Project Geekology
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Project Geekology
Minisode: Florida Supercon 2024
What happens when you combine the excitement of Florida Supercon with the unpredictability of solo adventures? Listen to our latest episode as Anthony recounts his two-day escapade at Florida Supercon 2024, armed with press passes and an insatiable curiosity. From the impressive growth of the convention under ReedPop's ownership to the thrill of seeing the entire Critical Role cast (despite a hiccup with some car issues), there's plenty to unpack. Plus, David Tennant's guest appearance added an extra layer of star-studded excitement!
Imagine missing your most anticipated panel due to a tire mishap and heavy traffic—that's precisely what happened to Anthony! Despite the heartbreak of missing the Critical Role panel, the vibrant atmosphere of Supercon quickly uplifted his spirits. From meeting talented artists and testing high-end Secret Labs computer chairs to enjoying Crunchyroll-sponsored anime viewings and beginner-friendly D&D sessions, the convention offered a rich tapestry of experiences. And good news for those who missed the panel—it's available on YouTube!
Conventions aren't just about fun; there is also behind-the-scenes challenges vendors face. With insights from a friend comparing the costs of Supercon and Otakufest, we delve into the financial hurdles new vendors encounter. On a more personal note, I'll share the diverse and geeky merchandise I couldn't resist, from bento boxes to anime journals. Reflecting on the relaxed atmosphere of Sunday versus the bustling Saturday, I can confidently say that Supercon is a must-attend if the guest lineup catches your eye. Don't miss the end of the episode, where we share ways you can support our podcast and tease our upcoming review of Deadpool 2!
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Welcome to another mini-sode of Project Geekology. I am one of your hosts, anthony, and today I am by myself. Dakota has been on vacation the last couple episodes. We actually recorded those in one night just so that we had a couple episodes to get out to you. I have a special mini-sode for you. Today I am going to be covering Florida Supercon 2024. And I had gotten press passes and, honestly, if it weren't for y'all, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to get that. But you know what I always enjoy going to a convention. I have a great time even outside of a press capacity. So I probably would have talked about it regardless of me getting a press opportunity for it. But yes, florida Supercon 2024. I think I'm going to just jump into it. I know that Dakota and I usually talk about what we've been up to, but I'm going to be talking to you about what I have been up to, which is Florida Supercon, florida Supercon 2024.
Speaker 0:The convention was on July 12th to the 14th. I was not able to go on the 12th. I had to work that day. A couple of my coworkers had already claimed that day off, like even well, like early into the year, so I had no chance of asking for it off, unless I asked for it off last year, which I actually may do that for next year but for the days that I did go on that Saturday and Sunday I had a great time. I really, really did.
Speaker 0:I am always interested in seeing how a convention progresses or how a convention improves itself, and Florida Super Con for the longest time was owned by I don't even remember his name, but it was like a smaller local convention. It used to be at a convention center called the Miami Airport Convention Center. That's where Otaku Fest was usually at. That's the convention I went to in May. Otaku Fest is now at the same location that Supercon is at. But you know, obviously they don't have to worry because they're at two different times of the year, one in May, one in July. But Florida Supercon it's really blown up and, yeah, it's owned by Repop now, which notably owns several other conventions, which NYCC, New York Comic Con, is one of their most popular ones.
Speaker 0:I got the pleasure of going to that one with Dakota back in 2018. I would love to go again in the future. So, you know, if you're listening, repop, you know I'm a may try to submit a press pass, you know, take me on you, let me cover that for our podcast. That would be awesome. But nonetheless, we're not talking about NYCC, we are talking about Florida Supercon, and I kind of want to talk a little bit about the guests before I kind of break down my days. But you know, this year was really, really really stacked with people that are in the Dungeons and Dragons kind of space. That was awesome. I was like, oh my gosh, this is like such a D&D. It wasn't a D&D convention, but it felt so much so like a D&D convention because of the guests. And then there was a lot of like D&D vendors there too. It was awesome.
