AlphaCon
Sooooo..., I've been to AlphaCon in Vienna last weekend and... let's just get the negative things out of the way: this was pretty much the most unorganized convention I've ever been to! Friday and Saturday were really bad with all the scheduling, it worked a lot better on Sunday, but since it was the last day it didn't really help all that much anymore.
Unlike other conventions, they didn't have separate rooms for the autograph sessions, the photo studios or the meet and greets, which was just awful. You could watch the meet and greets, the photos and everything and that really didn't help. They also had a lot of trouble with getting all the photos printed, most people didn't get their photos at all during the weekend. By now they've put them online and you can download your photos, but well, not really the point.
The location was really very pretty, all the panels were inside a big glass pyramid and unlike with other conventions where you have the panels inside a dark room, there was day light and people made some really gorgeous pictures.
The trouble with having a convention inside a gigantic glass house was that we had very warm weather last weekend! It was so far the hottest weekend this year with temperatures around 30°C. Under the "Dome of Doom" it was awfully hot! At least 40°C all the time maybe more, because for some reason the a/c wasn't working at all. (I've heard several explanations of why they didn't/couldn't turn on the a/c.)
So yeah, on that front it was kind of awful! Luckily the guests were really awesome! :D
If you don't know, the con was a Vampire Diaries/Teen Wolf convention. MC was Jamie Christlow. For Vampire Diaries they had Paul Wesley, Nathaniel Buzolic and Micheal Malarkey. On the Teen Wolf front they had Ian Bohen, Linden Ashby, Susan Walters, JR Bourne, Daniel Sharman, Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O'Brien. :D
So yeah, I pretty much went there for Tyler and Dylan. Heh. :D
Since I don't know Vampire Diaries at all, I didn't really watch any of the panels. I saw Nate's panel, who was fun and Australian. That's pretty much all I can say about him. ;)
There was only one Teen Wolf panel on Friday and that was with Ian Bohen. I can't really remember much about it*, but he was fun and nice. :)
*Actually, I can't remember a lot of any of the panels! I blame it on the incredible heat and that it totally fried my brain!
After my friend S. got her picture done with Ian we all went to dinner at the nearby mall.
Which reminds me; on Friday morning when I went to the convention area I met S.! She is one of my co-workers, she used to be my trainee, but she's now in a different department! We both didn't have a clue that we were both going to this convention (her first convention!), but we must have bought our tickets pretty much at the same time, because our (numbered) seats were in the same row and close together! :D She was very happy that we met there, because she was all alone there and now she had people to hang out with! :D
Other than her, there was also tmz_cori,tika_w, kat_fanfic and mamoru22! :D
After dinner at an Indian restaurant (so yummy!) we got ready for the Friday night party. The party was fine, the music wasn't really that great, but it was okay. It was supposed to have a rock'n'roll theme, but... that didn't really happen. At least not music wise. But there was alcohol, so...
Saturday morning S. and I tried to get our pictures with Daniel. While S. had bought a whole bunch of photo ops, I only went for the Daniel photo because it was included in my ticket. However, because of the chaos during that day, we didn't get our Daniel pictures at all. :/
First panel of the day was the Teen Wolf group panel, which was fun and of course the first question went to Dylan. Heh. They all looked very pretty up there! :)
After that was the first autograph session, which was very chaotic and only for those people who've payed extra for their con tickets. We tried, but eventually gave up.
S. tried to get some of her pictures done and I think she also went to see some of the Vampire Diaries panels. I spent the time with the other girls in the hotel lobby, where it was a lot cooler than anywhere else!
Eventually we went back to the con area, because we wanted to see the Linden and JR panel. What we didn't know is that by that time the schedule was so out of order that didn't happen then. What we did get to see was the photo ops with all the guests (see above for no separate rooms for all the photo studios) and then it was over and Dylan and Tyler left... and walked right by us. I said "hi", Dylan said "hi" back. :D Apparently Tyler greeted us as well, but I didn't notice at all! Ooops!
We went back outside, because it was indeed cooler outside than it was inside, and by that time we thought they'd canceled the Linden/JR panel, because of all the schedule problems. So, we started to queue up again for the second autograph session, where we were determined to get our autographs!
Unfortunately, we missed the Linden, Susan and JR panel because of it. I'm a bit sad about it, because I would have loved to see that!
The second autograph session was even more chaotic, people were grumpy, the guests were awesome and eventually I got my autograph (and a hug) from Dylan <333. And I also got my autograph from Daniel. They were all such sweethearts! <3
I didn't get autographs from any of the others, because some I already had (Tyler, JR, Linden from last year's Wolf's Bane con) and I thought I'd get Ian's autograph at this year's Wolf's Bane con.
