Evansville Pop!Con 2017

This is kind of late, I was a little distracted last week (got married). Hope you enjoy it!

Well, I finally got to attend Evansville Pop!Con for the first time since its inaugural year. I bought discounted weekend passes at Secret Headquarters, who incidentally had a VIP event on that Sunday for those who sprung for VIP passes, I did not. There were a good number of vendors from Owensboro to Indy and a new board game and video game tournament area which, being an avid tabletop gamer, I approve of. I really enjoyed the con, though it felt smaller than the first year, I had a great time checking out all of the vendors and artists, some of the great cosplay on the scene as well.

Of course the 501st Legion, Bloodfin Garrison, was on hand showing off some amazing Star Wars cosplay, and offering great photo ops, as well as the Indiana Ghostbusters. And a lot of amazing artists like Philo Barnhart, along with a replica of the 60's Batmobile. There were also 2 local food trucks outside, NOM! and Chef Bruce Li's Korean food. Friday night I went with my family, it was fairly low key, as a lot of the artists, guests, and events were only there Saturday, so we checked out the vendors and picked up some great stuff. My daughter and I really enjoyed meeting Captain Jack Sparrow, cosplayer and entertainer Aaron Rabe does a dead on impersonation. Unfortunately there was not a lot of action in the board game area Friday, at least when we were there. There were what appeared to be demo copies of great games set out, but no signs around there bringing attention to them. We ended up leaving right about the time the King of Tokyo Tournament started. I went solo Saturday on my lunch break, made a few laps around the floor and ate at Chef Bruce Li's Korean food truck, which by the way is delicious.

Final thoughts:

I had fun at Pop!Con this year the vendors were all great, the cosplay was great, the addition of a board game section was huge, for me at least. Although it seemed dead over there until the tournaments started. The replica Batmobile was a great addition as well. It's a relatively small convention which has advantages over the larger ones, it's easy to navigate, you don't feel like your going to miss anything and it's friendly. I met some very interesting people both vendors and con goers who didn't mind stopping and chatting. It's a great value, family friendly and kids 10 and under get in for free.

I think the main detractor from Evansville Pop!Con is the local nerd/geek community itself. I personally know very few people who went. And when I bring it up, a lot of people seem to blow it off. They'll say there's no good guests there or it's not big enough. I wish more people would give it a chance. Attendance would bring up numbers which in turn would help it to grow into an even better convention.

With the new convention hotel downtown and all the other growth that's accompanied it, it will hopefully, only a matter of time until our convention center rings with the sound of geek once again. I don't know what their master plans entail but since Evansville Pop!Con is the original local pop culture convention I would like it to be them.

#popcon #convention #con #conventions