Author Topic: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)  (Read 11295 times)

Offline Zero

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Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« 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?
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Offline tehlilone

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2012, 01:57:19 AM »
One convention that I attend is called Designer Con held in Pasadena, CA.

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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.

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #2 on: Today at 10:03:06 AM »

Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #2 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!

Offline MegaDoug

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #3 on: April 04, 2012, 02:31:53 PM »
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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.
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Offline Zero

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #4 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: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login) for a while now, but I've been to Anime Conji in San Diego and Anime Los Angeles at least once.

^_^
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Offline Rainer

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #5 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


Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #6 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!

Offline Zero

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #7 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. ^_^
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Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #8 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*

Offline paintpusher

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #9 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.

Offline lynx

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #10 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. 

Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #11 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. ;)

Offline Zero

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #12 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: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login.  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. >__<;;;
« Last Edit: April 05, 2012, 08:52:02 PM by Zero »
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Offline lynx

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #13 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.

Offline Zero

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Re: Other Conventions (not related to comic books)
« Reply #14 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. @__@;;
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