What’s good, guys! Its hard to believe that its March already, and it felt like February just happened last week – which it did! If I haven’t told you yet; I’m one of the founders of an anime blog known as D&A Anime Blog, and one of the things we used to do is press coverage for anime, and gaming conventions. Last year I made the decision to step away from the blog, as well as the con circuit to focus on other projects (like BASSMODE: Nerdz Nite Out), but upon hearing about this brand new anime convention coming to Baltimore, I made an exception.

Ever since Otakon left in 2016, Baltimore’s con scene has been drier than the Sahara desert. Sure, you had anime community-adjacent events in the area, but nothing really on the level of nerdy excitement and anticipation; like an anime convention. In fact January 2020 was the last time an anime convention happened in Baltimore, and since then there’s really nothing much for the community to do – at least not in a major sense. (Though I’m hoping BASSMODE and this convention can change that!) That all changed last week when Aaron and I decided to do a BASSMODE x D&A collaboration, and make our way to this brand new local anime convention known as KhromaKon! 

So what’s NEW about this convention?

This convention (much like Animore was back in the day) has a greater emphasis on ‘community’ rather than ‘industry’. That’s not to say that you can’t have both, but with larger conventions the emphasis on ‘community’ gets overshadowed by ‘industry’. Its one of the reasons why I find myself going to small and local conventions, because of all of the personable and business connections you’re able to make in a smaller more intimate setting. Its harder to do that at larger conventions because everything is constantly moving, and you don’t get the opportunity to establish those personable connections effectively.

While inside it felt a lot like old school grassroots conventions; where everything was on one floor (so to speak), and you didn’t have to travel far to get to the area(s) you wanted to go to. I found myself spending most of my time in the main lobby/hall area, because that’s where you get the best opportunity to connect with your fellow anime fans, and even make business connections! I guess the only gripe I have would be the venue space, but we’ll get to the reason why that is, and why I love this convention even more because of it.

Why I think you would love this convention…?

For me, I’m all about anime/gaming conventions, who put community first when it comes to programming and activities. I will also support an anime/gaming convention even more when they battle against adversity. You see the very week of the event, the KhromaKon organizer(s) were hit with some devastating news; news that would impact the convention itself. I ain’t pointin’ fingers at certain hospitality establishments, but ya’ll know exactly what ya’ll did!

In spite of it all, the convention still happened thanks to the saving grace that was Open Works. This right here is one of the biggest reasons to support this convention, cuz’ if it was anybody else they would’ve folded (or pushed it back by several months). I can forgive the small venue space on this alone, which is why I plan on supporting this anime convention for as long as it remains in Baltimore, and you should too!

Next year will be even bigger for this convention despite this setback, but everyone knows that setbacks are setups for bigger things, and I hope that this convention gets a true debut next year.