C2E2: Behind the Table (Part One)

Although this post is very late in coming I decided to write it for you guys anyway. In April I was lucky enough to get to attend the C2E2 Comic book convention. I was incredibly excited for it and my boyfriend, Chris Bailey, was a featured artist at the con. He had a table and had been preparing for months for it. I was just excited to be able to attend. The plan starting out was that Chris and I would meet up with Nathan and Sally Girten. Nathan and Chris were sharing the table. Sally and I were planning to just explore the show floor and check out the panels. There was a lot planned for the con and I was definitely excited to check everything out.

We headed to Chicago Wednesday night, since we would have exhibitor passes into the con we were able to get in early for set up on Thursday. One quick six hour drive later and we were in The Windy City. I, personally, had never been to Chicago before. This weekend was going to be full of many new experiences. We located our hotel, The Red Roof Inn, downtown. Although Chris had visited Chicago on several past trips he hadn’t stay downtown before and we were both confused about where to park the car. If you’ve ever been to Chicago, or probably any larger city, than I’m sure you realize that parking can at the best of times be confusing.

(Chicago!!)
So after we got our parking situation sorted out (valet for the night) we checked in and rested up. The room was quite small, but we just needed it for one night anyway. As the next day rose over Chicago we awoke and got ready. This was the day that we were going to set up the table at the convention. So after loading the car back up with all of our stuff we headed over to McCormick Place, the venue for C2E2.
At the venue we met up with our friends Nathan and Sally Girten. Nathan and Chris both headed up to get the passes and set up their table while Sally and I watched the cars. We did park slightly illegally since we could find no other available parking. However, in all fairness I believe we were parked in the taxi drop off zone. Since no taxi’s were interested in visiting the venue until tomorrow we all agreed it’d be a good place to wait.

(the setup at the table including the artists, Chris Bailey and Nathen Girten)
After the boys came back from their setup they handed passes over to Sally and I. We switched positions and Sally and I both got to go experience the pre-con experience. It was very interesting. There were large wooden ‘acme’ type boxes that contained unknown treasures. Many of the booths structures weren’t even put up yet and you could tell that the workers had a long way to go before being able to open to the public. We checked out the table O12 that was assigned to Chris and Nathan and then snapped a quick picture at a photo booth before heading back out.

(Myself and Sally)

Chris had already left taking our car to check into the Essex Inn. We chose to move hotels because although Red Roof and Essex both had the shuttle bus to the convention, the Essex had more features and our friends were staying there as well. (Later we found out through Larry that Red Roof didn’t actually have shuttle service) When we finally did get all checked in and our things loaded into a new room we decided to explore Chicago. We visited many different locations throughout the city, including the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), before heading back to rest for the night. The next day the convention was starting and we were in for more work than we had imagined.

To Be Continued in Part Two….