Hello everyone and welcome back! It is time for another segment of Convention Impossible! Yes, another convention has passed and it has been the one that I wrote about and it is known as Omni Expo and it was fun, especially for its first year! I didn’t know about that tidbit but still it was fun!

For those of you who don’t know what it is, it is basically a convention that deals with anime, gaming, live-action stuff, and many other things under one roof! Plus, it gives other conventions a chance to promote themselves in order to get new attendees interested in what else is there in town and other parts of Florida in the con scene! It even gives attendees that are directors a chance to put their talents to the stage in something called the “Director’s Showcase.” So, yeah a lot under one roof!

Before I start reviewing this thing, I want to say this! Whatever I talk about is based on opinion and observation as in I am giving what I think based what I heard and seen at this event! If you don’t like this review, you can just go to my interviews which I will start posting after this!

Let’s get started!

This convention is not only a first for Best Buy to hold here but I did go through a lot of firsts myself, and one second!

1. First time to promote this blog with business cards! After graduating, I knew I have to spread word about me and a good way is of course passing word through the con about Nerdy Shique Universe itself and so went to get business cards made! I did forget my name but at least I know I can go back and get the design edited since it’s saved. May have to do that before Metro!

2.My first time traveling alone to a convention and taking on press alone! This was the first convention without Gondras, especially helping in taking pictures, so I relied on volunteers. On top of that, had to rely on the ride service I have been a client with for years since 2002! I almost did get stranded Sunday due to my stomach wanting food, but at least I got to the con and back home safely with success! Will be bringing Gondras next year because he needs to be at this thing and see what I see!

3. Second time to have a cold! Yeah, I ended up with another cold for this convention, but it was due to after getting a sore throat while visiting my career advisor back at my alma mater and man it sucked! I did go through it as major dedication and determinationh for you guys since this is another work experience that would look good on my resume, which I will be writing again when I finish with the post!

So, this convention was held at the World Center Marriot near Disney, which happens to be the largest Marriot in the country and the site wasn’t kidding! Where it was held it was in the Crystal Ballroom Area and it was actually perfect since it was pretty easy to navigate if I asked volunteers and found it easier travel by tile floor. What I hate is that the bathrooms were hard to find for me since it is hard for me to see. At least now I can use the cane more often to navigate when I return next year! I bet you are wondering, why come alone? Well, as said above, I had to consider how work will be when I use the transportation service and of course I need to at least know how to navigate around places and be able to ask for help when need be!

I came early as usual to the convention on day 1, Friday so I can get the badge in case there is a big crowd. Well….not so much! At the same time as Omni, Florida Anime Experience was taking place at the International Palms Resort in the International Drive area, which I missed for this since their guest list was okay! I did want to meet Melissa Fon but didn’t want to go for one day because of it, so when I saw Omni’s guest list, it was way better in my opinion since they brought back people that haven’t been back to Orlando before or never been, kind of like what Mythic did for Grant George, who was one of the Onmni guests with his wife, Jessica, and what really got me was Elnn McLain since she played Gypsy Danger from Pacific Rim, which I named “Best Movie of 2013!” You can read why in the review for it and the “Bests and Worsts of 2013.” I K now I like supporting small conventions, but this convention did get me! I did hear from people who did go to FAE that it it was empty! I can kind of see why! Someone did try to get Ian Sinclair, the voice of Space Dandy, to come by since Chris Sabat was at this thing but didn’t since he is a shy guy according to this attendee Saturday!

Opening ceremonies was an interesting thing for this convention! Instead of it being in the evening at a lot of other conventions, this one had it at noon and in three parts, which part 1 introduced the guests, part 2 the conventions, and part 3 the technology sponsors! I only attended parts 1 and 2 since I wanted to see what conventions were brought and what new people I haven’t met before were brought! I did like the introduction for Team Four Star and Ellyn McLain and her husband. Plus, Carrie Savage did make her’s funny by saying she was Grant George’s wife and then both Grant George and Jessica G. got onstage to introduce themselves. What brought on major nostalgia was Robert Axelrod since he did his Lord Zed voice as a part of his intro and man it brought memories back since I enjoyed watching Power Rangers since I was seven! I was worried for a moment that Kyle Hebert cancelled since he didn’t show himself, but he did appear for Saturday and Sunday since he is an awesome guest from meeting him at KnightroKon and AFO during 2012! I did interview some of the guests so you will see what I asked the ones I talked to and that will start next post!

