Recapping PopCon Indy 2024
Mihret and I received two press passes to attend and cover PopCon in Indy. The opinions expressed are mine and my daughter’s alone.
We had a great time at PopCon Indy! Take a look at a few of the highlights:
Magic tricks
Magic isn’t necessarily new to PopCon, but the magicians were a first-time experience for us. We had been at the convention for no more than 5 minutes before Mihret was approached by a magician. I caught some of it on video.
Pretty fun, right? But the magic didn’t stop there. We attended the big family-friendly magic show on Saturday evening. All of them were great, but Kayla was Mihret’s favorite, by far. I can’t say I disagree. Her magic tricks are impressive. She also has a tremendous stage presence with a flair for the dramatic. And she doesn’t hide the fact that she’s a big Star Trek fan. She’s a perfect fit for PopCon.
But then she took things to another level on Saturday when Mihret got to have a one-on-one magic session with Kayla. She even taught Mihret how to do a card trick, which we’re still practicing.
Celebrities
Celebrity panels are a longtime staple at conventions like PopCon. But this was the first con where we chose to sit in on some. We’re definitely adding these to future PopCon visits. They were a lot of fun!
Power Rangers
Mihret had a bit of a chance encounter with Hunter Deno aka Amelia Jones aka Pink Dino Fury Ranger aka Red Cosmic Fury Ranger. So, of course we had to visit the Power Rangers celebrity panel.
Andy Serkis
Kino Loy, Snoke, Alfred, Caesar, Ulysses Klaue, Kong, Alley…Andy Serkis has been a lot of characters in a lot of films. Of course, there’s also Smeagol aka Gollum…
Jim Cummings
OK, I knew Jim Cummings was the voice of TIgger and Pooh. But he was also in so. many. things. So many things that the panel hosts called him “The Voice of Our Childhood.”
Vendor Hall
The Vendor Hall is always Mihret’s favorite part of PopCon. It’s where we spent most of our time during previous visits. We paced ourselves a little better this year, breaking up the amount of time we were in the hall at one time. That way, we weren’t standing up for 8 hours straight. We’ll definitely follow that plan again!
Creators and organizations
Creativity oozes through the vendor hall. It’s fun to see how people channel their creative energy into amazing things. I got to talk to several interesting people during our tour of the hall. Hopefully, I’ll have some of them as guests on THE MattDanToddcast Podcast soon.
One of the more memorable encounters was when we met $upr Dee, the local artist who designed the PopCon press badge. When we found that out, it was only natural to ask him to sign ours.
He gladly obliged.
I think we were the first attendees to ask for his autograph. I’m sure we weren’t the last.
Circle City Ghostbusters
The Circle City Ghostbusters are always a fun stop at PopCon. Why? ‘Cause they ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost. And if you’re seeing things, they’re ready to believe YOU!
I have to admit, we felt much safer during our visit because their courteous and efficient staff was on hand to serve all of our supernatural elimination needs.
Star Wars Indiana
The local faces of the 501st Legion, Rebel Legion, and Mando Mercs were also on hand, creating a mini galaxy far, far away right in the middle of Indianapolis.
The Finest: A GI Joe Costume Club
The GI Joe Costume Club has been around for more than a dozen years, but I’ll be honest – I’d never heard of them before this year’s PopCon. Part of their mission is to raise funds to support military and veteran organizations such as K9s For Warriors and the USO. One of the participants also talked about the emotional healing that he’s experienced thanks to participating in this group. Pretty cool stuff. I’m glad Central Defense: The Fighting Fifth was around to share their good work.
“Yo, Joe!”
When I first saw Cobra Commander walking around the hall, I told Mihret that she should stay away from him because “He’s a bad dude.”
As you can see, she listens to me about as well as you’d expect any teenager to listen to their dad.
Cosplay contest
We attended our first cosplay contest in years. And it did not disappoint. One contestant came as a samurai version of Voltron. Another was Godzilla. There was also a Gimli, some Five Nights at Freddy’s love, and even a My Little Pony character or two.
The cosplay was amazing. But so was the atmosphere. Rubber City Cosplay made sure that the whole evening was nothing but affirming, celebrating the amazing work that the contestants displayed.
PopCon has atmosphere of acceptance
Let’s face it.
Many pop culture fandoms have a less-than-stellar reputation of gatekeeping, nitpicking, and generally looking down on n00bs and the less-informed. In a word, many believe they’re toxic.
Don’t believe me?
- The Star Trek bridge cake “DISASTER”* would like to have a word
- So would comic book authors
- And Star Wars actors like Simon Pegg, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran
- I admit, I’ve been tempted to gatekeep on occasion
And that’s just scraping the surface. But you get the idea. Nitpickers and gatekeepers and just plain mean people abound. So, naturally, one might be a little bit nervous about allowing your teenage daughter to dress up as someone like Wednesday Addams. But she wanted to dress like her both days. Even though neither costume was 100% accurate.
Everyone accepted her. They complimented her costumes. They welcomed her. And they made her feel like part of the community. She tried her best to stay in character and not smile all day. But she couldn’t help but crack the occasional smile, thanks to the love that was showered on her all weekend long.
I even got some approving nods on my non-cosplaying-related Spider-Man t-shirt.
And that’s the whole point.
As PopCon co-founder Carl Doninger mentioned in our conversation on my podcast, convention organizers have settled on a tagline for the weekend-long convention:
PopCon
Where every fan finds their place.
I hope they use this line for a long time. Because it fits. Sure, there can be improvements. But everyone really does have their place at PopCon.
And it’s a beautiful thing.
The next PopCon Indy is scheduled for June 27-29, 2025. And we’re already counting down the days.
endnotes
* I know. It was meant as a joke. But it illustrates the obsessive nitpickiness of some groups within Star Trek fandom (and other fandoms).
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