Convention Fans

I have some great convention news articles to share with you all this week. One of the big ones concerns Patrick Stewart, who is apparently hitting the convention circuit pretty hard between plays these days. In addition to a rant about Stewart, there are convention reports for New York Anime Festival, Kumoricon, and Pittsburgh Comic Con. I also have a link to a strange story about the collapse of GameuniCON, which involves a con man and a robbery. As always, if you have any convention news you’d like to share, feel free to send us an e-mail (dreadpiraterose[at]gmail[dot]com).

1. NYAF2009: Yoshiyuki Tomino Q&A Panel Report

New York Anime Festival (or NYAF for short), happened recently, and so the internet is starting to see a lot of convention reports cropping up. This link is all about the Q&A with Yoshiyuki Tomino, the “legendary father of the Mobile Suit Gundam anime series.” There is actually a complete transcript posted there, so it’s definitely worth bookmarking and taking some time out of your lunch break to read the whole thing.

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Hello convention fans! It’s time for the 21st installment of the Cons from A to Z series! As you know, I have been working with fellow con-goer Nathan Lilly, who is the man behind the Green Tentacles Convention Finder website, to bring you this informative series of articles.

If you want to find a convention that is near you, Nathan’s Con Finder website offers searches via zip code and content tags (such as “Twilight”), so it is easy to find a convention nearby that fits you, which is why he’s the best partner for this series. Together, Nathan and I will be bringing you “Cons from A to Z” which will go through the entire alphabet and highlight a handful of conventions for each letter. This is a great way to bring some attention to some of the more unique conventions out there. And the letter for today is “W”:

W is for Wizard World Philadelphia, World Fantasy Convention,
and World Horror Convention
courtesy of the Green Tentacles Convention Finder

Wizard World Philadelphia: www.wizardworld.com/home-pa.html
Jun 11th, 2010 - Jun 13th, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA 19107

This convention has posted dates for 2010, but there isn’t a lot of information up just yet. Guests for 2009 included Edward James Olmos and Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica, Peter Mayhew, Ray Park and Tom Kane from Star Wars, and Marina Sirtis of Star Trek, just to name a few. You can probably expect guests of a similar caliber for 2010. You can read a great comprehensive review of 2009 over at Imperial Holocron.

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Creation originally had a Star Trek convention scheduled for the weekend before Thanksgiving in Los Angeles. That convention has since been canceled. Below is the message posted on Creation Entertainment’s official website:

For many months we’ve been trying to develop a great guest line-up for this convention consisting of cast members from the new Star Trek movie. Unfortunately to date we have been unable to lock any of these guest contracts down and we do not want to present an event that would be less than what our audience expects of us. Therefore we have made the decision to postpone this convention until such time as we can successfully present some of the new Star Trek stars in Los Angeles. We do thank the loyal fans that have already signed up for this convention and offer the following options to them:

1) You can keep your same seat and transfer it up to our San Francisco Star Trek Convention (just announced) with Patrick Stewart at The Westin St. Francis Hotel. Your gold package would include Patrick’s in-person autograph as well as many other benefits. The dates are January 23 and 24, 2010. In order to transfer your same seat(s) we would need to hear from you by September 28, 2009. Please write to asponsor@creationent.com as soon as possible, but prior to the 28th.

2) You can have a refund, please write to asponsor@creationent.com

3) You can hold the same seat for the new event we are planning for LA on the original weekend (November 21-22). Though it is not Star Trek, it may be of a topic you are interested in, we will have more information soon!

We regret this inconvenience and hope you understand.
Sincerely,
Creation Entertainment

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Halloween is about a month away, which means a half dozen Halloween stores have probably sprung up in your neighborhood. If you have always wanted to wear a costume to a convention, but lack the sewing skills or money to have something amazing, picking up a pre-made costume from the local Halloween store can be pretty tempting. However, some hardcore cosplayers look down on Halloween costume cosplayers. They think you should find a way to make a costume yourself, or not bother.

There’s also a concern that someone may enter a costume contest with a costume they didn’t make themselves. Clearly there are several pros and cons to picking up a pre-made Halloween costume and wearing it to a convention, and here at Convention Fans we’ve put them into a nice little list so you can make an informed decision.

The Pros of Wearing a Halloween Costume to a Fandom Convention

1. There are numerous officially licensed Halloween costumes from the big fandoms, including Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Watchmen, Pirates of the Caribbean, and various anime series like Naruto. You can easily find costumes for the specific character your looking for, and it will (usually) closely resemble the original. Basically, you can buy everything you need in one bag, and people should recognize your character instantly.

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