Prepping for the first con I’ve done in a while… (ICT Comic Con)

August 27th, 2016 is ICT Comic Con & Science Fiction Convention here in Wichita.  I’ve done cons before – I’ve been an attendee, a vendor, and a speaker.  I do the Great Plains Renaissance Festival twice a year, but that’s not quite a con, though it’s got some con-like stuff going on (like the Kansas Authors’ Pavilion tent I run), but otherwise it’s been four or five years since I last did a con.  And, I’ll be speaking at this one.

I’ll admit it – I’m not a fan of cons.  That’s a lotta people packed into one place.  And I have to talk to all of them.  Well, OK, not ALL of them.  A lot of them.  Some of them forget important little things like courtesy, or showers and deodorant.  Fortunately, those aren’t the norm.  In fact, most of the folks I’ve met at cons have been great.  They want to be there, they are interested in what you’re doing, and they’re friendly as hell.  At most cons, at least.  I have had one I’ve attended (won’t say which) where folks weren’t particularly interested, nor were they particularly friendly.  Kind of cliquish group that didn’t seem to be interested.

ICT Comic Con is a first year con, though it’s backed by someone who’s both attended and run big events for years.  I’m not sure how many years I’ve known Rich now, but it’s been quite a while 🙂  I’m also involved in the con:  I do the website stuff, and am “authorized” to act on behalf of the con in certain situations.  Cool, I guess – the website is a fairly simple affair this time around, though I’d like to see it jazzed up for the next one.  Right now, though, it’s a first time event, and first time site:  there’s plenty of room for improvement.

When I was getting the list of special guests (which keeps growing), Rich asked me:  “You want to be a special guest?”  I said yes – though, I had no idea what I’d do with it.  As part of my compensation for the website, I get two table spaces (one for the company, and one for the Kansas Game Developers’ Association).  But, getting chance to go up on stage isn’t a bad idea.

The Problems

I don’t have many books left to sell.  I also don’t have time to finish The Horror Game II, nor the money to get it setup for publishing and delivered here.  Sooo… looks like that’s not gonna happen.  But, I should have it ready for The Great Plains Renaissance Festival at the end of September.

I also don’t actually know yet what I’m doing with my booth space.  I don’t yet know how much time I’ve got on stage, so I’m not sure how long to be prepared for when it comes to speaking.  I need to get both of those things resolved sometime soon 🙂  But, generally speaking, I’ll be talking about game development, probably with a local focus.  If I can pull it off, I’ll see about capturing it and throwing it up on YouTube later.

And, of course, this is happening two weeks after I’ll have finished moving to a new place, so I’m going to be extra scattered and broke.  I need to figure out what the Kansas Game Developers’ Association is going to need for promotional materials, etc. while I’m at it.

I’ve also put the 8-Bit Minion Intern Team on alert:  those who can make it (because they’re not working, etc.) are planning to attend, and I’m dragging them up on-stage to be introduced to the crowd, and get them used to an idea:  they need to be rock stars.  They’re game developers, and they should be prepared to do things like speak in front of people, get used to cons, etc.  As a game dev, that’s part of what they should be doing 🙂

The Truth

But, here’s the thing:  I should be doing cons all the time, particularly the local ones.  I should have been the whole time, but it’s hard to convince myself to buy booth space as an investment in myself and the company.  So, well, screw it:  time to start budgeting for a space at all the cons, both for Midnight Ryder Technologies and for the Kansas Game Developers’ Association.  I’ve been avoiding this for a long time, and it’s time to change that, even if I’m not a huge con person.

There’s all this stuff I advise other people to do, such as “get out there and be public.”  Of course, I never do them myself.  So, will my vow to to more cons stick?  I guess it’s a “wait and see” thing, really.  Though, if I’m gonna do them, I think cosplay is going to start becoming part of the habit, just to have some fun with it 🙂