Posts Tagged ‘cons’

Last weekend was Mini MegaCon in Orlando, Florida, and several notable "Buffy" stars were there. Charisma "Cordelia" Carpenter, Emma "Anya" Caulfield, Amber "Tara" Benson, and Adam "Warren" Busch. I was going to tell you about the Buffy Q&A panel they gave, but Phil of NeatEntertainment.com (and the panel moderator) just transcribed the whole thing, so I'll just send you there. Many of the photos on that page are from my Flickr set of the whole con.

The con was a lot of fun, if a bit smaller than I expected. The MegaCon folks planned this mini version a few years ago and made commitments just before the economy tanked, but they went ahead with it anyway. It was roughly half the size of their usual springtime con, which drew 32,000 people last March.

The big guests were supposed to be three stars from the Twilight series, but shooting conflicts forced them all to cancel. Still, the Buffy panel had to move to a bigger room, then had to connect the new room to the original room to make an area big enough for the crowds. You still got it, guys.

Also met Sylvester McCoy, the seventh Doctor. And Lisa Loring, "Wednesday" from The Addams Family. And a lot more, plus all the fanciful folks who populate the cons. Check my Flickr set for tons of pics and more details.

Just started a new Facebook group.

No reason.

No reason at all.

Just had a lot of free time, you know, since I haven't gone anywhere recently, or anything…

Kinda pushing it a little close, here, but an iPhone app for the San Diego Comic-Con just arrived.

It's basically a mini version of the SDCC website, with a bit of interactivity. You get a countdown, the latest news (which opens the SDCC site in a browser instead of using RSS feeds or anything configured for an iPhone), a program list which allows you to select favorites (but not to call up a list consisting of only your favorites), a list of exhibitors, and maps of the different levels and exhibits. But the search function is only marginally useful, lists and the maps are not at all connected and the maps are simply graphics instead of Google-map-type programs.

All in all, a good first try. But it needs a LOT more interactivity to truly be useful. If I pull up an event, I want to be able to add it to my iPhone calendar, find it on an interactive map, and create a personal to do list. Hell, this is the iPhone, I should be able to select all the events and exhibitors and guests I'm interested in and be presented with a personal schedule with mapping directions to get me where I need to be, when I need to be there.

Maybe in the 2010 version.

The North American Discworld Convention is coming! September 4 – 7, 2009, in Tempe, Arizona, it will feature a Guest of Honor talk, a Maskerade, a Gala Banquet, a Seamstress Guild Party, a Charity Auction, book signings, panels, and more.

Guests will include Discworld author Terry Pratchett himself, Terry's agent Colin Smythe, Jennifer Brehl and Anne Hoppe from Harper-Collins, the cunning artificer Bernard Pearson and his wife Isobel, and fellow authors Diane Duane, Esther Friesner, Peter Morwood.

If you've never encountered Terry at a con, you're in for a treat. Very friendly, very fan-friendly, and instead of staying safely behind an autograph table or in his room he'll walk around talking to people all over the place. To give him a bit of free time, the UK cons have developed an evil twin for him, so be aware of that fellow if you go.

The next Discworld book will be "Unseen Academicals," and is due to come out Oct. 6. And apparently he's taking on sports.

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As Star Trek's inquisitive science officer Spock, he searched for answers across the galaxy. As the host of In Search Of, and any number of documentaries throughout his career, he has investigated topics that range from technology to aliens and the last days of the Romanovs. And over the past 40+ years he has handled countless conventions and interviews with wit and aplomb. But last Sunday morning, Leonard Nimoy finally heard a question that stumped him.

"My favorite color?" he asked incredulously as the audience howled with laughter. "Who sent you? Who are you?"

"Have you never been asked that before?" the fan asked.

"No!"

"Maybe that's why I asked."

Nimoy considered, then smiled broadly. "Well, good for you!"

(It's blue, by the way.)

