InnoSera was an attempt to merge interest in things Anime and Lolita with BJDs. It was only partly successful. It's pretty clear the organizers had little experience with BJDs and this showed in how InnoSera ultimately manifested; hopefully next year there will be more balance between the three elements.
To be honest, I cannot comment on how well InnoSera did with the Anime and Lolita portions. I know too little about them.
As for the BJD portion of the programming, the biggest disappointment was the lack of vendors offering BJD-specific items for sale. Grace of JPOP Dolls was really the only vendor offering a decent selection of items designed for, and to fit, BJDs. Another vendor had some shoes and a few other items that happened to fit BJDs. She also had some inexpensive, nekkid BJDs of dubious origin, minus boxes. While some were cute, I was too leery to even think of buying one. An actual BJD retailer with reputable brands probably could have done very well. Most of the other vendors had a variety of items from fabric, to Hello Kitty-type merchandise, to custom artwork. I didn't spend much money there. I'm sure the depressed economy discouraged some vendors from attending, and probably many others from attending just for fun.
Because I was helping Ms. Cholong, Simon and Pasu of Elfdoll/Dollheart in their sales room, I did not attend any of the BJD-related events. Frankly, when I looked at the schedule, I probably would not have done so anyway. I saw no familiar names listed as presenting the events except for Ms. Cholong. What I heard from several attendees is that the panels were underwhelming and possibly presented by folks who weren't as qualified as they perhaps should have been. There are lots of knowledgeable local people who could have done BJD panels or workshops. Hopefully next year some of these folks will come forward and do so. InnoSera would benefit greatly from them.
The folks at InnoSera definitely did some things very, very well. For example,the staff was unfailingly polite, patient, helpful and enthusiastic. Guests of honor such as Ms. Cholong of Elfdoll and Pasu Lau of Dollheart were very much welcomed and appreciated. I heard that the tea parties were a lot of fun and I hope they will be repeated next year so I can try to get to one. Overall organization seemed to be good. There was a convenient area set up specifically for folks who wanted to photograph their dolls.
One thing that impressed me very much about InnoSera was the creativity of those who attended. I saw some very pretty or just downright cute costumes for people and dolls. Other costumes were less pretty, but equally stunning in different ways. If you'd like to see some of the photos I took of all this creativity, look here.
This was InnoSera's first year. Let's hope InnoSera 2010 benefits from the experience gained this year and comes closer to fulfilling the potential I saw lurking just beneath the surface.
Thank you for your write up. I thought about going to go InnoSera. But everything I saw for it was heavily marketed towards Lolita which I only have interest in for my dolls. And with no list of vendors I decided not to risk paying the entry fee for something that I wasn't sure would have enough doll stuff to justify the cost. But all the pictures looked beautiful.
Thank you Kathy for that report from Innosera. We all know how hard it is to put together a bjd con that will appeal to as many collectors as possible. The theme for Innosera was certainly 'fresh' and different and in a normal economy, there would be room for all the different types of bjd events!
BTW, did this crowd seem younger than the other bjd cons?
Yes, most of the attendees were definitely younger than what we usually see at GoGa, for example.
I agree-in a normal economy, it would have been a more successful con. Overall, it didn't do badly for a new con in a poor economy.
Where was InnoSera held, state wise?