Salt Lake Comic Con is in its 5th year this year. We've been to every single one. And each time Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg find ways to not only improve upon a good thing, but always bring quality content.
Unfortunately for us, this was the poor year. Well, we've never had a rich year but seems the finances were less tight around the time of the other years we've been to. So things like photo ops and autograph signings were not in the budget. But that really didn't matter because there was other things you could do that was included in with the price of the ticket.
We have a sort of tradition when we go to cons. Unless there is a panel or something else we can't miss, we take a stroll through Artist Alley first. You get a few bad apples in there (think - why would you pay money for a booth to embarrass yourself like that?) but for the most part, the art quality is amazing. My daughter is obsessed with finding as much chibi and anime art as she can find. Her big prize this year was finding the Tentacle Kitty booth and was estatic that she had the money to get one. Its cute in its weird way. It sort of went with her kitty cosplay theme.
A few artists that have done work for Magic: The Gathering were there also, and we admired it greatly. My husband's always happy to see SaberForge there and he appreciated that this year they were offering mystery boxes so that you could get yourself a nice looking saber for less than normal asking price. A new vendor I found there was Synthesis Studios, who made soap, lip balms and bath bombs. They had a fantasy theme to most of them and I was impressed to find out that she made most of the molds she used for her soaps herself. Sorry! I really was going to buy something we just had to leave at an awkward time. Probably next payday, you'll get an online order.
KidCon area was next. In years past we've had such a good time. But when we got there, there seemed almost nothing to do for the kids. Jingles the Unicorn was there and she's always a favorite with the kids. And they had a little race track for the kids to do races on, similar to the one they had at Game Con. But the princess tea party wasn't there and there seemed to be less games available to play. The story time area was empty most of the time. There was no visible schedule for it so parents didn't know when to bring the kids for story time. There was an author that tried to start a story time a little before we left. He and another staff member at the Con tried their best to round up an audience for him, but the poor guy only got to read to a handful of kids. I hope for the sake of KidCon that the powers that be focus on that part of the con as integral like they advertise it to be. Pleasing kids is super easy and it doesn't take much decoration or much money to get them involved. But it does take consistency and a little forethought to what kids like to do in order to not only engage them but help their parents encourage them.
Some things I'd like to see next year at the KidCon is:
* bring the princess tea party back. Kids of either gender absolutely loved the princesses, and the ladies were always so nice and welcoming.
* Change the layout - put big kid stuff in the back and the littles stuff in the front. Make sure that families aren't tripping over or having to run an obstacle course in order to get to the different sections. Include vendor space either within or just outside KidCon. You'll make parents happy not to have to search for kid friendly items, and you'll make vendors happy because they're easy to find.
* Post schedules! You wouldn't not post a schedule for the panels. You want people to show up for them. Same with events at the KidCon. Let parents know what is going on and when. Put it on the website and available for view on the app.
Maverick gasoline stations booth was heaven to my oldest son. They had a climbing wall! He not only enjoyed the climbing wall a ton, but was so excited to get the freebie backpack they gave him. Good job for thinking outside the box, Maverick. I'm sure my son wasn't the only one who enjoyed it since it seemed to be non-stop busy.
I was disappointed that I didn't get to go to more panels than I did. Seems that morning and the day before was a rush of unending things to do or be worried about. So much so that I didn't even take a serious look at the day's schedule until it was half way through the day. Brandon Mull's panels are always fun, with his stories and his goofy laugh. My daughter and I were excited to hear about some of his upcoming novels. It also reminded me that I hadn't finished a few of the other ones he had. Gotta get on it! The second panel we went to was a discussion on women in comics and movies and how their roles have evolved over the years. It was a great discussion in the modern equalizing in gender roles and that's always a positive conversation for my daughter to hear.
And lastly, a grand high five to the guys at Gaming Con. You should have seen my boys' eyes bug out of their head when they saw the console/computer set up near the entrance. Like earlier in the summer, the consoles and computers were available to play for free, as long as people took turns and played nice. It was a good distraction for them especially since they HATE shopping.
I'd say overall this year's Salt Lake Comic Con was pretty decent. There are things I would change or recommend to improve. However, our experience was, for the most, part fun. As always, they were able to bring in some pretty big names, and the stars had a good time here from some of the Tweets I've seen. A big thank you to all the volunteers! This con wouldn't run as smoothly if it wasn't for them.
