This is the last of three posts about the 2010 #PHXCC. If you're looking for the other two posts … you know, I'm not going to link them for you, because I think that would insult your intelligence. You know how to find them.
Sunday:
I woke up Sunday feeling like Monty Python lied when they said that 37 wasn't old. I hurt all over the place, especially my legs from dancing on Saturday, and my arms from drumming for close to two hours straight in Rock Band the night before. In fact, two days later, I still feel sore.
I ate breakfast with my friends Amy and Boyan and their friend Brian, and walked over to the convention center.
"Wow, this does not look like a Sunday crowd," Amy said.
"Yeah, this is as crowded as Fridays usually are," I said.
We made our way past the General Lee, KITT, and an amazing Ecto 1 that had the world's littlest Ghostbuster posing in front of it for a picture. I sat down at my table in the vendor's hall for about two hours before John Scalzi and I had Super Happy Fun Times with John And Wil (woah – my fingers just tried to type Whil).
John has a great recap at his blog, which I encourage you to read because it saves me from doing one of those "What Scalzi said" posts.
… are you still here? John's post has VIDEO of us amusing ourselves and even some of the audience! Go! Go! Come back when it's over.
…
…
…
Okay. Now, aren't you glad you did that?
Anne asked me how that panel went when I got home. She specifically wanted to know how The Thing, which is what we'd all been calling the Unicorn Pegasus Kitten, went over.
"I think it was received pretty much exactly how we'd hoped, with equal parts WTF and FTW."
Hey, I just realized that WTF is just FTW backwards. Think about that for a minute, Internet, and ponder its deeper meaning.
Hey, I just told that to Twitter. The response is about 95%: Mind. Blown. and 5% Hey, stupid, welcome to 2005. To which I reply: "I know, right?" And "So sorry I'm not as on top of things as you are, Mister Internet Guy" as appropriate.
Hey, now let's get back to the post in progress…
I assured Anne that if – if - the Unicorn Pegasus Kitten were to hang in our house in some form, it would be confined to my office (ha! like something this epic can be confined, you foolish mortal woman!) and share space with The Velvet Wesley.
HA! HA! 'SHARE SPACE' SEE WHAT I DID THERE? HA!
Um. Maybe the second cup of coffee wasn't such a good idea. Let's finish up before this gets too weird:
After John and I finished, I had about 30 minutes to eat food and play HSD Button Men with Boyan (his Cheerleader defeated my Goth Girl 2-1, on account of me not having a d4 in my bag for some reason) before I dropped in on Jaime Paglia's Eureka panel.
Jaime brought a preview from my episode All The Rage with him, and it was the first time the audience or I got to see any of it. I was delighted, and Jaime told all of us that he was really happy with the episode and the way I portrayed Doctor Parrish. He implied that there was a very strong possibility that I'd get to come do more episodes in the back half of the season. I think the audience was almost as excited to learn that as I was.
I stayed on the panel and sort of moderated it until it was over, and then we both had to get to the airport. We went in different cars, because we were going on different airlines, but we ended up in terminals that were connected by corridors and electric walkways. I texted him that if he had time before his flight, I'd buy the beer. He said he only had about 20 minutes, but he was waiting with Felicia Day and Stan Lee, because they were all on the same flight, so why didn't I come over and say hello?
I could have met Stan Lee at Emerald City Comicon this year, but I didn't know if he was awesome or cranky, and I didn't want to chance it. I found out after my window of opportunity had closed that he was awesome, and I've regretted it ever since. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.
I did some quick math, figured it would take about 7 minutes for me to get to their gate if I sprinted, and then did that. I felt like I was going to collapse when I got there, but I totally made it.
"Hey! You made it!" Jaime said when I got there, walking the last two gates to get my breathing under control.
"Yeah, I, uh … I did." Well, at least I wasn't gasping.
"This is Stan," Jaime said.
Stan Lee extended his hand, and I shook it. "Thank you for everything you've done," I said.
"What did I do?" He asked.
"You made my childhood awesome," I said. I was totally into Marvel until I discovered DC's New and Prestige format when I was about 14, and decided that Marvel books weren't dark enough for my dark, tortured, totally mature teenage self … but until then, I was all about Hulk and Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer.
"Maybe you should give me some money, then," he said, with a wry grin.
"I did!" I said, "pretty much all of my non-videogame spending was on your comics when I was a kid!"
