Many people attend conventions in hope of meeting their favorite celebrities and hearing cool stories in panels or Q&As. But for many geeks out there, conventions are the place to be for cool merchandise, comics, and a chance to meet and support favorite and independent artists in the Artist Alley. Earlier this month, I attended NY Wintercon at the Resorts World Casino NYC in Queens, NY and after covering my panels and conducting a few interviews, I did what many fans did — I hit the convention floor to do some holiday shopping for both my family”¦ and for myself.

As a father of a near-6 year-old daughter, I’m trying to ease her into geek culture one step at a time. I met Kathryn Calamia, who has a comic book series out called Like Father Like Daughter about a girl angry at her dad until she realizes she’s inherited his superpowers. She was gracious to sign her comics for my daughter and we’ve been reading them together throughout the week. You can find her on YouTube and on Twitter at @ComicUno.

Some other terrific artists I met and spoke with were Matt Miner (@MattMinerxvx), who is currently working on a series of horror-themed comics; Michael Calero, available on social media at facebook.com/michaelcaleroart; John Cebollero (www.JohnCebollero.com), who did gnarly Cthulu portraits; and the guys at INBEONCON (http://www.inbeoncon.com).

One of the most intriguing people I think I ever met was Lady Arielle. She had a huge collection of handmade jewelry and accessories from all your favorite shows, movies, and series. She specializes in steampunk, and Victorian style and it was beautiful stuff. Check it out at www.LadyArielle.com.

I was also able to grab my sister an awesome holiday gift from the women at Kat’s Adorkable Details (Katsadorkabledetails@gmail.com). They specialize in handmade anime pillows and other gifts.

Between comics, art, and merchandise sometimes you forget their are celebrities there for you to meet. Next time a convention rolls into your area, go have fun and meet your heroes, but make sure to support local and independent artists and local dealers there to help you live the geek lifestyle.

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