Calgary Expo 2012 - We came, we saw, we Nerded Out!

Mrs Spiderman, Lady GyRox, Nyx Matia, and The Romanator

Holy crowds Batman! I'm going to start this post off with a little bit of a summary of the weekend and then go into my own experience. As I experienced some of what the news touched on, and some things are just more awesome for the media to even understand! :) I'm just smattering pictures that I took throughout the weekend up. There were so many more pictures, so check out the Flickr stream for more!

Who ya Gonna Call???

Everone with weapons wanted to pose with the Romanator!

Organizers of the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo anticipated 35,000 visitors over the three days of April 27-29, 2012.... By Friday night, the radios were announcing that the expectation jumped to 50,000. The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo is a Non Profit Organization which means that 90% of the people you see running around trying to help people are volunteers. Which means all you people that were standing there screaming at the volunteers, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Got talk to an organizer, or someone paid to listen to you complain... Don't yell at the kid who's just trying to make everyone happy!

Batman & Bane got 'arrested'

Now I'm going to talk about my problem. All articles point to the great and powerful "once in a lifetime" reunion of TNG being the SOLE REASON why people mobbed the event. The Calgary Herald went a little further to casually mention Stan Lee and perhaps Adam West were to 'blame' for the increased hype surrounding the event. Now let's go back to my post here. Where I mentioned MY reasons for going to Calgary Expo..... It's ok, you can go, I'll wait... Back yet? Awesome.

Was too excited to take one nice shot

That's where I mentioned EVERYONE ELSE who was attending... Which, dear reporters and 'analysts' means that many of those people that went to this year's Calgary Expo were there to see one of the hundreds of Guests and Artists participating in the event. Upcoming Main Rant Warning: I AM SICK OF THE LOCAL MEDIA COVERING THIS EVENT AS IF THERE IS NO ONE IN THIS CITY THAT IS INTERESTED IN ANYTHING BUT "NORMAL" STUFF. Stop acting surprised as to there being interest in the "comic expo". Educate yourself on our media before you go sounding all judgey in your articles and blogs. Thank you.

One of the most amazing Cosplays I've ever seen!

Back to my summary... So Saturday came around, and by noon, no one was leaving and everyone else was showing up... Which means that the fire marshals saw what was going on and shut the place down. No one in until their say so... Which resulted in many people getting locked out and/or going home. Sunday came around and those who got locked out were either really pissed off and didn't show up, or understanding enough that they patiently waited in line while the volunteers counted every.single.person that walked through the doors! Also, Sunday was when the heavy hitters were back to back in the largest panel room (The Corral). All in all, there were some great things that happened, there were some mishaps. I'm still pissed about it all being "all Trek all the time" because even the post interviews that are happening with major media outlets are still talking about which "Trek" person they can bring in next year (barf), but I actually enjoyed myself, and am actually planning on going back next year!

So let's start at the beginning and I can tell you about my personal experiences, the good, the bad, and the nerdy!
*********************************************************************************

Dejathoris & Mrs Spiderman (Fangbanger & Sookie)

Friday came around and I could barely contain myself. All I could think about was the Comic Expo. And I had to do grown up things like finalize my taxes and call the bank... Which is really difficult to do when all you want to do is behave like a 12 year old girl at a boy band concert. Dejathoris planned to take the last flight out possible to her beloved friend's wedding in Sask. In our last minute revelation, we decided to dress up as Sookie and a Fangbanger for the evening. We headed down to the Stampede grounds around 5pm. By the time we got there, we were parking on the other side of the lot, and trekking our way across the entire Stampede grounds to get inside. Doors only opened at 3, so it seemed like it was an indicator of how the weekend was going to turn out. Once we got inside, the Volunteers at registration were lovely enough to give me all my passes up front (I purchased Saturday only passes for GyRox and her family). That was a really great note. The sad note around this arrival was there were NO SIGNS

Spiderman Lego Art by Brickwares

outside telling me which way to go. So we actually entered the building on the complete wrong side and had to walk all the way around. That was the neg. Now I will know for next year, but I'm sure visitors might appreciate the heads up! Inside was a geeks sensory overload. The room we entered in first was the Autograph/Photo op section. All cement and temporary curtain walls all over the place. Some food vendors set up, with line ups as long as Adam West's Autograph line! Adam Baldwin came across as a real trouper, with stories of him being really courteous and friendly to all his visitors! We maneuvered as quickly as we could out of the main room and headed over to the vendors hall. To which we became completely numb with how much geekery was to be seen. Everywhere you turned there were either costumes, cosplay, photos, artistry, and hand made geek couture. It was breathtaking.              

Nyx Matia needed a picture to commemorate the wall of Tshirts!