Nearly one hundred and fifty people were listening to "A Discussion with Leonard Nimoy" Sunday morning at the FX International convention at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Eager fans shelled out admission fees from $125 to $250. Each received a goody bag with a movie poster, various collectible items and a voucher for an autograph from the man himself (Nimoy was holding court).

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At any science fiction, comics or anime convention, you'll see people in costume. Superheroes, TV and movie characters, cartoons, characters from Japanese anime and manga and video games and more. While it's easy to dismiss them as kids dressing up — and there are certainly plenty of those — in many cases you're witnessing performance art.

"Cosplaying," short for "costume playing," has grown from throwing on a Halloween costume to a full-fledged subculture of people who devote great amounts of time, money and attention on crafting their characters in every detail. Cosplayers often attends cons in themed groups, posing for pictures and role-playing their chosen characters as much as a convention center will allow.

For most cosplayers it's a fun hobby, but Yaya Han, professional costume designer, model and cosplay entertainer (and celebrity guest at this weekend's FX convention in Orlando), does it full time.  She spoke to me recently about being other people for a living.

Why dress up for a convention? What do you get out of it?

It started out as a way to express my fandom. At the beginning it was just fun to portrait my favorite characters and interact with other fans. Costuming makes the most bold statement about what your fandom is, anyone can see what show you like from across the hall. It's a lot more creative and eye-catching than, say, wearing a shirt with the show's name on it, and it brightens the whole convention hall, which without costumers would be just a bunch of people in T-shirt and jeans.

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If you had to pick a word to describe Ben Templesmith's body of work, it would be…

Well, you wouldn't, actually, because trying to boil it down to a single word would probably do nasty things to your brainmeat. But then again, so does his work. It might be easier to describe the sorts of things this Australian commercial-artist-turned-comics-superstar does, and let you draw your own conclusions.

- Artist and co-creator with Steve Niles of "30 Days of Night" (and many spinoffs), about a vampire gang living in Alaska. Became a movie with Josh Hartnett, Melissa George and Danny Huston. Nominated for an Eisner Award, comics' highest honor. Won the Spike TV Scream Award for Best Comic.
- Creator of "Wormword: Gentleman Corpse," about an extra-dimensional sentient maggot that embodies corpses in order to drink Guinness and, occasionally, save the world. Hardback collection made the New York Times Bestseller list.
- Artist for "Fell," written by Warren Ellis, about an honorable detective in a city gone feral. Nominated for an Eisner Award three years running.
- Creator of "Welcome to Hosford," where a prison run by Russian werewolves gets a new inmate/hunt victim named Ray Delgado, who turns out to be just the right kind of delusional murderer to fight back.
- Artist for "Groom Lake," written by Chris Ryall, about the day-to-day job of keeping UFOs secret.

Templesmith will be attending the FX convention in Orlando this weekend, and took a moment to talk to me about it.

Vampires, werewolves, corpses, inexplicable Nixon-mask-wearing nuns… Is the inside of your head a safe place to be?

Absolutely. It's the guys that draw cutesy crap, the Mickey Mouse guys, who you need to worry about. They internalize everything, until it all boils over. Me? I get it all out onto the page, so I'm honestly a nice guy if you were to meet me face to face. Well, except for my small baby eating habit.

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As we get closer to FX 2009, the massive pop culture convention coming to Orlando this weekend, it's time to dig a little and see what you can expect. First up, a few words from FX's Director of Exhibitions Michael Herz.

As we get closer to FX 2009, the massive pop culture convention coming to the Orange County Convention Center this weekend, it's time to dig a little and see what you can expect. First up, a few words from FX's Director of Exhibitions Michael Herz.

It's been 20 years. How did FX get started?

The first show was actually in Tampa in 1989, it was promoted by Bruce Zalkin and called the Tampa Toyfest. Meanwhile, I was promoting the Character and Collectible Show in Maryland. Bruce and I got together in 1990 and in 1991 changed the name to the Florida eXtravaganza (FX). We ran it together until 1997, and I bought it back from him in 2004. In 2007, the show became to big for me to run myself anymore and I took a corporate partner, that's when it became FX International.