He laughed a genuine laugh and I forget what happened next because I made Stan Lee smile at me.
Oh, and for all of you "Pics or it didn't happen" people: http://tweetphoto.com/24832844. Seriously.
We all talked for a few minutes, something really awesome happened, and then their flight was called for boarding. I wished them all safe travels, and ran back to my terminal, because I got it into my head that my plane left at 6:45, when it actually boarded at 6:45. I felt pretty stupid, but I had enough time to get a beer after all, which was nice.
The flight home was annoying as hell: loud kids who were old enough to know better with parents who didn't care we were all forced to share a small space together, and a guy next to me who decided that his seat was for him, and my seat was for his elbow … but if that's my biggest complaint of the entire weekend, then I'd say it was a pretty good one.
tl;dr: The con this weekend was great. I had a lot of fun, nothing sucked, and it was wonderful to see so many of my friends. I met a few thousand people, and talked quite a bit with hundreds of my fellow geeks about the stuff that we love. I sold all my books, and most of my pictures, and most importantly, shared some wonderful moments with people I love. I also got to meet Stan Lee, and make him laugh.
Vicariousness is a brilliant thing. That photo is made of win! 🙂
I am dying to get out to Phoenix Comicon. Watching the videos, reading your recap, and listening to these podcasts just makes me wish I lived closer so I could do it. Maybe next year…
(pssstt come to Dragon*con!)
You know I felt the same way when I met you. Kinda. While I haven’t given you large sums of my money… yet… It was my nerdiest dream come true to meet you and take a pic with you.
Also, expect a nerd-filled email with a special gift coming to your inbox soon!
<3
It was awesome having you at PhxCC this year and great to work with you and Amy in the autographs area. Hope to have both of you back next year. Maybe we can hope that the batteries won’t die during rock band again *laughs*
man, Ecto 1 was there? as if geek prom wasn’t enough to make me sorry i missed it.
p.s. that elbow thing happened to me on my very first flight to anywhere ever. i was sitting on less than half my seat and the lady next to me was still trying to impale me on her elbow. and it was an overseas flight. 😐
You once mentioned in one of your posts or books or RFBs that walking into a convention hall surrounded by like-minded geeks, nerds and gamers was the equivalent of coming home. At Phoenix Comicon, I totally got that. I felt at home and at peace with myself as a geek and with the world probably for the first time ever during this convention, and you were a big part of that, with Rock Band and Geek Prom and your hilarious panels and how cool you were when I went to your table. I’m homesick now, among my non-geek family who doesn’t understand, but I can’t wait for next year. So thank you, so much, once again.
I’ve always suspected that Stan Lee is totally charming. Dating back to Mall Rats, and helped along by Big Bang Theory and various other appearances 🙂
I love Eureka. I am picturing a snarky nerd character like your BBT and The Guild characters. Accurate or not, I can’t wait!
Haha wow. I don’t think a post could have contained more epic geek win evar. XD
Nicely done Wil!
I cannot express the level of jealousy I feel right now. Who knew it could hurt so much? I’ve got ask: what was the awesome thing that happened?! You can’t just leave us hanging like that.
I think it’s really cool that the Unicorn Pegasus Kitten thing is going to help the Lupus Alliance of America. My mom has lupus and it is really great to see awesome people doing awesome things to help support awareness and research. Thanks!
Wow, sounds like it was a great convention! Thanks for sharing so much of your experience with us. Guessing that your significant involvement helped dramatically increase the attendance. Strangely enough, I just finished reading “Just a Geek” tonight (the last of your books I have read, not sure why it was the one I ended with) and it was really cool to listen to your panel (BTW, thank you, VTW for putting those up!) with Frakes and Burton just moments before I read your account of a similar panel nearly 10 years before. So glad you stuck with us, Wil. Your blogs make my day and I would hate to go without them or all or the recent TV appearances had you chosen to give up acting OR writing.
Wil,
It is good to see that you still have fun at these conventions.
FG
This weekend was nothing short of amazing. I’m still feeling the high of being at a place where everyone can just be themselves and not have to worry about people thinking your crazy when you geek out over the latest tabletop rpg or console game. It’s true that all HP and Mana were restored during PHXCC.
Thank you, Wil. You met thousands of us, but you really took the time to make it personal for all of us. Not to mention dealing with those of us who came back several times because we forgot all we wanted to say the first time. Your panels were all phenomenal. The articles you read worked very well for the Awesome Hour.
