Ever since I went to my first con last year in Dallas, I’ve become a little obsessed. I never knew exactly how awesome cons can be. I mean, not only do you get to potentially meet actors, writers, artists, directors, etc. that you really admire, you also get the opportunity to hear them speak on panels and see them in a way that you’ve never seen them before. Not to mention, you’re surrounded by a plethora of people who are as geeked out about the things that you love too, so you just feel like you found your people.
Louisiana isn’t known for having great cons. Actually, it’s not known for having any cons at all (as far as I know anyway). Recently, Shreveport/Bossier has been trying to get on the map in con world, and I’m really excited to see what people will be able to attract the area.
Last weekend, Shreveport held its first Geek’d Con, and there were Supernatural stars in attendance, so of course I had to go. As soon as I saw Kim Rhodes on the list of guests, I knew I had to be there. If y’all recall, I went to Supernatural Con in January, and I wasn’t fully aware of how awesome Kim was, so of course I wanted to take advantage of the fact that she’d be in Louisiana because it was more likely that’d I’d have fun, geeky moments and inappropriately hilarious conversation with her.
When I got to the con, the first thing I saw was Kim’s name marked off of the schedule. I almost turned around and walked out because I was so upset. Okay, that was really dramatic. I didn’t really almost do that, but I hope you understand exactly how sad the situation made me. Even though I was disappointed that she wasn’t going to be there, I was still excited to see the two other actresses from Supernatural that would be at the con.
The first person I met was Lindsey McKeon. She played Tessa in the show. Her character was so badass, and I loved every episode she was in. I walked up to her table and was totally starstruck. She’s seriously so gorgeous, and I told her as much. She said that I was pretty and that she liked my hair. I love how our picture turned out. That girl is flawless.
Next, I bought tickets to get autographs from Samantha Smith, who played the mom in Supernatural, and Jim Cummings, who is a voice actor for several cartoons that I love. I was actually getting Jim’s autograph for a friend, but it was still so cool to meet him. When I was at his table, he did the voice of Ray, who was the lightning bug in Princess in the Frog. I geeked out right there. It was so cool! Plus it was the perfect setting because my favorite line from the movie is “Y’all from Shreveport?” So appropriate.
Samantha Smith was really sweet. There was no one in line behind me, so I actually got to chat with her for a few minutes. I asked if this was her first time in Shreveport, and she said it was. I asked if she had done anything fun on her trip, and she said that she went to Margaritaville and lost $20. She also acknowledged my “Always Keep Fighting” shirt from Jared Padalecki’s first Represent campaign.
Even though the con was on Saturday and Sunday, the only panels I was interested in seeing were the Women of Supernatural panel and the Twisted Toonz panel, both of which were on Saturday, so I only attended one day.
The Women of Supernatural panel was fun to watch. I feel like some of the questions that people asked were weird, and there were a few people who were super obnoxious, but I think both actresses handled it with grace. They were both so sweet and gave awesome answers. It just made me adore them more.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Twisted Toonz panel, but it was actually my favorite part of the whole convention. There were several different voice actors (Jim Cummings, Maurice LaMarche, Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell and April Stewart), and they were all brought onstage to read a Star Wars script. For each scene, all of them were assigned different characters from the script, and then they were told to play those characters using the voices of cartoon characters they had played in the past. It was utter chaos in the most amazing way. I could not stop laughing.
This was definitely the smallest con that I’ve ever attended, but it was still so much fun! I think they did an amazing job with the first ever Geek’d Con, and I think it definitely set the stage for more cons in the Shreveport/Bossier area.
Have you ever been to a con? If you could attend any con, which would you go to?
