5 Reasons I love Conventions

By Slank | Conventions and Cosplay | 20 Feb 2021

I've been attending conventions for the past 5 years, and I can't get enough of them. One of the many things I've missed since lockdowns happened are the amazing conventions that were cancelled. Some were rescheduled to be online only, but it's not the same without the interaction with other con-goers, vendors, and creators. Until conventions can be run safely, here are my top 5 things I love about conventions!

1) Cosplay:

I love... love... love, to cosplay and to also see the great cosplay while attending conventions. I'm not the greatest in cosplay, and I usually just purchase my cosplay (Pro-cosplayers cringe at the thought I buying your costume, I know), but I do love to dress up. My wife also loves to do it, and she's much better at the creating part. The fact that I have a partner that enjoys it as much, or even more, than I do makes this my #1 all-time favorite thing about Conventions. 90% of my pictures from conventions are of cosplay.

You can check out my wife's cosplay page, as well as my Gaming Page (I post cosplay pics on there when we go to conventions)

https://www.facebook.com/MrsSlankCosplay

https://www.facebook.com/htgameandchill

*Check out the Barney costume we bought from Wish.com, it was so bad it was Great!

2) Gaming:

The gaming aspect of most conventions is amazing if you want to chill and hang out with fellow gamers. Not all conventions have gaming areas, they are least common in the smaller ones. When I'm spending hours walking, taking pictures, buying stuff, and geeking out; It's nice to be able to relax and take a little break with some gaming.

Some conventions also have developers there to get feedback from gamers on their new game. I've been able to play some pretty amazing games that weren't released to the public yet.

3) Stuff to Buy:

I'm a DC comic fan, (mainly Batman) so I love to check out all the cool figures, comics, artwork, and other collectibles that are available. Just to see some of the items that you see online or in a catalog in person is pretty Epic. It's true that most things, you don't necessarily need to be at the Con to buy, so I usually buy more of the prints and other work that was created by local artists. I've bought so many prints through the years, I ended up buying a folder to keep them in.

4) Meeting Celebrities/Artists/Writers/Content Creators:

Most Conventions, I try to at least meet one of the guests and get a picture with an autograph. Depending on who the guest is, the fees can be pretty expensive, so I tend to only do one (Which allows me to spend more money on local artists!). Once in a while you might get lucky and see one of the guests walking around, but that doesn't happen too often (The Larger cons, this happens more often).

*I have a few of the pictures I've taken with Convention guests on my Facebook page. The family and I took a picture with Aquaman (Jason Momoa). My wife was happy about the picture :-) .

5) Food and Drink:

Number 5 was a tough one because I'm a huge fan of the After Parties at these cons, but as a dad, I don't get to do that as much anymore. So... for my 5th favorite thing about conventions are the amazing food and drink. Some cons have Food Trucks that are either outside or parked inside the convention center (Any food that comes out of a truck is DELICIOUS!). Some of the food vendors also get creative and make food and drinks similar to ones that you see in Anime, Comics, etc.

*Food can be expensive, so I wouldn't eat full meals there.

*If you are planning to spend a whole weekend at a convention, you can usually buy a souvenir cup to refill for free or cheap all weekend.