Ok,I've had a couple weeks to sort through all my thoughts on my first ever Harry Potter convention,LeakyCon. And what better way to kick off a blog on all things Potter than to detail my time among other fans? Some background to start; I got my mother to get me tickets to LeakyCon for my birthday since it was close to our suburban Chicago home. She at first objected ,saying it was too expensive, but then she gave in, giving me the printout of the registaration as a gift. Needless to say,I was excited. I kept most of the details of our activies secret from my mom,but I mostly knew what to expect, having followed most of the major Potterverse celebrities online. What follows is a day by day recap of our 4 days there, August 9th-12th. An important note ; I am describing my conference experience, warts and all. It is not all postive,just a warning. Also, this post is meant for Potter fans, people who know what this fandom consists of and the celebrities it contains.
Thursday- Me and my mom left kinda late at 3 pm. We got to the Hilton, where the conference was, at 4. Mom insisted that we check in and unpack first, so we did that. That took another hour. By the time we got down to the connference registaration area, it was closed. So we ended up going back to the room and waiting till 6 for registartion to reopen in another location. It took us a while to find the place where registertion now was, involving 2 elevators and a hidden door. Seriously, the vconference space was confusing to navigate. We finally found where registeration was , and registered and got our offical LeakyCon bag, filled with free swag. Included in the bag was our massive scheudle,which was not a sheaf of paper as I expected,but a nice leather bound book. I found that to be a nice touch. Also included in our bag werw various flyers about books from authors at the con,and various other trinkets. Then we were shown to our seats and waited for the opening cermeny. That turned out to be a cross between a talent show for fans and a concert by various celebrities in the Potterverse- Potter Puppet Pals ,famous for this , Hank Green (I did not see his brother John all weekend. I so wanted to) ,who sang this little ditty ,various wizard rockers, and perhapas most importantly for these fans, the theater group Team Starkid,who sang a mashup that illustrated how songs written for one purpose can often take on new life .in their musicals,in this case Sami from Little White Lie (which I had never heard) and harry from AVPM. There were lots of references to other works here and throughout the weekend- Evanna Lynch came out dressed as Katniss,for example. There was also a bit of cross-fandom fun with 4 stars ,4 Warblers, from Glee singing a Potter-themed version of the One Direction song What Makes You Beautiful . There were several technial problems, and the sound in that ballroom was not great. The show often felt like a jumble of stuff,but most of it worked. After that ,we went back to the room then came down for what felt like 30 minutes for wizard rock, which I still don't quite get. I couldn't hear most of the lyrics, and I didn't think much of the music. We went to bed about midnight.
Friday- We got off to an early start today, as our first panel, about the relatively new sport Muggle Quidditch,was at 9 am. I found it fascinating how the fans have adapted a magical sport for the real world,so to speak. Then we moved to the main ballroom for a series of events. First was Mugglecast ,which was relativily uneventful. They discussed the Casual Vacany , but nothing terribly exciting. Then came JMOMS,or the Joe Moses One Man Showses,a sketch comedy show. Most of the skits worked,including another One Direction reference, and there was a funny Doctor Who sketch that worked on a nonfan like me. Then it was time for the first of two premieres that we saw, a documentary about the Potter fandom called Real For Us. This was very moving, seeing how Potter has influenced so many people. Definitely a must-see when it comes out. Then we moved across the hall for a panel hosted by the blogger that read the Potter series straight through and blogged about it, Mark Oshiro. We had trouble getting into this room, as the doors were somewhat inexplicably locked, but security eventually let us in. This panel was kind of dirty, but also extremely funny . Oshiro definitely has his own twisted take on things. Then,since my mom complained about me starving her, we took an extended break so she could get room service, then went down at 9;30 for the second wizard rock concert. This time I stayed a bit longer and got to witness more oof the craziness of the fans as they jumped in time with the music. We again settled in about midnight.
Saturday- Today we got to sleep in a bit, as our first event wasn't till 10;30. Our first panel was by the graphic designers for the Potter films, collectively known as Miraluna. This was really cool to see how detailed all the props were, even the ones we don't see in the background. This went on till 12, then LeakyCon volunteers came in and started escorting people to the main stage for what many considered to be the marquee event here- the premiere of a third Potter musical by Team Starkid. Since we didn't have passes for that, we stayed put to watch a live feed of the main stage and,thus, see the musical. Apparently, the people in the main room took a long time to get seated, as the play didn't start till 1, an hour later then scheudled. Moreover, the play was long ,very long, 4 hours and 40 minutes,to be exact. Now, Starkid has a strict no spoiler policy regarding all their shows ,presumably because they post them on Youtube at a later date. Therefore, what I'm about to say will be vague, but understandable for anyone who saw the show. This was also an exclusive performance just for this conference. So,on with this mini-review. The first act dragged,with mulitipe subplots that seemed to be unnecessary. The opening sequence was just plain odd, with a potential satire gold mine dispensed of early. The songs were good, but not memorable. Then the second act, for me, redeemed the show completely. There is some funny material about fanfiction and fandom in general. And the are also some unexpected returns ,including one unlikely couple I would like to see explored further. There are also some familar meledoies,done in a new way,and not one, but two touching endings. That's all I'll say for now, but I throughly enjoyed the show overall. I'll try and post a full review when it hits Youtube. Because the play was so long, I decided to rest until ther charity ball that night, which was insane. Picture 4000 fans all jumpoing in time with all sorts of music,making the floor feel like it was going to collapse. That will probably be the most iconic image of LeakyCon for me. We went up about 1 am today...
Sunday-... which is probably why I slept till 11 today. We got packed and headed down for what turned out to be just brunch,not a goodbye show as I thought. Melissa Anelli,who organized this weekend, did have one last surpise; in addition to LeakyCon being in Portland next year , it was also going to be in London alongside a different Potter conference. So there will be two LeakyCons next year. God help the staff.
All in all, a pretty cool weekend. LeakyCon is not just about Potter,its about the stuff that fans create around the series. It is also a place to be completely and utterly yourself- no masks, no hiding. Will i go next year? Maybe. but for my first fan conference, a pretty cool experience. I'll be backjk Friday with the real purpose of this blog. I'm very excited. See you Friday
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