Our first event as media!
Last weekend was the Ottawa Geek Market/Capital Gaming Expo, held at the Sportsplex in Nepean, Ontario. It was the first event covered by The Nerd is the Word and a great coming out party for us in the local nerd scene. We even got to pick up some swag!
So how was it? Well, the Geek Market isn’t a typical con; there aren’t rooms upon rooms of panels and there aren’t big name celebrities like you see at Fan Expo or any Comiccon. Yes, there is a sectioned off area for panels and there are famous cosplayers around, but the focus is clearly on the merch. The hall is filled with row upon row of vendor booths selling their wares, and really does feel like a “market.” Anybody who’s been to a con before (and I’m sure most of you reading this have) would be very familiar with the tables full of plushies, vintage video games, steampunk apparel, and LARP weaponry. Unlike many bigger cons, the vendors were mostly from the Ottawa-Montreal area, with a few Ottawa based organizations like the Lego building club “ParLUGment” in attendance. What amazed us was the variety of goods for sale; there was even a vendor selling “nerdy” coffee beans! The talent that these people have and their passion for what they create is truly awe-inspiring. It was really great to talk with these local artists and businesspeople and hear their stories about who they are and what they do. The Nerd is the Word will be bringing you focused pieces on these vendors later in the week.
The other side of the event held the Capital Gaming Expo area; a space focused entirely on tabletop gaming, LARPing and video games. I knew very little about tabletop gaming, admittedly none at all, so I personally did not plan on staying in that section too long. It was only after mentioning I was writing for this website that I was invited to sit down with some people and play a new tabletop game created by a local Ottawa man. I bumbled my way through a few rounds but was amazed at how helpful and friendly both the players and the “game master” was to me. I quickly found out that they too were creators and had their own tabletop game in production.
Personally, I love the vendor halls at cons. I usually end up spending way too much money, but I never leave disappointed. At the bigger cons, it’s easy to fill up an entire day of waiting in line for panels, getting autographs, and finding what you wanted to buy that it can be difficult to take the time to actually talk to anybody about their wares. The Ottawa Geek Market is small, but tickets are less than the cost of a movie. Getting to see the amazing talent the Ottawa area has to offer, taking part in an impromptu tabletop game or two, and not worrying about massive lines or huge crowds means the Ottawa Geek Market is huge on value.
The Nerd is the Word would like to thank Stacey Young for providing us with a couple of media passes for the weekend and bringing this amazing event to Ottawa!
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