What’s Next For Cons 2: The House Con

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In my last post on the future of cons, looking at “micro-con” replacements for small cons when areas can’t support them, Serdar mentioned a house party he’d hosted, as well as the way some bands had done basement numbers.  This let me flesh out an idea.

The House Con.

Imagine that, for a day, someone with a reasonably sized house makes it a mini-convention.  It’s open visitation (to invited guests) and the house is open for a set amount of hours, so people aren’t there all at once.  Then, you replicate a con in microcosm.

Of course you’d have a schedule, important so people know when to come, what to bring, and to let you use your rooms.  Events could be like . . .

Media Room – One room can be constantly running shows and programs, probably on a schedule.  It’s basically the video room, with one thing at a time.

Game Room – Set up a TV or two with some game consoles and go to town.  Several friends of mine do gaming meetups this way, so why not make it part of a larger event.

Con Suite – Set aside a room or the backyard for a place to hang out and socialize.  Let people connect and enjoy company.  This would probably be the kitchen or dining room so you can have food.

Cosplay – If you got a basement or backyard or want to shut down an event space for an hour, do some cosplay!  Why not?  Make it a bit of a costume party.

Art Show – People can of course put their art up.  OR you could get images of their art, put them into a rotating loop on a display program like Windows Photos and set up a laptop connected to a TV.

Panels – Why not have a few people speak on skills or do demonstrations or just have a discussion time?

Dealer’s Room – Friends selling stuff might bring a few things to deal in, or you could just have a giveaway or exchange table.

Library – Have a place with reading materials.  You could also take donations to create a Little Free Library for the con or with what’s brought in.

Sure its a house party taken in a geekier direction.  But why not give it a try?  Maybe you and your friends could even have one a month, rotating through different houses, ans getting that small con feel in microcosm.

– Steve

Make It So: Let’s Make An STC

Paper And Stars

Some time ago I’d mentioned the Lantern and the Outernet. The Lantern was designed to be a wireless, convenient, regularly updated library that would give people access to useful documents. The Outernet would support it, and involve a satellite-based internet system. Idealistic, yes, but I plunked down my cash on the Lantern Kickstarter because, like the Ouya, the idea is almost more important than the implementation.

Around the same time I encountered the Survival Library. This was a site that was rather “Doomstay Prepperish,” a viewpoint I don’t subscribe to (because preparing for Doomsday too often results in one looking forward to it or not preventing it). However the idea of the site was brilliant – collect a large variety of books online that would basically let you rebuild society and technology from scratch, from basic survival up to vehicles.

Philosophical differences aside, I love the idea. As of late, as may seem obvious, I’ve become more aware of our responsibility to curate and preserve documents as citizens. This definitely fits my (developing) philosophy on the idea, and may be one I can explore more.

These ideas began to combine in my head, building on my thoughts about how Dicks Encyclopedia provides a good template we could follow as geeks recording knowledge.

Then in struck me, these ideas (easily accessible information, practical guides, and curated, integrated information) brought together could produce something amazing and useful and needed.

An STC. A Standard Template Construct.

However to explain this, I’m going to have to talk Warhammer 40K, which is a setting (originally for a wargame but now for others) of a dark far future.

. . . hang in there. This may take a little work.

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Convention Idea: Go Local!

More on my ideas on helping cons appeal to progeeks and profans.  Previous articles are: here, here, and here.

In my musings, speculations, and ideas on ways to add more professional and career-building events to conventions, I've talked about guests that people can invite to conventions.  I want to talk about something that's often missed.

Local guests from local businesses.

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