Friends of Comic Cons

All Other Conventions (aka Friendly Neighborhood) => Other Comic Cons and Conventions => Topic started by: Zero on April 02, 2012, 04:33:15 AM

Title: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 02, 2012, 04:33:15 AM
Since we have a forum for CCI-related cons as well as other Comic-Cons (see proper forum for that), let's talk a little bit about different kinds of conventions.

What are some other conventions you've attended, either in your own state/province or country? 
What were they like? Were they fairly big cons or smaller cons?
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: tehlilone on April 04, 2012, 01:57:19 AM
One convention that I attend is called Designer Con held in Pasadena, CA.

http://www.designercon.com/

It was originally for designer vinyl toys and is slowly branching out to other art/apparel. It used to go by the name of Vinyl Toy Network (VTN). I've been going since 2007, altho I almost went during SDCC in 2006 when they had it in conjunction. It used to be really small but they've been expanding :) They even had "pre-sale" tickets this past Nov. It's great being able to see a bunch of artists that are pretty well known in this community. Most of them also go to SDCC so it's almost the same but with less of a crowd.
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Transmute Jun on April 04, 2012, 09:37:53 AM
Before attending comic cons I used to attend a lot of Star Trek conventions. The actors from the various shows would appear and there would be a schedule of events all day in a big hall, plus a cool dealer's floor and people in costume. The smaller ones were always more intimate and fun, but for a couple of years I went too the 'big' one in Pasadena... the biggest Star Trek convention in the world at that time.

I remember how people were paying big money to go and see the actors, and lining up forever for autographs... now these same actors sit in a booth on the main floor at Comic Con and sign autographs. Still, it's cool to see them!
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: MegaDoug on April 04, 2012, 02:31:53 PM
http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2012 (http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2012)
I've been lucky enough to attend this about 3 times, its an industry trade show for the music business, closed to the public. It has all the major and minor music instrument builders, book publishers, amps/related companies showing their stuff, in order to get orders from music stores for the coming year. Lots if industry professionals and bands tend to be there. They report at 95k in attendance, not sure if that includes the dealers/distributors. It fills the Anaheim Convention Center from top to bottom, but rarely feels at crowded as the Comic-Con floor. Offsite events are pretty cool, lots of concerts and bands playing around town during the show. Go if an opportunity comes up, its plenty awesome. There is a smaller one in Texas over the summer, I think that one is open to the public.
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 04, 2012, 08:56:04 PM
@tehlilone: Oh, nice! That's really cool. I might have to check out Designer Con one of these days.

@Transmute: Do you only go to comic conventions nowadays? (Wait, where are you located again? Pasadena is so close to where my parents live. *laughs*)  Did you cosplay at those Star Trek conventions back then?

@MegaDoug: So, the next question would be, since you mentioned going to music industry trade shows, what do you do?  Musician, sound/audio technician?


Hmmmm.... let's see. As for me, I come from a mostly anime convention background.  I've attended Anime Expo (in case anyone's interested, here's the website: http://www.anime-expo.org) for a while now, but I've been to Anime Conji in San Diego and Anime Los Angeles at least once.

^_^
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Rainer on April 05, 2012, 11:20:54 AM
I attended Star Wars Celebrations I-IV from 1999-2007. :) I drove from southern California to SWC1 in April/May 1999 near Denver, Colorado . It was held at the old Lowry Air Force Base in a hangar and under large, enclosed party tents. I attended with a cousin (we were both in our forties at that time). It rained and rained and rained and rained. We nicknamed the location Degobah. ;) The longest I waited in a single line was for four hours to get into the small shop. My major purchase was the limited edition autographed novelization of Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace.  The highlights were meeting Warwick Davis and Anthony Daniels.

