Faerieworlds Event Forum - A Bravenet.com Forum

Shannon Reinbold-Gee -- the Papercutter

Oct 18, 07 - 6:26 AM

FaerieCon Philadelphia Good Things

Hi Everybody!

I hope this message finds everyone safely and happily home and reflecting on the first ever FaerieCon Philadelphia. I was just thinking about the "good, the bad, and the ugly" at first year events. Because it's my birthday today(yay!) I thought I'd like to start a thread here about the things people really enjoyed about FaerieCon Philly. So, please post things you appreciated about this first year event, and if you were a visitor to the Con, feel free to mention things you'd like to see make this event even better next year (in your humble opinion, of course ;-).

I'll start:

I enjoyed the setting: Philly is a favorite city of mine and the hall’s "Soviet gray" ceiling and matching industrial-sized pipes overhead were especially amusing when colorful faeries were dancing to musicians at the panel stage. Aisles were wide, the tables for the Family area (with coloring stuff) were a cool idea--from a cold marketing perspective*ahem*, we need to grow a crowd, so having perks for kids will help grow the audience. Being just across the street from Reading Terminal Market made food more convenient (as there wasn't any in Hall D itself) and fabulously diverse (although I wondered if it wasn't a distraction for attendees around noon or so when tummies began a-rumblin').

I enjoyed the celebrities: spotting Brian and Wendy Froud wandering around the hall early one morning was a real kick for me. Meeting and chatting with Lynn Sanders of Medallion Press was terrific—she has a great and engaging personality. Kerry Estevez (the acquiring editor) made herself accessible and was willing to discuss publishing, and the author Ms. Estevez said is their “gold standard” was present and signing her books. The folks at Fate Magazine were also quite enjoyable (we wound up with our back to theirs once our tables were moved). Seeing Kinuko Craft amidst her art was also fabulous.

I enjoyed the music (the CD everybody got in their entry bags was tremendous, too) even though I couldn’t attend either ball (having a 3 year old does that to you). Getting free issues of Realms of Fantasy magazine was greatly appreciated.

I enjoyed the panels: Robert Gould speaking for Imaginosis on the “state of the industry” gave a FABULOUS speech. Holly Black, Ari Berk, etc gave a neat talk related to writing and publishing related to the fae and fantasy.

I enjoyed seeing pals from Glen Rock’s May Day Fairie Fest. They were everywhere! After doing that event a few times, just seeing those folks in the same venue is a comfort—If you haven’t gone out to Glen Rock—DO! It’s a magical setting filled with magical people.

I enjoyed seeing Molly (from Elven Elysium—I encouraged her to attend this event and I’m glad it worked out for her) and meeting Forest Rogers (with her fantastic “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” sculpture), Stephanie from Shadowscapes and Monine Brocco who was just getting her feet wet at this show as a sculptor. I also met a couple neat folks who knew my work—very glad to talk with Katie/Kathryn who remembered my art from years back in a Borders Bookstore in Wyomissing, Pa.

I was thankful for Norm, who helped “make things happen” and after speaking to my hubby, got a group of us artists to move into an area where we could actually see people... He was a tremendous help.

Wow... I enjoyed lots of stuff about this event—The fashion show was tremendous. I have WAAAY too many photos from it!

Overall, I think this event has a lot of potential. I’d love to see it grow into something as powerful as DragonCon, and it can—if the “powers that be” are as good at listening (and acting on what they hear) as they seemed to be the day I called Emilio and tried backing out of the show because my mother had recently died from cancer and I was having issues getting any “stock” made.

It was VERY much that chat with Emilio and a statement he made that made me drive the family all the way from New York to Philly. I was convinced that the producers would listen and meet the needs of people at this event—I still believe that because I firmly believe in the inherent good in people (and Norm worked his butt off to help however he could—that speaks VOLUMES for an organization).

When, on Sunday I asked to speak with Emilio (who was legitimately very busy) about a few things (info and concerns I’d heard repeated by a number of vendors and about the statement he made during that one phonecall), it was Norm that talked to me about the shortlist of my concerns.

I was told to expect a questionnaire or somesuch (either at the show or in email) soon so (as I haven’t checked my email yet this morning) I’ll see if it’s “here.” I was also encouraged to hear that they were already planning changes for next year and offering a discount to people who had booths (as well as letting them keep their spot). I had hoped they’d get to us and tell us the same thing (and give us the paperwork) but I guess they had too many people to get to before coming to the back of the hall. I’m sure it’ll be in the email though.

I believe :-)

What were your favorite things about this event—and what do you hope to see in the future? Instead of me listing the concerns I’d heard repeated, I’ll hope you all come on the forum and mention the good (always stress the good—life’s too short to dwell on the negative) and then things you hope for in the future for this event.

