Episode 226

full
Published on:

5th Oct 2024

From Columbia to Myrtle Beach: Expanding the Comic Con Experience!

This episode of the All About Nothing Podcast dives deep into the exciting plans for the upcoming Coastal Comic Con, highlighting its return for a second year in March 2025. Hosts Barrett Gruber and Donald Brock Junior, joined by Leroy Green, discuss the logistics of organizing such an event and the unique challenges they face in different locations, including Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. They reflect on the previous Soda City Comic Con, sharing insights about the positive feedback from vendors and attendees, and emphasizing the importance of personal interactions with celebrity guests. The conversation also touches on the evolving landscape of comic conventions, including the growing demand for voice actors and the intricacies of bringing international talent to local events. With a focus on community engagement and a commitment to creating memorable experiences, this episode showcases the vibrant culture surrounding comic conventions and the hard work behind the scenes that makes it all possible.

Click here for Episode Show Notes!

Click Here to see available advertising packages!

Click Here for information on the "Fair Use Copyright Notice" for this podcast.

Mentioned in this episode:

Everplay Sports and Social - Late Fall 2024

Super Rec Kickball-SUNDAY🔵 (Registration till Oct 7) Sand Volleyball-TUESDAY🏐 (Registration till Oct 7) Bowling-TUESDAY🎳 (Registration till Oct 23) Flag Football-WEDNESDAY🏈 (Registration till Oct 7)

Everplay Sports & Social League

ZJZ Designs - Halloween Prints

Check out FIVE all new Halloween Prints, from ZJZ Designs!

ZJZ Designs

Transcript
Barrett Gruber:

The all about nothing podcast may have language and content that isn't appropriate for some listener.

Barrett Gruber:

Discretion is advised.

Donald Brock Junior:

Welcome, nothingers, to another episode of the all about nothing podcast.

Donald Brock Junior:

This is episode number 226.

Donald Brock Junior:

I am Barrett Gruber, and I am joined this week by Mister Donald Brock Junior and Zach's replacement for this episode, Mister Leroy Green.

Donald Brock Junior:

Welcome, fellas.

Leroy Green:

What's up, man?

Leroy Green:

How you guys doing today?

Donald Brock Junior:

Good.

Donald Brock Junior:

Thanks for thanks for joining me.

Donald Brock Junior:

And breaking news.

Donald Brock Junior:

So when you're listening to this on the Monday that it releases, Hurricane Helene just made category four status a few short hours before it actually makes landfall.

Donald Brock Junior:

So please subscribe to the show, share the show.

Donald Brock Junior:

That's how we get new listeners.

Donald Brock Junior:

Also, if you could, please consider supporting the show financially by visiting our website and clicking on the support link.

Donald Brock Junior:

If you can't do that, please drop us a review, hit five stars, give us a thumbs up, or leave us a comment.

Donald Brock Junior:

All that helps drive us up higher in the show ratings on all these podcast platforms.

Donald Brock Junior:

Thank real quick, Shelby Spencer and Oshawn McClendon.

Donald Brock Junior:

Hall of Horrors opens.

Donald Brock Junior:

Actually, it is open now.

Donald Brock Junior:

It's open through the rest of October, Friday nights, Saturday nights as well.

Donald Brock Junior:

Sunday, October 27, Wednesday, October 30 and Thursday, October 31.

Donald Brock Junior:

You can visit the hall of fours.org for tickets and details.

Donald Brock Junior:

Also want to mention ever play sports and socials?

Donald Brock Junior:

Late fall signups are going on now for seven week bowling at Bolero and Casey.

Donald Brock Junior:

That's going to be through October 23, so visit everplaysocial.com for details and registration.

Donald Brock Junior:

So Donald Brock Junior, who is a council member from Blythewood, and I'm going to mention it every time because you're one of the few politicians that comes on enough that I get to mention it.

Donald Brock Junior:

Leroy Green, obviously host with Michael Patterson of Nerdy by Nature Productions of we are.

Donald Brock Junior:

We're trying the we trying channel.

Leroy Green:

Yep, that's us.

Donald Brock Junior:

YouTube.

Donald Brock Junior:

So make sure to check that out.

Donald Brock Junior:

We are going to discuss Comic Con today.

Donald Brock Junior:

We've had about a month or so to recover.

Donald Brock Junior:

Do you feel recovered yet, Brock?

Barrett Gruber:

I know I never recovered.

Barrett Gruber:

It's on to something else, so, no.

Donald Brock Junior:

Well, yeah, I would say because, well, I guess we'll just go ahead and break the news.

Donald Brock Junior:

Coastal Comic Con is on.

Barrett Gruber:

It's coming back for a year, too.

Donald Brock Junior:

What are the details?

Donald Brock Junior:

Weekend, what are we looking at?

Barrett Gruber:

Yep.

Barrett Gruber:

Two day event in Wilmington, North Carolina, at the Wilmington Convention center, which is right downtown Wilmington.

Barrett Gruber:

They got a bunch of rain either last week or the weekend before, so they're in the process of drying out.

Barrett Gruber:

We're about to get a lot of rain over the next day or so, and then we'll start that process.

Barrett Gruber:

and second of:

Barrett Gruber:

So we've got about what, let's see, October, November, December, 5 months or so between now and then to get that show on the road.

Barrett Gruber:

Very similar setup to Soda City.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we have our exhibit hall with vendors and artists.

Barrett Gruber:

We'll have the VR room.

Barrett Gruber:

We have a panel room.

Barrett Gruber:

We have our celebrity guests.

Barrett Gruber:

We have the vintage video game room put on by retro reaction.

Barrett Gruber:

I always want to say retro rewind.

Barrett Gruber:

I guess that's from my vhs days, but I think it's retro reaction.

Barrett Gruber:

They're there.

Barrett Gruber:

And, you know, again, it's a very similar setup to Soda City.

Barrett Gruber:

So it's just kind of taking our model and what we think works and what we, what we found that people enjoy and just taking it to another market.

Barrett Gruber:

And of course, you know, we're starting a third show next year in Myrtle beach as well, which is really.

Barrett Gruber:

Yep.

Barrett Gruber:

Oh, you didn't know this?

Leroy Green:

No, I didn't.

Leroy Green:

This is brand new.

Leroy Green:

This is brand new information.

Barrett Gruber:

Oh, there we go.

Barrett Gruber:

There we go.

Barrett Gruber:

It's called Boardwalk Comic Con.

Barrett Gruber:

And it's at Myrtle beach.

Barrett Gruber:

And it is October, I think fourth and fifth.

Barrett Gruber:

It's the first weekend in October in Myrtle Beach.

Barrett Gruber:

I think it's the fourth and the fifth.

Donald Brock Junior:

That's outstanding.

Barrett Gruber:

Again, similar setup.

Barrett Gruber:

We, Myrtle beach will be very interesting because it'll all be in one room.

Barrett Gruber:

They have a one, their exhibit hall is three salons, or whatever you want to call them.

Barrett Gruber:

It's about combined.

Barrett Gruber:

It's a, it's a smidge under 101,000 sqft.

Barrett Gruber:

So it's the largest space we've ever taken.

Barrett Gruber:

It's all contiguous.

Barrett Gruber:

There's no columns or anything like that.

Barrett Gruber:

So it's going to be interesting to see how we kind of set this up simply because like our panels will be in this, in the same room, our video games, our exhibit halls will all be in there just because we may have to, you know, one, do one of the floating walls or air walls three quarters of the way to kind of prevent too much overflow noise or something.

Barrett Gruber:

But yeah, we'll figure it out.

Barrett Gruber:

We're not the first to do this in one room and we certainly won't be the last.

Barrett Gruber:

But a lot of the people down in Myrtle beach, especially a lot of city leaders, a lot of CVB leaders, are extremely excited about this event.

Barrett Gruber:

We've met with them.

Barrett Gruber:

We hosted someone from Myrtle beach this past year we hosted at Sota City.

Barrett Gruber:

We hosted someone from.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, I'll just go ahead and say it, not that it matters, someone from Greensboro.

Barrett Gruber:

We've looked at, you know, that market and we're always looking for new places to go and expand.

Barrett Gruber:

And the lady that came up from Myrtle beach was just, is just beyond excited.

Barrett Gruber:

I actually have a little trailer that I'll send you merit.

Barrett Gruber:

You can drop it at the end of this video.

Barrett Gruber:

You want to beach?

Barrett Gruber:

It's kind of a cool little teaser.

Barrett Gruber:

So next year we will have three events.

Barrett Gruber:

So you say, are you rested and recovered?

Barrett Gruber:

No, it doesn't ever stop.

Barrett Gruber:

The only benefit is that you can create economies of scale when you have multiple events.

Barrett Gruber:

Because if you find somebody that you think works in market a, you can just tag them and bring them into market b and market c.

Barrett Gruber:

And, you know, you can kind of kill a bunch of birds with 1 st.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, that, and, you know, we've, we've had a waiting list for Soda City for years.

Barrett Gruber:

We don't have enough space in Wilmington, so filling up, I don't believe filling up and having, you know, top notch vendors and artists in Myrtle beach will be a problem.

Barrett Gruber:

And they've.

Barrett Gruber:

We've even seen people online say, I really wish there was a show in Myrtle beach.

Barrett Gruber:

Guess what?

Barrett Gruber:

There's got to be.

Barrett Gruber:

We're coming, you know.

Donald Brock Junior:

So amid did an episode of welcome to Wonderland this past week with James Maxey, who is one of the authors that comes to, or has been to Comic Con here.

Donald Brock Junior:

So does city Comic Con.

Donald Brock Junior:

And he was excited to find out that there is going to be.

Donald Brock Junior:

That coastal Comic Con was going to be back.

Donald Brock Junior:

be taking place in October of:

Donald Brock Junior:

So at least from a, from, you know, vendor standpoint, it sounds like they're prepared to ride this with you and your staff.

Barrett Gruber:

Rock, I think so a lot of vendors have.

Barrett Gruber:

We kind of made the official announcement, announcement for Boardwalk at Soda City this year, and a lot of people literally wanted to sign up on the spot.

Barrett Gruber:

And while I am, I, you know, I'm not averse to taking.

Barrett Gruber:

Taking people's money when they want to throw it at me.

Barrett Gruber:

I was like, you know, you got to give us a little bit of time to create a floor plan to kind of give for us to kind of lay it out and see what it's going to look like.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, I certainly never want to promise people something and then not be able to deliver.

Barrett Gruber:

So that would be a, in my opinion, a bad way to get started.

Barrett Gruber:

So, yeah, you know, we're going to have to do a couple of more site visits.

Barrett Gruber:

We're going to work out a little bit of them.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, iron out some of the, some of the details from the logistical standpoint, but, you know, parking is not a problem in Myrtle beach.

Barrett Gruber:

Finding a room is not a problem in Myrtle beach.

Barrett Gruber:

It's a big ass convention center.

Barrett Gruber:

There's a hotel connected right to it, a Sheraton.

Barrett Gruber:

So you can stay at the hotel, literally come down the elevator, walk across the, what do they call that?

Barrett Gruber:

The lobby, I guess.

Barrett Gruber:

I don't know.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

And then you go into the convention center.

Barrett Gruber:

So it'll be, it'll be, it'll be, it'll be a cool event, I think, in Myrtle Beach.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, it's the beach.

Barrett Gruber:

It's comic con at the beach.

Barrett Gruber:

What is not to like?