I dragged my husband to SWC2 in May of 2002.  We flew from California to Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was held at the Indiana Convention Center. We nicknamed this location Coruscant. They cleared rooms after every panel; however, we still were not able to attend all of the panels we had hoped to see.  I was able to purchase my limited edition autographed novelization of Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones (sensing a trend?). Although we did not wait in the line, many waited for over eight hours to get Carrie Fisher's autograph. Our highlight was actually away from the convention at the  Indianapolis Motor Speedway: We were allowed to drive in and visit the gift shop. They were running some time trials that day with IndyCars. Thrillingly loud and fast!

I once again dragged by husband to SWC3 in April of 2005. We again flew to the event held in the same Indianapolis location. The biggest difference was that the entire center was devoted to the event instead of sharing with a few others back in 2002. It was soooooo cold:  It rained, snowed, and basically stayed super chilly the whole time. This time we nicknamed the location Hoth. ;) The lines were again long. The lowlight of the event was when I waited nine hours to get into the store on the first day (yes, I know, I needed a mental health evaluation after that one)! Most items were sold out and some I put on back order to be shipped later, including our Yoda hooded jackets (those were snapped up to keep attendees warm).  My husband went around the exhibit floor and was able to purchase my limited edition autographed novelization of Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith (it was not in the shop this time, just like in 2002) and he had fun meeting authors and talking to vendors. Although George Lucas attended the event, we were not able to make it into any of his panels. Oh, and our Yoda jackets finally arrived in July of that year!

SWC4 was held in May of 2007 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. No, I was not able to drag my husband to that one even though we live about ninety miles away (he did attend Comic-Con with me that year). I attended with a niece and the same cousin I drove with to Denver in 1999. We stayed at my youngest daughter's loft in Hollywood and took the Metro from Hollywood & Highland down to the convention center area each day. I kicked off the event by attending the six movie marathon in Hall K (glad I had a blanket to keep warm and a pillow for the chair) and ended it with the last of four shifts as a volunteer for Official Pix in the massive autograph area.  A major highlight was getting both Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels autographs on the Hasbro Star Wars Celebration 4 Exclusive Ralph McQuarrie Concept R2 D2 and C 3PO Action Figure 2 Pack (yes, I did pay for the item as well as the two autographs). The store situation was handled much better that at SWC3:  No waiting for nine hours this time--I had an appointment time set to go shop. :)

I chose not to attend SWC5 in Orlando, Florida in August of 2010 nor will I be attending SWC6 scheduled this August in Orlando.  At this point in my life, I have decided to funnel my funds into attending San Diego Comic-Con exclusively (this will be my tenth consecutive year).  ;D

Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Transmute Jun on April 05, 2012, 03:46:30 PM
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@Transmute: Do you only go to comic conventions nowadays? (Wait, where are you located again? Pasadena is so close to where my parents live. *laughs*)  Did you cosplay at those Star Trek conventions back then?

Nope, I didn't dare to cosplay back then... I was so shy! Plus far fewer people cosplay at Star Trek Cons (< 5%). But I knew enough about it that when I started going to SDCC I knew I'd want to cosplay there.

I go to a few comic conventions, but usually the bigger ones that also have a bit of Anime, movies, etc. The number of Star Trek conventions has gone way down, and the few remaining are expensive, soo we haven't been to those in awhile.

Occasionally we attend a gaming Con. We're thinking of trying out Kubla Con this year. We'd like togo to GenCon, but it's pretty far away, so it is a major investment... and investment I'd rather put toward SDCC. I've debated going to DragonCon or the New York Comic Con, but those are at bad times of year in terms of my work. I'd never be able to get time off around those days.

We're up in the SF Bay Area, so not near Pasadena, sorry!
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 05, 2012, 05:51:50 PM
@Rainer: Whoa!  That's intense--nine hours waiting!  The Star Wars Celebrations must have been so much fun though. 

