The first thing I want to do is send a HUGE thank you to all the staff
and volunteers that helped out and worked the Expo. You guys are amazing and always do such a
wonderful job. I know your job is
probably often time thankless and you probably see more than you fair share of
cranky people but you are wonderful. I
know for me personally I had some very great interactions with some of you from
random high fives while I waited for my Steven Yeun autograph, or the countless
of you that I asked for directions, and of course the ones that I just got to
chat with a little bit, you all helped to create a great experience for me and
to keep me smiling. Thank you from the
bottom of my heart.
Expo this year was a whole new experience. Compared to last year there were a lot of
really great changes made. Everything
from adding more room by adding the Big Four building into the mix to having
better labelled lines, it all seemed to make things run more smoothly. (I have a small confession to make at this
point and that is that I did have a VIP pass this year so my comparisons are a
little skewed but since most people are saying the same thing I figure it must
be true for most.) I felt the energy of
the place was a lot more positive this year, which also might have just been
that my energy was more positive not having to spend as much time standing in
lines. heheh. In all honesty though I really do think
people were having a great time and there was a lot of love, excitement and
enthusiasm filling the air. For me the
having more space as well as being able to easily and freely walk outside if need
be helped the whole place feel less busy, less intimidating and less crowded. It helped to keep my stress level down to a
minimum.
As I mentioned above I did have VIP tickets this year and I have to
gush (ok maybe brag might be a better word) at least a little about the
experience. As crazy as my schedule was
this year I was able to do twice as much as I did last year. Sure I still had to pick and choose and
couldn’t do everything I wanted but I certainly got to do a whole lot of what I
wanted. As a scrapbooker I couldn’t help
but be excited about the opportunity to get more photos and more autographs
because that is what people ooh and aww over when they look at my books. It is also what I get most excited about but
mostly because looking at the photos or the autographs brings me back to those
few seconds I got to be standing up close and personal with some of my most
favourite crushes. I knew right from
Friday that I wanted to be able to do VIP again next year but it was sealed
today when my heart was breaking thinking I wouldn’t be able to get into the
very full Nathan Fillion panel but after a quick trip up to the VIP room we had
someone lead us in through the back to make sure we were able to get to seats
that were reserved for us. I have never
felt more grateful for something in the moment as I did then. Part of that is also do in large part to the
wonderful volunteers that were there to help us. A huge thank you specifically to the VIP
helpers. It was great to know we always
had someone to talk to if we needed help.
Now I warned you I would probably do some gushing well for those of you
who don’t want to read it I suggest stop here because I’m about to start
gushing. The Expo was full of amazing
good looking men (and women although I probably don’t give them nearly as much
of my attention as I should) and I had some great experiences that I have to
share. If you are stopping here you
should walking away knowing Calgary Expo is AWESOME! The volunteers are AMAZING! Everyone should go in 2014.
At first when I thought about what I wanted to write in this section I
wanted to tell you everything but I have quickly realized that would make for a
very very long blog entry. I don’t think
I’m nearly entertaining enough or witty enough after three long days to pull
that off so I’m going to try and recount some of the most amazing moments. I want to share those moments with you that
moved me, excited me and had me squeeing inside.
One of the very first amazing moments was my autograph with Cary
Elwes. I have loved him for a very long
time, in fact he was one of the three crushes I have had since I was young (the
other two were Alan Alda from MASH and Dick Van Dyck from Mary Poppins if you
are curious). I LOVE Princess
Bride. It has always been one of my
favourite movies and anytime I’m sick it is still the movie I love to curl up
on the couch and watch. I was excited
and nervous to meet him and knew of all the autographs I planned I wanted to
actually be able to say something to him (normally my shyness kicks in and I
just blush). As he finished signing my
autograph I screwed up my courage and confessed that he was one of my first
crushes. He smiled and called me a sweetheart
for saying that and I died a little inside.
It didn’t help that this was followed with a quick photo so he had his
arm around me. I was on top of the world
as I left his table.
Another of my favourite moments is captured in a photo op. I was standing in the middle of Richard Dean
Anderson and Michael Shanks. Of all the
photos I did this one has the biggest smile.
I was so happy and excited in that moment. It was only a few seconds but the smile in my
photo says it all.
Of course I can’t talk about photos without mentioning my chance to
have my photo taken with Nathan Fillion.
It was quick because he had so many to do but he still smiled, asked my
name, and shook my hand before wrapping his arm around my back and getting
really close for the photo. Let me tell
you it was not a bad place to be standing right next to him like that. I’m pretty sure my pulse jumped and
temperature rose. I wish the moment had
lasted forever. Oh and he also thanked
me as I left. That is something I love
because so many of the famous people I have met don’t do that. The ones that do
always stand out and that makes them all great.
Nathan Fillion is a class act.
I experienced a few completely random moments including some line
dancing that broke out on the top floor of the Big Four but I will admit
whenever I think of this Expo and the random stuff that happens when you are
just hanging out one memory will pop into my head more than any I’m sure. When John Barrowman came out Saturday morning
for his autographs Casper Van Dien was with him. When he went to leave the area he ducked down
under one of the line barriers and when he stood up his backpack caught it and
he knocked it down. It was priceless to
see him trying to fix it while making jokes at the same time. It was hilarious and completely unexpected,
which somehow I think is sort of standard for him judging by his many entrances
into places. He has a loud personality and is certainly not afraid of having a
good time.
There were also two moments that are special because they moved
me. In fact in both cases I had tears in
my eyes. The first of these two moments
was in the Wil Wheaton panel. A new mom
asked Wil to record a message to her new baby, Violet about why it is awesome
to be a nerd. His response was powerful
and moving. It was full of acceptance and
encouragement. It was enough to make
anyone want to declare that they are a geek or a nerd. It gave me goosebumps.
The other moment that moved me to tears was one I didn’t expect to affect
me as much as it did and that was the moment when I had a chance to flip
through the program guide and I saw my name with “contributing writer” printed
in front of it. I will admit some of the
emotion may have come from the fact the first time I flipped through I didn’t
see the article and I thought maybe it got left out after all. When I looked a second time though I saw it
right at the very front and as I re-read what I wrote I was filled with pride. Even now thinking about it I’m getting
emotional. I have dreamed of seeing
something I wrote published and there it was.
It wasn’t a long article and I’m still not sure it was a great article
but it was pretty damned cool to see it.
Even better than that though was a little while later while sitting at a
table I watched someone actually take the time to read it. This moment was a dream come true and
instantly I was happy that I was going to be able to share it with my Nan who
is 94 and has always cheered me on because I wasn’t sure I would ever have
anything published in her life. On the
flip side of that I also felt a loss at the fact I couldn’t share it with
Will. As wonderful as every other moment
of the expo was I’m sure those memories will fade but this is one memory that
will always be with me. One day when
hopefully I’m a much more published writer and someone asks me about the moment
I was first published I will with pride and love be able to share this
memory. I can’t finish this part without
throwing a thank you to Lindsay. If you
are reading this thank you for offering me the chance. It means more to me than I know how to put
into words.
I truly think this Expo was incredible and epic. I’m so excited to start working on my
scrapbook for it just so I can relive these moments and all the rest. The last three days have been
overwhelming. Memories have been made
and dreams have come true. I am so glad
to have had the opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful, caring, accepting
and supportive group of people. As
judgemental as the world can be there is nowhere as accepting as a comic
convention and I can’t imagine ever missing a year now that I have experienced
the world. I look forward to my third,
fourth and twenty fifth conventions.
PS Stay tuned for my photo blog entry where I will share a handful of the photos from the weekend.
*fistbump* on so many levels
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