Vacationing at Hawai'i Con 2017

Written by Chris Kwock (@kwock)

Vacation con is upon us!! Unfortunately, things didn’t line up quite right and I was only able to spend a day at this relaxing con this year. I made the most of it though! The thing I really love about this con is how relaxed everyone is; not only all the attendees, hotel workers, volunteers, but the guests had a very relaxed open feel about them. Casually walking around with not too much rush in their step and more than happy to stop and chat with some star struck fans.

The hotel is very open air and while not tall, it is very wide. Their vendors and main events room was a short walk out of the lobby in the pavilion. While there is quite a lot of space to transverse, you always felt like you were part of a con while seeing fellow attendees with their orange Crunchyroll lanyard. Everywhere you went there were people wearing badges enjoying each other’s company and talking about their fandoms.

What really set this apart from other cons were the activities you could sign up to do with the guests. There was a good variety of outdoor activities that were open to attendees who wanted a more personal touch to their con experience. The activities ran from ziplining to snorkeling to bar crawls and dinners. All the groups were on the smaller side so you really got a chance to get some one on one time with the celebrity hosting it.

What I really liked was how much science and cultural things there were. It might not be your thing, but having a Sci-Fi con with actual science going on and giving some cultural panels was really cool to give the attendees the opportunity to learn about the state that they’re visiting. There was stargazing and stories about Hawai`i. What better way to enjoy your vacation con than to listen to lore under the stars (which were bright and beautiful being away from all the city lights)!

Hawai`i Con always brings in a wide variety of guests. I’m looking forward to see what amazing guests they bring in next year! Check out some of the cosplays from the event below.