MomoCon 2022 Review: A Cut Above in ATL

If there is a convention in Atlanta, you can be sure the blerds are going to show out! MomoCon 2022 was no exception. I would categorize MomoCon as maybe a mid-sized convention with around 42,000 attendees. Jbreazy and myself from The Blerd Team left feeling like this is one of our favorite conventions. Covid protocols were in place with masks being mandatory. It was good to see that the staff was still taking this seriously even as it feels like things are starting to level off a bit. The staff was also very helpful in directing traffic and answering any questions that popped up.

We will continue to use the same rating criteria that we used last year for conventions in 2021 which are: The Venue, Event Schedule, Vendors & Special Guest, Wait Times, and Overall Vibe. Scores of 10 mean near perfection which at the time of this writing we have not given out yet. So how was MomoCon 2022?

The MomoCon 2022 Venue

MomoCon 2022 was held in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia World Congress Center Omni Hotel Atlanta. Having the hotel connected to the venue made the logistics of moving around extremely convenient. The most direct comparison I would make to MomoCon would be the larger convention of DragonCon, which is also in Atlanta, but spread among multiple hotels. Everything is in a centralized location which makes MomoCon a bit easier to navigate and gives the convention a tighter knit feeling.

The venue is large enough to not make the convention feel claustrophobic and on top of other people. It also isn’t so big that you need a map just to navigate where to go. The only real areas of major congestion at times were near the escalators and elevators to get into hotel rooms, but even that was only a slight inconvenience.

The MomoCon 2022 Event Schedule

You can tell MomoCon has been around for a bit as the event schedule was well put together. The team also has an eye on keeping things modern with the availability of the MomoCon app that allows you to easily see what events are happening and you can create your own custom schedule.

MomoCon had 3 floors of various panels, music events, the main stage for special events, and gaming tournaments. The convention had at least 10 different panels going on at any given time. There was even a wrestling ring with matches throughout the con. MomoCon gets points from us for including diversity as a focal point in panels with events such as Being Black and Into Animation, Cosplay Your Way, Diversity in Kid’s Entertainment, and more.

My favorite panel that we attended was Classic Black Anime Characters. At Blerd we have multiple articles, a Black cosplay section, and videos on Black anime characters, but seeing some of the historical Black anime characters was especially informative. If I can leave a panel learning something new that is always a plus to me. This panel was held by Darius Washington who is the MomoCon Anime Industry Coordinator. The archive of knowledge this one person had of anime was extremely impressive.

Another standout panel to me was Self-Publishing: Behind The Scenes. The comic creators all shared pieces of advice on what to do and what not to do when trying to self-publish a comic. Representation matters and there were two Black comic creators – Marcus Williams (Tuskegee Heirs) and Isaiah Massey (Mindless Design Comics) that dropped gems. We are often asked business questions by Black creators so walking away with additional publishing knowledge was huge for our team.

MomoCon 2022 Special Guests & Vendors

MomoCon 2022 had a vast array of special guests, including a Blerd favorite: Phil LaMarr. There were some of your favorite voice actors, YouTubers, Tik Tokers, directors, writers, and musicians in attendance. The full list of MomoCon special guests is here on AnimeCons.

MomoCon did a great job of having a variety of vendors with all different types of merchandise. It is always one thing to see nerd merch online, but another in person. MomoCon gets points again with us for ensuring that there was a good amount of diversity in vendors.

The MomoCon 2022 Wait Times

Short wait times are one of the most underrated factors in having an exceptional convention experience. Having the ability to cram in multiple events that you want to see within the allotted amount of time is huge! MomoCon did an exceptional job with having little to no wait times for most of the events. For an event this size, that is pretty impressive. Honestly other than the food lines and lines to meet special guests, the experience was pretty seamless. Accessibility gives MomoCon a strong score from Blerd.

The MomoCon 2022 Vibe

Vibe is our most subjective score for conventions and is the overall “feel” of being at the convention. MomoCon is definitely an event that we plan to frequent as there was tons of fun to be had even just walking around outside of the convention center. There were tons of cosplayers and almost everyone was extremely friendly. You would almost certainly walk up on random dancing or someone creating content for their YouTube channel or Tik Tok which lead to unique experiences. For someone that wants to attend a more mid-sized convention, MomoCon is definitely one to put on the list!

MomoCon 2022 Photos

Did you get a chance to attend MomoCon 2022 or any of the previous MomoCons? Let us know what you think on our social media @blerdofficial or in the comments below.