Fan Expo Returns 8/10-13

Fan Expo returns to Chicago (Rosemont) August 10-13. I will be “On the Beat” as always, ensconced in pop culture fun.

Fan Expo HQ is the largest comic con event producer in the world. They host events in San Francisco, Orlando, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Portland, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Edmonton. The next scheduled one is Boston, August 4-6, but I'm here to report on Chicago's upcoming event.

Held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Fan Expo Chicago debuted last year, after acquiring Wizard World Chicago. I didn't know what to expect, but I had high hopes. The average con attendee would not have even known the change happened. A few things operated slightly differently, but nothing that would affect my fun at the event. Fan Expo put a lot of effort to make it a fantastic debut here and it showed.

The announced guest list is already impressive and more celebrities are being added. Already scheduled are Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Chevy Chase, Zachary Levi, Sam Raimi, Giancarlo Esposito, Christina Ricci, Danny Trejo, Christie Brinkley, Anthony Michael Hall, Henry Winkler, Brent Spiner and several more. That's just the celebrity lineup.

There is also Artist Alley, which will be full of talented creators of all sorts. I have met so many great creators, some of them even becoming long-time friends, at Artist Alley.

As always, there will be panels, Q&A's, photo ops, cosplay contests, gaming, workshops, demos, community meetups and more. There are also dozens of vendors on the 300,000 square feet of convention space. There are so many different activities to satisfy everyone's interests.

My main focuses are always the celebrities and Artist Alley. I will also spend time at all of the other areas. I want to soak in the entire experience.

One of the other great parts of Fan Expo is catching up with friends. I see so many friends, many of whom I actually met at comic cons. I have already heard from many folks and have started planning meetups.

I always make time to check out all the vendors. As a fan of Aquaman, especially old school Aquaman, I am always looking for different piece of Aquaman merch.

One other thing I must mention is being alert for celebrity sightings when not expected. Last year, while in line to meet actress Ashley Eckstein, I saw her assistant and thought he looked familiar. I quick check on Baseball Reference confirmed the person was David Eckstein, former Major League Baseball player and World Series MVP. Although not an official Fan Expo guest, I asked David if I could get a selfie with him. He went above and beyond, coming out of the booth to take a picture and chat a bit. The conversation continued when Ashley joined. It was a unique experience and both could not have been nicer. The lesson here is to be aware. You never know who might be helping any celebrity or just wandering around the convention.

Fan Expo is about a month away and I can't wait. I will be "On the Beat" all weekend. Until then, I will provide updates here.