With part 2, it brought on conventions from across Florida to hold events and promote their conventions for this year and next year and they include Anime Apex and Evil Con from Tampa, Sands of Anime from Cocoa Beach, and MythiCon from here in Orlando! Anime Apex was the convention that brought on the major gaming tournament that I talked about in my first Omni Post and of course a Pokemon Tournie, which I wished I brought my 3DS XL in order to get some street passes! Always next time! They will be in June at the Sheraton East for anyone who is interested! Evil Con, who holds their con in January, was interesting in how they introduced themselves! They brought an example of their theme to promote their “Bump in the Night” show for next year since it deals with monsters and they had girls dressed as monsters and well….brought a bit of a dance and shown it on the atrium stage all weekend and was done to Christina Aguilera’s “Berlesque!” Then Sands of Anime, which had its first year, was a group of nice people from the Cocoa Beach area and did enjoy hanging out with them, may have to check out their website and will provide links at the end of this review for you guys for all these cons so you can see what they are all about! And of course, MythiCon even had their staff appear to promote their convention and hold the Attack On Titan party, which I wanted to go but was a little late in getting my ticket and found their room closed! I did hang out with them all weekend to check out more things about them and still happy that Eric Stuart is appearing this year!

I did go to a few panels at this convention and that included the Attack on Titan Q&A with Matthew Mercer and Kyle Hebert and man it was funny! I did record the thing on my digital recorder and I think my laughter shown up since hearing about things from recording at home and scaring all your neighbors while doing it was hilarious! Even Kyle did “Benny Hill” when I mentioned that should played with the girl with the microphone running across the room to people! I may do a transcript of that for you guys since there are very good questions people asked, in case if you want to read! I also went to Chris Sabat’s dubbing panel which is a popular one due to how he gives audiences at conventions a chance to record themselves! I remembered AFO 2007 and 2009 had this panel and he brought it here to Omni with Dragonball Z by the looks of it! I should’ve went to that panel later on with him, Kyle, and Cara Edwards but didn’t realize it, guessing the Monster Java was wearing off and my stomach was wanting food! I even went to the Best of Robert Axelrod which brings on the best moments of Mr. Axelrod’s career as the voice of Lord Zed, Armadillomon, and Wizardmon! After watching the scenes from Power Rangers with Rita, I did see how Barbara Goodson did get picked to be Leharl in Disgaea including the screams and laughter she had to do. I also learned so many things about him that I didn’t know, such as that he was also the Monster Maker known as Finster, if you seen the Mighty Morphen, he was the light and nice sounding henchman that provided monsters! He also did monsters like Goo Fish, Eye Guy, and a few others down the line in other seasons! It still brought on more nostalgia when the clips of Digimon with Wizardmon were shown since he did an amazing job of the character! And the final panel I went to was one that was supposed to be a One Piece panel but it was a Q&A with Chris Patton… “”record screech:: I know, you are thinking, wait a minute, didn’t he cancel!? Yeah, I thought so too and had to ask one of the owners and was told that he came back as a guest since he wanted to come so badly! Hey! You get to read my interview with him! Anyways, the panel was with him, Cara, and Kyle and I was a bit late but did get to learn things about the three such as that Chris Patton has or had a cat, not sure if it’s still around, and that it came up to the door and meowed while he auditioned in the closet to make a booth for himself and thought it talked to it while recording. And the most touching moment for Cara was that she met her Japanese counterpart as Videl in DBZ and meeting the other Japanese actors on the cast and then listening to a girl talk to her and the Japanese actress for Videl about how she was bullied and looked up to Videl as a role model in getting her through the day to where she is now! Besides all that, was funny to see Chris Sabat having one of his panel crashing moments in asking where is the Team Four Star panel!