If some of us are lucky, maybe we can have you back at RinCon this year. Thank you again for all your encouragement and inspiration.
Thank you for coming to Phoenix Comicon. It was awesome meeting you. I won’t soon forget the compliment you paid my boyfriend and I: you said that we won the award for most awesome nerd shirts (his shirt had the Konami Code on it; mine had “OMG PWNIES” with little ponies made of video game controllers).
We feel that we now have the Official Wil Wheaton Geek Stamp of Approval. 😀 Really, though, thanks for helping nerds/ geeks/ dorks/ etc feel comfortable with openly expressing and celebrating who they are. This whole weekend was filled with such positive vibes; I’ve enjoyed reading your posts and I’m glad you also had a great time. I very much look forward to the next Phx Comicon!
I’m really glad you were able to meet Stan Lee. I always thought he seemed like a genuinely great guy, and from your time with him it seems the case. Sorry about the flight home, but as you said, it seems like it was worth it. Thanks for the update.
I missed the last panel you did, I was so tired and by 5pm was on the way home. I had slept maybe a total of 10 hours from Thur night to Sun, and I really don’t remember eating much for fear of missing a good shot or something to give to the con, and it was my first Con and personally did not want to miss anything. I have to say that out of all the guests there you were probably the kindest, John Schneider was kind as well, but you offered more I think in a few ways, such as autos and snapshots. I mentioned in another post about how I am listening to your audio book of Just a Geek and there is a part where you say you know how it feels to feel like the guest is just there to take your money and you never want to be that way, well no worries Wil, you did not seem that way at all, and were awesome!
Thank you for sharing this awesomely awesome awesomeness with those of us who were not fortunate enough to attend the festivities. Heres to hoping for 8x10s, 5x7s, postcards, stamps, etc. of The Velvet Wesley, and a plush Unicorn Pegasus Kitten to give to my daughter for Christmas.
Oh! Oh! I can hear it now:
Plush Unicorn Pegasus Kitten, complete with action kung-fu grip Wil Wheaton! (And spear you can lose within ten minutes. Scalzorc sold separately.)
Someone needs to make this!
First, Wil, love your post. And I agree with KnightNZ, Vicariousness is awesome! I was one of those fortunate geeks that got to meet you at the Con. I’m the dork who bumped into you on Thursday night because you nearly gave my 11yr old son a heart attack. Then… I acted like you knew me… yeah, smooth.
Didn’t get to see all your stuff, but on behalf of Phoenix’s geek community, glad you had a good time and hope you’re back next year.
I couldn’t get out of work on Saturday for anything, so I couldn’t come to PCC (being on the other coast and all), but I was off for a long weekend afterward (still am, in fact, as my usual weekend is Tues-Wed), so I went hiking to take my mind off the con/get offline for a bit. I hiked a 4000 foot mountain for the first time, well, ever. I’m sore, too, but it was worth it.
Glad your con went well, and I’m super-stoked that you got to meet Stan Lee. Here’s to heroes who don’t suck. Thanks for sharing, Wil. (Oh, and my comics story is opposite yours. I started on DC and switched to Marvel. Excelsior!)
Off topic little anecdote from tonight for your pleasure…
A good friend came over tonight to hang out, and we ended up watching a few ST:TNG episodes. This friend is a gamer chick, a geek, and a huge comic fan. We have huge amounts in common, including Trek. Apparently though, one bit of fandom knowledge had completely escaped her, and I thought you might enjoy hearing about it.
As the opening credits rolled on an episode of ST:TNG, she says, “Wait… so that’s who Wil Wheaton is ?!”
I looked at her. We started laughing. She knew you from blogging, from the geek world, as a writer, and as a sometimes actor, but some part of her brain had disconnected Wil Wheaton in the now from Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher.
For some reason, I thought that might bring you a smile.
The Velvet Wesley
Take a lowball glass.
Add:
1/4 shot Triple Sec
2/3 shot Coffee Liquer
1/4 shot Irish cream.
Fill to the top with Chocolate Stout. Stir gently.
I haven’t made it, so it may taste totally vile.
You’re on your own for the sexual position….
I had a great time this weekend. The kids had a great time (even if you did cause the entire back of the room to come toppling down on them with your mind…) Chris had a great time. The panels had me laughing so hard I cried. And the unicorn pegasus kitten is so incredibly awesome it will be hard to top, ever.
