It’s 11:58am on Friday and you can sense the anticipation throughout the Vancouver Convention Centre. Some of the vendors around our booth tell us they have been to several of these shows before, many earlier that week, and so I nod, and try and act nonchalant, but then I see them. Hundreds of fans, many in costume, waiting beyond a taped makeshift barricade.
A security guard raises a megaphone and the countdown begins: 5. Did we bring everything? 4. What if they hate us? 3. Man, that’s a lot of people. 2. Are we even in the right place? Did we check the map? 1. They’re coming…
Vancouver FanExpo is open. And I never want it to close.
The Vancouver gathering of fans doesn’t yet hold a candle to the bigger conventions of the world (I’m looking at you, San Diego), but what it may lack in numbers and big-screen guests, it more than makes up with in heart.
Over the course of the three-day convention I had the opportunity to speak to guests from all over the World, many of whom had no idea about the show until they saw a swarm of Harley Quinn’s and The Doctor’s heading towards the glass-fronted mecca. Each person I spoke to had a smile on their face, be it their first convention or their 31st, they knew they felt at home.
We were there promoting our superhero web series, The Super Alliance, and over the long weekend we were able to meet some fans of the show or those who recognized some of its stars (we’re very lucky to have such popular Vancouver actors). It was good to speak passionately to our target audience and tell them about the creation that we are all so proud of and excited about.
Although I must admit I did often come across as more enthused to learn about them than they may have been about us, but they left with some cool buttons, and so I hope that made it worth listening to an excitable 30 year-old describe exactly why their costume was so good (as if they didn’t already know).
Whether you are a guest, a vendor, an artist, or a celebrity, there can be no doubt that when you enter through those glass doors, make your way up the flights of stairs, and journey down the tallest escalator, you are truly somewhere else. A place in which there are no outsiders and the idea of not-fitting in doesn’t exist. It’s called FanExpo, and it’s a place for all of us.
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