Welcome to LVL UP EXPO 2018! This year, this convention was hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center right off of the Strip in Las Vegas, NV. Last year, it was held at the Cashman Center in LV, but moving the location made this experience much better! It was held on May 4-6th during the Cinco de Mayo weekend and since it was so close to the strip, you were able to partake in other activities after the con!
Anyways, let’s jump into this blog post!!!
SPECIAL GUESTS
There were plenty of guests to check out at this convention. They had some of the voice actors for Overwatch and the English dub of My Hero Academia, and more…
This convention held many guests including:
*Photos credited to LVL UP EXPO
- Jonny Cruz, voice actor
- Lucie Pohl, voice actress
- Anjali Bhimani, voice actress
- Justin Briner, voice actor
- J. Michael Tatum, voice actor
- Clifford Chapin, voice actor
- Team Four Star, entertainment production company
- David Angelo Roman, comic artist
- Joe Rubinstein, comic artist
- Scott Lobdell, comic writer
- Steff Von Schweetz, cosplay special guest
- Jez Roth, cosplay special guest
Main Events / Activities
After meeting all those people and getting some photo ops in, you can either check out the main hall with a bunch of booths or check out some panels upstairs. There were a ton of main events to check out during this convention. You were always kept busy with activities and panels to check out, includes the following:
- Tournaments
- ANX Kpop Battles
- Side Quest!
- Cosplay Contest
- Wresting
- Comedy Showdown
- Retro World Series
- Pokemon Gym Leader Challenge
We were able to check out a bunch of the events. They had tournaments that encompassed all sorts of gaming: video games and card games. The ANX Kpop Battles were something to definitely check out! We were able to snag a peak at the show, where dancers from all over the US would battle in recreating their favorite Korean Music Video Dance Coreographies. The Side Quest! was definitely something fun to entertain yourself throughout the convention. Each of the little cards would have a quest to do, such as finding a genderbend cosplay or find 5 people with beards. It was super funny, but the more quests you got, the more ribbons you got! How cool is that! The cosplay contest was something to see as well! We missed it, but it would be a competition of who has the best cosplay of the weekend! OHHHH MAN! The Wrestling though!!! That was super entertaining. There would be multiple wrestlers that would just compete as Champion of LVL UP EXPO! Some of the wrestlers had the best personalities and would give it their all in this 1 vs 1 matches. Comedy Showdown had a panel where people were able to participate by either giving off some laughs or being a part of the crowd and laugh your butt off. Retro World Series allowed you to be able to relive some old gaming, so you were able to go through 8-bit games to 64-bit games. THROW IT BACK, OLD SCHOOL! Pokemon Gym Leader Challenge is fun too! If you brought your Nintendo 3DS and your Pokemon Game, you were able to battle the gym leaders at the convention and win some cool prizes!
Besides the main events, there were all sorts of activities you can check out around the con. There were performances, you can test out the Alienware computers by Dell and play Fortnite, you can toss axes, do a mini escape room, check out the cosplays and the cosplay backgrounds, or even check out all of the cars on display. Don’t worry, you had plenty to do, so you were always occupied.
Exhibitors // Artists
After checking out those events and activities, you are welcomed to the main hall. This area was home to some of the activities, but mainly all of the stores, brands, and artists that you can dream of. The convention this year had a lot more exhibitors and artists to check out comparing to last year! If you were looking for any specific merch, like anime merchandise, retro video gaming, and clothing, you were set! You are definitely going to give away some money! HAHA. There were a bunch of to check out, but here are some of my favorites from the event:
CeeVee Illustrations
Online Shop: ceeveeillustrations.com
Instagram: @ceevee_illustrations
Facebook: facebook.com/CeeVeeIllustrations
CCayco
Online Shop: ccayco.storenvy.com
Deviant Art: ccayco.deviantart.com
Instagram: @ccayco
YouTube: youtube.com/user/ccayco
Shhteeb
Facebook: facebook.com/ShhteebART
Instagram: @shhteebaabubz
Wooji
Online Shop: wooji.us
Instagram: @wooji.us
Facebook: facebook.com/wooji.us
LVL Up Expo & NERD Presents THE AFTER PARTY
LVL UP EXPO partnered with The Nerd in Downtown Las Vegas to hold the official after party of the event! If you’ve never been to The Nerd, it is a bar that is full of geek paraphernalia! It had all sorts of comic art, clothing from different movies and such to decorate the whole bar! Other than having tons of good drinks, they had a DJ playing all sorts of music from video game music to Hip Hop and EDM. You were able to dance the night away with your fellow geek! On top of that, they have video games all around the bar to play, a bowling alley to knock down those pins, and billiard tables down the ways. We definitely partook in this and had such a blast! If you brought your badge from the convention, you were able to get in for free! On top of that, if you happen to find the lovely ladies at the con passing around free shot tickets, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN…. you would of had a great night!
Overall, LVL UP EXPO was a good joyous time where I was able to hang out with some of my Cali friends and my Vegas friends. It’s nice to catch up, talk anime, and check out the scene out here in Las Vegas. It was definitely a good break. I can’t wait to come back and see what’s in store for next year!
SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: lvlupexpo.com
Twitter: @LVLUPEXPO
Facebook: facebook.com/LvlUpExpo
SPONSORS
- Rixty
- Funimation
- Fantasy Gold
- Microsoft
- Jasco Games
- Crossfire
- IIE Millennial Esports
- Reboot
- Crunchyroll
- PVP Zone