Barrett Gruber:

And it shouldn't be too terribly hot.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, it's right after Labor Day weekend.

Donald Brock Junior:

But, and, and not to, not to put down Myrtle beach at all.

Donald Brock Junior:

But that's off season.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

And rooms are a lot less expensive.

Barrett Gruber:

They are.

Barrett Gruber:

We're, and we're gonna, we're gonna work with the local tourism authority and we're gonna get some, some room rates and some room blocks.

Barrett Gruber:

And I, you know, make sure that people can get down there affordable, have affordable weekend.

Donald Brock Junior:

That's awesome.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

We might even come up with some packages where you buy tickets and hotels and all that stuff, and you can get it even cheaper.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, the sky's the limit, really, in my opinion, with this.

Barrett Gruber:

And I think that Myrtle beach, it's not your mom and dad's Myrtle beach anymore.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, a lot, what do they call it?

Barrett Gruber:

Used to call it Dirty Myrtle or Myrtle Manor.

Barrett Gruber:

I think that was one of the shows that they had on one of those.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

Tv stations or tv.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

It didn't exactly paint it in a positive light.

Barrett Gruber:

It's not like that anymore.

Barrett Gruber:

We went down to Myrtle beach to do an on site.

Barrett Gruber:

Oh, God.

Barrett Gruber:

I guess it was back in, it might have been in April of this year.

Barrett Gruber:

The only reason I remember that, because I went to, I went to watch a hockey game on Sunday night and then drove down after the game from Raleigh to Myrtle beach and spent the night and then did a site on site Monday morning.

Barrett Gruber:

But it's, it's, it's completely different.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, they're really working to clean it up.

Barrett Gruber:

There's a lot of young families that have moved from, from the northeast from the midwest, from, you know, areas, I don't.

Barrett Gruber:

What do you call Texas and I guess the southwest?

Barrett Gruber:

I don't know.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah, yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

But you know, a lot.

Barrett Gruber:

Hori county is one of the fastest growing counties in the state.

Barrett Gruber:

And South Carolina, according to the US Census Bureau, is the fastest growing state in the nation.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yes.

Barrett Gruber:

Shockingly, I never would have thought that.

Barrett Gruber:

But, you know, a lot of people, especially with the advent of remote work, are moving from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey.

Barrett Gruber:

They're selling their houses up there, they're getting top dollar.

Barrett Gruber:

They're coming down to South Carolina.

Barrett Gruber:

They're buying a house most of the time in cash, and they've got a bunch of cash in their pocket.

Barrett Gruber:

We can have an economics lesson if we want, but they're buying these houses with cash, and then they've got a pocket full of cash left over and they can do their remote work so they can get New York and Pennsylvania and New Jersey salaries, living in, you know, South Carolina expenses.

Barrett Gruber:

It's working out great.

Barrett Gruber:

The schools are getting better.

Barrett Gruber:

It's for a lot of people, it's a win win.

Barrett Gruber:

And I mean, we're seeing that here in the midlands.

Barrett Gruber:

I know they're seeing it in the upstate.

Barrett Gruber:

It's not unique to the low country.

Donald Brock Junior:

So taxes are cheaper here in South Carolina.

Barrett Gruber:

I don't know about Richland county, but, but yeah, some other places they are.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

Lexington, Richland.

Barrett Gruber:

Yee.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

I know.

Donald Brock Junior:

We're definitely excited about coastal Comic con because that wouldn't be in the next one up.

Donald Brock Junior:

I assume they're.

Donald Brock Junior:

Because it is just been inked that everything.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah, yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

That the likelihood is we don't have any, anyone to announce yet.

Donald Brock Junior:

As far as potential.

Barrett Gruber:

No, but you know, it's probably fair to say that Wilmington's a little over 3 hours away.

Barrett Gruber:

So I don't know how many people traveled from Wilmington or the Wilmington area, other than Steve and his wife and mother in law came from Wilmington to Columbia.

Barrett Gruber:

So it's safe to say that you could see some of the same guests that we've had in years past at Soda City go to Wilmington simply because, you know, they want to meet the same people too.

Barrett Gruber:

could see the same guests in:

Barrett Gruber:

You could see the same guest at Coastal Soda City and at Boardwalk, because again, sometimes it's easier just to kill three birds with 1 st.

Barrett Gruber:

If you've got a guest that you like and you think, you think that the, you know, the general audience is going to like it, just sign them for all three shows.

Barrett Gruber:

Sometimes you can get a better deal.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, it's like buying in bulk.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Leroy Green:

Like to see it.

Leroy Green:

Coastal, that was fed the last show.

Barrett Gruber:

Who would I like to see?

Barrett Gruber:

Or who would you like to see?

Leroy Green:

Yeah.

Leroy Green:

No, who would you like to see?

Barrett Gruber:

Well, we all saw what Peter Cullen did.

Leroy Green:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

Fantastic.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, it's.

Barrett Gruber:

It's hard to argue that he wouldn't make a great guest.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, I don't know if they would be interested in doing a first year show, which Boardwalk would be, but we're not a first year.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we're not a first year event.

Barrett Gruber:

I wouldn't look at Boardwalk, and I didn't look at coastal this past march as a first year event.

Barrett Gruber:

It was a.

Barrett Gruber:

It was a.

Barrett Gruber:

It was an event.

Barrett Gruber:

A new location.

Barrett Gruber:

But we already had eight soda cities under our belt, so it's not like we didn't know what we were doing.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

So, again, we all saw what Peter Cullen did.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, he, you know, Steve.

Barrett Gruber:

And I like to think, or Steve more so than me, because he tells me all the time how cheap I am.

Barrett Gruber:

And he's not wrong.

Barrett Gruber:

It's true.

Barrett Gruber:

It's true.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm a bit of a fiscal conservative, so he's not wrong.

Barrett Gruber:

But a guest like Colin moved the needle.

Barrett Gruber:

We saw an increase in attendance, and whether somebody shows up to meet a celebrity, get an autograph or not, just shows up and look, they all come through the gate, right?

Barrett Gruber:

And so we are continuing to look for individuals that are needle movers that are going to actually inspire people to get off their asses and come out and hang out with us for the weekend.

Barrett Gruber:

And I'm hoping that you two clowns are going to be there this year, broadcasting, interviewing.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm glad you're on the podcast, Leroy, because I was actually thinking about you.

Barrett Gruber:

I was laying in the bed the other day.

Barrett Gruber:

Night, don't go there.

Barrett Gruber:

And you popped into my head.

Leroy Green:

And why would I go there?

Leroy Green:

Viewed me that.

Donald Brock Junior:

Of course you were awake.

Leroy Green:

I mean, yeah, I have a halo up here.

Donald Brock Junior:

One more button.

Donald Brock Junior:

One more button.

Leroy Green:

All right.

Barrett Gruber:

So, no, I actually.

Barrett Gruber:

I actually did think about you the other night, and I only say that because I wanted to.

Barrett Gruber:

And again, I'm glad you're here, because I also meant to call Barrett, like, hey, get Leeward to join.

Barrett Gruber:

But then he told me, I was like, oh, great.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, you've already read my mind.

Barrett Gruber:

But I remember you went around and you tried to interview as many of the guests as you could, and I wanted to ask you.

Barrett Gruber:

No one on one eyes you how that turned out.

Barrett Gruber:

And number two, I wanted to hit you up and say, hey, get me some edited videos and then talking.

Leroy Green:

So, since we've done the.

Leroy Green:

Done the event, me and Michael, we talked about it, and we did.

Leroy Green:

We tried to.

Leroy Green:

We literally tried to hit every single person.

Leroy Green:

And I have to say, this event was.

Leroy Green:

I won't say was the easiest.

Leroy Green:

Like, we worked.

Leroy Green:

Like, we didn't sit down because we were literally, like, as soon as we saw Lul, we were like, okay, let's go see if we can get this person.

Leroy Green:

Let's see if we can get this person.

Leroy Green:

The only person.

Leroy Green:

The only two we missed was Carrie Payton and Sam Witwer.

Leroy Green:

And only reason why is because every time we were doing an interview, we would see the lull that Witwer and Kerry would do, and then when they got busy, we would, like.

Leroy Green:

It's literally like we're watching.

Leroy Green:

And then.

Leroy Green:

So we missed those two.

Leroy Green:

Those were the two that we missed that we did want to get.

Leroy Green:

It was great.

Leroy Green:

I'm not gonna lie to you.

Leroy Green:

Like, it was one.

Leroy Green:

You don't.

Leroy Green:

The one thing that we're trying to do, and we can talk about this later, you want to get somebody who actually wants to do an interview, but also be conscious of their time, because every time you talk to me, you could be missing out on an interaction with the fan.

Leroy Green:

And, yes, I am a fan, but that's.

Leroy Green:

I don't want to take somebody else's opportunity to meet Optimus prime or Wolverine or the voice of Storm, you know, like, that's a.

Leroy Green:

I can fan boy out later.

Leroy Green:

You know, you can handle you what you need to do.

Leroy Green:

I have to say, this was me and Michael.

Leroy Green:

We talked about it.

Leroy Green:

This was.

Leroy Green:

I'm trying to.

Leroy Green:

I'm trying to articulate this appropriately.

Leroy Green:

This was the most work we did outside of when we worked at the station.

Leroy Green:

But this, I want to say, elicited the most emotional response because of the people we got to talk to, because of the fans that we were, of their work.

Leroy Green:

So, perfect example.

Leroy Green:

Michael interviewed Roger Clark.

Barrett Gruber:

So for surprise hit, by the way.

Leroy Green:

So, like, for those people played Red Dead Redemption, he has other things that he's done, but a lot of people known for Red Dead redemption, the motion capture, all that stuff.

Leroy Green:

So, as we're interviewing Roger, guy is on the other side, watching and freaking geeking out, because unbeknownst to a lot of people, and it's in the interview that we did with Guy, one of Gee's first projects was working with Roger.

Barrett Gruber:

So they knew each other I did not know.

Barrett Gruber:

Yes.

Leroy Green:

So they.

Leroy Green:

So, like, so as we're doing guys interview, so we did Rogers interview, Michael did that one.

Leroy Green:

And Roger's like, this is the first time I've come to Columbia.

Barrett Gruber:

This is great.

Leroy Green:

I really like this here.

Leroy Green:

You know, as we're doing the interview, geez.

Leroy Green:

Kind of geeking out.

Leroy Green:

So then we do Gee's interview a little later, and he was like, I was wondering when you guys would get to me.

Leroy Green:

And then we realized guy went to lander.

Leroy Green:

Yeah, on a tennis scholarship.

Leroy Green:

So as we're doing the interview, Roger walks through the interview, and you have this moment of them talking about, like, working on a video game back in the, you know, years back, and just Roger just being really appreciative of the fact that people are still loving Red Dead redemption.

Leroy Green:

People are still enjoying the game.

Leroy Green:

And he's like, you know, this is about six years later, and people are, I'm still getting that love from this game.

Leroy Green:

So that was like, that's that little, I don't.

Leroy Green:

That six degrees of separation, you know, Kevin Bacon, whatever.

Leroy Green:

That guy came to South Carolina.

Leroy Green:

He's back in South Carolina.

Leroy Green:

He is on a panel, and he's in an, he's in a celebrity room where somebody that he worked with is in South Carolina with him that he.

Leroy Green:

Years ago.

Leroy Green:

And so, like, you have this awesome moment, then you, you have somebody like, you know, you know, Matthew Watterson who's like, I didn't.

