Comments | so_ont_gqmfs: Polaris 2011

sarah_charade in so_ont_gqmfs

Polaris 2011

May 26, 2011 19:21

Hey everyone! It's been so long since I've come around here. However, the summer convention season is now upon us, so we should have some convention meetups.

First - Polaris 2011 on July 15-17, 2011 at the Sheraton North Toronto hotel (Hwy 7 and Leslie in Markham/Richmond Hill ( Read more... )

Comments 7

randomyst June 9 2011, 18:33:41 UTC

Take a peek at the entry just after yours.

:D

I met a nice girl at a movie meetup last year, I'm sorry I can't remember your name right now, who wanted to get a large group to dress up Star Trek together and beat the Guiness Record for number of Star Trek costumes at one gathering. Let's do it!

That was me. *waves* It was this outing. Sadly a European group (Germany I think) had crazy large numbers (like almost as many people as attend this con) shortly after we had that conversation and that's why I didn't pursue it with the convention committee, who would have had to be in the organization of it for safety/security reasons.

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seanchaidh June 9 2011, 22:11:23 UTC

woohoo!

sarah_charade June 10 2011, 03:30:29 UTC

Woo! My best friend Nina and I are going in TOS minidresses I made for us last year. We should meet and get pictures.

blacklilly June 9 2011, 20:05:50 UTC

I'm not planning to be at Polaris, but I'll definitely be at FanExpo!! :D They're moving to their "biggest ever" space this year, and having 4 days instead of 3, so hopefully it won't be overcrowded!

sarah_charade June 10 2011, 03:31:24 UTC

I haven't bought a ticket yet...but I wasn't all too impressed with the last couple of years anyhow. I'd much prefer an outside con meetup for dinner and beers and some time to just talk Star Trek.

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I checked ... randomyst June 14 2011, 17:41:30 UTC

Pricing is comparable at the moment for both events (pre-registration at Polaris ends June 17 and at-door pricing has not yet been posted).

FanExpo sometimes has extra costs on top of the regular membership to see certain guests or events.

Polaris membership gets you in to see all the guest talks, panels, dances, masquerade, etc. There are also extra cost workshops and parties.

Both events membership give you access to autograph and photo sessions with guests but guests decide on those charges. And both get you access to the Dealers Room.

I've been to both events, from my experience, it can be summarized thusly:

FanExpo - more attendees, less crowd control + organization, more guests (their schedules are not always fixed), bigger Dealer's Room

Polaris - better organization + crowd control, fixed schedule, greater variety of programming incl. things you don't normally see (Charity (memorabilia) Auction, Art Show & auction, fewer attendees, fewer guests, smaller Dealer's Room

sarah_charade June 15 2011, 04:21:27 UTC

Yes, I agree with randomyst. They are two quite opposite conventions, it really depends what sorts of things you prefer doing. If you're a shopper, then Polaris has a very small selection in comparison to FanExpo. And if you want big name guests, FanExpo also has a longer guest list and bigger celebs. But the lineups go on for hours sometimes, depending who you want to see. Hopefully the crowds won't be as crazy this year, since they've expanded from a weekend to a 4 day event, but last year was shoulder to shoulder people in the hall, and many people who left to get lunch outside were unable to get back in because the box office oversold ( ... )