After that we got something to eat, while S. tried to get some more of her pictures. It was quite the ordeal for her, apparently. Especially getting the Dylan picture, because several times they were sent from one place to the other and back again, but she finally got it!
The Saturday party was a bit better than the night before, still not really great music, but there was alcohol again, soooo. After a couple hours, we were just about to leave the party, some of the guests actually turned up! We were all quite surprised, but JR, Ian, Daniel, Tyler, Dylan and Nate turned up for about half an hour or so. We didn't really see much of them, because as soon as they turned up there were lots of girls near them and it was just a bit much. I caught glimpses of them, though.
We went outside, because it was cooler there and not long after that the guests left as well... and went right by us again! There was something on the ground where we were standing and Ian stumbled and almost faceplanted right next to me. Whoops. Anyway, they left and a whole lot of girls followed them out! It was kinda awful.
Sunday morning S. and I finally got our pictures done with Daniel. He was very sweet, which was nice because that was the first photo op I've ever done! It was fun, even though I look awful in the picture. ;D
As I said earlier, Sunday was a lot better organized than any of the other days. There was an absolute sweetheart of a staff member during the photo op with Daniel. They actually had schedule updates on the big screen in the main area! They should have done that all along, no idea why they didn't.
First was Dylan's solo panel and after that Daniel's. Both very lovely and fun, but yeah, again with the not remembering much, because of my heat scrambled brain.
Third panel was the Tyler/Dylan panel, which was awesome and sweet. They had a lot of fun together on stage and it showed. :)
After lunch break they had the last panel of the con, which was with Tyler, Ian and JR and this one was definitely the funniest one. You can tell that they hang out together all the time. Daniel crashed the panel for a few minutes. Awww. :D
Cori, Tika, Mamoru and Kat_fanfic had to leave after that, but S. and I stayed for the Closing Ceremony. It was just a very short affair with just Tyler, Daniel, Ian and JR (everyone else had already left and were on their way home), but it was sweet. :)
And then S. and I went home. Originally, I meant to go home by train (just like I went there by train), but S. was awesome and I could drive home with her! <333
So, that was AlphaCon. And despite all the bad stuff that happened, it was totally worth it! :D
Crossposts: http://bettina.dreamwidth.org/759114.html
Unlike other conventions, they didn't have separate rooms for the autograph sessions, the photo studios or the meet and greets, which was just awful. You could watch the meet and greets, the photos and everything and that really didn't help. They also had a lot of trouble with getting all the photos printed, most people didn't get their photos at all during the weekend. By now they've put them online and you can download your photos, but well, not really the point.
The location was really very pretty, all the panels were inside a big glass pyramid and unlike with other conventions where you have the panels inside a dark room, there was day light and people made some really gorgeous pictures.
The trouble with having a convention inside a gigantic glass house was that we had very warm weather last weekend! It was so far the hottest weekend this year with temperatures around 30°C. Under the "Dome of Doom" it was awfully hot! At least 40°C all the time maybe more, because for some reason the a/c wasn't working at all. (I've heard several explanations of why they didn't/couldn't turn on the a/c.)
So yeah, on that front it was kind of awful! Luckily the guests were really awesome! :D
If you don't know, the con was a Vampire Diaries/Teen Wolf convention. MC was Jamie Christlow. For Vampire Diaries they had Paul Wesley, Nathaniel Buzolic and Micheal Malarkey. On the Teen Wolf front they had Ian Bohen, Linden Ashby, Susan Walters, JR Bourne, Daniel Sharman, Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O'Brien. :D
So yeah, I pretty much went there for Tyler and Dylan. Heh. :D
Since I don't know Vampire Diaries at all, I didn't really watch any of the panels. I saw Nate's panel, who was fun and Australian. That's pretty much all I can say about him. ;)
There was only one Teen Wolf panel on Friday and that was with Ian Bohen. I can't really remember much about it*, but he was fun and nice. :)
*Actually, I can't remember a lot of any of the panels! I blame it on the incredible heat and that it totally fried my brain!
After my friend S. got her picture done with Ian we all went to dinner at the nearby mall.
