It was a strange site to see Bergen Community College covered with anime fanfare; our little Anime Club was little no more she had grown into a busty women that can wow the masses. Alex Guzzo and the current group of club officers had done a first in the club’s 11 year history…they made a convention! Pocket con now to be noted as the smallest con on the East Coast maybe in all of America was still a wonderful and fun con to go to; and as such even for the limited staff the club has they pulled of a full fledge con fill with panels, guest speakers, group activities, taste testing, artist alley & dealer room, anime showings, cosplay competition, video gaming as well as a rave party complete with DJ. All of this under one roof and no admission fees yes people this was a FREE con to get into!; no need to book a hotel or figuring how to cramp people into as car it was local, free and fun.

To start one of the first things I notice when I arrived was the artist alley and dealers room (well alley too since they were sharing the same spot) was being set up. There were 3 artist 2 craft makers 1 baker and a table selling Japanese candy such as Pocky sponsored by the Japan Club (a new club on campus). As soon as the area was complete it became lively very fast people from all over came to shop for anime and Japanese goods from people dressed in their cosplay outfits to your everyday college student people were buying custom artworks and key chains as well as eating cupcakes and other tasty treats. Even yours truly got something custom made a key chain with his wife on it Rikku from Final Fantasy 10-2 with my xbox 360 gamer tag Goddess Rikku which will go on my new backpack when I buy it today.

I gave Guzzo a hand with a few things and then went to the Anime Game Show which was totally hilarious; set up in a Jeopardy type of game play. The room packed with people where asked questions on varying anime subjects that anyone there could answer there were some awkward moments like the one questions “whose cleavage is this?” which many there were like “OMG that’s no cleavage they’re way to small lol!” the room was filled with smiles and laughter. I took a few pictures of some cosplayers and made my way to yet another venue.

Next stop was to the movie theater to check out Ouarn Host Club and Soul Eater just some of the new anime that were being shown on campus that evening. The place well wasn’t packed bust had a full enough crowed to give you that movie theater feeling. People were snacking on their popcorn and chugging down their drinks as they enjoyed a night of anime viewing and I must say the two shows that I saw I might have to find on dvd they were very good.

Next up onward to taste testing! LOL I know you’re like Sammy come on you’ve tried all the basic Japanese snacks that are out there why try the same things again? Answer it’s free and you can never get enough of Aloe drink and yummy Pocky to snack on; as well as different flavor chewing gum and other snacks. This is a good way for newcomers get into the Japanese snack food. And for many people there it was their first time trying. On a note the green gel candy thing in a jar was avoided by nearly 90% of the people there after it was found out that it was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOO SWEET! That event was very well seeing how the line stretched down the hallway and around the corner.

Video gaming also was taking place in the cafeteria so I venture up there to see what was going on. The place was filled with gamers as they had Rock Band, Smash Brothers, and many other games going on all at once plus surrounding tables could find many PSP and Nintendo DS battles going on. Everyone there was having a blast and that was a site to see.
The next event and my favorite “How to Survive a Zombie Attack” discussion panel; talk about the do’s and don’ts of surviving a zombie attack. Talk was about ideal weapons to used what are some of the best and worst places to hide as well in living a life on a zombie infested planet, and the creation of a zombie and threat levels. This topic not only get anime and gaming fans talking but as well as the campus body including staff, students even the campus security officers were enjoying the panel’s insight on the world of zombies. The event was held in the college’s student lounge which provided the opportunity for so many to get involved and be informed.

The night was still young but I was feeling a bit tired so I decided to attend one more event before I called it a night so I went to see Anime Chess which is a funny and enjoyable site to see it’s playing chess with real people as the chess pieces. To sum it up cosplayers were dressed up and moving around a chess board made out of duct tape. I did wanted to attend the rave party but my body was like now way dude time to sleep so I departed. All in all it was a great event and I had a blast being in the fun of it all.

So the Pocket was a complete success and I’m looking forward not only to Otakon but now add Pocket Con to my list “to go to in 09.”