#5 | Ibashocon had EVERYTHING

Plus an upcoming trading card game expo and a university mini comicon.

Author

Matias Faundez
March 07, 2025

Community Cork Board

Today on the cork board:

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Upcoming events

Recommendations on events to attend over the next few months.

Let’s talk about Ibashocon first…

Maaan, if you were there then you know how cool it was. Huge shout out to William, Susan (owners of Animazed), and everyone involved in making it happen. If you missed it, check out my video recap below.

Ibashocon was 2 days of mingling with fellow nerds, sharing passions for pop culture media, talking to Digimon voice actors, watching K-Pop dance battles, and more. My favorite part was making new connections with other creative people. But I like to show, not tell. So watch this video where I experience this new con over the weekend:

What I’ve been listening to lately

Fuchsia City – They’re no longer making music, but this was a local band that came out of the Imurj days (and by my friend Mason). It’s electro-pop with chiptune sounds and video game references. Here are some links.

Alright, now some upcoming event details.

Raleigh Trading Card Game Expo

Raleigh, NC – March 15-16, 2025 @ 9 AM - 5 PM | Official website

Address: Gov. James E. Holshouser Building, 4285 Trinity Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607

Cost: $10 at the door. Free admission with paid tournament entry fee.

Are you into trading card games?? Unplugged Games (IG: @unplugged.games) are putting on their expo in partnership with Tidewater Cards & Collectibles and Big Boy Gaming. This is taking place at the fairgrounds.

If you have a card collection, you may not want to miss this. Never know what you’ll find 👀 Also, tournaments including Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, Lorcana, and One Piece on both event days.

Bring your cards!

NCSU Mini-Con

Raleigh, NC – March 29, 2025 @ 12 PM - 8 PM | Official website

Address: State Ballroom, Talley Student Union at NC State University, 2610 Cates Ave, Raleigh, NC 27607

Cost: $5 Venmo or at the door.

Remember those new friends I made at Ibashocon? Turns out some of them run the NC State University Cosplay & Costuming Club (IG: @cosplayclubncsu)! And they’re putting on a mini-con for the local community, featuring:

  • Student artists

  • Vendors

  • Costumes & cosplay

  • Games

They also just reopened applications for their artist alley if you’d like to get involved. This event is a great chance to experience the creative stuff going on at a local university.

Speaking of mini cons, don’t forget the Durham Mini Comicon (covered in issue #4) tomorrow!!!

Alright, there’s no shortage of events here. But I also promised to highlight some cool individuals in this newsletter. So I’m gonna start making time for that content over the upcoming weeks.

Stay tuned.

– Matias

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