Leroy Green:

I knew about X Men 97.

Leroy Green:

He's the voice of a magneto.

Leroy Green:

I knew about the X Men.

Leroy Green:

I knew about the animated series.

Leroy Green:

I knew about working, you know, with a team, but I didn't realize what I was getting into.

Leroy Green:

Like, he knew the weight of the character, but he didn't realize, like, if they would accept him.

Leroy Green:

You know, you're taking over this voice.

Leroy Green:

You're the new guy.

Leroy Green:

And hearing him have the affinity for the character, one of my favorite characters of all time.

Leroy Green:

And hearing him say, oh, I really appreciated this.

Leroy Green:

The fans accepted me, but I really went into this, like, hoping I do a good job.

Leroy Green:

And that's really cool to actually talk to people who, like, you know, I mean, we've all heard the different things where, like, if you remember back in the day, being a television actor was not as big as being a movie actor.

Leroy Green:

You know, being an animated actor, you know, a voice actor was not, you know, you weren't considered, you know, a real actor, so to speak.

Leroy Green:

You know, these connotations that you get or these stereotypes or assumptions.

Leroy Green:

And it's like, and you get to talk to these people and they're realizing the fan base.

Leroy Green:

One of the things, the unique thing, I don't know if you guys listen to the panel, that x men 97 panel I thought was so amazing, and everybody echoed it, and it made me mad when I heard it, every time I heard it.

Leroy Green:

But then I thought about it, I was like, it was a little bit of pain for something greater.

Leroy Green:

So everybody on the X Men panel, who was one of the original voiced actors from back in the day, in the nineties, did not realize how big and popular the show was.

Leroy Green:

They didn't realize how much the fans appreciated them and enjoyed their work.

Leroy Green:

So when me and Michael talked to Alison Seeley Smith, when we interviewed her, she talks about being a shut in.

Leroy Green:

She talks about not getting out there, not interacting, and not even knowing that comic book conventions happened, and not knowing that there was a love for her as storm and didn't realize the, the effect that she had.

Leroy Green:

And it's one of those things where she talks about representation matters because it's not just the fact of you get to see somebody, you get to see yourself, you other people get to see people who they don't normally get to see in different positions in different situations.

Leroy Green:

And I'm working on one of the videos because her interview, her interview brought me to tears.

Leroy Green:

Yeah, I had to walk away at one.

Leroy Green:

Me and Michael, she profoundly, like, I don't think people understand.

Leroy Green:

And that's why I said, for her to hear and see the outpouring support was amazing.

Leroy Green:

And for them to realize, like, a lot of people forget when the X Men movies came out, remember the X Men cartoon came out.

Leroy Green:

The anime series came out first, then the movies came out.

Leroy Green:

People were upset.

Leroy Green:

Halle Berry was cast as storm because the voice that Allison gave us as storm was not Halle Berry.

Leroy Green:

Like, that's how powerful the voice actor, Allison's voice was, voicing storm, that Halle Berry was cast.

Leroy Green:

And people were like, nope, not buying it.

Leroy Green:

And you're like, that's Halle Berry, man.

Leroy Green:

And you're like, nope, doesn't sound like her.

Leroy Green:

Doesn't bring the gravitas.

Leroy Green:

I want that.

Leroy Green:

And that's the kind of thing that they got to experience coming to soda City, that they've got the experience when they go to these conventions, meeting fans and realizing, one, my work was important.

Leroy Green:

It wasn't just a silly cartoon.

Leroy Green:

The situations that we were put in, the voices that we did resonated with people to the point where as a legacy sequel, it works.

Leroy Green:

People literally came out in droves.

Leroy Green:

I saw so many people dressed as storm, rogue, Wolverine.

Leroy Green:

You know, I saw a bunch of people dressed as the entire X Men 97 cast.

Leroy Green:

We posted those pictures.

Leroy Green:

So it was, I hated how they did not know this work was important.

Leroy Green:

Like, that hurt me every single time because I'm thinking, oh, they're just living it up.

Leroy Green:

They're just really appreciative.

Leroy Green:

And to not know that there were rooms of fan mail that never got answered, that they had no idea that this work meant so much to so many people, but to see the way that they got to appreciate it and sitting on that panel, seeing different, I mean, small children coming up, grown adults who got to introduce, who watched the X Men cartoons when they were a kid and then got to introduced that cartoon to their children.

Leroy Green:

That's a powerful thing, and it's a powerful thing that we got to experience here in soda city, here in South Carolina, because let's be honest, for a while, South Carolina sometimes would know you talked about dirty myrtle.

Leroy Green:

We were not known for good things for a while.

Leroy Green:

It seemed like every time you turn on the news in South Carolina was in it, it was like, oh, what happened now?

Leroy Green:

And so to have something like soda city, to have something big on them in the nerd world on the stage, you know, having these guests who are, who can go anywhere else, they came here, they spent their time, and they enjoyed it.

Leroy Green:

That was the one thing that everybody said if they.

Leroy Green:

A lot of people who had never been here were like, huh?

Leroy Green:

I really like this.

Leroy Green:

I really like Columbia.

Leroy Green:

I really like South Carolina, and I really like this event.

Leroy Green:

And Peter Cullen said it, roger Clark said it.

Leroy Green:

Every single person that we interview was like, wow.

Leroy Green:

And that was for somebody like me, I really enjoyed that.

Leroy Green:

And so that was really cool to have somebody basically, who comes to your home, you invite them, and they're like, who have a really nice home.

Leroy Green:

And you're like, yeah, I do.

Barrett Gruber:

Wow.

Leroy Green:

And so that was one of the coolest things about it, like, really getting to talk to people and people whose work you admire and them actually being, you know, they always say, don't meet your heroes.

Leroy Green:

No, this was really cool to meet all of these.

Leroy Green:

Everybody was cool.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Leroy Green:

And that was what, you know, there was no bad fan interaction.

Leroy Green:

It was like, like, we would sit back, me and Michael, and kind of watch and just watch.

Leroy Green:

People just walk up and just like, you see little kids with little stuff in their hand and their little cosplay walking up, you know, or adults walking up to Peter Cullen with a transformer you know, like.

Leroy Green:

And then walking away and seeing that look on their face, that's what this shit is about, man.

Leroy Green:

So.

Donald Brock Junior:

And he didn't.

Donald Brock Junior:

You didn't mention Michael Bell.

Donald Brock Junior:

Did you all get to talk to Michael Bella?

Leroy Green:

I did.

Donald Brock Junior:

Michael Bell is the dirtiest old man I've ever met in my entire life.

Donald Brock Junior:

But he was.

Donald Brock Junior:

He was so much fun, like, because so.

Donald Brock Junior:

So Zach and I got to interview Michael Bell.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was at the end of the day, every.

Donald Brock Junior:

Every.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was on the end of the day Saturday, and everything was sort of shutting down.

Donald Brock Junior:

Kari Payton was still standing over there talking to a couple people, so.

Donald Brock Junior:

But just getting to talk with Michael Bell, just, you know, just to shoot the shit and talk to him about, like, all the things that he's done, but a lot of it was just talking about, like, South Carolina and how he hadn't been to South Carolina or Columbia before.

Donald Brock Junior:

And it was just.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was such a cool interaction.

Donald Brock Junior:

I was hoping this would work out.

Donald Brock Junior:

I did just send.

Donald Brock Junior:

I did send guy a message because we've been chatting over Instagram since the show.

Donald Brock Junior:

I was going to try and get him.

Donald Brock Junior:

I was going to try and get him to jump on real quick, but I don't think it's going to work out.

Donald Brock Junior:

But, you know, but, yeah, my.

Donald Brock Junior:

Exactly the same thing.

Donald Brock Junior:

I think when it came down to some of the interactions that we had with, like, the cast of the X Men 97 talking to Matthew Watterson or Guy or Adrian Hough, there was.

Donald Brock Junior:

With Adrian, it was.

Donald Brock Junior:

You get the same sense.

Donald Brock Junior:

There wasn't this huge social media Internet thing going on when they were doing the.

Donald Brock Junior:

When they were doing X Men, the animated series back in 93 to 97, and they.

Donald Brock Junior:

They had no idea that there was this big of a draw.

Donald Brock Junior:

Like, they had no idea what impact they were having.

Donald Brock Junior:

Fox didn't tell them that they had this much influence.

Donald Brock Junior:

They didn't really.

Donald Brock Junior:

There was.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was so.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was loosely tied to marvel but through licensing, so it wasn't necessarily like they didn't have the tie to, like, the comic book section of it, so they didn't know.

Donald Brock Junior:

And to be able to do these comic con conventions and interact with the fans, especially because.

Donald Brock Junior:

And fucking great on Kevin Feige for bringing X Men 97 out and putting that forward because they may still be living in denial and not knowing the impact that they had from 93 all the way up till now.

Donald Brock Junior:

Well, they know now.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

But that was definitely something you got out of them.

Donald Brock Junior:

But, yeah, it was just such a.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was such a cool, like I said last year was amazing.

Donald Brock Junior:

This year.

Donald Brock Junior:

This year was more work, but for some reason, it felt like that work was even more enjoyable than last year.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, you know, I can touch.

Barrett Gruber:

I can touch on that, too.

Barrett Gruber:

Quite frankly, boys, as we grow, it should always be more work.

Barrett Gruber:

And hopefully it doesn't feel like work because what's the saying?

Barrett Gruber:

If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life?

Barrett Gruber:

You know, whatever.

Barrett Gruber:

That's bullshit.

Barrett Gruber:

That doesn't apply.

Barrett Gruber:

But.

Barrett Gruber:

But, yeah, I mean, it is.

Barrett Gruber:

It is more work, but hopefully it's more rewarding because at the end of the day, like, we feel extremely confident that we had.

Barrett Gruber:

We finally broached, broke through the 10,000 attendee ceiling.

Barrett Gruber:

So, yeah, give me a bell.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, give.

Barrett Gruber:

Give me a bell and a stick tap for that.

Barrett Gruber:

So.

Barrett Gruber:

But there we go.

Barrett Gruber:

And, you know, it's.

Barrett Gruber:

It's more work.

Barrett Gruber:

It's more work on.

Barrett Gruber:

On my staff.

Barrett Gruber:

It's more work on us from a planning phase.

Barrett Gruber:

We had never done anything like the Peter Cullen vip meet and greet, so that was a trial by fire.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, people.

Barrett Gruber:

A lot of people say, well, how do you do this?

Barrett Gruber:

I say, fuck if I know.

Barrett Gruber:

Sometimes it's just ojt.

Barrett Gruber:

We're learning as we go.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, a lot of.

Barrett Gruber:

A lot of the finances and the logistics is easy.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we can kind of plan that, you know, essentially like, you know, like a backstage kind of thing.

Barrett Gruber:

But then when the rubber meets the road and, you know, you're expecting to be, you know, four left turns, and all of a sudden somebody blows a tire and next thing you know, there's a pile up and you're like, oh, shit, you got a pivot.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, there's.

Barrett Gruber:

There's all that.

Barrett Gruber:

And as we continue to add more and more to the event with what we can add do, simply due to limitations that we've.

Barrett Gruber:

We bump up against, you know, it's gonna.

Barrett Gruber:

It's gonna be more work.

Barrett Gruber:

It's gonna be more work for you.

