Fanboy Headquarters

Having attended comic conventions for close to a decade now, I have learned a few things and have wanted to be a part of a panel for a long time. I was able to live out that dream at the opening night of Phoenix ComiCon 2012, when Fanboy Headquarters hosted the “How to Survive a Comic Con” panel. It took about four months to prepare and only 60 minutes to present our tips and tricks for conventions. It was all I had hoped for and then some.

The idea was simple, go back through all the years of attending conventions and think of the problems we had getting into panels, finding people for autographs, and surviving the long hours of a show. The outline of points, tips, and tricks grew quickly and we made it into a platform for giving advice, sharing experiences and taking audience questions with a couple costume changes and prize giveaways mixed in. After practicing for weeks beforehand, I still felt unprepared on stage and nervous that no one would show.

The biggest bummer would have been to have this panel and no show up because let’s face it, the exhibit hall floor is a really popular place on opening night of a con. Ten minutes before we were supposed to be on stage I ran to the bathroom for a final break before starting. When I came back to the room I was pleasantly surprised to see a small line formed outside the door. A line!? Even if those ten people were are only attendees, we were going to make sure they had a good time. By the time we came out on stage we had a packed room and our idea for the need of this panel was validated. By show of hands, 90 percent of the room was attending their first convention and were looking for advice and suggestions on cons. By the end of the hour, we had several questions and people excited to have sat through the panel. If that was the only thing I did while at Phoenix ComiCon I would have left happy.

To say the panel went of perfectly would be a lie, there were some bumps and mistakes. Thankfully, we had our friend AJ Herrera from ForbiddenPanel.com to moderate and help with the Q&A portion of the panel. Like I said, I have been attending events form years and the experience of being on the panel in contrast to being a member of the audience is different, and exhilarating. I had such a blast and I can speak for Jose (the other half of Fanboy HQ) when I say thank you attendees, Phoenix ComiCon and friends for the support and opportunity to share our knowledge of “How to Survive a Comic Con”

By Martin Bright