Pop culture conventions are often known for their long lines, cutthroat ticket sales, and jam-packed show floors—along with a passionate fan community that’s happy to put up with it all, of course. But a new fan experience aims to remove some of those barriers by creating a free, global convention—hosted entirely in virtual reality (VR).
FanConXR, which takes place on Sept. 24, 2022, will be a one-day, virtual comic convention that gives fans around the world free access to panels, publishers, Hollywood talent, comic creators, cosplay contests, and more. The event is being produced by Big Rock Creative, the team behind an award-winning official Virtual Burning Man Experience, along with UX content strategy company Partikle Digital and Los Angeles-based retail store Golden Apple Comics. 
The convention will be split into five different areas; some will nod to a traditional comic convention, while others will take on surreal and futuristic themes that lean into the possibilities of VR. Fans will design their own avatars and explore the space, interacting with popular creators and with each other.Photo: Courtesy of FanConXR
The idea was borne when Partikle's Kari Dietrich attended the virtual Burning Man space in 2020 and was blown away by the capabilities of the medium. She immediately knew she wanted to work on something with Big Rock Creative’s Athena Demos and Doug Jacobsen, and, upon chatting with her sister and brother-in-law—Golden Apple Comics owners Kendra and Ryan Liebowitz—she realized that comic conventions could be a natural fit.
“When most of us experience something transcendent, we naturally want to share it far and wide,” Dietrich said. “We’re working to create a singular virtual con experience open to comic fans around the globe.”
For Ryan Liebowitz—who had dealt with temporary store closures and observed diminished convention attendance during the pandemic—the time was right to try something new, and to cater to fans and creators who aren’t as eager to attend in-person shows right now due to COVID-19 concerns, travel and ticket expenses, or even just the time commitment required.
“You don’t need a badge. There are no travel expenses, no hotel rooms, no $15 hot dogs," he said about FanConXR. "It’s all freely accessible, and that’s why we jumped in with two feet.” 
There will also be a virtual replica of the Golden Apple Comics shop, which the team initially created as a testing ground for the concept.Photo: Courtesy of FanConXR
The virtual world will have multiple spaces that nod to a regular convention environment—with plenty of tongue-in-cheek twists that are only made possible by the virtual space, teased Dietrich and Liebowitz. Five different areas will each have a different theme, including a futuristic, city-inspired space, along with an Avatar-like world and even a zombie apocalypse area.
While there won’t be the standard convention booths—“nobody’s selling anything within our world, though we will have links and discount codes for publishers' websites,” Liebowitz said—there will be comic writers and artists within the virtual space interacting with fans and appearing on panels. Plans are also in the works for interactive art contests, as well as a cosplay contest with attendees' VR avatars.
“It's a lot about interaction and fandom and less about walking around a convention floor, looking to buy things, or standing in line to win a raffle," said Liebowitz, who doesn't rule out the possibility of virtual booths in future editions. But for the inaugural event, the team wanted the fan experience to be "curious and free flowing," he said. 
On a technical note, breaking the world into different, themed areas actually helps the team manage the server memory, Dietrich explained. “So it will have the experience of being totally cohesive and consistent and one whole thing, but they're actually individual spaces to help balance that load of participants,” she said.Photo: Courtesy of FanConXR
Attendees will be able to enter the event either with a VR headset—which will allow for a fully immersive experience—or simply from their laptops, all via VR platform Altspace VR. (Fans will also be able watch programming on FanConXR’s YouTube page.) The team plans to host optional Zoom calls leading up to the event where attendees who are new to virtual reality can learn how to navigate the event.
That type of accessibility and inclusivity drove every aspect of the team's decision-making, they said, which is why there will be programming running at various times throughout the event in order to be accessible to fans in most time zones. It's also why they decided not to charge for tickets. “There’s already a slight barrier to entry to having to adapt to VR, so we didn’t want to add another barrier. We just really want everybody to feel totally welcome," Dietrich said.
Liebowitz found that most publishers, creators, and other exhibitors he spoke with were excited by the idea; big-deal publishers like Aftershock Comics and creators like Garth Ennis (known for writing popular comics like The Boys and Preacher) are already signed on, with many more being announced in the coming weeks. “Comic book creators and publishers tend to be pretty old school—they’re still printing physical media, after all—but almost everyone has been open to it. Everyone is open to trying something new right now," he said. 
Additional featured creators will include Sebastian Jones, Blake Northcott, Brian Buccellato, Brian Hawkins, George Romero Jr., and Dan Parent, while comics journalist Heidi MacDonald will serve as moderator. More names, along with panel times, are being announced weekly leading up to the event.Photo: Courtesy of FanConXR
“I also think this is a first step on that path for how comics and VR can merge, and I think a lot of people want to be a part of that,” Dietrich added.
The team hopes this initial event will serve as a proof of concept, and continue growing over the years. “It’s an experiment. We’re going to see how this goes and what works and doesn’t,” said Liebowitz, who views this as an add-on to in-person conventions, rather than a replacement.
“We want this to exist in a new dimension. We want people to come from all over the world—any and all communities that just love comic books and fandom and TV and movies."
