During the summer of 2022, I attended my first convention—FanExpo. It was an amazing experience that had so much more to offer than at face value. No matter where you went, there was always something to do or see. I was interested from the time I entered to the time I left, and that was enough to convince me to attend again in 2023. So, I’m gonna convince you to attend as well!
- Artist’s Alley!
One of the main attractions for a convention is Artist’s Alley. Artist’s Alley is a place where artists can sell merchandise they’ve created, whether it’s keychains, pins, lanyards, or prints. Sometimes they even sell bucket hats, cups, notebooks, tote bags or even plushies. I think this attraction is especially important for the artists because these events help them earn a living based on their work. Artists are small businesses too, so every little support given counts. Not to mention, this is an opportunity to get merchandise from your favourite shows or games at a much lower cost than official merchandise. This merchandise also has its own special touch added to it for creativity. For example, Birduyen was an artist at Fan Expo 2023 and she designed Sanrio X Pokemon pins.
- Cosplay!
When people attend a convention, they usually wear some sort of cosplay. For those who don’t know, cosplay is when someone dresses up like a character from a movie, show, game, etc. When you go to a convention, it’s exciting to see all the people who put so much effort into their cosplay. You can see how much care and time went into carefully curating each aspect of the cosplay, and it’s something that everyone can take part in to add some extra fun to your day. Also, you can ask for pictures with the people in cosplay, but be sure to respect everyone’s boundaries.
- Finding people with similar interests
A convention is a gathering of people who share similar interests. This means that you won’t be alone with the interests you have. All around there’ll be people who are just like you. No matter what fandom you’re in, there is no shortage of people who are guaranteed to be just like you. From the popular fandoms to the more niche ones, there is someone in the con somewhere. This also applies to Artist Alley; you can find merchandise for a wide variety of fandoms, so there’s something for everyone.
- Special events!
There is no shortage of special events happening each and every day at the con. These events include cosplay meetups, photo ops, and panels. Cosplay meetups are where you can meet people who all cosplayed for a certain fandom. For example, there was a One Piece cosplay meetup in 2023. They usually include taking a big group photo at the end of it. Cosplay meetups are a good way to meet people who are fans of similar media. Another event is photo ops, which are events where you can take photos with your favourite celebrities. Celebrities usually attend conventions too, and that leads me to the next event: panels. Panels are where you can talk to and ask questions of these celebrities, usually about the media they’re in currently.
I hope you enjoy your first convention as much as I did!