The Vancouver Fan Expo

Navigating the cosplayers, booths, and three days of fanboy and girl heaven

“I’ll see you next year.” Those words, spoken by Justin, as he handed me a print I had bought earlier, pulsed through my head as I walked out of the Vancouver Convention Center. I felt a combination of relief, sadness, and anticipation as the Vancouver Fan Expo came to a close. It was my first time here and even though I was exhausted I wished the expo was longer.

How would I write about the last three days? I was immersed in a world of cosplayers, people who were bigger fans than me, and the temptation to buy every cool thing in sight. My mind set going into the weekend was to take some pictures of cool cosplayers, absorb as much as I could and come out with a collage of topics to cover. However, by the end of the first day I knew that plan would not be happening. As soon as I walked in I was overstimulated. I knew what I had to do. Instead of taking pictures and jotting down notes I needed to talk to the people behind the artwork and the masks. I knew the weekend would be a blur. Granted would be a blur I would embrace and never want to let go.

Friday:

I reached the convention a quarter before two. I picked up my wrist band that would be attached to me for the next three days and headed into the expo. I’m not sure I would describe the expo as fanboy heaven but it is something close to it.

Before buying my ticket, I wondered if I wanted a single day pass for Saturday or opt for the weekend pass. I was overwhelmed by my first steps into the expo. I knew I had made the right decision. I needed all three days to take full advantage of my first convention.

Heading into the weekend I made a rule to not spend any money until Sunday. It’s a good thing I made this rule because I would have spent money I did not have in the first hour on Friday. Whatever type of print, toy, or shirt you were looking for they had it. By the end of the weekend I did get my share of stuff but I could have easily ended up with more.

I was walking around aimlessly for the first two hours. My head was buzzing and I needed some way to ground myself. I was taking pictures and browsing the booths of artist alley. The expo still didn’t feel real.

To get me out of this daze was non-other than the hosts of EP Daily Victor Lucas and Marissa Roberto. All I needed was a brisk two minute chat with them about why I was at the expo and comics we had a common interest in. I explained to them this was my first expo/convention and I decided to cover it three days before the start of the expo. I never said I was nervous but I’m sure they could tell. We chatted about Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples, snapped a picture, and got their autographs and I was on my way.

For the next five hours I felt calmer and looser. I guess with an expo like this it is hard to sometimes shake the stereotype or assumptions of fanboys and fangirls. Or at least, the negative thoughts someone might have about people who are huge fans of something. I guess what I found is people don’t care what you like as much as your attitude towards it. Being at the expo it was one of the most open and accepting group of people you will find anywhere as long as your intentions and reason for being there are clear.

As cool as all of the costumes are and as many things I made a mental note of buying later that weekend, the one thing that sticks out in my mind from Friday, is when these two kids ran into each other.

Was it as adorable as it seems? Yes. If you told me they would have zoomed around the conventon at light speed, would I believe you? Yes. Was I just as excited as both of them combined? Yes. I went into Friday as a mess of excitement and uncertainty. I left with a clear idea and purpose and I couldn’t wait for the rest of the weekend. How naïve I was.

Saturday:

As soon as I got to the convention center I knew Saturday would be different. The place had a distinct energy to it. It was the buzzing in my head multiplied by a hundred. If Friday was the first bite of a delicious meal then Saturday was an all you can eat buffet. I could take my time on Friday; on Saturday I didn’t have enough eyes, hands, or cameras to document everything.

There were more people on Saturday, it was the busiest day of the weekend, and I talked to less people than I did on the Friday. There wasn’t any time, after every picture snapped, there was another that needed to be taken a step away. And so it went. The day was a tornado, a hurricane, and a whirlwind of costumes, masks, and body paint. There were princesses, Jedi, villains, heroes and heroines, a Super Sexy Mario, and a Ric Flair for good measure.

This is the part of the post where I admit that not only did I not dress up but I wasn’t even close to it. Do I regret this decision? Not really. However, I will admit dressing up does seem like fun for an event like this. Everyone who I had a chance to speak with loved the attention even if it meant taking ten minutes to take ten steps. It was fun and worth all of the photo ops and weird looks from people on the street. For them there isn’t a better way for them to express their fandom.

I’m sure you guess what happened after I got back to my apartment after Saturday. I hit my bed and if I didn’t wake up for three days I wouldn’t have cared.

Sunday:

On Friday and Saturday I sprang out of my bed around 7:30 ready to tackle a day at the expo. My body on Sunday morning had other ideas. The expo opened at 10:00 and my body decided to sleep until 9:30. Usually, if something like this happened I’d wake up in a panic and in a frenzy attempt to make it on time. On Sunday when I woke up and checked the time I just laughed. My spirits were high but I was exhausted. This is my body’s way of keeping me alive. I made it down to the final day of the expo around 11:00.

The first thing I did was buy all the prints I checked off in my head on Friday. Lucky for me all of them were still available. Unlucky for others some of the prints were the last ones there. Sunday was less busy than Saturday, which was fine by me. This gave me the perfect opportunity to have extended chats with people in cosplay or in their booths. Maybe it was the fact it was the last day or everyone was exhausted but there was an air of finality in the building.

Before I left, I made one last round, shook hands, bumped fists, and doled out some hugs to the people I met. Before this weekend I was skeptical of conventions. I thought they were overpriced, over-hyped, and an excuse for entitled fans to puff out their chests and tap into their superiority complex of being real fans for three days. I’m happy to admit that I was wrong.

The Fan Expo gives people the opportunity to connect with people they would never run into on a day to day basis and share something they are passionate about. It’s a place where three strangers dressed as Spider-Man can become friends after posing for pictures with each other for ten minutes. It was refreshing to listen to artists talk about their inspirations and why they love to do what they do and what drives them. It was great to see people with elaborate costumes get attention from people the entire time they were there because they deserved it. And it was wonderful to watch kids dressed up as their favourite heroes run up to an adult dressed up the same way asking for a picture. Some times it is easy to forget what it’s like to be a kid again or to be inspired by something. The Fan Expo does this and Vancouver is better for it. Just because we get older doesn’t mean we have to leave everything behind.