Everyone put up your hand if you are a fan. Of what? Of anything: a hockey team, a movie star, a fashion designer, a video game, a TV character, a book, a music act. Then Northern FanCon is for you.
The question is being asked in the public, and it is a fair question since this is the first year for the high profile event: what is Northern FanCon anyway? Its name has a familiar ring, it is similar to Comic Con, the series of comic conventions that draw in the fans of everything from My Little Pony to super heroes to graphic novels plus all the music and movies and costumes that go with them.
Northern FanCon reverses and expands that theme a bit. It is not about merely comics, it is about fans themselves and everything in popular culture that might draw a group.
That is why Northern FanCon has William Shatner - Capt. James T. Kirk himself, commander of the starship Enterprise on the iconic franchise Star Trek - coming to meet the public. Star Trek is one of the most popular television/movie/book/mercantile movements in world history. So whats that got to do with the Old Spice guy, Isaiah Mustafa? Or Relic Hunter and Waynes World star Tia Carrere?
The answer, said Norm Coyne, lead organizer of the event, is you. Almost everyone in the public has a set of things they like a whole lot. The celebrities coming to Northern FanCon are assembled because each has a noticeable fan base of some kind.
And how else is a fan supposed to end up in the same room as the people they have built this fascination and appreciation for?
Let me walk you through it, said Coyne, spokesman for Citizen Special Events, which partnered with the BC Northern Exhibition to create Northern FanCon. Outside CN Centre the BCNE will be running a midway, so you get that first. Once youre inside, the first thing youll see is Artists Alley where we have assembled cartoonists, sculptors, weapons makers, authors, filmmakers. Further inside youll get to the general exhibitor area and thats where people will have displays for video games, toys, comics, apparel, and loads of fun stuff. People will be walking around in costume, there will be contests for that, so its the main area for the public. But around the wall of CN Centre there will be themed stations where you go to meet the celebrities you want to see.
Appointments can be made for tickets to get professional photos and spend a few personal moments with the celebrities you choose.
Then, in Kin 1 next door to CN Centre, an interactive area will be centralized where each celebrity will come to the stage and be interviewed live to the crowd, from which questions will be asked by the public just like we did with Ron Perlman at the BCNE and it was really well received, said Coyne.
Most elements of Northern FanCon are free with the purchase of the main event ticket, but some consumer extras, like photos and autographs, may require an additional fee.
So far the list of celebrities includes Shatner, Carrere, Mustafa, Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica, Teen Wolf), John De Lancie (he played Q on Star Trek), and another big name will be unveiled in a matter of days.
It is an entertainment expo for all elements of pop-culture. Comics are not the main focus, but that is included, said Coyne. It is a fan experience on a grand scale, and we are trying to bring in a diversity of celebrities and exhibit features so there is something there for almost everyone.
Different ticket combos are available on the fancon.ca website and watch there, as well as in the Citizen, for more announcements. The event takes place May 8 to 10.
