Wisconsin Comic Con…What can I say about this convention?
I can say I liked it from the moment I walked through the convention center doors. The convention center felt more like a hotel than the expected prettied-up, huge warehouse that many convention centers have. There were plenty of fully-carpeted lounging spaces, and a food court with ample seating set up in one of the ballrooms. There was clear signage and people to help point you in the direction you wanted to go, if you are a bit like me and the signs weren’t enough because I was too distracted looking at everything like a kid at the zoo.
The main convention floor was on the third floor while many of the other things were on the first. So there was that whole “Hmm, what’s on the second floor” thing going on for me. The way the artist areas and the vendors tables were set up allowed a nice flow through the convention. It didn’t have that “cramped people pushing past people just to see anything” confinement to it. They had the autograph/celebrity area at the far end of the floor and the photo ops area at the other end of the floor making things move along nicely. There was also a decent amount of well-known celebs here with pretty short lines to go up and meet them. Ray Park’s line seemed to be the longest and I overheard one patron say they were in line for an hour.
Then there was the staff and patrons, as well as cosplayers; I can’t say I had a single bad experience with any of them. Everyone was friendly and outgoing. Myself, I cosplayed Master Roshi for Saturday and was impressed by the amount of fans running up to get their pictures with the surly old guy. My sidekick on Saturday was Ravager Baby Groot and the kids loved him. One little girl especially took a liking to him and would hug him nearly every time she saw him.
I would also like to make a shout out here to Rob Fury and the Age of Geeks for a nice job on running the costume contest and hosting a number of panels. Keep up the good work! If any of you have ever met Rob, you know he is the guy who makes the Energizer Bunny seem like it needs a change of batteries.
Downside of the convention: it was poorly advertised, which kept the attendance lower than one would think it should be for a convention of its size. We all know what that means – poor turnout could lead to the death of the con and I for one would love to see this one continue. Overall for my money I had a very enjoyable convention experience.
