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This past weekend was the 2nd annual Wizard World Portland Comic Con. It was bigger and better than the first one.

My biggest problem with this con was lack of organization. The lines were badly managed. The volunteers didn’t know information that needed to be known. They didn’t have information on the website that would have been helpful to attendees. I kept hearing about panels, but they weren’t listed on the website. I didn’t go to any panels because I didn’t know about them until after the fact. Maybe they were in the pamphlet that I saw a few people with, but I never got a pamphlet. The website said some people would appear on certain days, but not what time they would be doing what. I’ll do a better job of seeking this information out next year. Next year I’ll be getting a VIP pass.

I didn’t go on Friday even though I had a 3-day pass. None of the celebrities I wanted to see were scheduled to be there that day as far as I knew. Now I know that CM Punk had a panel that night. I would have loved to have seen that.

On Saturday, I got there about an hour before it opened. I had on a red and blue striped shirt that people said made me look like Freddy Kreuger. It wasn’t intentional. Robert Englund was one of the guests that weekend and I saw him signing autographs. The first thing I wanted to do was get Summer Glau’s autograph for my friend John and get a picture with her. It was hard to figure out what to do with the voucher I purchased in advance. I got sent to one place and then got sent back to where I started. When I got to meet her, she was super sweet. If you wanted a picture with her, it had to be taken with your own camera. Her fiancee took the picture. After he snapped the photo, he had this weird look on his face. My immediate thought was that the picture was going to be blurry and that I would be forever disappointed. Then he said, “I don’t know if it’s the camera or me, but this is a really good picture.” I glanced at it quickly and closed the viewer so I could get out of the way, but Summer said that she wanted to see it. I showed it to her and she also thought it was a good picture. I am pleased with it. I walked around the floor for a couple of hours after that.

Later that day I got to get Bruce Campbell’s autograph. I had planned out what I wanted to say to him, including asking him to record a bumper for Intro to Brisco. He was moving everyone through the line quickly. Before I could say anything, he started asking me questions about me and before I knew it, he was handing my autographed photo back to me. Before I left, I did mention the podcast though.

On Sunday, I got there early as well. I was really only there to get a photograph with William Shatner. I found out what time it was going to be and after looking around the floor I hung out around the area where I knew the line was going to be. I was one of the first people in line after the VIPs, so it didn’t take long. My time with Shatner was even shorter than my time with Bruce Campbell, but at least I got to speak to him.

I had a great time. I think the main reason I like going to cons is take pictures of people in their costumes. There were some good ones. Some people showed up in their underwear or in tights that didn’t leave much to the imagination. There was a Leeloo that I tried to get a pic with, but the person who took the pic didn’t know how to use my camera and I didn’t want to ask for another. Anyway, my first con of the year down. Who knows how many more to go.