Latest / CONversations with Coffee / Ep 1 : Why We Started This Podcast: Comic Con History, Nerd vs. Geek & Is 'Comic Con' Trademarked?
Transcript
- Kent: Hey, welcome. name is Kent and this is my co-host Liz and you are British Liz. There you go. And you are listening to Conversations with Coffee. Liz: British Liz, thank you very much. on Swift. Smooth, real smooth. Kent: Wow, we are we've this has been a podcast in the making. I know talked about this for a while and now we are making it into fruition. Things have happened. People have moved and things get in the way. Yes, that would be you. But conversations with coffee got started just because we are in the Comic Con realm. Liz: That would be me. Kent: all the time, like literally live, eat, breathe it. And we just figured it would be fun to share some of our stories, let people know who we are, share some tips and tricks that a lot of newbies don't know about. Maybe even just share some stories of some exciting things that have happened with us at the Comic Cons. and you'll learn along the way as you follow this podcast why we put this together but you know conversation starts with the word con c-o-n and that's basically what it started was comic-con you know and so I myself have been doing comic-con since 92 I'm old enough to say Liz: Is anybody that old? Kent: Liz, don't throw yourself under the rock already. Liz: Yeah, I didn't say it. Kent: I say it either. I'm just saying, you know, yes, people are old enough to know 92. Actually, my first Comic Con was 92. Actually, it was 93 because I moved to San Diego in 92 for the military. my first Comic Con was 93 at San Diego Comic Con. And for some people, is just their bucket list. They want to go to San Diego Comic Con. That's on their bucket list. been. Liz: But you went there when there were what two tables and a cash register. I mean. Kent: Nah, it was huge. It was still in the San Diego Convention Center. They had moved it from the Convention Center in Mission Valley to the Convention Center downtown. that's a huge Convention Center. it the time it was still growing and getting big. was one. I would say at that time there weren't a lot of Comic Cons like now. I mean, now there's two, three, four, seven happening on a weekend. I went, it was like three a year. Liz: Yeah, they are everywhere. What is that movie? Every... Everything Everywhere All at Once. That's them. Kent: Yes, is Comic-Con. So yeah, we're going to share our stories. I am the American coffee drinker. So we will share our coffee choices. Liz is British or we'll have tea that's a civilized because thinks she's civilized. Liz: or we will have tea like a civilized person. I don't know if anybody else does. You may comment in the comment section to the side. Or whether you think I'm civilized or not. Kent: okay, there you go. okay. Hey, we're we're going to be on Yes, we we have social media access as well. So us on any of the different social media platforms and let us know what you think you think civilized or British Liz is civilized and that and guess what? opinion can change over time. Liz: Look, pinky pinky. Kent: it in a world of Coke glass. There you go. Liz: Yeah, I should have brought my china. So I have been attending cons for the last 11 years and somewhere along the way I thought, you can volunteer? That would be great. So I started volunteering and then some of the cons I volunteered for started paying, which meant I could start to travel. So I've been Let's see, the last two years I've done 20 cons each year. Which is... No, I mean 20 a year for two years. Yeah. Kent: That's 10 a year. 20 a year for the last two years. So you've done 40 comic cons on the last two years. Liz: Yeah, yeah, which, it's funny, it's... Kent: I mean, most people don't even do 20 in a lifetime and you've done 20 a year. Liz: you do more. Kent: I wasn't even going there yet. Liz: But so most of the time I sit with one of the celebrities and I will sell autographs and selfie photographs at their table and so I've had privilege of working with 40 plus 50 different actors just interacting interacting with the public And one reason I wanted to start this podcast as well was so many people come up to the table and say, this is my first con. What do I do? What do I do? What do I say? Where am I supposed to go? Where are the bathrooms? You know, all of the above. So. Kent: yeah, I hear that a lot. Yeah. Yeah. So you and I hear that quite a bit at the tables, know, this is my first comic con. I'm like, and they look like they're deer in a headlights. yeah, the big ones. And when you say the big ones, what do you mean by the big ones? Liz: Especially at the big ones. I mean, for the ones I've been to, it