Not all events can be winners. Wizard and Wand in Raleigh
had all the ingredients for success, but unfortunately it turned out to be a
boggart.
I had seen the event and since several of my friends are
major Potter-heads I thought it could be fun. I'm down for anything involving
crafts and costumes. Eddie went ahead and bought a ticket while they were on
sale for $22. I procrastinated as I often do. A little closer to the event they
put up a post asking for people to work the event. Eddie and I actually love
that type of thing, so we figured why not. It was only a 3 hour shift to help
them get started and you got a free wristband for the rest of the night, not a
bad gig. We checked in at 2pm and helped hang a few things on the walls. By 2:30
the line was already starting. They gave us an extremely fast crash course and
set us up with our jobs. I was punching tickets for the swag table and Eddie
was just supposed to direct the crowd towards the table. The line was endless.
From 2:45 until 5pm I punched tickets non-stop.
I have to admit this was probably the most polite crowd I've
ever worked. Even after waiting for hours—yes hours—not a single person was
rude by the time they got to us. There were some great costumes in the bunch.
You could really feel the crowd’s excitement; everyone was pumped to be there
(or at least faking it for their date). A couple of people had asked about a
scarf that was supposed to be included, but we had no idea about any of that
and they didn't make a fuss, so I didn't really think much of it. Unfortunately,
it turns out that there was supposed to be completely different items offered
at the swag booth, including a Hogwarts scarf and a butter beer (which turned
out to be a 2oz sample). That was not clearly mentioned to the volunteers or
the crawlers so it left a bad taste for many people. The wands that were
promised were chopsticks dipped in wax, and the cup was just a cheap plastic
cup with advertising space. They did give
out Kind Bars though, so there’s that.
As 5 o'clock drew closer I was ready to go. I'd been using a
hole punch for hours and was ready for a drink. Eddie's position was more
flexible so he attempted to find someone in charge to let them know we were
leaving and to get our wristbands. He couldn’t find anyone in charge. At 5, we
did our best to cover our posts and left. The line when we got outside was
unbelievable! Our friends had come to Raleigh to join us, and they got there at
3:30. They were just then, an hour and a half later, getting wristbands. They weren’t
even inside the first bar, yet! As a group we decided to give up on the opener
bar, and head directly to the 2nd. The line here, too, was around
the block. Nope. So we decided to head to the park area where they had the rest
of the festivities. As we drew near, we saw a long line here too, and gave up.
We wandered around Raleigh and made our way to several bars.
One bar, I can’t remember the name, WAS affiliated with the crawl, however it
was not on the program list and was empty. Everywhere we walked, we saw Hogwarts
students who had given up on the crawl proper and were just wandering.
From what we saw, and the outcry from social media, the
Wizard and Wand Bar Crawl was definitely not a hit. People were cold, waiting
in long lines. The swag that was promised was mediocre at best, if they existed
at all. It was poorly organized and not well executed for the amount of people
that showed up. But, luckily for us, we can have fun anywhere if we have the
right people around us.
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