Hi Turtlex! I'm just now seeing your post, sorry! I commented on one of the other threads about our experience so I went and copied it for you and added it down below.
To your questions: I don't know that there are any sessions I would have skipped that we actually attended. I learned something from every single one and walked away inspired. Tricia mentioned on the other thread that it was a fun weekend and it really doesn't make sense when you are talking about some seriously heavy and emotional content. But it really was! Plus, it is so inspiring to be around like-minded people who truly care about victims and people they might not have ever met. I met some of the nicest people there and had so many amazing conversations about cases. My brain was fried by the end of it because the sessions were emotional, exhausting, inspiring and informative. I took notes at every session but I'm a nerd like that.
Most engaging speaker? Tough to choose. Jim Clemente was AMAZING and Sheryl McCollum is the bee's knees IMO. I could listen to them speak all day....
Here is some other info from my post in the other thread:
CrimeCon posted a blog with daily recaps:
https://www.crimecon.com/blog/ This will kinda explain what went on every day. It's mostly the highlights.
We had an AMAZING time. I highly, highly, HIIIIIIIIIIGHLY recommend this event! It was so much fun & I can't imagine ever having to miss one of these. It was especially great getting to meet Tricia and some of our fellow WSers. Of course they were the sweetest people ever!
As for the sessions--Kratz & Fassbender was interesting. It didn't make me change my mind about Brendan Dassey's innocence but I did find some of the presentation interesting. For example, when they showed parts that the documentary left out....it definitely made me wonder why the documentary snipped parts out to make it look damning. Kratz was ummm.....funnier than I expected. Personable, almost. Still not a big fan though!
Sheryl McCollum's Wine & Crime was one of my favorites. We were able to go over a cold case they are working on. Including getting all of the inside information they have along with crime scene photos. (I would have liked that session to be longer. Sheryl is amazing & I could spend all day listening to her and her team.) Tricia's session on Citizen Detectives was on point! Y'all would have loved hearing what she had to say. I really enjoyed it and attended that over the Tricia Todd session (which I was also really interested in). We also attended: Aphrodite Jones' session on Scott Peterson, The Golden State Serial Killer session--very, very emotional! (You can watch the Golden State Serial Killer session on YouTube.)
We also attended the LISK session, Up & Vanished with Payne Lindsay, Jim Clemente session (AMAZING man....LOVED him!!), Kelly Siegler's session, & Missing Maura Murray. All were great! We also ran into other sessions to catch some tidbits as we could. Our schedule was busy though!!
What I liked best about the Con was that the guest speakers didn't just speak at their session and go up to their rooms. We mingled, rubbed elbows & hung out with the speakers all weekend. You'd see people in the hallways, hanging out in the bar downstairs, sitting in Starbucks or even in the elevator going up to their room at night. Nancy Grace was everywhere (she is SUPER sweet in person and I loved getting to chat with her about Missy Bevers), Jim Clemente was almost always within eyesight, and Aphrodite Jones was also always around--taking photos and chatting. Podcast row was open a lot so really, getting to meet anyone you wanted was super easy and you had time to chat with them. We met almost everyone there, in person....except Kratz & Fassbender.
VIP Gold was definitely worth it! We always had a seat. We had access to the VIP Lounge to get a water & snack whenever we needed it (our days were full so this was a big plus). And, the Murder Mystery dinner, Escape the Room (we got out!), Wine & Crime, & the VIP Happy Hour (with most of the speakers & podcasters) was a nice way to spend the evening after a super long day of sessions. At night, we were EXHAUSTED. Almost too exhausted to figure out the weekend-long crime. After everything settled down at night, I just felt like I had so much information in my brain.....so much to think about. It was exhausting but in a good way!
Hope that helps Turtlex! Look forward to meeting you!