Speaker 0:So, the guests one of my biggest reasons for wanting to go to this convention and if I didn't have a press pass I still would have gone to this convention is the fact that Critical Role was there. All of them, all of Critical Role was there, and I was really happy to see that. Sam Riegel was there, for those of you that are into Critical Role probably know that he had some form of cancer, that's something that was like in his mouth, and so that's why he had to leave the show for a little while he was dealing with that, but the fact that you know he's back. He had an announced that he was dealing with that a little bit before the convention so I was a little worried that he wouldn't be there. But I would understand because I mean he dealt with a lot. You know, that's a serious medical thing to deal with. So the fact that he was there was really really awesome. And you know like we've gotten big stars down to Supercon.
Speaker 0:But I felt like getting a group like that together and not it being one or the other or just you know two or three, but the fact that the whole entire group was there as Critical Role was pretty big to me. I know it was really big for a lot of Critters, as they call Critical Role fans, bidet y'all. I thought that was really awesome. So, aside from Critical Role, they had a few of the voice talent from Baldur's Gate 3. They had Shadowheart, astarion and a couple others. I forgot who it was, but I was like like oh my gosh, you know we got Baldur's Gate after. Obviously, after seeing that they were there and seeing their panel I was, it got me into the mood to want to play Baldur's Gate 3 again. So I've kind of hopped back on that for a little bit.
Speaker 0:And then there was also the Exandria Unlimited people. There was Amy Carrero, there was Robbie Damon and Jolly I forgot her last name and you know, like pretty much one of the groups for Exandria Unlimited, and that was. That was crazy. Like I was like, oh my gosh, like we have, like you know, all this D&D people there was also. You know, honestly, I was, I wasn't really fanning over this guest, although I used to be a major fan of his. But david tennant was there and I was a big fan of his 10th doctor and doctor who, and you know, and then he was also in harry potter and several other things, jessica jones, but he was there and I wasn't even fanning over there. I think he had a panel. I didn't, I didn't make that panel, but yeah, that's some of the guests there. There were several other guests like there.
Speaker 0:Oh, and also Ali and AJ was there and for those of you that grew up on Disney may know Ali, I was like Ali, michalka, michalka I'm hoping that I'm saying their last name right. It's one of those, maybe, maybe not, but for those of you that know Ali and AJ, ali was really well known for playing Keely in that TV show, phil of the Future, and so it was really cool seeing her there. And then her sister, her sister aj is also well known for playing. I haven't really watched the goldbergs too much, but she plays the girlfriends of the eldest brother. Like I know there's a, there's a sister and then two brothers it's not the youngest brother but the older brother. She plays the girlfriend of that character and she is also a voice in, I think, catra in the She-Ra show on Netflix. So that was actually a pretty interesting panel.
Speaker 0:I'll talk a little bit about the panels now and I'll talk about the Ali and AJ and the Baldur's Gate one before I get into the actual Critical Role panel, because I have a tragic story as far as that one. Well, not tragic as in like any bodily injury was happening, but more tragically like it made me sad. But the Ali and AJ one was really cool because you know they talked about their projects there. They had done music before together and we're kind of around in like the Disney circuit there in a movie called cowbells together and yeah, they had done music together. They stopped for a while but now they're doing music again. I think they've been doing music again for a little while now, but yeah, so now they're pretty much like indie now and I thought one of the coolest things is that aj has a connection to amy carrero, which was a voice in she-ra also I forgot who she voiced.
Speaker 0:She was also in this netflix show called maid. She was the main characters like friends when she went to to some shelter. But you know just to kind of identify who this is if you don't know who amy carrero is. But amy carrero is in the Exandria Unlimited group which is part of Critical Role, and both I think Ali and AJ in two of their respective shows, ali also being in one called iZombie.
Speaker 0:They both had these D&D episodes and I think somebody had asked like well, I know that you had these D&D episodes, but would you ever be interested in being in a dnd, maybe one shot with some of the critical role people and like they were like, oh yeah, like absolutely. I know that this is like small, but it's so cool seeing some of these elements of my youth kind of blend in. Well, not so much critical role, critical role started when I was a little bit older, but still I thought that was really cool, and the Baldur's Gate one was really, really cool. The Ellie and AJ one was in one of the smaller sets of rooms. The Baldur's Gate 3 one was in one of the main ballrooms and so, yeah, that one ended up packing out. I was happy I was able to make those two at least. But yeah, no, it was great to kind, you know, kind of see their experiences, how they really perceived each other in the beginning and how it was working with so many different voice actors. I mean, there were so many voiced characters in that game. It blew my mind to hear some of the background stuff of Baldur's Gate 3. So, yeah, that got me wanting to hop back onto Baldur's Gate 3.
