Interview with Cincinnati Comic Expo's Andrew Satterfield

As part of the 2013 Kentucky Geek Girl Convention-palooza, I'll be appearing at the Cincinnati Comic Expo September 13-15! Now that I live in the Cincinnati metro, I'm excited that this con is so close! I live just across the river from the Duke Energy Convention Center, so I can't wait meet a bunch of new Cincinnati area geeks, but also see a lot of my friends as well. Kentucky Geek Girl is officially a part of the convention as a "Fan Group" along awesome folks the likes of Beaucoup Pop, The Nerdy Bomb, and TheOneRing.net!

Andrew Satterfield, who has been a tremendous friend the Kentucky Geek Girl over the past couple of years, took some time from his busy convention planning schedule to answer a few of my questions, which I suppose I should start filing as "Convention 411." My interview is after the break!

ReCONnaissance: CincyCon Recap

CincyCon is a three-day gaming convention held this year at the Atrium Hotel and Conference Center in the Tri-County Mall area. 2013 was the fourth year for the convention, which boasted numbers of over 500 in 2012. As my first Cincinnati convention, I was very excited to get my game on. Looking at the schedule, I did note that it seemed like cool things were happening at the same time, so I had to be judicious with my registration for events. The check-in process was smooth and the event ticket I had selected was ready for me.

When I walked into the vendor hall/dealer room, I was immediately overwhelmed with testosterone. I mean, really, it hit me like the stare of a beholder. In fact, that may have been more favorable. At the point that I walked in, you could count the number of women on one hand. The vendors were overwhelmingly male as well, with the exception of a jewelry maker, but she wasn’t actually at her table at that point. (More after the break.)

Ahoy, Mateys!

As you can see, things have been a bit busier around here than they had as of late. I am sorry that I hadn't stopped in to say Hello more often, but things were extremely busy with finishing my last semester of school. In fact, I made school a higher priority than a lot of things, but it all paid off beautifully. If you follow Kentucky Geek Girl on Facebook, then you see my daily updates there. I also tweet like a mad woman as well. However, I just didn't have a lot of time to sit down and beautifully construct a blog post for your reading pleasure.

That changes now.

Cincy ComiCon Seeks to Connect Creators With Fans

People attend conventions for different reasons. Many want to have have a commission done by their favorite artist, some want to meet their childhood hero, whomever that may be, and others want to make industry contacts so they can get a foot in the door. For some, it's all of the above. I find it exciting when I get a notice about a new convention being organized because I think that it's just another opportunity for fans to be able to interact with their favorite actors and artists. It appears that a new convention in Cincinnati, the CincyComiCon is promising just that.

Cincinnati Comic Expo to be bigger and better in 2013

The beginning of November has brought lots of convention news around the area and today's news comes from Cincinnati Comic Expo. On the convention's Facebook page, organizers have stated they are challenging themselves to make the 2013 convention even bigger than it was in 2012. 6,000 attendees flocked to Duke Energy Convention Center in September to see over 200 artists, vendors, and exhibits. The convention this year included a Geek Prom, Kid Con, Jedi training, and demonstrations from Jason David Frank. After a very successful con in 2012, organizers have a big task ahead of them to supersede this year's success.

"We promise that 2013 looks to be the best year yet for CCE with some great guests already attending, first time attending comic publishers, popular media guests, and the best vendors and retailers a comic show could ask for!"

CCE began in 2010 as a pop culture convention with an emphasis on comic books. 2013 will begin with a Preview Night on Friday and continue with extended convention hours on both Saturday and Sunday. The event will include a costume contest and the return of Kid Con. 

Cincinnati Comic Expo

Duke Energy Convention Center, Hall A

525 Elm Street  

Cincinnati, OH 45202

Friday, September 13, 2013

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Be sure to check back with Kentucky Geek Girl for more convention news!

Pandoracon Goes Gangnam - "Oppa Docta Style"

Pandoracon is a brand new multi-genre convention held in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Which sadly I did not get to attend, though my thoughts were there!) Though it is focused on science fiction, fantasy, anime, LARP, cosplay, and gaming, there is also a definite Steampunk element. And also: Doctor Who. There was a lot of Doctor Who going at Pandoracon. In fact, one of the guests was Travis Richey, who portrayed Inspector Spacetime on Community and has also started his own web series based on the Doctor Who parody character.

So what does this have to do with Gangnam Style? I thought I'd seen it all. Really. The Gangnam Style parodies have abounded in the last few weeks and I really thought that I'd seen all there was. But no. Not until I saw a video straight out of Cincinnati from this past weekend. Team Con-Doc is a Doctor Who improvisational group who put together this parody video and it's absolutely brilliant. With Ten leading the charge, Pandoracon went Gangnam Style. The coolest moment from the video in my opinion is when Richey, Inspector Spacetime himself, begins to do the Gangnam Style dance with Ten. Fantastic.

I had every plan to make it up to Cincinnati this weekend for the convention, but was unable. Seeing this video and the level of commitment that people have to the genre definitely makes me want to attend next year. Especially now that I've become a Whovian!

Huge kudos to the folks from Team Con-Doc and the organizers of Pandoracon.