by April
Laramey
Top 5 North
American Cons to Hit, According to Geek Girl April
There are so many great comic conventions
(aka ‘comic-cons’) out there that it’s hard to go wrong when planning your
convention season. But here’s our pick of top 5 from geek girl April, as well
as the Editor’s Choice for top #1.
Editor’s
Pick: Ottawa
Comiccon
Running for a couple years now, Ottawa's
Comiccon is a BIG event for a smallish city like O-town. The great guests bring
people in; the wide array of vendors keep people happy; the artist's alley give
people brushes with fame; and the workshops give people new info. It's a
non-stop geek fest, so be sure to save up your pennies because between photo
ops and geek paraphernalia, you'll need 'em.) -Jordan
Almost everyone is
familiar with the mother of all conventions, San Diego Comic-Con. Founded
in 1970, this con regularly attracts roughly 130,000 attendees. Aimed at
comics, anime, film, games, sci-fi and fantasy authors & more, this #1 con
in the world hosts roughly 600 events.
One of the many
events is the San Diego International Children’s Film Festival [link: http://www.sdkidsfilms.org/].
With a partnership of seven years, the festival usually takes place on the
Sunday of the Con, and includes panels, screenings and an awards ceremony,
making San Diego Comic-con a truly family affair.
NYCC is the East coast’s answer to the San Diego con
and boasts itself as being the “only one that takes place in the comic book,
publishing, media and licensing capital of the world — Gotham City.”
Stated as being New York City’s second largest event and drawing over 130,000
visitors, it was first held in 2006.
Despite some growth problems due to inexperience, it
has become the second most popular Con and at one time was host to the New York
Anime Festival. That festival has since been absorbed into the Con but
NYCC continues to expand its repertoire.
Finally
something closer to home! Fan Expo presumes to appeal to fans of Comics,
Sci-Fi, Horror, Anime, Gaming & Sports, 2014 will represent the 20th anniversary of this con.
But the best part is, they host a speed-dating
event! Fan Expo Speed Dating is hosted by 25dates.com [link: http://www.25dates.com/fan_expo/]
In fact in 2012 Toronto Fan Expo hosted their first wedding [link: http://torontoist.com/2012/08/love-amongst-the-jawas/]
Go big or go home? This is our closest home in the top five.
DragonCon (Atlanta, GA)
DragonCon was founded in 1987 by 6 men. Like all other cons
it has grown over the years to greet Ann McCaffrey, Gary Gygax, and has brought
in the Atlantic Comics Expo, and has won the bid to host the North American
Science Fiction Convention. Not to mention, who can resist the DragonCon
parade? Confetti!
Celebrating 25 years as of 2011, Atlanta welcomed all visitors to
DragonCon with welcome banners. They added puppetry and gaming streams.
Maybe not brilliant, but A for effort.
Okay, Geekgirlcon isn’t truly in the top 5 (yet), but for the
purposes of this blog it is definitely high on the list. How can we
resist a convention that celebrates the female geek?
“The first inkling of GeekGirlCon took
form at San Diego Comic-Con in 2010. Mixed into days of programming focused on
superheroes, blockbuster films, and popular television celebrities was a panel
called “Geek Girls Exist.” Despite this panel being scheduled at the same time
as the popular Scott Pilgrim panel, the room was packed. This panel dedicated
to female geeks and nerds motivated a huge audience to come together and
celebrate geek girls. Harnessing the momentum, these women and their supporters
connected via social media and started tossing ideas around. They began to
coalesce into an organization and a purpose.”
And here we are in Ottawa trying to continue harnessing that
momentum with Capital Geek Girls. We hope that with time, we’ll get to know
which cons are the most girl-friendly, too. (Over time, we hope they all will be equally so.)
Share your favourite cons below!
Despite her day job as a bureaucrat, April Laramey is a writer, dabbles in photography, spends too much time on the internet, and occasionally gets some exercise. Her favourite colour is green, she wants to work in a bookstore when she grows up, and when she dies she wants her tombstone to read "To Be Continued..." You can find out more about her and her writing at her webpage, facebook or twitter.
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