Barrett Gruber:

It's gonna be more work for, you know, hopefully our vendors and our artists, because there's more people through the door that are, you know, coming in and, you know, a lot of people, I think, are gonna start.

Barrett Gruber:

I I've.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm trying to push this.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm gonna need help, but I want people to start.

Barrett Gruber:

When August rolls around.

Barrett Gruber:

I want to.

Barrett Gruber:

I want them to say, august is Comic Con month.

Barrett Gruber:

I want everybody to start thinking about Comic Con.

Barrett Gruber:

e, you know, in, in August of:

Barrett Gruber:

This past August.

Barrett Gruber:

Can we do it?

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, I don't know.

Barrett Gruber:

We're gonna give it, we're gonna give it the old college try.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, what does that look like?

Barrett Gruber:

I don't know.

Barrett Gruber:

Are we gonna do some cool shit and have some special limited edition stuff?

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, you know, I'm already.

Barrett Gruber:

There's already shit running through my head, like, you know, shirt cannon.

Barrett Gruber:

No, no, we're not, we're not shooting anybody with, with t shirts.

Barrett Gruber:

That's a horrible idea.

Leroy Green:

All I can see in my head when you said shirt cannon was like, all I.

Leroy Green:

And if you answer this question right, you get a t shirt, and all I hear is a poof.

Leroy Green:

And I see a child just go.

Donald Brock Junior:

No, it's, it's the scene, it's the scene from uhf where he goes, drink from the water hose, spray him down with a.

Leroy Green:

All I'm just seeing is a child just flying.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

Like a video from TikTok.

Barrett Gruber:

You can see all kid just.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

No, in fact, I think that would even go against our functioning weapons policy because you, you probably could drop somebody with, with a shirt cannon, you know?

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, I'm thinking, you know, ten years, golden golden badges or just some, something, some sort of cool stuff that we can do.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we're tossing around ideas for guests already.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, what's gonna.

Barrett Gruber:

What's gonna move the needle and make, you know, make this event the leading pop culture event in South Carolina.

Barrett Gruber:

If we're, you know, if we're not number one, we're number two.

Barrett Gruber:

There's one in Greenville that, you know, I have mixed feelings about, but that's for another time and probably an offline conversation.

Barrett Gruber:

But, you know, we're not, we're not going to be the biggest because we don't have the biggest space.

Barrett Gruber:

I recently had a, attended an event where they're talking about expanding the convention center.

Barrett Gruber:

They're talking about potentially adding a hotel that's actually connected to the convention center and adding 18,000 or something.

Barrett Gruber:

Square foot ballroom.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm like, oh, yeah, that's great.

Barrett Gruber:

But what about the other, you know, we'll see.

Barrett Gruber:

So they want to make the exhibit hall 96,000 sqft.

Barrett Gruber:

So that would be tripling the size with it.

Barrett Gruber:

So the 72,000, an additional 72,000 sqft.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm like, then we can talk.

Barrett Gruber:

Because I'm under the impression that that is truly the limiting factor to the event because the more you have, the more people you could potentially attract because the more you can diversify.

Donald Brock Junior:

Right?

Leroy Green:

Yes.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, but the powers that be, I'm not going to name anybody specifically, but they want a hotel before they will greenlight the expansion of the exhibit hall and additional meeting rooms.

Barrett Gruber:

And I'm like, I think you're doing it wrong, but whatever.

Barrett Gruber:

I don't have the $90 million to do it, so I don't have a say.

Barrett Gruber:

But yeah, so, you know, full circle back to it feels like more work.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, yeah, of course it feels like more work.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, it's more work for us too.

Barrett Gruber:

It's always going to be more work.

Barrett Gruber:

There's, you know, we probably plan this event for six plus months now.

Barrett Gruber:

We're not working on it every day.

Barrett Gruber:

or:

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, and there are always snafus.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, we had trouble this year with our devices.

Barrett Gruber:

They didn't want to sign into eventbrite, they didn't want to sign into PayPal.

Barrett Gruber:

And we're like, oh crap, here we go.

Barrett Gruber:

But, you know, we, we pivoted and we fixed that and we won't have that problem moving forward.

Barrett Gruber:

If we have to buy new iPads every year, so be it.

Barrett Gruber:

That's what we'll do.

Donald Brock Junior:

That was, that was so, that was what that was.

Donald Brock Junior:

I was going to ask is what were some of the challenges from this year?

Barrett Gruber:

That was, that was probably the biggest challenge.

Barrett Gruber:

We had to just figure out ways to, people are nice enough to, you know, download the app and use their phone or lend us their iPad or something like that.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we just, we have a great staff.

Barrett Gruber:

I can't say enough wonderful, amazing things about the ladies and the few guys that work with us.

Barrett Gruber:

They, everybody kind of knows their role.

Barrett Gruber:

They're multi, they're multi talented, they've been cross trained.

Barrett Gruber:

They can pretty much do almost anything from, from an event management perspective.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, that's another reason why we have confidence that we can pack up and take our show on the road and move into other markets and not skip a beat.

Barrett Gruber:

Because everybody that comes to Soda City, they go to Wilmington, everybody that goes to Wilmington.

Barrett Gruber:

They'll come with us to Myrtle beach.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, they're excited.

Barrett Gruber:

It's like a little, it's kind of like a mini vacation, but it's not because they're working.

Barrett Gruber:

But at the same time, they enjoy the success of the event.

Barrett Gruber:

They take pride in the overall event success and growth.

Barrett Gruber:

They really do.

Donald Brock Junior:

So Myrtle beach is not going to just be an exact cookie cutter because, of course, the facility is different.

Donald Brock Junior:

What sort of, is there any sort of different vibe that we're going to try and bring to Myrtle beach, maybe from Soda City?

Donald Brock Junior:

I mean, obviously we can't use a big giant soda captain for the logo.

Barrett Gruber:

Oh, we already have a logo.

Donald Brock Junior:

I have not seen the logo yet.

Barrett Gruber:

Oh, well, stand by.

Donald Brock Junior:

You know what?

Donald Brock Junior:

You know what?

Donald Brock Junior:

In post, in post production, you're seeing it right here.

Leroy Green:

But that, but you're right.

Leroy Green:

Like each, each, I haven't been to coastal.

Leroy Green:

I'm hoping to go, you know, it depends if my wife gives me permission, because what do you.

Donald Brock Junior:

I'm rooming with you.

Leroy Green:

I mean, look, I'm tell you right now, my wife is very proud of me because I only bought one thing at this last show because I was working so much.

Leroy Green:

But each, every convention you go to does have a vibe.

Leroy Green:

So Soto city has a vibe.

Leroy Green:

Heroes con and Charlotte has a vibe.

Leroy Green:

Each convention has its own vibe.

Leroy Green:

So I'm interested to see what Myrtle Beach's vibe, because to me, the convention, it's almost like you put the convention on, but the convention takes on a life of itself.

Leroy Green:

The con becomes something based on the fandom itself that comes through the door.

Leroy Green:

And because, like, Brock talks about it like he brings some of these people who come and you see from the guest list, if you look at last year, a lot of these people are, were voiceover actors.

Leroy Green:

You know, you have some motion capture people.

Leroy Green:

Sam Witwer.

Leroy Green:

Sam Witwer, you know, has done, if you play days gone, Roger Clark, red dead redemption, I'm trying to think of Adrian Heff has done some other stuff, too.

Leroy Green:

Yes.

Leroy Green:

Matthew Watterson as well.

Leroy Green:

But they bring their own vibe because of the type of actors and the work that they've done.

Leroy Green:

So I'm interested to see what you bring to coastal and to Mer, what's the name of Myrtles, too.

Donald Brock Junior:

Bam.

Barrett Gruber:

Okay.

Leroy Green:

Ah, I like that.

Donald Brock Junior:

That looks great.

Leroy Green:

It does.

Donald Brock Junior:

That looks great.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

You ask, what's the vibe?

Barrett Gruber:

I can't tell you what the vibe is.

Barrett Gruber:

We don't, we, I don't think we really determine the vibe, quite frankly.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, I think, I think the fans and the attendees to create the vibe.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Leroy Green:

And that's why I'm really interested to see what Myrtle beach brings to the convention or to a con, because I can't think of any con pop culture related that's ever been in Myrtle beach.

Barrett Gruber:

There was.

Barrett Gruber:

There was one called ex con several years ago, and I want to say one year, it was pretty successful.

Barrett Gruber:

n, gosh, this could have been:

Barrett Gruber:

I don't remember.

Barrett Gruber:

Let me, let me google.

Barrett Gruber:

One year.

Barrett Gruber:

One year they brought in Rooker.

Barrett Gruber:

I know.

Barrett Gruber:

And that might have been their first year.

Barrett Gruber:

Let's see.

Barrett Gruber:

But I'm not gonna lie.

Barrett Gruber:

Go ahead.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm listening.

Leroy Green:

Rooker was one of those guys where every character he plays, I'm expecting this large man.

Leroy Green:

And when we find.

Leroy Green:

When I finally met him, I'm like, you're Michael Rooker.

Leroy Green:

And I'm like, he's like, his presence, his just his.

Leroy Green:

The way he carries himself on screen, you're thinking, this is a hulking of a man at times, you know, this is the dude that put Tom Cruise in the wall.

Leroy Green:

This is the guy who's, you know, I'm Mary Poppinjaw.

Leroy Green:

This is savant from Suicide Squad.

Leroy Green:

You know, of the suicide squad.

Leroy Green:

When you think about all the different characters this man has played, and you're like.

Leroy Green:

And you meet him, you're like, oh, wow.

Leroy Green:

He's just a larger than life presence.

Donald Brock Junior:

I can say that.

Donald Brock Junior:

I can say the same thing about Kari Payton after, you know, after meeting him and seeing him at Soda City this past year, you know, because my impression of him was from the walking dead where he was the king.

Donald Brock Junior:

And clearly they put weight on him to be the king.

Donald Brock Junior:

And I think he also slimmed down a whole bunch after walking dead ended.

Donald Brock Junior:

But, like, man, that just speaks to his acting skills and how he carries himself in that character because he's a little guy, you know, he's tiny.

Leroy Green:

And the funniest thing about that is, for me, my introduction to Carrie is always going to be teen titans go because.

Leroy Green:

And so, like, for me, when I see him, I'm like.

Leroy Green:

And I'm not saying that I couldn't buy him as king Ezekiel, but it was always like this thing where I'm like, you're cyborg, man.

Leroy Green:

Why are you so mean?

Leroy Green:

Like, I didn't get a chance to meet him.

Leroy Green:

He's the one.

Leroy Green:

Him and Sam were the two that got away from us just to meet, you know, like, because you're a fan.

Leroy Green:

You just want to meet, you know, if I get an interview, that's cool, but just to meet him.

Leroy Green:

But it was just always this interesting thing where you're like, this person's vibe.

Leroy Green:

He plays this character, and then you know him from this other character, and you meet him, you're like, you forget.

Leroy Green:

You're like, damn, you're right.

Leroy Green:

He is an actor.

Leroy Green:

It almost, like, catches you off guard where you're like, oh, yeah, I forgot.

Leroy Green:

This is acting.

Donald Brock Junior:

So one of the.

Donald Brock Junior:

I was gonna say one of the things that.

Donald Brock Junior:

One of the things that I did when I did have an opportunity to go downstairs and walk around mostly when we were, when we were packing up on Sunday, but just talking to some of the vendors, just to ask them, you know, you know, how was the weekend?

Donald Brock Junior:

How, you know, how.

