Ramblings of a Crazy Girl

I’ve been asked several times what it was like at the Calgary Expo this past weekend. I don’t know how to sum it up, especially on twitter where I have barely enough letters to sneeze properly, so I thought I’d maybe attempt to share my experiences and what I learned here.

The Calgary Expo is the second largest Comic/Entertainment Expo in Canada. This years guest list did not disappoint. They included:

Wil Wheaton - Star Trek Next Gen
Eliza Dushku - Buffy/Dollhouse
Richard Dean Anderson MacGyver/SGU Stargate
Misha Collins - Supernatural
Mark Sheppard - Supernatural
Nathan Fillion - Firefly/Serenity/Castle
John Barrowman - Torchwood
Gareth David-Lloyd - Torchwood
Eve Myles - Torchwood
Ian McDiarmid - Star Wars
Cary Elwes - Princess Bride
John Rhys-Davies - Raiders of the Lost Arc
Carrie Fisher - Star Wars
Peter Dinklage - Game of Thrones
Lena Headey - Game of Thrones
Gillian Anderson - X Files
Mitch Pileggi - X Files
Michael Biehn - The Terminator
Linda Hamilton - The Terminator
Peter Kent - Terminator 2
Robert Patrick - Terminator 2
Dina Meyer - Starship Troopers
Casper Van Dien - Starship Troopers
Steven Yeun - The Walking Dead
Sean Patrick Flanery - Boondock Saints
Norman Reedus - Boondock Saints/Walking Dead
Chris Sarandon - The Princess Bride
Lexa Doig - Andromeda
Stan Lee - LEGEND

I’ve missed several folks but this list tells you of the calibre of guests they had this year.

OVERALL, our experience was amazing. If you took away this list of guests, there was still shopping!! The level of artists was awesome. I bought several copies of art that I absolutely love. We had one of our favorite artists of all time sign some of his work and he was gracious, funny (and I mean FUNNY) and engaging, spending several moments with us.

I won’t bore you all with the things that, in our opinion, went wrong because they were specific to this convention, but I will give you all some tips if you are ever thinking of attending one.

1. Be prepared for long line ups

2. Be prepared to walk. When you’re done walking, be prepared to walk more.

3. Be patient. There is a lot of cosplay and folks will stop suddenly for pictures. The line ups can get tedious. Lots of folks have no concept of anything other than their own little bubble which can be frustrating. Just be patient and remember the fun and excitement you have had so far.

4. It’s expensive - or it’s not. Truly. 3 day passes for the weekend, photo ops, art, comics, t-shirts, lunch for two days and -coughs- companion cube set us back about $800. Autographs can be SUPER expensive BUT, the panels and walking around the convention is all covered in the cost of your tickets so if you want to spend no more than that, or can’t afford to, there’s still plenty for you to do.

5. If you have a chance to meet Wil Wheaton - do so. He is likely the most amazing human being I’ve ever met.

6. If you have a chance to meet Nathan Fillion - do so. He can make my heart flutter and bring me to tears from excitement.

7. If you have a chance to meet Peter Dinklage - do so. He is just as awesome in real life as his character is on GoT.

8. Take in everything…and everyone. There were 60,000 people - all assembled under one roof - that shared the same passions and geekiness that I do. Alternately, there were things I learned and geekiness I had yet to discover. All of it was awesome.

9. In relation to #2 - wear comfy shoes.

10. Have fun.