Pop Culturalist Attends Heroes & Villains in New Jersey

Last weekend, when I wasn’t plowing through nearly thirty inches of snow, I was fortunate enough to attend Heroes & Villains Fan Fest in New Jersey. Thank you, Winter Storm Jonas, for bringing your blizzardy wrath on the worst possible weekend. Heroes & Villains brings fans closer to their favorite stars from shows and movies including Arrow, The Flash, Gotham, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Let’s start by saying the true heroes that weekend were the organizers. They handled the snow storm with such professionalism—updating fans with schedule changes, guest cancelations, and refunds. Also, huge kudos to Stephen Amell, Robbie Amell, Teddy Sears and the other guests who hung out with fans after Saturday’s events were canceled.

Read on for my highlights and thoughts on the Heroes & Villains Fan Fest convention.

What I Liked

Guest Interactions
The Heroes & Villains‘ social media team was heavily promoting that the stars would be interacting with fans whenever they were free. Naturally, I was skeptical. At similar events, the entertainment guests make themselves available during certain times. Heroes & Villains was a completely different experience. The guests were constantly returning to their booths to interact with fans. Each fan had the opportunity to chat with their favorite stars. It was never rushed. They also capped the lines when the guests have a panel or photo op to attend (which I loved).

Now, I’m a huge Flash fan so I primarily stayed in that area of the convention floor. Every time I looked, Robbie Amell (Firestorm) and Teddy Sears (Jay Garrick) were talking with fans, cracking jokes and, of course, signing autographs. Obviously, I went and got one. Also, check out Robbie’s Instagram photo. I love that he was geeking out as much as I was!

The Activities

Many people associate conventions with panels, photo ops, and autographs. Heroes & Villains takes it a step further. Their convention was packed full of stuff for the ENTIRE family to enjoy. I got there at 11 a.m. and before I knew it, it was 4 p.m.! If you’re a bit daring, they had this gigantic slide (pictured above), an area where you could train to be a super hero and much more. I didn’t try any of these but people were definitely having fun. Next time!

The Convention Space
Heroes & Villains chose the Meadowlands Expo Center as their location for the convention. It was spacious and allowed them to put in things like the gigantic slide. Hate crowds? While we need to factor in the blizzard, I was never overwhelmed by the crowds during my time there. I did multiple laps around the convention floor, for me, that’s unheard of.

The Volunteers
The volunteers did a fantastic job during the convention. They were friendly, knowledgeable and always had a smile on their faces. And, if they didn’t know something, they went and found the answer for you.

What Could be Improved

Panel Acoustics
The only thing I would change about the convention was the acoustics for the panels. It was sometimes a bit difficult to hear with everything going on.

Should You Attend

Absolutely! I had a blast—even factoring in the two hours it took to get there. It was one of my favorite convention experiences. If you’re on the fence about attending, trust me, you want to get those tickets now! The Heroes & Villains team exemplifies how conventions should be run. It was definitely better than any of the more known Comic-Cons.

They dealt with so much, from keeping fans informed, issuing refunds and rescheduling for a future date (July 2-3). And, if you were unable to attend because of Jonas, your tickets are valid for the future date! The Heroes & Villains team wants to provide the experience of a lifetime (that’s what they wrote on their site!) and they definitely delivered. Their actions over the weekend are worth the price of admission and, as a bonus, you’ll get to meet your favorite stars!

Is Heroes & Villains coming to your city?

Here are their scheduled dates for 2016:

Chicago – March 12 & 13
New York/New Jersey – July 2 & 3
San Jose – August 27 & 28
Atlanta – November 19 & 20

More information and ticket sales on their website!

Photo Credit: Heroes & Villains Fan Fest