This past weekend our family attended
Awesome Con in downtown Washington, D.C., a fandom comic-book media
event. We had a good time Saturday, despite a few con-management
issues; the experience also demonstrated a few elements I thought
would make any convention more family friendly.
I try to focus on the positive and
avoid the negative in both my online presence as well as real life
(to varying degrees of success), so I’ll gloss over the convention
management issues that threatened to put a dent into our one-day con
experience – lack of entry signage and communication; an hour-long
wait to get wristbands for people who bought advanced tickets online;
and surly/clueless/oblivious con volunteers wearing shirts emblazoned
with “Volunteer: Brute Squad” that seemed subtlety unwelcoming –
and focus on convention activities that really impressed us.
Our family had a few ulterior motives
for attending the convention. We primarily wanted to see our friend
and Star Wars author Timothy Zahn and his wife, whom we
haven’t seen for years; although we only chatted with them briefly,
Tim and his wife were gracious as always and really made us feel
welcomed (something Tim does whenever he meets a fan, even for a
quick book signing). I was also interested in meeting Rod and Leanne
Hannah, creators of the wonderful Star Wars parody web comic Blue Milk Special; we chatted briefly about a few of their
other projects in the works, particularly the kid-oriented Hickory
Hippo. And finally our son, the infamous four year-old “Little
Guy,” has reached a point where he’s really into superheroes,
partly from watching Batman and Wonder Woman reruns on
TV and from reading about them at the local library (when those
particular picture books aren’t checked out or outright stolen). We
hoped to expose him to some generalized fandom, including a huge dose
of superheroes.
I rarely attend large conventions
anymore, nor comic-oriented events. So I was pleasantly surprised to
find some very engaging elements to the convention, some planned by
management as part of the con experience, but most reflecting a
generous, friendly spirit in con attendees.
NASA & the K-Zone
Aweseome Con set aside an area on the
exhibit hall floor as the “K-Zone,” a section with child-friendly
activities.
The con volunteers here were the
friendliest we met; they welcomed us and pointed out the various
tables tempting kids with balloon artistry, Nerf-gun target practice
at costumed members of the local 501st Legion organization, a slew of
tables with crayons and coloring books, and several hands-on science
and craft tables run by NASA.
The NASA tables offered a host of
demonstrations and crafts all related to space science. The
volunteers here (I’m not sure if they were from the con or NASA
itself) really knew their stuff, went out of their way to engage
youngsters, and gave away tons of goodies. We wandered up to the
static electricity display, where the volunteer talked with the
Little Guy, asked him if he wanted to go into space when he grew up,
and then demonstrated static electricity with a red balloon and some
table salt strewn across the table. A cool demonstration, but more
relevant still when she described how the astronauts on the moon
brought dust into their spaceship because of static electricity, all
while the Little Guy listened with rapt attention. The Little Guy
also learned about ultraviolet light and made a bracelet out of
light-sensitive beads. But by far the best part was building and
launching his own rocket. Volunteers helped him build a rocket out of
a taped construction paper tube with a cone at the top and stabilizer
fins at the bottom; then he brought it over to the launch zone where
kids could put their rockets over one of two “gantries” (plastic
tubes affixed to tripods) hooked up to hoses and a plastic
bellows...by stepping on, or usually jumping on the bellows, they
sent their rockets high into the exhibit hall atmosphere with much
gleeful cheering.
We loved the K-Zone, with the Little
Guy requesting several return trips throughout the day to launch his
rocket. For future cons it might help to have the K-Zone somewhat
more insulated location from the loud, pressing crowds of the exhibit
hall floor, perhaps one of the meeting rooms used for panels (where
apparently they did have programs for kids, though we didn’t notice
these on site). I’d also suggest offering a con-exclusive coloring
book or page with small packs of crayons kids could take home. Dare I
mention that, if located near the equally isolated game room,
intrepid organizers might offer demos of appropriate kids games....
R2-DC Builders
While wandering around the exhibit hall
floor we happened upon a small crowd watching the comic antics of a
life-sized R2-D2 droid, a remote-control creation of the R2-DC Builders, a fan club focusing on constructing actual-sized props from
the Star Wars films (though primarily droids). Although the
Little Guy was too shy to pose for a photo – he was too shy to take
a photo with any costumed character – numerous fans took
advantage of the opportunity for a shot with a blinking, beeping
R2-D2. Aside from offering photo ops at their booth, the operators
frequently took R2 out for a spin around the exhibit hall floor,
spreading their excitement and bringing some unexpected wonder into
everyone’s con experience.
Complimentary Con-Goers
Maybe I’ve not been to any major
conventions in a while, or to any that encouraged costumed
participants, but I was very encouraged to find that not only did
many con-goers wear costumes, they were extremely encouraging to
folks in costume. People stopped for photo ops, offered compliments,
and – especially the kids – talked with their favorite comic book
personalities in character. The costumes ranged across every license
in fandom. Some costumes were simple, others complex, some homemade,
others realistically elaborate. Old and young and even infant showed
off their diverse costumed finery in a parade that coursed through
the long line for pre-paid ticket-holders outside and into the packed
exhibit hall.
The Little Guy, dressed in his very
simple Han Solo outfit, got a few compliments and “Isn’t he
adorable?” comments (and, in true Han Solo fashion, we had to offer
him a reward to dress up; yes, I know, we’re terrible geek
parents). But now that he’s on a superhero kick, he really enjoyed
saying hello to every Batman, Wonder Woman, and Spiderman he passed
(though he admired the more intimidating costumes from a distance).
Many actively engaged him with high-fives and conversation, though he
was a bit too camera shy to pose for photos.
Return Trip?
Will we go to Awesome Con again next
year? I’m not sure. It’ll probably depend on whether Timothy Zahn
is a guest, how con management resolves some of the issues and
suggestions from this year, and where the Little Guy stands in his
own superhero and fandom enthusiasms. But from our parental point of
view we’re definitely considering bringing him to other conventions
of a similar nature. I’ve already brought him to Historicon (as I reported earlier); we’re planning a return trip this year with the
entire family for a day. We’re also considering other, smaller
conventions which offer a nice assortment of costuming, gaming, and
children-specific programming. And thanks to NASA, I’m already
plotting in my head how to build our own compressed air
gantry-hose-bellows launch set-up so the Little Guy can gleefully
send his homemade rockets into the stratosphere.
Comments....
Want to offer feedback? Start a
civilized discussion? Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and
tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.
