American cons

[alias_sqbr]

So, Cam and I have had another of our zany may-never-happen-but-fun-to-think-about ideas(*): renting an RV and driving across America (I can't get out of bed much, so we'll take the bed with us!)

Obviously one of the major things we would do on this trip is go to a Big American Con. (And we probably only have the spoons for one)

Comiccon seems too commercial and unbookish for me. (And probably too comic focussed for both of us)
Wiscon seems too book-oriented and feminist for Cam.
Dragoncon seems like a reasonable compromise between the two (at least in terms of bookishness)

Any others we should be considering? Are we misjudging Comiccon or Wiscon? I am a fairly average feminist-leaning geek girl looking for thinky panels, Cam a fairly average somewhat-feminist-leaning-but-not-that-much geek boy who wants to see tv stars.

I have also informed Cam that we are going to see as many people on my friendslist as possible :D (That don't take us out of our way, anyway)

(*)And if it does it won't be until at least 2011

Comments

[velithya]

I have heard excellent things about comiccon in terms of seeing TV stars - while, yes, it is about comics, most TV networks/shows will have a booth there for publicity and give away things. There are also panels/etc for a lot of TV shows with stars/etc - maybe have a look at youtube and see what panels are up there from this year, it should give you some idea of what goes on. Probably a con more for Cam than for you, though, and comiccon can get Very Busy and there is a lot of waiting around for the panel you want in order to keep a seat in the room.

*cough* I THINK YOU SHOULD CONSIDER WINCON ;P *cough*

[alias_sqbr]

Thankyou.

*cough* I THINK YOU SHOULD CONSIDER WINCON ;P *cough*

I have a feeling I might not be popular, what with the constant ranting about how much the show pisses me off :)

[velithya]

Well you know, wincon is going multi-fandom next year... ;P

[alias_sqbr]

Really? Wow.

Well then I might enjoy it, but Cam might not make any friends by going around ranting about how much he hates fanfic :D

[velithya]

Y-yeah, he might well be better off doing something else! ^^;

[jesse_the_k]

If it makes a difference to Cam, WisCon is around 40-40-10 (male-female-other).

[alias_sqbr]

The gender balance wasn't so much the issue, but that is good to know.

[loic.livejournal.com]

If you're into comics then APE (alternative press expo) is pretty cool: http://www.comic-con.org/ape/
It's all indie comics rather than major publishers. Our friends who are in the comic scene love it.

I haven't gone to any SF cons since I've been in the US since what I loved about Swancon (and AussieCon 3) was spending time with a community I was already part of. And the American fen at AussieCon 3 kind of scared me. Mostly.

[alias_sqbr]

I like independent comics, but not enough to enjoy a whole con about them, I think. And Cam definitely doesn't.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

DragonCon is certainly quite the experience from all of I've heard (the numbers are larger at ComicCon, but a lot of the numbers are day visitors there for just a few hours, whereas DragonCon is more the full immersion nonstop for several days experience). I am sure DragonCon is big enough that both of you can find a bit of what you are after. if I was going to suggest one, and you wanted a fair bit of TV film stuff, I'd say DragonCon.

There are a lot of big US cons that are worth considering depending on what time of year you are there, BayCon, the big Boston cons (Boskone is the bookish one, Arisia the more diverse and media-ish one), LoneStarCon.

Plus, of course, WorldCon if it is in the US and not at the exact same time as DragonCon.

[alias_sqbr]

Thanks.

[seaya.livejournal.com]

Wiscon does have discussion about media, but not big media stars as such. However, Wiscon is the only con I know of that actually has thinky panels. I steer clear of panels at all other cons.

[alias_sqbr]

Hmm. So basically one of us is doomed to be disappointed, yay :/