Better late than never, right? In mid-August I was able to take a break from my program's Enterprise-ing for a chance to delve into downtown Toronto for my first trip to the Eaton Centre since moving to the GTA for my publishing program. I'm particularly fond of the Eaton Centre's Indigo store - mainly because of its size and the fact that this store has at least 3 manga sections :D But most importantly, this store gets to host awesome events like a live book signing with amazing innovator in geek culture, +Felicia Day! I was very lucky to get my book signed at this event, and to also spend some time with friends old and new that came out to meet Felicia.
Being a semi-ignorant small town girl, I figured that taking time to stop and eat dinner and not head out to the signing until about 6 would get me there right on time for 7 o'clock and I would have no problems. I have my friend Notes to thank for letting me know just how crazy the turn-out was, which drove me to get my butt in gear and hop on the streetcar about 5 o'clock instead. After all, it's a Felicia Day book signing in Toronto, of course there would be a whole whack of geeky individuals there ready to wait in line. Silly me!
It's a good thing I love crowds, because the place was PACKED! The first thing I did when I arrived at the bookstore around 6 was to purchase my copy of You're Never Weird On The Internet (Almost) so that I wouldn't have to worry about it later, when the lines at the register might get as crazy as the crowds of people waiting for Felicia to make her appearance on the second floor. As a new release, the hard cover was on sale for $20, which made my unemployed student wallet very happy.
Getting to walk around upstairs and take in all of the fellow geeks here to meet one of their idols made for a pretty great atmosphere for all. I kept looking around trying to identify various geeky t-shirts (during this event I spied no less than 3 Tabletop t-shirts - you guys rock!). There was even a Guild cosplayer present, and I didn't hesitate to snap a picture when I could. While I was walking around, I was also trying to locate my good friend Notes, and it took me a good 40 minutes of wandering around the various sections (checking out the new releases of YA titles and graphic novels on the way, of course) until I found him in Young Readers.
After that we walked around the various sections and other parts of the mall while we killed time waiting for our group numbers to be called. The people at Indigo, who aren't new to these big-scale signing events, knew just how to plan it; when you came upstairs to where the signing would be taking place, you were assigned a group number, and so long as you had your slip with your group number you could feel free to leave the store, grab dinner, and wander around as you pleased until you returned to get your book signed. And if you happened to miss your group being called, so long as you kept your group slip, you could still enter the line. It kept people from sitting in the stacks for hours on end - which admittedly ended up happening anyway as the signing went past the store's operational hours, but that was to be expected. I'm pretty sure Felicia had just flown in from Scotland before coming to this signing, and she was a real trooper for enduring the hours it took to meet and greet all of her eager fans.
Notes and I hung out as we waited for our respective group numbers to be called - he was in 15, I was in 23 - and as we did we wandered around the store talking about books we grew up with, music, and various nerdy topic that we have in common. Notes is somebody I met since entering this program; we met at an industry event, and my first words to him were me complimenting his Hufflepuff belt XD He is known for posting videos containing album reviews, and his Valentine's Day video in particular had me in stitches. Click here to take a look at Note's Channel - and you should subscribe too! Big thanks to a good friend who waited around after getting his book signed until 10PM as I waited for my group's number to be called :)
At the event I also ran into a friend from university, another fellow nerd like myself. In my state of exhaustion from the long night and the pressure of my program, however, I accidentally introduced her to Notes by the wrong name XP I spent the whole night lamenting to Notes about how bad I felt and then apologizing to my friend once I ran into her again after we'd both finished getting our books signed. It's a true sign just how Canadian I am for the amount that I'm apologizing for the things that I do and say XP
Getting to meet Felicia Day in person really was a trip. There wasn't time to say much but I just told her that she was an absolute champion for the sheer length that this signing event had extended to. All in all, I can't wait to read my signed copy of You're Never Weird On The Internet (almost) by Felicia Day, and hopefully a review will be in store for the future.
Have you picked up your copy of Felicia Day's new book yet? Did you get a chance to meet her during her book tour? Tell me all about it in the comments below!
Being a semi-ignorant small town girl, I figured that taking time to stop and eat dinner and not head out to the signing until about 6 would get me there right on time for 7 o'clock and I would have no problems. I have my friend Notes to thank for letting me know just how crazy the turn-out was, which drove me to get my butt in gear and hop on the streetcar about 5 o'clock instead. After all, it's a Felicia Day book signing in Toronto, of course there would be a whole whack of geeky individuals there ready to wait in line. Silly me!
It's a good thing I love crowds, because the place was PACKED! The first thing I did when I arrived at the bookstore around 6 was to purchase my copy of You're Never Weird On The Internet (Almost) so that I wouldn't have to worry about it later, when the lines at the register might get as crazy as the crowds of people waiting for Felicia to make her appearance on the second floor. As a new release, the hard cover was on sale for $20, which made my unemployed student wallet very happy.
Getting to walk around upstairs and take in all of the fellow geeks here to meet one of their idols made for a pretty great atmosphere for all. I kept looking around trying to identify various geeky t-shirts (during this event I spied no less than 3 Tabletop t-shirts - you guys rock!). There was even a Guild cosplayer present, and I didn't hesitate to snap a picture when I could. While I was walking around, I was also trying to locate my good friend Notes, and it took me a good 40 minutes of wandering around the various sections (checking out the new releases of YA titles and graphic novels on the way, of course) until I found him in Young Readers.
After that we walked around the various sections and other parts of the mall while we killed time waiting for our group numbers to be called. The people at Indigo, who aren't new to these big-scale signing events, knew just how to plan it; when you came upstairs to where the signing would be taking place, you were assigned a group number, and so long as you had your slip with your group number you could feel free to leave the store, grab dinner, and wander around as you pleased until you returned to get your book signed. And if you happened to miss your group being called, so long as you kept your group slip, you could still enter the line. It kept people from sitting in the stacks for hours on end - which admittedly ended up happening anyway as the signing went past the store's operational hours, but that was to be expected. I'm pretty sure Felicia had just flown in from Scotland before coming to this signing, and she was a real trooper for enduring the hours it took to meet and greet all of her eager fans.
Notes and I hung out as we waited for our respective group numbers to be called - he was in 15, I was in 23 - and as we did we wandered around the store talking about books we grew up with, music, and various nerdy topic that we have in common. Notes is somebody I met since entering this program; we met at an industry event, and my first words to him were me complimenting his Hufflepuff belt XD He is known for posting videos containing album reviews, and his Valentine's Day video in particular had me in stitches. Click here to take a look at Note's Channel - and you should subscribe too! Big thanks to a good friend who waited around after getting his book signed until 10PM as I waited for my group's number to be called :)
At the event I also ran into a friend from university, another fellow nerd like myself. In my state of exhaustion from the long night and the pressure of my program, however, I accidentally introduced her to Notes by the wrong name XP I spent the whole night lamenting to Notes about how bad I felt and then apologizing to my friend once I ran into her again after we'd both finished getting our books signed. It's a true sign just how Canadian I am for the amount that I'm apologizing for the things that I do and say XP
Getting to meet Felicia Day in person really was a trip. There wasn't time to say much but I just told her that she was an absolute champion for the sheer length that this signing event had extended to. All in all, I can't wait to read my signed copy of You're Never Weird On The Internet (almost) by Felicia Day, and hopefully a review will be in store for the future.
Have you picked up your copy of Felicia Day's new book yet? Did you get a chance to meet her during her book tour? Tell me all about it in the comments below!
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