Speaker 0:And now here comes the tragic story. So Critical Role was pretty much my biggest reason for wanting to come to this year of Supercon. I mean, I was going to go regardless anyway, but I think that there have been maybe a few guests over the years that got me like, yeah, I want to go to this convention no matter what. Like if my car broke down I was going to find a way to get there, you know. But well, with that being said, so on Friday night and bear with me, this is going to lead up to the story.
Speaker 0:So Friday night I had noticed I was kind of checking my car over. I was like, oh, I know, I'm going to be driving, you know, about an hour two ways going to the convention center and then going back home for two days. So I kind of wanted to check my stuff over. I was, you know, making sure that my fluids were good and checking my tires to make sure that none were were low. I noticed that there was a little screw and one of my tires and I was like you know, I don't want to drive, all you know, back and forth all this time with a screw. You know it might have been little and my tire probably would have held up, but I didn't want to chance that. So I was like, oh, you know, like I really wanted to like kind of get up and just head out right away to the convention center because they had the Role panel at 11 am and I was like 11 am, that's so early, especially for me On the weekends I don't like to wake up super early, but for Critical Role I was definitely waking up early and so I had to wake up a little bit earlier.
Speaker 0:I got to the tire place as early as I could. My tires were okay. All I needed really was a patch for that tire. So I ended up getting a patch. It didn't take that long. I think at max like 30 minutes, but I left. You know, I went as early as I could and I left and I was supposed to get there at like 1030. And I know that like 1030, you know 1030 is cutting it a little close, but yeah, that's what Waze was telling me and I was like OK, you know, that should give me enough time.
Speaker 0:And you know Saturdays for those of you that been to conventions, especially like a full weekend one y'all know that Saturdays are crazy. Saturdays are crazy packed. That's where everybody wears like their best cosplay, most of the panels are happening and just, you know a bunch of stuff. But yeah. So I was supposed to get there at 10 30 and there was accidents along the way. The traffic got so absolutely ridiculous. One of the the parking garages was packed out. But, believe it or not, I didn't have any issue finding parking. I was able to actually easily find parking. But by the time I got there it was a little after 11. I parked, I looked at my phone and it said that the panel was full and I was so upset I was like, no, oh yeah, I was so upset that I so I missed that panel.
Speaker 0:There is a silver lining. That panel is on YouTube under a channel called pop verse. So if you are interested in seeing the supercon panel, if you missed it and you want to see it, they do have that panel. I know it's different. It's like watching a concert on YouTube. You're not part of that experience. You're not there, you're not around the people as all of this stuff is happening. Still, silver lining I can still watch their panel and you know, at least up close. I was pretty far back with the Baldur's Gate one, but that one's also online. So I think I'm going to rewatch that one just so that I get like a closer view. It's so hard to like see people when you're like all the way back at the back of a ballroom. But yeah, so that that critical role one really that one really, like you know, broke my heart that I missed that one. I was, yeah, I was definitely sad. I was like, oh my gosh, why did you do it so early? But the whole tire thing messed me up.
Speaker 0:Aside from the panels, I got to meet some really really cool artists in the artist alley. I got to meet some really cool vendors. There was definitely a lot with the vendors. They had secret labs there which, for those of you who don't know who secret labs are, they sell these computer chairs. You know I've always thought they looked cool but they're super expensive. But like I'm like I don't want to like look into buying a really expensive chair that I don't know if it's comfortable. I mean, I just recently bought a new computer chair, so I'm not looking for a computer chair right now. But the fact that they had secret labs there allowed people to kind of check out their chairs and stuff. So I thought that was really cool. They had different ones. They had the Final Fantasy 14 one, they had the Cyberpunkpunk one. There was a lot of really really really cool chairs. But other than that, they also had like this partnership with crunchyroll. The badges had crunchyroll and different like anime on it. The press pass had actual crunchyroll hime on it and her pet cat that I don't know the name of. But yeah, they had this viewing room that was like Crunchyroll sponsored and so you could go in and watch anime and that was really cool. I really enjoyed that. There was a lot of.
