Letter #34: My First Big Convention Experience
I meant to share this ages ago, but better late than never!
A note: I meant to share this ages ago! Better late than never, I suppose? 😅
*I wrote this piece on August 23rd, 2022, about a week after the expo. I had hesitated sharing it because it felt unfinished and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share any of my pictures. I’ve edited the piece a bit and decided to share some of the souvenirs I got in Artist Alley (huzzah for artist support!).
I don’t really have problems writing or talking about my personal life; I write this newsletter, after all! I’ve just never been one for sharing photos of myself online. I tend to be quite shy, which is part of why starting and continuing this newsletter has been something I’ve been proud of myself for doing.
Anyway, read on for more details if you’d like. 😊
Photo credit: All photos are my own.
Panels and People and Prints, Oh My!
I’m typing this just over a week after attending my first big convention*, the Boston Fan Expo. The “You Start in a Tavern” candle I bought from Dragon’s Den Candles in Artist Alley flickers beside my keyboard, filling the room with the scent of caramel-smelling mead and leather.
The trip, although an absolute whirlwind of a road trip, was phenomenal.
I met Rachel Maksy!
I’m sure you’ve seen me talk about her here because she’s my favorite content creator and a huge inspiration, both in terms of style, content, and just being on the Internet. And also part of who inspired me to finally convince myself to start putting myself out there on the Internet at least a little (I barely existed online until last year), along with helping me figure out my own style. One of her videos also taught me how to do my favorite hairstyle. So yeah, very exciting to meet this absolutely lovely human being!
She hugged me! She signed one of her prints for me! I now have a “floor troll” sticker from her, which resides on my chunky boi desktop my husband taught me how to build two years ago.
I was in the same space as David Tennant! I did not get to meet him, because ooohhh-boy-I-was-not-getting-through-that-line-in-an-hour-before-his-panel, BUT I did get to wait an hour in a different line for his panel and enjoy the Q&A about his work!
One of the draws for this particular year happened to be the reunion tour of the four Hobbits! I got to see the panel in which Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan got together to discuss their history with the LOTR films, their friendship with one another, their tour, etc.
I also got to meet a ton of artists in Artist Alley, and left with a sizable stack of business cards from artists and dealers, along with several amazing prints, bookmarks, pins, and some cosplay/LARP supplies I’m very excited about.
Besides getting to meet my favorite content creator and YouTuber (seriously, go check Rachel out if you haven’t yet!), the biggest part of the con that still stands out to me was the live recording of the “I Hear Voices” podcast.
Until looking into the line-up for this convention, I didn’t know Christy Carlson Romano and Will Friedle (the voice actors behind Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable!) had a podcast. So the moment I learned this was a thing, this panel was immediately on my must-go list.
The particular episode happened to feature Steve Downes (voice actor behind Master Chief from the original Halo games and many other roles).
You can listen to the episode here.
My husband grew up with Halo and definitely knew more about Steve Downes. I, however, have come into the video game world rather later and so, knew very little.
Fun Fact: When asked what character would be a dream job to play, Steve Downes said he would really love to play the Arbiter.
Knowing not too much about Halo, but knowing vaguely that the dynamic between Master Chief and the Arbiter was a bit of a precursor to the dynamic between Saint-14 and Mithrax/Mithraas from the Destiny universe, has me intrigued!
For those curious, I don’t like playing Destiny because I don’t like looter-shooter games thus far, but I adore the Destiny universe storyline and characters. Check out My Name Is Byf if you want some amazing lore work. (His cinematic movie telling the story of Savathun and the Hive is incredible.)
Aside from all that, the convention mostly consisted of walking around Artist Alley, talking with artists about their work, and admiring cosplays (and getting the courage to go up and ask some of the people if I could get a picture). I pet a stuffed animatronic of a Tribble! A lovely cosplayer dressed as Death from Soul Eater patted me on the head! I met a cosplayer dressed as the cabbage guy from Avatar: The Last Airbender!
I returned home with a literal stack of business cards from artists I wanted to check out or give a follow on Instagram. (Hello, if any of you happen to see this!)
See below for the wonderful things I found in Artist Alley, if you want to check out or support the artists’ work!
Artists I got some cool stuff from:
Pins from Draw Gabe Draw
Prints and a pin from Catawampus Press
Gloves, hair sticks, and a potion bottle from The Merchant of Many Things
Bookmarks from Jack Ampon
A print and sticker from Rachel Maksy
A candle from Dragon’s Den Candles
Any downsides to the convention?
I’d say the hardest part for me was the crowds. As someone who gets very anxious in crowds, especially after the pandemic, moving through the exhibitor hall and Artist Alley was a challenge on Saturday. (It was better on Sunday when there were less people).
The food situation wasn’t ideal, but I’ve heard from many a source that food at cons is always a difficult thing to get to, find, or wait for. If you haven’t been to a convention, there are food options (the options here looked great!) but getting to them is another story. You could spend your entire day waiting in a line to get a burger, or you could pack snacks and not wait in the line.
We forgot to plan for this on Saturday and had to wait in the shortest line to buy some beef jerky and candy bars for our meal that day. We stopped at a convenience store when we left to stock up on snacks for Sunday, so Sunday was much easier!
Be sure to pack snacks and drinks!
Overall, I had a wonderful time. I desperately want to attend so many more cons and go full in on cosplays!
Anyone have any cool stories from conventions? Any shows you’re planning to attend this coming year? Any artists you’d like to shout out in the comments? Go right ahead! 😄
Hope everyone is having a great start to their weekend!
Best,