Next up - continuing with my Veteran Mode Chapters with Jenna Ado on Wedneday, October 4th starting between 8:30 and 9pm MST. Join me in my channel at www. twitch.tv/scrappywheelz!
Also, a reminder - all bits and direct Paypal donations made to me on my Twitch channel go directly to my nephew's fund as he fights lymphatic cancer. For more information, or for a more direct way to donate to his fund, go to his YouCaring page - Team Gabe.
~~~ Scrappywheelz ~~~
A few artists that have done work for Magic: The Gathering were there also, and we admired it greatly. My husband's always happy to see SaberForge there and he appreciated that this year they were offering mystery boxes so that you could get yourself a nice looking saber for less than normal asking price. A new vendor I found there was Synthesis Studios, who made soap, lip balms and bath bombs. They had a fantasy theme to most of them and I was impressed to find out that she made most of the molds she used for her soaps herself. Sorry! I really was going to buy something we just had to leave at an awkward time. Probably next payday, you'll get an online order.
KidCon area was next. In years past we've had such a good time. But when we got there, there seemed almost nothing to do for the kids. Jingles the Unicorn was there and she's always a favorite with the kids. And they had a little race track for the kids to do races on, similar to the one they had at Game Con. But the princess tea party wasn't there and there seemed to be less games available to play. The story time area was empty most of the time. There was no visible schedule for it so parents didn't know when to bring the kids for story time. There was an author that tried to start a story time a little before we left. He and another staff member at the Con tried their best to round up an audience for him, but the poor guy only got to read to a handful of kids. I hope for the sake of KidCon that the powers that be focus on that part of the con as integral like they advertise it to be. Pleasing kids is super easy and it doesn't take much decoration or much money to get them involved. But it does take consistency and a little forethought to what kids like to do in order to not only engage them but help their parents encourage them.
Some things I'd like to see next year at the KidCon is:
* bring the princess tea party back. Kids of either gender absolutely loved the princesses, and the ladies were always so nice and welcoming.
* Change the layout - put big kid stuff in the back and the littles stuff in the front. Make sure that families aren't tripping over or having to run an obstacle course in order to get to the different sections. Include vendor space either within or just outside KidCon. You'll make parents happy not to have to search for kid friendly items, and you'll make vendors happy because they're easy to find.
* Post schedules! You wouldn't not post a schedule for the panels. You want people to show up for them. Same with events at the KidCon. Let parents know what is going on and when. Put it on the website and available for view on the app.
Maverick gasoline stations booth was heaven to my oldest son. They had a climbing wall! He not only enjoyed the climbing wall a ton, but was so excited to get the freebie backpack they gave him. Good job for thinking outside the box, Maverick. I'm sure my son wasn't the only one who enjoyed it since it seemed to be non-stop busy.
I was disappointed that I didn't get to go to more panels than I did. Seems that morning and the day before was a rush of unending things to do or be worried about. So much so that I didn't even take a serious look at the day's schedule until it was half way through the day. Brandon Mull's panels are always fun, with his stories and his goofy laugh. My daughter and I were excited to hear about some of his upcoming novels. It also reminded me that I hadn't finished a few of the other ones he had. Gotta get on it! The second panel we went to was a discussion on women in comics and movies and how their roles have evolved over the years. It was a great discussion in the modern equalizing in gender roles and that's always a positive conversation for my daughter to hear.
And lastly, a grand high five to the guys at Gaming Con. You should have seen my boys' eyes bug out of their head when they saw the console/computer set up near the entrance. Like earlier in the summer, the consoles and computers were available to play for free, as long as people took turns and played nice. It was a good distraction for them especially since they HATE shopping.
I'd say overall this year's Salt Lake Comic Con was pretty decent. There are things I would change or recommend to improve. However, our experience was, for the most, part fun. As always, they were able to bring in some pretty big names, and the stars had a good time here from some of the Tweets I've seen. A big thank you to all the volunteers! This con wouldn't run as smoothly if it wasn't for them.
Next up - continuing with my Veteran Mode Chapters with Jenna Ado on Wedneday, October 4th starting between 8:30 and 9pm MST. Join me in my channel at www. twitch.tv/scrappywheelz!
Also, a reminder - all bits and direct Paypal donations made to me on my Twitch channel go directly to my nephew's fund as he fights lymphatic cancer. For more information, or for a more direct way to donate to his fund, go to his YouCaring page - Team Gabe.
~~~ Scrappywheelz ~~~
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