A Recap & Ranking Of Conventions I Attended In 2014

So, halfway through my review of Buffy’s “Tabula Rasa”, I needed a break. Sometimes these really deep, intricate reviews can severely mentally drain you. Especially when you’re trying to juggle a full-time job, two part-time jobs, and two university modules at the same time. Therefore, to counteract all this work...I decided to create more for myself by writing this recap of my times on the convention scene in 2014, as well as giving some general advice and information about conventions and ticket types (primarily in the United Kingdom). Now, unlike my other convention-related posts, this one won’t be 20-25 A4-pages long. This is because, frankly, I’ve already written gigantic reviews of the conventions themselves, so most of the details are contained within those specific reviews. I will try to keep this post as brief as possible...but you know I get excited and fan-flailey, so bear that in mind. What this post will do is recap the year, talk about some of the highlights, talk about some of the best guests, and talk about advantages and disadvantages of different convention companies.

"Buffy Fanmeet" Review

Guests met and discussed in this review :-

• Eliza Dushku

• James Marsters

• Nicholas Brendon

Wales Comic Con 2014 Part II - A Detailed Review

Guests met and discussed in this review (with the franchise I most associate them with personally) :-

• Anthony Head (Rupert Giles in “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”)

• Emily Head (Anthony’s Daughter & Carli in “The InBetweeners”)

• Mark Sheppard (Badger in “Firefly”, Crowley in “Supernatural”, and King of the nerd TV shows)

• Ian Beattie (Ser Meryn Trant in “Game Of Thrones”)

• Road Warrior Animal (Wrestler)

• Booker T (Wrestler)

• Lance Storm (Wrestler)

• Doug Williams (Wrestler)

• Paul London (Wrestler)

"Hallowhedon 6" Review

 
Guests met and discussed in this review :-

• Clare Kramer

• Mark Metcalf

• Troy Blendell

• Andy Umberger

London Film And Comic Con (Winter) 2014 - A Detailed Review

Guests met and discussed in this review (with the franchise I most associate them with personally) :-

• Ralph Macchio (“The Karate Kid”)
• Jerome Flynn (Bronn from “Game Of Thrones”)
• Miltos Yeromelou (Syrio Forel from "Game Of Thrones")
• Ross Mullan (Primary White Walker from "Game Of Thrones")
• Andrew Rothenberg (Jim from “The Walking Dead” and Malcolm from “True Blood”)
• Michael Koske (Various Zombies from "The Walking Dead")
• Alberto Rodriguez A.K.A. Alberto Del Rio (Wrestler)
• Solofa Fatu Jr. A.K.A. Rikishi (Wrestler)
• Brian Christopher A.K.A. Grandmaster Sexay (Wrestler)
• Scott Garland A.K.A. Scotty 2 Hotty (Wrestler)

"Vampire Ball 5" Review

Guests met and discussed in this review :-

• James Marsters
• Emma Caulfield
• Jeff Ricketts
• Jonathan Woodward
• George Hertzberg
• Dayne Johnson

London Film And Comic Con 2014 - A Detailed Review

Guests met and discussed in this review (with the franchise I most associate them with personally) :-

• Stan Lee (no explanation needed)
• Anthony Head (Rupert Giles from “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”)
• Juliet Landau (Drusilla from “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”)
• Summer Glau (River Tam from “Firefly”)
• Robert Knepper (Tommy Dolan from “Carnivale”)
• Billie Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian from the Star Wars franchise)
• Gethin Anthony (Renly Baratheon from “Game Of Thrones”)
• Sibel Kekilli (Shae from “Game Of Thrones”)
• Amy ‘Lita’ Dumas (wrestler)
• James Storm (wrestler)
• Al Snow (wrestler)
• David Yost (Billy Cranston from “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers”)
• T. J. Thyne (Dr. Jack Hodgins from “Bones”)

Wales Comic Con 2014 - A Detailed Review

Guests met and discussed in this review :-

• Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick & Griphook from the Harry Potter films)
• Rikishi (wrestler)
• Vader (wrestler)
• Ian McElhinney (Ser Barristan Selmy from “Game Of Thrones”)
• Ellie Kendrick (Meera Reed from “Game Of Thrones”)
• Mark Addy (King Robert Baratheon from “Game Of Thrones”)
• James Cosmo (Lord Commander Jeor Mormont from “Game Of Thrones”)
• Aimee Richardson (Myrcella Baratheon from “Game Of Thrones”)
• Kerry Ingram (Shireen Baratheon from “Game Of Thrones”)
• Charlie Adlard (primary artist for the graphic novels of “The Walking  Dead”)

Meeting Christian Kane (& 'Vampire Ball 4' Recap)

From the 8th-10th of November, Starfury Events ran a convention called 'Vampire Ball 4'. The line-up for this event was Christian Kane ("Angel" and "Leverage"), Georges Jeanty ("Buffy The Vampire Slayer" season eight and nine artist), Jim Parrack ("True Blood"), Michael McMillian ("True Blood"), Kris Holden-Ried ("Lost Girl"), and Paul Amos ("Lost Girl"). I found out about this event earlier this year but thought that it wouldn't be feasible at all due to the fact that it was only 2 weeks after Hallowhedon 5. However, by complete coincidence this convention happened to coincide with my friend Beth's 21st birthday party, which was taking place in London. Very spontaneously, I decided to go to 'Vampire Ball 4' for just the Saturday, as I couldn't give up the chance to meet one of my heroes, Christian Kane...

Hallowhedon 5 - The Fan Experience

A note before I get started: This review will not contain every word that was said, as I don’t remember everything. Hell, I’ve probably forgotten half of the things that people said or that I said to the guests. However, this will be a good overview of the weekend and should show you what to expect from a weekend convention like Hallowhedon.

Second note: I will not be naming fellow convention goers very often, even the 40+ of you that are from my “Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fan Club” Facebook page. If I name 5 of you and not the rest, they get offended, etc., so I will only be naming the very important people that I spent the most time with.

Third note: “We” means “Myself and Robyn”. I didn’t want to keep writing “Myself and Robyn did this”, “Myself and Robyn did that”, so I just said “we” a lot of the time ;).

Final note: Photo credits to the following wonderful people, who have allowed me to use some of their photos for this recap - Bernie Angel McDonnell, Clare Davidson, Lisa Davidson, and Elspeth Renfrew!

I very spontaneously decided to go to Hallowhedon 5 at the beginning of March. I was on the forums checking to see who was announced for LFCC (London Film & Comic Con), and saw that Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, and Tom Lenk had all been announced for Hallowhedon. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I slightly prefer Angel as a show to Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It’s only slightly, but it meant that I couldn’t give up the opportunity to meet Alexis and Amy, as they are two of the main characters. You could argue that Wesley is the second main character of the whole show (behind Angel). I decided to buy a gold ticket, which included six free studio photos, six free autographs, an exclusive gold membership drinks reception with the stars, the front 5 rows at the talks, and a goodie bag upon registering at the event. The line-up for the event was Alexis Denisof (Wesley), Amy Acker (Fred), Tom Lenk (Andrew), K. Todd Freeman (Mr. Trick), Jeff Ricketts (Weatherby from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel (from The Watcher’s Council), and he was also in an episode of Firefly), Sarah Hagan (Amanda, the Potential Slayer), Jane Espenson (Buffy The Vampire Slayer writer (as well as many other shows), and Brad Bell (star and co-creator of ‘Husbands’, alongside Jane Espenson). About six weeks before Hallowhedon, Amy Acker had to pull out due to work commitments.

(The Hilton Hotel entrance)