2017 Version: Take Your Teenager to (Denver Comic) Con
Here it is: my annual advice post for taking your (younger) teens to Denver Comic Con, updated and expanded with current information!
I have a confession to make: I had more fun hanging out at Denver Comic Con with my teenage son last year than I did hanging out with my two best friends.
This is not to suggest that I didn’t have fun with Megan and Carolyn, because obviously they are my best friends for a reason and Comic Con is kind of our raison d’etre, and obviously I wouldn’t trade my con time with them for very many things (a date with THOR!, obviously, and maybe beers with Wonder Woman). But there was something infectious about the joy my son felt in experiencing his first con. You know those parents who are always saying stuff like, “There is nothing like experiencing the wonder of Christmas/Disney World/skiing/the first snowfall/scoring a soccer goal/etc. through the eyes of my child”? It’s vomitrocious, right? But taking my son to his first con, and having it be Denver Comic Con, was totally like that.
Denver Comic Con IS family-friendly. Let’s get that clear right off the bat. This is not to suggest that it caters solely to families and that people of the adult persuasion won’t have fun for fear of being overrun by small children. It IS to suggest that DCC has managed to achieve a really great balance of making sure there is enough to attract the more hardcore con attendee while also putting together great programming for families with kids in most age ranges (sorry, but there is nothing there for your child under the age of 3 other than heartbreak and boredom – but by all means bring them and dress them up as Rocket Raccoon or Yoda or something equally small and cool, because some of us are super into that). There is – gasp! – even an entire Pop Culture Classroom area on the convention floor dedicated to learning (learning!) experiences for kids. And Denver Comic Con has cosplay rules that require cosplayers to be fully clothed in what amounts to a minimum of “swimsuit coverage with leotard bottoms” – sparing parents the need to answer any awkward questions about anatomy that they weren’t quite prepared for on their fun family day out.
(A note about cosplaying and programming: I had a brief disagreement with some friends who wouldn’t allow their younger teenage daughters to attend Denver Comic Con last year, but have been taking them to the Colorado Renaissance Festival every year since birth. Trust me when I tell you that you don’t need to worry about Denver Comic Con, especially if you’re already exposing them to Ren Fest.)
My son and I went to a panel the first morning featuring the contestants from Season 3 of King of the Nerds, a reality show competition in which uber-smart people complete challenges to eventually win the title and some cash. Pook had watched it with his dad and was really excited to see the cast up close in real life. It was seeing him experience this panel that really drove home for me how magical this experience was for him. To me, an occasionally cynical adult, the cast of this show is just a bunch of nerds like my friends and I. To a teenager, they are famous people from television. And there is magic in that, the same way there was magic when I took him to Disney World when he was little and he believed in all those costumed characters. The cast members made themselves available for photos with fans and were clearly enjoying themselves, and it ended up being a really enjoyable hour in my life. It also made me really glad that I had made the decision to bring my teenager with me.
Highlights of Pook’s weekend at Denver Comic Con included the King of the Nerds panel, a machine building challenge in the Pop Culture Classroom that was hosted by the King of the Nerds cast members, and an autograph/meet-and-greet session with Manu Bennett, an actor who played Deathstroke in DC’s Arrow show (among other cool things). He also spent a great deal of time wandering around the con floor shopping for a replica sword that he never ended up buying (mostly because we spent too much money on Funko Pops, comic books, and snacks).
Here are some tips for helping your teen get max enjoyment out of Denver Comic Con!
- Plan, plan, plan! My son Daniel, aka The Pook, was a few weeks shy of 14 his first year at con. He is one of the most unorganized people I’ve ever met. But he spent weeks obsessively planning his con schedule using the Denver Comic Con planning app on his phone (search “Denver Comic Con” in the app store, and it will come up), and the first day on the train into downtown, he told probably twenty people about it and how they needed to download it right away. I think the advance planning allowed us to get a little more enjoyment out of the con – we weren’t wandering around reading through the program trying to figure what time this thing was and where this other thing was and would we have time for this if we also went to this and so on. It also helped him make choices and realize he wouldn’t be able to do everything, thus avoiding what I imagine could be a lot of disappointment. I can’t recommend advance planning enough!!!
- Set them free. Depending on how responsible and willing to communicate your young teen is, you might be able to allow them time to wander around on their own. My son is large for his age and has a good sense of direction; as a bonus he has attended a theatre convention for school at the Colorado Convention Center four years in a row. So he knows his way around the building, and the first year, when he was alone, we made a rule that he was to remain inside the convention center, and we split up for an hour or two at different times each day. You want to be sure to make a good plan for when and where to meet up because the cell phone service in the convention center gets sketchy during con – 20,000 people on their phones all at once really does nothing for coverage! So make a plan, make sure you know where your teen is going to be, and make phone or text communication your backup, and you should be good to allow your kids some freedom. The second year, he brought his best friend with him all three days and they bumped into plenty of other friends, and I allowed them to leave the convention center for meals as long as they stuck together. Obviously you’ll have to make this call based on how well you know your kids and what they might be tempted to get up to without adult supervision.
