Speaking of Cons....

[Thunderhowl]

I thought we should start a thread where Alina and everyone can geeksqee about the cons that they have gone to/are going to.

I, for example, am going to GenCon Indy this year, assuming there's no difficulty with my passport or vacation request at work.

I'm so excited I feel like I may explode. Gencon is the Mecca for gamers and if I don't go before I die, the Dice Gods may turn on me, and I shall have critical fumbles forever and ever.

[Tom the Fanboy]

I've always wanted to go to GenCon but I don't want to go to the LA version. I want to go to Indy. I like the Indianapolis convention center and, if you're going to a gaming convention, go to a MIDWEST gaming convention. Dice roll better when the land is flat.


My convention is Kumoricon. I've been going to Oregon's Anime Convention since it began in 2003. That summer I had gone, alone, to the famous San Diego Comic-Con and now I was quite interested in going to more. It's a fan run convention which means that us regular geeky staffers have full control over the programming and everything. I've been helping with the con the whole time while deftly avoiding any staff position that requires me to do something I hadn't planned on doing anyway.

We're a pretty cool con that's friendly towards cosplayers from things that might not be anime, like Avatar, WoW and Zim. Not to mention things that definitely aren't anime like Harry Potter. We have a lot of activities that are based around Japanese culture and not just the cartoons themselves. For instance, I am the President of Pocky Club, a group of people that deliver cosplay "pockygrams" at the convention for no charge.

[Xaq]

Well, obviously we've been to 2 cons so far... the Calgary Comic Expo and (of course) Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. Both were pretty dang good cons. Calgary had WAY more costumes, for some reason. Seattle was a ton of fun, though and we're DEFINITELY going back next year (probably to both cons, actually). The remaining conventions we're planning to hit this year include Con-Version in Calgary (a science fiction convention), Animethon in Edmonton, Pure Speculation in Edmonton (a smaller local Gaming con that invited us), and probably the Alternative Press Expo (APE) in San Francisco. We're considering V-Con in Vancouver as well, but that one's still iffy. Next year we'll probably do a couple more farther-away conventions (we're planning to hit Dragon Con next year, for example).

Seattle was a BLAST though, and is probably going to remain one of our best convention experiences, just because it was so good. Jennie said it was the best convention she's done so far, and she's done a TON of them. The Halfpixel guys said the same thing. Jeph Jacques did so well he got a blister on his hand from drawing sketches for people (on his pinky, where it rubs on the paper). And I can't believe how much time Jim Demonakis (the organizer) spent running around and talking to all of the exhibitors. He was very much concerned with making sure people were happy with their setup. He's a class act, that guy.

[Vaporisor]

My last con was otafest in calgary. Don't really see myself going to anymore really until I start to get my works finished and out.

[Narf the Mouse]

I want to go to a con. But I am poor.

[Vaporisor]

Actually, there will be one I will probably go to coming soon. And a link!
http://www.ai-kon.org/
Its in winnipeg, so just a day away.

Best part is, that my cosplay char is so easy, L from deathnote since My brother bugs me that I am his twin. (mannerisms and fashion sense)

[Tom the Fanboy]

I really hope that I can go, but there is a new convention gearing up in Seattle.
STEAMCON

http://steamcon.gather.com/
It's a steampunk convention.

http://community.livejournal.com/steamcon/

[Vaporisor]

That would be an interesting one but it is an oct 09 planned one so quite a while till that one. Never really been involved with the genre though surprizingly.

[Faolan]

Been to the Calgary Comic Expo, as I said before. Was awesome. Will be back next year. Wish I knew about Ai-Kon earlier, as I would have loved to go, and would have been able to carpool, what with being a Saskatchewanian and all. But alas, already booked my vacation time from work, a week or two too early. Oh, well. Next year, perhaps.


Note to self: Quit using sentence fragments.

[Thenodrin]

I went to Origins last weekend, and hope to go to Gen Con Indi health willing.

Origins was great. I ran four tables of Fellowship of the White Star (a D20 RPG I'm head editor of) and got to talk to a lot of people at our booth in the exhibit hall. I also got to play three "Rail" games: Empire Builder, India Rails, and China Rails.

It was nice to see that after all these years the food places in the convention center finally started staying open late. They're still used to "normal" conventions, where people show up for one of the available days and typically leave by 5. But, Krema extended their hours, and the burger place in the west side of the center didn't close until 11.

Narf, many cons will help defray costs for volunteering. RPGA and the Gathering both gave badge reimbursements for running 20 hours of RPGs (not as much as it sounds, just 4 tables) and hotel / food court vouchers for those who ran more than that. An ex-girlfriend of mine volunteered both for our White Star and Paradigm's Witch Hunter games and was able to attend almost for free. I think that all she was out was the time and travel costs. Another ex of mine volunteered for Rogue Cthulhu and was able to attend rather cheaply as well.

If you can attend Gen Con Indi, I know that the RPGA is looking for volunteers. Contact a Dave Christ through the RPGA website, tell him that Theno (me) sent you, and he should be able to hook you up with a free badge for judging 4 tables of Living Forgotten Realms (a D&D 4E game, just thought I'd warn ya.)

Theno

[Narf the Mouse]

I like D&D 4e, so that's no problem.

What is a problem is I get frequent headaches, have allergies and get 'Shy introvert' attacks offline.

Which may sound wierd, as I'm an extrovert online, but...

[Alondro]

*oozes in* I went to Anthrocon. Fear me! >:}

[PedroSteckecilo]

I've been attending Con-Version in Calgary for the past 4 years, and The Calgary Comic Expo for the past 3.

I'd attend more but Calgary is a pretty crummy city for Conventions, Otafest is a bit depressing and caters to mostly the 16 and under crowd.

[Xaq]

I think Alina's going to make 2 more Con appearances this season:

1. Pure Speculation in Edmonton (October 18-19)
2. APE (Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco (November 1-2)

And that's probably it. Next year the plans include possibly: Calgary Comic Expo, Emerald City Comic Con (Seattle), Stumptown Comics Fest (Portland), Animethon (Edmonton), Gen Con (Indy), Con-Version (Calgary), Dragon Con (Atlanta) and Pure Spec (Edmonton). We'd also like to hit at least ONE convention in California or Texas, the two biggest Webcomics states in the US, but we don't know which one yet. Maybe Wondercon? Keep watching the front page... once more of this is confirmed, we'll probably post a convention schedule for the coming year.