Speaker 0:If there are those of you that have been wanting to get into D&D, you don't know how you want to learn a lot of these conventions, especially Supercon. They have D&D sessions there. It's like you know, learn A lot of these conventions, especially Supercon. They have D&D sessions. It's like you know, maybe like a one shot, but there's like one shots that are there to teach you. They're like you know, beginner D&D, how to learn. They had the Baldur's Gate one and they had a couple of others. For those of you that are into D&D, that you know how to play D&D, they have more a little bit of an arcade and then a bunch of consoles. I know that that might not be new for some of you that have gone to conventions, but it was really cool.
Speaker 0:I always like to go in there. There is a press room that I could go to, but I was like, ah, you know, I kind of want to like chillax amongst the people. So I went up to the game room, I went to one of the computers and I played a little bit of overwatch over there, like I actually hadn't played Overwatch in a while, but the fact that you know I was in a different space. I was playing Overwatch and around people who enjoy gaming just as much as me. It was a really, really fun experience. And yeah, saturday I was there from a little after 11 all the way till a little after 11. Yeah, I spent 12 hours there.
Speaker 0:I know that that might sound insane for some people, but conventions are like Disney for me. It's my Disney. I could go there all day. All I need to do is maybe take a little bit of a seat, get some food. They're definitely using a lot more of the convention space.
Speaker 0:Last year, the right side of the convention, which is the smaller side that Otaku Fest was on that side is usually for will call or for purchasing a badge. But it wasn't just that they had that section towards the front, but in the back they had a food court, like a small food court, and I was like, oh my goodness, they're starting to use more of the space. And there was also a food court on the left side. So they kind of had like their bases covered and all the way on the left side that's where all the celebrities were. They had this like area towards the back where all of the photo ops were which I so badly wanted to do, that critical role photo op but I could not swing $350. I just couldn't. That's just too much for me. Maybe in the future when I'm doing web development, I have a little bit more disposable income, I'll do that, but yeah, I just couldn't swing it.
Speaker 0:Just being there and seeing them and talking to some of them was honestly a delight. I think I had only seen Matt Mercer once and that was when he was in the circuit for Overwatch, because he voices Cassidy, which back then was named McCree. But yeah, so I know that I keep on. Coming back to Critical Role, they had like towards the middle it was a little bit towards the back, but like in the middle was Artist Alley. I always love going to Artist Alley. Some people may be used to it. In Artist Alley they're used to making art and selling, but there are some people that it is a lot to really create this art and put it out there for people to buy. Because you know you're kind of walking by and honestly I feel so bad. Like you know, sometimes I'm walking by and like there's stuff that doesn't interest me. But on merit, I kind of just want to buy something because I want everybody to make money.
Speaker 0:It costs money to set up tables at these convention centers and it ranges from a table all the way up to a big booth and it's expensive, especially for the larger the convention, the more expensive the table is going to be, and Supercon has been getting larger and so, yeah, that means that the tables are more expensive. I spoke to one of my friends who was a vendor at otaku fest. She wasn't a vendor at super con because she she said it was just too expensive for her. They wanted her to take a 1200 table or a booth that she just didn't need. She wanted a table and and yeah, that's expensive. You know, especially for those of you that may take these tables, that know that you can either break even or make money because you've gone to conventions before, that's fine, but for somebody that may be a little bit newer, that isn't too sure. You know you don't want to go to this convention and not at least break even. I mean, you want to make money, but at least breaking even means that you got your money back.
Speaker 0:So yeah, there's stuff like that, but I went so crazy with buying some of the stuff. There was somebody that made bento boxes and I got a couple of those. I got some journals that had anime characters on them. I got some dice D20s. I also got some drinks there. They had this dark and stormy it was like a storm themed drink. They had a sangria that was a jean gray phoenix themed one. They had a jubilee themed drink there. And then you know, for those of you that go to conventions, you know that the food is not particularly cheap either. So I usually try to bring some snacks so I can kind of snack before I actually buy some food there. I mean, I know I could always leave or maybe bring some food with me, but I don't want to bring food with me and then, like it just not tastes good because it's been sitting in my backpack all day. But yeah, that was mostly so mostly Saturdays.