Take care, folks! See you in Glen Rock and maybe in Atlanta (Stephanie’s got me thinking about it again ;-)...
~Shannon
Rebuking Ockham’s Razor
www.RazorsEdgeCreations.com

merry ravenfaery

Oct 18th, 2007 - 8:13 AM

Re: FaerieCon Philadelphia Good Things

wow!
i am sorry to say that if you missed the masquerades, you missed a huge part of what we do...
whoops!
hopefully next year, and by the way there were lots of wee ones at the good faeries ball, they had a blast...
as far as the kids area goes "from a cold marketing perspective" ~ahem~ it would be good for you to know that they were not coloring, but making corn dollies...and learning all about old autumn earth traditions....they made wands and wreathes and crowns...and this was run by our "spiral scouts" hearth leader who flew all the way from oregon to be there for the kids....
we have had so mnay wonderful suggestions from this first year convention...we are very excited to grow this vision, as we have with our own faerieworlds here in Oregon...
we producers live on the west coast so you can imagine what it is like producing a first year con from thousands of miles away.
community is something that grows organically, over many years generally. and we are so looking forward to discovering the community that will grow out of our new east coast event.
wendy froud and i promptly decided on thursday, while setting up the hall, that the grey pipes were giant elephants trunks!
he he!
well as far as what i enjoyed most, i think it was meeting all the new friends....
playing music for everyone...and opening my heart to whole new worlds....
we love all the constructive feedback we are receiving at the faeriecon site...and look forward to co creating magic with everyone on into the future...
thanks to everyone who took the leap with us this year...

Shannon Reinbold-Gee -- the Papercutter

Oct 18th, 2007 - 9:07 AM

Re: FaerieCon Philadelphia Good Things

Merry,

Yes, I heard both Balls were really great. We actually had my son stay with his grandparents in Jersey and they definitely needed "reinforcements" ;-) by day's end, so having fun out late (he's in bed at 9pm) just wasn't an option for us this time. Hearing that there were kids at the Ball(s) makes me reconsider what he'll be doing next year (instead of sleeping).

I breezed by the children's/family area and simply saw blackline art and crayons (I think) which is why I presumed part of what was going on there included coloring. I know the gal from the Knot Fairy Book was also hoping to do a reading there but I'm not sure what happened at the end (didn't get to see it, so I didn't feel I could comment on that in the kid's area either). It is ABSOLUTELY necessary to have children's programming at events where you hope to encourage the up and coming generations, so I was thrilled to notice the opportunity for something of the sort (even if I didn't get to experience the ins and outs of it). There are events out there that overlook the kids, I was glad this didn't. :-) The "kids free Sunday" that I heard about also is a great idea.

I love the "elephant trunks" idea. Very cute. :-) I just loved the irony of the Soviet gray and all the color and life below it (made me think of being in the Hollow Hill, and the idea that things are never so simple as they may first appear, etc.).

I can only imagine (and only very vaguely)the sort of tasks entailed in setting up an event on the East Coast when the producers are native (and local) to the West. I have only been involved in the planning of 2 international events (much smaller and more specific --niche--and thank goodness this next year we won't be back in San Antonio because distance can be a headache for planning when our coordinators are almost all East Coasters). So, I understand a small part of how difficult making all the arrangements must have been. I admire any group bold enough to step out and try and bring such an enchanting event to a totally different venue.

Distance can make things difficult, even with all the technology we have now-a-days. Believe me, the efforts of the producers were well appreciated by everyone I spoke to--ESPECIALLY myself. It was a huge undertaking and very well done.

Next year I'm sure many people are looking forward to even more great things, as you said--It takes time to grow these things. DragonCon's about 20 years old, but I could easily see FaerieCon growing into something like that (and probably faster). It definitely has the potential, the vision and the people who love the idea/concept.

Philadelphia is a great site for it and the ideas I heard mentioned about next year already sound great. We were ready to sign on for next year (and upgrade to a bigger spot) on Sunday, but somehow we didn't find the necessary paperwork.

You mentioned getting constructive criticism through another site or something--can you "point me in that direction," please? I think there's great value in this event growing--it allows for such great freedom of expression and vision--so much fun already to be had--I'm sure next year will be even greater. I know there are many of us who'd like to see an event like this continue to grow and bring magic to Philly--and many of us would love to help in whatever way we can.

I believe this event will only continue to grow and strengthen with time. I look forward to watching it do just that :-)

~Shannon -- the Papercutter

merry ravenfaery

Oct 18th, 2007 - 9:31 AM

Re: FaerieCon Philadelphia Good Things

thanks very much shannon, for all the kind words and constructive criticism...
we learned so much this year and are so full of ideas!!!!
you can send us direct e-mail's via the faeriecon site...meaning info@faeriecon.com...
we are also obviously reading up on this forum...
though some things are obviously best communicated directly, rather than to the wide world via public forums...so if you have anything more to communicate with us you can do that here, or directly, whichever is appropriate.
again, we are so thankful for all of those who took the leap with us for our first year. we know that it was a risk for all of us together, and we feel very greatful to be working with such magical and insightful people...
many blessings,
~kelly

Shannon Reinbold-Gee -- the Papercutter

Oct 18th, 2007 - 10:12 AM

Re: FaerieCon Philadelphia Good Things

Thanks, Kelly!

This is one of the things that will help this event grow by leaps and bounds--the accessibility of producers and their willingness to listen. That "goes miles" with many of us and is HUGELY appreciated. Not enough events have hands-on producers like this.

Thank you all for working so hard to make the first FaerieCon Philadelphia such a rich and memorable experience. I look forward to hearing updates and hopefully attending next year.

Take care--I'll be in touch! And, as a note--I've created four new papercutting/scherenschnitte designs and am closing in on completion of the scratchboard faerie many at FaerieCon saw me working on. And I have tons of great photos to draw upon as I create my "Faerie Queen's Procession" in silhouette.

The show was certainly inspirational--this has been the most work I've felt up to accomplishing since my mother's death in June. Thank you for creating something that helped force me out of that depression, too. You guys are on the right track with this event and location--I know it will be even cooler next year.

Truly--thanks for all you all did (and will continue doing in preparation for next year).
~Shannon -- the Papercutter

www.RazorsEdgeCreations.com