From the moment guests arrived at the Hilton Squaw Peak Resort for Saboten-Con 2011 in Phoenix,Arizona, guests knew they would be in for a very special weekend.

If the low room cost of 109$ was not enough to spark people’s interest, for only 45$ dollars guests had a three day pass to Arizona’s largest anime and comic convention: Saboten-Con.

"Saboten" directly translates to "cactus" from Japanese, so it is a perfect fit for the location of the convention.

With an attendance of just under three thousand people, a new record for the convention in attendance, it is no wonder that Saboten-Con is making itself known on the convention circuit.

Guests enjoyed an extremely friendly environment, great hotel and staff and several fine dining restaurants in and around the hotel property.

Saboten-Con offers comic book and anime fans a relaxed, yet fast paced weekend. Many people spent their weekend in "panels". A panel is like a press conference with a knowledgeable person who creates a presentation for the audience. He will also answer any questions the guests have. Guests can choose from a plethora of topics, shows or comics to discuss and learn more about. People can also ask questions and chat with other fans and make friends with people of similar interests.

Other than panels, guest could go to the Vendor Hall. The Vendor Hall is hosted in the main ballroom inside the convention center of the hotel. Vendors from all over the United States can sell their art pieces and other goods.

Whether people want fan memorabilia, manga, comic books, or plushies the Vendor Hall has everything guests would ever want. A lot of vendors are independent artists who sell their own pieces of art. Several artists are always looking for new ways to sell their art whether it is in buttons or bookmarks.

Even if you are going alone it is still a wonderful experience. Many of the people are friendly and are always willing to talk about their favorite anime or comic series with a fellow fan.

These people have a passion for anime and comics to the point that many come to the convention dressed as their favorite character. This is known as cosplaying also known as "costume play" it is very popular along the convention circuit.

The fans will often make arrange meet ups to find others with the same interests as them, as well as perform skits for each other, similar to improvisation in theatre.

These skits can be solely for entertainment but some even hold competitions to see whose skit is most creative of funny. These competitions are called "Masquerades" and are extremely popular at conventions. Saboten-con had over seven hundred and fifty people at the Masquerade.

People came to shop, they came to talk and they came looking for a good time. No matter why they attended Saboten-con 2011, it was a weekend no one would ever forget.