Behind the Scenes of Conventions and Events with Ben Penrod of Nerd Street (Podcast)
A Discussion on Con Prep, Safety, Value, and More
Ahead of our attendance at Twin Cities Con, a celebration of comics, toys, TV, film, art, cosplay, games, and all things nerdy hosted in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we took the time to get to know one of the founders. Ben Penrod, President of Nerd Street LLC, has been putting together cons for over a decade, starting with Awesome Con in Washington D.C. after years of selling comics at events. From there, he and his team have established conventions in Minnesota, Florida, Maryland, Iowa, Alaska, and more.
Shared in full in our podcast feed, we talked with Penrod about all things conventions, comics, pop culture, and more. He spoke fondly of the latest Star Wars shows and recommended The Batman Adventures comics and anything written by Kurt Busiek. Convention safety was a highlight of the chat, as well as the challenges brought on by COVID-19. With the future of conventions finally looking brighter, Penrod was eager to share the excitement surrounding Twin Cities Con, which will see dozens of notable guests such as the casts of Clerks, Mallrats, My Name is Earl, Bluey, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Marvel’s Spider-Man series of video games, and more. That full conversation can be found below and on podcatchers by searching for The Forever Classic Podcast.
Penrod also compared conventions to sports franchises and explained that cities that embrace events such as these are seeing a lot of community and financial value. Minneapolis is home to several annual conventions and tournaments, many of which we at Forever Classic Games have attended and supported with Twin Cities Con being one of the largest. Nearly every event we’ve seen connected to geek passions results in a fun atmosphere.
Keep an eye on Forever Classic Games as we hope to collect more interviews! We also want to thank Penrod for taking the time to speak with us.
More information about Twin Cities Con can be found on the official website.
Featured image of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 courtesy of official press assets. Yuri Lowenthal, Nadji Jeter, and Tony Todd are all slated for an appearance at Twin Cities Con.
Following the launch of Street Fighter 6, the future of Capcom’s iconic fighting game franchise looks bright, especially for those that engage with tournaments and community gathers.