@Transmute: Oh, that's right--Bay Area.  I remember reading that somewhere in another thread on the forums (most likely the Introductions/Welcome Thread, ha ha). Interesting... I would have thought that people would like to cosplay as a character in one of the series, or at least wear a Starfleet uniform?  One of these days, I'm going to have to check out a Star Trek convention... *waits for the remastered Blu-ray releases of ST:TNG*

Ha ha. ^_^
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Transmute Jun on April 05, 2012, 06:16:34 PM
There is definitely Star Trek cosplay... but many of the people at the Star Trek cons (or at least, the people who attended the ones I used to attend in Toronto and in California) are somewhat more shy. So you might get some guys wearing a uniform shirt and black jeans... does that count as cosplay? But the actual people who made their own costumes and got seriously dressed up... Klingons, Borg, more elaborate Starfleet uniforms... that was very small, compared to the number of people who came in jeans and t-shirts and just sat around gawking. *guiltily raises hand*
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: paintpusher on April 05, 2012, 06:57:38 PM
I go to cons all over the country, related to my work. Literary science fiction, comic, a few anime and gaming, I've even been to furry cons. Larger cons mainly, small ones if they have me as a guest.
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: lynx on April 05, 2012, 07:45:58 PM
Zero, I've mostly been to anime cons too.  I attended Anime Expo for almost 10 years off and on from the mid '90s to early 2000s, and Fanime up here in NorCal.  I went to Otakon once, but mostly for one specific event, heheh.  This will be my first Comic Con.  I've always wanted to attend Comic Con, but I could never justify going to both Expo and CC!  How does CC compare with Expo in terms of attendees, crowds, events, etc.?

Transmute, I went to one Star Trek con years ago (hubby is the Star Trek fan!). I remember James Doohan being kinda grumpy when he was doing autographs, lol. 
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Transmute Jun on April 05, 2012, 08:32:26 PM
The Star Trek actors have done so many cons for so many years... I've seen them on grumpy days too! But most of the time they're very gracious, considering all of the fan-drooling they get. ;)
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 05, 2012, 08:46:47 PM
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There is definitely Star Trek cosplay... but many of the people at the Star Trek cons (or at least, the people who attended the ones I used to attend in Toronto and in California) are somewhat more shy. So you might get some guys wearing a uniform shirt and black jeans... does that count as cosplay? But the actual people who made their own costumes and got seriously dressed up... Klingons, Borg, more elaborate Starfleet uniforms... that was very small, compared to the number of people who came in jeans and t-shirts and just sat around gawking. *guiltily raises hand*
Ah, I see. Okay, okay. ^_^ Well, cosplay or not, what really matters is that you had fun.


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Zero, I've mostly been to anime cons too.  I attended Anime Expo for almost 10 years off and on from the mid '90s to early 2000s, and Fanime up here in NorCal.  I went to Otakon once, but mostly for one specific event, heheh.  This will be my first Comic Con.  I've always wanted to attend Comic Con, but I could never justify going to both Expo and CC!  How does CC compare with Expo in terms of attendees, crowds, events, etc.?
Well, SDCCI obviously has larger attendance, more media coverage (especially because of the Hollywood films and TV shows), and less programming/exhibit hall booths/artist alley booths related to anime.  AX has been getting bigger every year, so I won't be surprised if there are more people attending this year--you can check out the AX wikipedia info page for a general idea of the attendance numbers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime_Expo.  Some of the more popular panels, especially if it's a Guest of Honor panel, will have the usual long panel lines, much like Comic-Con does.  Depending on the year and the location of the AX Main Events concerts, there could be long lines for that as well, ha ha.

