see the website for our dates for 2011.

ConJour 2011 is around the bend, but when?

No news to report. More after our first meeting.

No first meeting has been scheduled as of yet. More on that after our first meeting also.

Please let us know your thoughts, suggestions, and complaints about how the convention went thisyear so we can improve the convention for next year.

What did you like?
What did you dislike?
What did you think was cool but could have been better?

What panels did you attend?
Were you informed? Were you entertained?

What panels did you want to attend but couldn't?

Could you find everything reasonably well?
Was anything you wanted to attend too difficult to locate?

If you can think of anything else not asked, please tell us about it.

Thank you,
The ConJour Staff

The readings, presentations and panel discussions schedule is ready for transmission. I'm waiting for actual verification before posting room numbers, although we are supposed to have already recieved word of our room requests being rejected or confirmed by UHCL. The information is just in limbo, as it were. "Message unclear, try again later." -The Magic Eight Ball

I will return to this post and edit in the room numbers when the information is made clearer.

Readings and Presentations

All Readings and Presentations are an hour long unless otherwise noted.

 

Steven Brust

Panel Room B                                      Sat. 11 AM

Autographs – Dealer Room                 Sat. 2 PM

 

A. P. Stephens

Panel Room C                                      Sat. 4 PM

 

Chelsea Gaither

Panel Room B                                      Sat. 2 PM

 

Glen Welch

Con Suite (Forest Room)                     Fri. 8 PM

 

Glenda Boozer (A Half-Hour Reading)

Con Suite (Forest Room)                     Fri. 6:30 PM

Panel Room B                                      Sat. 1 PM

 

Kerry Tolan

Panel Room C                                      Sat. 6 PM

 

Linda Nightingale (A Half-Hour Reading)

Con Suite (Forest Room)                     Fri. 6 PM

Panel Room B                                      Sat. 1:30 PM

 

Pat Blair

Panel Room C                                      Sat. 5 PM

 

Robert Stikmanz

Panel Room A                                     Sat. 12 PM

 

Simon Nightingale

Panel Room                                         Sun. 12 PM

 

Toni V. Sweeney

Panel Room B                                      Sat. 3 PM

 

Discussion Panels

All Discussion Panels are an hour long unless otherwise noted.

 

All Dressed up: What are LARP and Cosplay?

Panel Room A                         Sat. 7PM

A panel on the elements and methods of Live Action Roleplaying and Cosplay.

Panel: Chelsea Gaither, Christopher Pineau, Danny Patterson, and Elle Velie

 

Avoiding the Pitfalls

Panel Room C                         Sat. 10AM

A presentation on the pitfalls of writing and how to avoid or utilize them to advance your writing career, including grounding your fiction, handling dialogue, "backing into publishing" and avoiding writer's block. Hosted by Pat Blair.

 

Breaching the Hull: Writing a Believable Spacecraft

Panel Room B                         Sat. 5 PM

A panel discussion on the techniques and sciences necessary to write, design, and describe a believable space vessel.

Panel: Larry Friensen, Kerry Tolan, Marianne Dyson, Scott Padgett, and Trey Wickwire

 

Character Development

Panel Room A                         Sat. 1PM

A panel discussion on how experts from different genres and mediums view and utilize different methods of character development.

Panel: Terry Mixon, Kerry Tolan, Pat Blair, Steven Brust, Trey Wickwire

 

Cheesy Movies and the Geeks That Love Them

Panel Room A                         Sat. 2 PM

A forum discussion on B-movies and bad films that we can’t help but love and an exploration into “why” we love them hosted by Ben Wittmeyer.

 

The ConJour Classic

Atrium II                                 Sat. 4 PM

Game-show format trivia competition performance between two teams: The Pros and the Cons! Who will take home the ConJour Cup? Hosted by Deborah Kent.

 

Costuming 101

Panel Room A                         Fri. 7 PM

A panel discussing the varying methods and functions used by fans of the convention set, from hand sewn and no-sew, to collected accessories and replica designs.

Panel: Glenda Boozer, Danny Patterson, Elle Velie, and Louise Riofrio

 

Cullen Must Die: Writing Believable Vampires

Panel Room A                         Fri. 8 PM

A panel discussion on different styles and methods of writing vampires, including a look at why we hate when these formats are eschewed.

