Road Trippin': Gen Con Indy 2013
Yesterday saw the kick-off of Gen Con here in Indianapolis, a four day convention all about gaming. Board, card, video....if it's considered a game it's probably covered. There's opportunities to play in tournaments, buy the latest games, pick up rare game pieces and cards, and hang out with fellow gamers. I personally don't consider myself a gamer, unless you count Farmville on Facebook. But I did have to reasons to go 1) the program I got my bachelors and masters degrees from the IU School of Informatics had a group of students and faculty who had spent the last 8 months building a game from scratch and were debuting it at Gen Con 2) Every year Gen Con has at least one special media guest to meet with fans. Last year they had Will Wheaton from Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Big Bang Theory. This year they had Walter Koenig, Chekov from the Star Trek; and Peter Davison, best known at the 5th Doctor from my favorite show Doctor Who. With it being a Thursday and being there right at opening made it easy for me to see everything I wanted to see, plus the location of the Indianapolis Convention Center is perfect for me because I work down the street so I could park at work and walk.
Waiting for the doors to open
My top priority was seeing Peter, and thankfully the line wasn't very long. I took The Dufftor along so he could meet his namesake. Considering how many people go to these types of conventions and dress up, carrying a teddy bear fit right in :-)
I spent the rest of my time wandering around looking at the various booths and people watching. I saw lots of people dressed up, many of them characters from video games and shows I didn't recognize but were interesting nonetheless. I did see several Doctor Who related costumes:
The Fourth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor
A TARDIS
Rose Tyler
Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
You can more of my pictures here
Despite not being a gamer, I still had fun. There's always plenty to see, plus the downtown location affords you to visit many of the other Indianapolis sites without needing a car. And now that I've met Peter Davison, I can say I've met The Doctor (well one of him....time travel is such a strange thing).
How cool! You met The Doctor!!! I like how he didn't think having the Dufftor with you was odd and how he was genuinely interested in his back story. So cute!
ReplyDeleteI've only ever been to the D23 Expo's and no other fandom convention (for similar covenience reasons that you mentioned about GenCon), but I think I'm kind of hooked now. It's nice to be among your fellow crazies. lol
The Doctor related costumes looked really cool. I actually saw a Doctor at D23. He was portraying the Eleventh and had on a tan blazer and red bow tie and fez, except he had Mickey ears coming out of the fez! :) I meant to take his picture, but I kept getting distracted. lol Also, a couple came up to me on Day 2 and asked if I was dressed as a Doctor Who character. They mistook my Miss Bianca disneybound for a cat nurse from Doctor Who because I was dressed all in white. lol Anyway it was a cool, "when the fandoms collide" moment. hehehe
Was that a person in costume as a Dalek or was it a prop that moved like Push the talking trash can at Disney?
P.S. All the cool people have furry companions nowadays. ;)
It is nice to be among the fellow crazies, we all get each other. I told Chauncey I felt like I had walked into an episode of the Big Bang Theory.
DeleteThat's funny you were mistaken for a cat nurse. I've found that there is a pretty good percentage of Disney fans who are also Whovians, I'd like to believe that's due to our love of all things fantasy and imagination.
The Dalek I think was similar to PUSH, I can't imagine someone being inside that thing all day.
And yes, all the cool people have furry companions ;-)
I'm not sure which Doctor Who cosplay I like the best, the 4th Doctor or the TARDIS. And Dufftor, how brilliant! I take a stuffed fox with my to Comic Cons dressed as the 12th Doctor. He really helps break the ice! I wished you lived closer to me... I would take you to NYCC! Maybe you can come to New York in 2014 and we can go together!
ReplyDeleteYeah there were some really good cosplays of all sorts of characters, but of course I would gravitate to all the Doctor Who themed ones. I think it's a close tie between Rose and the Brig, one: because they were really accurate and two: they're ones you don't see very often.
DeleteThe Dufftor and I would love to come to NYCC, probably won't be next year but maybe the year after that!