     I think I walked around with the most stunned look on my face. Many of the other con-goers were just like me and there was a lot of bumping into each other because we really had no idea where we were heading! There weren't any panels that we really wanted to see so we were just taking it all in, getting the lay of land, if you will. We got tired pretty quickly and headed out and over to the Casino to have a cocktail and call it a day. Honestly, in retrospect, I think Friday tired me out the most! It took every effort to stay up and watch Fringe (so that I would be all caught up for the 11Am panel with John Noble and Jasika Nicole the next day!).

Danerys Cosplay. Had to tell her of our future plans!

Saturday morning, and I'm up bright and early to get ready. I wanted to get as much stuff done as possible before my newb cosplayers GyRox and her kids Nyx Matia and Romanator showed up. And I realized while I was getting ready, I've worn Indira three times now and have forgotten a to wear a bindi EACH TIME! So I quickly grabbed some gears and stuck them to my forehead with some eyelash glue. The crew arrived and I showed off their costumes to them. I'll do a seperate post on the work up of their Steampunk. We're just going to focus on the Con here. We got ready and headed down to the grounds at around 10am. We made a quick stop at the bank, to which we ended up walking into a bank dressed in full Steampunk Cosplay. I'm so glad I had others with me! I drove around on Sunday looking for a Tim's Drive Thru in normal clothes but wouldn't get out of my car because I already had my Weekend Pass on!

I may have missed the Reboot panel, but I'm glad I didn't miss this Hexadecimal Cosplay!

So take everything you read about Saturday's Calgary Expo with a grain of salt. Yes it was a little bit of a disaster, but they learned from it and will be better next year for it. Parking was a HOT.MESS. People were all trying to get into the main parking, and I just wanted to get into the overflow parking. People were not respecting the lines around the traffic lights which mean that only one or two cars were getting through in each direction.

Screenshot of Fringe Panel: John Noble & Jasika Nicole

GyRox was driving and I was sitting there in a PANIC because it was 20 after 10am and the Fringe panel starts at 11 and I wanted to get there, sit down and just relax before the show started! I can't believe GyRox didn't kick me out of her car. I was seriously annoying... All in all, we made it in on time because we neglected to follow traffic rules as well. Had we not, we probably would have missed the show. We RUN inside to make it into the arena and have 20 minutes before John Noble and Jasika Nicole hit the stage. This is what I've been waiting MONTHS for. And to make it even sweeter, Season 5, the final season of Fringe had just gotten green lit two days prior. So we got to be the fans that congratulated them on their success! It was so amazing seeing their rapport together and answering some of the fans questions. I couldn't think of anything intelligent to say so I just left it to the more professional fans and kept a goofy grin on my face the entire time. (I know it was a goofy grin because the fellow beside me asked a question and I saw myself on the main screen for a split second...)

Zelda Cosplay was everywhere but there was only one Midna!

After the Fringe panel, we ran all the way over to the Palomino halls to catch the Steampunk Culture panel. Now I didn't know this at the time, but the way we went was actually considered as "leaving the event" and then "re-entering the event". Had we done this one hour later, we might not have made it in again! (You'll hear that soon). The Steampunk panel was close to full and we were the last people allowed into the room. Throughout the panel, others were sneaking out to go wait in lines for other panels which gave us a little more breathing room. What I really appreciated about this panel was the fact that it taught Nyx Matia and Romanator a little more about what they were dressed up as and what the esthetic and culture of it is about. We left the panel when it was done and I left to go outside for a moment and BAM! The lockout story.

I didn't take my phone, or my purse I had nothing and I was locked out! I'm standing at the door asking the security guard to just TURN AROUND and yell at GyRox for me and he's yelling back at me about how the fire marshals have shut it down and how no one can come in. I'm trying to explain to him that my friend and her family are RIGHT BEHIND HIM and he's telling me to call them. I'm telling him that I can't call them BECAUSE THEY HAVE MY PHONE and he just looks dumbfounded. So to summarize, I'm not mad at the Volunteers. I'm mad at the rude security guard who obviously needs a lesson in manners. I get it, dude, I'm not the first person nor the last to question why you're not letting me back in, but you should be patient. If you didn't know this, that's part of your job. We're confused nerds, who are not used to being confused because we generally follow the rules pretty well. He also didn't need to loose his cool on the young woman beside me who lost her brother and was in tears at the thought of him being lost and alone. That was not cool.

Don't be fooled, he's really tiny and ADORABLE!

So GyRox being the doll that she is, comes to the door and brings me my phone after I explain to her the whole story. I wander to the main entrance to see if they are letting anyone in yet while the lineup grows and grows and grows. I notice that many if not most people in the lineup do not have their passes so I go in search for where the other pass holders are... They're crammed in the tiniest space possible. The entrance way. I stand near the back by the door just in case there's a stampede so that I can have easy access out. I have lovely chats with people around me and explain my costume away (also explaining that half my costume is actually inside the venue!). I try to text GyRox to let her know I'm OK and I realize, nothing's going through. I have no service! I ask my new friends around me, they don't have service! We've overloaded the very few towers we have in the city and now have no connectivity! BOOOOO. I don't know why this happened, I still don't have an answer.

