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| Photo of the third floor of the convention center taken Thursday before MTAC began. |
Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (MTAC)
is the largest anime convention in Nashville, TN. This year was its 13th year,
known as MTAC Devil's Dozen. MTAC is this reviewer's favorite convention. I
have attended every year since 2008 and have had the pleasure of witnessing
MTAC grow from a small con of only 3,000 attendees to a large convention of
over 10,000. I even survived the iconic year known as flood-con when the entire
city of Nashville flooded. Regardless, I have no intention of being biased or
going easy on the convention with my review.
I would first like to say that this year was as much fun as any other year from a personal experience standpoint. I cosplayed with a lot of my friends, met tons of new people, and had a generally fantastic time at MTAC Devil's Dozen. Furthermore, after interviewing several attendees; the word was solid that most congoers would be returning next year.
The cosplay this year was phenomenal. People were already donning their home-made costumes late Thursday night and early Friday morning. There was such a wide variety of costumes this year ranging from old animes, new animes, cartoons, sci-fi, web comics, animated films, and video games. There were even a few who really made this reviewer jump with excitement. Most notably of those being Royal Ball gown Anastasia, Tonberry from Final Fantasy, Freakazoid, and an Assassin's Creed Deadpool. Everyone worked really well on their costumes and went all out. I'm sure the heads of Cosplayer Nation have much more to touch base on the cosplay aspect of MTAC.
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| A few of the various cosplays seen at MTAC Devil's Dozen. From left to right: Tonberry, Madoka & Mami, Anastasia, Freakazoid, Jack Frost, and Russia. |
My area of specialty is reviewing the convention itself. I will conduct this review by alternating between a pro and a con every other paragraph. After that, and giving ratings on each pro/con I will sum up with a general summary of the convention based on what I witnessed this year. So let's begin on a good note and start with one of the advantages of MTAC Devil's Dozen.
A major pro regarding MTAC is their staff. This is a very fundamental element towards any convention's success. If a convention has poorly organized or rude staff - it is not going to last very long. MTAC's staff has always earned my utmost respect whenever I attend. They know what they're doing and respond to unforeseen circumstances instantly and in a calm fashion. This was only their second year at the down town convention center and their largest attendance to date - even so, the staff didn't crack under the pressure and continued to conduct themselves in the productive and friendly manner I've come to expect of MTAC Staff. On a scale of 1-10, I rate their staff an 8.5 out of 10.
The first problem I witnessed this year was the registration line. Granted several cons have major issues with registration lines dating all the way back to the 10 hour wait at Anime Central 2009 and it's come to be expected at conventions - it is no excuse not to mention it as an issue because there are several conventions that handle their lines extremely well like Otakon. This year MTAC chose to put the responsibility of the registration line in the hands of volunteers. Unfortunately this turned out to be a poor choice because the volunteers didn't wake up or show up on time and thus the registration line that was supposed to open at 7, didn't open until 9 - which was the same time as opening ceremonies. This also made it so the line grew to a size the con wasn't ready to handle. At least that's what all the rumors and chatter throughout the halls spoke of, but after discussing with one of the staff, the registration line wasn't supposed to open until 9, but people began showing up as early as 6 a.m. which caused a major backup. Regardless, two or more hour long waits even for pre-registered (pre-reg) badge pick-up were the talk of the convention Friday morning until the pace managed to get caught up and even itself out around noon. If you pre-reg and are worried about this for next year, I suggest showing up for the early badge pick up Thursday night, though I expect MTAC to already be working on a solution to this issue for next year. Registration Line rating 5.5 out of 10.
Another fantastic thing about MTAC this year was attendance growth. Up until this year, MTAC's attendance consisted mostly of repeat congoers from previous years. Everything changed completely this year at MTAC Devil's Dozen, and for the better in my opinion. There were countless new faces amongst the masses at MTAC Devil's Dozen. Several people who attend other cons had finally heard word of MTAC and flocked on south to check out what it was all about. On top of that there were countless first time convention goers flooding the halls and mingling with all of those who've attended for years. Even with such a large mix-up of new and old which MTAC attendees were not accustomed to, the congoers didn't clash. The veterans were more than happy to show the newcomers the ropes and make new friends. The term "southern hospitality" is not just a saying at MTAC; it's how things are done. Attendance Growth and Compatibility Rating: 10 out of 10.
