Monday, August 23, 2004
GenCon Report
Could there be a better way to spend an afternoon than entertaining and informative conversation with Richard Lee Byers or Elaine Cunningham? And Ed and I got to spend time with them both!
Richard could - and probably should, if it wouldn't be giving away too many of his secrets - hold a seminar on networking as a freelancer. WotC, his career, his books, and writing in general were subjects we had anticipated discussing, but the unexpected and invaluable lesson we learned from RLB pertained to writing as a business. He guided us through the vendors, and then we set out on our own. When we ran into each other later, we were able to let him know about some information we had learned that he hadn't yet uncovered. How's that for learning the lesson well, eh?
Elaine is stylish and gracious and lively, even when tired from the con hustle and bustle. I so appreciate that she is this fountain of creative ideas and projects. I think our conversation began with an explanation of a new project she's considering taking on, and then as we spoke longer, we learned about a handful of others she's either considering or in the middle of. I was reminded of Harley's boundless energy - and a little bit, too, of myself as an instructor for freshman composition. (Odd, no? But there's creativity in teaching, in the search to find interesting ways to deliver information to your students and to get them to participate in the learning process.) It was a great afternoon.
The seminar on freelancing for WotC was most informative. Let's see if I get the names right... Chris Perkins, Peter Archer, Kim Mohan, Matthew Sennett, James Jacobs, Erik Mona. The best advice: Freelance for Dungeon or Dragon. Chris Perkins freely admits to trawling among their freelancers for folks to add to the list of freelancers at WotC. Corollary to that piece of advice: Do excellent work for Dungeon or Dragon; be communicative, be professional, deliver your stuff by deadline. Interesting piece of news for fiction: The "open call" format will continue as it's been pretty successful so far. Corollary: Freelance for Dungeon or Dragon; use the open call as your backup plan. Kameron's name was mentioned a couple times when MoP came up. Gave me shivers, or perhaps that was the air conditioning.
The Eberron seminar was interesting, although what I really wanted to know was how many people in the room would be completing proposals for the open call. Precious little scoop on that. If you are already gaming in Eberron, then this was a really good place for you to be. Also, the new and improved slide show of art for Eberron (complete with soundtrack) contained some pieces that were new to me. Nice work. I got sidetracked, however, and despite good intentions forgot to mention to Perkins that WotC really ought to bring into the fold the guy on the 'boards who's got such awesome drawings of shifters and warforged - "DMAC" is what he goes by. Oh, and just in general, if you're a 2D or 3D artist with a good feel for fantasy characters and settings, then you might want to look into freelancing for WotC and/or Dungeon and Dragon. Really.
The vendors were an interesting mix. The WotC display was a little bit into the ostentatious, but there were scores of indies holding their own amidst all the glitz. That was impressive, and I have schemes - er, plans... umm, suggestions - for Grims based on what I observed.
Other, random impressions.... How the vaguely slutty nun managed to walk in 12" platforms with something like 18" heels is beyond me, but she was one of the most photographed costumed attendees, for sure. The dragon sculpture was great - even when bundled up in alumninum foil. The art exhibit featured some interesting artwork, but none of the dragons we came across were exactly right for catching Ed's attention and gaining his appreciation. (I'm still a little confused about what makes a good dragon in his eyes, but I did think perspective in the painting of the hunter tracking a wounded animal and looking up as the shadow of a large flying creature - dragon, perhaps? - fell on him was a different take on that kind of scene. Which is scarier, the dragon or the suggestion of the dragon? *hee*) Three dollars for a 20 oz. bottle of water is ridiculous. Scheduling a football game at the RCA Dome the same weekend as GenCon is also stupid. Oh, and if you run into The Genetic Mutation... well, it's probably too late to get your money back, but there are certainly better ways to spend your time.
While there are some things that I'd encourage GenCon to do differently (like, get a more user-friendly website), I was impressed at how everything ran pretty flawlessly. We left saying that we really needed two days, and thinking back on it now, I'm inclined to go with at least two and a half days, depending on when certain events are scheduled. There were some workshops held on Friday that my friend C got a lot out of, for instance. There were also some games that I could have been convinced to play if I'd had more time at the con - and maybe I've got time between now and next GenCon to get Ed hooked on a couple of them, too.
