I Return, With Tales of PonyCon! · 11:52pm Feb 3rd, 2014
Hello everyone!
I have returned from PonyCon AU in Melbourne and am still alive, so that's a good start. I actually could have wrote a blog last night, but I was (and still am) recovering from post-convention fatigue.
On the way there
What an amazing weekend it was! I started my journey in much the same way as many others do when on their way to a convention: on a plane! There were no snakes on this plane, but there was some interesting cloud cover.
I arrived in Melbourne around 9pm or so, and eventually made it to the hotel around 10, where I met up with a few of my readers: JakisABrony and Geechan. I retrieved my key card from reception and... it didn't work. So I went back to reception and got the card activated (derp on their part), and was finally able to take the elevator to my room.
I opened the door and there are McDonald's bags strewn about the place and a random laptop sitting on my desk. Somebody's been in my room! Or more accurately: someone was given my room because their air conditioner broke, and the hotel failed to notify me of this. So I left and retrieved a new key card to a shiny new room. But I was hungry so ran down the road to Hungry Jack's and had a late dinner, then went to bed.
Day 1
I woke up nice and early and had breakfast at the hotel's cafe, where I met up with Kiwi Brony and Daniel, two of the guys I hung out with at last year's PonyCon. After breakfast, we all got in line to wait for the convention to open.
... But wait!
I was a Guest, so I got to get in early! I said goodbye to the others (actually, it was "See ya, suckers!") and sneaked past the extraordinarily long line and into the convention. Huzzah!
(Why is half my head stamped on the picture?)
It was a bit odd to be in the convention before it's actually open. Con staff were busy rushing back and forth with tables and audio equipment, so I just tried to stay out of the way. I found my way over to where Banter Toys had set up as the distributor of the Enterplay MLP CCG. This was the first time the cards would be available in Australia! I scooped up the starter decks and a few boosters, then came back for a few more boosters. Got my hands on the limited Vinyl Scratch promo card, as well some nice foil cards.
People were eventually let in and the convention officially began! I sat in the front row at the main stage to watch the opening ceremonies before realizing I had forgotten what time my panel started. After a bit of a frantic search, I found a timetable and discovered I'd be on in about an hour. I spent most of that hour back at the Banter Toys booth.
A few minutes before the panel began I was taken backstage with my fellow panelists: Agent Bookfort and Ryan Lyndsay. Ryan peeked his head through the curtains to discover a foreboding sight: hardly anybody had decided to sit down and listen to our panel. However, once we were announced and got up on stage, the three of us played off of each other's discussions and answers, and by the end of the panel we had a full house watching us. Success! Ryan was a champ, and I think all three of us had a good time and gave some good advice.
After the panel, I watched the artists get on stage for a bit, and finally had a browse at the vendor tables. Very cool stuff on display. Eventually it was time for the voice actor's panel, where the legend of Andrea Libman's and Peter New's love of Gaytime was born. If you need context, there are YouTube videos up and it will all be clear.
After the VA Panel, I had a rest before Saturday's After Dark concert. It was great! Musicians such as Karoshi-Ya, Feather, EvDog, Oliver Lacota, Replacer, Glitchdog, Mysterious Bronie, Lescor, and Poni1Kenobi put on a wicked show. I tried to stay until the end, but during the last act I had to drag myself to the hotel and get some much-needed sleep.
Day 2
The second day was very much spent behind the scenes. I was contacted by staff to see if I could help judge the writing contest that was held, to which I agreed. In the meantime, I got photos with Andrea and Peter, the latter of whom agreed we should do a crazy photo.
I also got to hang out a bit with Paul Abstruse, who did a lot of the variant covers for the IDW comic books. Eventually, it became time to judge the stories, so I was led behind the scenes to what was basically the convention's "control room." I was given a stack of stories, then sat down beside Feather, who was frantically working on art stuff. Staff came and went, and we all shared some laughs at some of the more extreme things we found in some of the stories. Eventually, Agent Bookfort arrived to help judge. We averaged out our scores and picked a winner.
