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Minnesota Fan Fusion
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In our final Minnesota Fan Fusion post, we look at the various panels that were held at the Rivercentre in St Paul on August 3-5, 2018.
MNFF had the entire (or at least the majority of) second floor of the Rivercentre, so they ambitiously expanded panel programming from four small rooms in 2017, to about ten rooms! It was so large that it really wasn’t manageable on any coverage level. The programming book, which was printed about a month ago, became obviously out of date as some panels were cancelled or were moved to another room. To stay up-to-date, you had to use their phone app, which wasn’t exactly reliable either. The sure way of knowing what panels you were at, you actually had to read the sign outside the door.
Looking over their programming, you can tell they built the panels to their celebrity guests. For example, John Rhys-Davies commanded a legion of Lord of the Rings fanbase (all those JRR Tolkien panels), while Danielle Panabaker inspired all the CW/Flash/Arrow panels, etc.
Unfortunately, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from Game of Thrones cancelled, but there were still some GoT panels, etc.
Another headlining guest, Manu Bennett (from Arrow and Spartacus) also cancelled at the last minute, so they moved Dan Fogler’s panel to Bennett’s spot. Fans who were following the printed programming book may find it disappointing that they had missed his panel if they didn’t visit the ballroom earlier.
The celebrity guest speakers drew in the most crowd in the main ballroom. The lines to the question microphone were usually packed... and sometime questions were repeated if a fan came in late to the Q&A.
In addition to the panels, there was also a game room and gaming event for Pokemon Go!, but it was not properly promoted (it wasn’t printed or made clear in the programming book). You might accidentally find the room if you followed various signage on the second floor.
The main problem with this year’s programming is that there were just way too many panels competing for your attention. I think the original three small rooms and one big room should be enough for everyone. Perhaps one room dedicated to comics-related panels (printed comics and CW shows), one room to Sci-Fi shows (Star Trek vs Star Wars anyone?), and one room to the literary world (Harry Potter and Tolkien). The big room should be reserved for the celebrities, and maybe when not in use, could be used for costume contests.
Overall, despite some minor complaints, we were really lucky to get this type of big “Comic Con” show in the area.
MNFF had the entire (or at least the majority of) second floor of the Rivercentre, so they ambitiously expanded panel programming from four small rooms in 2017, to about ten rooms! It was so large that it really wasn’t manageable on any coverage level. The programming book, which was printed about a month ago, became obviously out of date as some panels were cancelled or were moved to another room. To stay up-to-date, you had to use their phone app, which wasn’t exactly reliable either. The sure way of knowing what panels you were at, you actually had to read the sign outside the door.
Looking over their programming, you can tell they built the panels to their celebrity guests. For example, John Rhys-Davies commanded a legion of Lord of the Rings fanbase (all those JRR Tolkien panels), while Danielle Panabaker inspired all the CW/Flash/Arrow panels, etc.
Unfortunately, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from Game of Thrones cancelled, but there were still some GoT panels, etc.
Another headlining guest, Manu Bennett (from Arrow and Spartacus) also cancelled at the last minute, so they moved Dan Fogler’s panel to Bennett’s spot. Fans who were following the printed programming book may find it disappointing that they had missed his panel if they didn’t visit the ballroom earlier.
The celebrity guest speakers drew in the most crowd in the main ballroom. The lines to the question microphone were usually packed... and sometime questions were repeated if a fan came in late to the Q&A.
In addition to the panels, there was also a game room and gaming event for Pokemon Go!, but it was not properly promoted (it wasn’t printed or made clear in the programming book). You might accidentally find the room if you followed various signage on the second floor.
The main problem with this year’s programming is that there were just way too many panels competing for your attention. I think the original three small rooms and one big room should be enough for everyone. Perhaps one room dedicated to comics-related panels (printed comics and CW shows), one room to Sci-Fi shows (Star Trek vs Star Wars anyone?), and one room to the literary world (Harry Potter and Tolkien). The big room should be reserved for the celebrities, and maybe when not in use, could be used for costume contests.
Overall, despite some minor complaints, we were really lucky to get this type of big “Comic Con” show in the area.
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08/04: Laurie Holden |
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08/05: John Rhys-Davies |
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