Kansas City Comic Con last weekend, and now MidAmeriCon II / 74th Worldcon starts today. Same venue, but two very different events. I'm excited to see how Worldcon compares, though some differences are already apparent. With three conventions in three weeks (and two world class), it's definitely been the busiest con season I've had for a while. It definitely helps having two of them in town, and even better that both had good Star Wars connections.
I was a gaming guest at KCCC last year, but this year they handled the gaming room entirely differently. So, I didn't run any games this time around. The con is only in its second year and doesn't draw as much as the better established Planet Comiccon, but it also makes it easier to get around. My wife and I had zero wait to meet Nichelle Nichols, and I doubt any of the lines were too long for many of the guests most of the weekend.
I had a great time seeing BB-8 puppeteer Brian Herring at his panel. He had some great, entertaining stories about his Force Awakens experience, as well as his work on the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy movie, and even as part of the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremonies. It was a pretty early panel on Friday, so the turnout was light, but it didn't matter because the audience questions were much better than average. I met him directly afterwards, and had a great 10 to 15 minute conversation. Billy Dee Williams was also at the show, but I missed him this time around. I saw him at a panel a few years ago.
Update: Brian Herring's panel audio is now available at the worst comic podcast ever.
Now, it's on to MidAmeriCon II / 74th Worldcon. The world science fiction convention doesn't exactly come to town very often, so I'm taking full advantage of the opportunity. It runs Wednesday through Sunday, and has a wide variety of panels and events. I am participating in the Star Wars Tie-In panel (more details are available in my earlier post here) on Friday, which is the Star Wars Day. Unfortunately, there has been a last-minute cancellation, and Star Wars publicity supervisor Charles Lippincott is not going to appear after all. We will also miss out on the exhibit he was bringing along. no word yet on exactly what happened.
I will also be running a game or two each day. Mostly, it will be the different iterations of the Star Wars RPG, including the newly released Force Awakens Beginner Game. I will be running a D&D game on Sunday. My full schedule is here. Signing up for the gaming events is through Warhorn, though any empty seats will still be filled on site.