- Have a budget. Pook’s 3-day pass was his “big” Christmas gift, in addition to some spending money for the con. This made it very easy for my husband and I to say, “This is what you have to spend, and that is that.” I would be amazed by anyone who is able to escape from con without buying anything for their teenage kid, but I know I am also a bit indulgent. Maybe more than a bit. But if you’re just in the middle, make sure there is a set amount, or a set of expectations for what your kids can or can’t spend money on. As mentioned above, Pook was shopping for a sword replica. Some of you might not be keen on swords in the house, real or not. So make a plan: books only, or books and artwork, or small toys, or one large toy and a t-shirt, or t-shirts only… You get the picture. Just realize that there is so much cool geek stuff to buy, and you and your teen are going to want it all. Have a budget. Stick to it.
- Hydrate. You can bring a refillable water bottle into the convention center if you don’t mind carrying it around. Otherwise, have money to purchase frequent water bottles. Con involves a lot of walking. It’s more exercise than a lot of us geeks get, to say nothing of our teen geeks. And it’s dry here. And if you’re in Denver from out of town, the altitude can make you sick. So stay hydrated. Drink water.
- Have a food plan. If you parent a teenager, you know that they go from zero interest in food to “I’m dying of starvation and ready to kill someone, probably you, Mom!” in ten minutes flat. So make sure you have a plan for obtaining food, and make sure you schedule time in your days to eat said food. There are some decent food options inside the convention center; the only trouble is, they get a little pricey, and the lines can get super long throughout the day. The restaurants in the immediate vicinity of the center are good, but can also be pricey and also get crowded. Be willing to head out to the 16th Street Mall for meals – it’ll get you away from the crowds for a while and save you some money and headache. Research the food options near the convention center in advance and you and your teenager will be a whole lot happier.
- Speaking of food: Force them to consume breakfast. Any breakfast. My teenager is always all, “I don’t really do breakfast.” Con is not the time to experiment with how little breakfast your teen can survive a morning on. Get them a Snickers and a soda and call it breakfast.
- Do their thing. If you’re not willing to part ways with your teen so you can do your thing while they do theirs, make sure you do their thing at least some of the time. I think a lot of families who come to con together have very similar interests and want to do everything together, but there are for sure going to be many whose interests diverge. And that’s fine, but don’t forget it’s about your teen too. Go with them to that Justice League Reunion panel or that Girls Are the Heroes of Their Own Stories talk – you’ll probably learn something, and you’ll for sure have a good time.
- Help them meet a celebrity. This one can be complicated and almost always costs money, sometimes a LOT of money, but it’s so worth it if there is a celebrity appearing at con related to a fandom that your teen is into. Pook has been riding high on his autograph meeting with Manu Bennett for two years now; he’ll talk about it to anyone who might listen. He got to meet Stan Lee last June. This year, we’re meeting the Phelps twins who played Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter movies. I feel like all of this will eventually get me a Mom of the Century award, but really I’m just in it to see the boy have fun and be unabashedly excited about something at a time in his life when they all try to play things so cool all the time. Plus, meeting celebrities is fun for me too.
- If you can’t afford a celebrity photo op or autograph, never fear! That’s what panels are for! The number one question people who have never been to Denver Comic Con always ask me is if you have to sign up in advance or pay extra for the Main Event celebrity panels. And the answer is no! Your con pass is all you need to get into those events! For the uninitiated, a panel is talk that can feature a group of speakers or just one — and all of the celebrity guests appearing at con give at least one over the course of the weekend. This year, DCC has two Main Events stages: the slightly smaller Night Lynx Stage, and the larger Captain Colorado Stage — both of these are in the Bellco Theatre area of the convention center. Some celebrities will attract a larger crowd than others — I’m betting that this year, Weird Al Yankovic and Nathan Fillion will be the biggest draws — and you want to line up for them about half an hour in advance (possibly an hour for the biggest draws) to guarantee you’ll get in to see them. Denver Comic Con is a busy full place but unlike the 2-3 cons that are still larger, you can still get in to almost all the panels without sacrificing an entire day to wait in line.
- Make sure they meet an artist or a writer. Take some time to wander around Artist’s Valley on the convention floor and stop to talk to the artists and writers who have booths there.Last year, my son discovered the joy of asking an artist for a “commissioned” work — basically a request of an artist whose work you enjoy to make a piece of artwork — usually a sketch — that’s just for you. Talking to artists and writers is a highlight of attending con. Your teen will learn something or be inspired or just be awestruck. And you never know where that might take them.
- Photograph them with their favorite characters. There are hundreds — maybe thousands — of cosplayers at Denver Comic Con, and the vast majority of them love nothing more than having a fuss be made over their hard work. Just ask* politely if they will pose with your kids or your family, and take a snap or two with your phone. Your kids — young and older — will love meeting a favorite character. And you’ll get photos of your kids. It’s a win-win. (*Always, always ask. It’s an official rule of the con!)
- Make them wear comfortable shoes. No one wants to listen to anyone whine about how badly their feet hurt. Make them wear a decent pair of shoes. It’s a lot of walking, and standing in line on concrete floors. My son wears sneakers or Converse. I swear by Birkenstocks as the most comfortable con footwear.
Now go forth and plan! Pook and the Sisters will see you there!