Summati
THE
n Weekly USPS Publication Number 16300
T h is C om mu n i t y N ewsp a p er is a pu bl ica t ion of E sca m bia / S a n ta Rosa B a r Assoc ia t ion
Section A, Page 1
Vol. 17, No. 6
Visit The Summation Weekly Online: www.summationweekly.com
February 8, 2017
1 Section, 8 Pages
The Expanded Edition You don’t have to be a Trekkie or X-Phile to appreciate the appeal of Pensacon. Maybe you like the opportunity to don a costume on a day other than Halloween, or perhaps you simply enjoy to people watch and browse the wares of vendors who’ve come from near and far. No matter what brings you to Pensacon, you are guaranteed to find your version of fun in as little as three days time from Feb. 17 to 19. Going on its fourth year, our area’s premier comic convention has expanded once again: this year, Pensacon is happy to announce Pensacola Little Theatre as an additional venue. The new location will not only offer more space for hosting panels but will also allow more room for guests to gather outside the main campus at the Pensacola Bay Center for special events like the Pensacon Short Film Festival, which will be held on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18. Moreover, the east side parking lot of the Pensacola Bay Center has been expanded into another entertainment destination with different bands and entertainment troupes who will be performing throughout the weekend. The Artist Alley area has also been improved, so there will be even more to explore on the Bay Center’s third floor. As always, Pensacola Grand Hotel, Rex Theatre and Saenger Theatre are providing their beautiful, historic venues for even more Pensacon events. “Pensacon was created for Pensacola, not only to provide something special for the ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’ communities but to be a benefit to the area also,” said Kat Bishop, director of marketing. “Our timing was not an accident–we purposely planned Pensacon to take place during a time of year with historically slow tourism appeal. In the three years that Pensacon has been held, the economic impact has been over $8 million.” Last year, if you had an overhead view of the entire event over the course of three days, you would’ve counted as many as 23,000 faces in the con’s crowd. You wouldn’t guess that this massive flagship for the community was manned by a five-person
crew: Mike Ensley (chairman), Kat Bishop (director of marketing), and Jason Thomsen (director of logistics), all of whom are assisted in a part-time capacity by graphic designer Georgia Beliech and programming director Steve Wise. These five work on Pensacon year-round,
By Dawn Gresko taurants will be involved, including various venues from Great Southern Restaurants such as The Fish House and Atlas Oyster House to others like Hopjacks and Tin Cow, which will be decked out in some fantastic decorations and will also be serving up drink specials and after-
“Pensacon 2017 will be the biggest and best yet.” said Bishop starting about a week after the previous Pensacon concludes. They are helped at different stages by hundreds of volunteers with varying levels of responsibility. As usual, Downtown Pensacola will be very much involved in Pensacon, putting on events in conjunction with the comic con’s hours and special guest lineup. Several hotels, bars, stores and res-
hours events for Pensacon goers who want to keep all the con-fueled fun going. For a blast from the past, Atlas Oyster House will be once again adopting a Star Trek-themed bar and menu, The Fish House will become akin to the wonderful wizarding world of Harry Potter, and the outside Deck Bar will don decorations and drinks from the Star Wars universe. That’s not to
mention that our very own Pensacola International Airport is reclaiming the title of Pensacola Intergalactic Airport for all those Pensacon attendees who are flying in from galaxies far, far away. This year, Hopjacks and Tin Cow will be joining in on the fun; Hopjacks will take us into the Upside Down of Stranger Things, while Tin Cow will transform its interior to fit with the wonderful weird world of X-Files—we think even Moulder and Scully would approve. Currently, this year’s celebrity lineup includes as many as 60 film and television media guests as well as an additional group of 30 total artists, authors and illustrators. These special guests will include several cast members from Game of Thrones, Power Rangers, Doctor Who, Candyman, Conan the Barbarian, Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Files and even the cast from Netflix’s hit summer series: Stranger Things— which will have its own celebrity panel at Pensacola Little Theatre. As for media guests, some prominent names you’re more likely to recognize include Ted Raimi (The Evil Dead, Candyman), Viriginia Madsen (Candyman), James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones), Verne Troyer (Austin Powers), Scott Wilson (The Walking Dead, The OA), Butch Patrick (The Munsters), and Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones). However, often overlooked are those writers, artists and illustrators behind our favorite book, comic, movie and television heroes (and heroines). While they may not meet our criteria for heroes, Ren & Stimpy are definitely iconic characters—both of
whom were created by Bob Camp, cartoonist, illustrator, and comic book artist who won an Annie for these two crazy cartoon characters. Then there’s illustrator Steve Scott (Batman, X-Men Forever), who has worked with DC, Marvel and Dark Horse comics. “Pensacon 2017 will be the biggest and best yet,”
said Bishop. “We have some fantastic celebrities coming, and with our expanded areas of interest for attendees, we expect that people will be continually finding something new to enjoy about Pensacon!” For a full list of activities, special guests, venues and times, or to purchase tickets now, please check out pensacon.com.
Pensacon Mobile App Don’t want to miss a thing? Don’t worry! Pensacon has you covered with their mobile app found on either Google Play or Apple online stores. 1. Search for “Pensacon 2017” and download to your Android or Apple device. 2. Create your Pensacon profile. 3. Two weeks prior to the event, you may start customizing your schedule, lining up panels, celebrities, booths and more that you want to see over the course of three days, so the app will alert you when your event starts. 4. Have fun at Pensacon!