Photo by John Ethridge |
The con was arranged by the awesome people of Southern Geek, spearheaded by Rafe White and Tim Nicholas. With an awesome crew of volunteers they did a wonderful job of making this convention run very well. I know there were many times it didn't feel that way to Rafe as he was on the run non-stop.
The convention had everything you could hope for! A huge list of celebrities for autographs, amazing cosplayers from casual to pro, astounding artists, talented authors, a board gaming section, and vendors of geek paraphernalia. TEAAM for autism was there with their amazing Doctor Who Dalek laser game and a couple of cool TARDIS boxes for photos. ECTO1 from Ghostbusters was there as well as the awesome car from Supernaturnal.
Hangin with Discount Dark Knight and Capn Murica |
Amazing people. That's what made this convention so special. I met people that I had only known online up to this point. Yes, that's something that I've done before, but this was the best meetup I had ever known by far. Southern Geek is a truly fantastic group of people. Everyone was friendly and glad to be there. Someone was always stopping by just to see how we were doing. The camaraderie was at factor 11. That doesn't even include the great people who came to see my board game or books. I had some wonderful discussions with people about my brand and everything in it. I'm still stoked today after this incredible weekend.
I was also on a panel for autism at conventions and it was such an honor to be involved. We discussed autism friendly environments, how to help someone who is being overwhelmed, and creativity in autism. Everyone on the panel had very educational information. Just one more great experience to add to the weekend.
Since this was a first time for me running a table (for my wife as well), I was a bit nervous. It went so smoothly, that I don't think I could have had a better first time experience if I tried.
For us, our convention fuse is lit. Now to figure out what we will do next!