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After a long wait along with months of reporting, Silicon Valley Comic Con was back for another weekend of fun. Once again, Steve Wozniak brings the world of pop-culture and science together for one weekend.

Fans who enjoyed last years event or are enjoy attending fan conventions like FanimeCon or Hydra Comic Con would enjoy this event. After a fun weekend meeting new friends and checking out insightful panels, these are the highlights from the weekend.

Artists and Vendors

Silicon Valley Comic Con had over 100 merchants and artists set up in the Exhibit Hall selling a verity of goods. From figurines, old video games, and collectable merchandise are among the many gems in this treasurer trove. Even if you had no shopping agenda, it’s still fun to look through all the cool stuff and meet the many artists.

Wasteland Exports is dedicated to recreating the many memorable items from the Fallout series. The staff has been dedicated to recreating iconic items from the series like Nuka-Cola bottles to boxes of RadAway. They were so popular that most of there merchandise was sold out by Saturday.

The team from World Con ’76 was there to promote their upcoming event with a booth and a collection of science fiction literature. The information booth provided fans with details along with what to expect during the event. A second booth also offered fans some free books as means to promote the importance of the genre.

Adam Savage’s Cosplay Cave and Lounge was the place to go for anyone who needed to fix their outfit or just needed to make a few alterations. They had all the materials and equipment along with the a staff on-hand to take care of anything. This was also the place to go for some creative advice on how to improve your cosplay.

Wolves of Mandalore is the Bay Area branch of the Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club, a Star Wars cosplay non-profit organization. Like the 501st Legion, the Wolves of Mandalore help enthusiasts design their own original cosplay while working to raise money for local charities.

Crunchyroll Expo was in the center of the expo hall promoting their upcoming event in September. Fans could learn more about the event, get a discount on their pass and enter to win some awesome prizes.

Gaming Zone

For anyone who wanted to play a video game, an arcade or a table top game then the Gaming Zone was the spot to be. They got arcade classics like Marvel vs. Capcom along with several pinball machines. Several vendors were also present to sell old school classics, new titles or some gamer gear.

Panels

Cons are not just about meeting new friends or going into bankruptcy after buying a bunch of collectable memorabilia, it’s also a chance to gain some insight. Silicon Valley Comic Con organized a series of panels that discussed a verity of topics from major stars and industry insiders.

These are some of the panels I got to checkout during the weekend:

Pursuing the Extraordinary: A Keynote Conversation with Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison was a look into the future of space exploration with the first African-American women in space. This panel was both a personal reflection while an introduction to her latest work, the 100 Year Starship, a program to help advance space exploration. Dr. Jemison was introduced to the audience by the person who inspired her and set the groundwork for her career, Nichelle Nichols.

Developing Mobile Augmented Reality for the Masses was a look into building AR apps by looking at the functionality of ARKit (iOS), ARCore (Android) and AR game engines (Unreal/Unity).

Cities of Tomorrow with Stonly Baptiste, John Ulmen, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo
and was hosted by Andy Weir. This panel looked into the challenges that city developers face today (especially in the Bay Area). The goal of the panel was to find innovative ways to address major issues like affordable housing, traffic congestion and sustainability.

Spotlight on Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff was a look into the actresses career along with what it was like to play Lt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace. Fans got the chance to learn about what it was like to work on the iconic show along with her latest projects.

Worlds Re/Defined: Wakanda, Halo, Star Wars… How Do You Create a Universe or Character That People Love? featured Kiki Wolfkill, Gary Whitta, Mac Walters, Mackenzie Donaldson, Marv Wolfman and was hosted by Evan Narcisse. This was a look into challenges of world building, be it a new franchise or presenting a unique take on an existing one.

It’s just not a true fan convention in the Bay Area without a panel hosted by Steven Savage. Silicon Valley Comic Con guests were treated to his latest panel, Geek Productivity, which looks at how one could apply Agile and Scrum techniques to everyday projects.

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