ConTemporal! Comics track post-mortem
I've helped out with cons a dozen times before (mostly Animazement over the years), but Contemporal 2012 was the first time I've actually been a major member of a ConCom. Running the Comics and Media track for a first-year steampunk (and sci-fi and fantasy and what else ya got) convention was quite the experience. It was exhausting, but also a pretty amazing experience.
Of course there were plenty of glitches and last-minute saves, but overall the con went really well. Not only did all the guests I've heard from say they had a great time, a large number of them (including some that have been to scores of cons) said they would not have been able to tell it was a first-year. That's pretty amazing.
Highlights of my track:
Studio Foglio! Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio, and Cheyenne Wright, the team behind Girl Genius, were our guests of honor at the con and a huge draw for my track. They were all delightful to work with, and indulged me with a bunch of great panels and activities. I got to sit around and chat with Kaja about anime in one panel. I got to tell Phil Foglio what to draw on a deadline. That right there is a serious unexpected bucket-list type milestone, let me tell you. This was also the first time I've gotten to hear them do Girl Genius radio plays in person (two of them!), which was a treat.
Jennie Breeden of The Devil's Panties came down to play with us, and I'm honored to have hosted what she's said was the first successful kilt-blowing party outside Dragon*Con. Brett, the maker's track director, whipped her up a steampunk leaf-blower, and it was glorious. I added a purple skirt to my usual pirate outfit for the occasion.
My track was also graced by the presence of Ruben Moreno, author of the webcomic Masked Manor, who also added to a lot of great panels for us, and a bunch of fine folks from The Escapist online mag, who unfortunately got some low turnout for their panels due to needing to be scheduled early in the day, and Emilie Bush, author and general steampunk maven, who offered invaluable help as a moderator.
Probably the single most nerve-wracking but ultimately rewarding event for me was the Iron Artist Steampunk Character Design Challenge that I put on. This was a crazy idea for a fun activity I had early on in the convention planning stages, but it was always fairly loose on details and required a huge amount of help and goodwill (read: humoring me) from the participants. Fortunately, that was exactly what I got. Phil Foglio, Cheyenne Wright, and Ruben Moreno stepped up to draw, Emilie Bush did and amazing job with 20+ minutes of improv hosting under very loose direction, and Steve Butts of the Escapist and our own kurai_seraphim were excellent tongue-in-cheek judges.
I admit I was slightly terrified when I revealed the "secret ingredient" to be referenced somehow in the works (the Queen Anne's Revenge, a pirate ship sunk off the coast of North Carolina, an excellent suggestion from my wife akiko), and Phil just kind of stared at me quizzically and proceeded to lean back in his chair for a couple minutes before touching a pen. But the wheels were just turning, and all three artists produced wonderful character sketches, each taking the theme in a different direction. Ruben, whose comic focuses on iconic monsters, gave us a classical pirate with a steampunk bent in "Captain Rumgear". Cheyenne, who seems fond of pretty girls and terrible puns, gave us the pirate "Queen Anne III" with her very large gun, The Revenge. And Phil hinted at epic tales of adventure with "Olivia Smattington Von Nemo", great grand-niece of the famous Captain, in full diving gear with an alarming narwhal-esque weapon at the ready. The three pieces went on to raise over $150 in total at the charity auction later. All in all, it was so successful I'm probably going to have to do it again!
So anyway, being on ConCom was a huge amount of work... which I can't say I regret. I had a bunch of amazing experience that I couldn't have had anywhere else. Many thanks to our guests, our volunteers, our attendees, and of course all the rest of the hard-working con staff for making it possible, and suckering me in to this craziness.
Of course there were plenty of glitches and last-minute saves, but overall the con went really well. Not only did all the guests I've heard from say they had a great time, a large number of them (including some that have been to scores of cons) said they would not have been able to tell it was a first-year. That's pretty amazing.
Highlights of my track:
Studio Foglio! Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio, and Cheyenne Wright, the team behind Girl Genius, were our guests of honor at the con and a huge draw for my track. They were all delightful to work with, and indulged me with a bunch of great panels and activities. I got to sit around and chat with Kaja about anime in one panel. I got to tell Phil Foglio what to draw on a deadline. That right there is a serious unexpected bucket-list type milestone, let me tell you. This was also the first time I've gotten to hear them do Girl Genius radio plays in person (two of them!), which was a treat.
Jennie Breeden of The Devil's Panties came down to play with us, and I'm honored to have hosted what she's said was the first successful kilt-blowing party outside Dragon*Con. Brett, the maker's track director, whipped her up a steampunk leaf-blower, and it was glorious. I added a purple skirt to my usual pirate outfit for the occasion.
My track was also graced by the presence of Ruben Moreno, author of the webcomic Masked Manor, who also added to a lot of great panels for us, and a bunch of fine folks from The Escapist online mag, who unfortunately got some low turnout for their panels due to needing to be scheduled early in the day, and Emilie Bush, author and general steampunk maven, who offered invaluable help as a moderator.
Probably the single most nerve-wracking but ultimately rewarding event for me was the Iron Artist Steampunk Character Design Challenge that I put on. This was a crazy idea for a fun activity I had early on in the convention planning stages, but it was always fairly loose on details and required a huge amount of help and goodwill (read: humoring me) from the participants. Fortunately, that was exactly what I got. Phil Foglio, Cheyenne Wright, and Ruben Moreno stepped up to draw, Emilie Bush did and amazing job with 20+ minutes of improv hosting under very loose direction, and Steve Butts of the Escapist and our own kurai_seraphim were excellent tongue-in-cheek judges.
I admit I was slightly terrified when I revealed the "secret ingredient" to be referenced somehow in the works (the Queen Anne's Revenge, a pirate ship sunk off the coast of North Carolina, an excellent suggestion from my wife akiko), and Phil just kind of stared at me quizzically and proceeded to lean back in his chair for a couple minutes before touching a pen. But the wheels were just turning, and all three artists produced wonderful character sketches, each taking the theme in a different direction. Ruben, whose comic focuses on iconic monsters, gave us a classical pirate with a steampunk bent in "Captain Rumgear". Cheyenne, who seems fond of pretty girls and terrible puns, gave us the pirate "Queen Anne III" with her very large gun, The Revenge. And Phil hinted at epic tales of adventure with "Olivia Smattington Von Nemo", great grand-niece of the famous Captain, in full diving gear with an alarming narwhal-esque weapon at the ready. The three pieces went on to raise over $150 in total at the charity auction later. All in all, it was so successful I'm probably going to have to do it again!
So anyway, being on ConCom was a huge amount of work... which I can't say I regret. I had a bunch of amazing experience that I couldn't have had anywhere else. Many thanks to our guests, our volunteers, our attendees, and of course all the rest of the hard-working con staff for making it possible, and suckering me in to this craziness.