One Week to MegaCon!

We’re just a week away from MegaCon 2014 in Orlando, Florida, and this convention is still bringing surprises to the table. Just a few days ago they announced yet another new media guest – Manu Bennett of Spartacus/The Hobbit/Arrow fame! Mr. Bennett joins the ranks of some other awesome guests, including David Morrissey, Sonequa Martin-Green, Emily Kinney, Steven Yeun, and Danai Gurira from Walking Dead.

This year MegaCon has moved from the Orange County Convention Center West Building to the South Concourse of the North/South Building, which is quite the change. The hotels that were closest last year (Rosen Plaza and Rosen Centre) are now much farther away from the daytime activities than the Hilton or the Hyatt, though Saturday night’s dance party will still be held at the Backstage Club at the Rosen Plaza, and John Barrowman’s special Meet & Greet is scheduled at the Rosen Centre.

In 2013 MegaCon was very Star Trek focused because of the 25th anniversary of Next Generation; this year I’m happy to announce that both the guest roster and panel schedule are quite a bit more well-rounded. Along with the costume contest, several different gaming tournaments, and a fairly extensive list of anime events, there are several guest panels (featuring stars from the original Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead, and more) and Q & A’s with Stan Lee, Wil Wheaton, etc. MegaCon even has a few workshop-style panels for budding authors and filmmakers.

Though, in my opinion, the line between the general dealer room exhibitors and the Artist Alley was a bit more vague than it should have been last year, I will say that MegaCon had one of the better convention floors in terms of layout, amount of space for the number of attendees, and general variety of wares. There are literally hundreds of dealers, exhibitors, and artists – which means there’s likely to be something for everyone. In fact, I rarely make dealer room purchases, but last year at MegaCon I made several of them!

March can be a busy time in Orlando, but as convention locations go it’s obviously top-notch. This time of year you’re more likely to experience great weather (as in, not insanely hot and humid as central Florida gets in the summer), and if you extend your MegaCon weekend a couple of days, your hotel is likely to be just a few miles away from both Universal Orlando (Wizarding World of Harry Potter, anyone?) and Walt Disney World.

If you’ll be there, feel free to keep an eye out for yours truly! I tend to haunt the writing panels and I definitely plan on trying to attend the Walking Dead panel. You’re most likely to catch me dressed as Starbuck from BSG (Friday) or Galadriel from The Hobbit (Saturday). So if you see me, please say hello.

Author: Tara Lynne

Tara Lynne is an author, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. She founded Ice & Fire Con, the first ever Game of Thrones convention in the US, and now runs its parent company Saga Event Planning.

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