By Alyssa Serrano
Staff Writer
DerpyCon is a convention dedicated to creating a fun community and space for fans of animated shows, manga and video games. With the rise in popularity of online media, these conventions allow people to find others with similar interests and make new friends.
This convention first started in 2014 and for the past two years has been located at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, N.J. DerpyCon is held the last weekend of October; this year’s took place on Oct. 27-29.
DerpyCon is smaller than many other conventions in the New Jersey and New York area, so it is good for people who like having space and want to get used to conventions. Frequently, in more popular conventions, there is very little walking room and they can get packed to an almost uncomfortable amount.
Despite being a smaller convention, DerpyCon still draws in quite a crowd.
One of the most popular things at DerpyCon and other conventions is called the Artist Alley. It’s a zone where artists can sell their artwork and market themselves to fellow fans or collectors.
Faith Lobo, a college student who attended on Sunday, said, “The Artist Alley is definitely my favorite part. There really are just so many cute vendors, honestly, I wish there were more. This convention is a lot smaller than the one I usually go to, and so I sort of got used to that number of vendors there.”
Besides the Artist Alley, the convention also had voice actors who held panels and meet and greets with fans. This year’s guests were actors Howard Wang, Casey Mongillo, Kira Buckland, Kyle McCarley and Jeannie Tirado.
A big part of convention culture is dressing up in costumes or “cosplays” of one’s favorite characters. This is a pretty simple way to find other fans of a show or game and it can be a relatively easy way to bond and make friends with other convention goers.
Lobo was in costume for the convention and was dressed as a character named Yor Forger from the anime “Spy X Family.” When asked about her favorite part of wearing the costume, Lobo said, “I really love being able to share my interests with other people and to see when people get excited when they realize they recognize my costume. My friend and I actually found someone else who was dressed as a character from the same show as us and we were able to trade socials and record some videos together.”
Since costumes are such a huge part of these conventions, DerpyCon hosts a cosplay contest and masquerade. To enter the contest, at least 80% of the costume must be self-made and the costumes are judged based upon accuracy and overall craftsmanship. The masquerade ball is an opportunity to make a fun skit or show off a talent related to your costume. It’s a competition, but also a way to show off a costume and have some fun with friends on stage.
Conventions like DerpyCon provide a unique opportunity for fans to gather and form a supportive and fun community based on shared interests. Even as someone who isn’t a huge fan of animated shows or video games, it can be an enjoyable experience as there are a lot of really cool costumes, artwork and events that aren’t solely dedicated to that, such as the karaoke room.
Overall, with cheap tickets and good vibes, DerpyCon can be a fun way to spend a weekend!
