By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

TL;DR: Overall, PokeKon Charleston felt less like a full convention and more like a small meetup. It may be enjoyable for locals, families, or collectors looking to buy cards, but it isn’t something I’d recommend planning an entire day or trip around.

My Review:

Last weekend, Krow and I attended PokeKon in Charleston, SC, and while I went in with reasonably low expectations for this smaller regional event, the event itself still fell shorter in several key areas. Directions on parking and on locating the event were unclear. One of the reasons I knew how to get there was because I had encountered the same problem when attending another anime-focused event managed by the same group at the same location a little over a year ago.

PokeKon was very small in scale as well, which in itself isn’t necessarily a problem, but the layout and design was one of the biggest issues here. Media use—both onsite and online—was weak, which made it harder to know where things were happening or what was scheduled at any given time. The floor plan was also confusing, featuring four rows of vendors, some of which were tightly packed and others rather broadly spaced over a carpeted floor that would have made maneuvering a wheelchair difficult without help.

Speaking of the vendor hall: The first two rows were underwhelming, with limited variety and presentation. The first row was entirely 3D printed or they had cheap pins and crocheted plush (amigurumi) keychains that you can purchase in bulk on Temu. In the following row was a good mix of items and plushies, which was fine. However, there was also a singular author trying to sell a mature themed dragon book that Krow suspects is written by AI at a very Pokémon/child centered event, which was an odd choice.

The latter half of the rows was somewhat better, but still modest. If you’re specifically looking to buy Pokémon cards or small merchandise, it might be worth a quick visit but don’t expect much beyond that. The best seller we encountered was a small booth at the end of Row 3 who was selling cheaper pins and Pokémon plushies.

By the time we had circled the rows twice, it had been an hour and we were ready for lunch. So, we exited the event hall and started seeking food (this was around 11 AM). There we no food trucks yet or anything else, causing us to start walking towards the hotel that boasted a restaurant inside. As we walked, we kept getting stopped for directions. This validated my complaint about the lack of clear signage and directions.

By the time we made it to the hotel’s restaurant area 15 minutes later, we were fully ready for lunch but they were not open. Thus, we opted for a pre-made sandwich in their little kiosk to share. It was a pretty sizable one too and that meant us splitting it with a bit left over. When we returned to the event, a singular food truck had taken up a space outside the front doors of the convention center. None of the food looked particularly worth getting after the sandwich.

We decided, at that point, to head back in to the exhibit hall. We were seeking out anything of interest but found the entertainment value to be low. If you’re expecting interactive experiences, performances, or immersive activities, you’ll likely be disappointed. Panels were a particular disappointment for me. Many appeared to be prerecorded YouTube videos rather than live discussion, and the overall quality felt underdeveloped, considering that it was being projected from behind a screen by a bored-looking young adult.

Online promotion was minimal and ineffective. Information about vendors was either hard to find or not clearly communicated, because I couldn’t find it well documented. There were some voice actors, which were promoted, and that is nice, but panels and schedules appear to be recycled considering this is a fest that travels along the southeast of the US.

What I will say is that PokeKon doesn’t really compare to other anime, gaming, or pop-culture conventions—even smaller regional ones. This event seems best suited for locals, families with kids, or casual fans stopping by for an hour or two. Frankly, I would say this is true for the other events hosted by this particular group as well.

I hesitate to call it a “convention” at all. It felt more like a short conference meetup or community gathering than a fully realized con experience and, as such, I cannot recommend building your day around it.

I think that PokeKon has potential. If there was better marketing to the wider world (especially for more vendors) and better use of space, then this could be a good market. Pokémon is celebrating their 30th Anniversary this year and many convention spaces are making use of that to advertise local events. Connecting with local shops in the state, pushing for cosplay organizations in South Carolina to attend and maybe complete, hosting a Pokémon-Go experience or a tournament—any number of these would have been helpful to PokeKon as I have seen it successfully done within other small conventions and organizations. However, in its current form, it needs stronger organization, better communication, and more substantial programming to justify a “convention” label because, right now, this is a quick stop, not a destination.

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Edited by: Krow Smith | @coffeewithkrow

Copyedited by: Katherine Cañeba | @kcserinlee