Most people these days are familiar with Comic Conventions (or "Cons") due to the popularity and celebrity appeal of the large San Diego Comic Con that happens every year. What many people don’t know is that there are many different types of conventions themed around different popular culture interests, and they happen all over the country all through the year!
Michigan is lucky to have a few of these conventions for fans to attend. One of our best-known cons is Motor City Comic Con that has been running since 1989, and gets bigger every spring! Another immersive convention-like event that is quite popular in Michigan is the Michigan Renaissance Festival, which I talked about last week here. While these two events are definitely some of Michigan’s most popular, there are a TON of smaller events and conventions that still draw a pretty good crowd.
Are you missing out on awesome day and weekend events just because you haven’t heard of them? Well fret no more! I’m going to do some reviews of local conventions that take place in and around Metro Detroit, so you can know which “entry” and “mid” level conventions really take the cake here in Michigan! If you would like to know about the events and cons before they happen so that you can join in on the fun, make sure to check out MI Geek Scene for their extensive calendar, photos, interviews, and more surrounding the (did you guess it?) local Michigan Geek Scene!
I’ll start out with a recent event, MeggaXP 2016, which took place at the Jackson Commonwealth Commerce Center this past September 17th and 18th!
Here’s a little history: MeggaXP is the 2nd year incarnation of Meggacon, put on by Jackson-area James and Cassandra Seagraves. They had the vision to start up a convention for locals in the central Michigan area, which of course would be open to anyone who would be interested in making the drive. Their first year event finished with a smash, as they had an attendance of over 2,000 people who loved their one-day experience! Since Meggacon was such a hit, they followed up with MeggaXP, this time making it a 2-day event that encompassed 4 floors of the Jackson Commonwealth Center and offered many, many more rooms of fun for con attendees!
While this list is by no means all-inclusive, some of the rooms that I had a chance to stop in on are as follows:
MeggaRoom and Artist’s Alley:
First and foremost, here’s my full disclosure: my company, Wholihan’s Wares, were lucky enough to be vendors at MeggaXP 2016. So of course, my bias lies within the vendor room, and the blast that my husband and I had for the weekend even though we were most definitely working! While sometimes being stuck in the vendor room feels like a tease since everyone is telling you all about the other amazing rooms of the convention, the MeggaRoom itself was great this year! We got to see the parades of hundreds of amazing cosplayers (*people dressed in costumes, for those not in the know) come by our booth. We also were able to observe and participate in vendor fun, which included singing along to pop songs at the top of our lungs, dressing in our own cosplays, and sneaking photos of the parades of cosplayers previously mentioned.
The MeggaRoom also holds the tables of the celebrities that make appearances at the convention, so vendors get to see the gaggles of fans that are super pumped to meet some of their heroes. This year, the celebrity list was topped with Efren Ramirez (Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite), Larry Thomas (best known as the guy who yelled “no soup for you!” on Seinfeld), and Mark Bagley (a comic book icon who has work that includes Justice League, Ultimate Spiderman, Mighty Avengers, and so much more!).
RPG Room
The RPG (Role Playing Game) Room was a place where con attendees could get together and play different tabletop role playing games. The list of possible games to play seemed never ending, and every time that I stopped into the room I saw multiple tables of family, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers playing a multitude of different games. The RPG Room also hosted tournaments for attendees to participate in, including Magic The Gathering, Heroclix, Dice Masters, and Force of Will. There were also sessions of instruction on how to learn different RPG games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. Someone could have spent their entire weekend in the RPG Room with all of the amazing games that were offered!
Kid’s Con Room
MeggaXP 2016 also boasted of a kids room this year! While many of the events offered were child friendly, this room was dedicated to the younger convention attendees. My brief drop in showed coloring and art areas for the youngins, and video game set-ups that were age appropriate.
Video Game Room
Speaking of videogames, there were a TON that you could play and look into at MeggaXP! The video game areas that I had a chance to check out included the tournament room, where there were tournaments ranging from Super Mario Kart to Mortal Kombat. The second room I stopped into was the video game challenges room, where you could play for the high score on multiple different games from Sonic the Hedgehog to Call of Duty. MeggaXP made sure that there were games that cross all genres for everyone to enjoy!
Poke-Zone
The Poke-Zone was a hopping room this year, where you could find out how the game has evolved over the many years that it has been around. There were also TVs and game consoles for people to play Pokemon video games, and there were Pokemon card game tournaments as well! Every time I stopped by the Poke-Zone, it was packed with con attendees having a blast.
Collector’s Haven
Another great room to check out this year was the Collector’s Haven. The Collector’s Haven was an entire BALLROOM filled with collectible comics and toys that had everyone drooling! While many conventions these days aren’t making comics their main focus (because there are so many other pop culture and fandoms to focus on!), MeggaXP made sure that comics were still a central point for all of those in attendance who love print and collecting everything that they can surrounding it!
Cosplay Contests
One of the highlights of any pop culture convention is definitely the cosplay! For many different conventions, people will work tirelessly on the costumes that they plan on wearing. Sure, there are many people who don’t come in cosplay (it’s definitely not required!). There are also people who come in store-purchased costumes, which is also 100% awesome! The handmade cosplays always seem to be the cream of the crop, though, and there are contests to reward all of that hard work at MeggaXP. The contests are divided into Adult and Kid divisions, and they are judged by people who are experienced in the field – this year the contests were judged by the likes of Sweets4aSweet, Victory, and Scream Queen Cosplay.
Other Events at MeggaXP
One of the other great things about MeggaXP were the events leading up to and during the convention. Friday night there was a concert pre-party where convention-themed artists played (2d6 and Wesley and the Crushers). The Saturday night of the convention there was a Cosplay Ball where Clone Bobalon from Wesley and the Crushers was the Dj. The MeggaRoom also included an EpIQ Escapes room where contestants work together to solve puzzles and escape the room before time ran out.
Overall, it is pretty obvious that MeggaXP 2016 had a little bit of something for everyone, and I didn’t even talk about it all! One of the best parts of the convention is that even though it includes so much, the ticket prices were ridiculously affordable! While other conventions might burn up your pocketbook, MEGGAXP was only $20 for a full weekend adult pass. While there hasn’t been an official announcement yet, everyone is hoping for another MeggaCon in 2017. Remember, if you’re interested in attending any other amazing local conventions, the calendar at MI Geek Scene is the best way to stay updated!
