A&G Ohio is happening in March, which gives us only a little more than three months to get ready.  We don’t care that time is working against us, and instead are embracing the challenge and are going to make sure that all of our viewers are ready for the convention!

We recently conducted an interview with A&G’s Con Chairman, Jason Taylor, and had a good opportunity to ask him about the history of the event and what makes this convention stand out from all the rest.  After having talked with him for a few weeks, it’s easy to see that Jason has a great enthusiasm and work ethic for A&G Ohio.  They have certainly done a lot of great work over the past three years, and let’s this year is even more wildly successful than the last.

If you want some more information on A&G Ohio, go check out their website, and remember that they have a few promotions going on, including free weekend badges, free breakfast vouchers, and of course, our running contest to win a free weekend pass!

First things first, for the audience at home, how long has A&G Ohio been running?

A&G Ohio was originally conceived in 2006 and eventually came to light in 2008. We have even bigger hopes going into our third year.

Can you please go into detail about some of the events that are unique to A&G Ohio?

A&G Ohio has a very distinct approach to our Signature Events. They are completely new or have a very new attitude and way we treat them. Events like Cosplay Wrestling (first appeared up in Anime North a few years ago, and after we did our first year came to find out they actually had done something similar up there in Canada!) was our first real event we came up with. We bring a full size wrestling ring into the main events hall and put on a wrestling show with fans of A&G/wrestling actually being the stars of the show. Trying to bring it even further into light by adding more fans as managers to escort and help out, not to mention the first ever A&G Championship Belt! Another thing we like to try and do is spice up the monotony of Opening Ceremonies. Last year we took our first big step by using the wrestling ring and actually building 2 Robot Costumes and doing a Live Rock’em Sock’em Robot fight to open the show. Then followed it up with Steve Downes (the voice of Halo’s Master Chief) signing a Legendary Halo Helmet and giving it away to a lucky fan.

This is the third year that A&G Ohio has been around.  What aspect of the convention has gotten easier to plan for?  Conversely, what has gotten more difficult with time?

With any convention, you always have your battles. Weather it be trying to make everyone happy, hotel restrictions, guests, scheduling, etc. I would have to say we were pretty fortunate to have an almost of virgin convention staff and made most things happen! This year’s tough spot I would have to say trying to fit everything we want into a jam packed schedule /con space.

While looking over your event listing, something that immediately jumped out at us is the Late Night Scare.  What are you allowed to tell us about the event, what game is going to be played, and who gets to play it?

Last year we went with Resident Evil 5 due to the fact that it came out the day before the event. We completely darken the room and crank up the sound, use the projector screens and game on! This year we want to throw a few more surprises in, but I really can not indulge on what those are. Usually we play till death or 30 minute max. Names are picked based on pre-event signups (opened to pre-reg attendees first).

Another great event is something that you have done before, and that is the Battle of the Rock Bands.  Are the winners of this solely based on their scores from the songs, or do they get points for on stage energy and personas as well?

We actually started this in the first year of A&G Ohio and we have seen a few conventions start to try and imitate it. Which we are absolutely thrilled that an event we made up is up and coming and we had something to do with it! The Battle of the Rock Bands is a multi-staged event. You first have to get your band together and pre-qualify for the stage show in a points based contest. The finalist are then chosen from that tournament to perform on the A&G Ohio Main Event stage in front of a crowd, in which the tournament takes a kick in high gear by adding another degree to the contest. During the stage show bands are not only judged on points, but also get points from our A&G Guest panel of judges for persona, stage show, playing to/getting crowd involved, and a few other aspects.

You asked for CosWatch to come to A&G Ohio because you agreed to dress up like the Voltron Force, and by our own website’s FAQ, be presented with the Cosplay of the Year award.  It’s 3 months until the convention, are you still going to go through with it?

We are trying like hell to get those costumes together! Currently we have all the people that we need, but are trying to finish work on the costumes for the musical as well as a few wrestling outfits. It should not be a problem. As far as the award.. we really are not even after that! Voltron is one of the reasons why I loved cartoons as a kid and once we get this done we actually want to try and get an actually Voltron robot cosplayer to join us.

As this is a convention dedicated to animation and gaming, this question has to be asked.  What is your favorite cartoon / anime and video game of all time?

I have a lot of favorites and I really do not know if I can choose 1! If I had to choose top ones from animation: Garfield and Friends, Spawn, Ninja Turtles (the original series ONLY), and anything Pixar.

Games: Final Fantasy series definitely stands on top (Actually one of the reasons why most people call me Zell is due to my FF8 Cosplay), Taiko Drum Master and Mario 2.

Any last words that you would like to say to con goers and fans out there about A&G Ohio?

Get your butts to Cincy in March! XD

Honestly we are just hoping that what we are all about and stride for actually rubs off of on attendees and guests that come to A&G Ohio. We try very hard to remember the hardships and struggles it takes to attend cons and continuously make new costumes for the love of the craft. Hence why we offer/do Free Weekend Badge deals, one of the cheapest hotel rates around, convince the hotel to offer Free Hot Breakfast Buffets! We truly do love our fans and it seems like we have really struck a cord in between year 1 and 2. Thanks everyone for your support!