Toronto Fan Expo returned in 2022. Third-largest con in North America.
Although I've attended numerous SF conventions and related events, I've never done Fan Expo. It's crazily crowded, focussed on celebrity culture (pay $150.00 extra to get in the room with William Shatner! More if you want an autograph or photo op!), and located in downtown Toronto. The Rogers Centre, CN Tower, Aquarium, Railway Museum, and Metro Toronto Convention Centre all occupy the same couple of blocks. The Toronto Blue Jays had a game. As a bonus, one of the major arteries was blocked Saturday by police for several hours, and a stretch of the subway line was down. While digesting my lunch in the park across the street, I met a couple from Halifax. They were taking a break between tourist destinations, and watching with fascination as the chaos unfolded.
Fortunately, as a panellist, I had in-out privileges and no lines, at least until I was in the centre. Once inside, everyone had to deal with crowds. At one point, applause erupted. The line-up to an escalator was being permitted to move ahead.
Only a few select people don't have to wait. Those people get escorts and security.
While I did not pay to meet any of the celebrity guests, Anthony Daniels and his entourage walked by (I wouldn't have recognized him without the gilding, but my niece pointed him out), and I saw Giancarlo Esposito, Grace Van Dien, and several Hobbits from a distance. They aren't in my video, because Daniels caught me by surprise and the others were at their autograph tables, where unauthorized image-capturing is strictly forbidden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tD5YYKa9xw
The panels on which I sat, including Building Better Aliens and Worldbuilding, seemed to go well, with a lot of lively commentary. Ultimately, with both, one must think of the intent of the aliens and the world, the story and the genre, and then take one's own rules seriously. Mass media SF/Fantasy, in particular, has a habit of breaking its own ground rules. At the same, time, it often provides (along with entertainment) accessible examples. How does one make an utterly alien creature relatable? Consider the horta, from Season One of the original Star Trek. It's one of the few times Trek gave us a truly unknown and unknowable creature but, in the end, it was a parent protecting its children.
The most unusual event happened off-site. I met with Derwin Mak on Friday. The author, editor, philatelist, historian, volunteer, and cosplayer decided to attend that day as Black Canary. We went out to dinner. He chose Hooters-- I have never been at one before. He apparently had promised the staff he would show them his costume.
I'm not a cosplayer, though I bear a passing resemblance to the late-season Walter White. I probably got asked, jocularly, if I was cosplaying Walter White as often as they guy dressed as Star Trek's Q heard jokes about messing with U.S. politics. In any case, keep the picture of the two of us in mind, as we headed to dinner.
En route we encountered someone he knows by name from the area (he lives nearby). She claimed to be ill, but the empty bottle and certain other subtle clues suggested a different reason for her confused state and prone position. Derwin helped her up and asked if she needed additional help. As she insisted she was fine and close to home, and was in no obvious distress, we moved on.
So it's Jays territory on the day of a home game. It's Hooters. Two middle aged men, one of them in a blonde wig and fishnets, the other a frequent recipient of Breaking Bad jokes, do not especially stand out at Fan Expo. Put them at jock bar filled with Blue Jay fans? Different story. As a friend later said, Derwin shared with the crowd and restaurant a bird theme, so there's that.
The smoked chicken wings were pretty good.
Back at the con, I met people, hung out with two nephews and a niece who were in attendance, sold and signed several books, and hopefully will generate a few new readers.
And I've now attended the third-largest nerd event in North America.
Um, and also Hooters.