would be Megacon in Orlando, which is coming up this weekend. Very excited about that. Most of the fan expos, most, some of the fan expos are giant. Denver, Chicago is big. Fan Ex in Galaxy cons, Fan Ex, Salt Lake City. There's... Kent: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You got the galaxy cons, the fan axis, nostalgia cons. Liz: And it's interesting, the whole name Comic Con is licensed to San Diego, is that correct? Kent: was. Liz: no longer? Kent: Comic Con is a generic term, you know, so there wasn't any entity that could claim it. And there was a battle. There was a battle for the word Comic Con. Salt Lake City fought Diego Comic Con on that because it's such a broad term, Comic Con. Like, know, and so they went, actually went, you can Google it, I think they went to court that. Liz: Really? Kent: because there's New York Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con. So of these big companies fought to have the word Comic Con on the end of their things. Now, are there different locations like Salt Lake City and San Diego and New York? Yes. So word Comic Con is not trademarked. Liz: See I thought it was and that's why you have chose like Fan Expo and Galaxycon that specifically don't use the words but so they they're not called Comic Con but that's really what they are. There's many different con names out there but yeah so some of them some of them will be these... yeah. Kent: entities that own them though, you know? all right. Since we're talking about this list, I was just Googling and I'm going to do this from time to time just to sure we have our facts straight. You know, you and I have been in this industry a long time, so we can get our facts messed up. But yes, Comic Con, Comic-Con with a hyphen and Comic Con, one word, no space, are registered trademark owned by San Diego Comic Convention SDCC. Liz: right. International, right? Kent: They've yeah, they've the organization has held these trademarks for a decade defended them in court See hence why some of them are called pop culture Yeah, it's a legal protection Comic-con versus comic-con so San Diego comic-con has can be one word or the dash but if they use comic-con two words Liz: Okay. the dash. Kent: anybody's entity. Liz: Okay so Comic Con one word does it have only two C's or does it have three C's? Is it Comic Con or is it so Comic On sort of okay. Kent: Two Cs. Yes, C-O-M-I-C-C-O-N. Liz: So three C's. Two C's in the middle. I know, I'm being pedantic. Kent: three seats yeah yeah two in the middle yeah so city comic con have entered in the licensing so like some people have in the licensing like rose city comic con yeah emerald city well emerald city is in seattle city is in portland portland yep yep Liz: Emerald City, presumably. So Portland, Portland, yeah. Kent: remember when that one was just getting going. I have a buddy I was working with at the Hallmark booth at San Diego Comic-Con. He's like, Rose City Comic-Con. I'm like, is that? And he's like, there's like 10,000 people that show up. And that time, that sounded like a lot of people. Liz: It is a lot of people. Kent: those are the small ones now anything ten thousand or less is a small comic con Liz: And I was going to say, you you have the giant ones where it is shoulder to shoulder. It's hot and sweaty and Denver, Dallas, yeah, a bunch of them. So yeah, there's the huge ones, but then there's the cons that are in your town, in your college that might have 5,000 people show up. But... Kent: San Diego New York Megacon Liz: But they're fans. Fans just love this stuff. Kent: yeah, well, I mean, the amazing art expo, they put on an art show and then they bring some of the talent and celebrities to the show of their artwork, but they do a cosplay contest and they do a lot of stuff and the fan, the fans love it. gives them something to do on the weekend their realm of comic books or sci fi or whatever it is. you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. Liz: Because it used to be niche, right? It used to be real fans, real, you know, they knew how to make a lightsaber kind of people. But now cons are much more mainstream. A lot of families, normal, you know, nine to five people getting crazy with the cosplay. You know, the people I've met. Kent: Boom. Liz: who you know it's like well you've got school teachers and lawyers and doctors and and yeah. Kent: You have the whole gambit. mean, and again, I can talk about other things like the 501st. mean, this is a 501st shirt right here. Yeah, 501st Legion. You know, and Star Wars, you know, genre. But, you know, they're. Liz: Mm. Very nice. Kent: a wide variety of people that come to these comic-con it's just not those you know nerds hanging