Planning and facilitating Planet Comicon 2014 was intense to say the least. I’ve needed some time away from it to decompress and gain perspective. I’m going start writing short items recapping the highlights. I’ll post some of them here and others on social media.
First off, it was a tremendous success — an accomplishment of staggering proportions. We set records for attendance, with something like 40,000 fans of superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, anime, and pop culture coming to Bartle Hall for three days of geek glory in mid-March. The event was extensively covered by the local media. Vendors, celebrities, and comics creators had a great opportunity to meet fans and sell their wares. Best of all, at the end of Day Three, nearly every single person seemed thrilled to have been a part of the event.
On the other hand, you don’t move an army of this size without worry, stress, and a tremendous amount of exertion. The Planet Comicon team all put in innumerable hours in advance of the show. That, of course, starts with the show’s owner and director, Chris Jackson, and includes Jeff Yenzer, Matt Driscoll, Kelly Bever, Bryan Ward, Mike Sullivan, Jason P. Hunt, Victor Pena, and our team of nearly 100 volunteers.
Before I write my recaps, here are some video highlights of the show courtesy of the fans and local television.