I've wanted to go to a ComicCon type event ever since I was aware that they existed. I had never been able to for many reasons that ultimately boil down to not being able to afford it combined with being way behind the curve as far as when the events were and when tickets went on sale. That all changed last week, as I went to WonderCon in Los Angeles on the three-day pass. To say I enjoyed it would be drastically underestimating the experience. I wasn't sure if I'd really have fun there beforehand, but I wanted to have that experience. Turns out that I had a ton of fun in a variety of different ways, not the least of which is that the event is basically a ton of creative people who are actively making stuff all congregating for a weekend to share their creative work and talk about creativity and pop culture. That's awesome and very inspiring to me.
And by "making stuff," I mean pretty much every type of creativity imaginable. From the cosplayers who put a lot of time and energy into assembling their outfits to novelists, comic book artists, screen writers, showrunners, wrestlers, actors, indie producers and others I'm not even remembering at the moment. The weekend was more than a chance to check out cool exhibits and pick up some fun souvenirs, though it certainly was that as well. It was a chance to stop, take a breath and enjoy all this creativity as a reminder of why I do what I do and live the life I live. I needed that brief time of getting out of my own head and just enjoying something. That's really important sometimes.
It was also a learning experience, as I made good use of the available panels to sit in with creatives from various industries to hear and talk about everything from crowdfunding to marketing strategy to finding creative inspiration. Waiting in line was never a big deal, because everyone was open to chatting and "Batman vs Superman" was a hot topic of conversation since it had just opened the previous Thursday night. It felt like a judgement-free zone where anyone could come and celebrate whatever the thing is that they loved without anyone throwing shade their way, and that's awesome. That spirit of acceptance is something the world definitely could use more of.
All the workers were friendly too, though none of them really knew anything about anything. Asking questions about any topic outside of where a particular room was located was bound to get you a blank stare and a shrug, which got a little frustrating at times. There were organizational problems, as they put RFID chips in the passes for the first time (I believe), and we had to scan in and out of locations. My card stopped working on the first day, as did many, and I was told I couldn't go anywhere else until it was fixed. That wasted about an hour. There were definitely snafus, but as an overall experience, I can't complain.
I left the convention a little early on Friday to go to Kawehi's concert in Hollywood, who is another artist I really admire and someone I really like as a person. It was a great show and it was fun catching up with her afterward, adding another special spark to a weekend that would be full of them. Then my latest "General Hospital" episode aired on Tuesday, which was cool to see. It's been a crazy week in a really good way. The Con experience is definitely something I'd love to do again next year when WonderCon returns to Anaheim. It's a longer drive, but I could still commute without having to deal with hotel costs.
Check one off the To-Do list. ;-) I still need to go skydiving, but that's a journey for another day.