Comics come alive as Con Nooga erupts with pop-culture sprawl this weekend

If things shake out like Con Nooga organizers plan, there should be a minimum of sweaty shoulder rubbing this weekend during the convention for fans of all things related to pop culture.

Thanks to a snow squall the day before doors opened, last year’s convention fell 20 percent to 30 percent shy of the 4,500 guests that convention chairman Todd Patton predicted would attend. This year, however, Patton says he expects to meet that goal for the three-day gathering, scheduled Friday through Sunday, Feb. 19-21. To ensure everyone is entertained without feeling too claustrophobic, the convention has taken over an additional 36,000 square feet of the Chattanooga Convention Center.

“The square footage is right at 150,000,” he says. “We actually use more room than World of Wheels.”

That it took less than a decade for the convention to balloon to this size when it used to fit comfortably inside the confines of the Chattanooga Choo Choo is as surprising to Patton as to any guest.

“It was probably 2011 when we realized that we really needed to look at options,” he says. “We were selling out our vendor hall six months out from the event. We were like, ‘Oh my God.'”

This year, the convention reduced the width of rows in the dealer room, allowing organizers to pack in more than 200 booths offering up everything from costuming accoutrements and mint-condition comics to collectible figurines and original artwork.

The programming schedule has been beefed up as well, thanks to additional events at the Convention Center between 7 p.m. – the previous shutdown time – and midnight on Friday and Saturday. With those 10 extra hours of programming and an additional stage in one of the main rooms, Patton says, Con Nooga now offers about 500 hours of programming, an increase of 25 percent over 2015.

This year’s offerings include an eclectic mix of workshops, panel discussions, appearances by celebrity guests and a grab bag of gonzo activities. On Friday night alone, attendees can get tips for creating a comic book, take a crash course in piloting remote-controlled drones, engage in a Nerf gun battle and then settle in for a drag show – all before 8 p.m.

It’s gotten to the point, Patton says, where one of the main complaints the event’s organizers get is that there’s too much to do and too little time to fit it all in. Just looking at the convention’s custom smartphone app (iOS/Android) has become a little stressful, Patton admits.

“I was looking at it and trying to add things to my schedule, and every time I tried, there was a conflict,” he laughs. “There aren’t many hours that there’s not something going on when I want to do something else, too.

“What our goal is going to continue to be is to bring in the most diverse programming and extensive programming so that not a minute goes by when you’re bored.”

Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.