Fan Con’s in the COVID Era

2020 has been a year right out off the pages of a dystopian comic or bleak science fiction film. We have learned so many interesting things. We have learned how to become closer than ever. We have found new ways to share our love of all the nerdy things that make us who we are and to that end we have put to use our signature super power… The power of being clever.

This year we have seen our local conventions postponed or in some cases canceled and rescheduled for 2021, we have seen a total interruption in the normal flow of new movies, video games and even episodes of our favorite shows. Even collectibles have been hard to get our hands on.

With stores closing and then opening and then closing again, with cons being canceled and movies, shows and games postponed… What do we do now?

How do we nerd?

Something that I’ve always loved about this “Nerd” culture is that we, to paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm , “Find a way”.

Anime Expo has taken the initiative and actually put their con online for free. A 2 day event that allowed anyone to watch and experience some of the programming that was set to be available at the live event in LA. Now to be honest with you, we covered Anime Expo a couple years back and it really wasn’t the best experience. The con was big and did draw big names however the unfortunate thing about it is that unless you buy top tier tickets, there’s really no reason to think you will see any of those big names. When we were there we weren’t even allowed into some of the vendors because they were over capacity and their line was over capacity as well.

This virtual event was actually pretty good. We saw all the major industry panels, announcements for upcoming projects in the sphere of anime gaming, new movies and series and manga by big names like Viz and Aniplex. There were also great panels by cosplayers and content creators. It was actually a pretty good con experience and we know it will only get better as we all adapt to the new normal.

Here is a link to some of the panels plaid during the live stream https://www.youtube.com/user/spjaanimeexpo

Other major conventions are following suite. SDCC, Comic-con international is in the planning phases of “San Diego Comic-Con at home” and NYCC, New York Comic-Con, though still maintaining their dates, is also discussing and surveying registered past attendees to put together plans for a possible virtual convention in the fall.

To keep up to date with those plans visit their websites.

https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/san-diego-comic-con-at-home-dates-panels-how-to-watch-online

https://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/

We will be covering Anime expo quite soon so stay tuned