WHAT I LEARNED IN BRONYCON IS...

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

BLANKETY, BLANKETY, BLANK.

 

 

 

Now that both days of Bronycon are over, with me having attended the event on both days, I'd figure I should share my thoughts on Bronycon and the fandom.

 

 

The week before the convention, I had my doubts at whether I truly wanted to attend, and whether I even wanted to be part of entire fandom anymore.

 

Over time my interest had been eroded, but after attending Bronycon I can honestly say that I have my interest and enjoyment of the fandom peaked once again.

 

Even my dad, who attended, now has some interest in the fandom and the show, at least to see what all the fuss is about.

 

 

 

To begin, I'd like to thank all the members who attended the MLPForums meet up.

That would be Apple Bloom, SkullBuster, Marco23p, IHazTommyWiseau, The Media Brony and The Phony Brony.

 

These guys were all great and fun to hang out with.

I remained quiet for most of the event, even being referred to during dinner as "the silent protagonist". Even though I was silent as Fluttershy all day, I did feel completely comfortable with talking as much as I wanted around these guys. It may have not been a lot of talking from me, but once I got over the initial shyness when first meeting the group, I was able to feel relaxed.

 

 

The event itself was great. So much pony, everywhere. The vendors had a great variety of merchandise, from the common trading cards and brushables to high quality prints of very impressive artwork.

I picked up some neat artwork. My favorite by far being an awesome Rarity picture!

 

I did encounter a few issues though.

The aisles of vendors were a bit difficult to navigate through with the size of the crowd. The lengthy time it initially took to navigate resulted in much of the best merch to be taken before I even reached many of the vendors.

 

 

The 'mane hall' was where all the major panels took place. I found the panels quite enjoyable. John DeLancie and Lauren Faust had quite a bit to say. Much of it interested me.

 

Other than a faulty sound system, strange management and even a flaming light, I found it great to sit and watch. The Ponies Anthology II, Friendship is Witchcraft, the VAs' interviews.

All of it was well worth it.

 

 

The crowd...well, what can I say...the crowd was awesome.

The general mood of the event was mostly smiles and laughter. Even attendees being kicked off the line for autograph vouchers, that had been waiting for hours, didn't complain as much as you would expect.

Everyone was friendly, loud, and happy.

 

My dad, who attended only for supervision reasons, ended up enjoying the crowd himself.

"[i left the event] expecting everyone outside to be just as friendly", is what he had to say.

 

Seeing how people were free to express themselves without fear of judgement reminded me of one of the big reasons I love this fandom.

Love and Tolerance.

While "Love and Tolerance" isn't a set of absolute moral laws, it also isn't an entirely worthless internet motto. The crowd sang and danced and cheered with love and tolerance truly going around.

 

Even the steps on the front of the exposition center were in the partying mood.

Listening to songs from the show and those of musicians was very enjoyable.

 

 

 

If anything needs immediate improvement for the next con, it should be the autograph system. Attendees had to get on a very long line if they wished to purchase vouchers. The three or so hour wait wasn't very nice to my feet. If it wasn't for the nice discussions going on in the line, I would have probably died of boredom.

While nearing the door, the convention was evacuated after a light fixture started sparking and burning. This resulted in everyone being asked to move off the line.

When the line reassembled 30 or so minutes later, I ended up back down at the bottom. Taking quite some time to work my way back up to the top again.

 

Once inside, the lines for autographs were absurdly long and took up quite a lot of moving space.

My John De Lancie voucher ended up being refunded because of the long time it would have taken to make it there.

 

This should have been handled online. There was no need to have people waste hours of event time waiting for vouchers.

 

I did get a poster signed twice by Lauren Faust. When I asked her to sign it in a different location she gave me such a look of "are you serious? U_U".

Yeah...not how I wanted that to go. ;D

 

Random question: Is a double signed poster by the same person worth more or less than one that was signed once? I'm not interested in selling it, but I found myself curious as to whether two signatures would technically decrease the value of the signed merchandise or whether the unique double signature would make it worth more.

 

 

Back to the meet up.

I found the end of the second day very enjoyable. Sitting and watching pony episodes after returning from a fun dinner with the meet up group.

