As you may or may not know, Silversword and I were at Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo last week. I say may not, because one thing we discovered was that people don’t read the newsposts; we actually ran into EN readers there who had no idea we’d be present. So we’re going to be working on our communication over the next little while. First up: comments system, now live.

It was my first con, and Silv’s first of that size and scope, so we didn’t really know what to expect. I mean, it was busy, but that’s what happens at cons, right? Well by all accounts it was crazy busy compared to previous years. Probably something to do with hosting the first full Star Trek TNG reunion since the show ended, and (reportedly) Stan Lee’s last appearance before retiring from the con circuit. Might be a factor. Organisation was a bit of clusterfuck, and I really hope they are better prepared for the descent of the nerdswarm next year.

My personal specialist geek subject is cartoons and animation, so I was mostly there for the voice actors. We got a Batman TAS DVD signed by Adam West (no, not his series, but he did mentor Kevin Conroy’s Batman in one episode, in the guise of the Gray Ghost), a Futurama volume signed by Billy West and John DiMaggio, and a Drawn Together DVD signed by Tara Strong. I like to imagine she was glad of the break from MLP stuff, because the Bronies were out in force. I mean I like the show too, much love for the Herd, but maybe tone it down a notch, guys.

Speaking of Miss Strong, my girlfriend I and shared an elevator with her in the hotel on Saturday night. We were on our way to the pool facilities, I didn’t have my glasses on, and I wasn’t 100% sure it was her. I wussed out on saying anything, and spent the rest of the evening wondering. The following morning, Silv and I ran into her in lobby. This time I spoke to her, confirmed it was her in the lift, and may have slightly fanboyed her out, but it’s hard to tell. And then as her party got up and backed slowly away, I noticed Billy West had been sitting there too. Your mirrored shades almost fooled me, Billy West!

Sadly, we didn’t manage to catch any of the voice acting panels (except for the last couple minutes of a Futurama panel) because I bet those would have been a blast. The only panel we managed to hit was Wil Wheaton, and he was entertaining. But must try harder next year.

Let’s start the shoutouts with a big one to Ash of PixelatedToaster.com. We were in the webcomics section, trading cards and flyers with the other sequential art types, and this one girl suddenly got very excited. And then we got excited too, and it was all very exciting. I’m sorry my signature was so messy, but you were the first EN reader we’d met in the wild and it pretty much confused the heck out of us. We’ll be in touch, and maybe get a booth by you guys next year!

I also want to say hello and thanks to readers Jessica (really hope you got through the lineups to see Stan Lee!), Colin in the Tara Strong line, and Keith, who kept us company in the Billy West line waiting for John DiMaggio to arrive. And also to brand new reader Samantha (and her friend, I wanna say, Amanda? Sorry if I remembered that wrong!) from the Wil Wheaton panel.




Other friendly webcomic folks we met included:

The Aversion Bureau (slightly weirded out by the aforementioned hubbub at the Pixelated Toaster booth next to them)
Los Muertos Ink (boothmates with Pixelated Toaster)
Wasted Talent (whom Silv only recognised after having passed by two or three times, whereupon he promptly bought a pair of books)
Little Vampires
Teach English In Japan
We neglected to swing by Weregeek, which was a shame, since they’re apparently my neighbours here in Edmonton.

Then there were the big kids, like Blind Ferret, Sam and Fuzzy, and Questionable Content, who don’t need our measly links, and whom we were mostly scared to approach. Because insecurity. And also not actually being a reader of any of them.

All in all, fun times. And it’s filled us with renewed excitement about Exterminatus Now going forward.

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