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.

"Hallowhedon 6" Review

 
Guests met and discussed in this review :-

• Clare Kramer

• Mark Metcalf

• Troy Blendell

• Andy Umberger

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)