The Guests
I've been to cons in this way: 1) I went to Celebration IV to see the premiere of Return of Pink Five, Volume 2 . and saw a few panels given by famous people from the back of the room, usually. 2) I went to AutumnCon in Salt Lake City, where they had mostly semi-famous fantasy writers and one really famous children's author. 3) I've been to a lot of the Life, The Universe and Everything Symposium at Brigham Young University, where we again spend a lot of time admiring writers like Orson Scott Card and Gail Carson Levine, some of the time academically debating Battlestar Galactica and hearing papers on feudal allegory in Lord of the Rings. For a first-year con, this had a very impressive guest list. We had dwarfs, orcs, Darth Maul, Darth Vader, Xander and a host of others who I won't bother to mention because it would take too long. Salt Lake City Comic-Con acquitted itself pretty well considering that the last really major event was the 2002 Olympics and you have to work REALLY hard to find a bar in the city. I have pictures of David Prowse and Peter Mayhew at adjoining tables. I have pictures (and some cool souvenirs) of the only WETA station that has been at a US convention other than San Diego. As mentioned before, I sat in a very long line for William Shatner. Geektyrant.com's reporter-on-the-scene commented, "I even got a video of Lee coming out of the bathroom, which was a little strange." Other projects were easier to stalk, such as the 501st Legion members (some of them at the booth, some wandering around in search of droids) or the guy who writes Nathan Hale's Dangerous Tales. The most eye-catching was definitely WETA's booth, where Gandalf towered over their space and Gollum glowered at passers-by. They had weaponry. They had miniatures. Best of all, they had WETA keychains and Smaug pins.
Kaki Olsen
Contributor
That's Kaki pronounced like the pants, thank you very much, my family nickname and writing name. I am a Red Sox-loving, Doctor Who-quoting, Shaara-reading walking string quartet of a Mormon writer from Boston. I currently work 40 hours at a stressful desk job with a salary that lets me pick up and travel to places like Ireland or Philadelphia. I have no husband or kids, but I have five nephews to keep me entertained. When not writing, working or eating too much Indian food, I'm always looking for something new to learn, whether it's French or family history.
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