Minisode: Florida Supercon 2024

And I had gotten press passes and , honestly , if it weren't for y'all , I wouldn't have had the opportunity to get that . But you know what I always enjoy going to a convention . I have a great time even outside of a press capacity . So I probably would have talked about it regardless of me getting a press opportunity for it . But yes , florida Supercon 2024 .

I think I'm going to just jump into it . I know that Dakota and I usually talk about what we've been up to , but I'm going to be talking to you about what I have been up to , which is Florida Supercon , florida Supercon 2024 . The convention was on July 12th to the 14th . I was not able to go on the 12th . I had to work that day .

A couple of my coworkers had already claimed that day off , like even well , like early into the year , so I had no chance of asking for it off , unless I asked for it off last year , which I actually may do that for next year but for the days that I did go on that Saturday and Sunday I had a great time . I really , really did .

I am always interested in seeing how a convention progresses or how a convention improves itself , and Florida Super Con for the longest time was owned by I don't even remember his name , but it was like a smaller local convention . It used to be at a convention center called the Miami Airport Convention Center . That's where Otaku Fest was usually at .

That's the convention I went to in May . Otaku Fest is now at the same location that Supercon is at . But you know , obviously they don't have to worry because they're at two different times of the year , one in May , one in July .

But Florida Supercon it's really blown up and , yeah , it's owned by Repop now , which notably owns several other conventions , which NYCC , New York Comic Con , is one of their most popular ones . I got the pleasure of going to that one with Dakota back in 2018 . I would love to go again in the future .

So , you know , if you're listening , repop , you know I'm a may try to submit a press pass , you know , take me on you , let me cover that for our podcast . That would be awesome .

But nonetheless , we're not talking about NYCC , we are talking about Florida Supercon , and I kind of want to talk a little bit about the guests before I kind of break down my days . But you know , this year was really , really really stacked with people that are in the Dungeons and Dragons kind of space . That was awesome .

I was like , oh my gosh , this is like such a D&D . It wasn't a D&D convention , but it felt so much so like a D&D convention because of the guests . And then there was a lot of like D&D vendors there too . It was awesome .

So , the guests one of my biggest reasons for wanting to go to this convention and if I didn't have a press pass I still would have gone to this convention is the fact that Critical Role was there . All of them , all of Critical Role was there , and I was really happy to see that .

Sam Riegel was there , for those of you that are into Critical Role probably know that he had some form of cancer , that's something that was like in his mouth , and so that's why he had to leave the show for a little while he was dealing with that , but the fact that you know he's back .

He had an announced that he was dealing with that a little bit before the convention so I was a little worried that he wouldn't be there . But I would understand because I mean he dealt with a lot . You know , that's a serious medical thing to deal with . So the fact that he was there was really really awesome .

And you know like we've gotten big stars down to Supercon . But I felt like getting a group like that together and not it being one or the other or just you know two or three , but the fact that the whole entire group was there as Critical Role was pretty big to me .

I know it was really big for a lot of Critters , as they call Critical Role fans , bidet y'all . I thought that was really awesome . So , aside from Critical Role , they had a few of the voice talent from Baldur's Gate 3 . They had Shadowheart , astarion and a couple others .

I forgot who it was , but I was like like oh my gosh , you know we got Baldur's Gate after . Obviously , after seeing that they were there and seeing their panel I was , it got me into the mood to want to play Baldur's Gate 3 again . So I've kind of hopped back on that for a little bit . And then there was also the Exandria Unlimited people .

There was Amy Carrero , there was Robbie Damon and Jolly I forgot her last name and you know , like pretty much one of the groups for Exandria Unlimited , and that was . That was crazy . Like I was like , oh my gosh , like we have , like you know , all this D&D people there was also .

You know , honestly , I was , I wasn't really fanning over this guest , although I used to be a major fan of his . But david tennant was there and I was a big fan of his 10th doctor and doctor who , and you know , and then he was also in harry potter and several other things , jessica jones , but he was there and I wasn't even fanning over there .

I think he had a panel . I didn't , I didn't make that panel , but yeah , that's some of the guests there . There were several other guests like there . Oh , and also Ali and AJ was there and for those of you that grew up on Disney may know Ali , I was like Ali , michalka , michalka I'm hoping that I'm saying their last name right .

It's one of those , maybe , maybe not , but for those of you that know Ali and AJ , ali was really well known for playing Keely in that TV show , phil of the Future , and so it was really cool seeing her there . And then her sister , her sister aj is also well known for playing .

I haven't really watched the goldbergs too much , but she plays the girlfriends of the eldest brother . Like I know there's a , there's a sister and then two brothers it's not the youngest brother but the older brother . She plays the girlfriend of that character and she is also a voice in , I think , catra in the She-Ra show on Netflix .

