Conventions.

[-Hyperion-]

Seeing as this is a nerd haven (I mean that in a good way), I was wondering how many of you frequented conventions.

At first, the idea of going to a convention never appealed to me: after all, who wants to deal with the scent of a swarm of sweaty geeks packed together in an enclosed space all day? But as I aged and got more into comics and gaming, the potential fun became more apparent.

Eventually, some friends of mine roped me into trips to both NY Comic-con and Connecticon. At Comic-con I had a blast: it was like a bazaar exclusively focused on my interests. Now I'm counting the days until next year's. I had a degree of fun at Connecticon as well, but it exceeded my tolerance for witnessing cross-dressed Otaku just a wee bit. I considered the use of steel wool on my eyes a valid option.

What have your experiences (if any) with conventions been like?

 

[Danny Ocean]

Oh man. I went to the Games Workshop convention twice. It was crap both times:

1.All game tables full, so all you could do was get limited Edition figures. (ie. Solid gold)
2.PACKED. Seriously, my crowd-swimming skills were stretched.
3.It stank. As much as I loved the hobby, and was adamant most of the nerds who did it weren't stereotypical, I couldn't stand the smell.
4.HOT. see point 2.
3.Rushed, because I was, like, 12 at the time. I needed to have a guardian. Of course, this guardian couldn't have been vaguely interesting in the hobby, right?
-.-


Although there was a 1:16 Baneblade. That was cool.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

i usually go to fanexpo in toronto, pissed off this year cause so many of the actors and such charged for pics over and above the autograph

but i gotta talk with Sid Haig, Tobe Hooper and Kevin Eastman a bit and got my pic with them

 

[Spartan Bannana]

Don't go to conventions, mostly because my friends won't go with, I hang out with a very diverse group and I'm the token nerd/joker, anyway I'm not braving a convention alone

 

[Calobi]

I haven't because all the conventions that interest me are on the West Coast and I live on the East Coast, or are in other countries and I can't be bothered to deal with leaving and entering the country via plane and don't much like driving.

 

[MysteriousSquirrel]

i find myself drawn to conventions of all kinds. Anime, comic and gaming. Usually i hit up 3 cons a year, sometimes more. of course you find yourself drowning in people who smell a little and are a bit obsessed, but thats half the fun. you gotta take the whole event into mind. You get to spend a weekend doing what you love with people who are like you.(sort of)

 

[Wellby]

Me and two of my buddies were down at the cafe at NY comicon and a man attempted to purchase my sandwhich from me (it was the last one). I denied his offer for the value of gain was not high enough. This guy worked with black 20, and i was actually watching PG 300 earlier that day. It was very weird. Oh and i met jimmy palmiotte, one of my favorite artists two years in a row. Oh and i was one of the first in NY to play GoW 2.. see you at comicon next year Hyp, We'll drag you there with chains this time!

 

[NonMagicPoet]

I went to AnimeNEXT this year and I rather liked it. Except for the uber expensive stuff, it was pretty awesome, I met Brad Swaile.

 

[PhoenixFlame]

12 year veteran planning and working for conventions. I chaired one of the top 5 anime cons in the country for 2 years, and have worked in a variety of capacities for gaming and comic conventions as well. I think this grew out of partially masochism, some sense of altruism to create a good event, and just generally enjoying the community atmosphere of convention events. Yeah, you get the malcontents, the shut-ins, the people who somehow fail to understand basic personal hygiene, and the sketchy people, but overall it's nice to go to a social event and hang out with people you've met online, or in RL who share your interests.

I am planning on making it to at least one convention outside of where I'm from that's a major one - San Diego Comic-Con and PAX are good candidates.

 

[joswie]

I really enjoy conventions, did you see all of the cosplay at the DNC and RNC? Oh wait, not that kind. In that case, I don't attend, but I keep informed as to all of the goings on.