I was sort of torn between what to write for this week's article. So much neat stuff had happened to me leading up to the convention and I just had the absolute hardest time picking out what exactly it was that I wanted to write about. However! The night leading up to Herdcon, while me and Brandon were sitting on his couch watching Antlers, the idea struck me like an eighteen wheeler going eighty miles per hour on the interstate!
Why not do a “My First Time” for Herdcon! Then, like that, my mind was made! Here are the fruits of my labor, well, if words count as fruit.
To summarize my first Herdcon experience a few things come to mind. . .
First and foremost! It was a great convention, especially for a one day convention; which, at this point in time, I have yet to experience. Up until now I’ve only ever been to two to three day cons, specifically Tsubasacon, Mountain State Pop Expo, and Charcon. This being my first Herdcon I came with high expectations, well, relatively so, and Herdcon managed to meet them rather well! I enjoyed every moment of walking around and meeting the various vendors and people that occupied all floors of the convention.
Unfortunately the lead up to the convention had been a slow start. I hadn’t gotten a chance to get my cosplay together the night before so I had to spend twenty or so minutes gathering it the morning of the convention. I didn’t get to purchase much during the con itself, lack of spending money and all, but I did leave the convention with a few cool things!
For one I got a neat mask that I wear whenever I go out, it’s nice and easy to put on and take off. Secondly I got my hands on volume 7 of Goblin Slayer, and now I just have to get my hands on the others.
However, despite me not buying anything I did have several nice interactions with the vendors! I don’t remember many of the names of the people I talked to, bad memory, but I do remember running into these three people on the top floor that went by the name of The Large Minions, they were a fun bunch! We compared gear and shared a few words before I went off to continue walking around. I met my good friend Arc Cosplay and we walked around for a bit while she tried to find her booth thing; even convinced her to give our game Nights Of Strife a try! Although doing so led to my untimely demise via the hands of the town when I falsely accused her of being the werewolf.
We finished up what was without a doubt a great day by hanging out afterwards for a few hours before heading our separate ways. We had some amazing food, and had an amazing time just enjoying one another's company. Shout out to my buddy Brandon for letting me stay over the night of the con and the night after, as a connoisseur of sleeping on couches due to lacking an actual room throughout high school I have to rate my sleeping experience a solid 11/10.
Jokes aside, I look forward to next year’s Herdcon, and seeing the faces of those behind it again! If you find yourself in Huntington, West Virginia next year on March 5th and have a day to yourself make sure to head down to Marshall for a fun con experience, it’s definitely worth it!
-Ty