The I-Con Experience

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I-Con 28 was certainly unlike any of the previous 27 cons.  Normally held at SUNY-Stony Brook, this year, it was moved given the renovations being done to the sports complex, the hub of the con.  As a result, the con found itself split into three – dealer’s room and media guests at Suffolk Community College, Gaming/LARPing/Performances at the Holiday Inn with authors/comics at the Marriott.  Shuttle buses were designed to bring people from place to place.Now, personally, I liked not needing to leave the Marriott.  I did all my programming there in addition to spending Saturday night so it was convenient. I had plenty of time to be socialable in addition to getting some writing done.  This did mean, though, that I missed seeing Andrew McKee perform in his new duo, Flynn’s Folly, or hear his former partner, Marc Gunn.From an attendee’s point of view, I can see how frustrating the experience could be. And I heard about it from people grumbling over the shuttles taking 45 minutes to get people places. Even with staggered start times, people seemed to struggle to attend events at more than one location.We guests certainly noticed the drop off in attendance but we forged ahead anyway.Glenn Hauman and I did the movie previews both days and had a ball with the crowd. Reactions differed per day which I found fascinating.On Saturday, I also spoke on “Under the Radar: What Comics Are You Missing?” which proved to be a lively conversation although it skewed a little too heavily on web comics.  Chuck Rozakis has promised the compiled list of recommended comics will appear soon at ComicMix.Tom Brevoort, Bob Rozakis, Greg Pak and I also did an hour on comic book crossovers and as moderator, I made certain everyone got to speak about what they liked, what the hassles were as writer or editor and how even today, every crossover tries to follow what was established by Secret Wars and Crisis on Infinite Earths.Saturday night was a wonderful time with friends at the nearby Famous Dave’s for some delicious barbecue.  Then a few followed me back to watch the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still which we mocked and I subsequently reviewed for ComicMix.Sunday was a relaxed morning and I got some more writing done then participated in “Writing for Diverse Media”. I wound up moderating this one, too, and got to hear some great stories from Peter David, Joe Kelly, Larry Hama, Glenn Hauman, and Andy Weir. This proved the most entertaining panel I participated inLessons were learned and I suspect, if they have to come back next year, things will be done differently and fans will be pleased.

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