For the past two summers, I’ve taken a few days out of my break to drive to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. During that time, I have become acquainted with the…unique carpet in the OCCC as well as have the experience of a lifetime.
GeekyCon (formerly known as LeakyCon) is one of many, many conventions out there that appeal to nerds and geeks like me. While I personally don’t have experience at any big Comic Cons, I believe that a vast majority of people who are fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to go to one do not regret it.
Being able to attend a con is really a once in a lifetime opportunity, even if you go more than once. Especially for people who have always felt a little outcast or like nobody they are around likes the same things they do, Cons can be an amazing place to meet people who enjoy nerding out over the same TV shows as you (no matter the fandom, there's an audience, heck I ran a panel last summer about TV crime shows and people actually came!).
Cons often also have lots of really cool guests and panels and signings. While not every con is San Diego Comic-Con where you can see the entire cast of "The Avengers," "Supernatural," and "X-Men"; your local Comic-Con probably has some pretty cool guests. Jewel Staite (Kaylee on "Firefly") was in Tampa last year at one and best selling author Veronica Roth was at GeekyCon, I know, I worked the line (more on those in a sec).
The worst thing about any convention is almost certainly the lines. At a smaller convention they’re a minor inconvenience, at somewhere like SDCC, they're a whole different beast; you can even follow the Hall H line for SDCC on Twitter. But if you do it right, even the lines aren’t that bad. You know you’re in line for something pretty fantastic like getting an autograph/photo op with your favorite actors or going to hear a panel discussion on something you’re really passionate about. Plus, you can always make friends in line. Last year, the girl behind me complimented me on my bag (which had hedgehogs on it) and she told me about her pet hedgehog named Martin Freeman and it was our turn to get our books signed before we knew it.
The cosplay at conventions is absolutely amazing. Last year I saw someone who was a literal five-headed dragon
. Even if you’re like me and don’t want to cosplay yourself, just seeing what some people are able to come up with and create is super cool (if it doesn’t make you feel bad about your complete lack of creativity, that is).Volunteering at conventions is another great way to experience a whole new thing. I worked at signing lines for some very popular authors last summer and let me tell you, while everyone was very respectful, the lines just seemed never ending. But I got to help make sure people met some of their favorite authors in a smooth and efficient manner and that was pretty freaking great.
If you can, go to a con (I personally recommend GeekyCon because it’s got a great, accepting and overall magical vibe). You can see nerds of all stripes and fandoms who want to be unironically enthusiastic about some of the same things that you like.
So go. Cosplay. Go to panels and signings. And make friends with some people to keep your sanity in those lines.