in their basement you know that live with their mom and stuff like that I mean this is moms dads aunts uncles grandparents coming with their grandkids like you know and then the genre I mean every ethnicity is there like know just to enjoy it and have fun I mean they do comic-cons in Dubai they do Liz: gamers. Kent: in China, they do them in Europe, Mexico, so they're all over the place and people will drive wherever they want to go to a comic con. Liz: yeah. And it doesn't have to be just comic book related. It's not just Marvel. It's TV, authors, you've got people, mean, stuff that's so far away from sci-fi. Kent: No. No, it's everything. Liz: and fantasy. There was a con I went to that had a bunch of people from the office on there and people that do cartoons and stuff that's not what you would normally associate with sci-fi fantasy. It's definitely gone very mainstream. Kent: Yeah. Well, and I feel a lot of the growth and this is just me personally, my feelings just because I've been this realm since 92, which is like over 30 years of doing this and seeing everything about it. Liz: Nobody is that old. Kent: there's some listeners that are not even 30 years old yet. So been doing this longer than they've been alive. But I believe Big Bang Theory was a catapult or a catalyst of keep talking about San Diego Comic Con. What's this comic con? And they were a bunch of nerds, scientists that always hung out in a comic book store. Rockpaker Spock, you know, like stuff like that, like Liz: Yes. Yes. Yeah. Kent: were nerds, it was accepted to be a nerd. you know, they got the cute girls, they got the smart girl, they got the blonde girl. Like they, they, they were just nerds their life, being scientists and paleontologists or whatever they were. But, know, when they started mentioning San Diego Comic-Con, literally put, that put Liz: and Stan Lee and all of those people. Kent: people's attention on radar. Does that make sense? Like, before people heard comic con, they're like, it's a comic book show. But then Big Bang. Yeah. They forgot about that one. Liz: definitely. And I think Alex... But also Galaxy Quest did that also. think people got a glimpse into, I mean, a comic and silly glimpse into how the celebrities interact with fans and how knowledgeable fans are. But then... Kent: Well, I'll tell you some of the celebrities are very knowledgeable as well. Like some of them, they don't watch their stuff or know anything or know any of the other celebrities, but some of them are diehard fans, like to a T, like to a fault, really. Henry Cavill is such a diehard fan of the comics, of the books that they were doing Witcher, they said he was a pain in the ass. Excuse my French. Because he knew so much and wanted it, he wanted it done right. wanted the show to be spot on with the books and the comics and everything that he was, just said he was a pain in the ass to work with. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but. Liz: because he knew so much I've never heard that, that's funny. Kent: He's such a die-hard fan of the comics first. What's the new movie? There's a new... Highlander, same thing. He wants to do such a good job that he's read the books, he's redone the research and watched all the shows and done... Lane, he's done his due diligence and... Liz: hi Linda. That's funny. Kent: know the women love him the fans really love him because he's such a die-hard fan he wants to get it right he doesn't just want to have a terrible superman movie or something like that he wants it authentic Liz: That's really wonderful because I loved the first Highlander movie. I didn't watch the series, but I loved the first one and you know, I always get nervous about remakes. it's a... Kent: It just good. Yeah, yeah, they just had the mean actor from Highland the original at one of the Comic Cons. Liz: He's gonna be at Megacon! And guess who's taking her ancient DVD with her? Kent: Megacon. see ya. Oh, there you go. So, know, I'm excited about this podcast. I hope that the listeners that are listening in subscribe to follow you and me, Liz, because literally we are here to share information, tips, tricks, upcoming Comic Cons history. And you know and also explain you know what these comic cons really are like people think that Comic-Con is just your a nerd convention which it can be But I mean I always say Comic-Con is like Disneyland know when you go to Disneyland there are people wearing goofy ears and Mickey hands and you know are skipping all over the place and people are just smiling and doesn't matter what ethnicity you are or of that. You're just known as a fan of Disney. I feel the same thing with these comic cons. When you step in that door or you're