Since there's inquiries... (Bronycon and TCB panel info) · 11:48pm Aug 6th, 2013
So, since folks are asking...
First tip: Buses are useful, even when there's a drunk on the way back. That was fun and caused a good... hour's delay? I nearly had to pull out my knife. Yeah. Guy was swearing at babies, nearly got violent with the woman next to him... and did I mention he had an entire bottle of Bacardi 151 in his carry on bag? and drinking from it? yyyyyeah.
Second tip: Never go to a con with a lacking budget. You'll be crying. Fang, I owe you. Probably dinner at Tir Na Nog again.
Third tip: If you're in Baltimore, go eat at Tir Na Nog. It's fantastic for an Irish grill and pub. Delicious, delicious Guinness black lager. And, while the prices are hefty (20 bucks for mine, alone. Appetizers are $7 minimum), it's lovely. The company made it all the better. Wanderer, Fang, Zyrian, Aegis Exemplar, Freefall and anypony I'm missing, it was amazing. Next year, we're doing that again.
As to the con... it was good. VERY good! I love that con space! No wonder Otakon gets hosted there... there was plenty of space for everybody, and... screech and squawk, I didn't have a single anxiety attack, despite us nearly clearing *8,500* attendees! I'm still sore from all the walking I did. Where's my wings when I need them? I don't have many complaints about the Bronycon staff, either.
Now to the meat of this post...
The Conversion Bureau. I'll wait for the screaming to stop.
Feel better? let's proceed.
So, Friday was D-Day. Panel was at 10:30. Or 11:30. I forget which. And we had two actual, true-to-life ACB folks right in the front row, right-claw side. And they were cordial!. Will miracles never cease? So, Fangwarden and I got settled, only to get surprised by Applejinx of all ponies. I'd thought that he was just going to stand in the back and emcee like the bad motherbucker he is, but no, he joined us at the table! Bonus!
We went through introductions, and folks kept *coming in*, much to my further surprise! I would have been satisfied with ten, perhaps twenty. We easily got fifty. Probably closer to seventy-five.
The idea, I suppose, was to have some good discussion about each sub-verse, from Cloudy-verse to Chat-verse to Gamma-verse, Last Man Standing, Yellowstone... no, we blaze through that in fifteen minutes. So we have forty-five minutes for Q&A. And boy, was *that* something!
We got lots of questions. We got very polite questions, in fact, save for one dingus in red and brown camo. Kalash, something-or-other. Jinxy shut him down hard. You'll notice I mentioned the two ACB folks earlier? After I explained that, no, it's not sociopathy to enjoy and write TCB as Chat, Guardian, Fang and I do, but *transhumanism*, that is, (in a nutshell) that humanity's had a decent time of it, but there's something better out there to strive for, that really calmed down almost the entire room, and we actually got a couple fascinating questions about free will vs. conversion, among other things.
Fang, I'll apologize now for running roughshod over you. I was trying to help out. Sorry about that.
Afterward is where it got interesting. I got taken aside by the two ACB folks. They *apologized* for contributing to the drama between the groups, and asked me specifically to apologize for them to Chatoyance, since they apparently had hooves in that particular pie. At least, they implied such.
Theeeen I got to talking to five or six other folks. I got fic ideas laid on me, thanks for the panel, a clawshake from Airstream (hi, dude!), and more fic ideas.
All in all? This went well. Fantastically well. I may have to do a mini-panel or summat at a future point. I *am* planning, as I said during the panel, that there will be a TCB flash fic event in the future.
Last thing? I'll also start cross-posting said fic events, so folks here that watch me can participate, since EqD is sketchy for some.
That's all for now! Sorry to ramble!
- Noble, going to bed
Next time I've got to figure a way to attend with you...
1267260
Next year, my dear brother. Next year.
You were there?! I missed you! I'm so sorry!
I was at that Italian restaurant too. They had good stuff, but man was it pricey!
