This was also the first time that Dallas ComicCon was held
at the Dallas Convention Center. While the convention has been successful at
the Irving convention Center, the biggest complaint has been people traffic. Irving may have ‘enough’ floor space but it
is split over several floors and creates frustrating bottlenecks at the escalators.
Holding this year’s convention at the
Dallas Convention was a great way to introduce the new owners and show what can
be done when space isn’t an issue.
With the new owners
came some new vendors on the expo floor. It was nice to see people selling Gold
and Silver age comics. The new faces on
the expo floor gave it more of a ‘big time’ feel. They convention finally had more than one
panel track occurring at the same time. Their main panel room boasted 6000
seats giving everyone (or just about everyone) a chance to see a panel.
While their coup of having the entire cast of Firefly attend
the convention failed with 2 late cancellations, it was still a success that the rest
of the cast did attend. Even with the 2
cancelation, they were able to bring in Nathan Fillion.
Besides, Nathan as a big hitter, William Shatner and Stan
Lee also attended.
Cosplayers turned out in force. People drove from all over
to attend; creating a nice boom for the downtown economy. There was amble space
for people to sit and rest for a while (a rarity at most conventions). And the chaos
seemed to be at a minimum so newbies weren’t lost at sea.
My negatives are personal.
Many of the guests I have seen before. My excitement was muted except for
Nathan. Surprisingly, parking was an
issue. Saturday’s adventure started with
finding a parking spot. Once it was found, the next task was to find the convention
center since it was a good distance and hidden by the buildings.
There is no doubt this was a great show. It brings optimism about future shows,
especially once Irving Convention Center is a faded memory. Looking forward to news
about their next set of guests.
AH
No comments:
Post a Comment