around that comic con, you're just broadly accepted. not a nerd. You're not a, a dweeb or whatever, you know, people call them, but you're just accepted as an attendee of the comic con and you could have a, you know, Pikachu outfit on or Captain America or what and people aren't gonna laugh or make fun of you They're gonna be like, there's Captain America or there's Pikachu like you're Liz: or that there they are and may I take a picture with you? Cosplayers love getting their picture taken with permission. Kent: Yeah. Yeah. Yes, and again, we're going to go over some of this stuff that a lot of the newbies don't know or those of you that have been attending Comic-Cons for a long time forgot about. So, we want to share this information. We're going to kind of draw back the curtains. Liz: And also, yes, and also if you're interested in working for a Comic Con, volunteering or working, working, we have lots of pointers about that too, because we've both done that and are still doing that. Kent: I don't think they want to do what we do. Liz: Well, it depends. Can you paste a smile on all day? Kent: so you got into Comic-Cons 11 years ago. How? did you get into the Comic-Cons, Liz? Liz: Right? well, I heard about them. I think the first one I went to is 2015. No, it was in Denver, actually. And I heard that Sean Astin was going to be there. And Sam. Yeah, Samwise the Brave. And I was just... Kent: in the UK? okay. Rudy. Samwise the from the Hobbit. Yeah I know I love them from Rudy. A lot of kids now will know them from Stranger Things. I am old school so the Goonies. Liz: Yes. Kent: you so when Liz: Well... Kent: when you're gonna drop names like Sean Astin you gotta like all right some of the fans don't know who they are so let's just drop some characters they played and then they kind of okay there you go Liz: Okay, will do. Okay, Sam, Sean, Sean Astin was going to be there. I'm a big Lord of the Rings nut. And I thought, hey, this is great. I think they also had some Firefly people there, Firefly Serenity, which is now coming back as I hear as an animated show. I'm very excited about that. Kent: John. What? They just announced that this weekend. Liz: Yeah, that's at AwesomeCon, I think that's where they announced that. Kent: I'm so old school that I remember at San Diego Comic-Con they had a brown coats table. right, and they would sell swag. I think I got a couple of shirts and stuff like that still Nope, too bad. No, I have them there their old brown coat stuff, but I remember Firefly Flans, but I remember Liz: Okay, I need those shirts. Just saying. No, I'm afraid I do need those shirts. Browncoats being Firefly fans. Kent: Alan Tudyk and Nathan Filian would come and volunteer at the booth of the Brown Codes booth and sell swag and talk to the fans and and do that. And Alan and Nathan would come around and take pictures. And this is at San Diego Com back in the 92, 93, 94 on to I'd probably say till about 98. And Liz: come on! Kent: because they weren't at the status that they are today but yeah they they were that was it they had serenity and firefly that's all they had i literally remember because i had a friend who was one of the brown coats and he's like you should work at this booth and i was like nah i'm like no big deal but i would go and visit them the booth at san diego comic-con and it was in by hall a and it was a small booth you know 20 by it was Liz: That's nuts! Kent: 10 by 10 booth 10 by 20 10 by 20 because it was long and I just remember they had shirts and buttons and you know coffee mugs and stuff like that and you know uh Alan Tudyk would show up and sell stuff and then Nathan Fillian would show up and they both would show up and then little antics would go on and stuff like that but yeah it was crazy Liz: I love their chemistry. Now they have a podcast, I think. We were spaceman. We were spaceman. Something like that. Kent: they do they do have a podcast and well I mean all you have to do is say Alan Tudyk or Nathan Fillion and people are gonna follow him so my name is Nathan Fillion no I'm just kidding Liz: yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, thank you. Yeah, so actually it's funny because... You you run into some people that then become giants. And I was at San Diego volunteering three or four years ago. And the one ring dot net had a table and it was just, you know, a couple of tables and Richard Taylor was there. Who's that? He runs wetter workshop. So he's all the production design. Kent: Yeah. Yeah, I remember that. Who's that? Yeah. okay. Liz: costumes and weapons and all of that. Well, he got knighted and he's going to be at Megacon this weekend. But then he was just signing stuff. I knew who he was because