Posted in: Comics | Tagged: acbc, comic con, Comics, entertainment

Nightlife At ACBC Part 2: The Redemption

Published Mon, 18 May 2015 22:00:38 -0500

By Adam Tyler Wolfe. Part 1 is here.

After the first nights fiasco of attending the ACBC after party, I was dubious about giving them another chance. However, since I had purchased the $20 dollar after party ticket, I decided why waste my money? Saturday night's event was a complete turnaround from Friday. The iron barricades had been removed, allowing those who wished to drink to actually be able to interact with the rest of the party goers. The obscure pop rock bands were replaced with an EDM DJ who played accessible top 20s hits that got the entire place dancing. The attendance was much better, easily triple of Friday night's tally. Most importantly however, there were actualcosplayers at the cosplay after party this time around. So much so that the group running the party, Club Cosplay, were able to have two separate cosplay competitions on the main stage. I was personally blown away by the change of atmosphere and execution from one night to the next so I tracked down Bernie Bregman, the MC for the night and representative of Club Cosplay, and got some answers. Through my conversation with him things started to fall into place.

It turns out Friday night was not under Club Cosplay's jurisdiction at all. In fact, they were only asked to "produce the Thursday kickoff party, and the Saturday dance party." ACBC had asked Club Cosplay to "execute the Friday concert with talent and format pre-booked and approved by the convention." He would go on to say that the only Club Cosplay influence the Friday night party had, was his "hosting and [their] DJ providing the transition music" between the booked bands. This was a pretty raw deal for them if you ask me, since their name was attached to a rather flat event. Speaking further with Mr. Bregman, I saw that many of the complaints found in my first article we're not the fault of Club Cosplay at all, but rather a communication breakdown between the event staff and the party group. Mr. Bregman had requested that the gigantic room they were placed in be scaled down by well placed "pipes and drapes" but only got his request granted on Saturday. There seemed to be some bureaucratic chain of command Mr. Bregman had to go through, so getting changes done "on the fly" proved to be quite difficult. Oddly enough he claimed the main ACBC representative for the parties was completely "on board" for the changes, but was powerless to enforce them. The staff he was provided with to run his party "were not the type of people who could be empowered to make decisions, but rather followed a checklist and followed orders" leaving him handcuffed to deal with the circumstances.

Mr. Bregman however was pleased by the overall location ACBC provided for him. For all the trouble and confusion the con did give them a "great professional stage, lights and sound rigs." He felt ACBC gave them "red carpet treatment" unlike other cons that have a habit of "cheaping out and doing the least to gain the most." This is congruent to the idea that ACBC wanted their after parties to be a main draw for them in their inaugural con. It's ironic that the party they controlled was the stinker in the group. Still as I said before this was their first con and there are bound to be some growing pains. I think all and all (the three days a considered) ACBC proved to be a pretty fun con, and the Cosplay after party on Saturday certainly helped that. Though the attendance as Mr. Bregman put it "was lower than [he] expected, but not in a heartbreaking way." The party managed to be a great time. My only complaint about Saturday nights event was, it was billed to go on till 2AM but closed at 12AM. We were told this was the "fire marshal's" decision and we all had to oblige. This just seemed like another hiccup by ACBC and not on Club Cosplay but it was still disappointing. When I pay for a six hour party, I expect to party for six hours. Though Club Cosplay attempted to keep the party going in the Sheraton Hotel across the street, the vibe was sadly sucked out of the room. What was even sadder was seeing drunken cosplayers trying to enter the convention hall at 1 AM to attend the party they paid for, only to be told the party was over.

The festivities themselves were very well structured. Mr. Bregman did a great job of keeping the energy up as he was given more creative freedom for Saturday. The first DJ came in with some hits, followed by a standup comedy routine by "retired Wonder Woman." Next came the general cosplay contenst. The winners were a trio of ladies who did a "punk rock" version of the Sailor Scouts from Sailor Moon, and a Rosetta from Disney's Tinkerbelle Pixie Hollow series. After some more dancing and drinking it was time for the "sexy cosplay contenst" run by SkintightUSA, an LGBT organization that helped push the "diversity friendly initiative" ACBC prided itself on. The winner for the females was a stunning Poison Ivy cosplayer (shocker.) and for the men a Red Hood cosplayer (actual shocker.) After the second competition had ended, the party continued for its final hour. Mr. Bregman and I were both quite pleased as "the vibe was excellent. Everyone was there bouncing around, having a great time, enjoying themselves letting lose in a NERDsafe, but fun environment." Without overstepping my boundaries, I would definitely try to get ReedPop's attention on these guys. Brining an after party like this to a larger con like NYCC would be absolutely amazing. As Mr. Bregman put it, "the numbers for the after party grow with the con." So imagining a sea of cosplayers going completely nuts in New York City is something I definitely want to see this October. All and all I'd say my experience on Saturday justified my $20 charge as the men and women of Club Cosplay put on a great fun show. If this con does happen again, or any of you see an after party hosted by them I would definitely recommend going. After all this was only a "small taste" of what one of their true parties has to offer.

For more on Club Cosplay, check out the links below:

http://www.clubcosplay.net/

OHM Nightclub, Hollywood (Jan 2015)

[youtube]http://youtu.be/3Vzxls2Sw9o[/youtube]

San Diego, House of Blues (Valentines Day 2015)

[youtube]http://youtu.be/1Y_SU9ouNcU[/youtube]

Anaheim, House of Blues (April 2015)

[youtube]http://youtu.be/rvUipch93l4[/youtube]

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