Salt Lake City's First Ever Comic Con!!! 2013

This year Salt Lake held it's first ever Comic Con. The goal on ticket sales was 8,000 - but the nerdy state of Utah blew everyone out of the water with ticket sales of 80,000+. It is said that Salt Lake rivaled the original San Diego Comic Con - and I bet we will easily beat their numbers next year ;)

Attending Comic Con has been on my bucket list for years, so this wasn't something I could pass up. Unfortunately, we bought our tickets the day before the event, so we didn't have time to dress up. I had been reading and hearing about all the reports stating how packed Comic Con was on Thursday and Friday evening, so I was pretty nervous about how the Saturday outcome would end up. On Saturday - the event was not scheduled to open for general admission until 10:00. Due to how busy we expected it to be, our group met up 06:00 to get in the doors early. We ended up being about 50 spots away from the front of the line when we were standing outside. Considering the line was over a mile long - this was a major win.

Once inside, we waited in another line to register our tickets and get our wristbands, to wait in yet another line to just get in. This wasn't really a horrible wait, as we were pretty entertained with all the cosplayers (is that a word? It is now ;)). Seeing the dedication and excitement of all the Geeks and Nerds (do know, this is very high compliment in my book) was so awesome.

Below are some photos of us in line (you know, camera fun for a few hours) and of some of the awesome costumes:

Matt, Doug, and Charlie

Okay, this wasn't cosplay - but a statue of the White Orc from the Hobbit

His sign said, "Will fight crime for money" and the reverse side said, "Or a phone number"

Coolest family ever!

These costumes impressed me greatly.

Yes, Charlie is petting the chin of a Dinosaur...

Charlie and I getting photo bombed by little John Slack

Oh I love my kind - Trekkies <3

But the best of all??? I got to meet one of my all time favorite celebrities, Manu Bennett. Now, I can't express to how terrifying this was. I was not scared to fumble on words or anything, I was scared that he would be nothing like I thought. I know that probably sounds weird - but I never wanted to have the idea that someone was a good person, and have to find out they that really just suck. But let me tell you, this man was amazing. He seemed to be so genuine, soft spoken, and so grateful to each and every one of his fans. 

When I walked up to him for a picture, I was prepared to do that girl pose - you know, the one with one hand on the hip, and the other behind the other persons back - but he wasn't having any of that. LOL. He wrapped both his arms around me as if we were friends. I won't lie to you, when I pulled away from the hug, I did let my hand wander - and boy - his abs were worth the feel ;) (Charlie, you know I love you!).

I watched Manu interact with his other fans, and he took the time to focus on each one of them individually. He didn't seem like he was in any hurry - or bothered to be chatting with them. Really - Manu Bennett was awesome :)

Here is my picture with him. Really an awful picture of me, but I imagine even looking my best - I really couldn't compare to how gorgeous Manu Bennett is. 

All in all, Comic Con was worth the check mark on my bucket list. I loved every minute of it, and I can't thank the event holders enough. Since they were only hoping for 8,000 people to show up, and were overwhelmed with the 80,000+ people, They did a phenomenal job with what they had. It was unorganized, the line were torturous, the venue was too small, but they did their best. They adjusted as much as they could under the circumstances, and tried to make this a great experience for everyone. I understand there were a lot of people with tickets that never made it into the event. I am truly sorry for that, but I'm sure next year you'll be all the smarter for it - and show up early.  If there is one thing I know about nerds - they will do anything to get what they want, including standing in line hours early for an event that hasn't opened yet. But do not hate the event holders too much, they did the best they could, and will do their best to make next years Comic Con better organized and less stressful for the ticket holders.