Dealer Room: The dealer room was small and understand how and why since it is a first year con, most dealer rooms are small and of course some of the vendors are at Florida Anime Experience trying to sell items! I did like some of the dealers such as Dragon Alley which was a jewelry seller who had items made by artists and did get a nice trinket of a necklace of a dragon holding an opal that reflects blue, gold, and I believe purple! I may go back and get a ring that was made out of stainless steel of a dragon and it was in my size, but it fit my pinky though! It looks nice for a ring! At least I have their card and hope they come back! Another dealer I did get items, I didn’t buy much due to how small this room was, happened to be a birthday gift for Tobi! I don’t want to get into detail in case he reads this but this dealer sells handmade items that showcases Funimation related stuff and it is cut into boards or wood with lasers! I am glad he will show up at Metro because I want something made now! I wonder if he can do something of Frosh from Fairy Tail? I can ask! I also got a few small figures and a necklace of a rock wrapped with metal from the dealer next to him! The guy running the stand used to own an anime shop which was interesting and I did get two small anime figures of Sasuke and Deidara! I will be contacting him for Team Kid since Sunday was when I wore my Death the Kid shirt of him taking on his dad’s appearance and will see if he can get me Jo from Burst Angel since she is still missing from my three statues of Meg, Amy, and Sae. There were other dealers were cool like a shirt making stand that brought their materials, I almost thought about having a shirt made but didn’t know what to put! I could’ve gotten my fave Dresden quote of all! Oh well, I have their card and so do they with mine! I did find an all anime stand but…they only brought items that were Attack on Titan as bento boxes, and Halo, but not much of other anime related items that I usually ask for like Fairy Tail, which they had a figure of Wendy in her swimsuit but it was $79 and didn’t have enough cash and didn’t want to use the card on it when I already used it for a lot this month along with my necklace and of course my sonic screwdriver pen from Books A Million’s stand when they built the Tartus! Anyways, I do have the card but it is disappointing that they didn’t carry anything I tend to ask for, well more of the items I would like, for instance I want an actual keychain of the Leo key that Lucy has and wasn’t there! Glad I can contact them. I did find a nifty decal stand and got the Fairy Tail logo in black and a free Soul Eater one for helping them in getting that “What the Fox Says” song changed at the Nerd Fest booth since they didn’t like the song. I thought I lost the Fairy Tail one but found it in my $20 slot in my wallet, which I apologize to the decal people for the inconvenience! I almost did buy Thor: Dark World from Best Buy but their card machine was broken, there is always going to their stores and getting it or online! Still, hoping next year the dealer room does get more vendors especially Aardvark Tees would be nice to do some business! I did get impressed by Artists Alley though since it was bigger than any of the ones I seen at past cons I went to! Well, it felt close to the size of Metro’s Artists Alley since that took over the upper floors of the Tampa Convention Center! I saw so many people going through there all weekend buying items from all the artists and I did buy two items from a button dealer I found out he hosted panels at Mythic last year, hoping he will return and do the same and sell buttons!