The convention layout regarding artist alley and the dealer hall was a further slight issue at MTAC this year. This year the dealer hall was combined with artist alley and restricted to only half of the exhibit hall, the other half completely reserved for promotional booths. The issue here was that it easily became way too crowded in the artist alley/dealer hall and almost empty on the other half. Last year the entire exhibit hall was dealer room and promos and wasn't cut off with a divider so there was plenty of room and the artist alley took up the halls of the second and third floor keeping the halls lively and exciting. This year the halls were completely empty and bland. After discussion with several attendees from the previous year, almost all agreed that they preferred last year's layout because it made there much more stuff to do and venturing the halls worthwhile. It was obvious the convention tried this because the halls were crowded last year, so as a suggestion for next year - since the promos get barely any traffic - put the promo booths in the hall and reserve the entire exhibit hall for artist alley, dealer room, and foam sword fighting to liven things up. Convention Layout rating: 7 out of 10.
An additional very important plus-side to MTAC that has continued to keep me returning every year is its ability to always be active. From its wide variety of new events, panels, and activities to the extreme social nature of every cosplayer, attendee, guest, and staff member there is always something to do or someone to talk to. No two years are ever the same. This is one of those rare conventions where no attendee will ever be bored or feel left out - even if they don't cosplay. This is a very unique aspect of this convention. At most other conventions, especially those as large as MTAC, congoers feel segregated - cosplayers stick together, staff keeps to themselves, and non-cosplayers usually feel alienated or ignored. That is not the case at MTAC. No matter whom you are, what you wear, or why you're there - you will always be treated as an equal and always be encouraged to take part in festivities and conversations. Interaction and activity level rating: 10 out of 10.
There was a major problem regarding the dealer room this year that even managed to shock this reviewer who has attended over 600 conventions - and shocking me in a bad way is never a good thing. A staff member at the entrance to the dealer hall was making attendees leave large bags or props in a pile outside before being allowed to enter the dealer hall. This wouldn't have been such an issue in my eyes if it wasn't for the fact there was nobody watching the belongings and there was a sign stating that the con wasn't responsible for stolen items. That would make sense if people were leaving their belongings on the floor randomly by choice, but this was being made mandatory to enter the dealer room by staff. Nobody wants to leave their stuff unattended to enter a room and they shouldn't have to. If this was a mandatory staff move, they should have someone monitoring the belongings and have a staff monitored bag check for attendees to check their bags, take a ticket, and enter the dealer hall. They did have a bag check when they did this restriction back in 2009, why they chose such an irresponsible move this year that not only inconvenienced, but severely offended several congoers is beyond my comprehension. This was an extremely bad move by MTAC this year and it should NOT be repeated next year. Unsupervised Bag drop rating: 2 out of 10.
A different and really awesome advantage about MTAC is how they manage their panels every year. Most conventions, once they find a set of panels or panelists that do well, they will just stick with these same panels or panelists every year instead of picking new panelists which gets boring really fast after about two years. MTAC seems to know better - no panels get priority pickings. Each year the panels are chosen through a successful process and so new panels always manage to get a chance - so there are always several new things each year. The only repeated panels are those hosted by the convention itself, and even some of those are unique. Three such panels include the MTAC Bar Crawl, Friday Night Ball, and the MTAC Rave. The Bar Crawl is a panel where attendees 21+ hit up the bars along the Broadway Strip in cosplay to locations the convention has arranged. It has to be my favorite panel they added after moving to down town. Now for the ball, it is unique because the theme is voted on and chosen by the congoers every year. It proves that MTAC has the attendees' wishes at heart, and wants them to participate in what goes on at the convention as much as possible. As for the rave, every convention has a rave, but MTAC's rave isn't your standard anime rave - it's hosted by the actual EDM Rave scene of Nashville so it's a real rave - they even have special passes just for the rave crowd to attend. It's one of the things they've always been known for. Panel rating: 9 out 10.
