I have to admit, I was rather disappointed by the turn out of attendees, especially on Friday. I knew it would be low (workday and all that), but it was still smaller than expected. It didn't start until noon, so we picked up our passes and got lunch before diving in. Our only real confusion Friday was thinking that the convention was in building A (like Momocon), when it was actually in building C. I mostly wandered to see what was going on where. There were free 80's type arcade games to play on as well as a room set up to play various XBox games. I did go to a family friendly freestyle D&D panel, which was interesting (and funny) to watch.
Optimus Prime
Saturday was considerably more interesting. A lot more people came out for the convention, so there was a lot more going on. I started my day out by going to the panel featuring Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings and more recently in Stranger Things). I stayed in the panel area and sat in on Linda Larkin and Paige O'Hara (voice of Jasmine and Belle respectively).
cosplay
I followed that up by going and visiting with the men from Helluva Productions. They showed a short film of what they HAD and followed it up with some examples of work from a new animator. Barring any production or other issues happening between now and then, look for a potentially good new animation out in October (may not be appropriate for younger audiences).
goodies
guests!
Sunday we discovered that there was an Atlanta United game. It made getting in/out of the convention center challenging to say the least. Otherwise, I attended Renee O'Connor's panel as well as Cary Elwes'.
My son and I attended the Sadie the Science Lady presentation and then finished our con out by watching another freestyle D and D panel, this one aimed at the 18+ group. Considerably more humorous, but definitely not for the younger set.
Science Rap
My daughter would love to see a "quiet space" for those that get overwhelmed or just need a time out for a while. She and her best friend were also concerned by the price. It wasn't cheap for a 3 day admission, even getting them online early. Talking with another attendee, she was concerned that there hadn't been enough advance notice for the cosplayers to really come out in force. Apparently another con was this weekend and most had travelled for that one. Hopefully if this one happens again next year, there will be plenty of notice so they can attend.
If it does happen again next year and a larger number attend, they'll need more panels. My son would suggest fan-run panels or something similar. He appreciated the scheduling tasks, but isn't one to appreciate sitting an hour in between panels he finds interesting. The panels he DID attend, though, he definitely enjoyed.
All of us agree, for a first year con, well done!
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