I’m here in San Francisco! I showed up at the GaymerX2 location (the InterContinental Hotel) and found my table on the fifth floor, not the second like I mentioned the other day. I have no idea why I thought it was on the second floor. If you show up and look for me on the second floor, I don’t know what mysteries or treasures you will find…But I request that you then come up to the fifth floor and tell me all about it.
NEXT WEEK: THE BEST OF THE RESTORATION HARDWARE COMMENTS
Oh man there’s a couple neat things coming up!
It’s a gaming convention with an all-inclusive mission statement (abridged below from last year’s original GaymerX Kickstarter project):
The stereotypes about gamers are many, but the core is the perception that gamers are usually straight white guys in dark rooms furiously mashing at a controller. That’s not the reality. Gamers come in all sizes, genders, races, and sexual identities.
Gamers, as a whole, have had to make space for themselves in a society that, for a long time, treated them as outsiders. They have come together and created a real community of people, but one that is not always welcoming if you don’t fit into the mold. Just like most gamers, queer geeks and gaymers want that same sense of community and belonging.
We are creating a convention where all types of geeks can come together, meet others like them, and have a blast without having to worry about what their peers think of them or being discriminated against.
We want to be clear this isn’t just for gay white dudes either. We want all genders, races, and sexual identities including our straight friends and allies to come together and have a gay, geeky good time. We believe very strongly that creating a space like this is not only important for building a strong community, but also showing new generations of gaymers that there are others like them out there, they are not alone, and there is a welcoming place for them, not just at GaymerCon, but as part of the larger gaming community.
I’ll be on the second floor in the Indie Alley section! CORRECTION: My table is on the fifth floor in the Expo Hall, table i21.
Last year (at GaymerX) there was a dude who proposed marriage on stage to his boyfriend and it’s just the sweetest doggone thing you ever saw.
Tickets may not be available at the door, so check the website if you’re interested in coming.
I’m pleased to be attending, not because I’m gay or make specifically gay-themed material, but because I want to support this effort to give gamers of all persuasions a safe space to have fun, and also because I want to meet the kind of person who would come to that sort of space!
KPCC, one of my local Los Angeles public radio stations, is throwing a Tesla party as part of its science programming for kids!
It looks like reservations to attend the live event are full up, but you can watch the livestream on their website at 1pm Pacific, Sunday July 20.
Why would you want to (besides a deep and abiding love for all things Tesla — after all, you’re reading this on the internet)?
Well uh I will be playing Tesla at the event
’Nuff said
Next weekend I’ll be in Toronto for TCAF, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival held at the Downtown Reference Library!
I super-love coming to TCAF, it’s always such a fun time. This year there’s also some satellite gaming programming happening at the Bit Bazaar Spring Fair, held at Bento Miso in Queen West.
They’ll have the Machine of Death game there, and I hope to be there too on Saturday evening for a bit. Details on this are slowly resolving.
Also: Friday night, the TCAF kickoff event features Kate Beaton and Lynn Johnston in conversation! Ms. Johnston, of course, is the creator of For Better or For Worse, and one of the great Canadian cartoonists of the twentieth century. This should be a fun event.
Toronto’s great! TCAF is great! YOU are great! I hope to combine all these things next weekend!!!
I’m in Seattle this weekend for the Emerald City Comicon! I’ll have my usual complement of fine wares at the TopatoCo booth (this year, occupying one full side of the SKYBRIDGE, right across from BOOM! Studios). I’ll also be moderating or participating in the following EXTREME PANELS:
Machine of Death Draw-and-Guess: “Join cartoonists playing a non-trademarked version of Pictionary, using clues issued from a Machine of Death. The Machine, of course, can tell you exactly how you are going to die in just a few cryptic words!” This panel will be hosted by me and Ryan North, and feature FAMOUS ARTISTS Aaron Diaz, Dylan Meconis, Becky Dreistadt, and Kris Straub! Always a hilarious time.
Friday, March 28, 4:10pm, Hall B
How To Sell Merchandise Without Feeling Like You’re Selling Out: “As a creator you might be or be thinking about selling merch online but you don’t feel like t-shirts are really your ‘thing’. Join TopatoCo creators David Malki, Chris Yates, & Dante Shepherd for our talk about creative merch & beyond the ubiquitous T-shirt.” I hope by the time the panel rolls around, I will have formulated a clever answer to the question in the panel’s title.
Saturday, March 29, 3:00pm, Room TCC 302
Urban Dictionary – The Game Show: “What do those terms in Urban Dictionary even mean? Has anybody ever used them before, for realsies?? In this GAME SHOW, our group of panelists attempts to define the weirdest, grossest terms the website has to offer. Mostly they will get it wrong!!” This DEFINITELY 18+ panel will be hosted by me and feature contestants Ryan North, Chip Zdarsky, Erika Moen, and Kate Leth!
Saturday, March 29, 6:10pm, Hall B
Professional Tools for Self-Publishers: “Join a pair of independent publishing professionals for a discussion of avenues to self-publishing and tools for bridging the gap between D.I.Y. and traditional publishing models; followed by a Q&A and troubleshooting session for self-publishers.” Hosted by Rachel Edidin of Wired, and featuring me as well! I’m the other half of the pair!! And there will be a third person too: George Rohac!
Sunday, March 30, 11:00am, ROOM 2B
This is my first of only a very few conventions this year. If I don’t see you in Seattle this weekend, I hope to see you in Toronto, San Francisco, San Diego, or Indianapolis in the coming months!
If I don’t see you any of those times, we can still be friends, but only provisionally
Flickr photo by Carlos A. Smith
Tomorrow I’m hopping on a plane to Indianapolis for Gen Con! I’ll be at booth 743 along with many of my fine colleagues, including Sam Logan, Jeph Jacques, Chris Yates, and Blind Ferret Entertainment.
It’s my first time ever at Gen Con, which is primarily a gaming convention, and I’m excited to check it out! I admit to being more of a “casual gamer” than someone hard-core into tabletop games, but I’m really fascinated by that whole world and I’m eager to learn more.
I will not have copies of the Machine of Death card game at the show — it’s still at the printers, and I expect them to be delivered in November. But I WILL have a single demo copy to show off, and I’m really happy with how it’s looking:
If you missed out on our Kickstarter this spring, the game is still available for pre-order if you’d like to reserve a copy from the first print run.
One of our stretch goals in the campaign was that we’d release the entire game under a Creative Commons license, as well — so we’ll be posting everything for free download in a couple months too! If you’d rather check it out that way.
BONUS LINK: Here’s a video in which I show off the shiny demo copy of the game! (There’s some Kickstarter-backer-specific info in there too, just ignore that.)
ONE MORE THING: Thanks to everyone who’s sent in Sketch Rescue scans & photos so far! You’ve got till the end of August to submit them for the free Roll-a-Sketch collection PDF.
And sadly, after reviewing my files, I think that memory card I lost ALSO contained my photos from SPX in Bethesda, and APE in San Francisco. If you got a sketch from me last year at either of those two shows, I’d love it if you could send me a scan or photo of whatever I drew for you! Or if you got a book from me last fall with a sketch in it. See this post for more details. Thanks so much!
NOW THEN! GEN CON! BOOTH 743! ALL RIGHT