COMICS PORTAL: Florida Supercon 2015

This year’s Florida Supercon was held this past weekend. Like last week’s Heroes Con, I was working on both sides of the table, so I feel I experienced a lot of what this excellent convention has to offer.

Here’s how this con is described on their website: “The LARGEST Comic Con in Miami, Florida Supercon 2015 is South Florida’s Comic Book, Anime, Animation, Video Game, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Pop Culture Convention. Florida Supercon takes place JUNE 25-28, 2015 at THE MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER! It’s 4 days of fun featuring celebrity guests, comic book creators, voice actors, industry guests, cosplayers, artists, writers, panels, Q&A’s, films & shorts, costume & cosplay contests, vendors, parties, anime, workshops, video gaming and more! FSC returns to THE MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER for our 10th annual event.”

I attended and reviewed last year’s Florida Supercon, and I think this year’s event was even better!

“LOTS OF SPACE”

The layout of the convention was expanded from last year, and it gave everyone a LOT of space, which was a joy to experience. As attendees walked around the floor, they could peruse the dealers’ wares easily, not bumping into each other. The only exception to this was Saturday, the highest-attended day. Word on the floor was that so many people wanted to buy tickets and get into the con that the local fire marshal had to stop the convention from selling any more tickets. I can buy that because it was packed in there, but in a good way. They may need to utilize even more of the Miami Beach Convention Center next year! Hey, even Thursday was a great time to attend with plenty of guests and vendors ready to meet their fans and other customers! [UPDATE: The con organizers have tallied up the total for the show and 51,000 graced the convention center halls over the 4 days–nearly a 20 percent increase over last year’s show (43,000).]

In the food court, there was enough space for folks to either sit down at the large number of tables or on the floor, if they preferred. Oh, and there were a great many food opportunities, which many of us took advantage of!

There were many reasons people wanted to attend, including a high-octane comics guest list that featured Neal Adams, Mike Grell, Jim Shooter, Bill Jemas and many more! As a podcaster, I had the chances to make contacts, set up future interviews, and even record chats with several terrific comics creators. You’ll hear those interviews in coming episodes of my Wayne’s Comics Podcast! The folks I chatted with were wonderful, making themselves available as much as possible, which was greatly appreciated.

Media guests were terrific as well, such as Kevin Smith, Karen Gillan, Haley Atwell, Brett Dalton, Matt Nable, Charlie Adler, Manu Bennett, Linda Blair, Michael Copon, Robin Curtis, Walter Koenig, Peter Mayhew, Eddie McClintock, Paul McGann, Vic Mignogna and Nichelle Nichols. Many of these guests happily signed autographs at their tables or gave presentations that delighted their fans.

There were a number of cosplayers, including those who looked like the guests. I saw several Doctors arm-in-arm with companions, Agent Carters, Star Trek fans wearing all kinds of uniforms, and I even saw the one I always look for – Hawkgirl! Coolness!

On the other side of the table, vendors had lots of room to display their product. Customers were super, considering and buying even a brand-new book like Stabbity Bunny! We also had a great time interacting with our “neighbors,” sharing information and helping each other when necessary. At the Stabbity Bunny table, we had a great con, selling many copies of the first issue, posters, stickers and t-shirts! We’ll be back again next year for sure!

MANAGED SUPERBLY

Besides the floor planning being great, I found the folks in charge of the con that I interacted with to be truly helpful!

I was very grateful to get a press pass this year, and I met Alexandra Figueredo from Mission Communications, who facilitated my access to many of the comics folks I wanted to chat with. She regularly sent out emails to all of us which often included vital information and photos of what was going on at Florida Supercon. She also was very easy to reach via email, which is how she answered my questions. Great job, Alexandra!

There was a great corps of volunteers (wearing red shirts, of all things) moving among the crowd. I found them most noticeable when the con would be closing down. They walked through the attendees calling out that it was time to clear the floor for the day. There were many times I saw the volunteers helping individuals by answering questions and directing them to where they wanted to go.

THINGS TO IMPROVE

I always like to be helpful when I attend conventions and find things that could be made better next time (and there will be a 2016 Florida Supercon, I’m sure of that!).

I mentioned that volunteers called out to everyone that it was time to leave the floor when the con was shutting down. I don’t know if it was possible, but someone announcing that overhead would have been great! It felt a little odd to have people nearly yelling through the crowds even though I understood the need to clear fans out.

Also, as I mentioned, on Saturday not everyone could get in. That wasn’t the con’s fault, but I’d suggest even more room booked next year, if possible! This is a GOOD problem to have, in my opinion, although I’m sure those folks who couldn’t get in would likely disagree.

Still, it was a busy and successful weekend for fan and vendor alike, with people carrying bags full of books, autographed photos and other merchandise.

EVEN BETTER THAN 2014

Really, 2014 was a tough act for Florida Supercon to follow! But they vastly exceeded our own high expectations!

If you haven’t been to Florida Supercon, I’d seriously suggest you consider going in 2016. I can’t wait to see what they’ll have in store for fans, vendors and others!

To find out more about this convention, you can go to their website at http://floridasupercon.com/. You can be certain they’ll be releasing more information about next year before very long! Well done!