In part, I dread to think what it would be like to be in a relationship with another TransFormers fan - and particularly cohabiting with one - and haven't tried to engage her in my collection, though I have
Considering I enjoyed this year's show much more than I'd expected, I figured it'd be particularly interesting to commemorate this momentous occasion by getting her take on the event, both as a non-TransFormers fan, someone who doesn't necessarily enjoy crowds, and someone who occasionally attends events around the country as part of her job.
So, without further ado, I'll hand over to Courtney...
Gord asked me to do a recap of my first TFNation experience for his blog, so here I am!
I met Gord at Euston on Friday evening after work. I usually don't go to the pub with my colleagues on Fridays as I have a regular appointment at that time, but as our train wasn't until after seven I had time for an Aperol Spritz (a.k.a. Posh Irn Bru). Part of me was honestly a bit reluctant to tell my colleagues what I was doing over the weekend, for fear of being negatively judged (I haven't really revealed the full extent of my nerdiness at work), but they were more intrigued than anything. I was too, to be honest - I knew a little about TFNation from Gord, but wasn't completely sure what to expect. I was somewhat nervous that people wouldn't be nice to an 'outsider' or the whole thing would be horribly boring, but I thought it would be worth a go at least.
We stayed at the Ibis Budget Hotel, adjacent to Birmingham International Airport, a short walk from the train station and a slightly-longer-but-still-short walk from the Hilton where TFNation was happening. The room did everything it needed to, though I wasn't keen on having to go down to a 'refreshment area' on the first floor to get a cup of tea. Making a cup of tea in your room and having it in bed is the best thing about being in a hotel! (Just me?) Everything else was fine for what we needed though - the shower was particularly nice.
Sadly we didn't get to ride the cable car that goes between the airport and the train station, but that is top of the list for next year (even if I was disappointed to realise it wasn't a monorail). We also didn't get to Birmingham in time to attend the Friday evening entertainment, including D.C. Douglas's "Notorious Erotic (Zombie) FanFic Show", which was a shame - maybe next time we can take the Friday off work and travel down a bit earlier.
On Saturday morning we headed over to the Hilton Metropole to register and start the day. I actually made the first purchases of the day: three Simpsons Lego minifigures of Lisa Simpson, Ned Flanders and Professor Frink (I can't remember the name of the stall I got them from unfortunately). Technically they were blind bags, but had been labelled with their contents so the mystery had been removed and I could pick my favourites. This probably defeats the purpose of blind bags, but it does mean you're less likely to be disappointed.
Anyway, after the opening ceremony we attended the Saturday morning panels with Daniel Riordan and Aaron Archer. I enjoyed hearing Daniel Riordan's stories, particularly the one about his honeymoon being interrupted by a costume fitting for his role in "Jingle All The Way". I also enjoyed Aaron Archer's panel and the slideshow of images he displayed as he spoke, though I feel like it could have included a bit more detail and insider information.
Next up was lunch, and one thing I really appreciated about TFNation was the hour-long daily break for lunch. I've been to a few events with packed schedules that didn't allow time for breaks without missing something and it's always frustrating. TFNation's approach meant we could take our time and didn't have to rush around, even if there was slightly less in the programme. I particularly appreciated the fact that The Forge was closed over lunch, giving the creators time to take a break too (particularly useful for those attending on their own, I'm sure). We went to Subway in the NEC then spent a bit more time looking at the dealers' stalls.
The afternoon started with D.C. Douglas, who was very funny. I particularly enjoyed hearing about how his political stance had affected his career in both negative and positive ways. Next we went to Mairghread (pronounced like Mare-gred rather than Muh-raid as I thought) Scott's panel. I read and enjoyed her Windblade series so was looking forward to what she had to say. I wanted to ask a specific question about her experience being a woman in fandom, but wasn't quite brave enough. I also appreciated her love for Beast Wars because that's one of the series Gord has shown me and I've enjoyed, plus the idea of a jazz band called "Dinobot and the Dinobots". On the topic of Beast Wars, I was almost tempted to buy a TransFormer myself over the weekend - Transmetals Waspinator to be exact - because it amused me that a character like Waspinator had a toy design with gold accents on it.
The afternoon ended with a panel on this year's convention exclusive, a Ladybird (or should that be Ladybug?) book featuring an original TransFormers story. It's a neat idea, though the panel itself went over my head a bit. Speaking of convention exclusives, I loved this year's bright pink bag - such a nice change from boring canvas bags. It may find its way into my handbag at some point...
