CONVENTION REPORT: Big Fandom Greenville 2016 (Greenville, SC)

Greeting Fellow Nerds! 
It’s slightly belated due to the holiday activities, but we did not forget about Big Fandom Greenville; which honestly was one of the best times at a con the Nation had this year.

Big Fandom Greenville was held in (you guessed it) Greenville, SC from November 17-19 2016.  Taking up the vacant spot in town left by a previous event that left on pretty bad terms after alienating almost the entire local fandom community (and no, this event shall not be named as the organizers of said event tend to get a little ragey whenever they’re mentioned), BFG, as it has commonly been referred to by locals, kicked off it’s very first year at the Hilton Greenville. The first time in well over a decade that this town has seen a proper three-day fandom convention – as in not an expo – that’s held at an actual hotel.

So how did this brand new convention measure up? Read on to see for yourselves!!

Founder/Chairman Michael Soler and his entire organization put forth an amazing effort to bring a quality event to Greenville, and they did not disappoint.  The Vendor area, for the size given, was well-rounded with something for everyone.  We, along with other panelists had an amazing turnout, many times being standing room only.  Nerd Nation friend Santiago Cirilio (of AMC’s The Walking Dead) was on hand as the guest of honor, and infecting the con with his brand of happy, having just found out earlier in the day he landed a part on the hit TV show Nashville.

Musical Guests The Kilted Creature, The Graveyard Bloulevard, and Valentine Wolfe were on hand, as well as Single Cell Productions kicking off the first ever Star Trek Red Shirt Drinking Brigade party, which at first was going to be held in an upper floor suite, to add to the “beam me up” theme of the party, but we speculate a certain country music celebrity got wind of the party and demanded the hotel move us to the ground floor area where the music guests had performed.  Perseverance prevailed as always and Single Cell kept the party and the 27 gallons of Red Ale provided by sponsor Brewtal Beverages flowing until near dawn.

Everyone that attended Big Fandom Greenville was not disappointed, as the quality of the convention was spot on;  unfortunately, it did not meet the attendance goals needed to make it another year to give the area a much needed convention of this nature.  We here at Nerd Nation have made a commitment to assist with getting the convention back to solid ground and navigating it back into prosperous times.  We have a lot of readers that have a belief, as we do, in keeping local run quality conventions from being swallowed up by the large corporate entities.  We are posting a link to a gofundme to assist, and we would humbly ask you, our readers, to help if you can.
DONATE HERE: https://www.gofundme.com/big-fandom-greenville

Local conventions are as needed as local music scenes or art scenes, and supporting the locals only helps found new talent, and better events. Now, all of this being said, this will be Nerd Nation’s ONLY review of this con going forward, and there’s a very good reason for this…
We would like to announce, right here first, that Nerd Nation has agreed to sponsor Big Fandom Greenville 2017!!
In exchange for their advertising and marketing of our humble publication, we will be covering the ENTIRE upfront cost of their deposit, as well as some of the guests!  That is how much we appreciate this fine convention, and how much we want to make sure that the people in our very own backyard have somewhere great to spend a weekend next year!

So, buckle your seatbelts, dear readers, because as of today, Nerd Nation is officially co-hosting our own convention! See you all at Big Fandom Greenville 2017!

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-Dave Ward
First Ambassador/Columnist: Nerd Nation Magazine
@daveward1279