C2E2—Thoughts From The Floor Of The 2015 Chicago Convention
By Marielle Shaw in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 28, 2015 4:25PM
Our feet hurt and we’re still rehydrating from a C2E2 weekend of food, fun and nerdy pursuits at McCormick Place. 2015 was a great year—we saw bigger crowds but the con still maintained its friendly, non-corporate feel. Some organizational changes were made to allow for a better experience with autographing and the show floor grew with more vendors, artists and celebrities.
We spent most of Friday on the floor checking out all manner of artists, getting a good look at the cosplay and looking for local favorites like Revolution Brewing, Cards Against Humanity and Shawnimals (who had an adorable hop-man for sale in honor of Revolution's Galaxy Hero, the official beer of C2E2.) There were panels for all different interests, from drawing workshops and cosplay meet-ups for different fandoms to those that taught you how to fight like a knight. Ehmee from the Brain Scoop was there to rep the Field Museum and there were two debut screenings- Wayward Pines and the Thrilling Adventure Hour’s first showing of their concert film.
Saturday was also jam-packed with activities. There were geek quiz shows, improv workshops with the Thrilling Adventure Hour cast, a panel called “Do the Robot” with the Museum of Science and Industry in anticipation of its upcoming Robot Revolution exhibit and a visit from Cinema Sins. The Orphan Black cast hosted a panel late in the afternoon, Rotten Tomatoes was on site and it was also the night of the C2E2 Crown Championships of Cosplay, the finale of ReedPop’s circuit of cosplay competitions which boasted a $10,000 prize for the costume that impressed the most.
We expected Sunday to be a little slower, as it was last year, but found the floor just as packed at the dénouement as it was when the floodgates first burst open. We think it may have been the triple-threat (or treat, really) of the Doctor Who panel, which boasted a visit from the seventh doctor, played by Sylvester McCoy and Neve McIntosh, who played Madame Vastra, a cosplay meetup for fans of the wildly popular Nickelodeon show, Legend of Korra and another panel with the Thrilling Adventure Hour that did the trick. We wandered the floor once more, scrounging in our wallets for the last of our spending money, admired more amazing cosplay and said our goodbyes.
C2E2 continues to grow, continues to improve upon itself and at the same time maintains its friendly face. While it may not boast the biggest guest list yet, we’re excited to see what’s to come for this con and hope as it grows bigger (and it certainly has room to in a place like McCormick) it keeps its charm. We’re already looking forward to next year.