Otakon 2018 was sort of like a milestone for me; it marked ten years since I started cosplaying.

I first cosplayed as Luke fon Fabre from Tales of the Abyss at Otakon 2008, which was my second time going to a convention. I went every year since 2007--this was my eleventh Otakon! Wow.

It was nice to see a growth in attendance for the con since moving to the new location in DC at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. There were a lot of cool things about the Inner Harbor, but it had been clear for years that Otakon had outgrown the space. A lot of us approached the first year in DC with some hesitation, but last year was one of my favorite years of the convention. The concerts were outrageously fun, there were cool panels, and I got to hang out with some people I hadn't spent time with in a while.