Speaker 0:Where I did a lot of my buying Sunday was when I went to the Exandria Unlimited panel. The other ones were on Saturday. The Exandria Unlimited panel was good. I was able to make that at a good time. It was at like 12, 15. So yeah, that was like perfect timing. I was able to get there. It was still, you know, a little bit more on the pack side, but nowhere near how Saturday was. Sunday was able to get there. It was still, you know, a little bit more on the pack side, but nowhere near how saturday was. Sunday was a little bit more lax.
Speaker 0:I, I can't speak for friday, but I think, or I I spoke to a friend and and they, they said that friday was pretty chill, but yeah, sunday was nice. I it ran up from 10 to to 5 pm, you know. I I kind of like hung around a little bit after the exhibition hall, so. So when I'm saying these times it's like exhibition hall times, so friday and saturday it's 10 to 7, sunday it's 10 to 5, and there's also usually other stuff going on, mostly on on friday and saturday, sunday, when exhibition hall closes, there's like everybody else is done, you know. So yeah, I think overall, supercon really really did a good job this year. I'm sorry for those of you that may not have had a stellar time or for those of you vendors that may not have done well, and I hope for the best for you in the future. You know there's a lot of stuff that that that goes unsaid when it comes to conventions, or there's the amazing side and then the not so amazing side. So I know that things can get a little tougher for those who actually go there to to make money. But yeah, I mean other than that, I, I personally I had a good time.
Speaker 0:I think that they did a really good job, was cool seeing the crunchyroll like kind of sponsorship. I love the press badge. I'm definitely going to be keeping that, like the fact that it says crunchyroll has crunchyrohime. I was like, oh, this is definitely one of my favorite badges in general, like just even as like an attendee, this is like my favorite badge. And yeah, the guests were really, really stacked and I felt like a lot of the guests complimented each other because they were either like in the dnd or they're into dnd and like their voice talent and like you know, anime. It was really good. I I think that I know I keep on saying that it was really good. I just I really do think that for those of you that are thinking about going to Supercon, that either live in the area that close to it or somewhere in Florida or even out of town, and you're considering like, hey, I want to go to an out of town convention and you're looking at Supercon, I definitely recommend it, but for sure, keep an eye on the guests. If there's guests that don't interest you and guests are a big thing for you when it comes to going to conventions then definitely keep an eye on that.
Speaker 0:There's some years that are awesome. Some years are less than stellar. I think that this year was pretty good. Yet last year was really good. I had a great time with that too. I got to meet the voice actress of Ah. Yeah, last year was really good. I had a great time with that too. I got to meet the voice actress of Ahsoka last year and I got to. Yeah, like I said, I got to meet Ali and AJ. I got to meet some of the Critical Role people, so I thought that was awesome. It was really up my alley.
Speaker 0:As far as my interest as far as the guests, this year I actually made it a mission of mine to actually attend panels. I always get so caught up in the exhibition floor. It's so easy to get caught up because there's so much to see, there's so much to do, there's so much to buy. You know so many really cool cosplayers that you want to take pictures with. But yeah, like outside of that. I made it to panels. I got to see what it was that they offered outside of the exhibition floor stuff, and there's definitely a lot there. They're definitely improving and I think that they're looking to improve. So I'm really excited to see what they do next year and hopefully they take me on as press. If not, I probably will still go regardless.
Speaker 0:Also, just one quick little note before I close out this episode. If you are interested in going to Florida Supercon, just know that it is in Miami Beach and if you're looking to stay nearby, then you'll probably be fine. But if you're looking to like kind of drive, just be wary of the fact that traffic gets insane. It's a small, like man-made island or like a strip of man-made island. The streets are kind of like cramped and stuff. So just kind of keep that in mind. But other than that, I recommend it. So thank you all for joining me for this mini episode covering Florida Supercon 2024.
Speaker 0:If you enjoyed this episode and have not listened to any of our other episodes, go and check out our other episodes. We have tons and tons of different episodes covering things from video games to movies to books. We have some anime in there. Yeah, we have a lot, and right now we're in the midst of a Deadpool slash X-Men series that is leading up to Deadpool and Wolverine. So if you are worried about us covering Deadpool Wolverine too soon, don't worry, we still have a few more movies to cover before we actually cover Deadpool Wolverine.
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