NYCC 2011 Rundown & Giveaway!

The New York ComicCon has come and gone this year, but not without leaving me with tons to share with you over the next couple of weeks. I will give you a sneak peek and to give you a run down of all (or at least most of) what I was exposed to...

The Panels

No matter what kind of convention I am going to, I always plan my excursion by panels first, then figuring out how to fit everything else in between. Here are some of the juicy topics covered in my panel education this weekend:

• Comic Books in Education - Whether you are looking for your own children, you have a classroom of your own, or you are interested in pursuing comic books in your own intellectual quest, I've got a lot to share. I met people from Reading With Pictures, the Comic Book Project, the Comic Book Classroom and even participated in a comic scholars discussion. From what I gathered through these panel discussions and others there appears to be a big move to bring comic books and schools together for the mutual benefit of the students and the comic book industry. It is very exciting.
• Arcades - Remember them? Maybe you are lucky enough to even have one still open near you. I went to one panel "Meet Me At the Arcade" where panelists discussed the subculture of the arcades, the social aspect of it and why they believe arcades are needed in gaming even today. It was an incredibly interesting talk which gave me a deeper insight about the dynamics of social gaming and the shortcomings of online play.
• Wand Dueling - It happened. Of course I was there to watch it all! I even got video. So if you are interested in how to effectively wand duel just like the witches and wizards in Harry Potter, then stay tuned - the video is on its way!
• The Creative Process - There are so many different panels I wet to where this theme played a prominent role - "The Comics History of the World," "Food and Comics with Wylie Dufresne," "Writing: Story Structure," "Girls Kick Butt: Strong Female Heroines in YA Fantasy," as well as most of the panels relating to comics in education discussed above. In short, it is nearly impossible to get creative professionals in a room together and not discuss the creative process!! There's oodles to talk about here!
• Jeff Smith's BONE - Any other super-fans out there? Did you know that it is the 20th Anniversary of Jeff Smith's BONE? It is and there was a panel dedicated to the celebration, looking back on the last 20 years (plus, we learned!) and discussing what is coming up in the future. Very exciting and fun stuff for my fellow fans out there - I can't wait to share it with you!
• Screen Future - How about a sneak peek into what some of the big-wigs think the future of gaming, comics and TV is going to look like all around the world in five years? This was another engaging discussion drawing in the use of social media, online streaming, accessibility and the relevance of Nielsen ratings as we move forward. I was sad when this particular talk ended because I could tell each and every one of the panelists had more to say!

Books

Well, it would be kind of ridiculous to go to a comic BOOK convention and not come back with at least some book discussion, no? I think so! I've got a pile of books here that I am going through as we speak so I can share my perspective on each and every one of them with you. I have comic books, graphic novels, YA novels and even some nonfiction. Lots going on in the book world - I'm taking them one at a time and enjoying every page!

Products/Companies/Deals

Finally, I ran into some pretty cool people on the exhibitor floor. There were publishing companies with great book deals going on this month and next month that are wanting you to gobble up their discounts, nonprofits looking for some caring souls, museums with cool calendars of events, websites designed for aspiring and published writers and super-cool stores with some super-cool geek stuff that you just have to check out! It's a lot, but it is all coming! I'm looking forward to sharing it with you!

However, before all of that... there seems to be another matter at hand here. Did the title of this blog post mention something about a GIVEAWAY??? That's a pretty big deal. There has never been a giveaway here on Rivera Runs Through It before! Well, if the title says it, then it MUST be true!

~~IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME!!!~~

Gee... I wonder what I could possibly have to give away?

Hmm...

How about a 2011 New York ComicCon SWAG ("stuff we all get") BAG filled with NYCC goodies?!

goodies!

SWAG BAG!

So what do you think? Interested? If so, jump on in. There are five different ways to enter. You may do more than one to increase your chances (each one counts as an entry) and the fifth option - tweeting about the giveaway - can be done once a day every day of the giveaway!