I Was 10 When My Family Took Me to DashCon

All photos in this post were taken by my late father, John Fite. You can find more of his photography– including a few more photos from DashCon*– on his Flickr profile. Most of it is family photos, but there's some other very interesting shots in there as well.

It's traditional to start a post like this by explaining the event I'm talking about, but no matter how many times I've tried, I can't easily explain why telling people that I was there makes them go crazy.

The best I can provide is this video from the person who came up with the idea for a Tumblr convention in the first place. For those who already know the larger picture, my story might interest you.

It all started when my sister found out about the live reading of Welcome to Night Vale that was scheduled to happen. She told my parents about it, and my dad was encouraged by the fact that it was in Chicago. We used to travel a lot, and Chicago was one of our favorite places to go.

So, the four of us packed into my dad's truck with the camper attached and set out for a campground just outside of Chicago.

At the age of ten, it was my first convention ever. I was starstruck.

I had nothing to compare it to. I had no expectations whatsoever, which was probably– well, definitely– the best way I could experience... DashCon.

Everyone recognizes the ball pit, but not everyone is aware (which could be because it's not true at all– my memory is hazy, so I'm not sure!) that the nearly empty room it's in was the dealer's hall.

If my memory is correct, there were fewer vendors at DashCon than there typically are at FantastiCon in Toledo (which, hey, I love attending the local con– but after an hour there, you've seen everything.) Something that later became one of my favorite parts of attending conventions was barely present at my very first.

Of course, I attended a couple very normal panels related to some very normal interests for a ten-year-old to have.

I remember asking a cosplayer of Sasha from Attack on Titan something about potatoes, and hearing a Gamzee cosplayer abruptly switch from a gruff and crude voice to a posh British accent. It was a good time– a great time, even– for a ten-year-old kid.

But, of course, the truly interesting part was at noon on Saturday. (I didn't just, like, memorize the exact day and time– I stumbled across a very old schedule of the convention.) The live Welcome to Night Vale reading. The main event. The thing we came to see.

The disaster that would be remembered for years to come.

It would especially be remembered by me. One thing everyone knows about kids is how fucking impatient they can be, which was twice as true for me. I felt like I sat in that spot for years, in the back row, to the right, on the edge of the aisle in the middle.

Waiting.

Somebody dressed in a Glow Cloud cosplay walked up and down the aisle, as the audience chanted, "All Hail The Glow Cloud!"

More waiting.

As a kid, I thought it had been someone in charge, but it turns out it was just a regular attendee who yelled from the front row that they were ordering pizza, and asked if anybody wanted anything.

More waiting.

They never ordered that pizza, by the way.

More waiting.

That's the kind of thing a ten-year-old notices.

More waiting.

I think my dad was starting to wonder.

More waiting.

More waiting

More. Fucking. Waiting.

Of course, I probably didn't say fuck in my head when I was ten.

But that's where my memory ends. Waiting, waiting, waiting, on and on forever and ever. I don't remember when we left, in fact, I don't remember leaving at all. Past the glow cloud and the lies about pizza, I can't remember a thing. My memory has to be replaced by what others have said about the con.

Even though DashCon didn't go well at all, it didn't make my family lose interest in conventions altogether. In fact, if you visited my dad's Flickr profile from the start of the post, you might have noticed at least five other albums dedicated specifically to conventions.

Believe it or not, I'm unbelievably grateful that DashCon was my first convention. As a kid, I was totally enthralled by the experience. With those standards, I'm sure you can imagine how much more enthralled I was when I went to my first Comic Con.

*Note that DashCon was before my dad learned proper convention etiquette, and many of the photos he took were without consent from cosplayers. If you find a photo of yourself, 1. I'm sorry you also had to be there and 2. Please let me know if you don't want the photo to stay up, and I'll see what I can do.