From the day I walked into my first
comic convention in 1994 I have been hooked. I love everything about
them, the chance to meet like-minded people to talk geeky things
along with the chance to see my favourite artists and writers. I am
like a kid in a sweet shop. Now, over the years conventions have
changed considerably; mostly for the better, sometimes not so much
but that’s for another post. The two things that haven’t changed
is my love of going to the conventions and my ambition to go to a
convention in America.
So on the 22nd May we had an
early 06:30 start to the airport to catch our 8 hour flight to
Atlanta. After a none too eventful flight and a particularly fast
check-in through immigration we were on our way to our hotel. Due to
our lack of knowledge of the Atlanta area we had decided to stay at
the Marriott Century Centre where the convention was been held, which
on reflection was an inspired choice as the hotel was one of the
better ones we have stayed in during our visits to the States. We had
no complaints about our room, the main reception area and lobby was
huge so anyone that wanted to mingle could do so, the hotel
restaurant had a good selection of food although it was hotel prices
and more importantly the bar had a good selection of beers, sprints
and cocktails although again they were hotel prices but that’s to
be expected.
Once we had settled in and had a drink
(coffee) we went and stood in line for registration which was very
quick and efficient. I was presently surprised to see people already
in costume hanging around the bar and lobby areas as there were still
a few hours until the convention started.
TimeGate ran from the Friday of
Memorial day weekend through to the Sunday evening and there were
various panels and events running throughout the weekend,
surprisingly some of which ran past 11pm which to me is unusual as
most UK conventions wrap up around 5pm. There were various guests all
who had tables throughout the convention area with a dealers room
close to the main hall, the two main guests were Katy Manning - who
played Jo Grant when Jon Pertwee was the Doctor - and Michelle Gomez
who plays Missy (The Master) in present day Who. Katy is completely
mad in the most delightful way you can imagine and is one of the most
active people I have ever met. During her signings Katy hugged
everyone who came up to her table and took the time to talk and
interact with everyone that was there. As someone who has stood for
signings and has had varying degrees of disappointment after meeting
the person I waited to see, Katy was a refreshing change to what is
sadly becoming the norm with some convention guests. Katy’s
enthusiasm to hug all those around her wasn’t just confined to her
official appearances, as she walked throughout the convention and
hotel she would stop, talk and hug anyone who spoke to her. She was a
whirlwind that didn’t stop and it was great to see. I sat in on her
first Q&A on the Saturday and as I expected it was a fun filled
hour as Katy talked about her time on the show and answered questions
from various people at the convention as she sat on the edge of the
stage to better see the people asking the questions. The hour flew by
as Katy moved around the stage in various stages of excitement
sharing stories about her time on the show, and when she recently
visited the TARDIS set and met the current Doctor Peter Capaldi. She
was a wonderful guest and a delight to meet.
Michelle Gomez was also a great guest
and for someone who was doing their first convention she seemed very
comfortable with the fans she met. Michelle chatted to both of us
while signing a photo of herself as Missy and asked if we lived in
Atlanta as we had English accents. She seemed quite surprised when we
told her we had flown in from the UK and was kind enough to wish us a
safe journey home when we returned; Michelle’s Q&A was also
great fun and like Katy’s one hour didn’t seem long enough. I had
also booked a photo with both Katy and Michelle together which was
very entertaining and to Helens delight Michelle waved at her as
Helen watched me pose. Later on that day (Saturday) we were sat in
the lobby as Michelle was leaving and she turned to us and said
‘’goodbye England’’ which we thought was fantastic.
Over the course of the weekend we
attended various panels from Red Dwarf to the Marvel Cinematic
Universe (MCU), there was even a Downton Abbey panel on Saturday
night, which was a surprise but given the Brit theme of the
convention it didn’t seem out of place. Helen attend the Ask a
Brit panel on her own as I was in line waiting to meet Katy, she
apparently did quite a good job defending the National Health Service
when it was been criticised by one expat. I found her in the hallway
after the panel talking with convention guest Stephen La Riviere,
Stephen told me she was quite right in her defence of the NHS and she
had been a good contributor to the panel; I was so proud of her.
