Matsucon 2024 - Small panic a day keeps the doctor away

Hello everyone~!
After this post I'm finally back on my schedule! As the title says, this is my Matsucon 2024 summary - let's see how it went! 

All photos © Shiro Samurai if not mentioned otherwise.

A Matsucon poster. Not sure if this was the official one..?

Our trip to Matsucon started on 9th of August, the Friday before the con (which was held on 10-11th of August). I left work a bit early so we could catch our bus - yeah, this time we chose a bus instead of the train since the schedule was more fitting for us. 

Our mountain of luggage, including a PS5 and a TV.

Our Onnibus trip went... I can't exactly say well (in short: Shiro Samurai got stuck because of accessory chains and he literally spent an hour trying to break free but eventually managed only after breaking the chains plus the bus almost crashed into a truck) but we got to Oulu in one piece. I had reserved a ride via Menevä Taksi - their mobile app is very easy to use and it's been quite handy in many situations (and no, this wasn't a paid commercial lol) - and it took us to the hotel. Hotel none other than the trusty Sokos Hotel Arina. 

This time our hotel room had the summer night theme. To be honest the tar one has been my favourite by far but this was quite pretty too!

Shiro Samurai decided to get some rest meanwhile I headed out to meet my co-worker Julia and her date - we had agreed to meet at Coffee House in the Valkea Shopping Center. I had also bought some Arnold's donuts via ResQ app (which was created to reduce the food waste) and wanted to fetch them. At first ResQ only operated here in Finland but now when I checked their page they operate in certain towns in Sweden, Estonia and Germany too! The idea of the app is that local restaurants, cafés, grocery stores etc. can sell their products there that would otherwise go to waste - and the price is very affordable! Again, not a paid commercial. Sorry for getting a bit sidetracked here but there is a reason for that: during the weekend we bought almost everything we ate via the app and we'll definitely keep doing this in the future too, so cheap and hey, it's always nice to be able to make decisions that have a positive effect on the planet~!
When I was done I texted Shiro Samurai that I was coming back to the hotel room. It literally took me a few minutes to get back there - and the minute I step into the room I hear cursing and see my traveling buddy squirming in pain on the bed. The reason? He had been deep in thought and hadn't heard my steps - which resulted in a fright recoil when the door handle made noise which in turn resulted in his shoulder dislocating! I'm still not sure how is that even possible but yeah, still sorry about that ^^'

During the evening we went to eat at Itsudemo; we had been looking forward to that sushi buffet after a good experience last year! However... This time didn't go so well. The sushi pieces on the trays seemed dry and like they had been there for a while, they came apart very easily AND there were no refills on certain sushi sorts during the 45 minutes we spent there. Also one of the dessert cakes was still half-frozen. I swear to god our experience last year was much better...

After the disappointment dinner we did some shopping, bought a few more things via ResQ and then went back to the hotel where we just chilled for the rest of the evening. Neither of us had to be at the con the minute the doors opened so yeah, we decided to sleep a bit longer and have breakfast a bit later than we usually do.
On Saturday morning we woke up and quite immediately went to eat some breakfast. I must mention that I really like the detail Sokos Hotel Arina has at its restaurant (where the breakfast is also served); they have a screen that shows how much food waste there was on the previous day's breakfast! I think this is actually quite nice - and sure do hope that it makes people act more responsible. I belong to those who were taught the "take a full plate at the hotel breakfast because it's included in the room price - it really doesn't matter if you can eat it all or not" mantra and well, let's just say that I don't agree with it, at least not anymore.

When we had eaten - and I had taken a shower - it was time to put on our costumes. Funny enough, they were the exact same ones we wore in Nekocon; I cosplayed Kiki (I competed with the costume) and Shiro Samurai wore his Hotaru costume. We had plenty of time to put on our costumes and left the hotel on schedule! 

The entrance to the con - the venue was, once again, Pohjankartano's school.

The program chart/list and the floor plan of the building - super helpful!