Agent Bookfort and Ryan Lyndsay had to leave, so I was the only one left to announce the winner. I spent the minutes leading up to the closing ceremonies backstage with staff, Paul, Karoshi-Ya, Andrea, and Peter as we waited for our various cues. Let it be known that both Peter and Andrea have some hilarious behind-the-scenes antics that made the experience all the more worthwhile. Even Paul was hoping we'd break out into a party backstage! Finally, though, I was called out on stage and announced the winner. I remained up there for the rest of the closing ceremony, and then...
That's it! It was the end of the convention. I stuck around and helped put some of the tables away, etc. I was then invited to dinner with some staff and some of the musicians. As I hear it, Peter New wanted to come along but had a family commitment to attend to. Even so, it was one heck of an amazing night. There are plenty of photos floating about the internet from that night, but I don't have any of them. My camera had run out of batteries.
Such an amazing experience! It was great to meet some of my readers and to discuss writing with everyone who came up after the panel to ask questions! Ryan Lyndsay was a class act, Paul Abstruse was hilarious, and Andrea and Peter were awesome. I remember having lunch at the hotel cafe and catching Peter's eye as he walked by my window. We both widened our eyes in fake shock, then he pressed his face up against the window. Very cool and crazy guy!
I have great stories about pretty much everyone I met, but this post has gone on long enough. I'm back and, after a bit of a rest, I'll get back to working on these pony fictions you people seem to like.
Looking forward to Sydneigh in September,
- Doug 'TheSlorg' Collins
I always pictured you as someone with more hair on his face. Strange. I think it was always because of how you described the Doug of Ponyfall that way and I built you off of him but i'm not sure. I also love that shirt. The one thing I want to ask you, is if there was some skype call between Vinyl Scratch and Octavia since they did that at bronycon? If they did, did you meet the person that voice as Vinyl?
1793161 I actually had a lot more hair on my face when I began writing PonyFall, but eventually had to go clean-shaven for a while for various job interviews. It has since grown back a bit, but it nowhere near its previous glory.
As a side note - I was also a bit, uh, wider. A combination of illness and injury has caused a bit of my mass to go bye-bye. Thankfully though, I'm still as strong as I was back then. There should be a photo floating about the internet with me carrying two grown men around (one in each arm). There were lots of bear hugs and random lifting of bronies that weekend!
Finally, no they did not do any Vinyl/Octavia stuff.
1793161 Found a pic! Glory days. Lol.
oi43.tinypic.com/j58fx5.jpg
oh man stop looking so good D:
also oh man you got to hang out with Feather and Koroshi-Ya :D
1793228 Hmm. Almost as much face hair as a imagined but thats still a lot. And I know exactly what it's like to loose a lot of weight. The freedom and ability to balance is amazing. To bad they didn't do any Vinyl and Octavia stuff. I've heard that what they did here in bronycon was amazing with that stuff. They never did show the voice actor of Vinyl. Just octavia.
1793249 They were both great! Feather is a madwoman when it comes to tearing apart artwork to make sure it fits into a frame! During the artist's competition, the topic of 'fat ponies' had to be drawn and she ended up drawing a ridiculously obese Fluttershy sitting on Angel. Hopefully pics emerge.
Karoshi-Ya was a champ, and was with our group as we went to dinner on the final night. How fitting that we ended up in a restaurant called The Spaghetteria and there was a fedora hanging on the menu sign.
1793318
Oh my god. Stories like that are why it's worth going to cons.
And I do hope that art shows up, I had no idea she drew. :O
1793340 Yeah she's an art teacher when she's not doing brony stuff. There should be a full video of the live stream made up at some point, and that will have that art, plus all the panels.
Wow, sounds really awesome!
Also, I now know your real name...
1793540 you didn't already?
It seemed like you had a great time! I'm quite envious of your opportunity to be backstage with so many (other?) internet famous people. Consider the work you put into everything you do, you definitely deserved to have a wonderful time.
*cracks whip* back into the trenches! Vacation's over!
Sounds like a good con to me! Glad you had fun, Slorgy!
... also, you remind me of me when I was younger and had to shave my head...
Loved meeting you, Slorg! Was a blast hanging out with you at the concert.
This doesn't include half the stuff that happened during that weekend
Doug I am disappoint