Where I'm normally staffing at AX, I don't have a chance to really walk around (I'm pretty much maintaining behind-the-scenes, backstage stuff all of the four days), but everyone I knew told me that the Exhibit Hall was packed to the seams last year. @___@;

I hope I'll be recovered from AX staffing when Comic-Con comes around.  Comic-Con is basically a week and half after it. >__<;;;
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: lynx on April 06, 2012, 05:41:57 PM
Living through AX lines has well prepared me for Comic Con...I hope!  ;D And yeah, exhibit hall can get pretty insane.  Good luck with your recovery, lol.
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 06, 2012, 05:59:32 PM
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Living through AX lines has well prepared me for Comic Con...I hope!  ;D And yeah, exhibit hall can get pretty insane.  Good luck with your recovery, lol.
Yeah, thanks. ^_^;  As for me, I haven't really waited in panel lines for a long time--the last time I did was in 2006, I believe, ha ha.  So, SDCCI should be really interesting. @__@;;
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Transmute Jun on April 06, 2012, 07:46:49 PM
Make sure you have something to do or a friend to talk to while you wait! It's a loooong wait...
Title: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: GoatCheese510 on April 06, 2012, 07:49:51 PM
Anyone ever been to the Phoenix Con?
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 06, 2012, 07:56:50 PM
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Make sure you have something to do or a friend to talk to while you wait! It's a loooong wait...
Oh, I know... ;p Ha ha.  Trust me, I know.


@Tapout: You mean Phoenix Comic-Con?  I know a few of my friends have staffed there, but I've never been to it.
Title: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: GoatCheese510 on April 07, 2012, 09:37:03 AM
@ zero, yeah that's the one. I'm making a trip to Phoenix to check it out, I've read it's pretty sweet.
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 07, 2012, 05:19:13 PM
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@ zero, yeah that's the one. I'm making a trip to Phoenix to check it out, I've read it's pretty sweet.
Yeah, it is.  It's reminiscent of SDCCI before it got too big and commercial--there was a large jump in attendance from the previous years.  I forget the actual numbers, but it was very impressive in growth. ^_^
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: MegaDoug on April 07, 2012, 09:54:03 PM
 

@MegaDoug: So, the next question would be, since you mentioned going to music industry trade shows, what do you do?  Musician, sound/audio technician?

heh, all of the above! I got in one year from my bro-in-law, he works for Disney and they had a few passes to spare, one year from my church, since I play bass guitar in the worship band, and sometimes run the FOH soundboard. A former co-worker is good friends with a guy who works for the NAMM offices in Carlsbad, so that's how I got in this year. It does give one a bad case of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome)

 
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: tehlilone on April 09, 2012, 12:09:42 AM
@ Zero & lynx - I've been to AX twice. I went to it when it took a break from Anaheim and was at Long Beach Convention Center (2007) and the LA Convention Center (2008). It kinda really sucked because the floor presence from the publishing companies in the exhibit hall was severely lacking those two years. The previous years were better according to my friend who has also stopped going to AX. One of the sponsoring publishers (Infinity Studios) actually didn't show up and went out of business several months later. Needless to say, I decided to just stick with SDCC because of my experience. Plus the scope of everything is just larger. I might give it another try but not 100% sold on it.

I'm thinking about going to D23 Expo 2013. Has anyone been to it?

Also, I forgot to mention but I get Blizzcon feed on DirectTV (mostly for the in-game stuff) but we do watch some of the convention events. I sent my boyfriend to Blizzcon in 2008 alone for his birthday. The ticket was $100 at the time and I couldn't justify spending the money for my ticket. So I settle for streaming video :)
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 09, 2012, 02:00:40 AM
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@MegaDoug: So, the next question would be, since you mentioned going to music industry trade shows, what do you do?  Musician, sound/audio technician?

heh, all of the above! I got in one year from my bro-in-law, he works for Disney and they had a few passes to spare, one year from my church, since I play bass guitar in the worship band, and sometimes run the FOH soundboard. A former co-worker is good friends with a guy who works for the NAMM offices in Carlsbad, so that's how I got in this year. It does give one a bad case of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome)
Oh, wow!  That's cool.  Ha ha, "gear acquisition syndrome."  I like that abbreviation. ;p


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@ Zero & lynx - I've been to AX twice. I went to it when it took a break from Anaheim and was at Long Beach Convention Center (2007) and the LA Convention Center (2008). It kinda really sucked because the floor presence from the publishing companies in the exhibit hall was severely lacking those two years. The previous years were better according to my friend who has also stopped going to AX. One of the sponsoring publishers (Infinity Studios) actually didn't show up and went out of business several months later. Needless to say, I decided to just stick with SDCC because of my experience. Plus the scope of everything is just larger. I might give it another try but not 100% sold on it.