You just mentioned the General Lee and the Ecto 1 in the same sentance. You made me squee a little. Sounds like a wonderful weekend! Wish I could go, but way too far away 😀
Wish I’d had more time at the con, I missed a whole bunch of stuff, mostly because I was somewhat ignorant of how cons work. I got a few comments on my “dissing” you Sunday on my facebook page, check it out if you have the time.
Thanks for helping to make Phoenix Comicon awesome! Rock Band and Geek Prom were very entertaining, as were the panels you were on. Talking with you at your autograph table about how mine and Diana’s outfits made us hot at Geek Prom, and about our woot & threadless shirts was also amazing. Thanks for the self-esteem boost!
You made Stan Lee smile. I think you can call it a day now if you wish. Your GXP. (Geek Experience) is now 65,535, so every single geeky thing you accomplish from this point on will do nothing to raise that score – go ahead and slaughter 4 sets of 999 Berserkers – it won’t matter: you’ve hit the top.
Now just smile back and Mr. Lee and enjoy the hell out of your awesomely geeky life. 🙂
Not sure what else to say other than I was moved and entertained by these last three posts. Thanks for sharing your experiences at the con.
You never cease to amaze me with how much awesome experience you can cram into a weekend. If I managed half of that over ten years I’d consider it a win of epic proportions.
D*Con is the same weekend as PAX Prime, I think it’ll be really difficult to drag Wil away from it. 🙁
Awesome read.. Seems like your trip to the con almost beats my weekend of sitting at home watching season 2 of Buffy the vampire slayer
You WIN.
Hi Wil.
I just wanted to thank you for being a real person. I’m not going to do the fan girl gush thing as I don’t think it suits anyone over 20. I’m enjoying your books and appreciate the honesty in your blog.
I wanted to let you know there’s a guy on facebook who’s kind of posing as you for the aims of getting people to donate to alzheimers. Sorry, my spelling has never been very good and my mouse seems to be broken, but anyway, here’s the link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wil-Wheaton/107918219228212#!/pages/Wil-Wheaton/121507888964?ref=search&sid=baNrjnGpq-aLVL6mRfpOgg.2681966585..1
Hopefully no one took this guy too seriously though it’s a good cause. I just don’t want to see anyone misrepresented.
When my kids are a little older and if you’re ever doing a con in Toronto, I’d like to take them with me to meet you. Frakes came a couple of years ago and he seems like a pretty real guy too. Maybe tired, but I bet it would take a lot out of you to be around all those people all the time.
Take care.
I would love to read a Stan Lee take on the Scalzi-as-Orc-Wil-With-a-Spear-On-a-Unicorn-Pegasus-Kitten painting.
Of course, that would mean all of the other entries would be doomed to a battle for second place, but still…
I knew I felt a disturbance in the Force … now I know why.
I have to admit I just went to my first con recently, nearby in Michigan. I was ok with the $25 fee to get in (it’s just Novi for crapsake, not some real city)… but it was poorly labeled and poorly organized. Some cool stuff to look at, lots of sales booths, lots of people in costume – and then several actors at booths for signing autographs… Adam West, Tia Carerre, Eric Roberts, and several others from movies like Willy Wonka and shows like Gilligan’s Island and Farscape. Now, what I found surprising is that it was $20 to get an autograph. Each.
Is that normal? I am not an autograph hound, it seems weird to me, but if someone wanted to get several autographs they would be out a lot of dough.
I just can’t see Wheaton’s Law applying here. Seems like kind of a dick move to charge $20 per autograph, when you pay to get in?
Am I crazy or am I just new???
Hey Wil,
I had a great time Sunday at Phoenix Comicon and meeting you in person for the first time was a big part of it. Way back in 2003 when I lived in KC and was reading your blog, I lamented the fact that I couldn’t attend any of your west coast events. So now that I’m here in the southwest, I couldn’t miss the opportunity. I can only imagine what it would be like to work as hard as you did on all the panels and still keep a friendly demeanor to the thousands of fans vying for your attention. You sir are a person of good character. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me and sign my DnD book that I’ve had in my collection since I was 13. LOL Aeofel does in fact live. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhettro/4653655755/
“We all talked for a few minutes, something really awesome happened, and then their flight was called for boarding.”
Something really “awesome?” Am I reading too much into this, or is there going be some kind of super secret announcement made in the not to distant future?