 

Spoiler: There was a group hug.

 

 

To summarize!

• Very happy and energetic crowd.
• Very tolerating crowd.
• Great panels and interviews.
• Awesome merchandise.
• Fun MLPForums meet up group!
• Overall great enjoyment!

 

Finally. I think I should say how my love for the MLPForums has been re-newed after all of this.

 

I know I've been a bit cranky around here. Complaining over mods this and decision that. I had kinda lost interest and wasn't sure why I was sticking around.

I do believe I should publicly apologize to Feld0, Zoop, Swoop, the rest of the staff, and any members that may have been caught in the crossfire.

 

While these forums may not be perfect, they are still the best around, and are of the highest quality. The time and effort put into the site by it's managers should be well appreciated.

 

Go MLPForums!

 

I loved the con, I loved the meet up group, I love the MLPForums.

 

~The End.

[The Milkman 186]

I wish i could've gone to the BronyCon and i'm glad you enjoyed it Lirp!

[ProjectRKA 2,848]

The con would'a been at least 20% cooler if I was there. Haha, jkjk. Glad you had a great time there, Lurpy

[Jokuc 8,173]

I am so jealous D:

[Gingerpotato 889]

Dear Princess Celestia.

 

Today I learnt that, holy flying buck I missed out on a ton of awesome stuff at Bronycon.

 

Your faithful student.

WhyTheHell. Didn'tYouGive. MeTickets.

 

In all seriousness, it sounds like it was great fun and the atmosphere you described sounds like the sort of thing of which I had dreamed a brony convention would have. The autograph voucher ordeal sounds mighty dull with the hour upon hour wait but I'm pretty sure it would be worth it. I'm also going to have to follow the herd here and say, man, am I jelly.

 

I'm not entirely sure if having a poster double signed increases its value, I suppose it might considering if I got two CD's on one case they would probably charge me extra. My analogy was pretty great right, linking CD's to Lauren Faust's double autograph.

[Nah 3,182]

I wish I could make it, hey if the fandom lives for another year (hopefully), next year, I may be there, hope you'll be there next year!

[Yellow Diamond 7,565]

I'm glad to read that you had a lot of fun, LRP. Even in the wake of my own personal gripes, I'm inclined to whole-heartedly agree with your summary of experiences at BronyCon. A few tweaks could easily make this one of the best conventions around.

 

I wish I could make it, hey if the fandom lives for another year (hopefully), next year, I may be there, hope you'll be there next year!

 

They may have a winter BronyCon, so keep your eyes peeled.

[NavelColt 22,878]

I'm glad that your interest has peeked, and that you had a great time ^^ Maybe sometime I can take my mom, since she's kind of into the show, and has watched the episodes casually with me.

[---------------------- 1,645]

I wish I could make it, hey if the fandom lives for another year (hopefully), next year, I may be there, hope you'll be there next year!

 

Hopefully?.... yea I doubt this fandom will disperse anytime soon,

 

I had absolute fun, and being around everypony, I almost cried at the end of the con, I was full of joy, and sadness, sad becuase it was over already

 

Everypony was nice, even the "famous" ponies, I even got a spontaneous hug from Solrac (yaplap the screaming pony)

[Ezynell 2,037]

Jeez, you need to stop making threads about this My jelly level is already through the roof. (jk, but I really wish I could have been there)

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Thanks guys.

 

I didn't know whether what I wrote looked stupid or not. I didn't really have all my thoughts together when I wrote this.

[Dark Qiviut 22,360]

 

To both you and your dad. I'm so glad you had a lot of fun at BronyCon, and I'm especially glad your dad did, too.

 

One little problem:

To begin, I'd like to thank all the members who attended the MLPForums meet up.

That would be Apple Bloom, SkullBuster, Marco23p, IHazTommyWiseau, Dark Qiviut, The Media Brony and The Phony Brony.

Fixed. I met up with them in the beginning on Saturday and acknowledged them while waiting in the voucher line Sunday morning.

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Fixed. I met up with them in the beginning on Saturday and acknowledged them while waiting in the voucher line Sunday morning.

 

Oh. my bad! Didn't know that.