Now I know I just boasted about the ball in the previous paragraph, but unfortunately that was a slight issue this year. For the first time in MTAC history, the theme was chosen without a vote. Staff picked My Little Pony as the theme, probably assuming that it would be the voted winner if they held a vote. The issue here is there is a severe divide and animosity between the bronies and anti-bronies. The pony fans were content, but others felt the con wanted to force My Little Pony on them by bypassing the traditional theme vote. A lot of people who were looking forward to attending the ball refused to attend this year on the principal that the vote didn't occur. Now before I lose half of you, I have nothing against My Little Pony and I'm not insulting the theme being My Little Pony. I'm only stating that there would have been a lot less conflict over the theme if they'd kept to the tradition of a voting process and it had been chosen on fairly by the con attendees. It probably still would have won, the con was correct in thinking it would win, but choosing not to do the vote just because of that was probably an ill move. Hopefully the voting process will be back again next year. Friday Night Ball Rating: 8 out of 10.
MTAC's unique yearly theme is another great thing about this convention. It was the first convention I've ever attended that did this when I went to MTAC 2008 and it's still the only con I attend that does. Though I will note here that you don't have to cosplay to the theme, but sometimes it's fun to. The part that makes the theme so exciting is how they announce them. Each year, at the end of closing ceremonies they release the theme for next year through an Anime Music Video (AMV) made by the convention. The AMVs are fantastic. Last year, MTAC Omega's was my favorite so far. Next year's theme is MTAC IN LOVE. Con uniqueness rating: 9.5 out of 10.
Here are some
links to the MTAC AMVS from 2011 to next year:
A couple of further issues regarding MTAC this year are quite small and affect several conventions across the nation. I will mention both as well as note suggestive solutions I've witnessed other conventions do to solve the issues. First off the elevators - there are only 6 of them and 24 floors. The major problems here are there are immature people who will press every floor as a joke which stall efficiency, rude and selfish people who will either not let people on when there is room or force themselves on when there isn't room and fights break out. Others know of holding the button down to skip floors so some people wait hours for an elevator when they shouldn't have to. This is exceptionally a problem on Friday and Sunday when people are carrying luggage to and from their rooms. Anime Central found a great solution to this problem. They have staff members in the elevators and only they are allowed to press floor buttons and they control the amount of people who are in the elevator. This prevents a lot of the problems that MTAC has suffered this year. I think you should look into trying this next year MTAC - at least on Sunday because that was ridiculous. Second inconvenience is that MTAC is always Easter weekend. Some people are religious or have religious families and cannot attend every year. MTAC is lowering their yearly possible attendance by doing this. Anime Boston used to always be Easter weekend as well, but they found a solution. Now they alternate every couple of years between Easter Weekend and Memorial Day weekend. Try looking into possibly doing this in the future. Bonus points if you collaborate with Anime Boston so that when they're on Easter, MTAC is on Memorial so the two cons don't compete for attendance and both cons attendance numbers will go up. These are just suggestions and because they are only minor issues several conventions suffer, I will not give them a rating on this.
To summarize MTAC Devil's Dozen - it is a convention worth attending. Despite having a few blips here and there, the good qualities of this convention far outweigh their small shortcomings. As a reviewer and an attendee of several conventions across the nation, I will vouch that MTAC is one worthwhile convention. If you enjoy fantastic cosplay, energetic and friendly congoers, fun and lively parties, all-day and all-night festivities, and new things - this is the convention for you. So come on out for MTAC In Love in 2014!
Now Lets rack up the points and add a few categories:
Convention Staff and Security:
9.5/10
Cosplay Variety Range: 10/10
Convention Activity Level: 10/10
Convention Panels: 9/10
Registration Line: 5.5/10
Attendance Growth: 10/10
Convention Uniqueness: 9.5/10
Convention Layout: 7/10
Convention Guests: 8/10
Convention friendly level: 10/10
Issues and problems: -5 points
Total Points: 83.5/100 Points
Overall Rating: 83.5%
Convention Grade: B
(All cons will be rated on the previous for grading in future reviews for consistency)
Overall Rating: 83.5%
Convention Grade: B
(All cons will be rated on the previous for grading in future reviews for consistency)
Click here to visit the official MTAC website.
Review Written By:
Abra Gauthier (Warkified Chocobo)
(This review was also posted under Cosplayer Nation's blog as well, I was given permission as the reviewer to post it to my own blog as well.)
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