This is as close as my broke @$$ got to James Marsters

The volunteers outside are looking hopeless and every time the door opens swarms of people rush the door only to have it shut back in the faces. Someone finally comes out and says that the Fire Marshals have allowed them to start letting people back in in groups of 100 every 15 minutes. Hooray! I missed the first group but got in with the second by teaming up with a lovely girl who had a photo op scheduled with Mr Adam Baldwin. Once we got in we were shaking and screaming and hugging. It was like you just won the lottery! There are a couple of Volunteers beside us laughing (kindly) at our excitement. And because everyone wasn't crammed together again, our phones started to work! Huzzah! After making our separate ways I catch up to GyRox and her kids to hear about their afternoon. We wander the floors and do a little browsing. I know by this point I've missed the panels I wanted to see because of my own stupidity in being locked out. I check out how much my autographs are going to cost and know that I can't afford anything. James Marsters and John Noble are beside each other. They're $30 a piece. Well then, I guess that's not happening. By 4pm we realize we're exhausted and we call it a day.

Had to send a pic to Guavious, he's been looking for Gargoyles!

Sunday! Through the evening, Calgary Expo is posting on Twitter their updates and recommendations. I miss the part about showing up at 8:30am if you want to see and 11am panel. However, I'm waiting in the parking lot which is significantly emptier waiting for Dejathoris to call me from the airport. What a trouper! She's getting dropped off at the Corral to spend the day! I came to the conclusion this weekend that I cannot dress myself in any of my costumes by myself. I wanted to wear Wonder Woman again, but I actually cannot put anything on alone. We meet up in the massive lineup outside the building, and we're herded along to the main entrance doors. We get inside and confirm that we missed the Futurama panel (curses!) so we go and get ourselves some food.

This  Stormtrooper Bride's detail is WIKKID

Wandering some more, I pass a door in the Palomino hall to my dismay. The Undergrads panel that I thought I missed was rescheduled! STUPID GIRL! Why did you not check the updated schedule!!! We sneak into the 501sts panel, which is a group of costumers that have specifications on membership. Has to be evil, has to be movie accurate, etc. etc. It was interesting seeing another costuming group presenting, especially with all their rules, because in our world, we don't really have rules... Except the fact that me and Dejathoris fight/bicker over lots and lots of details. We're able to stay in the room, rather than leave and come back in for Robert J Sawyer's panel. Another one that I missed the day before, but today's one is the one I really wanted to see. He's talking about Flash Forward and what it took to get it from Book to TV Series.

Here's where I go all FanGirl on you. He gets there early and says to the room: If you're brought books to sign I'm more than happy to" ZOOM I'm up and at the front with my Con booklet because again (STUPID! STUPID GIRL!) I didn't bring my books with me! To be fair, Dejathoris and I are planning on going to When Words Collide in August, which is when I was planning on bringing my books with me. In my mind this is how the conversation went:

Mrs Spiderman & Robert J Sawyer!

RJS: Hi! How are you today?
Me: I LOVE YOU!
RJS: Okay....?
Me: SIGN THIS PLEASE! (drooling)
RJS: Who should I make it out to?

Me: Uhhhhh.... I forgot my name

I may or may not be exaggerating. He was lovely enough to give me a picture though! AAAANNNNDDD he retweeted my tweet of him which kind of made me lose my mind later on in the day. After calming down when I'm back in my seat I pretty much looked like I'm mentally writing down every word he says. But to be

honest, Robert J Sawyer (who refers to himself as Rob Sawyer, which I could never do) is an AMAZING speaker. He really does capture his audience. One lovely, lovely tidbit he mentioned was that the WWW series might *might* be in the works to becoming a TV Series. I would lose my

$hit over that. I love that series more than anything.

Stan Lee at the Corral

 
Once his panel's done, we head over to the Corral to watch the three people I would never imagine watching back to back. Stan Lee, James Marsters, and Sir Patrick Stewart (pictures are in that order). Hearing Stan Lee talking  about how he comes up with character names, and talking about my nerd

James Marsters at the Corral

namesake was pretty epic. James Marsters performing in every accent possible, including the mythic "Cajun Spike" was faint worthy, and Sir Patrick Stewart was just... just... I can't think of anything... What I really appreciated in Sir Patrick Stewart's panel was that he didn't stick to TNG, he talked about HIS body of work. Which, as a non Trekkie, I really appreciated that. All in all, this was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I look forward to seeing the improvements in upcoming years, and I look forward to the announcement as to who will be participating next year!

Sit Patrick Stewart at the Corral