Eek! Fest / Red Deer Expo

​I went to two smaller conventions this month and both were new experiences for me! Eek! was in St. Albert, very small, and I entered the cosplay contest. Red Deer Expo was it's first year, and I was a vendor for the first time! So read a bit more about my experience at both these conventions.

Eek! Fest

​Eek! was a convention I had debated about going to. I've been going to small cons, and dragging less than willing friends with me for about a year, and then it never fails when we get there, that I feel bad for my plus one and wish I'd come alone. So I decided to bite the bullet and trying going to a convention alone! 

It wasn't too bad. I debuted Korra Kida for the cosplay contest, but I did get there way too early. There were only a handful of vendors and not a lot to do and it was kinda awkward trying to talk to other cosplayers. Not sure if it was because I'm awkward, or if they just weren't chatty. =(

It was finally time for the contest and there were quite a few opportunities to win. Best group, best per category, best in show, etc. Unfortunately I didn't win - again. I find it hard to enter a sewn cosplay against armour builds. I definitely feel like they have an advantage right now in the cosplay contest world.

But I took the stage experience and went home and got a couple pics in the living room.
I did get to meet the beautiful Miss Chezza finally, so the day wasn't a total loss!

Red Deer Expo Day 1

This was my first opportunity to set up a table as a vendor. Danyella bought a table to sell her Steampunk Princesses and asked me to bring some perlers as filler. We ended up splitting the table so I set out some cosplay prints as well.

Originally, I was supposed to wear Moon Knight day 1 and Dr. Harleen Quinzel day 2, but when I woke up Saturday morning and saw the pouring rain, I had to make a fast change. There was no way I was risking my super white costume in that weather. 

So I decided to wear Harleen both days and just switch up my base clothes so I wasn't wearing the same thing two days in a row. Of course I'm already behind schedule, but now I have to do a full face of makeup for Harleen, where-as Moon Knight was no makeup.

I am literally flying around the house, trying not to wake anyone up, re-packing my stuff. Danyella calls and says she's here, so I run outside to take the dog out, book it back upstairs, grab all my bags and run back down. And then I take a breathe finally lol.

I finish getting ready in the vehicle before we get to Red Deer. When we get to the expo centre, we're still pretty early for vendors, and we see all these fancy dressed up people, and it's pretty much packed. So we park, and then as we're walking around trying to find our way in with ALL our booth stuff, we see a sign saying it's a Mormon Convention! Makes sense...

We end up walking around the entire building to the vendor entrance at the back and our booth is right inside. We get everything set up with time to spare. Our booth neighbors show up and still have to set up, so I helped them a bit. They were really awesome guys, chatty and super talented. They were creators from LowFive Productions. Definitely go check them out.

Finally a trickle of people started making their way into the hall and Red Deer Expo was officially under way! I got fidgety about 15 minutes later and went for a stroll to check out the other vendors and catch a peak of Nicole Marie Jean. She wasn't out yet though. There was tons of cool stuff to look at, I even got some cool post card size art from a few vendors.

A ton of people stopped to dig through my perler bowl and bought some stuff. (Note to self: Disinfect the perlers when I get home) I sold a handful of prints too which was cool. It was fun chatting with people too. Some people just walked by or smiled, but a few people stopped by for a little chat.

I saw quite a few people I met in Calgary, or online which was awesome. It broke the day up a bit instead of sitting constantly. I went back and chatted with Nicole. She's such a sweety! I'm so happy I got the opportunity to meet her.

I went to the cosplay contest at the end of the day, and it was set up pretty weird. The stage wasn't quite big enough for the judges and cosplayers. But everyone made it on and we got to hear Nicole chat a bit about her cosplay process which was pretty awesome.

Day one finally finished and Danyella and I went and got some pizza and beer and went to check in to the hotel. I won't comment on the hotel experience.... But the pizza and beer was good!

Red Deer Expo Day 2

Day two we took it slow. Decided we didn't need to be there super early so we took our time getting ready and went to the lobby for continental breakfast. The news was blaring about the awful shooting at the nightclub in Florida. I instantly lost my appetite and just sat there numb, listening.

We left when Danyella finished her food, and we stopped for some coffee on the way to the expo. We swaggered in a tad late, but we were set up in no time. Day two was weirdly more successful for me. Not by much, but I sold some more prints and tons more perlers.

I went back to see Nicole again and I bought a print from her to add to my cosplay print collection. I also went to a panel hosted by some friends I had met in Calgary about Cosplay Armour and Prop Building. They may have been day drinking.

Finally, when that announcement came on, saying the Red Deer Expo was now over, there was a round of applause by the vendors and we packed up as fast as we could and headed home.

It was definitely a great experience, and I think I would like to have a booth again someday!

*kiss kiss*