Donald Brock Junior:

How did.

Donald Brock Junior:

How do you guys feel?

Donald Brock Junior:

You all did.

Donald Brock Junior:

Does all of the work and the hours and the cost.

Donald Brock Junior:

I said, does it for you?

Donald Brock Junior:

Does this, is it worth it?

Barrett Gruber:

Does it make sense financially?

Donald Brock Junior:

Every single one of them said absolutely.

Donald Brock Junior:

Every single one of them said the exact same thing.

Donald Brock Junior:

That soda City comic Con is one of the events that they look forward to every year because they know that one.

Donald Brock Junior:

They don't have to travel far, most of them.

Donald Brock Junior:

And essentially, it's easy to set up, said the staff, makes it so easy to get in the door to start setting up.

Donald Brock Junior:

We get plenty of time to set up.

Donald Brock Junior:

It's on us.

Donald Brock Junior:

And those are the things that speak volumes to what you and all of your volunteers, you and Steve and the rest and the volunteers.

Leroy Green:

So this is, so this is you talking about vendors.

Leroy Green:

You talk about, like, what was it like for them?

Leroy Green:

So this is Ginger kid collectibles.

Leroy Green:

I met Jason in Charlotte.

Leroy Green:

Matter of fact, when I.

Leroy Green:

We covered a couple of years ago, it might have been this year, all of it run together.

Leroy Green:

Went to heroes Con in Charlotte.

Leroy Green:

He was there, a vendor, and I met him.

Leroy Green:

And we talked to mythic legions.

Leroy Green:

We talked mythic legions, action figures, and Marvel Legends.

Leroy Green:

And we just, you know, went by his booth, talked.

Leroy Green:

You know, we talked.

Leroy Green:

He was really cool.

Leroy Green:

And I just remembered that interaction.

Leroy Green:

And then when he came here, I remembered him, and we talked.

Leroy Green:

And I was like.

Leroy Green:

And we actually did an interview.

Leroy Green:

It's on.

Leroy Green:

It's on our channel.

Leroy Green:

We talked to him.

Leroy Green:

We talked to his son, and he talks about the event in the interview.

Leroy Green:

And he talked about, this was his first time coming.

Leroy Green:

This is the first time being here in Columbia, South Carolina, doing the event.

Leroy Green:

He's like, this is on the calendar now.

Leroy Green:

He's out of Atlanta, and he talks about like, yeah, I'm gonna do this show every year now.

Leroy Green:

Or he's like, I'm gonna try.

Leroy Green:

And he like, if you follow him, we follow him on instagram.

Leroy Green:

Talk about Instagram.

Leroy Green:

We follow him on.

Leroy Green:

On the gram and just watching him go to different shows and, like, setting up.

Leroy Green:

And it was just one of those things where he talks in the interview.

Leroy Green:

He talked about the fact of not just the convention, but also what he was trying to put out there, the vibe.

Leroy Green:

And he's like, he even hooked us up with a Facebook group where he's like, look, if you like this action figure, this line here's a Facebook group that the actual people who create the action figures are in.

Leroy Green:

And this is a community that is all about positivity.

Leroy Green:

They're actually at helping customizers.

Leroy Green:

And I had this interaction here at Soda City.

Leroy Green:

I met the man in Charlotte, but I didn't get to have this interaction until he came here.

Leroy Green:

r, you know, for about a good:

Leroy Green:

I don't want to take up too much of his time because the man has shit to sell.

Leroy Green:

The man has to make some money.

Leroy Green:

But it was really.

Leroy Green:

It was a great.

Leroy Green:

It was a great interaction.

Leroy Green:

And that's one of the things that I think there's a credit to Brock, there's a credit to staff, credit to Steve and all the people who worked there, but also to the people who came, because it seemed like everybody who was there wanted to be there.

Leroy Green:

It wasn't like, oh, shit.

Leroy Green:

It wasn't like work, and it really was a great interaction.

Leroy Green:

I really appreciate it to the point where, like, I now I have somebody that, like, yes, there are local vendors want to shout out to scratch and spin and heroes and dragons Yorg from heroes and dragons was killing the game out there.

Leroy Green:

But this is now somebody I do want to spend money with because I do want those dollars to go to somebody who's actually doing something.

Leroy Green:

Who was that interaction?

Leroy Green:

You want that person to succeed because of the interaction you had, because they had such a good time, but also the positive energy that he gave.

Leroy Green:

And it was just like, amen.

Leroy Green:

I'm down the road, and now this is on my list of things to go.

Leroy Green:

And keep in mind, this is somebody who goes all over the country doing shows.

Leroy Green:

You know, he was, you know, inviting us.

Leroy Green:

He's like, hey, man, you go in the allegiance con in Jersey, I'm like, hey, man, I just spent $40 on an action figure.

Leroy Green:

My wife ain't letting me go.

Barrett Gruber:

Shit.

Leroy Green:

But you're right.

Leroy Green:

It was the vendors, it is the.

Leroy Green:

You may put on the con, you may put on the show, but it is the guests, it is the vendors, it is the fans who actually make the con what it is, because that's what it.

Leroy Green:

Again, I say this.

Leroy Green:

That's what this shit is about is that interaction that you have, people just enjoying being around each other, celebrating something that they love.

Donald Brock Junior:

Well, and Brock, you put out a survey after the con.

Donald Brock Junior:

What sort of, what sort of responses do you get?

Barrett Gruber:

Fucking awesome.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, mostly.

Barrett Gruber:

Mostly not, not.

Barrett Gruber:

Not every response is essentially that, but for the most part, had a great time.

Barrett Gruber:

Like you said, you know, like I said, I can't sing our staff's praises enough.

Barrett Gruber:

Everybody goes the extra mile to ensure that everybody's treated, treated fairly.

Barrett Gruber:

Treated.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, given the right information.

Barrett Gruber:

We, you know, we.

Barrett Gruber:

Like you said, leroy, or maybe it was you, Barrett.

Barrett Gruber:

I don't remember y'all.

Barrett Gruber:

Y'all, your words are plenty.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, I'm just sitting there just listening, like, God, I wish these guys would shut up.

Barrett Gruber:

No, you know, you said you make it easy to get in.

Barrett Gruber:

All the information is readily available.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, I pretty much manage most of the, most of the vendor contacts just via email.

Barrett Gruber:

So I reply to most of the emails on Con weekend.

Barrett Gruber:

People are like, I'm cold.

Barrett Gruber:

You're not getting a response.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm like, really?

Barrett Gruber:

You think you're not going to get a response from me on, on Friday and Saturday and Sunday of the event?

Barrett Gruber:

Ask your questions before.

Barrett Gruber:

But, yeah, you know, we've developed a lot of good relationships with a lot of vendors, and most of their vendors come back year after year.

Barrett Gruber:

So we.

Barrett Gruber:

I know them.

Barrett Gruber:

I know them on a first name basis, and if I don't know them on a first name basis, I know them on a face basis.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, I just get, you know, a lot of the same responses, you know, great time.

Barrett Gruber:

Did very well.

Barrett Gruber:

Looking for forward to:

Barrett Gruber:

25.

Barrett Gruber:

When do we start?

Barrett Gruber:

t accepting registrations for:

Barrett Gruber:

That's a lot of the questions I get, a lot of feedback I get, and I'm like, guys, it's been a week.

Barrett Gruber:

Give me a minute.

Barrett Gruber:

You know.

Donald Brock Junior:

You know, the account compacted.

Donald Brock Junior:

I haven't gotten to take a shit yet.

Donald Brock Junior:

Come on, man.

Barrett Gruber:

Oh, I.

Barrett Gruber:

Oh, yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, you know, monsters are laid on Friday and Saturday night.

Donald Brock Junior:

During the day.

Barrett Gruber:

We really don't even have time to eat a lot now.

Barrett Gruber:

It's gotten better from the first couple of years.

Barrett Gruber:

We didn't eat at all.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, we were just constantly running back and forth, because, again, we were learning what we needed to do.

Barrett Gruber:

Now people have roles, people.

Barrett Gruber:

We have, we have, quote unquote, department managers or area managers or whatever you want to call them, where, like, Amy runs the front.

Barrett Gruber:

Stephen act.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, you know, well, sometimes we'll run that.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we'll have one or two people that roam around the celebrity.

Barrett Gruber:

Not celebrity hall, the exhibit hall, you know, the, the VR, the, the pinball, which we haven't even touched on yet, the vintage video game.

Barrett Gruber:

Those are kind of all run by third parties.

Barrett Gruber:

They kind of run themselves.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, they're all turnkey, which is great.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, one less thing we have to worry about.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, but, you know, we, we're constantly making sure the panels are getting started on time.

Barrett Gruber:

The celebrities need to get where they need to go.

Barrett Gruber:

But, you know, through nine years, we've kind of ironed out the wrinkles.

Barrett Gruber:

We know where to go.

Barrett Gruber:

We know who needs to be where.

Barrett Gruber:

We print out schedules.

Barrett Gruber:

Everybody kind of has their, their assignments.

Barrett Gruber:

They all, everybody has their lane, and.

Donald Brock Junior:

We all stay in our oiled machine.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

For lack of a better word.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, of course, you know, like I said, there are hiccups, but for the most part, it rip, flows pretty smoothly.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, obviously, Peter Cullen this year was a big hit.

Barrett Gruber:

We had to try to manage that line.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, some people weren't happy about that.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, I'm sorry.

Barrett Gruber:

What do you expect when 500 people show up and then get an autograph?

Barrett Gruber:

You can only do one at a time.

Barrett Gruber:

That's just kind of the nature of this.

Barrett Gruber:

Go to galaxy con.

Barrett Gruber:

You want to stand in line for 3 hours to go to meet somebody?

Barrett Gruber:

Go to galaxy con.

Barrett Gruber:

My go to.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Leroy Green:

Megacon.

Leroy Green:

Try going to.

Barrett Gruber:

That's even worse.

Barrett Gruber:

That's even worse.

Leroy Green:

Yes.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, I want to go back, and we can, we can go another 30, 45 minutes if you guys want to, because we can talk about a lot of things.

Barrett Gruber:

It's interesting to see the little red dot with a time up there.

Barrett Gruber:

I don't know if anybody gets in the recording can see it, but, yeah, we see it.

Barrett Gruber:

Okay.

Barrett Gruber:

I don't know if the audience can see it or not at some point, probably, but anywho, you talk about, you know, you talked about the guests and the fan interaction and how you guys interact with them and how they impacted you.

Barrett Gruber:

I get to see something completely different because I pick them up from the airport and I'll drive them back from the airport, and a lot of times it's one on one.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

And so I get to talk to these people, and we don't talk about anything related to their work.

Barrett Gruber:

We talk about, we talk about all kinds of stuff.

Barrett Gruber:

rry Payton on Friday night at:

Barrett Gruber:

We're talking about all different kinds of things.

Barrett Gruber:

He was born in Augusta.

Barrett Gruber:

He didn't really live in Augusta very long, but people don't know that.

Barrett Gruber:

And so, you know, he, I don't think he'd ever been to South Carolina or if he had, he'd been you always much younger kid.

Barrett Gruber:

We went to CV.

Barrett Gruber:

We went to CV's because he needed to go buy some things.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, we just talked about.

Barrett Gruber:

We talked about kids.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, he has a, like an 18 month old.

Barrett Gruber:

I would have never thought it.

Barrett Gruber:

We talked about really?

