4 Comic Con learnings from a Local Convention

It's safe to say that I've got the "bug" for attending Comic Conventions now.  Mostly due to our children's envy of our SDCC trip, my wife and I decided to bring them, and a friend of our daughter, along to Tampa Bay Comic Con last week, and even encouraged them to try their hand at cosplay.  It was a vastly different experience and I came away with some learnings.

1.  The crowd size made it much easier to "do everything..." obviously.  Although we only attended one of the three days, we feel comfortable with how much of the event we were able to explore and it was relatively stress-free with less of the claustrophobia and "herd of sheep" pace to the exhibit hall.  It wasn't quite the finely-tuned machine that is SDCC, but it would be foolish to expect as much.  The line to enter the event for pre-sale tickets was over a 30 minute wait and all outdoors, while those paying cash walked right in the door on day one.  I believed they rectified this for day two and I even got a response from the @TampaComicCon Twitter account while standing in line about how they would work the kinks out.  I am actually impressed with the level of interactivity and quick response time I received from them throughout the day and even in the days following the event.  I commend their effort to connect with the Con-goers and community.

Look at all the leg-room on that Exhibit Hall floor!!

2. I planned my autograph opportunities better this time...taking a bit of my own advice.  After reviewing the expected guest list, I found some old comics which were already in my collection ahead of time, and I was able to meet those three artists within 20 minutes of entering the event.  I rolled my eyes at the guy in front of me who had 20+ comics for Paul Pelletier to sign and didn't seem to be buying anything that the illustrator was selling from his table.  Don't be "that guy."  One to two items seems to be the most acceptable numbers of items to bring with you per creative talent.

Paul Pelletier and Bob McLeod...Mr. McLeod made sure the ink was drying on his signature.

From there, we were able to let our "little Daleks" lead the way through the exhibit hall and towards whatever grabbed their attention.

My daughter (Blue Dalek) and her friend loved dressing up as home-made Daleks!

3.  Most people had the decency to ask us before taking a photo of our children, but I was surprised at how many did not, and just snapped away.  Maybe my opinion isn't universally shared, but candid photos of strangers' children crosses some lines of what is socially acceptable.  Regardless, my kids loved dressing up, and were happy to receive the attention and pose with other cosplayers.

4.  The lines for the celebrity panels were no more than an hour's wait, and even that may not have been necessary.  I believe the turnout was a bit higher for the two weekend days of the Con, but on Friday, we were easily able to get from one panel to another and didn't miss anything of great importance to us.  I fully expect to return with the family next year and make a point to visit other local conventions.  At least for my household, "we are all infected."