MegaCon Fan Days 2015
(Orange County Convention Center): This year (November 21 & 22, 2015) was the first time that the Orlando “MegaCon” offset its normal annual 60,000+ attendee April event, with its new “Fan Days” experience, embarking upon a significantly more intimate format.
“Cons” are designed to bring out the inner sci-fi or pop-culture souls from its attendees. Guests travel from various parts of the country to attend these shows, typically donning ‘cosplay attire’ – outfits typically created from scratch by the attendee, in an effort to replicate the movie or TV show character they’re attending the convention as. Costumes can range in complexity from simply wearing clothes that color-coordinate with their favorite character, all the way up to costume-wearers to enlist the assistance of several other people in order to put on the outfit.
In my relative naivety to the convention scene, my observations have been that if several attendees arrived in the same outfit to a particular event, that most of the other convention-goers’ attention would gravitate to the person with the most elaborate costume. Conventions provide the outlet for many people to let out repressed geekiness and nerdish tendencies (neither of which is a negative thing), and allow attendees to be free to express themselves with others sharing similar interests. The problem I find with some of the larger cons is that this self-expression and inner desire to be received by others gets lost amongst the hundreds, or even thousands, of others wearing their costumes and although the fan might have had an otherwise wonderful time, they go home with a very subtle feeling of non-fulfillment as they essentially went home unnoticed by others from whom they may have been seeking a small amount of acceptance.
MegaCon is one of the top-attended conventions in the country with tens of thousands of attendees visiting the first day by lunchtime. In contrast, Fan Days was projecting a 2-day attendance of 15,000 prior to the event. For this reason, it was significantly easier to appreciate the detail of the cosplayer’s costumes. I had much more ample opportunity to ask to see more details about the costumes… to be able to actually see the level of intricate detail in one Rocketeer’s jetpack, for example, allowed that cosplayer the opportunity to speak about his efforts and challenges in building the suit (vs. the quick glance-over and ‘just keep moving’ they may have received at a more frenzied convention). It was far easier to navigate in between booths at this event and have an opportunity to sit down and talk with retailers and artists along Artist Alley (aisles showcasing the talent of local and nationally-recognized artists, from whom merchandise and works of art can be purchased).
I was also impressed by the accessibility to the celebrities. At other conventions, I have seen where celebrities are quarantined from the attending public, with queue line wait times in excess of 3 hours – to meet 1 celebrity! The level of interaction in those settings is extremely limited, and you’re lucky to say more than a sentence to the celebrity (even luckier if the celebrity says anything back to you). Fan Days was very special in that wait times were generally less than 30 minutes per actor / actress… lines were constantly present, but just not long waits which was very nice. As a result, I saw A LOT more celebrity interaction with their fans – I saw James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s ‘Spike’) dishing out hug after hug with his fans as he went to take photographs with them. When I went to take my photograph with John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones), he began to tickle me as we both smiled for my personal camera. When I met Karen Allen (Indiana Jones), we actually began talking about the Orlando Eye as she told me she was intrigued by it as she watched it from her hotel room. I could repeatedly see Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter series) making apparent personal connections with almost every fan waiting to see him, as he smiled and laughed with many of them.
Billy Boyd was extremely pleasant during his celebrity panel discussion, where he provided insights into his career and some behind-the-scenes detail and moments with the crowd. He was very popular, but that may have also been perpetuated by his phoning fellow Lord of the Rings co-stars in Europe during his discussion. I’m not sure if he was able to actually make contact, but it was pretty exciting for those of us in the audience to see him pull out his cell phone, dial another movie star’s phone number, and let us all listen to the voicemail greeting and the message he was leaving all overheard though the speakers overhead. Good stuff, Billy Boyd!
I was appreciative that food vendors were set up in the general hall, opposite the side of the room from where the celebrities were. There was a wide assortment of choices, and if you couldn’t find anything in here, there were still ample selection options outside of the main hall in the corridors of the convention center.
Hopefully, show organizers were able to get what they wanted out of this event and this can become the bi-annual divide to the MegaCon Spring event. For newbies to this ‘Con’ scene, I would strongly encourage them to get their feet wet and see all the components of a larger Con by attending Fan Days, but still have a wonderful, more personal, individualized, experience. For Con veterans, I would strongly contend that they need to attend Fan Days in the future as it is a far different experience than what they may normally get from a more populated Con. To its namesake’s credit, Fan Days is truly more about ‘The Fans’ and it was a great time for all.
