Well that was sure different…. this past weekend Kelley and I attended the second annual Nauticon, New England’s only 21+ convention. Held in beautiful Provincetown, MA, Nauticon considers itself to be a “destination con,” and encourages guests to enjoy the beach and the convention routine simultaneously.
This was our first time attending Nauticon and my first time to Provincetown, period. So I didn’t really know what to expect besides the copious alcohol. We arrived around noon on Saturday to get our badges and….it was eerily quiet. We got our badges in two seconds and asked, “well, where is everyone?” Turns out, everyone was still asleep or hungover from the night before….oh. The convention only had 250 people in attendance, and I guess the vast majority of them liked to sleep in.
Panels didn’t start until noon either, so there’s no point in arriving to a convention like this early. We got into panels no problem while everyone was still in bed. Actually, we got into panels fine all day. No lines. No waiting. For anything. Ever. And the panels weren’t bad either; there just weren’t a lot of them.
On of the most interesting panels we attended was a makeup discussion hosted by a large group of Drag Queens. They answered questions ranging from “how to get started,” to contouring for everyday wear, to how to cover and repaint your eyebrows. They even did a little makeup on some of the women in attendance. I asked a question about contouring, and they had me come sit at the front of the room so they could model my nose and cheeks. It was a fun and eye-opening experience. since makeup was a big part of my costume for the weekend.
Kelley and I, unfortunately, were some of the only people there in costume. Others claimed to be cosplayers at other cons, but chose not to dress up for this extremely casual affair. We were dressing casual for us: original designs that weren’t too big or cumbersome. Our costumes were of “Victorian Secret Models,” an obvious pun and excuse to wear Victorian underpinnings as outerwear. We received compliments on our appearances, but not more than a handful of pictures. We didn’t see more than one photographer the whole time we were there. We only lasted in costume until dinner time, because we felt an extreme lack of enthusiasm from the rest of the con when it came to dressing up. Even into the evening, everyone else was wearing jeans, hoodies and sneakers.
Saturday evening the convention offered two very special events: The Diva Show, and the Luau. Both were pay-to-enter events, and we attended neither because they conflicted with our other dinner plans. We heard from others that the Luau wasn’t worth the money, but the Diva show looked like it would have been interesting. After dinner we got a drink at the bar and went to an awesome sing-a-long panel. The crowd got free jello shots for every five 80’s and 90’s cartoon theme song sung! It was tons of fun.
The Artist’s Alley at Nauticon was rather small. A dozen hotel rooms were designated as booths and sleeping quarters for the artists and craftsmen. There was no dealer’s room which was a big disappointment, but at least the artists were offering a variety of wares. I chose to spend my money at the masseuse on site. She was offering chair massages by the minute, table massages, foot scrubs and paraffin wax for the hands all at a great price! After the sing-a-long, Kelley and I treated ourselves to sugar foot scrubs and hand-waxes. It was pretty awesome.
Saturday night, instead of having any convention-organized events, the con left it up to the attendees to throw room parties. There were two guest organized events in a designated “party block” of the hotel. One shindig that Kelley and I attended was hosted by a group called “Barfleet,” which is a collection of nerdy bar-tenders, and drinkers who throw parties where they serve their own alcoholic concoctions for free! The stuff it strong, so they only pass out a little of each drink, but it is free. I couldn’t decide if receiving home-made alcohol in a hotel room from strangers for free was cool or sketchy, so I stuck with water. But there was a DJ and a lot of good company, and IDs were being checked at the door, so it was fun either way.
Another cool late-night attendee run event was a swing-dancing panel, thrown together last minute by a few very talented attendees who actually knew what they were doing. We learned several basic steps and a few turns and twists too!
Sunday was a very low-key day at the convention. We didn’t go to a single event; everyone just sat in the hotel lobby coloring and networking. It was kind of fun to just hang out and talk. And we got to walk on stilts? Only at a convention, I guess.
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