So that was actually a pretty interesting panel . I'll talk a little bit about the panels now and I'll talk about the Ali and AJ and the Baldur's Gate one before I get into the actual Critical Role panel , because I have a tragic story as far as that one .

Well , not tragic as in like any bodily injury was happening , but more tragically like it made me sad . But the Ali and AJ one was really cool because you know they talked about their projects there .

They had done music before together and we're kind of around in like the Disney circuit there in a movie called cowbells together and yeah , they had done music together . They stopped for a while but now they're doing music again .

I think they've been doing music again for a little while now , but yeah , so now they're pretty much like indie now and I thought one of the coolest things is that aj has a connection to amy carrero , which was a voice in she-ra also I forgot who she voiced . She was also in this netflix show called maid .

She was the main characters like friends when she went to to some shelter . But you know just to kind of identify who this is if you don't know who amy carrero is . But amy carrero is in the Exandria Unlimited group which is part of Critical Role , and both I think Ali and AJ in two of their respective shows , ali also being in one called iZombie .

They both had these D&D episodes and I think somebody had asked like well , I know that you had these D&D episodes , but would you ever be interested in being in a dnd , maybe one shot with some of the critical role people and like they were like , oh yeah , like absolutely .

I know that this is like small , but it's so cool seeing some of these elements of my youth kind of blend in . Well , not so much critical role , critical role started when I was a little bit older , but still I thought that was really cool , and the Baldur's Gate one was really , really cool . The Ellie and AJ one was in one of the smaller sets of rooms .

The Baldur's Gate 3 one was in one of the main ballrooms and so , yeah , that one ended up packing out . I was happy I was able to make those two at least . But yeah , no , it was great to kind , you know , kind of see their experiences , how they really perceived each other in the beginning and how it was working with so many different voice actors .

I mean , there were so many voiced characters in that game . It blew my mind to hear some of the background stuff of Baldur's Gate 3 . So , yeah , that got me wanting to hop back onto Baldur's Gate 3 . And now here comes the tragic story . So Critical Role was pretty much my biggest reason for wanting to come to this year of Supercon .

I mean , I was going to go regardless anyway , but I think that there have been maybe a few guests over the years that got me like , yeah , I want to go to this convention no matter what . Like if my car broke down I was going to find a way to get there , you know .

But well , with that being said , so on Friday night and bear with me , this is going to lead up to the story . So Friday night I had noticed I was kind of checking my car over . I was like , oh , I know , I'm going to be driving , you know , about an hour two ways going to the convention center and then going back home for two days .

So I kind of wanted to check my stuff over . I was , you know , making sure that my fluids were good and checking my tires to make sure that none were were low . I noticed that there was a little screw and one of my tires and I was like you know , I don't want to drive , all you know , back and forth all this time with a screw .

You know it might have been little and my tire probably would have held up , but I didn't want to chance that .

So I was like , oh , you know , like I really wanted to like kind of get up and just head out right away to the convention center because they had the Role panel at 11 am and I was like 11 am , that's so early , especially for me On the weekends I don't like to wake up super early , but for Critical Role I was definitely waking up early and so I had to

wake up a little bit earlier . I got to the tire place as early as I could . My tires were okay . All I needed really was a patch for that tire . So I ended up getting a patch . It didn't take that long . I think at max like 30 minutes , but I left . You know , I went as early as I could and I left and I was supposed to get there at like 1030 .

And I know that like 1030 , you know 1030 is cutting it a little close , but yeah , that's what Waze was telling me and I was like OK , you know , that should give me enough time . And you know Saturdays for those of you that been to conventions , especially like a full weekend one y'all know that Saturdays are crazy . Saturdays are crazy packed .

That's where everybody wears like their best cosplay , most of the panels are happening and just , you know a bunch of stuff . But yeah . So I was supposed to get there at 10 30 and there was accidents along the way . The traffic got so absolutely ridiculous . One of the the parking garages was packed out .

But , believe it or not , I didn't have any issue finding parking . I was able to actually easily find parking . But by the time I got there it was a little after 11 . I parked , I looked at my phone and it said that the panel was full and I was so upset I was like , no , oh yeah , I was so upset that I so I missed that panel .

There is a silver lining . That panel is on YouTube under a channel called pop verse . So if you are interested in seeing the supercon panel , if you missed it and you want to see it , they do have that panel . I know it's different . It's like watching a concert on YouTube . You're not part of that experience .

You're not there , you're not around the people as all of this stuff is happening . Still , silver lining I can still watch their panel and you know , at least up close . I was pretty far back with the Baldur's Gate one , but that one's also online . So I think I'm going to rewatch that one just so that I get like a closer view .

