As this article goes out, it would have been the last time I was at a comic-con event. I can’t believe it’s been one year since I was last at a comic-con.
I at the beginning of the year would try and plan out where I would be for the whole year. I had originally planned to have my first comic-con in March at Birmingham and even celebrate my birthday at Insomnia Gaming Festival as it landed on my birthday. Here is a list of events where I planning ongoing.
- MCM Birmingham (March / November)
- Insomnia Gaming Festival (April)
- MCM London (May / October)
- Dokomi (May)
- MCM Manchester (July)
- Viencon (August)
- New York Comic-Con (October)
- EGX (October)
- Comic-Con Stuttgart (Novemeber)
So I had a lot of events I wanted to attend, would explain why I am constantly broke from all the hotels, travelling I would do each year. I can only imagine the extra costs for all you cosplayers reading this.
What I haven’t Missed
Though I have been keeping myself busy during these time of pandemic and there have been some aspect I haven’t missed from not going to comic-con.
One of which is before I get to the comic-con for MCM London is setting up my schedule for people to book me to shoot at comic-con. I would release my schedule, at least 4 weeks before the event starts. This causes me stress when the schedule goes out, keeping up with people messaging me with their times they want to shoot with me and jotting down details of their cosplays onto my calendar. But sometimes there is a flip side where on schedule release day, I would not be bombarded with requests, which gives me different stress thinking no one wants to work with me or that no one saw my post about my schedule.
Also the research I would do to make sure I know what everyone is wearing and have a general idea what poses I can take with their cosplays. This takes a huge chunk of my time to research each cosplay as I just don’t pick the first images, but images I want to replicate in front of my camera.
The editing of photos after the comic-con event is something that can causes me stress as I tend to edit photos after my working day and at weekend, maximising as much time to get all photos edited and sent back to people as soon as possible.
What I have Missed
I think what I miss the most, are the people and friends I meet at comic-con. I keep saying this, I am a people person. I love meeting people, talking to people, be in owe of their cosplay.
Being stuck at home and being away from friends have really done a huge number on my mental health during the pandemic months we are all experiencing in one way or another.
As much as I mentioned before I haven’t missed editing photos, I do miss trying to push my skills and make the photos as best as possible. I love being creative. I use editing also to distract my mind from the world day to day routine, I even think it’s a relaxation process I go through as I feel like being creative, I don’t think about my day job or any stress I might be experiencing.
One small silly thing I miss are the selfies I get with people. It’s just a small reminder of my time at the event.
But…
It was only through my Facebook memories that I was at my last comic-con a year ago which made me think, I haven’t really noticed I’ve been missing comic-con. Don’t get me wrong, as mentioned before, I miss my friends, I miss the lead-up excitement I get toward an event.
But the world pandemic has really set my mind of what is important in my life. It was very important to make sure my mental health and wellbeing were being looked after. Use the free time to do some of the projects I wanted to start such as the weekly Re-Edit feature I do or the podcast series I record with friends talking a different subject each week. I have to say, I have really enjoyed recording the podcast as it has been a nice substitute for being at comic-con.
I feel like the projects and the small number of photoshoots I was able to do this year, I felt like I transferred the energy and time for comic-cons to other projects so I haven’t felt so lost without being at a comic-con.
Let me know in the comments what you have miss or haven’t missed about going to comic-con.