I've watched all of that extra stuff. Kent: I guess you're a Lord of the Rings nerd. Liz: Yeah. Yes, I am. But I was so excited and now, you know, he'll be at Megacon and, you know, be charging whatever crazy amount for an autograph. And I'm like, well, I've got mine, so I'm good. Kent: There you go. And when I say nerd, we, you know, it's in a loving way because if you think about it, nerds rule the world. just comic con i'm talking real world like the nerds of the world actually run the world like think about it elon musk love him or hate him. He's a nerd, you know, you talk about gates Love him hate him, you know steve jobs love him hate him those are your big nerds, you know warren buffett nerd like these guys rule the world. So I I always Liz: Yeah. Yeah, guys that know science and math. Kent: science, math, business, things like that. These are non-college educated guys. mean, they went to college, but none of them finished. were too smart. so when I say nerds, say it in a loving way because nerds rule the world. if I call somebody, you're a nerd, that's a compliment because like you're doing something that most people wouldn't do. Does that make Liz: Okay, I'll- I'll take it as that. What? And as a British person, could you tell me the difference between a nerd and a geek? Kent: Yeah, there you go, nerd. nerd. that you know, I was just going to Google that nerd versus geek. But I think a nerd is very smart, intellectually and knows a lot of stuff like a geek is more of fan. Liz: Ha! Kent: they know that genre, like the Lord of the Rings. They don't know a lot of other stuff. just a geek that realm. So you could be a Lord of the Rings geek. I was giving you a compliment. But a nerd I feel knows has lot of factual knowledge and information on us multiple things. Liz: But you just called me a nerd. Hahaha But a geek is a fanboy. Fangirl. Kent: Yeah, I would say a geek is a fanboy. If that makes sense. Liz: Hmm, I always wondered about that. They seemed interchangeable. Kent: geek is an uh... enthusiast expert in a specific field particularly technology or niche hobbies i was right they are they're an expert in that field you know so a good question and again i will google stuff just to sound more smart Liz: Okay? Yeah. haha Kent: A nerd is defined as an intelligent, passionate person with an obsessed interest in niche subjects like science, technology, or academics. Yeah, so they have a passion of multiple things. They are deeply devoted to specific intellectual or academic pursuits. So Liz: Okay. So a Star Trek fan. Kent: Big Bang Theory, the Big Bang Theory, those are nerds. They're scientists and different doctors and professors. nerds. But they're also geeks because they liked all the Star Wars and all the other things. So, yeah. Liz: You know what? All right, there is this, there is this store in London, I don't remember the name, but it's a huge fan store. So it has comics and t-shirts and action figures. And I found it the ultimate irony that there were Big Bang Theory action figures. I mean, talk about full circle. Kent: the Well and this, that's funny, you're talking about swag and all kinds of stuff and I'm just sitting here at my desk, you know, I have acquired this from San Diego Comic-Con but you know I can, yeah, yeah. Liz: and he's beautiful. He could be your twin Kent. Kent: could be my twin. I mean, I take good advice from Yoda all the time, but, you know, I'm just sitting here in my office and I have so much swag. I have patches from Star Wars Celebration. I've got room keys from Dragon Con. I've got trading cards from San Diego Comic Con. Like here, Walking Dead trading cards. Like, look at this. got, coasters. 1923 from when we went to the Yellowstone premiere like pins and buttons from San Diego Comic-Con you know I'm just saying look I even have a walking dead I have a hat from the hundredth episode Liz: the impa- the paramount- the paramount thing. Kent: and it's autographed by know Cooper, Richie signed it, Seth signed it I mean three autographs on one hat and guess what got two of them I got swag I mean I got pins from Star Wars Celebration Liz: Ha! I want those. Kent: yeah i mean i got i got all kinds i got baby no share no what is sharing sharing is not carrying nearly i mean i got little lightsabers from disneyland yeah these are from disneyland like they do they do i mean nerd like a magnetic pin of star trek like Liz: Folks, did you hear him offering me those pins? I think he needs to share. Hahaha that's cute. Did they light up? can't see. Very cool. Nice! Kent: Like literally it's so magnetic there was another button like Liz: Ha! Kent: this one was, and this one's from NASA. Liz: Well, I did. I like that. I need