Recap: PopCon

The convention where every fan finds their place has found a fan in me.
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Visitors fill the vendor hall. Photo courtesy Ryan Graves

As I sat crouched by a wall voraciously tearing into the victuals I’d purchased for myself and my hungry 4-year-old—who hadn’t eaten in nearly 60 long minutes—a man in black leather armor stood sentinel nearby, scanning the crowd in the great hall at the Indiana Convention Center with his luminous, yellow eyes. The fantastic beings passing by us included an ethereal, winged angel in a diaphanous white ballgown; a reptilian beast composed of green, square-shaped blocks; and a pink axolotl with a giant, round head bobbing along on teeny-tiny legs.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said between bites of gooey mac and cheese, eyeing the heavy swords holstered at his back. He turned his unsettling gaze upon me. “Who are you?”

“I am Geralt of Rivia,” he answered—and took a sip of Evian.

Cosplayer Michael Brewer as Geralt of Rivia. Photo courtesy Ryan Graves

After introducing myself to cosplayer Michael Brewer, I learned that he’s been coming to PopCon for years with his daughters. And he’s hooked.

Brewer is much like me. This past weekend, PopCon was my introduction to cons, or fan conventions. Half a decade ago, it was his. “I go to cons all over the country now,” he explains. A follower of The Witcher franchise, of which Geralt of Rivia is the main star, Brewer says he has played all the games, read all the books, and watched the Netflix series. Cons give him and other fans an outlet to express their enthusiasm for The Witcher and other pop culture favorites and share it with fellow devotees.

As for my daughter and me, PopCon’s 11th run did not disappoint.

A life-size Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Photo courtesy Ryan Graves

We got to see a life-size Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender and attend a Q&A by the voice of Prince Zuko himself, Dante Basco, who discussed romances between A:TLA characters that will sadly never be; his matcha company, Rufiomatcha; his appreciation for American Dragon: Jake Long; his time on the set of Hook; and staying past closing at St. Elmo Steak House as he and a couple other PopCon special guests imbibed cocktails and worked up a plan to save the world. (If the world isn’t saved, it’s our fault for kicking Dante Basco and company out of St. Elmo at midnight, Indy.)

WCWO wrestling. Photo courtesy Ryan Graves

My daughter unexpectedly (or perhaps not so unexpectedly; she regularly climbs into my bed in the middle of the night and delivers a leg drop to my face) discovered a love of wrestling while watching the folks of hometown Wild Championship Wrestling Outlaws slam each other around. I developed a new appreciation for the choreography and physical constraint involved. How they don’t draw blood, I’ll never know.

Digital artist ZombieBass sells her wares. Photo courtesy Ryan Graves

We saw magic shows and cosplay contests, purchased chibi animal stickers and Bob’s Burgers dolls in the sprawling vendor space, observed a game of Dungeons & Dragons in the gaming hall, got roundly beaten by preteens at laser tag, and met a host of fun characters both well-loved and obscure, from the Ghost Busters, to Twilight Sparkle, to Chainsaw Man. And that was only a fraction of what we wanted to do.

Carl Doninger, PopCon’s founder and a native Hoosier, says he started the event in Indy not only because of his love for his home state but also because the city is perfect for hosting this type of gathering. He notes the size and connectivity of our convention center to area hotels, downtown’s walkability to restaurants and other attractions, and our airport’s No. 1 status—not to mention the ease of getting from the airport to the convention center. “When you’re out downtown just by yourself because you live here, you don’t realize how different that is than every other city in the country. We’re just better,” says Doninger.

Magician Kayla Drescher mystifies the crowd. Photo courtesy Ryan Graves

But after my first ride around the PopCon block, there’s one thing Doninger and I agree it could use more of: local newbies like me.

PopCon’s attendance peaked pre-pandemic with 30,000 visitors. While there were plenty of attendees this year and fighting crowds isn’t my favorite, I’d like to see it even bigger—because bigger for a con means more special guests, more unique experiences, and more people to share your nerdy obsessions with.

“I think our mentality here is that we’ve got so many events coming into the city every weekend that people have gotten a little numb to the things they can go do. Maybe our local population doesn’t understand that some of these events are really for them,” says Doninger. “But PopCon was truly from the ground up designed to be something special for Indianapolis.”

Fans wait in line to meet the Ghost Busters. Photo courtesy Ryan Graves

Doninger’s vision is for PopCon to become a staple that people put on the calendar every year, like the Indiana State Fair or the Indianapolis Boat, Sport & Travel Show. That’s why it’s built to attract people from all areas of life and fandom. “You can’t walk 10 feet without finding something else to do, see, or talk about,” Doninger explains. “And that is something that really makes it both newbie-friendly and veteran-approved, because you won’t get bored. It’s family-friendly too, and that’s by design. Ninety-nine percent of what is happening is as OK for a 5-year-old as it is for a 95-year-old.” That’s also why volunteers are always welcome, and this year, members of the public were invited to run tabletop games, host panels, submit their podcasts for awards, and more. Next year’s event promises even more chances to participate.

In Indianapolis, PopCon is full of possibility—for nurturing our imaginations and sense of fun and whimsy, for growing our connections with each other as fans, and for boosting our city’s profile. It’s ours to build.