I was at Ponycon AU 2014 this weekend! It was pretty interesting: here are some thoughts in no particular order.
1. Those "oversized postcards" I ordered printed turned out huge oh my god what even happened
2. Bronies + vuvuzelas/party horns is one of the worst things I've ever encountered, jfc. Just as well that didn't start up till late Sunday.
3. It was super nice to talk sewing plush toys with a bunch of people! I hope I made some new friends. <3 I've been fairly isolated in my sewing education until now.
4. A thing I really like about the pony fandom: the intergenerational fans. I saw whole families roaming the con together, pointing stuff out to each other and getting excited. The dad asking if he can handle a plush to show his young daughter, the big brother dressed as Doctor Who/oves pointing out costumes with his much younger sister, the older lady who came by a couple times and who was obviously a die-hard MLP fan and asked for painting tips. They were all really lovely.
5. The voice actor guests came and talked to me at my table in the morning and I had no freakin' clue who they were until much later when a kind brony showed me a picture of them. Oops. The whole time talking to the VA of Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy the only thing in my head was "dang that is a lot of mascara how did she do that". :| I am actually the worst pony fan.
6. Boxfoxes sold really well despite not being ponies! I actually only have the one pink one left. AMAZE.
7. Melbourne has pretty good breakfast sandwiches. Sydney is still the reigning champion but Melbourne made a fine attempt.
8. I'm saying nice things here but there was definitely some creepy dudes about DON'T GET ME WRONG
9. The staff/volunteers were pretty great! Either Angry Security Guy or Bossy But Kinda Cool? Headphones Dude were my favourites ahaha.
10. I had a commissioner who kept coming back to say thankyou and all reports indicate that he roamed the convention showing his commission to everyone because he was so happy with it. M-my heart...
Just for good measure, here's some rad artists I noticed at the con:
heyspacekid : I really like his high energy art!
grimm-sugar : Super cute yet also badass (??) style!
scarletstitchedthis : Makes super cute little plush and cosplays a fab AJ! Scarlet gave me a gorgeous little Flutterbat sketch on Sunday out of the blue too wwaahhhh I was so flustered, I didn't know how to return the favour. :D;;
There was plenty of other people too but these guys I'd never encountered before, so!