It's so hard to like see people when you're like all the way back at the back of a ballroom . But yeah , so that that critical role one really that one really , like you know , broke my heart that I missed that one . I was , yeah , I was definitely sad . I was like , oh my gosh , why did you do it so early ? But the whole tire thing messed me up .

Aside from the panels , I got to meet some really really cool artists in the artist alley . I got to meet some really cool vendors . There was definitely a lot with the vendors . They had secret labs there which , for those of you who don't know who secret labs are , they sell these computer chairs .

You know I've always thought they looked cool but they're super expensive . But like I'm like I don't want to like look into buying a really expensive chair that I don't know if it's comfortable . I mean , I just recently bought a new computer chair , so I'm not looking for a computer chair right now .

But the fact that they had secret labs there allowed people to kind of check out their chairs and stuff . So I thought that was really cool . They had different ones . They had the Final Fantasy 14 one , they had the Cyberpunkpunk one . There was a lot of really really really cool chairs . But other than that , they also had like this partnership with crunchyroll .

The badges had crunchyroll and different like anime on it . The press pass had actual crunchyroll hime on it and her pet cat that I don't know the name of . But yeah , they had this viewing room that was like Crunchyroll sponsored and so you could go in and watch anime and that was really cool . I really enjoyed that . There was a lot of .

If there are those of you that have been wanting to get into D&D , you don't know how you want to learn a lot of these conventions , especially Supercon . They have D&D sessions there . It's like you know , learn A lot of these conventions , especially Supercon . They have D&D sessions .

It's like you know , maybe like a one shot , but there's like one shots that are there to teach you . They're like you know , beginner D&D , how to learn . They had the Baldur's Gate one and they had a couple of others .

For those of you that are into D&D , that you know how to play D&D , they have more a little bit of an arcade and then a bunch of consoles . I know that that might not be new for some of you that have gone to conventions , but it was really cool . I always like to go in there .

There is a press room that I could go to , but I was like , ah , you know , I kind of want to like chillax amongst the people . So I went up to the game room , I went to one of the computers and I played a little bit of overwatch over there , like I actually hadn't played Overwatch in a while , but the fact that you know I was in a different space .

I was playing Overwatch and around people who enjoy gaming just as much as me . It was a really , really fun experience . And yeah , saturday I was there from a little after 11 all the way till a little after 11 . Yeah , I spent 12 hours there . I know that that might sound insane for some people , but conventions are like Disney for me . It's my Disney .

I could go there all day . All I need to do is maybe take a little bit of a seat , get some food . They're definitely using a lot more of the convention space . Last year , the right side of the convention , which is the smaller side that Otaku Fest was on that side is usually for will call or for purchasing a badge .

But it wasn't just that they had that section towards the front , but in the back they had a food court , like a small food court , and I was like , oh my goodness , they're starting to use more of the space . And there was also a food court on the left side .

So they kind of had like their bases covered and all the way on the left side that's where all the celebrities were . They had this like area towards the back where all of the photo ops were which I so badly wanted to do , that critical role photo op but I could not swing $350 . I just couldn't . That's just too much for me .

Maybe in the future when I'm doing web development , I have a little bit more disposable income , I'll do that , but yeah , I just couldn't swing it . Just being there and seeing them and talking to some of them was honestly a delight .

I think I had only seen Matt Mercer once and that was when he was in the circuit for Overwatch , because he voices Cassidy , which back then was named McCree . But yeah , so I know that I keep on . Coming back to Critical Role , they had like towards the middle it was a little bit towards the back , but like in the middle was Artist Alley .

I always love going to Artist Alley . Some people may be used to it . In Artist Alley they're used to making art and selling , but there are some people that it is a lot to really create this art and put it out there for people to buy . Because you know you're kind of walking by and honestly I feel so bad .

Like you know , sometimes I'm walking by and like there's stuff that doesn't interest me . But on merit , I kind of just want to buy something because I want everybody to make money .

It costs money to set up tables at these convention centers and it ranges from a table all the way up to a big booth and it's expensive , especially for the larger the convention , the more expensive the table is going to be , and Supercon has been getting larger and so , yeah , that means that the tables are more expensive .

I spoke to one of my friends who was a vendor at otaku fest . She wasn't a vendor at super con because she she said it was just too expensive for her . They wanted her to take a 1200 table or a booth that she just didn't need . She wanted a table and and yeah , that's expensive .

You know , especially for those of you that may take these tables , that know that you can either break even or make money because you've gone to conventions before , that's fine , but for somebody that may be a little bit newer , that isn't too sure . You know you don't want to go to this convention and not at least break even .

