I may be wrong but it seemed like at one point, the end of the line to meet Sergio and to get him to sign something was somewhere in South Carolina. It was at the very least in some other Zip Code. I don't think he got to leave his table and see some of the convention so this post is for him…
Sergio, you missed wandering the halls and seeing a high percentage of tables not manned by dealers selling books but by other artists and writers selling and signing their wares. I can't recall another convention where the "Artists Alley" part so dwarfed the "Sell Comics" part. If you were there to fill in your collection, there was plenty of the latter. But if you mainly wanted to meet creators and get them to write their names on their creations, you'd come to the right place.
I really enjoyed roaming the premises talking with folks I knew, by reputation if not by prior contact. Among them were Klaus Janson, Steve Saffel, Kevin Nowlan, Tom Grummett, Andy Hirsch, Neal Adams, Colleen Doran, Athena Finger, Keith Tucker, Jerry Ordway, Mike Royer, Billy Tucci, Charles Vess, Joe Giella, Craig Yoe, John Beatty, Steve Rowe and I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of people…like, say, Don Rosa. That's Don and me in the photo below and I was a lot happier throughout my time at Heroes Con than I appear to be in the picture.
I guess I judge conventions largely on their mood. The mood at Heroes Con seemed very, very pleasant and friendly, making it a great place to spend two days. Ringmaster Shelton Drum and his staff do a great job of making not just folks like you and me feel welcome, Sergio. Seemed to me that everyone who walked in the door felt welcome. And like you, I really enjoyed that barbecue last night at Shelton's store.
Lastly and speaking of food: I learned that the on-the-bone chicken at Bojangles Fried Chicken is really, really good and the Chicken Tenders, coated with too much batter and spice, are not. This will be handy to know any time I am in North Carolina because the state seems to have more Bojangles than people. But it's been a great trip, making me very sorry we missed the first day of it. Maybe next time…