Spa-Con planning enters home stretch

Planning for next month’s Spa Con is in the home stretch, but organizers say volunteers are still needed.

Spa-Con, Hot Springs’ multigenre convention, will return to the Hot Springs Convention Center Sept. 22-24 after a successful inaugural run in September 2016. Convention planners held a volunteer sign-up event Tuesday afternoon at the Garland County Library, the event’s co-sponsor.

“Last year, we had to prove ourselves, and I think we did,” said Bill Solleder, Visit Hot Springs marketing director and Spa-Con planner. “We’re about to present the most dynamic and largest Con in Arkansas.”

Spa-Con’s inaugural run drew 3,905 attendees, about four times what planners had expected. Solleder said registration for last year’s Spa-Con spiked greatly in the final days leading up to the convention.

Solleder said advance pass sales for Spa-Con 2017 are triple what they were this time last year, and registration is “more steady.”

“Most of the traffic came from just off-the-street people,” said Erin Baber, Spa-Con 2017’s artist liaison. “They didn’t really buy advance passes last year.”

Organizers’ goal for Spa-Con 2017 is to reach 5,000 guests. Solleder said that if the convention exceeds its attendance goal, extra security might have to be called in, but the number of volunteers will not be affected, since that number is determined by the number of rooms the event uses.

Spa-Con 2017 includes 100 shifts of volunteers over the three-day period. Though a number of the shifts have already been filled, Solleder said that the event is still in need of volunteers.

Solleder said that holding a volunteer position at Spa-Con 2017

holds both importance and perks.

“It’s a volunteer-driven event,” he said of Spa-Con 2017. “You do two shifts, and you get a free weekend pass, which gets you into everything.”

Solleder said that Spa-Con 2017’s vendor hall has been expanded 100 percent, and is “a couple of booths shy of selling out.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Solleder listed a number of activities that will be featured, including the Spa-Con Showdown Super Smash Bros tournament, the largest tournament of its kind in the history of Arkansas, famous pop culture vehicles such as the Batmobile and Ecto-1, a Lego display and a laser tag exhibit. He also said that Saturday’s festivities will be followed by an

18-and-older club-style cosplay party and a cosplay contest and dance party for attendees ages

12-17.

Special guests will include Shannon Purser, best known for her role as Barb Holland in “Stranger Things,” and Sheryl Lee and Sherilyn Fenn, best known for their roles as Laura Palmer and Audrey Horne in “Twin Peaks.” They will be the headliners in a lineup of 30 special guests present at the convention, which will include cosplayers and cartoonists.

Solleder said that the only area where Spa-Con 2017 might be lacking is in the presence of more traditional pop culture, such as Marvel and DC comic-themed exhibits. Solleder did, however, have positive things to say about the presence of what he called “contemporary-style” exhibits at the convention.

“We’re very fringy,” he said. “’Twin Peaks’ and ‘Stranger Things’ are very fringy.”

Organizers also hope to prompt visitors to interact with the city of Hot Springs through Bar Trek, which features a bingo card that is to be filled to completion by visiting downtown businesses.

“They participate in Bar Trek, and then at the end of the weekend, they get a free ‘don’t panic’ towel from ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy,’” Baber said. “That, I think, is a lot more encompassing than a lot of Cons do, because we’re including our town.”

“Spreading the word is a huge deal,” Solleder said. “Not only to our citizens, but also to our friends and family around the world, letting them know we’re having a convention.”

Visit http://spa-con.org/spacon-volunteer-sign-up-event/ to volunteer.