The Exhibit Hall at Wonder Con 2009 as seen on Sunday around noon.So I've been tossing about how to write this article. A full review of my experiences at Wonder Con is, to be honest, a bit daunting. There was so much that happened over the weekend that the idea of trying to put all of it into an article just seems impossible. The only way I can really think to include the most information while retaining some semblance of cohesion is to just lay out my journey in a linear format. Therefore, here is a rough (yet occasionally detailed) timeline of what I got up to over the last three days.
Thursday @ 11:30am: I left The Patcave (aka my tiny ass apartment) and headed to the airport, caught my flight to San Francisco.
Thursday @ 5:00pm: I make it onto the floor of the Mascone Center even though the show hasn't opened yet. This is where it pays to have friends who work for Wonder Con and other friends who are running a booth on the exhibit hall floor. The booth in question was my friend Jesse's booth for his comic book and game store in Temecula, Ca. called Thou Shalt Game (TSG).
At this point the floor was still in a chaotic state. Vendors were setting up their booths, the carpeting was still being rolled onto the exhibit hall floor and generally everything was one big mess. Not having much else to do, I left and got to my hotel room, dropped my stuff off, and went off in search of food. I got some dinner at a nice Irish Pub where I got to see a Transvestite singing songs in both her male and female voice. It was pretty rad actually watching a woman singing Johnny Cash songs in a really deep voice.
Friday@ 10:30am: I arrive once again on the exhibit hall floor before the show opens. Booths are still getting set up, but things are looking slightly more organized than before.
Vendors doing last minute set up work before the doors opened on Friday Morning.Friday@ 12:00pm: The hall finally opens and the massive throngs of people flood through the gates. Wait a second. Strike that. There were no massive throngs and there certainly wasn't any flooding. It's more like the modest sized group of waiting attendees calmly took to the floor in a totally controlled and organized manner. The crowd on Friday was much smaller than those that I'm used to from the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC).
Whereas I have become accustomed to crowded and choked up ailes and intersections at SDCC from pretty much the second the floor opens, Wonder Con was an incredibly refreshing breath of fresh air. I could actually wander the floor without having to push myself through a sea of people. I was even able to get into all of the panels I wanted to on Friday without having to sacrifice hours out of my day waiting in line to make sure I'd get into the room. This is what SDCC was like back in 1992, before Hollywood took it over and it became too large and unwieldy.
To anyone reading this who nowadays avoides SDCC altogether because of the annoyingly large crowds and the oversized movie company booths that take up the vast majority of the exhibit hall floor where comic vendors once used to be, Wonder Con is the place for you. There were no super sized booths to be seen anywhere. And I mean none, zip, zero. The majority of the exhibit hall floor at the con was taken up by small booths of venders who sold toys and statues and (believe it or not SDCC fans) comic books. Wow, a comic convention that still has comics taking up the majority of the sales floor. Now there's a novel concept that San Diego could learn from.
Friday @ 2:30pm: After spending some time wandering the exhibit hall floor and feeling nostalgic for the days of old when the SDCC used to be this cool, I finally head upstairs to my first panel of the con. The Real Archaeology of Indiana Jones. Hosted by Daryl G. Frazetti, a professor of Archaeology from the Lake Tahoe Community College, the panel's listing in the program guide promises an intelligent discussion of the real life archaeological studies around which the Indy films are based. The hunt for the holy grail, the lost Shankara Stones, the Ark of the Covenenant, the crystal skulls. Pretty interesting stuff, right? Wrong.
In theory, this should have been an amazing panel, but in reality it was a very brief overview of the topics mixed with far too much discussion with audience members who seemed to only want to spout off their opinions on the subjects rather than listening to the prearranged lecture. Most of the panel was spent with the host debating differing ideas with audience members who had no data to back up their arguments while the rest of us drifted off from boredom. In the future the host needs to make the panel more of a lecture and less of an open discussion. It would be much more interesting that way.
On the plus side of things though, with all of the downtime we had during this boring panel, Matt was able to work on this really sweet sketch of a zombie he had been drawing throughout the day.
So I guess we can't say the panel was a complete waste afterall.
Friday @ 4:30pm: After having left the disappointing Indy panel, I headed over to room 220 and started speaking with fellow GeekRoundTable members about our upcoming podcast/panel. I also spend some time outside the room handing out GeekRoundTable business cards to eyeryone passing by in an attempt to make more people aware of the panel. Then, at 4:30pm, the panel begins.
We actually had a fairly decent turnout I thought. The audience wasn't as big as the GRT panel's audience at last years's SDCC, but that was pretty much to be expected. The main topic that was discussed for the majority of the panel was an interactive discussion between the panelists and the audience over what is the greatest animated show of all time, and how one can measure such a claim. There really wasn't much of a consensus as everyone had their own opinions of what was the greatest show ever, but the discussion itself was lively and a lot of laughs were had.
The fine folks who attended the GRT panel on Friday afternoon.The topic of the Avatar: The Last Airbender's movie casting also came up, and there was some discussion had as to the racist implications the castings had and how this seemed to be a prevalent theme amongst hollywood since it's formation back at the beginning of the 20th century.
I would like to thank everyone who attended the panel. It was really great getting to meet you all and share in some of your thoughts and insights into the topics discussed. I'm sure the GRT will once again have a panel at SDCC this year, so be sure to check that out if you're in town. It's good times.
Friday @ 6:00pm: After the GRT panel, I hoofed it up to the third floor to the Esplanade Ballroom (where all the big panels were held) to catch a screening of DC Comics' new animated DVD movie Wonder Woman. I caught the first 45 minutes or so of the film before I had to leave to go meet some friends for dinner, but what I did see was pretty entertaining. The animation quality of the film is good, the character designs are simple and pretty, and the inclusion of Nathan Fillion as the voice of WW's love interest was fun. This is out on DVD now and I really do want to pick it up and catch the rest of it.
Friday @ 7:30pm: After a long day at the con, I head out to meet my friend Mike and his wife for some tasty pizza, followed by drinks and a smoke at a local Hookah bar and then some late night playing of Rock Band. I think I got to bed that night somewere around 2am. And yes. I was a little tipsy.
For those of you who are interested in a different account of the con, my friend Mike has written a review of the weekend as well for the blog he works for. You can find the article over at popcornjunkies.com. He was able to make it to some panels I didn't, including The Watchmen panel that was held on Saturday morning. So if you'd like to find out what happened there, be sure to check his article out.
That's it for friday, the first official day of the convention. Due to the length of these entries, I'm going to split them up by day. I'll have the next installment up soon. I promise.
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