All C’s Fan Expo 2022

March 07, 2022

All C’s Fan Expo 2022

If you are a collector of nearly anything geeky and sports as well this is a good event to hit up and best of all its free. The event was a combination of different vendors, artists, and even a few celebrities.

When Shopping: I always recommend that if you are looking for specific products make sure you know the value and how much you are willing to spend. I saw the same item at the different vendors for different prices. I also recommend that you look at everything before making your purchases. That way you can pick the one that is the best value or if you are low on cash you can make your priorities.

I was there on Saturday a few hours after it had started. There was a lot of diversity in the products that ranged from sci-fi, to comics, to sports, to anime, to the random. I will admit that there was a lot of things I would have love to have bought, but just could not afford on an educator’s budget.

Time for me to geek out a little. As a teenager I used to watch a show from New Zealand called The Tribe. Basically in the show a virus kills off all of the adults and the kids are left to figure out how to survive and to rebuild society. Every Sunday I would make sure to be home in time to watch it on T.V. One of the guests they had at the convention was Dwayne Cameron who had played Bray. Getting his autograph or a pick with him was outside of my budget, but I did get to chat with him for a little while and listen in on the conversations he had with the girl that was ahead of me. From what I overheard from his conversation with her was that many of the sets from the Power Rangers could be visited by fans and that you could even drive right up to the rock quarry. He also said that Colorado, Montana, and one other place in the US that I didn’t catch reminded him of New Zealand. He also does around 30 cons a year, which makes me wonder when he would have time to do new projects. He also said that he currently lives in California on a green card and travels back to New Zealand because he still has family there. When I got to him my question was when covid hit, if it had been like déjà vu for The Tribe for him. He asked what industry I worked for and I told him education. He said it was as if his industry had taken over the world and that it was really surreal. He also said that a lot of people were calling him asking for advise and he had to remind them that he was just an actor. He said that he tried to give them what advise he could like wearing masks, cleaning hands, and getting vaccinated. He also said that he had gotten vaccinated which made him grow in my esteem more. All around he was really nice and even took the time to ask my name. I noticed that he had done that to the person ahead of me as well. He seems to really enjoy interacting with his fans.

As to covid very few people were masked and there was no social distancing. People are returning to ‘normal’ so be prepared. I didn’t see anyone making fun of or attacking people with masks so it seems that people are being understanding of people wanting to protect themselves. For events like this I personally would recommend that you stay masked and use hand sanitizer.

I was disappointed in the event in how the aisle were spaced. This was also an issue at the last hotel as well. These aisles should have 6 to 8 feet to allow not only for people to pass each other, but to also to be ADA compliance. If someone with a walker or wheelchair would have tried to go they would not have been able to take part in the event. The aisles would just have been big enough for one wheelchair but they may have been knocking stuff off peoples tables. As a way to improve this event next year I would recommend that they adjust the aisles to be ADA friendly and allow two way traffic. There were other problems as well. I overheard one guest talking to a vender that he had seen a sign on the wall that said max occupancy was 80 people in the main room and there were way more people in there then that. I looked around and he was right. This could have been a fire code violation and this should be watched closer next year. It was also massively hot in the main room and to be truthful I felt like I was going to pass out from it a few times. I don’t know if that room had the air circulation it needed to hold an event like this or if there was just too many people. I had to go out in the hall to cool down. When you walked through the doors you could really tell the difference. If the event is this popular I think they really need to find a bigger venue that can handle both the amount of people while maintaining equity for the visitors.

Hotel: Besides it being too small for the event, the hotel was nice. It had been years since I was last in this hotel. When I was a little kid we used to come here for Easter brunch until we switched to White Fence Farm. The food they were advertising was priced reasonably, but we had just had breakfast and decided to pass. The only issue with the hotel was the sinks in the women’s restroom were touchy and it was hard to get them to work.