LouisiAnime Happened, and I Was There

Unlike San Diego, Atlanta, or even New York, New Orleans isn't known for a particular convention, but the Gulf Coast is home to several conventions held throughout the year. It's my goal, here at She-Geeks, to showcase those smaller (but no less enthusiastic) conventions. If there is a convention in or around the Gulf Coast that you'd like to see me cover, please send the convention details to eris.shegeeks@gmail.com.

This was LouisiAnime's seventh year, and the first one I've attended. They originated in Baton Rouge, La. in 2009, but moved to Lafayette in 2012 due to venue/scheduling needs. This year, they took over the Ramada Inn, and since I don't personally get out to Lafayette often I was pretty surprised to find that I'd been at this particular location before. A few years ago I attended a Forensics Convention in the same venue, and I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit surreal seeing so many Sailor Moon and Homestuck cosplayers running around the same rooms in which I had previously enjoyed panels about facial reconstruction, fingerprint analysis, and clandestine graves. But, I digress...
I noticed two things right off the bat when I got to LouisiAnime: It's very small, and the crowd consists largely of teenagers in varying degrees of cosplay. Clearly the folks at LouisiAnime are aware that their fans are largely on the young side considering one could attend the Parents and Conventions 101 panel on both Friday & Saturday afternoons. It's always nice to see a convention recognize and acknowledge their fan base, while simultaneously appealing to a broader audience as well (there were a few after hours, 18+ panels as well). 

Given the small size of the con, I wasn't surprised to find that their selection of vendors wasn't exactly huge and that most were resale shops (including one selling a cereal box sized package of Pocky that nearly stopped me in my tracks). That being said, I was able to find a few stand-out vendors. One, Inner Goddess Soap Company, boasted a proprietor with a set of pipes so impressive she silenced the whole room when she sang a parody of a Disney song about her table of goodies! Take a gander:

LouisiAnime 2015 Vendors

Now, we all know by now that I simply cannot attend a convention without showcasing some fabulous cosplay, and its diminutive size certainly didn't keep anyone from dressing up for LouisiAnime!

LouisiAnime 2015