I was at a convention recently. One of those pop culture conventions that caters to the younger crowd and as is my wont I tend to wander round the dealer’s room for hours at a time discovering new things and resisting the urge to buy everything.
Anyways I was near the center and I came upon a small tent display for a large name insurance company. They were offering the usual little knickknacks that they give away at conventions (fridge magnets, paperweights, pens, etc) and they were trying to get names and email addresses. A few rows over another company was advertising high-end bedding.
This made me wonder who came up with this? I mean I understand the advertising concept of “go where there’s a crowd”, but I mean really? Hawking bedding and insurance at a pop culture convention inhabited mainly by kids, teens, and twentysomethings? What type of resources (as in $) are they throwing into this effort and what sort of return are they realistically expecting to get from this?
Of course this isn’t the only example I saw of this type of thing. Over the memorial day weekend there were of course several sporting events including some major races and many of these events have corporate sponsorship but at least there the expected audience is more generalized and it’s more likely that you will get some return on your investment.
This idea of just showing up at these conventions and trying to plug yourself in no matter what really doesn’t make any sense to me.
At the very least I would hope that these companies might try to come up with some themes, giveaways, or some sort of tie in to the convention that might somehow appeal to the expected audience. Something so they won’t seem so out-of-place.
I was driving home on a rainy Monday afternoon. It was the last day of Comicpalooza 2014 and the rain seemed to have held off till the end of the convention but now it was full on raining. As I hit the Montrose/Westheimer intersection traffic slowed to a crawl and it gave me plenty of time to reflect on not just this but all the conventions I had attended over the years.
Most of these conventions (cons) follow a pretty standard format. They are usually 3 days long and tend to take place over a weekend when not much else is going on in the local area. Comicpalooza is an exception in that this year it was a 4 day convention and it always takes place on the Memorial day weekend. The scheduling couldn’t be helped. Other conventions take place before and after in Dallas and these conventions try to not book on the same weekend if possible.
On the first day the die-hard fans, the professionals, and the artists prefer to show up. Casual fans usually don’t show up on the first day or if they do they will come in limited numbers. The crowds are light and those of us that are interested in getting to know the artists, performers, and to see all the merchandise on sale in the dealer’s room will usually make it a point to come in on that day. I see old friends and go in to listen to the small professional panels.
The big stars that were invited to the con are usually out on Friday night touring the town with the convention committee or recovering from their trip. In some ways this is the best part of the convention for me.
Saturday is almost always the big day. If you ever do more than one convention you quickly learn how invaluable parking is. You arrive early at the convention hall and pretty much stay all day long if possible otherwise you are forced to endlessly circle a parking lot or park miles away.
Long lines and waiting are the rule. Lines for popular panels, lines for autographs, lines for food, lines for the bathroom. Of course you can get VIP or privileged tickets to avoid lines but even these end up having lines.
In the smaller meeting rooms the real panels take place. These panels are the professional panels. Authors explain their writing process, artists discuss the current market and how best to network, people discuss the future of genres like comics, anime, books, and film. They don’t have wide appeal but they are very important to small groups of creative types that want to know about these things.
In the main hallways little kids run around trying to see and do everything that they can. Teenagers and young adults sit on the floor in corners looking over an autographed picture or discussing some TV show or movie or game that they all know. Older people like me act like kids.
Some time around the middle of Saturday afternoon a real sense of community descends down upon the convention. Attendees are more comfortable around all of these fellow conventioneers. People in costume readily pose for pictures, impromptu debates erupt with everyone giving their opinions, someone in the crowd breaks out a guitar and starts singing the theme song to some TV show and complete strangers around him join along.
On Saturday evening come the big events. Usually a local band will play, some sort of costume ball will take place, and some big movie will be screened later in the evening. By this time in the night most of the kids have gone home and the hardcore party people will be out in force. The bigger conventions will sell alcohol or someone might suggest the local hotel bar or nearby drinking establishment and people in costume will be wandering round the convention neighborhood, possibly inebriated but everyone is having a good time. The really die-hard fans will camp out in the 24 hour a day anime TV room and basically fall asleep there.
