Throwback Thursday: Meeting Kevin Conroy & why I love Twitter

Some people have favorite movie stars and singers. I have a favorite voice actor, Kevin Conroy (sidebar: voice acting is my "dream job"). He's not exactly on Taylor Swift's popularity level, but I think a good number of people who grew up through the '90s recognize the name as the voice behind Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman: The Animated Series. Batman: The Animated Series was one of my favorite cartoons growing up. When people ask, I can't really pinpoint when my obsession with Batman really started, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with this cartoon.

Batman: The Animated Series

Season 4 a.k.a. The New Batman Adventures

Kevin Conroy's also voiced Batman in the Justice League animated series, the following Justice League Unlimited animated series, Batman Beyond, and various video games and animated movies. It's come to the point now where it's disappointing if he's NOT voicing Batman in animated movies. That means I'm SUPER excited for The Killing Joke coming out this year! He'll be back as Batman along with Mark Hamill (Star Wars' Luke Skywalker) as the Joker. It's like a '90s Batman fan dream come true.

At San Diego Comic Con 2014, when they were celebrating Batman's 75th year anniversary, Kevin Conroy was in attendance and I had the opportunity to meet him! I think that was the first time he'd made an appearance since I started attending in 2010. I think he may have attended in 2010, but I missed my chance then too. In 2014, he was in town promoting Batman: Assault on Arkham with Warner Brothers.

He was speaking on a panel and also had a free movie poster signing at the Warner Brothers booth. I preferred the signing since it would give me a chance to actually speak with him. The catch was that you needed to get up extremely early in the morning to get in line to get a wristband for the signing that would be happening later in the day. So roundabout, right? That's SDCC for you. Wristbands for all signings at the WB booth were being released at 8am and it was first come first serve. I ended up in line too late to get wristbands for anything so like any normal person I went to TWITTER!

Just kidding, I don't think that's what ANY normal person would do, but it should be. I looked up some relevant hashtags including #WBsignings and #SDCC2014 and found a girl who had an extra Assault on Arkham wristband that she didn't want! I reached out to her, met up with her around downtown, offered to pay for the wristband, but she ended up giving it to me for free. She said that she just wanted to at least give it to some one who actually cared to go. SHE MADE MY DAY! SHE MADE MY WHOLE COMIC CON!

At the signing, I shook Kevin Conroy's hand, told him he was my hero, took my signed poster, and was on my way. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let him sign anything else... even the Batman: The Animated Series Season 1 I had hidden in my back. ;) Hehehe. I wish I had the opportunity to take a picture WITH him, but they were really just trying to move the line along. It was a still a great experience to finally see and meet him in person.

Kevin Conroy signing

Signed poster

THIS is why I love Twitter and so should everyone else. It's a great way to find conversations and connect. It's particularly useful at large events such as conferences and festivals. It's also amazing for customer service inquiries.

Reasons why I love Twitter:

1. See above story
2. I won my current Samsung Galaxy S5 on Twitter. Granted it was smaller Twitter contest within the advertising industry, but I GOT A FREE FRIKKIN' SMARTPHONE!
3. I've also randomly won a $10 Pluckers restaurant gift card for "The Tweet of the Day," which was doubly sweet because that means they thought I was funny... or at least mildly entertaining.
4. I've tweeted at Ben & Jerry's truck when they were on a "tour" and got free ice cream for my whole company at a previous job.
5. I've also tweeted at a branded coffee truck and got free coffee for my whole team at my current job.
6. I've gotten some great customer service that resulted in credit from companies like Southwest and Nordstrom Rack. Twitter is my go-to channel for customer service. I LOVE brands that have great Twitter presences including Chase, Southwest, and Nordstrom Rack. It's so much faster than going through their website.
7. It's a great way to get updates at large live events. See #1 as an example. Another personal example involves updates on lines at SXSW or SDCC. There are Twitter pages and hashtags dedicated to providing information on how long lines are or how quickly they're moving. It's extremely helpful in informing your own schedule. I also actually use it a lot when planning and registering for SDCC. In the convoluted badge and hotel process, it's a quick way to get real time updates on what might still be available.
8. I also think Twitter is the quickest way for brands to communicate with consumers on-site. I believe hashtags are most natural in the Twitter space, no images are required like on Instagram, and the direct messaging doesn't require another app like Facebook's messenger. Example, Late Night with Seth Meyers had people tweet a joke with a specified hashtag right on the spot for a free t-shirt from their representatives. Samsung has had people tweet with a specified hashtag to get fresh Samsung smartphone batteries from their representatives running around SXSW. They sent direct messages to find your location. There are more examples, but you get the idea.
9. To further drive the point of quick communication, the 140 character limit makes it super easy to consume content which I think is what really sets it apart from other social platforms.
10. ETC.!!!

If these examples don't give you a reason to start using or hop back on Twitter, then I can't help you anymore. Twitter is fantastic. The end. Just in time for Twitter's birthday. Happy 10th Birthday, Twitter! #LoveTwitter