that one too. Kent: That was given to me at a Comic Con from an actually one of the engineers at NASA. created these pins. They create these pins each year. And when they go to the Star Trek convention, they give them to the talent stuff. And they had extra ones. So they gave me that one. Yeah. See again, doing this a long time. You've been doing it. Yeah. Liz: Nice. And I generally fail to get swag. The stuff behind me is stuff I've just been accumulating because I like toys and collectible and stuff. The stuff I get at cons, I'm an autograph person. So I just love getting autographs made out to me. I don't do the whole resale thing. Kent: Hey. Liz: But we have a mutual friend. Thank you very much. Not Jeremy Mathers, but... Kent: I'm sure Jerry Mathers, Leave It To Bieber. mean, just sitting here on my desk. Liz: So we have a friend, our darling Melissa is our friend and she loves to get selfies with celebrities because for her it's a moment of meeting and connection. She loves doing that. I like doing that but I don't like myself in selfies. So I go for the autographs and I guess everybody likes their own. Kent: sure. Yeah. Liz: to take home. You you can go to a con. Yeah. Kent: Yeah, everybody has their own thing. It could be a picture. It could be swag. It could be an autograph. These are, vendors have stuff that you can buy at the Comic-Cons. It's just not celebrities. I mean, there are vendors there that have created t-shirts or swords. I mean, you just got a sword at one of the Comic-Cons, like a Lord of the Rings sword. And, know, there's little backpacks and purses and, there's bags. I mean, I can show you all kinds of Liz: What? And that's one thing. I'll show it to you next time. Kent: swag and even just like well tokens from the movie set like these were used in Picard on the poker game like there's just all kinds of swag that you can pick up and get and have a good time at the Comic Con Liz: And it's not... you manage to get them for free because I know at San Diego there's a lot of free stuff. At most cons I would say it's unlikely you'll get free stuff but you just you can buy it. Kent: yeah. big cons are the ones that give away the stuff the the mega cons the Denver's the New York the San Diego because they have a lot of promoters and those are the movie promoters so they've got t-shirts to give away and banners and bags and tubes and kinds of stuff because they're promoting the movies and they want you to go see it or they want you to stand in line to know get the swag and stuff like that now at the smaller ones yeah you're not gonna get a lot of Liz: Mm, yeah. Kent: the freeze-wag. if you go to the file first table or something like that. know, each con is different and that's what makes them unique and fun. And yeah. I mean, we've literally been talking for a half hour. So, yeah, I, yeah, I think this is a good segue to end and, let our viewers digest what they heard. And, if you liked what you've heard so far, us, about Comic-Cons and sharing some tips and information, subscribe. Liz: Yeah. halfway. Kent: will do more episodes each week and look forward to sharing our stories because off to a Comic-Con this weekend. I think you're off to another one, Megacon. I'm going to Richmond, Virginia to a GalaxyCon. Liz: Where are you going? I think Richmond's a big one, isn't it? Kent: Yeah, yep, and you're going to Megacon, which is a super big one. So both going to be Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, day Comic Cons. I remember when San Diego, you know, was it's always been four and a half days, Wednesday, day, day, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. That was a big thing. And then others one started gravitating because they have so many people have to. Liz: Four days. it's gonna be a monster monster. Kent: yeah. Liz: So if you do have questions, things you'd like us to cover, absolutely let us know. We are at conswithcoffee at gmail.com. Are you going to? Kent: Yeah. cons with coffee cons with coffee at gmail.com and then you can find us on instagram facebook we have a facebook group youtube channel all that other good social media stuff so yay Liz: Alright, well we will see you next time. Thank you for watching guys. Kent: Thank you guys until next time have an amazing time read your comic books watch your favorite TV shows and then come back and hear the latest gossip or information we're going to share with you. Okay no gossip. Yeah yeah we were very discreet but you know all right so we're going to give you the tips and tricks and an inside scoop of everything that's going on and what's coming up. Have a great day guys. Liz: come on, we don't gossip. We're so discreet. Yeah Alright, see you later!