Panel: Chelsea Gaither, Linda Nightingale, Pat Blair, and Toni V. Sweeney

 

Defense Against the Dark Arts: Feng Shui (A Two Hour Presentation)

Panel Room B                         Fri. 8 PM

A practical presentation on the use of Feng Shui methods to dissipate negative forces hosted by Michael Scheer.

 

Elixers and Potions: Using Everyday Items

Panel Room B                         Sat. 8 PM

A practical presentation of the use of everyday materials to sooth and remedy common ailments hosted by Michael Scheer.

 

Fan Based Organizations

Panel Room A                         Sat. 5 PM

An interview with Danny Patterson, members of the 501^st and Rebel Legions, and members of the Houston Browncoats, on the subjects of what it means to be a fan-based organization and how to live the dream. Hosted by Paul Abell.

 

FILK 101

Panel Room C                         Sat. 12 PM

A mix of performance and instruction in the art of FILK hosted by Dr. John Gorman and featuring Ghost of a Rose and Steven Brust.

 

Furries, Faeries, and Freakies

Panel Room B                         Sat. 12 PM

A panel discussion investigating the depiction of inhumans, anthros and alien entities in different genres and mediums, from art to writing.

Panel: Larry Friesen, Dr. Craig White, Kerry Tolan, Malcolm Harris, Pat Blair, and Simon Nightingale

 

Graphic Content: Writing in the Visual

Panel Room A                         Sun. 10 AM

A panel discussion about how art tells stories, and how storytellers create art, including designing art compositions, writing for comics, drawing for comics, and framing a shot for film.

Panel: Simon Nightingale, Brandon Phillips, Chelsea Gaither, and Trey Wickwire

 

Horror Makeup

Panel Room A                         Fri. 5 PM

A demonstrative panel on how to produce blockbuster makeup effects using inexpensive and sometimes unexpected materials hosted by Louise Riofrio and featuring the makeup of OEGP.

Panel: Louise Riofrio, Brandon Phillips, Jack Armstrong, Elle Velie, and OEGP volunteers

 

Majestic Keeps and Magical Vales: World Creation for Fantasy

Panel Room A                         Fri. 9 PM

A panel discussion on the methods implemented and the work that goes into preparing a world for the setting of your work of fantasy.

Panel: A. P. Stephens, Malcolm Harris, Robert Stikmanz, Steven Brust, and Trey Wickwire

Making Movies Without a Budget

Panel Room A                         Sat. 6 PM

Brandon Phillips and OEGP talk about the trials and tribulations of making B-grade budget films look worthy of the A-list, and give you pointers on how they do it, and how you can too.

 

Piloted Missions to Near-Earth Objects

Panel Room A                         Sat. 4 PM

Paul Abell talks about the future of the scientific study of Near-Earth Objects.

 

Plot Development

Panel Room B                         Fri. 5 PM

A panel discussion on how experts from different genres and mediums view and utilize different methods of plot development.

Panel: Kerry Tolan, A. P. Stephens, Dr. John Gorman, Pat Blair, and Steven Brust

 

Publish Me

Panel Room A                         Sat. 3 PM

A panel discussion on different kinds of publishing options available to authors and the means by which to catch the eye of a publisher.

Panel: Steven Brust, A. P. Stephens, Kerry Tolan, Malcolm Harris, and Pat Blair

 

Science Fiction: A History

Panel Room B                         Sat. 6 PM

A panel discussion on the roots of Science Fiction, early Sci-Fi literature and film, and how it influences the modern genre.

Panel: Dr. Craig White, Ben Wittmeyer, Glen Welch, Larry Friesen, and Trey Wickwire

 

Selling Comics

Panel Room A                         Sat. 11 AM

A talk with comic book and webcomic creators on the work that goes into selling their stories to graphic literature audiences and producers, hosted by Simon Nightingale and featuring Trey Wickwire.

 

Space for Improvement: World Creation for Science Fiction

Panel Room A                         Sun. 11 AM

 A panel discussion on the methods implemented and the work that goes into preparing a world for the setting of your science fiction writing, including galactic, systemic, planetary, and geological elements that influence the world of your fiction.