I mean , you want to make money , but at least breaking even means that you got your money back . So yeah , there's stuff like that , but I went so crazy with buying some of the stuff . There was somebody that made bento boxes and I got a couple of those . I got some journals that had anime characters on them . I got some dice D20s .

I also got some drinks there . They had this dark and stormy it was like a storm themed drink . They had a sangria that was a jean gray phoenix themed one . They had a jubilee themed drink there . And then you know , for those of you that go to conventions , you know that the food is not particularly cheap either .

So I usually try to bring some snacks so I can kind of snack before I actually buy some food there . I mean , I know I could always leave or maybe bring some food with me , but I don't want to bring food with me and then , like it just not tastes good because it's been sitting in my backpack all day . But yeah , that was mostly so mostly Saturdays .

Where I did a lot of my buying Sunday was when I went to the Exandria Unlimited panel . The other ones were on Saturday . The Exandria Unlimited panel was good . I was able to make that at a good time . It was at like 12 , 15 . So yeah , that was like perfect timing . I was able to get there .

It was still , you know , a little bit more on the pack side , but nowhere near how Saturday was . Sunday was able to get there . It was still , you know , a little bit more on the pack side , but nowhere near how saturday was . Sunday was a little bit more lax .

I , I can't speak for friday , but I think , or I I spoke to a friend and and they , they said that friday was pretty chill , but yeah , sunday was nice . I it ran up from 10 to to 5 pm , you know . I I kind of like hung around a little bit after the exhibition hall , so .

So when I'm saying these times it's like exhibition hall times , so friday and saturday it's 10 to 7 , sunday it's 10 to 5 , and there's also usually other stuff going on , mostly on on friday and saturday , sunday , when exhibition hall closes , there's like everybody else is done , you know .

So yeah , I think overall , supercon really really did a good job this year . I'm sorry for those of you that may not have had a stellar time or for those of you vendors that may not have done well , and I hope for the best for you in the future .

You know there's a lot of stuff that that that goes unsaid when it comes to conventions , or there's the amazing side and then the not so amazing side . So I know that things can get a little tougher for those who actually go there to to make money . But yeah , I mean other than that , I , I personally I had a good time .

I think that they did a really good job , was cool seeing the crunchyroll like kind of sponsorship . I love the press badge . I'm definitely going to be keeping that , like the fact that it says crunchyroll has crunchyrohime .

I was like , oh , this is definitely one of my favorite badges in general , like just even as like an attendee , this is like my favorite badge .

And yeah , the guests were really , really stacked and I felt like a lot of the guests complimented each other because they were either like in the dnd or they're into dnd and like their voice talent and like you know , anime . It was really good . I I think that I know I keep on saying that it was really good .

I just I really do think that for those of you that are thinking about going to Supercon , that either live in the area that close to it or somewhere in Florida or even out of town , and you're considering like , hey , I want to go to an out of town convention and you're looking at Supercon , I definitely recommend it , but for sure , keep an eye on the guests

. If there's guests that don't interest you and guests are a big thing for you when it comes to going to conventions then definitely keep an eye on that . There's some years that are awesome . Some years are less than stellar . I think that this year was pretty good . Yet last year was really good . I had a great time with that too .

I got to meet the voice actress of Ah . Yeah , last year was really good . I had a great time with that too . I got to meet the voice actress of Ahsoka last year and I got to . Yeah , like I said , I got to meet Ali and AJ . I got to meet some of the Critical Role people , so I thought that was awesome . It was really up my alley .

As far as my interest as far as the guests , this year I actually made it a mission of mine to actually attend panels . I always get so caught up in the exhibition floor . It's so easy to get caught up because there's so much to see , there's so much to do , there's so much to buy .

You know so many really cool cosplayers that you want to take pictures with . But yeah , like outside of that . I made it to panels . I got to see what it was that they offered outside of the exhibition floor stuff , and there's definitely a lot there . They're definitely improving and I think that they're looking to improve .

So I'm really excited to see what they do next year and hopefully they take me on as press . If not , I probably will still go regardless . Also , just one quick little note before I close out this episode .

If you are interested in going to Florida Supercon , just know that it is in Miami Beach and if you're looking to stay nearby , then you'll probably be fine . But if you're looking to like kind of drive , just be wary of the fact that traffic gets insane . It's a small , like man-made island or like a strip of man-made island .

The streets are kind of like cramped and stuff . So just kind of keep that in mind . But other than that , I recommend it . So thank you all for joining me for this mini episode covering Florida Supercon 2024 . If you enjoyed this episode and have not listened to any of our other episodes , go and check out our other episodes .

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