Osfest 4.0: Upgrading the Con
Now in its fourth year, Osfest continues to be a well-attended and well-received convention that attracts top shelf guests of honor.
This year’s theme – “System Upgrade” – could refer to a number of aspects of the show, most notably the move to a new venue in Omaha, NE. With almost an entire two floors taken up by con-related activity, Osfest 4.0 has been going non-stop since before the opening ceremonies Friday.
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Co-chair Trudy Myers says attendance is about twice what they saw at last year’s event, with only one incident involving a hospital. John Pershing, another co-chair, says this year’s event “has been fantastic”.
“We have over five hundred attendees so far, which is far more than we’ve had in the last couple of years. Our guests seem to be having a good time. Our attendees are having a good time. Our guest author, David Weber, is attending a lot of panels and autograph sessions, and everybody is enjoying his presence.”
Panel discussions range from “The Philosophy of Star Trek” to “Should NASA be Eliminated?” and everything in between – cosplay, steampunk, remakes, weapon construction, anime… even a panel on Harlan Ellison.
The gaming rooms seem to be getting a lot of play, and the panels have had decent crowds, although some would like to see more attendance in the film festival room. Everyone seems to be getting along and following the rules with no major spoiled behavior.
As for next year, Pershing would like to see the attendance numbers continue to go up, but not by much. “We’re not looking to have three or four thousand people, or a Worldcon-style event.”
As for programming, “It would be tough to fit a lot more into our schedule. We’ll look at new panel ideas for next year and new events, and just make sure that we continue to do things that people are enjoying.”
More photos from the event are also at our Facebook page.
