Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo
March 18th-20th
ReedPOP 2016
When I go to a Convention to cover it as a member of the press I’m not there per se to use that to meet anyone or to get exclusives from the guests. I’m there to cover the convention itself and I think that sets me apart. These days there are a lot of folks who will focus their attention on things like cosplayers, panels or media guests and while I’ll do that too I like to go a bit deeper. So after I’ve had a week to sit back and go over my experience let’s talk about this convention’s experience.
I love to get a feel for a convention before it’s open to the general public unfortunately that wasn’t available to me. It was a great opportunity to meet people though while waiting in line. I will say though that once the floor opened and I got a chance to wander around amidst the crowd I thought wow the setup here is pretty amazing. The aisles are nicely spaced to allow for the inevitable stoppage of people as they are walking and taking notice of the booths around them.
If you look at the way the space was used they really thought about their guests and what would be best of them. There was ample space here perfect to still grow, which it should and that would be amazing but I’ll touch on that later, while still allowing us to hit areas that as a guest you want to be at without having to worry about anything else. The place of the Autographing and photo op area for the celebrities wasn’t conflicting with any booths or artists tables. The Artist Alley is a dream come true, much like the New York show. All in all it’s so easy to find what you are looking for and to experience things you weren’t expecting to at the same time.
Artist Alley really was just an experience. The sheer number of people currently working in the industry is a huge draw. I didn’t see many of those people who you look at and know have never done any work for a company before and wonder why they don’t get busted for copyright infringement. Plus it’s so nice to see such big names involved in meeting their fans and being honest and appreciative of the gushing fans do. Also the way it was setup allowed me to meet people I wasn’t familiar with but was definitely excited by.
I was 
disappointed in the fact that DC didn’t have a presence, yes I understand they were gearing up for Wonder Con but that’s no excuse to me. A convention of this size and magnitude specially where it’s situated should have a stronger company presence including Dynamite, Boom! And Image Comics. This is the biggest show outside a coast and that these companies weren’t there was a disservice to the fans. On the plus side Marvel rocked it and with a lot of smaller press companies there showcasing their books, having signings with creators had incredible opportunities to garner new fans. So thanks C2E2 for keeping the support of the smaller guys going strong and allowing them to shine the way they did.
Have a beer on us!
I love to ask questions of the people working there. This goes a long way to showing the care and thought put into those that run a show. The staff were exceptional! No one got bothered by being asked where something was or for advice on the area or even transit. They were kind courteous and knowledgeable. Kudos for this kind of care and attention put into getting them ready for what felt like huge numbers of fans.
Panels were handled great and again the staff was on there to guide, help and keep things moving in an orderly fashion. That the panels section was away from the floor again helped the flow of people moving around and utilizing the convention space this way was impressive.
I cannot find anything negative to say about ReedPOP or the show they put on. This really was my second favourite show to attend, after ironically NYCC. With shows like Motor City hot on it’s heels this is why the Midwest region flocks to this show and people travel 5+ hours to get here because it’s one of the biggest and best shows all around.
Written by: Steven Leitman
