04/28/2010

Calgary Expo Report!

May 10, 2010

I have a special fondness for the Calgary Expo. Not only is it in my own backyard, being only a 2 hour drive from my house, but it was also the very first convention I ever exhibited at. And I could tell that this con was something special. After all, it’s been getting bigger and better every single year I’ve attended!

This year was especially amazing thanks to the brand-new webcomics area that had been set up. I was lucky enough to be sharing an island with Lar DeSouza, Ryan Sohmer, Ethan “Axecop” Nicolle, Ryan North, Dave Kellett, Brad Guigar, Kris Straub, and sharing a table with Sam Logan and his delightful entourage.

Calgary is mostly famous for two things: 1) Great Beef and 2) Being the Home of the World’s Largest Rodeo. There’s lots of cowboy hats in Calgary, and lots of real cowboys. But if my mind, the thing that Calgary is MOST notable for is its love of webcomics. Seriously – it’s a BIG webcomics town. For most of the weekend, there was a solid ring of people around the webcomics area. I saw no less than six people cosplaying as webcomics characters!!

Oh, and speaking of webcomic characters – I had my very first cosplayers! Seriously – these guys were awesome. I’d always hoped that I’d have people cosplaying my characters some day, but I’d always assumed that they’d take the easy route and just come as the characters in their everyday clothes. Maybe, if a cosplayer wanted a challenge, they’d come as one of the D&D characters. But I’d NEVER expected anyone to dress up as a Weregeek!

And, not content to simply blow me away, these two fine fans not only dressed up as any old Weregeeks, but made their own Weregeek personas. Dude. I’m still stunned.

So thank you Calgary! Thank you for putting on an amazing show, for being such an astoundingly supportive city, and for showing all of those guys who flew up from the States to check out a Canadian show that we know how to throw a good party up here, even when it snows!!