Barrett Gruber:

Yep.

Barrett Gruber:

Being a parent and having young kids and all that stuff.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, on the way back to the airport with Matthew Watterson, you know, voice of Magneto, we didn't talk anything X Men.

Barrett Gruber:

We talked stocks and bonds and investments and real estate opportunities.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, we just, we talked about all kind of things.

Barrett Gruber:

I don't talk to these people about the stuff that, you know, the fans are going to want to talk to them about because they're going to hear it all day long on Saturday and all day long on Sunday.

Barrett Gruber:

We just, we talk about random shit when I pick these people up.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, with guy, I've got guys number.

Barrett Gruber:

We text.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, we were texting for a couple of weeks before he got here and all that other stuff.

Barrett Gruber:

He's like, you know, he, you know, do you have me a hotel room?

Barrett Gruber:

Yes, I've got your hotel room.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we got you taken care of.

Barrett Gruber:

Oh, you know, that was one of his first events, you know, that he and he flew here and all that other stuff.

Barrett Gruber:

And so, yeah, then he was flying to Miami so that he could fly over to Ibiza to go to a concert for his birthday or something like that.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, I drove.

Barrett Gruber:

I drove him and Cal Dodd and Allison back to Charlotte because they didn't want to change planes.

Barrett Gruber:

Allison and Cal did not want to change planes.

Barrett Gruber:

I said, okay, well, if there's enough of you that'll fly in and out of Charlotte, it's worth it to rent a car and drive back and forth.

Barrett Gruber:

It's easy.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, and it's interesting to hear them talk.

Barrett Gruber:

And they talk.

Barrett Gruber:

They talk more about what's going on in Toronto and the surrounding areas, and they talk about anything related to work.

Barrett Gruber:

They don't want to talk work.

Barrett Gruber:

They don't want to shop.

Barrett Gruber:

They talk about all different kind of things.

Donald Brock Junior:

Adrian and I talked about a lot about the Pacific Northwest.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

Because my sister.

Donald Brock Junior:

My sister lives out in Oakland, but she does a lot of travel.

Donald Brock Junior:

She does a lot of traveling up in there.

Donald Brock Junior:

And so we were talking.

Donald Brock Junior:

He lives on an island that, you know, Vancouver area.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, well, I was just gonna say.

Barrett Gruber:

It's funny you say that.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, Amy, Ethan and I came down for breakfast on Sunday morning.

Barrett Gruber:

We walk into the ruse, Chris for breakfast, and Waterson sitting there, and we're like.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm like, hey.

Barrett Gruber:

He's like, hey.

Barrett Gruber:

I was like, you care if we join you?

Barrett Gruber:

He's like, no.

Barrett Gruber:

So we sit down and start eating with him, and then he finishes up, and he's like, I'm gonna go back upstairs.

Barrett Gruber:

And then Adrian walks in.

Barrett Gruber:

We're like, hey, you want to join us?

Barrett Gruber:

He's like, sure.

Barrett Gruber:

So we end up having breakfast with Eastman, you know, Paul.

Barrett Gruber:

And I don't know if you guys know Paul.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, I say we have a Paul tall, Wilmington Police Department Paul.

Barrett Gruber:

He ended up talking to Peter.

Leroy Green:

You mean that giant reacher type of sized man that you had blocking, saving Peter Cullen from the fans?

Leroy Green:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

Yes.

Leroy Green:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

When I.

Leroy Green:

Everybody knows Paul.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

When I.

Barrett Gruber:

When I tell people we have a poll and I told this to Collins agent and his wife, they're like, you know, what about, you know, what about security?

Barrett Gruber:

Unruly.

Donald Brock Junior:

Oh, we lost.

Donald Brock Junior:

We lost Brock's audio for a second.

Donald Brock Junior:

Hold on, Brock.

Leroy Green:

We can't hear.

Donald Brock Junior:

If you can.

Donald Brock Junior:

If you can hear me.

Leroy Green:

Yep.

Donald Brock Junior:

Okay.

Donald Brock Junior:

Okay.

Leroy Green:

Yep.

Donald Brock Junior:

It said.

Donald Brock Junior:

It said, it said your audio.

Donald Brock Junior:

It said your audio cut out.

Donald Brock Junior:

Huh?

Donald Brock Junior:

Make sure the recording device has enough space.

Barrett Gruber:

Is this a continuation or will it be two videos you have to splice together?

Donald Brock Junior:

It'll.

Donald Brock Junior:

It's very easy for me to splice it together.

Donald Brock Junior:

So as long as.

Donald Brock Junior:

As long as it's back to record, is it back to recording for you?

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

Okay, so, okay, so, yeah, you can.

Barrett Gruber:

Edit all that other stuff out and go, yeah, we do.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, I was talking to Cullen and his agent and his wife and all and whatnot, and they're like, you know, what do you do about this?

Barrett Gruber:

What do you do about that?

Barrett Gruber:

I was like, listen, you guys don't have to worry.

Barrett Gruber:

We have a poll.

Barrett Gruber:

And they're like, what?

Barrett Gruber:

I'm like, just.

Barrett Gruber:

Just take my word for it.

Barrett Gruber:

We have a poll.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm like, he's.

Barrett Gruber:

He's Wilmington Police Department.

Barrett Gruber:

He likes to kick indoors.

Barrett Gruber:

We have a pole.

Barrett Gruber:

You will be perfectly safe.

Barrett Gruber:

And he literally stood there and kind of acted like a bodyguard for most of the weekend.

Barrett Gruber:

And by the end of the weekend, they absolutely loved him to the point where they actually might want to fly him to Chicago to work with them on a couple of different shows.

Barrett Gruber:

So, but my point is, like, we were, when we, on Friday, after everything kind of wrapped up, we, before, you know, in between running back and forth to the airport from the airport hotel, airport hotel vice versa, several people were, went in to get a drink because we all stay and we walk in there and Peter Collins just sitting at the bar all by himself.

Barrett Gruber:

And I just walk up to him and I just, I just said to you, mister Collins, I just want to just thank you.

Barrett Gruber:

Thank you for coming, you know, I really appreciate it.

Barrett Gruber:

And then Paul sits down beside him and starts talking to him.

Barrett Gruber:

Next thing I know, Paul texted me.

Barrett Gruber:

He's like, yeah, I just talked to Peter Cullen for an hour and a half at the bar.

Barrett Gruber:

We're sitting there drinking, chatting for an hour and a half, just about everything.

Barrett Gruber:

He's, I'm like, oh, you made a new best friend.

Barrett Gruber:

Good for you.

Barrett Gruber:

So I'm like, I said, we have a Paul.

Barrett Gruber:

And people don't understand it, but by the end of the weekend, they're like, yeah, you have a poll.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm like, yeah, we do.

Donald Brock Junior:

So, see, and I've worked for radio stations and Leroy, you know, I know you've worked in tv and radio and things like that, that, you know, when we interacted with, it was, it was always much more professional.

Donald Brock Junior:

It didn't, it didn't have that, it didn't have that element of, I guess, that personal level element when it came to like, having a guest come into town for a concert, like, and that's not to say that any of them are bad people.

Donald Brock Junior:

It's just that because everything was handled at such a corporate level when it, I worked for ABC, Disney for, for several years and I worked in promotions and I worked in marketing and as an on air dj, getting to interview people and things like that.

Donald Brock Junior:

But it was, everything had everything, everything had a handler and every handler had its job to everything that had to be done.

Donald Brock Junior:

And I think one of the cool, because now knowing that you all stay at the, I'm going to come hang out at the, after I get set.

Barrett Gruber:

Up on Friday, we might need to edit that out.

Donald Brock Junior:

I'll take care of it.

Donald Brock Junior:

But just, you know, just the, the interactions and I think that that also speaks to the type of people that come to, that you have as celebrities that come to the comic?

Barrett Gruber:

Well, I think you can.

Barrett Gruber:

You can pretty much read the level of availability that someone's going to give you when you have a 15 or 20 minutes car ride from the airport to the hotel.

Barrett Gruber:

And, you know, is this person going to be cool?

Barrett Gruber:

Is this person going to be somewhat stoic?

Barrett Gruber:

Is this person going to be an ass?

Barrett Gruber:

Fortunately, for the most part, everybody that we've brought in not and not.

Barrett Gruber:

And again, we're not batting a thousand because nobody bats a thousand.

Barrett Gruber:

But for the most part, everybody's been cool and, you know, down to earth.

Barrett Gruber:

And again, I see, I get to see a different side.

Barrett Gruber:

And Steve does, too, because Steve does airport runs as well.

Barrett Gruber:

People are like, why don't you just get a car service?

Barrett Gruber:

Covid killed a lot of the car services around here.

Barrett Gruber:

It just really did.

Barrett Gruber:

And it's just, and, you know, it's just sometimes it's just easier just to rent it and do your own thing.

Barrett Gruber:

So, yeah, and, you know, we're reliable.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we know we track everything.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm very anal retentive when it comes to details.

Barrett Gruber:

So I have everything kind of mapped out.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, all that.

Barrett Gruber:

And that just comes from the nature of what I do.

Barrett Gruber:

But you see, you see the real side of these people.

Barrett Gruber:

And for the most part, they're genuinely most of them.

Barrett Gruber:

Again, some of them think pretty highly themselves, but most of them don't.

Barrett Gruber:

Like Vanessa angel, for example.

Barrett Gruber:

Last year, the sweetest lady.

Barrett Gruber:

We talked, we talked about all kind of things.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, you know, she was talking about people she dated and there was some, we talked about Rin Raleigh and all this other stuff.

Barrett Gruber:

And I said, I just want you to know you were like my teenage crush.

Barrett Gruber:

And I just, you know, I didn't say if you, if you invited me up, I come knock on the door, but I wouldn't have said no.

Barrett Gruber:

But, you know, you really, if, if the people are just, they really are a whole lot different.

Barrett Gruber:

They're not really a whole lot different than the average person.

Barrett Gruber:

They just have a different job and people just know their name.

Barrett Gruber:

They know who they are.

Barrett Gruber:

That's really the only difference.

Barrett Gruber:

And, you know, people like a lot of them.

Barrett Gruber:

A lot of people think that celebrities make a ton of money.

Barrett Gruber:

They don't actually.

Barrett Gruber:

A lot of the voice actors, we talked a lot.

Barrett Gruber:

I talked to a lot of them about, you know, kind of the business side of it.

Barrett Gruber:

They don't make a lot of money.

Barrett Gruber:

They probably, that's why they do a lot of these events.

Barrett Gruber:

They, it actually helps boost their income, especially on the anime side, you'd be surprised.

Barrett Gruber:

Or maybe you guys might not because you've worked in the industry.

Barrett Gruber:

I was shocked.

Barrett Gruber:

And actually how little they make relative to, yep.

Barrett Gruber:

What, you know, actors or whatever.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, and that's one thing I thought the water said about.

Barrett Gruber:

He never really understood the whole thing about the anime because he's like, you know, they'll want to pay you, you know, $500 or $1,000 a week to do.

Barrett Gruber:

To do this.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm like, okay, if you're making a week, that's $52,000 a year.

Barrett Gruber:

That ain't much money in the grand scheme of things.

Donald Brock Junior:

No.

Barrett Gruber:

But then he comes to realize, oh, well, if I voice this one character and that character takes off, you can make ten x two to three weekends a month if you want to.

Barrett Gruber:

That's where the rubber meets the road right there.