Sunday and things are quickly winding down. Everyone involved in the con from the fans, to the dealers, to the stars, to the volunteers (most of these conventions are run by volunteers) has given their all by this time and the enthusiasm that they had is pretty much gone. The last few panels and sessions occur but no one is really into it. You have a last chance to pick up some items in the dealer’s room and maybe hook up with that new friend you made while standing in line on Saturday but basically it’s all over.
By the early afternoon everyone is earnestly packing up and getting ready to leave.
I feel a slight wave of melancholy wash over me as things wind down. Here is this wonderful bunch of folks that like all the stuff that I like and we’ve spent a couple of great days together and although you hope that it will continue on, it has to end.
So here we are stuck in traffic where things began. It’s not all sad of course. Overall I feel re-energized. I’ve shared all the latest ideas, thoughts, concepts in fantasy, science fiction, pop culture, and general fiction. I’ve gotten to talk to people with different perspectives, with radically different ideas. People that have their own dreams and ambitions. My mind courses with ideas, with new ambitions, and I find some things that have slept within me for a while begin to re-awaken.
I suppose that the main thing that these conventions give me is life. They revive the youthful enthusiasm for my fiction writing. They remind me of more carefree days. They let me know that I am not alone and that my ideas may not be so odd after all.
I have looked forward to this for the last couple of months. I had four major events this planned for this Summer. Since the trip to the San Diego Comicon fell through this became the highlight of the season.
By far not the biggest convention out there. Even our own local Comicpalooza convention in March is bigger but I was shocked by the growth this year. They hired out the Westchade Marriott hotel in west Houston as the venue and already it is overflowing.
I arrived at 2 P.M. just after work and thought parking would be a breeze since most folk would be at work. Ha! I spent forty minutes driving round and round looking for parking till I finally had to park far out in the street. Inside it was worse. A long circuitous line wrapped round the lobby to get tickets. Took me another forty-five minutes for a simple 3 day pass. Walking was almost impossible and this was only day one. Who knows how it will be during the main day!
Once past these onerous tasks I settled into my convention tasks. I took a couple of loops round the artist alley and the dealer’s room. Saw some old friends and acquaintances that I see all the time at these events. They mostly travel the local convention circuit but some go around the nation doing these things.
I skimmed all the dealer booths to see what would be worth a return visit or three. I never buy the first day of the convention. Hate carrying stuff around and you never know what you might see that you like later.
I had some time to kill and took in the autograph booths. Mostly minor celebrities. Some recent and some from my childhood. They had varying expressions on their faces ranging from being bored at sitting around for the locals to gawk at, to nervous excitement at meeting people. Some chatted amicably with their fans for a good long time, others just scrawled a name on a picture or memento and sent the fan on after receiving the money.
I took in a sing along performance at the end of the first day. You truly get a sense of camaraderie when you sit in a room packed with strangers and do silly things and sing silly songs.
I spent most of the second day at the convention. Began with Tracy and Laura Hickman’s killer breakfast. Essentially an en masse Dungeons and dragons game where the Hickmans invent the most amusing way to kill you and humiliate you in front of everyone assembled.
After that something a bit more serious. Some writer’s workshops reflecting on building the backdrop to stories and how to edit and proofread your works. Some really good ideas there. More importantly for me some things to reflect on as I go through my pieces.
A book reading by a few authors there. Very compelling writing,
The final event was a fan made star wars movie. Stood in line for 45 minutes but it was so worth it.
Took my final turn round the dealer’s room and bought a couple minor items and took a last look round. All the people in costumes, the kids running round, the adults acting like kids, people really get into these things. And then there’s me. As always I feel slightly apart from it all. I still do yet here I feel more comfortable, I enjoy all the silly events, the costumes, the throngs of people, all the confusion.
I know that it’s all just pop culture nonsense and it’s not educational or improving me in any way but there’s more to life than those things. Stop some time, look around and you may notice that life is happening and passing you by.
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