So out of the ashes of Universal Fan Con, something very wonderful and beautiful happened over the weekend: Wicomicon, a pop up one day show that was held at a space near downtown Baltimore, and organized by, among others, Keith Chow of Hard Noc Media, Karama Horne of The Blerd Gurl, Uraeus, of Black Heroes Matter, André Robinson of Carbon-Fibre Media, Chuck Collins of the Bounce! comic, Elijah Kelley of the Be A Boss App, and Patrick Michael Strange of New Release Wednesday. I know I’m missing some people – let me know anyone who should be added.
Congrats to everyone in this pic that helped make lemonade #WICOMICON pic.twitter.com/Ft2llY82do
— Kathia Woods (@kathia_woods) April 28, 2018
Not only did the Wicomicon folks pull this off in barely a week, they got many of the high level guests originally planned for UFC to come out, including Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker and cast members from The Magicians and Killjoys.
Wicomicon was followed on Sunday by Famcom, a live streaming of panels that were intended for UFC.
From the looks of things, Wicomicon was an amazing event that showed the passion of the fan community. I know writing a story from tweets is lazy, but they are the only way to reflect what happened and how people are feeling. Greg Pak had one of the best takes:
Endlessly inspired by the hundreds of people who have created beautiful events for the community in the wake of #universalfancon's collapse — from #WICOMICON yesterday to the #FANCOM panel livestream that's about to happen today to the #UniversalArtistAlley and so much more!
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
The glorious thing to remember is that there's a huge community of creators and fans that's so ready for inclusive events like this. Folks are building it and folks are coming. It's unstoppable because of hundreds of heroes.
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
Big love to @kamikazecomic and the folks who organized the #UniversalArtistAlley in a matter of days to showcase vendors who had planned to attend UFC. https://t.co/J2o9dyVeZe
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
Huge high fives to @INeedDivGms and @ohcatrina and anyone else who's been working on #FAMCON, which in just about half an hour will start streaming live panels from folks who'd planned to present at UFC.
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
Everywhere I looked this week, I saw folks stepping up to help out in their own way. Watching out for each other, lifting up each other. Like @robicellis, who posted photos and links for all the vendors at #WICOMICON yesterday. https://t.co/VJFHRHdRFG
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
Volunteers like @artbydey showed up by the dozen to help out at #WICOMICON. Vendors at #WICOMICON helped break down tables and stack up chairs after the con ended. Folks stepped up and helped out everywhere.
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
I remember thinking last week that if 100 people came out for #WICOMICON, it would be a huge success. A great chance for a little community to come together and celebrate and bond…
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
…but HUNDREDS of people came to #WICOMICON. On less than a week's notice. HUNDREDS. Tons from the neighborhood. Some from Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania. All so positive and thrilled to be there. I loved every minute of it.
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
This community is real, y'all. And in a funny way, it DEPENDS on all of us, but it's BIGGER than all of us. It won't fall apart because of one failure. It's going to thrive because ALL of us are stepping up every day to make it awesome. ❤️❤️❤️
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
Also, follow @WICOMICON2018 on Twitter. If they run another one next year, you know I'm gonna do my very best to be there.
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 29, 2018
Digging into my day, checking stuff off my list… and still buzzing from #WICOMICON. Thanks again to all the organizers, participants, and attendees for a spectacular day!
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) April 30, 2018
Infinity War did not make me cry, but I found myself welling with emotion at the joy and sense of community that everyone was tweeting about all weekend. The blerd community was dealt a horrible blow by the betrayal of UFC, but the power of coming together overcame that dark cloud to create the celebration that everyone had hoped for in the first place.
https://twitter.com/Phunky_Brewster/status/990773415761055744
https://twitter.com/BHMatter/status/990687279290175492
My legs are lead, but my fan heart has rarely been fuller after #WICOMICON2018. This has been one of my best volunteer experiences. Thanks for such an amazing experience.
— Tom Stidman (@UrbanOtaku22) April 29, 2018
Having experienced #WICOMICON yesterday, I just want to give a bit of perspective as a panelist and attendee. Yesterday was magical. And it wasn’t because of the space we were in or the names on the panels. It was because of the energy. Folks just wanted to be with their tribe.
— April (@ReignOfApril) April 29, 2018
The response was so awesome that in the fog of con love, people are already talking about next year.
Thank you #WICOMICCON and @theblerdgurl @ReignOfApril @AngeliqueRoche @BOUNCE_COMIC @TheNerdsofColor @BHMatter and all the wonderful people I met. Had a blast. Let’s do it again next year! This is just the beginning.
— Cheo Hodari Coker (@cheo_coker) April 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/BHMatter/status/990452630697758721
I recall a similar situation back in the 90s here in NYC, when the Great Eastern convention planned for the Coliseum was cancelled a few days out. A few locals including Michael Carbonaro and Vince Zurzullo came through with a one day con in the basement of a church that survives to this day as Carbonaro’s Big Apple Con.
But the effort expended to pull off Wicomicon was part of the magic of the weekend. Will there be another Wicomicon, run by people who care about the community, not just scamming it? We reached out to Keith Chow and he replied:
The outpouring of love for WICOMICON went above and beyond our wildest dreams, and we’ve been humbled by the response! The team is still recovering from the weekend. We’ll be figuring out what the future looks like over the next few days.
I suspect that the energy generated by this event will lead to some kind of continuation but give the organizers some time for much needed rest. And thank them. They showed what real fandom is about.
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