Diverting from my usual Sunday book blogging because to be perfectly honest, this week I’ve not read a single book. I’ve been stressed out to the max and to top off a bad few weeks Be More Chill has shortened its Broadway run which I had tickets to see in September, so now I’m super sad that I won’t see that show. So instead of not writing anything at all this week I’m going to write about something pretty exciting I did recently!
Last weekend I attended Starfury’s Once Upon A Time convention called Enchanted at Birmingham’s Hilton Metropole Hotel. For those who have never been, a convention is a gathering of fans of say a television show, in this case Once Upon A Time, and some of the cast attend the event and they do talks and q&a’s about the show as well as offering autograph and photograph opportunities with them. The convention then goes on into the evening with themed parties which include (optional) fancy dress theming
I’ve attended many a convention, from the big London Comic Con to the smaller events at my local venues. I have even been to a Once Upon A Time convention before and although it was fantastic to be able to meet some of the cast, the company who ran the event basically did some shady things so doesn’t exist anymore. It’s for that reason alone I’ve always been a little reluctant to go to another Once Upon A Time convention even if it was by a different company. However, when Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin, who play Snow White and Prince Charming on the show, were announced for the Enchanted convention it was a no brainer for me – I had to go.
I don’t usually write blogs raving about a certain company but as this convention was the best organised one I have ever attended I needed to write up about how wonderful Starfury’s conventions are. From the smooth registration process, to the ease of collecting preordered photos / buying more to the well organised photo and autograph lines – everything about the weekend was fantastic.
The weekend can be quite jam packed if you buy multiple photos. However, staff members (many of whom were volunteers) were super friendly and eager to help direct you to which photo to do first / fast track you to the front if time was running short. They were even asking you as you went in which photos you had to ensure you were in the correct location first. As far as finding where / when you needed to be at certain places for autographs / talks / photo opportunities, the staff again where more than happy to direct you to where you needed to be but the hotel was well signposted to each room anyway. However, the whole event was live tweeted so you knew when your badge number had been called up to go into autograph sessions. If you didn’t have Twitter that wasn’t an issue either, the Twitter feed was on multiple screens in the talk hall and various whiteboards were dotted around with the same information on it.
For me, the lineup at this convention was one of the best I’ve ever been to. Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin were my top people from the show that I wanted to meet but prior to this, they just didn’t do conventions. Honestly, they didn’t disappoint in the slightest! They are both the most loveliest people and even though they had some of the biggest queues of the weekend they both spent time speaking to every single person. I couldn’t afford photos with both sadly so I only met Ginnifer Goodwin in her autograph session and she spent time saying hi to everyone and making a small conversation which really made my weekend. I had a photo with Josh Dallas and normally with photos at conventions you’re in and you’re out within seconds, but he shook hands with every single person and introduced himself and even asked what my name was and if I was enjoying the weekend. I’ve never had a photo at a convention where the guest made so much conversation with every single person who was waiting in line. I really hope they’re both invited to a UK convention again because they are absolutely some of my favourite people I’ve ever been lucky enough to meet and if you’re a fan of Once Upon A Time I couldn’t recommend meeting the pair more.
Every ticket to the convention came with free autographs with many of the guests. The guests all had pretty big roles at certain points in the show too so it was fantastic to get these included in my ticket price and get my DVD cover signed by them. I could write quite a long post how my experiences were each guest but I feel no one want’s a too fangirly post! However, every single guest was absolutely lovely and spent time chatting with everyone, although this did leave to having to queue a little while, I feel like everyone would agree that it was worth it to get the chance to have a conversation with the guests once it was your turn. My personal favourite from the free autographs was getting the chance to meet David Anders as he is a pretty main character in one of my recent favourite shows, iZombie.
I sat through panels with every guest over the weekend. Panels are where the actors of the show are on stage and the audience are able to ask questions for them to answer. My personal favourite panel of the weekend was the one with Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White), Josh Dallas (Prince Charming) and Colin O’Donoghue (Captain Hook) as they all were clearly friends in real life and they provided an entertaining hour long chat which revealed some facts that had never been told before – like what prop Ginnifer Goodwin stole from the set without anyone ever knowing. What’s great about all the panels are that although you may not know the guest that well, they all provided interesting stories and were happy to talk about other projects they’ve been in.
Starfury do other conventions as well as Once Upon A Time so if that show isn’t to your liking its worth checking out what else they do as I’m sure the rest of the events that they run are just as well organised and an all round fantastic weekend. The ticket prices are fairly expensive but you do get the entire weekend of panel talks included as well as the autograph sessions with many of the guests. I only had a regular ticket for Enchanted as it was all I could afford, and I didn’t feel like I really missed out on anything so don’t let not being able to purchase a gold ticket put you off going!
My one bit of advice? Stay in the convention hotel! For money reasons we stayed at a hotel about a mile away and although it wasn’t far, I feel like the luxury of not having to carry your coat all day and to have five minutes chilling in your room between photos and panels starting would’ve been worth it if you can afford the hotel price.
Click here for more information on upcoming Starfury events – including Enchanted 2020!
melissay 