Guests: I think I had the most fun at the guests area! Not only I got to interview them but I did get recognized by Grant George! How did that happen? Last year at Mythic, I decided to tell him that mine and Gondras’ wedding will be Disgaea themed since he plays the Prinis, Mid Boss aka Vires, and Axel the Dark Hero! He did ask if we will have a Prini ring bearer during his Meet Grant panel which I would love! But planning to have Prinis on top of our cake as a bride and groom! Then he recognized me despite being out of cosplay and wearing kitty ears, I wore my blue ones with the purple bows due to my collar being purple and he told Jessica, his wife, about it and man we talked for a while! They are the nicest couple along with Ellyn and her husband! Which was great meeting those two, since I had Pacific Rimfor Ellyn and her husband was promoting a new book he wrote, which I will be finding on IBooks when it comes out since I just got that app not too long ago! Curious little kitten loves her reading! I did get my copy of Gravion, Air Gear, and both seasons of Kiba signed by Chris Patton since he has been missing on all of that. It did surprise him with Gravion since he hasn’t seen the old style thin-packs that ADV released so long ago, I did end up winning it on EBay since no one else bidded on it and it was one of the series I wanted to get! I did kind of kick myself for Carrie Savage though because I did recognize her as Lisana in Fairy Tail but didn’t bring any of the parts we had since I moved them in with Gondras and he was working that weekend! I should’ve asked for part 8 since Lisana returns to the guild! (Sorry! Spoiler for people!) But always next time! I did get Gondras’ copies of Disgaea D2 and 4 signed by her since she is Artina and Grant! I also brought Vampire Knight Saturday to get signed since Carrie was in that! So, yeah, the guests were fun! And of course, you get to read my interviews!

Needs for Improvement: Now that I mentioned what I liked, there are some needs for improvement! First is dealer room! I understand it was a small space and a first year thing, on top of that Florida Anime Experience taking place, but should have more anime dealers since anime was a big part of Omni! Would’ve worked if some of the vendors from other parts of Florida shown up like at Metro or even that big anime dealer from Maryland should’ve came down! Still, there should be more dealers from that kind of media! I feel that Artists Alley kind of beat it since there were more items made for the fans and should at least blend more anime dealers as said! I did like the Tartus being there along with the Battlestar Galactica ship and the Delorian as well! Then the convention rooms should get an easier place to find in the hall! I know they had to work with space and there was a beauty pageant going on in one of the rooms deeper in the hallway, be glad it wasn’t a cheerleading competition like during MegaCon for a few years at the convention center! Still, it would be easier to have them be in rooms closer to the convention area than farther down since a lot more people could know the conventions more if they were easier to find! Plus, it will help fill the room during the weekend! There is always next year! And of course, interview schedule! I understand it was the first year, but I did meet the other owner and they said they will have schedules for next year. I am hoping so because I was worried that I wouldn’t get to do any interviews during the weekend until I sat down and did them, I did have to wait for the final day to do Chris Sabat since he had a full schedule! I know I should’ve done it Friday, but he left before I got the chance and I did get it done! Hoping next year when I ask for press again there will be a schedule since I won’t have to run around so much and wait on my chance! Even though as a press person, Chances have to be jumped on!

Verdict: CONVENTION ACCOMPLISHED! Why? Well, despite the hiccups of it being a first year convention, but I did enjoy this one! I did get to meet new guests and reunite with old ones! I did enjoy the entire thing! I also had fun in the Attack On Titan panel with Matthew Mercer and Kyle Hebert! I did wish I was around for Matt’s performance at karaoke Friday Night with doing “Tribute Song” by Tenacious D but with Gondras with me next year, hopefully, it will be more awesome to stay for night events!

What is up for Omni 2015? The cast of Attack on Titan will be joining the guests, which was announced during Closing Ceremonies!

What is next on my convention schedule? I am heading West to Tampa for MetroCon 2014 to do press again for our second year! I will be doing better since will be interviewing more guests and attending more events! Which reminds me! They just added Troy Baker, Nolen North, and the voice of Starfire from Teen Titans, Hynden Walsh! I am happy about this, especially Gondras with Nolen since he has Saints Row 4 and the Deadpool game! I am glad about Hynden and Troy since Troy is missing on the Fullmetal Autograph and I do have Gurren Lagan with Sam Riegal and Kyle Hebert on it and now with Hynden on it will make it awesome since she is younger Nia!

That’s about it! Stay tuned for my first interview on here with Team Four Star! In the meantime, here are the links to all the conventions that appeared at Omni!

Evil Con: www.evilconventions.com

Anime Apex: www.animeapex.com

Sands of Anime: www.sandsofanime.com

MythiCon: http://www.mythiconventions.com