This year I had the pleasure of being able to grab a press badge to Anime NYC – a huge honor considering there were over 50,000 people in New York just for the convention. Naturally, that amount of people is sure to cause some kind of issues, mainly lines.
As amazing as the convention was, the number of people, lack of crowd control, and staff made it almost too much to deal with. Because I had a press pass, I got to bypass the entry lines – which people waited hours in line for – my sympathies go out to those that came early just to get a decent chance to get in earlier. I’ll save you the ramblings and complaints of all the lines due to the sheer amount of people (and the fact it was given the title of Line Con), and say I did wish there were more staff. The sight of a red staff shirt was far and few in between, and the panel booklet, didn’t quite reflect the ANYC map, but it wasn’t a complete disaster – just a bit unorganized.
My ultimate goal this year was to meet other fellow creatives like The Wonder of Ivy, Anime Junkies, and Soucial Dreamin’, but was also blessed with the opportunity of meeting so many others (Like Sailor Victoria of the Moonies Podcast!) who were also on the high of seeing so many successful Black creatives in the anime space.
This was also the first time the Religiously Nerdy crew met up for the first time! We were able to attend a lot of panels between us and get amazing insight into the industry, future creative works, and potential collaborations with other creatives. We also avoided the Attack on Titan feature like the plague to avoid any hint of spoilers, but the artwork from afar looked beautiful.
It was amazing to see everyone out for the con considering it’s only been 3 years it’s been active and going strong. As our first con together, I can say it was an absolute pleasure of being there, and congradulate them for selling out especially as the time for the convention grew closer. The only feedback I would have is finding more con staff for the sheer amount of people that arrive and better training on crowd control, especially for entry to the con.
Religiously Nerdy 
Completely agree with your takes! The lack of organization made it overwhelming but meeting you guys and the other creators made the trip worth it for me!
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It was nice meeting you as well. Also, thank you. Really appreciate the shout-out. I’ve attended the two years prior and while there was some issues. This year was just bonkers but glad to hear your experience wasn’t ruined.
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