Last week, I attended the first official Salt Lake Comic Con. However, my experience was a little hampered by the fact that I was actually attending as an exhibitor with the Shadow Mountain booth, so I didn’t get the time to truly wander and absorb the experience. So my thoughts will be brief.
I’m glad that the venue was changed to the Salt Palace. The con was originally scheduled to be held at the South Towne Expo Center, but the crowd wouldn’t have fit. I’m hearing that as many as 70,000 people were in attendance by Saturday. That’s amazing for a first time con! I’m proud of our little city, and hope that this means a bigger and brighter future for SLCC.
The vendor booths were great and there were a lot of them. Everything from comics to shirts to cosplay photos to Magic cards were featured. The usual con items, I suppose. But there was a lot to check out and spend your money on.
Some of the booths in particular were impressive. WETA (the guys behind the Lord of the Rings visuals) had many props and weapons from the films on display. Fear Factory, a local haunted house, had a giant booth space with some of the best costumes and makeup at the con.
The only disappointment that I had was with the panels. It’s awesome that we got people like Stan Lee, but the guests and panels pale in comparison to San Diego Comic Con. Now, I don’t expect us to get to that level; studios and celebrities can only do so much and they can’t just hop from con to con all year. But I know that there are other celebrities that would be willing to come. The focus of San Diego Comic Con seems to often be about the future and exciting previews of what’s to come. Salt Lake and many other cons seem to focus on the past and heroes of old. I’d like to see something new.
Overall, I had a great time. If we have another SLCC (which I’m sure we will after the success of this one), I’m definitely scheduling the time to be there all three days. And NOT as an exhibitor. I want to be able to roam at my leisure!
-TIM