Which reminds me; on Friday morning when I went to the convention area I met S.! She is one of my co-workers, she used to be my trainee, but she's now in a different department! We both didn't have a clue that we were both going to this convention (her first convention!), but we must have bought our tickets pretty much at the same time, because our (numbered) seats were in the same row and close together! :D She was very happy that we met there, because she was all alone there and now she had people to hang out with! :D
Other than her, there was also tmz_cori,tika_w, kat_fanfic and mamoru22! :D
After dinner at an Indian restaurant (so yummy!) we got ready for the Friday night party. The party was fine, the music wasn't really that great, but it was okay. It was supposed to have a rock'n'roll theme, but... that didn't really happen. At least not music wise. But there was alcohol, so...
Saturday morning S. and I tried to get our pictures with Daniel. While S. had bought a whole bunch of photo ops, I only went for the Daniel photo because it was included in my ticket. However, because of the chaos during that day, we didn't get our Daniel pictures at all. :/
First panel of the day was the Teen Wolf group panel, which was fun and of course the first question went to Dylan. Heh. They all looked very pretty up there! :)
After that was the first autograph session, which was very chaotic and only for those people who've payed extra for their con tickets. We tried, but eventually gave up.
S. tried to get some of her pictures done and I think she also went to see some of the Vampire Diaries panels. I spent the time with the other girls in the hotel lobby, where it was a lot cooler than anywhere else!
Eventually we went back to the con area, because we wanted to see the Linden and JR panel. What we didn't know is that by that time the schedule was so out of order that didn't happen then. What we did get to see was the photo ops with all the guests (see above for no separate rooms for all the photo studios) and then it was over and Dylan and Tyler left... and walked right by us. I said "hi", Dylan said "hi" back. :D Apparently Tyler greeted us as well, but I didn't notice at all! Ooops!
We went back outside, because it was indeed cooler outside than it was inside, and by that time we thought they'd canceled the Linden/JR panel, because of all the schedule problems. So, we started to queue up again for the second autograph session, where we were determined to get our autographs!
Unfortunately, we missed the Linden, Susan and JR panel because of it. I'm a bit sad about it, because I would have loved to see that!
The second autograph session was even more chaotic, people were grumpy, the guests were awesome and eventually I got my autograph (and a hug) from Dylan <333. And I also got my autograph from Daniel. They were all such sweethearts! <3
I didn't get autographs from any of the others, because some I already had (Tyler, JR, Linden from last year's Wolf's Bane con) and I thought I'd get Ian's autograph at this year's Wolf's Bane con.
After that we got something to eat, while S. tried to get some more of her pictures. It was quite the ordeal for her, apparently. Especially getting the Dylan picture, because several times they were sent from one place to the other and back again, but she finally got it!
The Saturday party was a bit better than the night before, still not really great music, but there was alcohol again, soooo. After a couple hours, we were just about to leave the party, some of the guests actually turned up! We were all quite surprised, but JR, Ian, Daniel, Tyler, Dylan and Nate turned up for about half an hour or so. We didn't really see much of them, because as soon as they turned up there were lots of girls near them and it was just a bit much. I caught glimpses of them, though.
We went outside, because it was cooler there and not long after that the guests left as well... and went right by us again! There was something on the ground where we were standing and Ian stumbled and almost faceplanted right next to me. Whoops. Anyway, they left and a whole lot of girls followed them out! It was kinda awful.
Sunday morning S. and I finally got our pictures done with Daniel. He was very sweet, which was nice because that was the first photo op I've ever done! It was fun, even though I look awful in the picture. ;D
As I said earlier, Sunday was a lot better organized than any of the other days. There was an absolute sweetheart of a staff member during the photo op with Daniel. They actually had schedule updates on the big screen in the main area! They should have done that all along, no idea why they didn't.
First was Dylan's solo panel and after that Daniel's. Both very lovely and fun, but yeah, again with the not remembering much, because of my heat scrambled brain.
Third panel was the Tyler/Dylan panel, which was awesome and sweet. They had a lot of fun together on stage and it showed. :)
After lunch break they had the last panel of the con, which was with Tyler, Ian and JR and this one was definitely the funniest one. You can tell that they hang out together all the time. Daniel crashed the panel for a few minutes. Awww. :D
Cori, Tika, Mamoru and Kat_fanfic had to leave after that, but S. and I stayed for the Closing Ceremony. It was just a very short affair with just Tyler, Daniel, Ian and JR (everyone else had already left and were on their way home), but it was sweet. :)
And then S. and I went home. Originally, I meant to go home by train (just like I went there by train), but S. was awesome and I could drive home with her! <333
So, that was AlphaCon. And despite all the bad stuff that happened, it was totally worth it! :D
Crossposts: http://bettina.dreamwidth.org/759114.html