MegaCon
MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large speculative fiction convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy, and gaming communities, often occurring in spring at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The convention is the largest Fan convention event in the Southern United States with an attendance of 120,000 recorded in 2019. History. The first comic book convention held in the Orlando area was OrlandoCon, held annually from 1974 to c. 1994. Regular guests included C. C. Beck, Floyd Gottfredson, and Hal Foster. MegaCon was founded by James Breitbiel and first held in  1993. The convention was acquired by the Tampa-based publisher CrossGen in 1999, with Elizabeth Widera brought on to run the show in 2000. (Breitbiel became CrossGen's Marketing and Distribution Director.) During this period, from 2000 to 2003, MegaCon heavily promoted CrossGen products and creators, to the frustration of some other exhibitors and attendees, although the show itself grew and thrived. In late 2003, Widera purchased the convention from the failing CrossGen, which was restructuring (the publisher went bankrupt in 2004). Widera, who is a board member of the comics charity The Hero Initiative, currently runs the show along  with her daughter Christine Alger. In September 2008, MegaCon headquarters moved from Safety Harbor to Live Oak, Florida, although the actual convention remains in Orlando. In 2009, in addition to the main show, held February 27–March 1, convention organizers produced a "mini-MegaCon" held August 22–23, the only one to date, featuring a number of actors from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV show. On April 7, 2015, it was announced that MegaCon had been sold to Informa. The con now operates under the auspices of Informa's Fan Expo group, which also runs Fan Expo Canada, Fan Expo  Dallas, and Fan Expo Boston. Following Megacon 2015 it was announced that for the first time Megacon will be extended to 4 days in 2016. Shortly after Megacon 2016, Megacon Tampa Bay was announced for October 28–30. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially planned to be held April 16–19 and June 4–7, it was replaced by a smaller "limited edition" "mini-MegaCon" with the next main event to be held on March 18–21, 2021. These dates were also cancelled with the next date, August 12–15 being a return to operations, though masks were mandated as  a measure to quell an outbreak of COVID-19. The 2021 was plagued with many guest cancellations due to pandemic-caused filming conflicts affecting many including Elijah Wood, Brendan Fraser, and James Marsters who were to be among the headline celebrities of the event. Events. Events include the Indy Film Festival, annual cosplay/costume contests, all-genre costume contest, panels, and rave dances. MegaCon also offers attendees the option of game playing. Current game systems offered are Dungeons & Dragons living campaigns, Living Forgotten Realms, Pathfinder Society and Legends of the Shining Jewel. Other non-campaign role playing games are offered. is  also offered in a card room, and board and strategic games are often on the dealer floor. Since 2001, MegaCon has also been the location of the long-running "Paranoia LIVE!" LARP, based on Mongoose Publishing's "Paranoia". Awards. In 2007, MegaCon hosted the first live presentation of the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards. In August 2008 MegaCon announced that it would host the first inaugural Project Fanboy Awards ceremony, awarding authors, writers and publishers with honors voted on by Internet users on the Project Fanboy website. The Project Fanboy Awards are now an ongoing event.