LBGT Cosplayers Panel by Eri Kagami
I attended this panel first thing on Sunday morning. I was quite curious how they were going to approach the topic. Having been to multiple LBGTQ+ panels at events, this one approached the subject differently. Each panelist talked about how they got into cosplay and how they identified with LGBTQ+ characters. The panel talked about how there needed to be more diversity of LBGTQ cospalyers. Additionally, the panel also talked about each of the cosplayers’ “fan demographics.” In other words, the panel was much more focused on individual cosfame than community outreach and coming up with strategic ways to make convention spaces more inclusive. I felt this panel had more potential to discuss dealing with bullying on and off the convention and using cosplay and geek culture as an outlet to be oneself. Then again, most of the panelists were new to the cosplay and convention scene, whereas I’ve been attending conventions since 1999.

Mars Rover Engineering: Technology, Troubles, and Triumphs by Jared
For those who are interested in space beyond that of science fiction there were several panels dedicated to real life space exploration. The panel that I had the opportunity to see was focused on the Mars Rovers. This panel looked at the three rovers and how each one was improved over the previous model and how they keep making history as they slowly explore the red planet. If you have any interest in space travel or if you want to introduce a younger attendee to the reality of space exploration you should check out the various NASA panels.

Adventures in new Pulp Fiction by Jared
One of the genres that has been heavily influential on comics is the pulp genre of ‘dime novel’ type books. The panel talked about the classic era and how it led into the comic book era. Then they briefly discussed how the classics come back every decade and how new authors have been exploring the genre and making new stories. It was surprising how popular the modern pulp genre has become especially amongst independent authors and comic creators. As a bonus for attending the panel attendees were given a code for a free download of a modern plup story.

GeekFest Presents Film Fest Presents Horror Indies by Jared
Between screenings there were short panels featuring different filmmakers discussing their work. This panel featured some indie filmmakers talking about how they work on a small budge and their path from kid filming in the backyard to entering fhe industry and sending out better produced work to film festivals. This was an intimate panel where people inrerested in entering the industry could ask questions of those who’ve made it into the industry.

I’ve Written a Book! How do I get it published? by Jared
Every convention has that panel that is good in concept and terrible in execution and for LBCE that panel was this panel. The panelists spent more time promoting their work than helping people in the audience. There was very little advice and telling people that luck is just as important as writing a good novel isn’t too inspiring. While breaking into any creative industry is not easy, when a panel is based on exploring those methodologies it is shameful when the panel barely touches the subject. While there are some good panels that explore the process of getting your name out there, this was not one of them and it nearly ruined the end of my convention.

Disney Cosplayers Meet Up by Eri Kagami
The Disney cosplayers meet up took place on Sunday at the stairs of the terrace theatre. For as long as Long Beach Comic events has been running, it’s only in recent years people have been planning cosplay meet ups. These are usually done by series. For the Disney meet up, they wanted cosplayers that originated from Disney, rather than buy outs from Disney. A majority were the princesses. I represented the villains as Vanessa from The Little Mermaid. Stan and Deb were Tadashi and Hiro from Big Hero Six. Non-canon variations were very much encouraged. There was a good turnout for this meetup. People were generally friendly to talk to afterwards. This was a great way to meet new friends and get inspiration for cosplaying more from the Disney franchise.

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