User blog:ShatterClub/A Weekend in Vegas - Wikia Superfan Crew: Day 1

Day 1: Friday, April 24th, 2015

Synopsis
Not as though this was the fault of Wikia in any way, but I had to get up at 7am. Usually, on a day when I have no school, I sleep straight until 10am just because I'm too lazy to get my butt outta bed. In this case, I managed to make an exception.

Also, this wasn't Wikia's fault either, but several accidents along the highway leading to the airport left us worried that we'd miss the flight to Vegas. And the security line was wicked long. And the tram to the departure gate was stuck. So we resorted to sprinting down the terminal wing as fast as we could go because we were already late for boarding. We get there (finally), only 4 minutes late, and they hadn't even gotten the boarding letter in front of us cleared.

GAAAAH.

On the bright side, I can now saw that I sprinted down through a terminal to reach my flight. (I mean, honestly, have you ever had to run like that to catch a flight? I bet not. I bet there was no traffic stopping you from making that flight.)

Upon landing in Las Vegas, it was already apparent that I should have worn shorts. I'm a jeans guy myself, but it was a good 85 degrees compared to the 70 degrees it had been in Colorado the previous day. (Oh, and it was the first time I'd gotten anywhere by taxi. Pretty neat.) A reservation error at the hotel left us waiting for our Wizard World contact, Margie, to get us confirmed and in out hotel room. And that was the last hurdle we had to jump through on the trip.

Upon reaching the room, I opened the Wikia Transmission Box they had sent as a means of making the trip easier to document. After looking through the shwag box (and the shwag bag that Wizard World had also given me), we grabbed out VIP badges and made our way inside the convention center.

The floor was huge. I didn't know what I expected from a convention (because this was my first time attending one), but I didn't expect a show floor quite as big as the one we saw. Merchandise over here, video cameras over here, artists displaying their works, food booths, informational booths, photo op opportunities and rooms for both workshops and panels. All in all, it was a lot to explore.

At this point, I knew my feet would be hurting from the trip after only a day of walking around. But it hurt so good. (Anyone catch the reference?)

The first panel we attended was one regarding allowing fandom to flourish. My mom was confused about the concepts that people engaged in when it cames to conventions like this, but I was interested in what people might think if you for embracing that fandom. In short, the guy running the podcast (Fanboy Rant) basically stated that if anyone doesn't like the fact that you happen to be a fan of something, they don't change the fact that you are a fan of that subject.

So now I can embrace my Star Wars: The Old Republic fandom with more love. Thanks, guys.

The other was one relating to the world of cosplay. From the moment we entered the convention, it was clear that people didn't skip when it came to the costumes they wore. I walk in and I see Mace Windu, Captain Jack Sparrow, and World of Warcraft-looking characters, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and black ops soldiers. And they all looked fantastic. Again, we went to the panel because my mom didn't quite understand the concept, but we were both interested in learning more. Near the end, it came down to the courage that one would have by putting on said costume, no matter how good it was, and going out into a public setting for the sake of being noticed.

On the way back to the hotel room that night, I saw a man wearing a homemade Groot costume consisting of construction paper, brown string, and well-placed cardboard. It was so dull compared to the other costumes I had seen that day, but the man inside it was braver than any of them, because he went out in a costume that many people might consider to be a half-hearted attempt - but he did it anyway.

Now I gotta found out what to cosplay as. Maybe a Tauntaun. (More on that in a bit.)

NAVIGATON

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