What have your attendance numbers since it started?

We've gone from maybe 300 in 1990 to 10,000 in 1996, to 3,500 in 2004 and back up to an expected attendance this year of at least 20,000.

How do you set yourself apart from MegaCon and other scifi/comic conventions in the area?

My dream has always been to be different from the other big events. We want FX to be everything for everyone: A collectible toy show, a comic-con, a sci-i-fi show, a horror show, a sports show, with anime and gaming events and panels and celebrities,your basic pop-culture overload circus! I have always strived to bring in new and different genres and cutting edge activities. This year we have added the celebrity poker challenge, the Drink and Draw, The Disney Pin event, the Sports Pavilion and Project Vinyl has been amped up from prior years. I am always very interested in anything that supports art and artists of any genre, so we have a lot of art-centered events this year.

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When FX International general manager Michael Herz plans his pop culture convention, he doesn't think small.

"We want FX to be everything for everyone," he said. "A collectible toy show, a comic-con, a sci-fi show, a horror show, a sports show, with anime and gaming events and panels and celebrities. Your basic pop-culture overload circus!"

This year's FX show, the 20th anniversary of the annual event, is expected to bring 20,000 fans from all over the country next weekend to the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive in Orlando to join together in the great, geeky bliss of a massive costume party that has overrun an indoor fairground during a music festival. So why should you be there?

For The Celebrities

FX has a reputation for attracting cult-favorite media guests, and this year is no exception with Leonard Nimoy from "Star Trek," James Marsters from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Smallville" and "Dragonball Evolution," James Kyson Lee from "Heroes," Lindsey Wagner from the original "Bionic Woman," Scotty "Scotty 2 Hottie" Garland from the WWE and many more from movies, TV and wrestling.

"I try to bring in guests from vintage entertainment that I would consider icons," Herz said.

For some of the guests, doing a con is like coming home. "When I was 10…13…I had a big afro, and I would go to Star Trek conventions with pointed ears and arched eyebrows. I had my Star Trek uniform that I hand-sewed myself," actor James Marsters said in a 2008 interview for Fannish Inquisition, a fan site for TV shows "Stargate" and "Firefly."

"And I found there were — at conventions — people that I enjoyed being around. Intelligent, a little weird and full of life. That's why I enjoy doing conventions now. I just love it."

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In 2006 the FX con brought us Summer Glau and Alan Tudyk. In 2007 it was Adam Baldwin, Ron Glass, and Christina Hendricks. In 2008 it was Nathan Fillion.

This year the trend continues with Jewel Staite and Morena Baccarin coming to one of the busiest cons in the southern USA. Oh, and there's also Leonard Nimoy, James Marsters (and an acoustic concert!), Julie Benz, Juliet Landau, Claire Kramer, Camden Toy, Jonathan Frakes, James Kyson Lee, Ray Park, Lindesy Wagner, a bunch of horror and wrestling stars, and a couple hundred writers and artists.

Whedony events include:

WOMEN OF THE WHEDONVERSE – Join the lovely and talented actresses without whom the works of Joss Whedon would be so much less fun and appealing as they talk about their experiences on set, their current projects, as well as a tribute to their friend Andy Hallet. He was taken from us too soon, and in remembrance, fans will have an opportunity to donate to the American Heart Association in the hopes of preventing this type of tragedy in the future. Featuring Julie Benz, Juliet Landau, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, and Claire Kramer.

JAMES MARSTERS: LIFE AFTER SPIKE – As fans of horror, science fiction, and comics, we are all well aware of who James Marsters is. From Spike to Brainiac, he has brought some of our favorite characters to life, and left an indelible image upon the landscape of popular culture. Join James as he talks about his previous roles, his recent work, and what lies ahead.

JULIET LANDAU AND JASON C. MILLER (lead singer for Godhead) – Be among the first to see the fruits of a new collaboration between actress turned director/producer, and an incredible new musical talent. This will include a screening of a brand new music video.

More details are available at fxshow.com, and at my newspaper article about it. Check it out!