Barrett Gruber:

And so that's why a lot of these people are getting into this because, I mean, look at the success of one piece, for example, or my hero or hunter, x hunter or demon slayer.

Barrett Gruber:

Demon slayer, wink, wink.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, characters from demon Slayer, wink, wink, wink, wink.

Barrett Gruber:

So.

Barrett Gruber:

But, but what?

Barrett Gruber:

I'm, you know, it's like a teacher.

Leroy Green:

Giving you the answer to the test.

Barrett Gruber:

I'm not saying this is going to be on the test, but, you know, the business side of it has kind of evolved to where they have to look at events like ours and across the country as a true second, you know, income.

Donald Brock Junior:

Well, I would, I would.

Donald Brock Junior:

I would probably get beaten if I didn't ask this question because my wife and kids watch a lot of anime, including demon Slayer, but they watch the original with the original voice actors in Japanese.

Donald Brock Junior:

And because the kids are learning Japanese, what would it take to actually get the japanese voice artists?

Donald Brock Junior:

And the only reason I say that is because that's one of the things that I have heard is that I watch Demon Slayer, but I watch in Japanese.

Donald Brock Junior:

I know these voice actors.

Donald Brock Junior:

They recognize the voice actor from demon Slayer is the same from one piece, is the same from Titans or whatever.

Donald Brock Junior:

The Titan.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah, attack on Titan.

Donald Brock Junior:

Right.

Barrett Gruber:

It would, it would be.

Barrett Gruber:

It would be rather difficult.

Barrett Gruber:

And I say that simply because of the market that we serve.

Barrett Gruber:

If we were in Los Angeles or a major market, a Chicago, a New York, you know, a Houston, Seattle, you know, whatever, maybe even Charlotte to a lesser extent.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, most of these people, if not all of them, live and reside and work in Japan.

Barrett Gruber:

And yeah, I don't know about you boys, I've never been to Japan, but from what I understand, it takes about two days to get there, if not one full day of travel, and then at least another full day to almost kind of.

Donald Brock Junior:

Get to the side of the street.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, not only that, but just kind of.

Barrett Gruber:

What's the word?

Donald Brock Junior:

The logistics are near impossible.

Barrett Gruber:

What is it?

Leroy Green:

Accu, um, acclaim.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, there we go.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah, I'm gonna call that.

Barrett Gruber:

No, acclimate.

Barrett Gruber:

Don't clip that.

Barrett Gruber:

That's a great blooper.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, it takes a day or so to acclimate.

Barrett Gruber:

And so if you were gonna bring somebody like that over, I mean, you're looking at at least a week worth of housing.

Barrett Gruber:

Babysitting is not the right word, but, but a week's worth of, you know, housing or again, I don't know, what do you call it when you, I mean, have a house guest or something like that?

Barrett Gruber:

Similar to that.

Barrett Gruber:

So, yeah, it's just very hard now, like I said, if we're on the west coast, it'd be a lot easier, but it's just logistically, it's extremely challenging.

Barrett Gruber:

There's a guy who's, and I've never watched the show, apparently there's a show called Bluey.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah, Bluey.

Barrett Gruber:

And the lead voice actor for Bluey has done a couple of shows, but Bluey is based in Australia, and so it takes a lot of planning to bring someone like the lead from Bluey to the United States, especially on the east coast of the United States, to do a show.

Barrett Gruber:

I can't say that we haven't looked at that particular voice actor, but it's just, it's just, it's really hard to coordinate.

Barrett Gruber:

And flights are ridiculously expensive.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, you're talking five grand plus.

Barrett Gruber:

And these people aren't flying coach.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, it's very challenging for us.

Barrett Gruber:

To a lesser extent, it's still challenging to get people from, you know, California into Columbia because there's no direct flights.

Barrett Gruber:

A lot of people don't want to change planes.

Barrett Gruber:

And I'm like, you ain't got a choice.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, you're gonna have to change planes.

Barrett Gruber:

Now, fortunately, Cae has gotten smart and they have a cae to dFW to lax flight, and it flies, you know, two times a day, something like that.

Barrett Gruber:

So, and then if you, and if we need to go, you can go to Chicago, go to O'Hare, which is ord of learning my airport codes because of this.

Barrett Gruber:

But, you know, so, so fortunately, you know, Columbia goes as far as Dallas and Chicago, and then those flights connect into majority major other cities on the west coast.

Barrett Gruber:

So fortunately, we, you can, you know, we can get most people in pretty efficiently.

Barrett Gruber:

And there's actually a flight that generally leaves around 630, goes to DFW, then continues to LAX on Sunday evenings.

Barrett Gruber:

So we can get people out.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, these are the logistic things that people don't think about.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, oh, how do you, how do you, how do you get people in and out?

Barrett Gruber:

Well, you got to kind of plan, you know, but, you know, bringing people overseas, we've looked at people that, that are, that have a residence in the UK and bringing them over here a little easier flying across the Atlantic, but still, again, you know, presents logistical challenges that, you know, we aren't quite ready to tackle.

Barrett Gruber:

Some of the X Men characters came from Canada that, you know, is, that's an international flight.

Barrett Gruber:

So it takes a little more planning, a little bit more time for them to get in and out.

Donald Brock Junior:

So, you know, well, kudos because, you know, not knowing, not knowing all of the logistics that it takes to get those celebrities here from all over the country and then, you know, in Canada this year, you know, that's, that takes a level of effort that I will just say kudos because, you know, and we appreciate all the work that you and your staff do to get it all taken care of and, and for it to basically look like there were no defects that there were, there wasn't anything that occurred at the surface that I knew about.

Donald Brock Junior:

I didn't know anything about the controllers or the iPads or whatever because that's, that that could been a serious hang up that would have, that could have, that.

Donald Brock Junior:

I guess it could have had an impact and ripple effects, you know, literally down the line.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, it would just, it would have just slowed down the process, that's all.

Barrett Gruber:

e don't, you know, if you get:

Barrett Gruber:

Now, knock on wood.

Barrett Gruber:

We have been blessed with nice weather the last two years.

Barrett Gruber:

This, the weekend on August was not super hot.

Barrett Gruber:

The weekend before that, year before that rather was in the seventies.

Barrett Gruber:

So of course, you know, for our tenure, it'll be raining cats and dogs.

Barrett Gruber:

Right.

Barrett Gruber:

So, you know, we'll just get screwed on that.

Barrett Gruber:

most part, you, you survived:

Barrett Gruber:

We did, yeah.

Leroy Green:

an the thousand year flood in:

Barrett Gruber:

say because Steve was here in:

Barrett Gruber:

And then three weeks ago or whatever, in Wilmington, in Brunswick county, wherever he lives, they got like, 20 inches or 22 inches of rain in.

Barrett Gruber:

In 24 hours.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

And that category categorizes them for a thousand year flood.

Barrett Gruber:

And so he's lived through:

Barrett Gruber:

So, again, careful what you say, man.

Leroy Green:

Yeah, I remember:

Leroy Green:

And I was like.

Leroy Green:

And I was like, oh, they're still doing soda city.

Leroy Green:

I was like, bravo.

Leroy Green:

I was like, that's ambitious.

Leroy Green:

As I'm doing the news and I'm watching a dumpster float down Rosewood live on television.

Leroy Green:

And I'm like, I told.

Donald Brock Junior:

I told.

Donald Brock Junior:

Because Mary King.

Donald Brock Junior:

Mary King was out there on Rosewood.

Donald Brock Junior:

I don't know.

Donald Brock Junior:

You guys remember Mary King?

Donald Brock Junior:

She was at wis.

Donald Brock Junior:

But I told.

Donald Brock Junior:

I texted Mary King, and I go.

Donald Brock Junior:

I go, if there's any debris larger than you, you might want to consider standing back away from.

Donald Brock Junior:

Not in the water.

Donald Brock Junior:

And she messaged me back, and she said something about how.

Donald Brock Junior:

How that was.

Donald Brock Junior:

That was where her news director told her that she needed to stand.

Donald Brock Junior:

And it's like, you know, I know we don't have a lot of natural disasters here in Columbia, but news directors could potentially take maybe a lesson from the.

Donald Brock Junior:

y snakes or whatever from the:

Donald Brock Junior:

There was a.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was a reporter.

Donald Brock Junior:

It was a report.

Donald Brock Junior:

She doesn't even work in news anymore, but she apparently had something brush up against her.

Donald Brock Junior:

Got tetanus and got sick for lockjaw or whatever for weeks.

Barrett Gruber:

And for the record, I do remember Mary King.

Barrett Gruber:

She is not bad to look at.

Barrett Gruber:

She's a pretty girl.

Donald Brock Junior:

She is.

Donald Brock Junior:

She is one of the most genuinely kind.

Donald Brock Junior:

She's very nice.

Donald Brock Junior:

And.

Donald Brock Junior:

And if she's watching this, absolutely all the best that she's got going on in Charlotte.

Barrett Gruber:

Good for her.

Donald Brock Junior:

Because moving from Columbia to Charlotte's, I think.

Donald Brock Junior:

What.

Donald Brock Junior:

What market is Charlotte?

Donald Brock Junior:

Charlotte's like, what, 25.

Leroy Green:

It's a top 25 market.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

And Columbia is what?

Donald Brock Junior:

We're 83.

Leroy Green:

Yeah.

Leroy Green:

It wasn't 70.

Leroy Green:

Yeah.

Leroy Green:

Low seventies.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

It wasn't always that way, but, you know, that's awesome because what, Columbia.

Donald Brock Junior:

I think.

Donald Brock Junior:

I think the:

Donald Brock Junior:

I mean, it's growing.

Donald Brock Junior:

And, you know, I'd love to see a larger facility for soda city comic con.

Donald Brock Junior:

And, you know, and it's up to the city.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, city, county, and potentially a state thing.

Barrett Gruber:

The state's gonna have to kick in a little bit.

Barrett Gruber:

But we are, at least I am, because again, I'm the boots on the ground here, but I am one of the, I'm probably one of the loudest and biggest proponents for expanding the convention center.

Barrett Gruber:

I always participate.

Barrett Gruber:

I participated in studies and surveys that they've had.

Barrett Gruber:

I was, they did a 20th anniversary video.

Barrett Gruber:

I can send you that link later, Barrett.

Barrett Gruber:

And it talks about it and I'm in that video.

Barrett Gruber:

And part of the, part of the footage, the b roll or whatever that they had for me was talking about expanding the facility and how we've outgrown it.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, we really have, there's not really any additional space that we could rent and use in the facility.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, we're not capped out from a capacity standpoint.

Barrett Gruber:

We can all, you know, we can have more people and I want more people to come, I want more people to experience because again, if you say that there's approximately a million people, 400, 425,000 households in the, in the greater Columbia area, when you factor in west Columbia, you know, Lexington, Blythewood, the northeast, Casey, Columbia, Chapin, all those areas hopkins.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, all those areas.

Barrett Gruber:

And we're just, we're tapping out at 10,000.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean that's 1% and that's not 10,000 local people because we have about 20% to 22% that travel outside the DMA.

Barrett Gruber:

Leroy will know what that means, greater than 50 miles.

Barrett Gruber:

y getting, you know, eight to:

Barrett Gruber:

You know, the sky's the limit.

Barrett Gruber:

There's no reason we couldn't have a 15 or 20,000 person show.

Barrett Gruber:

We probably have to go to three days.

Barrett Gruber:

I don't really want to do that.

