I’m back from another fun convention weekend. This trip was across the state to Tampa for MegaCon Tampa. My fourth total time in the city and the first that wasn’t for MetroCon. This convention had a strong sci-fi feel as the show was headlined by Dr. Who and Star Trek alumni.
The Tampa show is a much smaller show than Orlando’s main event. The Tampa Convention Center is a good size venue and it was interesting to see the whole floor utilized for the event. The MetroCon setup of the floor is divided into two, part for the dealer and artist area, the other for the main events hall and stage. MegaCon utilized the whole main convention hall for dealers, artists, and celebrities. The celebrity panels were held in large ball room below the main hall. It’s always fun to see a convention center utilized in different ways for different events.
The smaller convention center did allow for a sense of intimacy even in the celebrity panels. Among the highlights of the weekend were some of the celebrity panels. One of which was an early Saturday (11 am) session with Rachael Macfarlane. She was an absolute delight and came off as a real sweetheart. it was fun hearing about her Hollywood journey. Another great highlight was the dual panel of Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis. The Star Trek TNG alumni played off very well with one another and its obvious these two are amazing friends and close to one another. This made the huge ballroom feel small and close the way these two talked.
There was still the usual amount of thins to do as at any MegaCon event. A huge dealers room, a good size artist alley featuring lots of amazing artists, fan panels, family zones, legos, a video game arcade, photo op stations and tattoo artists were all available to attendees throughout the weekend. It was also fun to have one of my personal tattoos displayed over the weekend as I had made my artists portfolio. Overall it was still a fun, relaxing weekend even with so much to do. It’s odd saying MegaCon Tampa was small show. In general convention terms, it’s not a small show but after attending the Orlando show for the past 14 years, it is a much smaller show. It still felt like MegaCon though and still gave me the same feeling that keeps me going as I chase the convention life.
Overall, my experience at MegaCon Tampa was a good one. I’m happy to have been a part of it.
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