Gord decided to take his haul back to the hotel room before the evening's entertainment began, but I decided to be lazy and get a drink at Starbucks instead. When he returned we headed into Club Con for the cosplay competition and script reading. We had decided to give Stan Bush a miss because neither of us are into that sort of music and it would have been a late night of standing in a crowd of (possibly drunk) people, not something I enjoy even when it's a band I especially like. I think it's cool that TFNation managed to organise a concert though, and it seems like everyone had a fun time.
Anyway, as I said, we did stick around for the earlier part of the evening, starting with the Pretenders Cosplay Contest. As expected, this was amazing - I'm always impressed by people who do cosplay and would love to give it a go myself one day. My favourites were Black Convoy (robots) and Tarantulus (humanoids), but they were all great. I was sorely disappointed in the lack of baby cosplay, like the baby Bumblebee we saw (in a family of TransFormers cosplayers) at MCM London Comic Con a couple of years ago, but I suppose you can't have everything.
Next was the script reading by the three voice actors in attendance, which was fun but clearly included a lot of in-jokes that again went straight over my head. I'm sorry to anyone who spoke to me over the weekend and made TransFormers jokes that I didn't understand! It was a bit overwhelming at times to be in a room full of people with one thing in common that I wasn't really part of, but the people themselves were all very nice. Maybe next time I'll actually engage a bit more with some of them...
After the script reading finished we wandered via the lake towards Resorts World for dinner at Pizza Express (and my second alcoholic beverage in as many days!), then back to the hotel. Sadly my Fitbit ran out of battery before we went to bed and I hadn't brought my charger with me, but I clocked up almost 13,000 steps on the Saturday, and probably did a similar number on Sunday. Conventions are the best kind of exercise!
We woke up on Sunday and I went downstairs to get a cup of tea like a pleb. We had decided to head straight to The Forge in the morning as we hadn't been in during Saturday. Here I picked up a few more fun things: some washi tape and stickers from Coralus, and some more stickers from Larry Draws and Herzspalter. Gord believes I'm addicted to stationery, but I prefer to see it as a healthy enthusiasm. (Note to Gord: please don't mention on your blog that I just spent £40 on a planner that I don't really need.)
Rounding off the voice actor guests on Saturday morning was André Sogliuzzo, who again was very engaging (though I'm not sure how much the parents in the audience appreciated his swearing!). We skipped out on Stan Bush's panel, meaning we had time to pop over to Resorts World for lunch. We went to GBK as we'd been unable to book a table there for dinner on either night and I fancied a burger. We didn't end up trying the street food put on in the Hilton, but there are plenty of other options around the hotel.
There were a couple more panels on Sunday afternoon, both focusing on comics. I have to say I wasn't as engaged in these sessions as I don't know anything about the comics at all, but I appreciated how passionate the artists and writers were about their work. Rounding off the day was the round table discussion with the organisers and the closing ceremony. I thought it was a nice idea to have a session that allowed people to give feedback - it reinforces the idea that this event is by the fans, for the fans. The closing ceremony was also good and I was impressed by the amount of work put into the weekend by all involved (as well as the amount of money raised by Toy Fu).
For our last meal of the convention we went to Las Iguanas in Resorts World, where I had two lots of the best named cocktail ever: the Large Hadron Colada ("for the disCERNing customer", as the menu said). We also saw Stan Bush in the restaurant, hopefully able to eat his tea in peace after a hectic weekend. Speaking of TransFormers-famous people, I also saw Thew a few times around the convention hall, whose videos I enjoy despite not being a fan (no mean feat!).
We headed home on the Monday, meaning we didn't have to rush on Sunday evening or go straight back to work the morning after a busy weekend. On the train home, prompted by Gord mentioning knitted TransFormers, I started thinking about patterns I could design. Maybe in a few years' time you'll see me in The Forge...
Overall I enjoyed my first TFNation - I have to say some parts dragged, the crowds were sometimes unpleasant and I felt awkward at times, but I think the good parts outweighed the bad. Everyone I interacted with was pleasant, though I wasn't sure how to interact with people as someone who didn't share the one thing everyone else had in common. I was glad to see lots of women in attendance, as well as children who didn't seem to have just been dragged there by overenthusiastic parents.
Will I go back next year? Maybe... for me it depends on the sessions and the proportion of them I'm likely to understand. I've seen Beast Machines, which seems like it might be a focus of TFNation 2019, so hopefully there will be some interesting guests. All in all, it was a nice weekend away with Gord doing something a bit different.
Now it's his turn to come to a knitting show with me!
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