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HomeCon Is One of The Best Things To Come Out of Quarantine!

Written by Andi Ortiz. Published: April 14 2020

 

It’s easy to get wrapped up in everything that COVID-19 has taken from us. We miss hugging our friends and going to an actual happy hour instead of a virtual one. We miss going to movies and concerts and conventions. And it’s perfectly okay to acknowledge that this is weird, scary, hard time to be in.

 

But it does help to acknowledge the good that’s come out of quarantine – because there’s been a lot of it. Prime example? HomeCon.

 

 

 

HomeCon is a virtual fan convention created by actors/friends/former co-stars Rachel Skarsten and Paul Amos. Seeing how Comic-Con season was effectively canceled due to coronavirus concerns, they pulled together to bring a Comic-Con to the fans.

 

And, as someone who has been to her fair share of conventions over the years, I can tell you truthfully – it was amazing.

 

Over the course of a weekend, more than 30 actors came together to be part of panels streaming on Twitch. For just a $4.99 subscription fee, fans had access to every single panel.

 

There were reunions, like the casts of “Reign”, “Arrow”, and “Shadowhunters”, and there were panels that gave new content, from shows like “Wynonna Earp” and “Supergirl”.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gregg Sulkin: Wizards of Waverly Place, Runaways, Pretty Little Liars

A post shared by HomeCon (@homeconofficial) on

 

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s a certain joy in being in a room full of people who are just as big of fans of a show as you are. The energy is indescribable. But somehow, that energy was still there.

 

As a viewer, you could see just how many hundreds of fans were watching with you from all over the world. The only real difference was that, this time, you got to watch from the comfort of your own home. You didn’t have to worry about someone next to you not smelling awesome after a day of walking a convention center, or tripping over someone’s bags as you found a seat.

 

In place of autograph and photo ops, fans could purchase one-on-one video chats with their favorite celebs.

 

Here’s a sad truth about most pop culture conventions; more often than not, a photo op is no more than 30 seconds, with an autograph generally totaling no more than two minutes. It’s not that the celebs don’t want to give fans more of their time, it’s that they physically can’t with the way the event is structured.

 

But with HomeCon’s one-on-ones, fans could speak to their favorite for five minutes, or upgrade to a 10-minute conversation.

 

And the cherry on top of it all wasn’t just that HomeCon was affordable, but that it helped a good cause. First Responders First, an organization that’s been helping to get PPE into the hands of those on the front lines, received 10 percent of the proceeds, with the rest going to charities of the actors’ choice.

 

The convention’s motto was simple: "Be Connected. Be Entertained. Be Safe."

 

It succeeded on all three fronts. With any luck, HomeCon will become a new mainstay in convention season.