No Brand Con X
our very own convention of sundry geekery turns ten
Trevor Kupfer, photos by Frank H. Robinson |
Before Milwaukee. Before Madison. Before Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Before any other city in Wisconsin and Minnesota. There was NoBrandCon.
Now in its tenth year, NoBrandCon is the longest-running animé-centric convention in the two-state region and a much-anticipated event for Eau Claire every year.
“It’s for people who like animé, sci-fi, video games – nerdy and geeky things in general,” current event director Stephen Gernaey beagn. “It’s a place for them to express their love of that, meet people who feel the same, dress as their favorite character, and have a great weekend with having to worry about being made fun of.”
In 2002, four UWEC students and animé fanatics were running the animé room of a sci-fi convention in Wausau when they decided to make state history.
“In the early 2000s, the closest cons were Animé Iowa and Animé Central in Chicago,” said Tray Dorn, one of the founding fathers. “And we did the math on the costs of going, and figured it’d probably be cheaper to start our own.”
The first year’s budget was around $1,300, he said, adding that they now operate around $30,000. That first year also had 115 attendees in two days at UWEC. They’ve since breached 1,200 people over three days. The second and third cons were in Davies Center before they moved to The Plaza and ushered in the era of the 24-hour convention. From 2006 to 2010, it ran at The Ramada. And now they’re back to The Plaza, hoping to breach the 1,500 landmark.
“This year is exciting because we’ve never had so many guests,” Gernaey said. “In past years we’ve had some animé voice actors, maybe another small name, and maybe a band … so this is a refresh for us and the direction I want to take it is mixing things up a bit more.”
This year’s guests include the creators of the web comic Brawl in the Family, video game music parodist Brent “brentalfloss” Black, animé voice actors Colleen Clinkenbeard and Monica Rial, plus indie filmmakers Red Letter Media, known for their Star Wars review videos.
As per tradition, the con will begin with a video episode of the continued storyline of their mascots, Duct Tape Boy and Garden Ninja. For true fans, the five episodes for this con are a continuation of the fourth year story, in which they battled against an evil corporation that takes over the con.
But this is just the beginning. They also have a room dedicated entirely to console gaming tournaments, another for tabletop games, a lounge for portable gaming, the animé music video contest, animé theaters, a raffle, poster puzzle hunts, a photo booth, dozens of niche industry vendors and artists, live rock on Friday night, and a talent show on Sunday.
Perhaps the most novel of their events, however, are the: MANN Auction, where they sell the male staff and volunteers for dates to the Saturday night dance (techno and glowsticks, baby); No Mercy Room, in which they screen the worst media imaginable and pan it MST3K style; and the costume contest, the capstone event for any true con (Saturday night).
As you may have suspected based on this hefty docket of events, “this is a full year of planning to make the best con we can every year,” said Gernaey, who has helped in some capacity since the first year (security, guests, PR, etc.).
Since NoBrandCon started, the region has seen the inception of at least a half-dozen more cons (Stevens Point, Wausau, Milwaukee, two in Twin Cities, etc.), and organizers have said the competition is getting tougher. So how much of a threat is it to ours?
“You’re gonna see some evaporate in the near future, but the nerd fandom scene in general is going pretty strong,” Dorn said. “So long as there’s continued interest in running it, it will exist in Eau Claire.”
NoBrandCon X • April 15-17 • Plaza Hotel, 1202 W Clairemont Ave., EC • $35 for weekend, $20 Saturday, $15 Friday or Sunday • all ages (under 12 need adult supervision) • NoBrandCon.com
