While KCON NY 2018 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, there are still events taking place on the Friday before. In this post I'll discuss my experience at early check-in for KCON.
The 2 weeks leading up to KCON weekend, KCON has been releasing information such as schedules, convention map, panels, special guests, and official KCON merchandise. While some are quite helpful, others were rather new and drew questions, like the Star Square and Star Live Talk. I'll cover these as I experience them in Day 1 or Day 2.
Today KCON finally releases the artist engagement schedule for hi-touch. This is important because not all 10 artists in the lineup have an artist engagement. When KCON revealed the weekend schedule earlier, it showed that there will be 3 artist engagements on Saturday, and 4 on Sunday. All artists will attend the red carpet; the lineup on Saturday will be at the Saturday red carpet and the lineup on Sunday will be at the Sunday red carpet. At 10:10AM EDT, KCON released the artist engagement schedule.
At 2:35PM EDT, Billboard released the Star Live Talk schedule. Knowing that Golden Child will have their live talk at 1PM and hi-touch at 2PM, I knew things would be tight. You can start lining up for your hi-touch directly after the previous hi-touch line has been let into the venue.
For the A1 artist engagement package, I receive 1 hi-touch, 2 audience, and 1 red carpet, all of which are guaranteed but random. For each event, I receive a ticket that I must open to reveal the artist for hi-touch and audience, and the day for red carpet. For other artist engagement packages, there is a hi-touch chance or audience chance or red carpet chance, and these cards may just say "sorry" and therefore no opportunity for an artist engagement.
In the weeks leading up to KCON weekend, I was active on all the Facebook groups in finding potential trading buddies. I added myself to those trading spreadsheets, made endless comments on others' trading posts, made myself known as a Golden Child stan on a group chat, and made my own spreadsheet that I could reference. However while I was actually trading on site, I only contacted 1 person from my list and they never replied. I think it's much easier to just trade in person, but it's nice having a backup.
As only an Inspirit and Goldenness, first of all it is nerve-wracking waiting for the artist engagement schedule to be released to confirm if Golden Child will have one. My goal is to get Golden Child hi-touch and Sunday red carpet. You have to relinquish your ticket at each event, so you can't keep it as a momento. Therefore I also want a Golden Child audience ticket, so that I can keep. As for the other audience ticket, I will be strategic in choosing a time that won't interfere with Golden Child's other scheduled events, such as their Star Live Talk.
Early check-in officially starts on Friday at 1PM. KCON has indicated that check-in ends at 5PM or at 6PM; it wasn't clear. Klub KCON is from 5PM to 9PM, and you need to check in prior to obtain your Klub wristband for entry.
I arrived at the Championship Plaza where check-in is at 12PM, and this is the line so far. On the far left is the Toyota check-in, where if you show a Toyota key, you get to check in before the others. The next section over is for Diamond and Platinum ticket holders. The middle section is for all other pre-registered convention goers. The far right is for purchasing a convention ticket, artist engagement packs (I think A1 was sold out), and KCON lightsticks on site.
Going to KCON alone, I was really worried that I wouldn't meet anyone. But the 3 people around me in line were very friendly and we bonded together, planning to help each other get the hi-touch tickets that we each want. At 1PM the line began to move. When it was my turn, I gave my first and last name to the staff, along with my printed email confirmation that had my QR code. The staff gave me a tote bag (this may only be for A1), A1 pack, and wristband, and on the table were the informational booklets that included maps and schedules. The worker put the wristband on me but purposely didn't tighten it - the white tube can only get closer to your wrist, however at the placement it was now, I was able to slide it off my hand easily. There is a plastic card attached to the wristband, and this is used to scan into certain areas of the convention where you need a convention ticket. I also had the Klub add-on, which was programmed into my wristband.
This time, the artist engagement packs come perforated together. You simply have to rip the perforated sides to reveal your tickets. My heart sank when I saw I got fromis_9 for hi-touch...(no offense) but I knew this would be one of the toughest to trade. I also got Heize and Wanna One for audience, and Saturday red carpet. I had to trade everything. Right away I found someone who wanted to trade their Golden Child audience for my Wanna One audience, so I did it. I was so excited and didn't realize just how much that Wanna One audience was. Then I took out my 8.5" by 11" notepad and pen and made a sign for wanting to trade my hi-touch and red carpet. Many others had signs too, and everyone would be eagerly looking at every sign for hopes of finding the perfect trade. I quickly found someone to trade my red carpet.
After being very worried about what to do for hi-touch, two girls came up to me offering to trade for a Golden Child hi-touch! I hugged them both and cried, knowing that it would be guaranteed that I would be touching Golden Child's hands! By 1:40PM I had finished trading, but because the atmosphere was so exciting (everyone was crying and screaming when they found their ideal tickets), I stuck around. I knew I wouldn't be able to use my audience ticket due to time constraints, so I tried to sell my Heize audience. One guy traded it for his Stray Kids audience, and I asked if he was genuinely interested in this trade because I knew he could've easily sold his audience. He was positive, and shortly after I sold the Stray Kids audience for $30.
Later on my friend, who wasn't at the venue yet, wanted me to check in for her. She took a picture of her printed ticket and another of just her QR code. I told the staff member her first and last name and showed the QR code. I was given the tote, A1 pack, booklet, and wristband. I opened her pack and screamed! I am not a vocal person, but I was so excited to see she pulled a Wanna One hi-touch. Others in line asked if I had got what I wanted, and I told them "no, I got Wanna One, which I can easily trade for what I want!" Right away I found a girl wanting to trade as many of her engagement tickets for a Wanna One hi-touch. In return, I got her Golden Child hi-touch, Golden Child audience, and Saturday red carpet.
My friend also pulled fromis_9 and Pentagon for audience, and a Sunday red carpet. So many people wanted Wanna One's hi-touch, followed by Pentagon and Stray Kids. On the flip side, many people were trying to trade their fromis_9 hi-touch.
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