I'm thinking about going to D23 Expo 2013. Has anyone been to it?

Also, I forgot to mention but I get Blizzcon feed on DirectTV (mostly for the in-game stuff) but we do watch some of the convention events. I sent my boyfriend to Blizzcon in 2008 alone for his birthday. The ticket was $100 at the time and I couldn't justify spending the money for my ticket. So I settle for streaming video :)
I honestly don't remember much from the Exhibit Hall back in those years, but that's mainly because I was running around staffing. (Ha ha.) I didn't get a chance to see it last year either. ;__;

I do know that last year's selection of vendors was pretty good, and the 2011 Artist Alley had been the largest the con has had ever.  They've expanded Artist Alley this year as well, so I really hope I can check it out! >__<  Man, I miss just walking around and seeing all the different types of merchandise...

Oh, nice! I didn't know that Blizzcon had simulcast on DirecTV.  What channel is that usually on?
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: lynx on April 09, 2012, 08:31:09 PM
@tehlilone I went in 2007 too, but just specifically to see a concert, so I didn't get to spend much time doing other things. I think I only went into the exhibit hall once that year, so I don't remember how it compared to other years as far as industry presence. It just seemed overcrowded as usual, lol!  AX always had problems with long delays, lack of signage, technical glitches, but I always had fun. I was thinking Comic Con might be overwhelming because of the size, but realize it must be really well-run.
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: tehlilone on April 09, 2012, 09:51:09 PM
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I honestly don't remember much from the Exhibit Hall back in those years, but that's mainly because I was running around staffing. (Ha ha.) I didn't get a chance to see it last year either. ;__;

I do know that last year's selection of vendors was pretty good, and the 2011 Artist Alley had been the largest the con has had ever.  They've expanded Artist Alley this year as well, so I really hope I can check it out! >__<  Man, I miss just walking around and seeing all the different types of merchandise...

Oh, nice! I didn't know that Blizzcon had simulcast on DirecTV.  What channel is that usually on?
Yeah I think I might give AX another chance but I think it depends on how much SDCC raises their ticket prices  :-\ As for Blizzcon, it's on demand so you have to order it. They also stream it online but both are $40.
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on April 10, 2012, 12:03:06 AM
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Yeah I think I might give AX another chance but I think it depends on how much SDCC raises their ticket prices  :-\ As for Blizzcon, it's on demand so you have to order it. They also stream it online but both are $40.
Hm, yeah... the SDCCI badge prices are killer. >__<  I'm so glad I don't have to worry about hotel or badges for AX. I don't think I could handle this craziness for two cons, hahahaha!

Oh, I see.  Huh, good to know. ^_^d
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: MegaDoug on April 16, 2012, 10:27:51 AM
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I'm thinking about going to D23 Expo 2013. Has anyone been to it?

Did not attend, but the only review I read was complaining about the lack of Marvel participation. They expected a bigger bang, since The Avengers wasn't big at Comic-Con, and expected a Disney-intro to this new property they owned, but the review felt they didn't do too good a job at that. Regardless, my family is Disney-centric, so we will attend if a certain family member who works for Disney can score some cheap passes for us  ;D
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Angology on April 20, 2012, 05:45:48 PM
Here is a blast from the past-DH and I went to an X-Files convention. Met Mitch Pileggi (Skinner) and Nicholas Lea (Krycek). It was so much fun. It was here in Austin, so it was small, but intimate. We were huge fans of the show, so it was a real treat.

MegaDoug-super jealous that you got to go to NAMM! Musicians I follow on Twitter, etc. (Dave Mustaine, for example) are always posting pics. DH is a bass player, so he would love it.

