After my last convention experience, I was not in a hurry to attend any others. Just the thought of reliving any of that again made me not want to go. I actually passed on two conventions that were close by because they were in bigger cities and I figured they would be just as bad or worse. However, Cincinnati Comic Expo had been on my calendar for most of the year and it was a family outing this time. My wife’s best friend lives there so I knew I could go to the Con and she could get some much needed time with her bestie. There was no backing out of this one.
Now, I’m not a downtown type of guy. I don’t care for driving around in cities and only being able to go one way then missing a turn and having to go all the way around the block just to miss the same turn and do it all over again. So, how do you really aggravate a guy that already hates driving in a downtown area? Hold a massive Susan G Komen event downtown in the same area as the convention center. Now, I having nothing against Susan G Komen or any of the people that were there. God bless them and I hope they raised a ton of money, but I couldn’t drive 5 feet without having to stop for 30 people dressed in pink to cross the road. It was just like the opening of The Lion King when all those flamingoes take off and cover the entire screen. Pink is now a rage color for me.
I braced myself for lines as I walked into the convention center, but I was met with no lines at all! I was able to walk right up and purchase my ticket, get a wrist band and guide book, and off I go. The pink related stress I was feeling totally vanished and CCE2013 was starting off great.
When the first thing I see when I walk through the doors is the General Lee, well, I know that is a sign that things are going to be a-okay. That car….it just does something to me. Anyway, before this gets weird, it didn’t take me long to figure out that this convention had a different feel to it. It was laid out really well. I was able to walk around and there was plenty of room, even though there were lots of people. They also had lots of food, drink and even a Starbucks. The busiest food booth was Tom + Chee and they were making grilled cheese sandwiches as fast as they could. I’ve been to other conventions where you were lucky to find a vending machine so this was very welcome.
The celebrities were mixed in with everything else and they were out in front of their tables, sitting on the tables and really engaging their fans. It was a far cry from my last experience, but being honest, these weren’t the same level of celebrities either. It was just fun seeing the interaction and not just flying through an autograph line. Marina Sirtis was a flipping joy and I stalked her table just to see her talking to people. I had met her about 20 years ago at a Star Trek convention so I wasn’t planning on getting an autograph this time, but she was the highlight of the show for me. Her panel was great and she was funny, candid and it couldn’t have been more entertaining. She picked on some fans, but amazingly, she remembered their names even after talking for quite a while. She took a phone call from her husband in the middle and never missed a beat. She told some great stories about Star Trek: TNG, Gargoyles and NCIS. Some panels kind of drag on, but hers flew by and I left just adoring her more than I already did.
I spent most of the rest of the day going through back issues, talking to artists and other guests and taking cosplay photos. I also attended my first costume contest and, even thought it was fun, it wasn’t anything like you see on Heroes of Cosplay. All in all, it was a great event. Very well organized and incredibly laid back. It didn’t seem like anybody was stressing about anything while I was there and that is the sign of a well run event. Congrats go out to the organizers and I will definitely be back again next year.
Unfortunately, my luck outside the doors continued as I tried to leave. There was another event going on downtown and they had closed off quite a few streets that my GPS insisted I needed to go down. Hearing rerouting over and over replaced all the pink I saw earlier with red, but I eventually escaped. So, I loved the con, but I have nothing nice to say about Cincinnati. Perhaps I’ll stay in Kentucky and take a taxi next time. Or hitchhike. My legs are quite nice so I might be able to grab a ride by flashing these babies on the side of the road. And people think being a geek is easy.
Did you attend Cincinnati Comic Expo? What did you think? Did you attend any of the other panels or events? Leave a comment below and let me know!
