Ithaca College Hosts Ithacon 45

By Laura Ilioaei ’23, May 19, 2022

Students help event to run smoothly.

Ithacon returned to Emerson Suites following a two-year hiatus.

(Photo by Laura Ilioaei '23)

After a two-year wait due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ithaca College’s annual comic convention, Ithacon, returned to IC’s Emerson Suites this spring, with a two-day in-person event featuring panel discussions, craft making, and a Cosplay Runway show.

While attendees had the opportunity to browse comics, attend screenings, and make crafts, behind the scenes, IC students in instructor of management Ed Catto’s creating and managing conventions class were ensuring that everything was running smoothly. The course teaches students how to run all aspects of the convention, from planning and promotion to the delegation of tasks and execution.

During the event, students wearing red shirts were directing visitors, selling tickets, and featuring guests on panels.

“Not only does this course teach students great organization skills, it also teaches leadership, and how to work with a team, and how to plan and orchestrate an event as big as this,” said Harrison Cona ’23. “We had a great turnout, and getting to see and direct people while learning how all of this works, it’s been really great.”

“Our PR team did an amazing job. They really put in the work. Our social media teams were posting every single day, getting the word out. And all of us worked hard to spread the news via word of mouth.”

Harrison Cona ’23

One unique challenge facing this year’s Ithacon cohort was bouncing back from not having an in-person convention for the past two year.

“We wanted to make sure we were garnering interest,” Cona said. “Getting people hyped for the event was definitely one of the big hurdles for us to figure out.”

Jumping over this hurdle required dedication, particularly from the students who were assigned promotional roles.

“Our PR team did an amazing job. They really put in the work. Our social media teams were posting every single day, getting the word out. And all of us worked hard to spread the news via word of mouth,” Cona said.

Catto believed that the tenacity of the students was directly responsible for the success of the convention, which drew in people not just from Ithaca, but from places as far away as Maine and Baltimore.

“Students have really risen up,” Catto said. “The town of Ithaca embraces us, but we’ve got people coming from all over to take part in this event.”

Students were also grateful to the leadership of Catto.

“He’s been doing this for a long time, and his guidance with teaching us how to put on this whole show helps us overcome obstacles,” said Tyler Haraden ’21. “This is completely new for me personally, and I know some others can relate. I was learning as I went.”