So one of the best parts of running this blog is meeting new people. I’ve met a ton of new friends who are fans of the similar fandoms of me, I’ve met people with writing goals like me and I’ve met a ton of nerd girl bloggers that are seriously awesome.

And I thought, hey,why not do some blog swaps? Why not help each other out?

So here is the first of some of the blog swaps I’ve started.

Megan is from The Nerdy Girlie, specializing in fandoms like Doctor Who, Firefly, Sherlock, Chuck and more. She also knows her way around San Diego Comic Con. Check it out below!

The First Time I Found a Fandom: San Diego Comic Con 

By:  The Nerdy Girlie aka Megan

I had just recently moved to San Diego in January of 2009.  My husband is a professional and was able to get us both free passes to San Diego Comic Con almost on a whim.  That first year I was a total NOOB. It was our first full day in Ballroom 20 and the very first, and only panel we didn’t come to see, was Chuck.  Zachary Levi grabbed my attention immediately with his love and kindness toward his fans.  Adam Baldwin kept making jokes alluding to Firefly.  With that I went home and caught up on Chuck and Firefly and my nerdiness has been growing ever since.

In 2010 we attended Comic Con again, and you could say I was still a newbie con goer.  We stayed inside the convention center the entire con, but this time we did attend all five days, preview night included.  I did my first official early rise for the Chuck panel in Ballroom 20 where we saw them only one year earlier.  Twitter became my best friend that year.  By following Nathan Fillion, I was able to see a tweet he sent out just as we were about to leave for the day.  He was at the CA Browncoats booth signing Serenity comics.  I grabbed the fellow Browncoat of our group and we RAN flat out from one side of the convention center to the other and got in line.  We were able to get Nathan to sign my Serenity comic.  I was officially HOOKED on San Diego Comic Con!

I would have to say I began to get more obsessed in 2011.  It’s a bit harder when you have others with you, and you all want to do different things, like sleep in.  But they all quickly learned the first rule of Comic Con is that you do NOT sleep in!  That year it seemed you had to get to the con earlier and earlier to get a good seat — or a seat at all.  We entirely skipped Ballroom 20 that year, and instead hit up the Hilton Bayfront Indigo Ballroom.  Arriving at 6 a.m. still left us about 200 deep in line.  I got to meet my very first celebrities {the cast of Being Human U.S.} and had a blast at Nerd HQ.  We did not plan to go to any of their panels, but thanks again to Twitter, I saw that the Nathan Fillion panel had extra seats right before it was to begin.  We were able to get in and have Joshua Gomez and Ryan McParlin sit directly behind us!

Every Comic Con I attend keeps getting better and better.  I learn so much more every year, get to see more celebs, and learn what dedication to a fandom really means.  In 2012, I was one of the thousands in line to see the 10th anniversary Firefly panel.  I again turned to my best friend Twitter for an estimate on when to arrive.  Some said 5 a.m., some said 1 a.m.  We ended up arriving in line at 2 a.m. with sleeping bags in tow.  I got a bit of sleep, but was awakened to shouts of “Joss is here!”  What a way to wake up!  I was able to get his autograph and a picture with him.  I was pleasantly surprised by how sweet and kind he was.  Thanking everyone for camping out and keeping Firefly alive.  He had one of the highest grossing films of all time and he took the time to walk a fan line at 3 o’clock in the morning.  That’s Comic Con in a nut shell.  Fans and the people they love coming together and spreading the love.

2013 will be my fifth year at San Diego Comic Con and I can only hope that it continues on its upward climb of awesomeness.  If anything I just am glad to be there with awesome nerds and if I can share what I have learned with just one person and help them have a great con, I will be happy.

You can read my San Diego Comic Con Guide at my blog www.thenerdygirlie.com