I survivied Salt Lake Comic Con----sort of

So, for the past few months I've been working behind the scenes with Salt Lake Comic Con and our booth. During the summer it wasn't that big of a problem because I didn't have anything else to focus on and so I got a ton done rather quickly. But there were snags. The people at SLCC wouldn't get back with us that easily. It took email after email after email to actually get an answer, and then the information still wasn't correct day of. There was disorganization all around (both with the organizers and with the volunteers) but at least we had our space.

THURSDAY

Photo by Jakob

This was our little booth space. It actually turned out rather nice. I wasn't able to go to set-up, but Jakob and Adam were there and they did a nice job. We ended up getting 2 more droids to fill in the back area. There were shelving units with fun stuff displayed. I think everyone had a great time looking at everything we had displayed. We did get a lot of questions about "is this for sale?". We had forgotten to make "Not For Sale" signs, so we ended up answering that question a lot.

Photo by Brooke Barnes

They all ended up doing a TV spot that afternoon. Jakob was at the Convention Center and Adam volunteered to go to the studio to do the spot there. Little did he know that he would end up mic'd and on air. They had arrested the General Manager earlier that day and then on air they arrested the Weatherman. It was all in good fun to promote our Jail and Bail.

Photo by Brooke Barnes

Thursday was a rush day for me. I had to teach then book it up to the convention center. I think the photo above is right after I had arrived. Dart and I are discussing something that was going to happen later that evening. . .

 We inducted Bryan Young as a Honorary Member of Rebel Legion during the Mayhew/Prouse panel. He was shocked and surprised, even though he did know it was coming; he just didn't know when.

 We did have the pleasure of meeting Chunga during that panel. He was in awe of the costumes and what we did. When I asked if he wouldn't mind getting a picture, he was thrilled that we would ask him.

FRIDAY
Again, Jakob and Adam made their way up in the morning and I had to go teach. Next year, I swear that I am going to try and get a couple days off so I can actually enjoy it and not be in that much of a rush. I was "pushed" into putting on a costume and working the booth that way. I really would have just liked to stay in normal clothing and go that way, but Jakob said it wasn't really a Con unless you dressed up, so there it was.

SATURDAY
Saturday was a NIGHTMARE!!! Remember how I said there was poor planning all around? Well, they continued selling tickets without having an accurate count of how many tickets they could sell and, well,  as you can tell by the two pictures below. . . it was CROWDED! At one point they actually had to shut down the building and have a 1-in-1-out policy. Lets just say that I didn't leave the building all day. 

Photo by Roger Taylor

Photo by Roger Taylor

We were able to take a couple of fun photos in the morning though. We had planned it to avoid the crowds later (and we are thankful that we did that!). Nic Bradbury was our photographer and I think they turned out rather nice.

Photo by Nic Bradbury

Photo by Nic Bradbury

 Of course you need to have the "kiss a wookie" moment.  =)

Photo by Ed Eliason

 Jakob has been bugging me for years to make this costume and wear it. So I got over my fear (which took 3 of my friends in the bathroom with me while I was changing to make sure I didn't chicken out) and I got in the Slave Leia. Probably never again. But I did it. Well, perhaps again when I am back in shape; only for Cons though and in a protective environment. . .like our Jail*n*Bail cage. I was happy to have Dart there as Chewie for me. He would actually make the people stand in front of him and I situated myself behind it there. That way we didn't run into any issues.

Photo by Nic Bradbury

 One of the BIGGEST highlights was the opportunity to meet and chat with the WETA staff!! Yes, the guy who designed all the swords and weaponry for the movies was there. Jakob was in geek heaven! Right before the picture we took above, Jakob had jokingly said "I'll let you hold my lightsaber if I can hold Orcrist." and they said "Sure, why not?" I wish I would have gotten the look on Jakob's face when they said yes. It was a stunned-wait-what? kind of look, followed by the little-kid-at-christmas walk, then a huge smile!

See? Told you he was happy.

Photo by Adam Argyle

David from WETA also stopped by our booth to check it all out and it was so cool that he was interested in the costumes and props that we had made. You would think that a professional prop maker would seem bored by what we could do, but he was fascinated with the droids and all the other items we had on display.

Photo by Adam Argyle

 After the Con finished and we put down our booth and got everything out, we decided to see if WETA would like any help putting their stuff down. To our surprise, they said yes, so we got to play with other items again and pack and help them get out. They say that it is about 10-12 hours to actually set-up and take-down each, and apparently we helped them with the little nit-picky things that tend to take the longest. Yes, I did end up taking some of that tape with me as a souvenir. 

OVERALL
Stress and lots of panic ensued during the event. It was tiring and I caught a pretty nasty head-cold which I hear a few people who went to the Con are battling. My shins, legs, and feet are still pretty sore. My back isn't any better. But I am happy that it is done and that it was a success. I'm just hoping that they learn from their mistakes and correct them for next year. And I will never do a Con again without a VENDER's pass. That thing got me in and around everything. It was gold!!

Photo by Nic Bradbury

And I had to get the photo with the TARDIS. If it's around, of course you have to!