Mythicon is a convention in Orlando Florida that draws quite a cast of guests, runs a variety of events, and does their best to serve the fans, geeks, and otaku in Florida and beyond with one big convention. They’re in their first year and are hitting the ground running – you may have heard about them if you’re in the area.
But what you may not here is how they make sure there’s great career-oriented events.
First, they do open casting stage events – and the people who make it in get 3 to 4 months of training. That’s right, actual training and experience they can use (and put on a resume). It also helps when your convention is near, say Disney and Universal!
That’s the kind of practical work I like to see – and it goes beyond the convention’s 3 days. It’s about making a real comittment to the attendees and their ambitions – and taking advantage of the local area.
But that’s not all. Mythicon also relies on their guests and helps them create good events.
Each guest is specifically asked about how they can do panels to help the attendees reach their goals and their dreams. It may be a guest who’s a big name speaking on how to get known. It could be a well known actor explaining how they broke in. Mythicon cultivates the guests to find what they can share – and encourages them to connect with the fans.
Between the long-term commitment of the show to cultivating guests’ panels, Mythicon sounds like a convention a lot of us could be following. Come to think of it, a lot of us should be attending as well . . .
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.