Panel: Terry Mixon, Kerry Tolan, Larry Friesen, Robert Stikmanz, and Trey Wickwire

 

Steampunk: Science Fiction by Gaslight

Con Suite (Forest Room)                                Saturday, 2:00 PM

A panel discussion of all things Victorian, anachronistic, steamy and sci-fi, accompanied by a Steampunk Tea Service.

Panel: Trey Wickwire, Deborah Kent, Louise Riofrio, and Scott Padget

 

Supernatural Romance

Panel Room B                         Fri. 7 PM

A panel discussion on the subject of romance and why so much romance is starting to incorporate supernatural into the mix.

Panel: Dr. John Gorman, Linda Nightingale, Terry Mixon, and Toni V. Sweeney

 

Sympathy for the Devil: The Byronic Hero in Modern Fantasy and Sci-Fi

Panel Room A                         Sat. 9 PM

A panel discussion on the personal freedoms and prisons the "dark hero" experiences, and what causes our unnatural fascination with them.

Panel: Dr. Craig White, Linda Nightingale, Pat Blair, and Toni V. Sweeney

 

Upcoming Conventions in Texas

Panel Room B                         Sat. 4 PM

A panel discussion about upcoming conventions in Texas.

Panel: Convention Representatives from other Texas Conventions

 

What Makes a Good Sci-fi or Fantasy Film?

Panel Room B                         Sun. 10 AM

An open forum for the discussion of what elements go into the making of good science fiction and fantasy films, hosted by Ben Wittmeyer.

 

What’s New at NASA?

Panel Room A                         Sat. 10 AM

A panel discussion on programs and events brewing in the NASA community.

Panel: Larry Friesen, Louise Riofrio, Paul Abell, Scott Padget, and Terry Mixon

 

Where Did I Park the Tardis?

Panel Room B                         Sat. 10 AM

A discussion of all things Dr. Who, from the good to the bad to the ugly.

Panel: Ben Wittmeyer, James Kent and Kerry Tolan

 

Writing for Roleplaying Games

Panel Room B                         Sat. 7 PM

A discussion of the elements important to the writing and development of Roleplaying Games.

Panel: Scott Padgett, Glen Welch and Malcolm Harris

Writing Horror
Panel Room A                         Sun. 12 PM
A panel discussion on the elements of horror and how to capture and portray them to your audience.

Panel: Terry Mixon, Brandon Phillips, Pat Blair

 

 

 

 
  

Well, a Blog, which is sorta news. More people read blogs than news. LOL

http://conventionfansblog.com/2010/01/07/press-release-conjour-2010-a-fantasy-horror-and-science-fiction-convention/#more-153

It's a good profile about our convention. Hope it brings in some last minute attendees.

Now to get information up on the website instead of just links to the sign up forms.

Ok guys.  I have been interviewed for the Dead Robots Society podcast.  The main subject: ConJour.  you can find the podcast at

deadrobotssociety.podhoster.com/index.php.  Hope to see everyone soon. 

Guest of Honor

Steven Brust

Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede; he also belongs to the Pre-Joycean Fellowship. He is best known for his novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos. His novels have been translated into German, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Czech, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Bulgarian. Most of his short stories are set in shared universes. These include Emma Bull's and Will Shetterly's Liavek, Robert Asprin's Thieves' World, Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Terri Windling's Borderland Series.

Musical Guests of Honor

Ghost of a Rose

Meeting in a bardic circle at ApolloCon 2007, by the end of the evening Dene & Sundara were talking about singing as a performing duo...and Ghost of a Rose was born. Their debut performance was at Fencon IV, three months later. They have performed at SCA events, Coffee Oasis, Waldo’s Coffee House, in concert at Apollocon 2008 & 2009, at FenCon IV, V, & VI, as one of the featured groups at CMA’s Samhain 2008 and 2009 celebrations, at “Lights in the Heights”, in concert at The St. Andrew’s in the Heights’ “Gathering of the Celts”, St. Patrick’s Day at Outriggers in Kemah, and as the Friday night Headliner at CMA’s Beltaine 2009.  This was their first year to play at the Houston Highland Games.

