Ciderfest is a wrap! · 2:18am Nov 21st, 2023
Just got home from PVCF and it was an amazing con experience! The minific-based ARG that circulated around the con the whole weekend was high-concept, and I was worried about engagement, but everyone seemed to really get into searching out the hard-to-find stories concealed around the convention hall (in places as obscure as "the desktop wallpaper on one of the monitors in the video game room, only visible if no one happened to be using it" and "literally on the brim of Admiral Biscuit's hat") and we had an amazing amount of audience buy-in. The con-exclusive fic anthology (which I helped edit) turned out very pretty, and the charity auction was absolute barking madness, raising a total that exceeded the previous record set by BronyCon in its prime (at a convention 1/10th the size). I was there in the room when they hit that milestone and it was absolute hysteria. People were losing their dang minds. But in a good way, I think.
By the way, most of my work was focused on the print book, but I did contribute one single solitary story to the ARG before editing took over my life for a couple weeks. Here it is if you're curious and you didn't attend. Or didn't find the key for it even if you did attend. There were like 300 of them, and I don't think anyone got them all.
Overall, it was so lovely* and makes me want the 2024 season to cycle around again. It was great seeing all these names in person again, or in some cases for the first time. I remain amazed that we continue to do this thing, but I'm not complaining.
* Except the elevators at the Hilton, which can, collectively, bite me.
My con for this year was Trotcon, and next year will be Everfree!
I did contribute a story to this one as well, though, and will be sharing it in my blog soon enough!
#Humblebrag
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I'm glad it was a good time. Tbh when I heard the pitch for a fanfic-driven app game I thought it seemed way too ambitious, but those madmen behind the scenes really made it happen!
5755751
I found that one! That one wasn't hard, it was on one of the big wrought-iron pillars on the main concourse. So congrats, a lot of people got a chance to see your stuff.
That sounds amazing for several reasons!
Elevator Con was the worst con. Bad enough that I left it and went to Stair Con, despite wearing dress shoes like an idiot. A fashionable idiot, but an idiot non-the-less.
That auction even made it to our notice on the other side of the Atlantic. Absolutely ridiculous numbers, even for a big(gish) American con!
The ARG thing sounds remarkable, too. I suspect if I'd been there I wouldn't have gone all-in on looking for them (too much else going on at cons) but it would certainly have been fun.
Had a blast myself. Unfortunately, our little con group was focused on the "hanging out" part of convention going than the ARG fic thing, so I didn't get a chance to see all the little stories people wrote. I also missed the signups for writing one myself, so I ended up being one of the normies taking the con as it came to me. Which, while I was disappointed that I wasn't able to contribute, I nonetheless had all the fun I was expecting to have, and running into you just before the charity auction was the cherry on top.
Hope to see you there (and Everfree, hopefully!) next year!
It was, indeed, a great con! :D
And the elevators weren't as much of an issue for me, as I'd again gotten lucky and gotten a room on a floor also served by the secondary set; I pretty much only needed to use the main set to get to and from the cider lounge. I do wonder how things will be at the Hyatt next year, but people who've been there before seem quite happy about the prospect.
And though I did engage with and enjoy the ARG, thanks to one of the con's loaner devices, that was one of the many stories I didn't find, or at least get to reading. Good, though; thanks. :)
5755753
Oh, were they meant to be wrought iron? I didn't realize, sorry.
5756791
No, I was writing fast and I substituted in the wrong word.
5756792
...I don't follow, sorry. What word?
5756798
They weren't wrought iron per se. It was just the first description that came to mind. Not accurate. Sorry!
5756805
Ahh, okay, thanks, and no worries. I was just wondering if I'd missed some bit of worldbuilding or the like.