Derpycon 2021 took place on Halloween weekend  in New Brunswick, New Jersey’s Hyatt Regency. This was the first event I attended since conventions went on a two year hiatus as a result of the COVID pandemic. Conventions are in a transitional period, with more focus on health and safety through new policies.

It certainly does feel strange to feel back, but also exciting, too! 

I arrived at the event on Friday morning and got settled into the hotel room. 

There were prominent signs throughout the hotel which reminded attendees to wear masks–and attendees respected the rules. Like many conventions in this area, Derpycon has set new rules in response to COVID. Vaccination cards were required to attend the event. Masks were also required on the con floor. Derpycon handled the policies quite well. I did not see a single maskless attendee, except of course, in locations such as the hotel’s eatery. Even though the con did allow limited cases of removing masks, attendees were cautious about this. I was a tad worried that I’d be asked by photographers to remove my mask for a shot and have a bit of an awkward talk, but didn’t run into that. Folks preferred to keep them on when in and out of cosplay. Pictured are some cosplayers.Many attendees made their masks match with their cosplays! 

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Pre-registration was in an odd location, tucked away in one of the corners of the Hyatt. Despite initial signage, I had a hard time finding registration until a staffer assisted me. The room was quite tiny for a registration area and I checked a few times to make sure I ended up at the right spot. It did concern me a little that the staffer at registration didn’t look at my vaccination card closely,  as the con does make this mandatory to attend. Registration was very quick, with just myself and another attendee in the room going through the pre-reg process. 

My first panel was How To Convention. It was a guide for newer attendees about various topics in cons such as cosplay and expectations for events. I heard that the original panelist was unable to present due to a scheduling conflict. But one of the programming staffers (and a staffer here at AJS), turned the panel into a Q+A session. She was able to explain interesting details about cons from the perspective of someone who experienced events both in America and Japan. I learned some unique facts about Japanese convention culture and cosplay. In America, it is normal for attendees to go to events in cosplay when travelling. But Japan cons are known as festivals and have cosplayers change into their outfits when checking in.

Some attendees in this panel were younger and came with parents. The panel made me feel a little nostalgic about my first convention, and happy that con culture has changed in a way which makes items such as wigs and cosplays more accessible. 

The second panel I attended was also on Friday!  The panel focused on Twitch and Podcasting, primarily discussing the former. The presenter, Paul, had a great and lively personality. I wanted to hear just a bit more about some logistics of hardware and some abbreviations from someone who is more equipped with programs.  But his perspective on this hobby was a great motivator for me. He compared a few streaming options, briefly discussed copyright, and even offered to share his presentation with members of the audience. A few jokes were made about dated operating systems that made me laugh out loud. 

There were a few problems with panels throughout the weekend, mainly with online panels. Derpycon had a good concept of a hybrid convention, with some events showing up that interested attendees can enjoy from home or even on a channel in the hotel room. But a few panels had issues and didn’t air as scheduled. 

On Saturday, I started the day with a much-needed trip to a cafe and got a workout in at the hotel’s fitness center. I tried to take it easier on Saturday, browsing the con, enjoying the atmosphere of an event for the first time in what felt like ages. 

I spent so much time in the gaming room over the weekend but especially on Saturday. A Video Game Con NJ and a small retail location Save Point supplied the games. I spent so much time over the weekend enjoying rhythm games here, from Poppin’ Music, to NeonFM. Although many of the rhythm games were out of order at one point, this is normal for events. But they came prepared with materials to make repairs when needed. Although I wasn’t too keen on the cardboard signs in some areas (this is more of a nitpick), the games themselves were so much fun and the folks running it did an awesome job. 

The masquerade on Saturday was a great show, with some catch music to liven the audience as we were seated. I do not generally attend masquerades at cons because they can be a bit crowded and hectic. Though once people got settled, the show went on! The MC was typical of a masquerade, with occasional banter here and there, but it didn’t stretch out too much in terms of timing. 

I  enjoyed that many of the skits were from the original Love Live! I think the majority of the skits were related to this one series. There were nine entries in the masquerade, with most being dances to music. There was one or two skits and a walk on. Attendees also showed their cosplays from the Hall Cosplay Contest. Seeing the amazing costumes, from a beautiful armor build from Overwatch, to lights from an Endeavour cosplay, was really fantastic and inspiring. 

Sunday was my final day and I left early, but not without packing  some of the cute items I picked up over the weekend! If you are local to this convention, try visiting for a day to enjoy some fun video games with friends. Although there were a few logistical hiccups here and there, the con does listen to feedback and there is always room to grow. 

I had a good weekend. Not only is the location close to many delicious eateries with allergy friendly opinions, it’s also close to Rutgers University. Attendance seemed to be a bit above 1,000 attendees. I do not have exact numbers on hand, though it’s worth noting that Saturday felt much busier than Friday, and attendees may prefer one-day badges for now as we get back to events. The convention felt a bit nostalgic, with its smaller scale and energy from attendees. Some people even broke out a Twister mat and played a few rounds. The convention also paid respects to Christopher Ayres with a thoughtful memorial sign. Ayres was a voice actor who recently passed away. I remember seeing Ayres at events in passing and miss his lively personality and smile; the memorial was thoughtful and kind.  

I arrived at the event on Friday morning and got settled into the hotel room. 

