Ah… Sunday. The final day of Phoenix Comicon 2013.
A bittersweet day, lots of cool stuff to do, but the knowledge that at the end of the day, there’s no more for another year. There were still tons of people there, all trying – like me – to squeeze every last drop of nerdity out of the last hours.
Sunday was a special day because I got to share it with two friends who had never been to a Comicon before. I brought a friend with me and met one there, both of whom are already planning – just from their short Sunday experience – to make a full weekend of it next year.
I started the day down in the main floor, scoping out booths that might offer bargains in the last hour or so. The hectic pace of the previous days had relaxed a bit, and I was able to talk to the vendors quite a bit more than before. Made several networking contacts (that you may see as guests on the show later) and talked to a lot of cool people.
After grabbing a bite to eat we headed back to convention center to get in line for the Wil Wheaton and John Scalzi panel. We BARELY made it in, being one of the last 4 or 5 people allowed in before all seats were officially full. These guys were so hilarious, if they do another panel like this next year, I hope the planners put it in the main ballroom, where all the awesomest (that’s a word, don’t look it up, just trust me) panels should be held. Although, I will admit that the smaller room did make it feel a little more intimate, which is something I’ve always wanted to be with Wil Wheaton.
The panel was ridiculously hilarious. Many laughs were had. I will definitely be picking up Scalzi’s books in the near future, especially after hearing some of it read by Wheaton.
When the Wheaton/Scalzi panel let out we immediately headed down the hall to see my friend Tavis Maiden, of Strip Search fame on his panel, The Reality of Web Comics.
The panel was an entertaining look behind the scenes of Strip Search and a look into the world and technique of a web comic artist. Tavis even managed to get a couple of other Strip Search cast members on the phone for a quick shouout to the audience!
By the time this was over there was only about an hour left for Artists Alley to be open, so we headed downstairs to see if we could get some last minute bargains. Unfortunately, this was when the fire alarm started going off!
For the first 30 seconds or so, we stood around waiting to see if the alarm would stop and everything would go back to normal… when it became clear that this was not going to happen, we started making our way toward the exit.
Getting 40,000+ nerds, some in elaborate costumes, out of building into the street is a pretty daunting task, but the staff and security were up to the talk and got everyone out with a minimum of muss and fuss.
It was a good 20 minutes or more before the all clear was sounded and the mass of geekdom was allowed back into the convention center to complete their Con. However, at this point we didn’t feel like dealing with the crowd for less than 30 minutes. They did end up extending hours from 5PM to 6:30, but we didn’t know that at the time.
WRAP-UP:
All in all, this years Phoenix Comicon was the the best Con I’ve been to. Granted, it’s only the second one, but still it was extremely amazing.
I got to see a ton of great panels, lot’s of beautiful and creative costumes, amazing art, cool toys and trinkets, and to top it off I got to share it with my awesome wife, great friends new & old, and 40,000 strangers who I now call friends.
Next year will be even more amazing!