During the last weekend in April, Chicago was filled with thousands of fans of entertainment and comics for C2E2 2013. For ShowClix, it was a blast to go from “on sale to on-site” at the event. While we definitely classify ourselves as nerds (in the most endearing way), we have to admit we were jealous of those who got to fly to Chicago to be on site during the epic weekend.
Read what Jarrett Hawrylak, our Production Support Engineer, and Katie Smith, Account Manager, had to say about traveling with fellow coworkers, the city differences between Chicago and Pittsburgh, overcoming challenges and more…Â
What was it like traveling together?
KS: I have had the pleasure of traveling to a number of events with ShowClix, and I have to say that this team was one of the best. When it came to the event, our individual skills and knowledge complimented each other perfectly.
JH: It was excellent traveling with the team. Surprisingly, a group of incredibly stubborn people can get along and agree on what to do for both business and fun.
What makes Chicago different from Pittsburgh?
JH: Chicago is so much bigger than Pittsburgh so it was always exciting to try and pinpoint exactly what we wanted to do. That being said, I feel that the mentality of the city is pretty similar and thus is immediately familiar to people from Pittsburgh. The ability to take taxis around, and their affordability, was an excellent change of pace from Pittsburgh.
KS: Like Pittsburgh, I think Chicago has a great young vibe. Around every corner, you can stumble on fabulous restaurants, intriguing businesses, and friendly people. Obviously, Chicago is much larger and that comes with many perks, but it’s still easy for a Pittsburgher to feel at home.
What was it like meeting people face to face and being at C2E2?
KS: For me personally, it was a great pleasure to finally meet some of the members of the Reed Expo team. I have been working closely with them for months, so it is always exciting to put a face to the voice on the other end of the line.
The attendees at C2E2 were also some of the most excited, patient and genuinely nice people that I have seen at an event in a while. I think it speaks highly of both the C2E2 community and Chicago area as a whole that thousands of very diverse people can come together and create such a positive vibe.
JH: After talking with the people of Reed from separate locations, it was nice to be able to put a face and personality to the requests I was getting. Being at the event was an interesting experience, sometimes when you work behind the scenes for so long, you forget that selling tickets is only the first phase of a successful event. Additionally, that was the largest scale of event that I’ve ever been involved with, so that was a good experience.
Were there any challenges? Rewarding moments?
JH: Your biggest challenges always appear in the most unexpected places. The network remained stable and the software all performed excellently while I was there, so our biggest challenges came from just keeping people moving through the lines (physically).
The most rewarding part of the trip was definitely hearing compliments on how simple our software is to use, being able to effectively train people with a variety of computer experience to use our system, and seeing thousands of people put our system to the test and never experiencing a moment of downtime.
KS: Simply being involved with such a large and well-executed event is very rewarding in-and-of itself. In my 10+ years working in entertainment, this was the largest event that I have had the pleasure of assisting with. It was great to be able to stand back and watch the crowds pouring in, knowing that the vast majority of those in attendance had been touched by our system in some way.
What was your favorite character or costume from the convention?
KS: So here’s my true confession: I’m really not familiar with many comic characters – or even tv and movie characters for that matter. However, despite not knowing the character names, I was definitely impressed with the level of professionalism in many of the costumes. The time, money, and creativity it takes – incredible! I may have geeked out a tiny bit for the Star Wars characters, in particular.
JH: My favorite costume was definitely the Wampa, a 9-foot tall abominable snowman that had to duck under the entry gate. Also, I got to see one of my childhood heroes, Jason David Frank – The Green Ranger.
Check out some of the photos our team snapped while traveling and being at C2E2:
“How do you scan tickets?” Lynsie asks.
Chicago from the sky.
“We’ve arrived in Chicago!”
Training C2E2 staff on using Crowd
Happy to be at C2E2!
See some awesome photos by Katie Smith over on our Pinterest board!
A special thanks to everyone at C2E2 for welcoming the ShowClix team and putting on such an amazing exposition!Â