The highlight event of the con for me
was the Earth Station Who (ESW) live podcast which was held in the
main hall on Sunday afternoon. ESW were celebrating their 100th
show and I was beyond excited to be able to see the guys record
their podcast while I sat there watching it. Mike, Mike, Jen and
Phantom Troublemaker were on top form as they talked about the Master
and his relationship with the Doctor. They seemed so at ease as they
sat there talking and encouraging audience participation you would
have thought they did live shows all of the time, at the end of the
podcast Phantom revealed that after 3 years he was leaving ESW. This
on a personal level was disappointing to hear as all the hosts on ESW
complement each other so perfectly. Given the success of his own
podcast and blog (Needless Things) it wasn’t too much of a surprise
but I shall miss him when I listen to the show.
As I said at the top of the post a big
reason for picking this convention was the chance to meet people I
had become friends with through Facebook and podcasts, it was
something I had been looking forward to ever since we made the
commitment to go. Now they say (whoever they are) that you should not
meet your heroes or people you look up to as you will be
disappointed, well this wasn’t one of those times as everyone we
met was so friendly and welcoming that I was totally blown away. The
ESW guys Mike Faber, Mike Gordon, Jennifer Hartshorn and Phantom
Troublemaker could not have been friendlier if they tried, I was a
little nervous about meeting them all but right from the off it was
like meeting old friends and I now know it's hugs not handshakes when
I meet those guys again. I met and talked with them all at various
points throughout the weekend and was grateful to them all for their
time. The bar area was a great place to meet and I managed to have a
long chat and a drink with Mike Faber and his lovely wife Judy on
Saturday night. We also met and talked with Phantom at various points
during the convention and I have to say I was big fan of his before
we met. I’m even more so now, I love his honesty and passion for
all the things that fall into his wheelhouse and the time we spent
together talking helped make my weekend. We were also delighted to
be invited to the ESW meal on Sunday night at Pallookaville in
downtown Atlanta, I had a corndog with a bourbon milkshake, side
order of cheesy chips and mac & cheese. It was a fantastic night
and I would recommend Pallookaville to anyone who visits Atlanta. We
finished the night off with a visit to a comic store called The Book
Nook where I spent a few dollars on some excellent Batman Legends
figures. It was a great end to what had been a tiring but brilliant
weekend.
At the convention I also had the
opportunity to meet and talk with author Bobby Nash whose books I
have read for a while now, and having bumped into him in the bar area
on Friday evening he came over and sat down to talk with Helen and
myself. We talked for around 45 minutes about his writing, books,
films and TV shows it was a great start to our convention weekend. On
the Saturday I took the opportunity to buy some more books from Bobby
which he kindly signed along with some that I had brought over with
me.
Mark Maddox is an artist I had long
admired so I was overjoyed to be able to buy some prints of his
artwork and a sketch card he had brought along. I had some great
conversations with Mark and I will definitely will be keeping in
touch with him going forward (he said I can - I’m not stalking).
All in all TimeGate was an absolute
blast for us and the only time I felt disappointed was when it was
over. The convention is extremely well organised with panels and
events that are very well advertised and ran with military precision.
If you enjoy going to conventions and have the opportunity to go to
TimeGate I would encourage you to do so - you will not be
disappointed.
On a personal note during our time at
TimeGate we meet great friends for the first time both old and new,
and to be honest we met more people than I have had the chance to
mention on this post. We have memories from the weekend that we will
cherish forever, and we thank everyone for their friendship and the
kindness shown to us.
I'm so glad you had a great time, Robert. It was an absolute pleasure hanging out with you and Helen. Looking forward to your next visit.
ReplyDeleteBobby