“Cons” are designed to bring out the inner sci-fi or pop-culture souls from its attendees. Guests travel from various parts of the country to attend these shows, typically donning ‘cosplay attire’ – outfits typically created from scratch by the attendee, in an effort to replicate the movie or TV show character they’re attending the convention as. Costumes can range in complexity from simply wearing clothes that color-coordinate with their favorite character, all the way up to costume-wearers to enlist the assistance of several other people in order to put on the outfit.
In my relative naivety to the convention scene, my observations have been that if several attendees arrived in the same outfit to a particular event, that most of the other convention-goers’ attention would gravitate to the person with the most elaborate costume. Conventions provide the outlet for many people to let out repressed geekiness and nerdish tendencies (neither of which is a negative thing), and allow attendees to be free to express themselves with others sharing similar interests. The problem I find with some of the larger cons is that this self-expression and inner desire to be received by others gets lost amongst the hundreds, or even thousands, of others wearing their costumes and although the fan might have had an otherwise wonderful time, they go home with a very subtle feeling of non-fulfillment as they essentially went home unnoticed by others from whom they may have been seeking a small amount of acceptance.
MegaCon is one of the top-attended conventions in the country with tens of thousands of attendees visiting the first day by lunchtime. In contrast, Fan Days was projecting a 2-day attendance of 15,000 prior to the event. For this reason, it was significantly easier to appreciate the detail of the cosplayer’s costumes. I had much more ample opportunity to ask to see more details about the costumes… to be able to actually see the level of intricate detail in one Rocketeer’s jetpack, for example, allowed that cosplayer the opportunity to speak about his efforts and challenges in building the suit (vs. the quick glance-over and ‘just keep moving’ they may have received at a more frenzied convention). It was far easier to navigate in between booths at this event and have an opportunity to sit down and talk with retailers and artists along Artist Alley (aisles showcasing the talent of local and nationally-recognized artists, from whom merchandise and works of art can be purchased).
I was also impressed by the accessibility to the celebrities. At other conventions, I have seen where celebrities are quarantined from the attending public, with queue line wait times in excess of 3 hours – to meet 1 celebrity! The level of interaction in those settings is extremely limited, and you’re lucky to say more than a sentence to the celebrity (even luckier if the celebrity says anything back to you). Fan Days was very special in that wait times were generally less than 30 minutes per actor / actress… lines were constantly present, but just not long waits which was very nice. As a result, I saw A LOT more celebrity interaction with their fans – I saw James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s ‘Spike’) dishing out hug after hug with his fans as he went to take photographs with them. When I went to take my photograph with John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones), he began to tickle me as we both smiled for my personal camera. When I met Karen Allen (Indiana Jones), we actually began talking about the Orlando Eye as she told me she was intrigued by it as she watched it from her hotel room. I could repeatedly see Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter series) making apparent personal connections with almost every fan waiting to see him, as he smiled and laughed with many of them.
Billy Boyd was extremely pleasant during his celebrity panel discussion, where he provided insights into his career and some behind-the-scenes detail and moments with the crowd. He was very popular, but that may have also been perpetuated by his phoning fellow Lord of the Rings co-stars in Europe during his discussion. I’m not sure if he was able to actually make contact, but it was pretty exciting for those of us in the audience to see him pull out his cell phone, dial another movie star’s phone number, and let us all listen to the voicemail greeting and the message he was leaving all overheard though the speakers overhead. Good stuff, Billy Boyd!
I was appreciative that food vendors were set up in the general hall, opposite the side of the room from where the celebrities were. There was a wide assortment of choices, and if you couldn’t find anything in here, there were still ample selection options outside of the main hall in the corridors of the convention center.
Hopefully, show organizers were able to get what they wanted out of this event and this can become the bi-annual divide to the MegaCon Spring event. For newbies to this ‘Con’ scene, I would strongly encourage them to get their feet wet and see all the components of a larger Con by attending Fan Days, but still have a wonderful, more personal, individualized, experience. For Con veterans, I would strongly contend that they need to attend Fan Days in the future as it is a far different experience than what they may normally get from a more populated Con. To its namesake’s credit, Fan Days is truly more about ‘The Fans’ and it was a great time for all.
