in its favor, you could argue that at least everyone technically gets a chance (assuming they're fast enough) instead of being outright handed a "bad spot" by the organizers because well, someone inevitably will get that spot. :D
Another thing I would be concerned about is that this kind of the-fast-eat-the-weak system only functions on the assumption that those who are early are also self-aware of how much space they truly need and are also considerate of the needs of others – so far my experience is that the artist community is super supportive and understanding of each other but, if we play the gritty realist for a second, then you only need a few rotten apples, in theory, and the whole foundation of this kind of seller-picked allocation system will come tumbling down; it's very dependent on everyone following unwritten rules and being good samaritans. Having the organizers choose the placements before the event lessens the risk of potential drama and the build-up of bad blood down the line.
A disclaimer here that I'm not mentioning this because I would have distrust in the maturity of the art community nor some beef with my table placement or anything, in fact I'm very happy with my overall sales! It's just that personally I think I would lean towards preferring table spots to be handed out by the organizers by whatever allocation system they deem fair (lottery, time of application, popularity, size needs etc). :)
Oh, one more thing! I can't help but feel that 25€ for a table at a small, not yet established convention is a tad on the high end. For comparison Terucon's table fee was 15€ this year while Mericon and Kemin mangapäivä are both free. I also heard that Tracon's 'taidepolku' fee was 30€ last year so yeah, that really puts things in perspective. I don't have knowledge about other conventions than those mentioned, and so I don't have enough stats to do a well-rounded observation. I do know though that in other countries Artist Alley booths are ridiculously expensive (can go up to hundreds of euros) and I really fucking hope Finland never ever goes down that same route because yeah, a sad reality is that a big chunk of artists don't break even after a con weekend. :'(
I hope this doesn't sound overly critical or anything as that's not my intention at all! I had an astoundingly great time at Kokkola and selling my art products at the con – I would absolutely return next year, if possible! Koacon felt warm and welcoming and there was a sense of community in the air and in the interactions between people. This is in fact one of my favorite con trips so far, for this year, and it gave me a good booster shot of confidence to keep nurturing my art dreams. Slow and steady wins the race~
Thanks to the Koacon crew and everyone who interacted with me!
Shiro Samurai (aka KaamosWolf) is out~
Shiro Samurai (aka KaamosWolf) is out~