 

This year we both worked for the con. Shiro Samurai had volunteered to work in the green room meanwhile I had decided to try out something totally new for me; I had volunteered to work as a program volunteer. A program volunteer, in short, helps out the program hosts and sees that everything goes smoothly - and preferably in schedule. Sounds easy enough but I can say now that it's not for everyone - especially if customer service isn't something you enjoy, don't volunteer as a program volunteer.
However, my first task of the day was to let the cosplay info guys know that I had arrived and was ready to get my costume pre-judged. I was given the schedule and at this point I had about 40 minute of free time so we decided to do a quick stroll around the venue and leave some stuff in the cloakroom. 

It was pretty crowded downstairs.

The merchants were downstairs; this included both the artisans (such as si3art and Jasu Wonder World) and stores (such as Manga Cafe).

 

We noticed quite immediately that something was a bit off; usually the air circulation at Pohjankartano's school has been quite good. However now it felt like we were suffocating and sweating after like, what, 20 minutes? The reason for this was revealed later that day; I don't know if there had been a misunderstanding or something between the school staff and the con staff but seemingly the AC wasn't even on! Well, that explains the bad air quality which only got worse in the upper floors where the Artists' Alley, flea market etc. were located...

Overview of the Artists' Alley.

The arcade room was also upstairs...

...and of course there was also space for the tabletop games!

 During that 40 minutes some of the cosplay volunteers approached us - or, well, Shiro Samurai and asked him to take part in the competition. Unfortunately he didn't have his full costume with him (read: no props) so he had to decline but that made us wonder how many had actually cancelled their participation? I suppose it was quite many since I got the number 13 - and I was the first one to get my costume pre-judged AND to go to the stage! At first I was under the impression that they had decided to pre-judge my costume first since I had a work shift soon after that but well, apparently that wasn't the case.

Proof that I was number 13. Photographer: Olivia.

 

After the pre-judging I think I just hung out with Shiro Samurai in the green room. Since the air quality was horrendous I didn't feel up to checking out the Artists' Alley - especially not by myself - so yeah, I just sat there and drank some coffee before my shift started.
The first shift I had went very smoothly; it was a relaxation workshop and tbh I almost fell asleep myself :'D It sure was a good program to watch over just before the cosplay competition! After that I took the laptop (that belonged to the person in charge of the programs) and speed-waddled to the first floor... Only to find out that I wasn't in any hurry at all since some things had gotten a bit delayed and it affected the cosplay competition's schedule too. Luckily it wasn't anything too bad even though some things, for example checking out the stage, got a bit rushed.
I didn't place this time either but, to be honest, I wasn't exactly waiting for that to happen. I'm still trying to build up the stage confidence I had years ago so yeah, I'm just happy if I manage to get myself on that stage.

After the competition it was time to go to the hotel. Shiro Samurai had went there in advance right after his shift had ended; he had felt uncomfortable because, well, his shoulder still hurt and the air quality wasn't too good in the green room either so yeah, I had booked him a taxi back to the hotel right before the competition started.
We lagged there for a while and checked out the ResQ app - and, well, we also had one plan in mind: fetch some boba tea. Yes, we... Kind of are addicted to it lol and there happened to be a boba/sushi place (namely Sushi Bowl & More Tea Oulu that seemingly doesn't have its own web site) near the hotel so yeah, we totally went there. Especially because there was some sushi on the ResQ app and it happened to be from the said store lol :'D
After the ResQ haul we came back to the hotel, chilled for a while and then decided to get some sleep - we still had another con/work day left.

