Convention in Dallas
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.
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