VIDEO: 2nd Annual Comic Con Conference

COLUMBUS, Miss.(WCBI)—Saturday people from all over the area flocked to the Columbus Trotter Convention Center for the 2nd annual Golden Triangle Comic Con.

What started out as just an idea among friends has grown into an event people look forward to all year.

“What we have here today is an experiment that turned out really, really nice. We had a feeling that things were going to go well base on how the reaction was last year. As you can see we were absolutely right,”said event organizer Zac Ashmore.

Ashmore and Christopher Tarantino spent countless months assembling this years conference.

“I go to a lot of conventions. My friends actually own other conventions and I work with them,” said event organizer Christopher Tarantino.

Ashmore says they had a little help.

“Clark Beverage Company has been helping us out a lot. If you see those big banners in the front, they printed those. EMCC has been a great sponsor for us. They’ve given us time and resources and they’ve been nothing but a help. Colin has been fantastic too. He’s been helping get the word out around town they’ve just been wonderful,”said Ashmore.

East Mississippi Community College hosts it’s own comic-gaming event but Brandon Sesser says the comic con works as a great teachable moment.

“We want to bring in more events where we are actually teaching people how to program as well as cyber awareness. How to protect yourself from any online threats and to be able to understand what’s going on in technology and how to have fun with it,”said EMCC Computer Programming teacher  Brandon Sesser.

Columbus resident Johnny Watson and his friends are attending this event for the first time.

” I’m really into the quote unquote nerd culture. I like coming out and experiencing this first hand,”said Watson.

Watson says he’s excited because this event because it generates a lot of traffic to the city.

“People come from out of town and they’re exposed to our community. They get a taste of what Columbus can bring to the table,”said Watson.

This year’s event, guests got to participate in video and board gaming tournaments, costume contests, and see vehicles on display from movies like: Ghost Busters, Scooby Doo, and Jurassic Park.

Tarantino says this event will only continue to grow with the help of the residents.

This event would not happen without the support of the community so we just want to make it better for next year,”said Tarantino.

This years event included 20 to 30 vendors this year.