My Survival Guide for Montreal Comicon 2014

The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was one of my favorite TV shows at the time, are the featured guests at Comicon this weekend. With last year’s Comicon experience under my belt, this was how I prepared for it this year:

1) Bought ticket online. It’s cheaper. It costs a bit more if you buy it at the door.

2) Brought lunch, a snack and a bottle of water. Last year, I bought lunch at the site. The lineup was way too long and all the tables were full. By the time I got my food, I practically had to gulp it down to make sure I could get into the next Q&A.

Eating lunch while waiting for Sir Patrick Stewart

3) Charged camera batteries. You can take pictures of the celebrities during Q&A, but you can’t use a flash. Plus you’ll want pics of  the fans in costumes and there are plenty of amazing costumes.

4) Arranged to meet my friend and fellow blogger, Kim Lo (Tranquil Dreams) an hour before the doors opened.

5) Made sure I picked up a schedule and programme guide once we got in.  The schedule is packed with events going on in different rooms every hour. After looking it over, we planned our day as follows:

11:30 am – Q&A with the women of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFaddon and Denise Crosby. They were hilarious. It was surprising and fun to see how different they are from the characters they played on the show. Marina Sirtis, who played Counselor Deanna Troi on the show, had the audience in stitches.

12:30 pm – Get in line for Sir Patrick Stewart. We wanted to get seats as close as possible so that meant getting into line early. This is how far we were from the stage.

1:30 pm – Q&A with Sir Patrick Stewart in the Main Conference Hall. He was gracious and charming with the fans who gave him a standing ovation as soon as he walked onto the stage. The man who never thought Star Trek: The Next Generation would last six months talked about the uncomfortable spandex jumpsuits they wore in the 1st season and what became known as the Picard Maneuver (I had to look this up).

Sir Patrick Stewart at Montreal Comicon

2:30 pm – We decided to take a few minutes to check out the Exhibition hall on the second floor. Among the t-shirts, comics, manga, costumes, weaponry and assorted souvenirs, it was Moonglow jewelry that caught our eye. The company makes pendants for necklaces, bracelets and key chains with a glow-in-the-dark picture of the moon on the day you were born.

Moonglow jewelry

After we each made our purchases, we had to race back to the fifth floor to see Danny Glover.

3:15 pm – Q&A with Danny Glover. Fans had questions about his role in The Color Purple, as Roger Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon, and his project about the Haitian revolution.  He is very knowledgeable about history and politics, but unfortunately, we had to leave before it was over because we had to race down to the other end of the Palais de Congres for the next conference.

4:30 pm – Q&A with Stephen Amell. He came across like a genuinely nice and thoughtful person as he answered fans questions on his role as Oliver Queen in The Arrow and any possibility of continuing the role in the movies.  While we were listening to him speak, Kim and I decided to find out if we could have a photo op with him. Alas, it was not to be! The photo op right after the Q&A was completely booked. Sunday was open, but we only had tickets for Saturday.

Stephen Amell at Montreal Comicon

5:30 pm – We decided to wind down the day by checking out the rest of the Exhibition Hall. It’s a bit overwhelming as there is so much to look at. However, we made a small donation for The Montreal Children’s Hospital to have our photo taken in the Dr. Who set.

It was a lot fun and we got plenty of exercise running back and forth between conference rooms.  Hearing the celebrities talk about their roles and the behind-the-scene process of making a TV series gives me a new appreciation for the medium.

Well, if you’re thinking of going to Comicon next year (July 3-5, 2015), I hope this helped. Who would you like to see at Comicon?