5 Fandom Friday: Convention Attendance

Posted by tspofnutmeg on January 16, 2015 in Anime/Manga, Around Town, Comics, Opinion | 3 Comments

By: Meg Humphrey

Check out the original 5 Fandom Friday post over at the Nerdy Girlie!

Conventions I’ve been to:

Star Wars Celebration! It’s a crap shoot on when this con actually pops up. It’s not a yearly deal and it moves throughout the US. Japan and Europe have also had their own iterations of it. SWC is the definitive Star Wars convention. Although it’s not expressly run by Lucasfilm (or Disney), they are fully behind it with things like special showings, premieres, sneak peaks, and panels by the people who make Star Wars what it is. I went to Celebration VI in Orlando in 2012 and it was amazing! The next one is this April in Anaheim and I have my Jedi Knight VIP passes.

This is my local big name con. They get countless amazing artists as well as a dozen or more celebrity guests. It’s blown up over the last 4 years to where I could just walk up to the door day-of to get a $15 Friday pass to where 3-day passes are around $75 and sell out months before the con. I usually help out at my friends’ exhibitor’s table, but this is the con that I really have the most goof off time at. I get to go to panels and hang out with my boyfriend and dad throughout con. I’ve met so many Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis actors here, but they seriously need to get Amanda Tapping.

GeekGirlCon! I have special feelings for GeekGirlCon as I’ve been involved in staffing it since it’s second year. Now onto their 5th year, GeekGirlCon is doing a great job of providing a platform for women and other underrepresented populations to participate in nerd culture. It’s a safe space to be yourself and to meet other like minded people. For someone who has been going to conventions for 16 years and working them for 9, it reminds me of all the reasons I fell in love with cons in the first place.

Conventions I’d like to go to:

GeekyCon! GeekyCon, FKA LeakyCon, was a Harry Potter themed fan convention by the operators of HP fansite The Leaky Cauldron. They have rebranded to be more inclusive in fandoms to where the main focus of the convention is fans and fan creators in the community. As I usually find this to be the most interesting part of conventions, I’m sold!

Dragon Con! This is the only other large scale nerd convention that I have the desire to attend. They always seem to have great guests and top notch cosplayers. I hear it’s not too overwhelming like SDCC or NYCC, but it’s still filled to the brim with geeky goodness.