Sunday morning.
Ugh.
I seriously didn't feel up to even going to the con anymore; I felt tired and laggy and I sure was happy that I had decided not to cosplay on Sunday. Shiro Samurai had planned to cosplay Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil 4 but eventually that didn't happen either. So yeah, we just had breakfast, packed our stuff, I got guilt tripped by a semi offensive taxi driver and eventually arrived at the con venue. I sprinted to my work station, namely the room called Pieni Kirsikka, and soon minnalabanana (the person in charge of the programs) and some technology volunteers showed up too. You see, my first duty of the day was to watch over the voice acting workshop and that required a video call connection to Japan since its host was Yukari Honma. She is known, for example, as Sato from Vampire Princess Miyu and as Emili from Beyblade and Beyblade G Revolution.
And, because this required a video call connection, it was more than guaranteed that there would be problems... And there were some :') I'm not going into details since they really aren't even that interesting but yeah, let's just say that we were late for about 15 minutes. Luckily not more. And let's just say that I managed to get the programs in that room back on schedule - eventually.

She told how to utilize different chakras in voice acting - it sure was interesting!

The next program held in that room was a watercolor painting workshop, hosted by Jasu Wonder World. I was given the permission to leave after everything was ready for the workshop. At this point I decided to upstairs to have a bread or something - but it somehow turned into sending Shiro Samurai to fetch more boba tea for us. I mean, we both wanted it, I couldn't exactly leave the con place since I had to check on the workshop every now and then and his shift hadn't even started yet soooo... It was pretty much our only option. Unless we wanted to use Wolt and pay a couple of euros extra for the delivery which wasn't exactly the most optimal option.

Our boba teas! 💓

I think it was also at this point when we heard the sentence that made it to my blog post title (well, in a freely translated form but anyway). We were just chatting and then we heard someone say "Pieni paniikki pitää hengissä" ("A small panic keeps you alive") with literally no context at all :'D I mean whoever said it was quite right though - or at least that was the theme of my day. Being a program volunteer was quite hectic in the end and it also required quick problem-solving skills - luckily I've worked in different industries (for example food industry) before because that experience sure was gold! And no, by this I don't mean there would've been drama or such; it's just that things don't always go 100 % as planned and you need to be able to react quickly to solve any problem that comes in the way, no matter how big or small it is. 

After Jasu Wonder World's workshop was over there were two programs left in that room: a relaxation workshop (basically the same as Saturday) and a book talk about some manga series that could be found in libraries in Oulu. Those were easy enough to watch over - and after them I just put everything back in place in the room, checked out that there were no windows open etc., and my shift was over~! At that point I decided to check out both the Artisans' Alley and the Artists' Alley once more - and tbh I was beyond happy when I spotted some Zydrate vial stickers at the latter! The Zydrate comes in a little glass vial~
For those who are not familiar with the reference: check out the gothic musical Repo! The Genetic Opera starring Sarah Brightman and Paris Hilton, you won't be disappointed.

It was almost as crowded on Sunday than it was on Saturday (this pic was taken on the latter).

As a Miku Hatsune fan this was indeed a joy to see. Too bad I can't attend any of the concerts since they are all abroad...

There were hardly any queues to the cloakroom and the info stand.

After checking out the tables for the last time the con was already nearing its end and we begun to clean up the green room - I didn't have that much else to do so I decided to help there. It takes quite a lot of effort to deconstruct a convention overall so yeah, each pair of hands available was more than welcomed! We couldn't stay until the very end of that though; we had a train to catch. So after an hour or two of cleaning up we had to leave - and that was the official end of our Matsucon 2024 trip.

Matsucon was overall a pleasant experience despite a few hiccups here and there (mainly meaning the problems with the AC). Even though being a program volunteer was a bit hectic I kind of liked working as one - don't know if I'll apply to be one next year though, we will see how much energy I will have then. Probably will volunteer to some position though! Conventions overall have hard time getting volunteers to work for them these days; after all many people are so stressed out and burnt out that they just want to relax and have a good time with less responsibilities during their free time. And nothing wrong with that; I don't work at every convention I attend to since I want to have those "more relaxing" ones too. However, the conventions need volunteers and people in charge so yeah, offering my help when I can.

But yeah, this is the end of my Matsucon 2024 summary - and now I'm finally back on my schedule, yippee!
...also known as prepare for at least dozen circle lens reviews, I have a huge backlog on them... Oops. 

Until next time.

-Firith