Oh, I did get to go to CES in Chicago. Once with a trade badge (I used to work for Shure-they used to make home entertainment systems), and when they started let actual consumers in on Saturdays. It was way cooler with the trade badge, but fun both times.
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: MegaDoug on April 22, 2012, 05:26:51 PM
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MegaDoug-super jealous that you got to go to NAMM! Musicians I follow on Twitter, etc. (Dave Mustaine, for example) are always posting pics. DH is a bass player, so he would love it.
 
Ha, its Mustaine's fault for my nick-name! A guy at work always work a MegaDeath T, so I made sure that he payed attention to the lyrics, really insightful stuff. So that guy started calling me MegaDoug, and a legend was born ;-). Mustaine's kinda local, my son saw him at the local St Arbucks drive-thru not too long ago. But yes, if I had to choose one con to attend per year, it would be NAMM for a few trips, it is pretty amazing!
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Angology on April 22, 2012, 05:50:32 PM
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Ha, its Mustaine's fault for my nick-name!
I was wondering if that was the case. Great nick-name! I love Megadeth!
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on May 25, 2012, 02:28:27 PM
Semi-reviving this thread:
Is anyone going to any June conventions (non-Comic-Cons) coming up?
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Angology on May 27, 2012, 07:00:23 PM
I am thinking about going to ATXFestival-it is a television convention. It's the first year, so we may wait to see how it goes. Bill Lawrence of Cougar Town will be there, so we are super tempted. It's next weekend June 1-3

http://www.atxfestival.com/
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on May 28, 2012, 02:17:16 PM
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I am thinking about going to ATXFestival-it is a television convention. It's the first year, so we may wait to see how it goes. Bill Lawrence of Cougar Town will be there, so we are super tempted. It's next weekend June 1-3

http://www.atxfestival.com/

That actually sounds really interesting.  I noticed that Jane Espenson will be there too--one of the writers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Warehouse 13.  Very cool!
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: alyssa on May 28, 2012, 02:49:15 PM
and a little well loved show called


(wait for it)



Firefly




Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Zero on May 28, 2012, 08:01:03 PM
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and a little well loved show called


(wait for it)



Firefly

Yes, indeed!  How could I forget something so important as that?  ^_~
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: MegaDoug on January 07, 2013, 10:52:21 AM
was able to once again get a badge for the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, Jan 24 thru the 27th. Anyone else on this board attending? Was able to go last year, what a treat!

http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2013
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: alyssa on January 07, 2013, 11:00:39 AM
my husband was trying to get a local bass cabinet maker to bring him.... that seems to have fallen threw tho
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: kappolo on January 07, 2013, 11:07:40 AM
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was able to once again get a badge for the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, Jan 24 thru the 27th. Anyone else on this board attending? Was able to go last year, what a treat!

http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2013
I was able to get a badge last year through a friend that was a studio producer for some big names.
This year he's not able to attend, therefore no badge for me ;(
Title: Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
Post by: Yzrfan on January 08, 2013, 09:29:54 AM
I've heard the NAMM shown is awesome. My bestfriend, and my tattoo artist, have gone the past couple year and talk about it until I start talking about SDCC. A couple other cool cons are D23 expo, Star Wars Celebration, and Stan Lees' Comikaze. D23 is Disney and  they do own the Nerd monopoly (marvel and Lucas films). Went the last year they had it (2011) and had a great time. 2011 was just after the bought Marvel and they had a couple good Marvel Panels (a cup of joe and previewed a clip from the Avengers).  Took my first trip to Stan Lee's Comikaze last year. It was the con's second year. They were still working out the bug. I'm sure next year will be better. Made the trip from the west to east coast for Star Wars Celebration VI. Awesome!!!! For a Star Wars nerd like me it was one of those moments in life that I will never forget. It was cool too because it was the first con I traveled to, farther than a 45 minute car drive. When I received my post con survey, they had Anaheim listed as one of the possible locations for Celebration VII. I can only hope.