A mix of students and community members gathered in the Millard Oakley STEM center to attend Omni-Con, a pop culture convention organized by Alpha Psi Phi, on March 24.
Like most pop culture conventions, Omni-Con hosted a variety of vendors who brought art and crafts themed around specific art styles or pop culture references to sell to attendees.
Some of Omni-Con’s attendees participated in the fun by cosplaying, which means wearing costumes based on characters in comics, video games, TV shows, books and movies.
“I like seeing how everyone gets like so energized and excited,” Brianna Wainright, an organizer and volunteer for Omni-Con, said.
The convention also held activities throughout the day which included a costume contest, anime streaming and several panels on topics ranging from tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons to cartoons like “Steven Universe”.
Omni-Con was able to stream anime for the attendees this year, this was made possible through its outreach partnership with Crunchyroll, an anime streaming service.
The Art Jam and the Putnam County Library were local sponsors who provided events in conjunction with the convention. The Art Jam hosted a book-making workshop, and the Putnam County Library hosted a board game night.
“We're actually able to offer prizes and buttons without having to worry about finding some way to get funding which is great for us because that's one less stress off our backs,” Wainright said, regarding the importance of sponsorships.
Omni-Con was originally founded in 2000 and ran until 2003. The convention had a seven year hiatus until Alpha Psi Phi decided to revive the event in 2010.