A few observations of my first convention. (Grand Rapids)

[Gaard]

OK, if you want to get technical, I drove down to Chicago in the early '80s for some type of convention. I couldn't even tell you which one.

 

I took(dragged) my 15-year-old son with me. He has zero interest in comics, but I think he was just kinda going along with the old man to make him happy.

 

Pros

- Everybody was very cheerful. I didn't encounter a single person who was less than cordial. You could tell that some of the girls would've rather have been elsewhere...but were there to accompany their boyfriends/husbands, but even they were trying desperately to smile. As far as everyone being pleasant to be around, I couldn't tell you if this was a 'comic people' thing, a 'midwest people' thing, or a 'people' thing in general.

 

- It was extremely easy/fast to get into the convention. Kudos to the employees. Not only were they very good at their jobs, they did it with a smile on their face. I've seen pictures of the long lines to get into other conventions and I really didn't want to stand in a line outside (it's not summer anymore). GR isn't really a big-time market - this, no doubt, contributed greatly to the lack of long lines.

 

- Although I knew very few of them, there were a lot of artists/celebrities. I'm sure a lot of people were very happy to talk with someone they admired.

 

- I was very happy to see that they had lots of room designated for people to 'chill'. For a guy of my age, this was a necessity.

 

Cons

- My biggest complaint...the aisles were too narrow. Maybe this is the norm for these types of events, but I found that unless you kept moving, you were impeding the flow of the crowd. I found that if you stopped to look through boxes that didn't have anyone in front of them you were all right, but if you stopped to wait for someone to leave you were in people's way. It was a nuisance every time the people in front of me stopped to talk to other people walking the other way & I'd have to find a place to 'merge' into the flow again.

 

- This was a bad time for GR to schedule construction. Of course, this was completely unavoidable, GR has construction going on downtown every day of the year. It was just a pain to have to cross the street, walk 100 feet, then cross back again. Again, completely beyond the organizers control.

 

- I'm not sure how wise it was to have food/drink for sale in the main convention area. I didn't partake, so maybe there was a "NO FOOD/DRINK BEYOND THIS POINT' sign, but having attended many non-comic events, I can tell you this isn't really followed/enforced. Maybe these types of events are different.

 

 

I also noticed A LOT of cosplay. However, it was sad that my son (who isn't into comics at all) knew more of the characters than me. WTH is Attack on Titan anyways.

 

All in all, it was a positive experience. One that I'll probably have again. It just wasn't an "out of this world!" experience.

 

Mike

 

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[Sqeggs]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

Was it a one-day show? Any idea of what total attendance might have been?

[Gaard]

3-day show...today is the last day. I'm sure it''l be on the local news - they might have the numbers.

[1Cool]

How was the selection of books? Buy anything?

[Gaard]

How was the selection of books? Buy anything?

 

I didn't really notice any 'big' books. There were wall books, of course, but they were more 'common' wall books.

 

I did stop at the ATM on the way there. I had every intention of picking some stuff up. But I didn't see any books for sale that I couldn't get cheaper somewhere else. When I was younger I would've bought something just so I could say that I bought something...those days are gone.

 

Mike

[jaybes]

How was the selection of books? Buy anything?

 

I've been attending this con since it started 3 years ago, and this year was by far the best. It's changed venues each time to accommodate growin crowds and increased popularity. This year I went Friday and it was the best time I've ever had at a con. I bought a TON of books at unreal prices. Even found a Daredevil 168 in the dollar bin!

 

Grand Rapids is extremely hospitable to the arts and art culture, it's a great place for a con and I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a noteworthy con for major artists/dealers in the next 5 years.