I don't care if it's a good cause. Impersonating me is not cool. Thanks for letting me know about this.
Great posts and videos from the weekend. I think it’s Awesome that you can represent your career past, present and future all at the same place and in a most unique way – makes me proud to be a fan. Well done. I look forward to what will come next. Have a great day.
I’m so glad you got to meet Stan Lee, Will, and glad he was as cool as advertised.
One of my first fan experiences was walking down a hotel hallway in DC in the late 1970s and there–sitting in a plush chair–was Robert Bloch, author of PSYCHO, and the STOTS episodes “What Are Little Girls Made Of?,” “Catspaw” and “Wolf In The Fold.”
I was 13 ATT, and 13-year olds of course are not known for their restraint. About anything. But something in me said, “Be cool, don’t drool.” So I stopped briefly and said, “Hi, Mr Bloch, how are you?” He smiled and said he was fine and how was I? I replied in the affirmative, said, “Nice meeting you” or somesuch, and went on my way. Years later, I found out from a fan that had been at that con that he actually wouldn’t have minded a chat. The one time as a kid I reined myself in, and I missed a chance to tell one of my favorite writers what his work meant to me.
30 years later, I had the same chance with Ray Bradbury @ the LA Book Fair, and didn’t blow it. You couldn’t have missed me afterwards; I walked around UCLA for an hour with a uncrackable grin stuck on my face.
I wish I could have asked Stan a question at ECCC, but they were total jerks about it (not Stan, but the Con people). They told us only one autograph per person, even though they presold the autographs weeks before. Hope to see you next year at ECCC, still wanting to get your books autographed and buy the one’s I don’t have from you…. lol
Since it ISN’T Wil, it may be a scam to get people’s hard earned money. Those guys are worse than scum. I hope this isn’t the case.
That's pretty much industry standard, yeah, but don't judge those guests too harshly. They're counting on making a significant portion of their living by attending cons, and most of them have to cover their own travel expenses. Unless we're talking about someone like William Shatner, nobody is getting rich off of these things.
I wouldn't be too harsh on the con for that. Think about how many people wanted to meet and talk with him, and how many people would ask for multiple autographs. He's like 84, or something, and if the con didn't do SOMETHING to control the demand for his time, signature, and energy, it would be completely exhausting for him.
They absolutely deserve to get paid, I don’t dispute that. I guess I don’t know much about how this works. I would assume the con paid them. Somehow I thought the fee wasn’t enforced by the celebrities or even actually going to the celebrities, but was imposed by the con. So the surprise wasn’t directed at the guests at all… I was just like, wow… huh… okay….
But apparently that’s the way it is. Thanks for answering, Wil.
I *did* get to see a pretty kick ass Ecto 1. Bonus!
Cons used to pay everyone, but now they only pay a very small percentage of headliners. A lot of cons will offer a guarantee against the earnings for everyone else, though. For example, a con says, "I guarantee you at least $2000 in sales this weekend." Now, before anyone thinks that's amazing, consider that between a quarter and half of that will be wiped out by expenses. Then there's taxes and commissions if actors have booking agents.
Anyway, at the end of the event, if that person has only sold $1500 worth of whatever, the con will buy $500 worth of stuff from them. This is the way it's worked for quite some time, and it seems to be industry standard.
True, I just think they should have been more upfront about it to begin with. also, just posted on my FB about the fake Wil. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wil-Wheaton/121507888964?ref=search&sid=baNrjnGpq-aLVL6mRfpOgg.2681966585..1#!/joe.haight2?v=wall
Do you think the Humble Indie Bundle pricing strategy might work with autos? Maybe min $1, suggested $5 and an option to give to charity?
The funny thing about this Wil is that they are importing your blog into this Facebook page. So… hopefully those who have liked this page will see it, read it, and then unlike it (if the folks running it are scammers, -then they’re not very smart scammers). Also the link they keep posting is to a third party app, and I trust apps just about as far as I can throw my car.
Wil, It’s really great to read your blog and tweets and know that you are letting geeks know it’s OK to be who we are.
I know you said that you tried not to bogart the TNG panel but let’s be real. You were a large part of this year’s con. Friday night’s rock band, Saturday’s geek prom, nearly a third of the panels in the auditorium you ROCKED the comicon! My only regret is not saving enough cash to get your autograph. Perhaps next year…
Thanks for a great weekend!