Steel City Con is the current-day successor of the late Pittsburgh Comicon, a comic book convention, and continues to run events to this day. As of now, there are many things you can do at Steel City Con, such as celebrity photo ops, shopping in the Artists Alley, participating in cosplay competitions, and going to panels. During the first weekend of this month, I went to the convention myself to see what it was like.
Now, this was my first time attending any sort of convention, so I didn’t really know what to expect. The convention center was a pretty long drive from my house, so I had to wake up early to be there by 9:30 a.m. Technically, the event doesn’t start till 10:00 a.m., but if you have a 3-Day-Pass, you’re able to get in early. So, this is how I started my Saturday, walking into the convention center, very tired and kind of hungry.
First impression-wise, the convention center was much smaller than I anticipated, which was a good thing, as it was much easier for me to navigate the buildings and find my way around. After I had gotten my bearings, I started walking around and looking at the vendors and what they were selling. There was a lot of merchandise, clothing, bags, and a bunch of other cool stuff. However, by far the most interesting booth was the nitrogen ice cream. It was made using liquid nitrogen to cool the bowls, and it tasted amazing!
Some of the other highlights of the main building include the Artists Alley. There were so many wonderful pieces of art, and even some hand-made woodwork and blankets. Despite the fact that I only bought one thing myself, I would love to go back sometime in the future and purchase something. Near the Artist’s Alley were also the celebrity tables. There were many lines leading up to the tables, and from what I understand, you had to pay to speak with them.
Many of these lines confused me. I couldn’t really tell where some of them went, and I found the whole area confusing, but I figured that it was because I wasn’t used to the crowds, so I stayed away from the area outside of walking by to observe every once in a while. In another building, there were also celebrity photo ops being held. They were in an area that you couldn’t see, but I didn’t really see a need to go into depth on those, as they seemed pretty straightforward.
Finally, I got to one of the big draw-ins of conventions, the celebrity panels/Q&As. These events consist of a group of con-goers sitting down in a large room with a stage and listening to the celebrity in attendance answer questions. This allows fans to directly interact with their favorite celebrities (if they’re lucky enough to be chosen) and ask them a burning question.
Of the many panels happening that weekend, I attended three: the Stephen Baldwin Q&A, the Cobra Kai panel, and the Dawson’s Creek panel. I wanted to attend a variety of different panels to see how each group’s questions and the celebrities’ answers differed from one another.
The first panel I attended was the Stephen Baldwin Q&A. Now, I wasn’t originally planning on going to this panel, I just happened to be early to the Cobra Kai one and decided to sit in on this one as well. The Q&A ended up being very interesting, and the other people in the crowd asked Mr. Baldwin a lot of good questions, such as his time working on The Unusual Suspects, his faith, and his podcast, One Bad Movie.
Stephen Baldwin’s Q&A was not super full, but the Cobra Kai panel definitely was. Around 20 minutes before the panel started, people started filing in, and filling up whatever open seats were available. When the cast finally made their appearance, around two-thirds of the room was full, and everyone was cheering. The cast was asked many questions about their time on set and how they felt about the show ending, closing the panel on a bittersweet note, talking about how they were happy that the show was ending on good terms.
However, the final panel I attended was actually the most full out of the three, which definitely surprised me. I knew very little about Dawson’s Creek prior to the panel, but afterward, I decided to watch a few clips to see what it was about. The main reason it was shocking to me that this panel had the most attendees was because Dawson’s Creek is a much older show compared to Cobra Kai, so I figured that Cobra Kai would score more people simply because it is more popular now. In spite of that, the Dawson’s Creek panel had a big turnout and many people asked good, engaging questions. The cast was also very pleasant and funny, recounting many silly stories from their time on set.
Taking into account all three panels, there was one thing that they all had to say. Each celebrity told the audience that working with their castmates was the best part of doing their show or movie. “What made this special to us was not just the storyline or the plot,” said Joe Seo of Cobra Kai, “but the cast.”
All things considered, I really enjoyed my time at Steel City Con. There was a lot to do, look at, buy, and there were many new people to meet. I even went again on Sunday with a friend to see if it would be any different with another person, and had a very fun time. This convention has left a good impression on me, and has me anticipating when I will go to my next convention!
No fun fact today, but you can find the nitrogen ice cream at Subzero Ice-cream! There’s a location in Pittsburgh if you would like to check it out!
If you have any questions or suggestions for things I should talk about, or want to share your own fandom-related stories, feel free to email me at [email protected] with any inquiries you may have!