Con Report: Kollision Con 2011

So my final show for the year was Kollision Con, put on by several of the same people who have helped make ACEN my favorite show to date. And let me say, this show was awesome. Great organization, a lot of fun to attend, and filled with some great guests (myself included) and some great panels and entertainment.

FRIDAY
After working a full day at the office, I hopped a train out to the burbs and had some dinner with fellow comic creator and good friend, Russell Lissau (Shrek, Strawberry Shortcake, The Batman Strikes). The two of us headed over to the convention center, located at Pheasant Run resort in St Charles, Il. It’s a gorgeous place, and has a heated outdoor pool that you can swim to by going under a water fall! But I digress.

Russ and I headed to con ops to get our badges, and one of the vendors was kind enough to set up a chain mail jewelry making class for the guests. Which I would have participated in, except I had to give a panel in 30 minutes.

I spent the time before the panel talking to Doug Walker (thatguywiththeglasses.com), who was kind enough to attend the panel. Which was about making webcomics.

The attendance started off lighter, but by the end there was a healthy amount of people. A handful of great questions later (and some sales), the panel ended and we headed to the bar before going to Doug’s improv event with the voice actors. This started at midnight and went on until almost 2am. After which, the voice actors and myself went to the con chair’s hotel room to socialize and unwind from the long day, then went to bed around 3am.

SATURDAY
Russ woke me up about 30 minutes before my alarm was going to go off (the guy’s a morning person, I’m not), and we got ready and went to breakfast. The resort had a breakfast buffet that was really awesome. I know it may sound lame, but having real eggs instead of powdered eggs was really impressive to me. They also had a waffle station, and an omelet station. We ate well.

We set up our tables in the dealer’s room, along the wall reserved for guests. The morning was a little light on traffic, which picked up around lunch time. Johnny Young Bosch (Power Rangers) and his band, Eyeshine, showed up to the floor along with Doug.

Around 3pm, I had a panel for Reading with Pictures, which didn’t have high attendance. Apparently I was competing with A Johnny Young Bosch panel, an Eyeshine signing, and another improv event from the voice actors and Doug. Suffice it to say, a con like this tends to skew younger and younger attendees are more interested in being entertained than learning about the role comics can play in the classroom.

No worries, though, as I headed back to the floor to resume selling books.

After the floor closed, Doug, Russ, my girlfriend Beth, and myself all headed to the resorts various restaurants. Apparently they’re a big draw, since without a reservation we were going to have to wait an hour or longer to get a table. Instead we went back to the place where we had breakfast for a rather expensive (but international) buffet. The food was, once again, excellent.

After dinner, we headed to Russ’s “Breaking into Comics” panel, which he asked me to participate since we both have very different stories. The panel went very well, and immediately after I went into my Evening with Trevor Mueller panel (where I tell goofy con stories). The crowd was pretty respectable for that late at night, but I am used to a slightly larger crowd. Once again, Doug Walker was kind enough to show up, and Russ also stayed to enjoy some of the hilarity. The jokes went flying, people had a fun time, and in the end we packed up and headed for the bar.

We stayed down at the bar, chit chatting with fans and friends, and eventually went back to our rooms for sleep.

SUNDAY
The final day of the show had us fending for ourselves for breakfast, since the restaurants didn’t open until 9:30am and we were up much earlier. Doug, Russ, Beth, and I went to a little sandwich shop in the resort and grabbed some breakfast sandwiches, telling goofy stories about the con the entire morning. Eventually we broke to check out of our rooms and set up our tables.

Russ and I finished the con strong with sales, chatting with the other guests before taking off late in the afternoon.

Overall, the show was a lot of fun and Russ and I made money. An extremely well organized show, with some excellent staff and some fun guests. I highly recommend attending Kollision Con in the future, and hope to be invited back as a guest again next year.