Barrett Gruber:

But you know, numbers may, may force that unless they expand the facility, which they will.

Barrett Gruber:

It's just a matter of aligning stars.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean they're going to have to, they're missing out on too much.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah, yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

Well I've, you know, I'll just, I'll just put this out there.

Donald Brock Junior:

I got lots of PTO by the time August comes around that I got a burn.

Donald Brock Junior:

We have unlimited, we have unlimited PTO.

Donald Brock Junior:

I don't know why I say that.

Barrett Gruber:

I wish that was the case where I work.

Donald Brock Junior:

Look, I will just, I will just say this.

Donald Brock Junior:

Companies that offer unlimited PTO do it because one, they know they don't have to pay anybody when they quit for any unused PTO.

Donald Brock Junior:

Two, they don't have to carry over any PTO.

Donald Brock Junior:

And three, people that have unlimited PTO wind up not using as much PTO in the course of a year because they don't have to.

Donald Brock Junior:

They don't.

Donald Brock Junior:

They don't acknowledge that there's a bank of PTO that they have to use.

Donald Brock Junior:

Interesting.

Donald Brock Junior:

It has its limitations.

Donald Brock Junior:

But I also don't have to burn PTO if I get sick.

Donald Brock Junior:

So it's just, you know, it's one of those benefits.

Donald Brock Junior:

And if I stick with this company for long enough, then I'll take more advantage of it.

Donald Brock Junior:

But yeah, no, I think, I guess the last thing I want to ask Brock, as far as what takeaways from Soda City Comic Con are you potentially looking at to use specifically something that worked this year at Soda City that you're going to use at Wilmington and boardwalk?

Barrett Gruber:

Didn't you have a thing?

Donald Brock Junior:

What he meant to say was the all about nothing podcast.

Donald Brock Junior:

There it is.

Barrett Gruber:

Well, I did.

Barrett Gruber:

I did invite you to come to coastal this past year.

Barrett Gruber:

You couldn't come.

Barrett Gruber:

So I definitely want you guys to come.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, I.

Barrett Gruber:

Coast Coastal is essentially kind of built out.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, there's not really much to change about coastal.

Barrett Gruber:

The built the building.

Barrett Gruber:

When you guys are up there next march, you'll see the buildings.

Barrett Gruber:

It's kind of odd.

Barrett Gruber:

It's not built for ticketed events.

Barrett Gruber:

It's just not.

Barrett Gruber:

So we had to pivot with admissions last year or this, this past march, but once we kind of got that ironed out, you know what we'll kind of have?

Barrett Gruber:

It's really basically got a junior ballroom and exhibit hall and a ballroom that's basically three.

Barrett Gruber:

Three major areas.

Barrett Gruber:

And there's like just long hallways, concourses is what they call them.

Barrett Gruber:

But, you know, Myrtle beach will be interesting because you kind of got, you kind of got your three salons, a, b and c, and then you've got like the hallway outside, and then you've got like a little meeting area in front of a.

Barrett Gruber:

Or a pre function area, what do you want to call it?

Barrett Gruber:

Where you kind of make, do some admissions.

Barrett Gruber:

And it'll be interesting to see how Myrtle beach works out.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, the one thing that I can tell you that we're going to take from show to show to show is just our staff.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, they're just so great.

Barrett Gruber:

Again, I cannot sing their praises enough.

Barrett Gruber:

I can't thank them enough.

Barrett Gruber:

Without them, this wouldn't be possible.

Barrett Gruber:

We wouldn't have nearly amount of success and have grown to the heights of that.

Barrett Gruber:

We've been able to grow without our staff.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, you guys gotta come, you gotta, you gotta cover it.

Barrett Gruber:

Leroy mentioned at one point, at one point, I'll put him on the spot that he wanted to do kind of a behind the scenes and like follow around kind of like a documentary style that would, you know, if you're gonna do it building from the ground up, Myrtle beach would be the one to start with because that's truly cool.

Barrett Gruber:

Starting from the ground to see how it all kind of comes together.

Barrett Gruber:

I think that'd be fun.

Barrett Gruber:

Let's just see what else.

Barrett Gruber:

I mean, I don't know.

Barrett Gruber:

Comic Con at the beach is gonna be just, it's just gonna kind of be interesting.

Barrett Gruber:

I think.

Barrett Gruber:

I think Myrtle beach could, could be, could be a great event.

Barrett Gruber:

I think that, that there's just, there's a, there's, there's, there's a desire amongst that, the community at Myrtle beach to have an event that they can say, this is our event.

Barrett Gruber:

You know.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, people like to claim, oh, so does city.

Barrett Gruber:

This is our, this is our con, this is our event.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, this is our team, we're going to root for them.

Barrett Gruber:

You know, Myrtle beach doesn't have anything like that and it's Myrtle beach.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah.

Donald Brock Junior:

Does, does Myrtle beach or coastal or Wilmington have any limitations to it?

Donald Brock Junior:

Like, I know one of the things with Columbia, and I mentioned it to you one point, was the, the idea of maybe having food truck vendors that were showing up, but we can't do that because the city doesn't allow for the food trucks across from their private or their publicly owned convention center that has food.

Barrett Gruber:

Wilmington's a big fat no.

Barrett Gruber:

Myrtle beach is a maybe.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah.

Barrett Gruber:

Myrtle beach is a maybe.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, that's, that's.

Barrett Gruber:

I've inquired about that.

Barrett Gruber:

Not necessarily a food truck, but my friend Peter, who runs silver city mugs, it does the old timey soda.

Barrett Gruber:

Yeah, he and I have become thick as thieves.

Barrett Gruber:

Like, that's, that's one of my buddies.

Barrett Gruber:

In fact, I'll probably call him in the next day or two now that I'm top of mind.

Barrett Gruber:

But he has come and done events at Myrtle beach before, concerts and whatnot.

Barrett Gruber:

And I asked them, you know, is it possible for, you know, a food vendor of whatnot to come in and do it?

Barrett Gruber:

And they're like, yeah, you know, we can work it out.

Barrett Gruber:

So he works it out with the in house caterer in Columbia.

Barrett Gruber:

Wilmington has flat out said no, whatever, but Myrtle beach is, is willing to at least listen.

Barrett Gruber:

So we'll see.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah, that's great.

Donald Brock Junior:

That's great.

Barrett Gruber:

I would love to have a couple food trucks parked out front.

Barrett Gruber:

I think that only just.

Barrett Gruber:

I think that keeps people there.

Donald Brock Junior:

Yeah, not only that, but it also brings in more of.

Donald Brock Junior:

I'm trying to think of the word, but it creates more of a Columbia environment that allows for participation of other local businesses in it that might not necessarily have the capital to be able to invest as a vendor in comic Con.

Donald Brock Junior:

But I think it's really cool.

Donald Brock Junior:

I look forward to August.

Donald Brock Junior:

I look forward to march.

Donald Brock Junior:

I look forward.

Barrett Gruber:

Not in that order, everybody, because that's not how the calendar works.

Donald Brock Junior:

You know what?

Barrett Gruber:

Okay.

Donald Brock Junior:

He has before, Julia.

Leroy Green:

Georgia education.

Leroy Green:

It's okay.

Donald Brock Junior:

Georgia.

Donald Brock Junior:

It's a Georgia education.

Donald Brock Junior:

Thank you, sir.

Donald Brock Junior:

And I know why the calendar doesn't work like that anymore.

Donald Brock Junior:

It's because of Julius Caesar and Augustus.

Donald Brock Junior:

So thank Augustus Caesar.

Donald Brock Junior:

So, you know world, AP world history right here.

Donald Brock Junior:

I don't.

Donald Brock Junior:

I don't.

Leroy Green:

They don't teach that anymore.

Donald Brock Junior:

They don't teach AP world history anymore?

Leroy Green:

No, they don't teach history anymore.

Donald Brock Junior:

Oh, well, yeah, that's, uh, that's true.

Donald Brock Junior:

That's true.

Donald Brock Junior:

Attention.

Donald Brock Junior:

Attention, attention, attention.

Barrett Gruber:

Get ready, South Carolina.

Barrett Gruber:

Meet your favorite legends.

Barrett Gruber:

Pose with iconic characters, and dive into exclusive panels that will blow your mind.

Barrett Gruber:

Join us at the Myrtle Beach Convention center for two action packed days.

Donald Brock Junior:

Whether youre a superhero or super fan.

Barrett Gruber:

This is your convention.

Barrett Gruber:

Boardwalk comic Con, where fandom comes alive, surfs up.

Barrett Gruber:

Comic Con.

Muff the Producer:

The all about nothing podcast is produced and engineered by me, barrett Gruber.

Muff the Producer:

Thanks to cake for our intro.

Muff the Producer:

Music sick of you.

Muff the Producer:

You can follow everything.

Muff the Producer:

Cake the band at cake music.com dot.

Muff the Producer:

Thanks to Muff the producer for our outro music.

Muff the Producer:

You can follow Muff on instagram.

Muff the Producer:

Muff the producer I am barrett gruber.

Muff the Producer:

You can follow me on instagram and Twitter ericgruber or visit my link tree barrettgruber.

Muff the Producer:

Want to support the show?

Muff the Producer:

Visit our webpage, theallaboutnothing.com, and become a member.

Muff the Producer:

There are several tiers available, including memberships that give you early access to episodes as well as exclusive content.

Muff the Producer:

Visit theallaboutnothing.com dot to find links to our social media merchandise and past episodes.

Muff the Producer:

Visit theallaboutnothing.com dot.

Muff the Producer:

If youd like to be heard on the show, you can call and leave us a message.

Muff the Producer:

Dial:

Muff the Producer:

Zach and I host.

Muff the Producer:

What the pod was that with Kerry Simmons.

Muff the Producer:

Visit whatthepodwasat.com for links and details.

Muff the Producer:

Ami takes a deep dive down the rabbit hole in episodes of welcome to Wonderland, available on all the podcast platforms.

Muff the Producer:

Visit wtwlpod.com for details as well.

Muff the Producer:

You can listen to the political and social conversation between doctor Jamella Brooks and Bill Kimmler on Black, white and Blue in the south.

Muff the Producer:

Available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Muff the Producer:

Please subscribe and share this show.

Muff the Producer:

If you're on YouTube, please like and hit the notification bell.

Muff the Producer:

Thank you for listening.

Muff the Producer:

ct of Big Media and copyright:

Muff the Producer:

All rights reserved.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for The All About Nothing: Podcast

About the Podcast

The All About Nothing: Podcast
All about nothing, while being all about something.
In this world of 24-Cable-News, Editorializations of our World, Politics, Wars, Pandemics, Partisan-ism, Sports, Entertainment... The constant barrage of information, we like to take a few moments and discuss particulars and their effect. We seek to learn and find direction. We look for understanding and good conversation in a world of unease.
Support This Show

About your hosts

Barrett Gruber

Profile picture for Barrett Gruber
Originally from Atlanta, Barrett has worked professionally in Radio and Television. By day, he works in Business Analytics and Quality Assurance, and by night he takes in news, politics and sports and some how makes light of nearly all of it. Rooted in Comedy and Satire, Barrett gives his honest and well informed opinion on the world we all must experience.

Zachary King

Profile picture for Zachary King
Just a guy that wears free shirts. Seriously. You give him a shirt, he will absolutely wear it. Don't ask for it back. He's all about the freebies. Seriously, again, he begs for free stuff.