Glad that your panel was successful and that the drama was kept to a minimum.
John and I avoided any hostile pedestrians on our many trips between our hostel and the convention center. I guess we were lucky that way.
Glad you had a good time!
1267263
I missed you too! I only saw John Perry once, if it helps any. Next year?
1267266
At this point, I'm all conventioned out. I don't have any plans to return but you never know.
1267270
Fair enough :3 I had too much fun to NOT go back next year! Hopefully with Guardian and Chatoyance in tow, if I'm lucky.
What was the camo dingus's question? I kind of couldn't hear it.
And $20 doesn't match the $50 I spent on (severely delicious and worth it) crab cakes from Luna del Sea.
But never again, srsly. D:
Dear Sexy,
If the government lets me out to play around the same time next year I will most definitely be attending the con. And shit, I'd love to chill with you, you seem like a decent dude. Hell, I've got a TCB story that's been on the backburner for several months now, maybe I'll get around to writing it over the winter. We could do a panel together, bro!
Love,
Me.
That was wonderful to hear, Noble!
Applejinx is totally the coolest person I could think of to have as a friend of the TCB there. I utterly admire Applejinx - he's one of my seven best writers on Fimfiction.
I am also very glad the TCB audience was civil, mostly. That was my big fear, that all of you would end up enduring some kind of scary bad stuff for just existing. That it turned out so nice, is a big relief to me, and makes me happy.
I so wish I could have been a part of it. Just to talk with some of you and be there. I can't travel that far. It must have been a lot of fun.
Thank you very much for the report.
I wish those two ACB'ers would write to me, if they have apologies to offer. I would be gracious and grateful. All I ever want is kindness.
1267271 I'd like to second 1267426 's question, the video's sound quality wasn't exactly the best. It's good to know that aside from that it went well for you.
1267426 1267764
Truth be told, *I* could barely hear it! Apparently it was something along the lines of "how dare you force people to make a choice?" or summat. I could hear everybody, including the one spiffy old guy from Sweden, just not camo-dipshit.
1267501
Write it, filly! And I'd be happy to take a look!
1267625
I wish you could have been there too. I would have probably hugged you to pieces! ... wait, I plan to do that anyway, if we ever meet. Can't do long-distance travel, huh? Maybe you could make, say, Everfree Northwest next year? I'd wager I could get the time off for that...
I also wish that I'd caught the ACB'ers names. They were remarkably pleasant, and were very glad I explained how we work in regards to TCB.
1268373
That old guy was pretty cool. I actually thought he said he was Polish. :O Shows how little I could hear.
1267625
There's a video, but it looks like it's been deleted (argh!). But the panel was taped from the audience.
You'd better believe I'd sit up front. I was holding the mic in my lil' hoof the entire time, ready to spring literally upright and say 'please don't disrupt this panel, lots of people here are enjoying it' at any moment. whoof! This one was potentially more explosive than the Ficwriters After Dark and I knew it.
If you do it at other cons, please please PLEASE remember all the angles I used to defuse hostility. I used every trick in the book to contextualise things for the offended humans in the audience, and it SO worked, and you can't expect results that good without remembering all that. I can train ya in what I did and I'd be happy to, but it wasn't in the least luck. It was hard work, and absolutely worthwhile.
1268732
You know, I could certainly benefit from understanding what techniques you used.
If you have the time, would you kindly consider even a brief blog post outlining the basic strategies you used to defuse hostility? I'm not begging a book, just... a few good pointers would be useful. It was ever so difficult to hear what anyone was saying in that video, so understanding what you did was very hard.
Someday, If there is a con near me, I might consider going. It would be very useful to know something of what you know, because it clearly worked.
If you have the inclination, I, at least, would read such a blog post with great interest.
I usually try to OVERbudget for conventions, so I end up with extra cash afterwards.
1270686
Yeah, I was ULTRA-tight this year!
Next year? I'm considering EFNW...