I don't think I'm going out on a limb here by saying this was my first and last corporate convention. It took place this weekend in a small part of the Pennsylvania Hotel in midtown Manhattan, running for seven hours on Friday and nine hours each yesterday & today. That in itself was kind of a novelty to me; I've been spoiled by cons that take over entire hotels and feature a plethora of con- and fan-run activities pretty much around the clock.
Unfortunately, less than ten seconds after walking in the door, I got a pretty negative impression. The staff with whom I interacted was an even mix of bored & rude, and merely bored. Thankfully, the exhibitors, dealers and artists I spoke with were pleasant, but then I think most of them do this kind of thing for more than just a paycheck.
One of my favourite parts of a con, the costumes, was limited almost entirely to a handful of vendors and some folks with a New York Star Wars fan group. I hope that if I'd stuck around for the costume contest I would have seen more, but I just wasn't motivated enough. I don't feel justified in bitching about that much, though, as I didn't dress for the occasion either. Nonetheless, I was sad not to see fans running around done up in wonderful, interesting creations. I'd guess that attendees who would otherwise costume for such an event (like myself) were dissuaded from doing so for a con with such short hours.
The "big name" stars in attendance (Hayden Panettiere and Kristen Bell, Claire and Elle on Heroes) were the biggest disappointment. Not the actors themselves, who are probably dandy people, but the con policy that disallowed even being in the room where they were holding court (segregated from the rest of the celebrity guests) unless you were shelling out dollars for a photo op and/or autograph. Just walking through and saying hello was verboten. Weak! Oh, and distastefully corporate.
However, it was not a total wash. I got to speak to Gigi Edgley (Chiana on Farscape) and she was very nice. She commented on one of my tattoos, which tickled me. I also saw (though didn't talk to) Suzie Plakson, who played Worf's hottie girlfriend K'Ehleyr on ST:TNG, and Melody Anderson, who was Dale Arden in Flash Gordon (1980). Unfortunately, Walter Koenig (Bester on Babylon 5 & Chekov on ST:TOS) was not about when I passed through, but that was okay, since I spoke to him when I was at DragonCon in '03 and I wouldn't have anything to say anyway.
The dealers' room was pretty much what one would expect at a con. There were about a bajillion comics for sale, as well as autographed photos and posters of stars from just about every movie & tv show ever made. This con emphasized art, so there were oodles of artists present hawking some pretty cool stuff. The art was focused more on comics than on general scifi/fantasy, so there were blessedly few unicorns and fairies, though still an abundance of dragons. Also, I got a couple of really cool t-shirts.
Though I'm glad I went just to see what it was like, from now on, I'm sticking to fan cons.
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1 comment:
This is Captain Zorikh. I work for the Big Apple Convention.
Thank you for posting your thoughts about the convention. I assure you, I take your opinions seriously. I looked over your blog and profile and realize that you are one of the people we run this convention to serve.
First off, this is not really a "corporate convention." True it is not a non-profit like San Diego or student-run like ICON, but it is not run by a large corporation like NYCC or the Wizard cons. It is run by people who love comics and related media. It was started 11 years ago and when no one else was running conventions in NYC (costs, hassle, unions, etc), we were holding 6 shows a year, and it has only grown over the years.
I am sorry you felt disappointments. This was the most ambitious convention we have ever held, and many of the near 8,000 attendees had a wonderful time.
It's true that not many of our attendees wear costumes all weekend long, but our costume contest had over 20 entries and is generally regarded as the most fun costume contest on the east coast.
The placement of Hayden and Kristen in a separate room was done to make room for the long lines we anticipated for them. I don't know of any policy that prevented someone from getting on that line even if they just wanted to say hello. We have received many, many reports from attendees who felt meeting Hayden and/or Kristen was a wonderful experience.
I would like to know what time you arrived and which staff members you found were bored and/or unpleasant.
We are proud of the fact that we have been able to hold so many conventions for so many years, with such a great diversity of guests, dealers, panels, films, and activities. I would like to know more about your convention experiences. Please contact me at thebigapplecon@yahoo.com
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