The Educational Side of Comic Con

Star Trek transporter.

Last week, I attended a small event in New York that you may have heard of before. New York Comic Con. I was fortunate to receive a "professional" pass as an educator which allowed me to attend the entire four day event for a lower cost. I only attended Thursday and Friday because of another event in NY that I planned to attend, but I got tons out of the weekend.

Go to ebooksforall.org and
sign the petition.

NYCC hosts a special series of panels on the opening day (Thursday) at the New York Public Library for educators. Unfortunately, the earliest ride I could get from Philly was too late because these panels are in the morning and fill up quickly. Next year, I plan to go Wednesday night so I'm there bright and early on Thursday morning for the library sessions. Titles like "Turns Out They Don't Rot Your Brain: The Study of Graphic Literature" and "How Spider-Man Taught Me My First Physics Lesson" demonstrate the type of panels that are geared for teachers.

When I arrived at the Javits Center I was blown away by the crowds. I thought Thursday was the slow day (hint: it was) and I still waited over an hour to take a trip on the transporter. The actual experience lasted thirty seconds and included four scenes.

Gwen and I are both
Ravenclaws.

After Star Trek, I headed to the expo hall where I walked around. The section I spent the most time in was the publishers because they were giving out advanced reader copies of books and I was hoping to see some of my favorite authors. I tweeted multiple times, but never got lucky enough to see Felcia Day, author of You're Never Weird on the Internet. I did see her talk on the stage but I missed her book signing.

I also met some really cool librarians that explained why I normally have to wait a few weeks for eBooks from the library. Publishers limit the number of licenses that libraries can purchase. (PSA: Go to ebooksforall.org and sign the petition.)

On Friday, I went back to Comic Con to hang out with my friend since Daisies, Gwen. We walked around the expo hall again and bought a few beautiful pieces of art for her daughter's bedroom. After taking a nap on The Good Place's couch, I said goodbye to Gwen and Comic Con as I headed for my second reason of being in NY for the weekend, the latest Google for Education Certified Innovator's graduation ceremony followed by a full day of Google goodness at the Google for Education Energizer.

A quick nap on the
Good Place couch.