#conpollster

[gamerfoodbytes]

Comic-con retrospective

Hello one and all!

So, now that a week has passed, the dust and swag from a just a week ago has settled and we have placed another New York Comic Con behind us. But that doesn’t mean things are over here on the net. I for one, now that I have had time to get things sorted, edited, and safely stored in portfolios and frames; now want to bring my experiences to the screen.

To make sure I cover everything but to not bore everyone with walls of text I will be attempting to split this this into several articles!

But where to begin, after all, comic con is one huge nexus of culture, art, and costumes! One that, even with four days to experience, you still feel like you didn’t see and do everything that it has to offer.  Even after I go year after year I still feel like there is more to see and do than I ever have time for. 

I have found though even with everything to see and do I still have an amazing time, especially since I have become the con pollster.

Now I know some people have come here for their pictures and may be wondering “ What does he mean by Con Pollster?” Allow me to explain.

Several years ago I had an idea to bring a wipe board with me to a convention, PAX East to be specific, to post random quotes or things on throughout the day because I thought it would be fun and/or funny depending on what I wrote. During the weekend I had put a poll on the board and the response to it was INSANE! People loved to pick a side and bring their friends over to vote as well or rag on the one friend who didn’t pick what everyone else did in good nature. It went to show me people do enjoy sharing an opinion and a new way to have fun at a con and interact with a ton of people I would have just walked by otherwise!

Fast forward to this year at NYCC I have tried to make this the real beginning of my Con Pollster experience. I had polls planned out, business cards, and a better idea of how to get things going. I will write more on the history of this this later because right now its time to talk about NYCC 2017.

I think the first thing I have to mention is how impressed I was at the speed security and staff got people through the gates this year. After all its the first thing everyone experiences when they come though comic-con.

More often than not when I have to go through security at a con it is a chore. Its an unorganized choke point that leads to a negative first impression that gets people upset at the start of everything. This year though at comic con they had everything down pat and aside from a long walk down and around a block the long way to get into the Javits they had people through in maybe five minutes, ten max. A huge thumbs up for that.

I have to admit, with NYCC in not much of a panels person or a signing person. I spend all of my time with the show floor and artist alley. Partially because its how I find the most exposure for Con Pollster related things, but also inpart because its how my interests lie. But how we spend our time at con is what can make a con so great! There is never one “correct” way of doing things. There are so many ways to experience con and make it your own. Mine happens to lie walking around talking to people about polls and meandering down the lanes of artist alley, picking up prints and talking to some incredibly talented people.

I think one of the first things I want to talk about is the crowd at comic-con and holy crap can it get crowded there in the Javits. 

If anyone ever tells you its easy to get through a crowd at a con…..they are a bloody liar. It can be a royal pain in the butt to get through the mass of people at comic-con at any given moment. From momentary chokes for cosplay photos to just people crowding a booth with some kick ass collectables or artwork. It becomes an artwork learning how to navigate the sea of bodies. I honestly can say though that I was surprised Sunday was the worst day for movement versus any other day I was there at con this year. Granted NYCC this year did daily passes only rather than 3 and 4 day group passes which could lead to people picking up Sundays rather than any of the other days available but still! Usually Sunday is a quieter day due to the last day and people partying themselves out on Saturday.

As tedious as wading through the crowd can be though, its the crowd itself that makes con so fun. Not only for all the cool costumes or clothing you can run into, but for me its the fact each and every person is someone to interact with and let them enjoy one of my polls.

Every day thousands of people come through the show floor, panel halls, artist alley, and the outside satellite events. Its really awesome to think that so many people come together for four days to celebrate their favorite fandom and characters.

I saw so many different people, styles, families, and groups wandering by I could probably devote an entire article to the diversity of the con! But I think I’m going to just stick to my reflections for now.

The show floor though…holy cow was that an experience this year!

So many different booths and things to see around the floor. Comics, collectables, art, jewelry, new video games, and televisions shows all crammed into two giant hall rooms!

I think one of the most fun booths was the welovefine booth and their giant inflatable pug they had hovering overhead.

But flying pugs aside they had some really awesome shirts and stuff for sale. I always like picking something up from them whenever I see them at a show. This year however they had something really special at their booth, Stanley “artgerm” Lau!

A sample of his amazing artwork. Photo taken from artgerms twitter here

Instead of a booth on the alley he was on the main floor selling his prints, art books, and the shirts that his art was printed on in collaboration with the company which was awesome! I own one of the spider gwen shirts and not only is it nice to look at but its comfortable as well.

There was a booth that really caught my eye selling a ton of cool patches that were comic and gaming themed. They had everything from Destiny, Shield, and Warhammer 40k, to Harry Potter and Alf themed ones!

Their card and some samples of their wares in the background

I had a fun time checking out a lot of the different comic companies boothes. Dark Horse, IDW, Marvel, DC, and independent companies or people as well. Everyone put on a great booth with great titles to pick up there and in the future at a local comic store.

My personal favorite was zenescope out of all the major comic booths. Yes yes I know many people will call me out for liking them just for the sexy cover girls and artwork they have but in all honesty their work is more than pin-up cover deep. Great writers and story lines have kept the company and their comics going for years. You don’t get to keep making comics year after year if all you have is great cover art talent. Granted they do have great cover artists like Mike Debalfo, Dawn McTeague, Sabine Rich, Elias Chatzoudis, Billy Tucci, , and many others. But I will talk more about artists later down the line in my artist alley article. My personal favorites from them have been the Robyn Hood series and the recent 5 part saga called The Courier. If you have never checked out a Zenescope title go find a starting issue and try it out. I can guarantee there is one for anyone to enjoy with good writing and artwork inside the already awesome cover art.

[gamerfoodbytes]

Serious moment and whats coming

Alright, so I need to be honest for a moment.

First off, I feel bad that I have taken so much content, photos, polls and more and have not really done much with it. I always wanted to make these and have them out in the open so people could enjoy them and start a dialogue of sorts or bring people tasty recipes that I have created.

To that note I have really streamlined myself for this coming con, PAX East 2018, so that I can bring information and pictures to people faster so that I am not sitting on a hoard of sorts.

While real life can really drag me away from things, I no longer want to make unfufilled promises when I ask if I can put a picture online or say that the poll results will be online.

From now on, they will be.

I have also created an instagram so that I can get cosplayers and people I take snapshots of photos out faster so they can tag themselves and share what I take. 

https://www.instagram.com/conpollster/ <-- the link for the coming gallery

Not only will I be posting pictures from this show now but also from shows past and giving credit where I can with the business cards and contact info  I still have on file due to a computer crash last year.

So for now, thank you for those who are interested in seeing where I take this and your patience for me creating content and posting what images I have taken.

Im going to make PAX east a turning point, and since it was my first con ever, it makes a good point to begin.

Now, lets start asking some serious questions this weekend

Tally Ho!

-con pollster

P.S. the new tagline of Tally Ho was given to be by artist Greg Horn and I got to say it was awesome, so thank you Greg!