Daku Con 2019

The Con:

For this con I was able to get a different perspective on a con since I was helping to table for Colorado Anime Fest. It was a great chance to talk to fans that I normally would not have interacted with. For example one of the people I talked to was from Texas and he tries to average at least a con a month. He found Daku con very interesting because he was not used to certain adult ‘things’ just being out there to be seen. Since this is one of the few adult only cons out there, both the dealer’s room and artist alley did have adult products and images on full display. I did find how the con controlled access to these areas not on point. For example when I picked up my badge they forgot to give me my over 21 wrist band. This became an issue the second time I tried to get into the dealers room. I can see the con worrying about people giving badges to people under 21, but I also had my driver’s license and the person at the door would not even use an official document to verify my age where as wrist bands can also be transferred. I was made to go all the way back to check in, have them verify my ID, and then return to the dealer’s room. This time the product I had wanted was sold out due to the time I had lost. This was very poor customer service and they need to redress how to verify age when in question.

I also had another concern about them meeting ADA compliance. When I checked in I also bought my mother a pass so that she could go to the panels and review other parts of the con since I could not. She is disabled and when I asked the check in staff what they did for ADA they looked confused about what I was asking about and said that if she needed help with anything to just have her ask. I understand that this is a small con so lines and seating are not an issue, but they should be prepared to help or to point people to a specific point person for further questions. They have much growing to do in this area and I hope that if I go again next year that they will be better able to handle this part of con logistics.

The Hotel:

                I have been to this hotel for other cons, like Wasabi. The public areas of this con appeared as clean as could be expected, but they seemed to be under staffed to handle the convention. When trying to get food on Sunday the restaurant was closed and there was only one bar keeper not only running the bar, but also had to go get the food which left guests with no one to help them for large chunks of time. The hotel was also not able to keep up with filling their water stations. There was one that was nearly empty when I got the in the morning, from what I saw was never refilled, and was still empty when I left.

Daku con’s official site: https://dakucon.org/