Event
Wizard World Portland | February 17-19, 2017 | Oregon Convention Center
Review Note: Experiences at Comic-Cons are so subjective. Everyone has their own reason for attending. So we believe it is darn near impossible to review them from every attendee’s perspective. What we aim to do is give a very pulled back viewpoint of the Con overall and highlight some of the major aspects. Our reviews won’t be tainted because our favorite actor cancelled and it ruined the whole weekend for us. Our two review buckets will be:
Knockouts: What just worked and what we would want to see at other comic-cons.
Punchouts: What sounded great but fell flat or needs more work.
Wizard World Cosplayer taking a break at the coffee shop.
Knockouts
- The Oregon Convention Center offers plenty of unofficial quiet spaces. Need time quiet time? Need to recharge yourself or your devices? You won’t be lacking room to do just that.
- Everything is basically is one giant room. That’s great news for your feet. Not so much for other reasons (see Punchouts).
- Wizard World offered, for an extra fee, hands-on Cosplay classes. This was great if you wanted to get into working with Worbla or casting molds. The classes had some hiccups (mostly kicking out people that were unaware of the fee… so awkward). Although, walking away from the class with tips, tutorials, extra supplies, and the item you just made – super cool!
- The Entertainment Stage, which greets you when you enter, always had something going on. Bored or need to kill some time? Just head there. It was also convenient place to meet up with friends as you had something to do while you waited.
- Want a nerd tattoo? Need a nerd tattoo? Just want to peep on someone getting inked? You’re in the right place. They had a lot of very talented artists working on folks all weekend.
- Tons of food options everywhere!
Punchouts
- I don’t care which Con you go to, getting in is always a jerk. That’s a given. However, getting back in shouldn’t be a jerk. Because everything is in a giant hall, the security line to reenter could be a breeze – or at least a 30-minute wait. If they pushed the security back more towards the entrance of the con, then you could go from the main hall to workshops or food and back to the main hall without fear of potential long security lines.
- They had a Creative Stage in the Artist Alley which was fun, except it was hard to hear the panel on the stage over the noise of the main stage. Some curtains blocking off the noise would have done wonders.
- Photo Ops and Celebrity Autographs were butted up against vendor booths. Made trying to cut through the narrow aisles difficult and lines spilled out everywhere.
Overall
Wizard World Portland has a small-ish Comic-Con feel to it. Contained in mostly one giant room, you’re weekend won’t be full rushing from event to event. It has that Portland vibe to it and we hope it continues to grow and improve.
