The inaugural UI Con happened at the Illini Union last weekend. For those unfamiliar, UI Con is a comic convention for fans to dress up, gather with other fans, learn from experts, compete in contests, shop for swag, play games, and more. You can read the Smile Politely interview with the founders here.
The event started at 11 a.m. on Saturday and when I got there at 11:30 a.m., the line was already wrapped around the corner and down the hall of the first floor of the Illini Union. It was a little intimidating, but staff started having everyone register while waiting in line so it started to pick up after a while. I did wait in line for about 45 minutes before I got to check in. Everyone was in good spirits and there were lots of fun costumes to see while waiting. One of the volunteers told me that they had made 1,000 programs and they were already gone by 12:30 p.m. At last count on Sunday, over 3,000 people had attended the event! And while they certainly were not expecting that many people, the event was very organized and helpful.
UI Con was spread over four floors of the Union. I spent most of the time walking around, visiting the artist and vendor area, and walking by some of the panels on the fourth floor (including a zine and comic workshop with Ricker Library). And while I missed some of the late-night contests and karaoke, the costumes I did see were amazing. The other part I liked was that this event wasn’t limited to just one demographic, and it felt truly inclusive. About half the people there were in some sort of costume or had dressed up in some way, others were just there to shop, learn or have a good time. I hope that the success of UI Con is the start of something that lasts for a very long time.