Richard could - and probably should, if it wouldn't be giving away too many of his secrets - hold a seminar on networking as a freelancer. WotC, his career, his books, and writing in general were subjects we had anticipated discussing, but the unexpected and invaluable lesson we learned from RLB pertained to writing as a business. He guided us through the vendors, and then we set out on our own. When we ran into each other later, we were able to let him know about some information we had learned that he hadn't yet uncovered. How's that for learning the lesson well, eh?
Elaine is stylish and gracious and lively, even when tired from the con hustle and bustle. I so appreciate that she is this fountain of creative ideas and projects. I think our conversation began with an explanation of a new project she's considering taking on, and then as we spoke longer, we learned about a handful of others she's either considering or in the middle of. I was reminded of Harley's boundless energy - and a little bit, too, of myself as an instructor for freshman composition. (Odd, no? But there's creativity in teaching, in the search to find interesting ways to deliver information to your students and to get them to participate in the learning process.) It was a great afternoon.
The seminar on freelancing for WotC was most informative. Let's see if I get the names right... Chris Perkins, Peter Archer, Kim Mohan, Matthew Sennett, James Jacobs, Erik Mona. The best advice: Freelance for Dungeon or Dragon. Chris Perkins freely admits to trawling among their freelancers for folks to add to the list of freelancers at WotC. Corollary to that piece of advice: Do excellent work for Dungeon or Dragon; be communicative, be professional, deliver your stuff by deadline. Interesting piece of news for fiction: The "open call" format will continue as it's been pretty successful so far. Corollary: Freelance for Dungeon or Dragon; use the open call as your backup plan. Kameron's name was mentioned a couple times when MoP came up. Gave me shivers, or perhaps that was the air conditioning.
The Eberron seminar was interesting, although what I really wanted to know was how many people in the room would be completing proposals for the open call. Precious little scoop on that. If you are already gaming in Eberron, then this was a really good place for you to be. Also, the new and improved slide show of art for Eberron (complete with soundtrack) contained some pieces that were new to me. Nice work. I got sidetracked, however, and despite good intentions forgot to mention to Perkins that WotC really ought to bring into the fold the guy on the 'boards who's got such awesome drawings of shifters and warforged - "DMAC" is what he goes by. Oh, and just in general, if you're a 2D or 3D artist with a good feel for fantasy characters and settings, then you might want to look into freelancing for WotC and/or Dungeon and Dragon. Really.
The vendors were an interesting mix. The WotC display was a little bit into the ostentatious, but there were scores of indies holding their own amidst all the glitz. That was impressive, and I have schemes - er, plans... umm, suggestions - for Grims based on what I observed.
Other, random impressions.... How the vaguely slutty nun managed to walk in 12" platforms with something like 18" heels is beyond me, but she was one of the most photographed costumed attendees, for sure. The dragon sculpture was great - even when bundled up in alumninum foil. The art exhibit featured some interesting artwork, but none of the dragons we came across were exactly right for catching Ed's attention and gaining his appreciation. (I'm still a little confused about what makes a good dragon in his eyes, but I did think perspective in the painting of the hunter tracking a wounded animal and looking up as the shadow of a large flying creature - dragon, perhaps? - fell on him was a different take on that kind of scene. Which is scarier, the dragon or the suggestion of the dragon? *hee*) Three dollars for a 20 oz. bottle of water is ridiculous. Scheduling a football game at the RCA Dome the same weekend as GenCon is also stupid. Oh, and if you run into The Genetic Mutation... well, it's probably too late to get your money back, but there are certainly better ways to spend your time.
While there are some things that I'd encourage GenCon to do differently (like, get a more user-friendly website), I was impressed at how everything ran pretty flawlessly. We left saying that we really needed two days, and thinking back on it now, I'm inclined to go with at least two and a half days, depending on when certain events are scheduled. There were some workshops held on Friday that my friend C got a lot out of, for instance. There were also some games that I could have been convinced to play if I'd had more time at the con - and maybe I've got time between now and next GenCon to get Ed hooked on a couple of them, too.