There were prominent signs throughout the hotel which reminded attendees to wear masks–and attendees respected the rules. Like many conventions in this area, Derpycon has set new rules in response to COVID. Vaccination cards were required to attend the event. Masks were also required on the con floor. Derpycon handled the policies quite well. I did not see a single maskless attendee, except of course, in locations such as the hotel’s eatery. Even though the con did allow limited cases of removing masks, attendees were cautious about this. I was a tad worried that I’d be asked by photographers to remove my mask for a shot and have a bit of an awkward talk, but didn’t run into that. Folks preferred to keep them on when in and out of cosplay. Pictured are some cosplayers. Many attendees made their masks match with their cosplays! 

Pre-registration was in an odd location, tucked away in one of the corners of the Hyatt. Despite initial signage, I had a hard time finding registration until a staffer assisted me. The room was quite tiny for a registration area and I checked a few times to make sure I ended up at the right spot. It did concern me a little that the staffer at registration didn’t look at my vaccination card closely,  as the con does make this mandatory to attend. Registration was very quick, with just myself and another attendee in the room going through the pre-reg process. 

My first panel was How To Convention. It was a guide for newer attendees about various topics in cons such as cosplay and expectations for events. I heard that the original panelist was unable to present due to a scheduling conflict. But one of the programming staffers (and a staffer here at AJS), turned the panel into a Q+A session. She was able to explain interesting details about cons from the perspective of someone who experienced events both in America and Japan. I learned some unique facts about Japanese convention culture and cosplay. In America, it is normal for attendees to go to events in cosplay when travelling. But Japan cons are known as festivals and have cosplayers change into their outfits when checking in.

Some attendees in this panel were younger and came with parents. I feel that attendance overall skewed younger, with many attendees in passing mentioning that it was their first convention.

The second panel I attended was also on Friday!  The panel focused on Twitch and Podcasting, primarily discussing the former. The presenter, Paul, had a great and lively personality. I wanted to hear just a bit more about some logistics of hardware and some abbreviations from someone who is more equipped with programs.  But his perspective on this hobby was a great motivator for me. He compared a few streaming options, briefly discussed copyright, and even offered to share his presentation with members of the audience. A few jokes were made about dated operating systems that made me laugh out loud. 

There were a few problems with panels throughout the weekend, mainly with online panels. Derpycon had a good concept of a hybrid convention, with some events showing up that interested attendees can enjoy from home or even on a channel in the hotel room. But a few panels had issues and didn’t air as scheduled. 

On Saturday, I started the day with a much-needed trip to a cafe and got a workout in at the hotel’s fitness center. I tried to take it easier on Saturday, browsing the con, enjoying the atmosphere of an event for the first time in what felt like ages. 

I spent so much time in the gaming room over the weekend but especially on Saturday. A Video Game Con NJ and a small retail location Save Point supplied the games. I spent so much time over the weekend enjoying rhythm games here, from Poppin’ Music, to NeonFM. Although many of the rhythm games were out of order at one point, this is normal for events. But they came prepared with materials to make repairs when needed. Although I wasn’t too keen on the cardboard signs in some areas (this is more of a nitpick), the games themselves were so much fun and the folks running it did an awesome job. 

The masquerade on Saturday was a great show, with some catch music to liven the audience as we were seated. I do not generally attend masquerades at cons because they can be a bit crowded and hectic. Though once people got settled, the show went on! The MC was typical of a masquerade, with occasional banter here and there, but it didn’t stretch out too much in terms of timing. 

I  enjoyed that many of the skits were from the original Love Live! I think the majority of the skits were related to this one series. There were nine entries in the masquerade, with most being dances to music. There was one or two skits and a walk on. Attendees also showed their cosplays from the Hall Cosplay Contest. Seeing the amazing costumes, from a beautiful armor build from Overwatch, to lights from an Endeavour cosplay, was really fantastic and inspiring. 

Sunday was my final day and I left early, but not without packing  some of the cute items I picked up over the weekend! If you are local to this convention, try visiting for a day to enjoy some fun video games with friends. Although there were a few logistical hiccups here and there, the con does listen to feedback and there is always room to grow. 

I had a good weekend. Not only is the location close to many delicious eateries with allergy friendly opinions, it’s also close to Rutgers University. Attendance seemed to be a bit above 1,000 attendees. I do not have exact numbers on hand, though it’s worth noting that Saturday felt much busier than Friday, and attendees may prefer one-day badges for now as we get back to events. The convention felt a bit nostalgic, with its smaller scale and energy from attendees. Some people even broke out a Twister mat and played a few rounds. The convention also paid respects to Christopher Ayres with a thoughtful memorial sign. Ayres was a voice actor who recently passed away. I remember seeing Ayres at events in passing and miss his lively personality and smile; the memorial was thoughtful and kind.  

Although there were a few blips throughout the weekend with panels, I did hear that the convention was short-handed in terms of staffing. The convention had so many fantastic ideas, though seemed to struggle to get enough hands to help out. The artist alley and dealers room also had issues with traffic due to the proximity of autographing to the tables. Utilization of space seemed to be an issue, but Derpycon is on its first year with a new venue and there’s bound to be some tweaks for next year’s con, which will take place in 2022 from October 28th-October 30th! 

-Chocola