Film Guests of Honor

OEGP

OEGP is a local independent film company with true grass roots and a love of blood and gore. They're releasing their first feature film, Crimson Photo, in 2010 and will be previewing the film with a 10 minute short cut especially for their appearance at ConJour 2010. Brandon Phillips, Jack Armstrong, and Elle Velie will be representing the company at ConJour speaking on filmmaking and using special f/x makeup.

Literature Guests

A. P. Stephens is the author of The White Shadow Saga, and a reviewer and journalist with the Dallas Examiner.

Kerry M. Tolan is the author of Blade Dancer, Waiting Weapon, and the soon to be released Rogue Dancer, and a software engineer from Austin.

Linda Nightingale is a paranormal romance author with numerous published short stories.

Robert Stikmanz is the author of the Hidden Lands of Nod fantasy series.

Toni V. Sweeney is a prolific fantasy and science fiction writer with numerous titles in publication.

Artist and Comic Writer Guests

David Doub is the Writer and Creator of DUSK, a supernatural graphic novel.

Glen Welch is the Writer and Creator of the Webcomic Dying's Easy and the source for the "Ever Expanding List of Things Mr. Welch Can No Longer do in a RPG."

Simon Nightingale is a professional Graphic Designer and Webcomic Artist for Dying's Easy and Undeath.

Trey Wickwire is the Writer and Creator of Mamluk, a futuristic military comic book, and other features written for Orang Utan Comics.

Science Guests

Dr. Larry Friesen is a physicist and a professor at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Louise Riofrio is a NASA scientist working with moon dust at JSC and is a costumer.

Paul Abell is a NASA astrophysicist working on near-Earth asteroid missions and the Constellation project.

Scott Padget is a NASA engineer working on the space shuttle program.

Fan Guests

Ben Wittmeyer is a film collector and an expert on Dr. Who.

Glenda Boozer is a talented costumer and convention supporter.

Members of Darth Vader’s 501^st Legion and the Rebel Legion will be representing the official Lucasfilm fan-based organizations.

If you are a guest and somehow have been left off of the list, please contact us immediately so we may correct this oversight. This list has been compiled from three sources, and is believed to be the most accurate list of guests attending our convention. Unless otherwise informed, this is the list that will appear in the program, so please make any corrections now while we have time to correct them. Thank you.

This is a list of proposed panel topics for ConJour 2010. Please look them over and see if there are any you wish to conribute to or if you have any suggestions for topics we have left off the list. Thank you.

All Dressed Up: What are LARP and Cosplay?

Breaching the Hull: Writing a Believable Spacecraft

Character Development

Costuming 101

Costuming 102: Stitch-less Design

Costuming 103: Fan-based Design

Cullen Must Die: Writing Believable Vampires

FILK 101

Furries, Faeries, Freakies: Inhumans and Emotions

Furries, Faeries, Freakies: Non-human Protagonists

Graphic Content: Writing in the Visual (This subject will compare and contrast graphic novels and comic books to regular novels, including discussion of storyboarding and scripting.)

Guerrilla F/X Makeup 101

Guerrilla Filmmaking 101

How to Survive the Internet: Writing, Drawing and Publishing Webcomics (Answering questions from the audience about all things web comic related.)

Majestic Keeps and Magical Vales: World Creation for Fantasy

Plot Development

Publish Me: What Writers Need to Know Beyond the Writing (Different ways of getting published, whether doing it yourself or going through independent publishers.)

Science Fiction: An History (Emphasis will be on the works and worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Vern, and similar authors.)

Selling Comics

Space for Improvement: World Creation for Science Fiction

Steampunk: Science Fiction by Gaslight

Supernatural Romance

Sympathy for the Devil: The Byronic Hero in Modern Fantasy and Sci-Fi

These Are a Few of my Whovian Things!

Writing Horror

Deborah Kent, ConJour Chairperson, would like to invite you all to attend Friday October 16th's meeting of the ConJour Convention Committee. The meeting is being held at the University of Houston-Clear Lake Student Services and Classroom Building in the Student Lounge on the first floor. We'll begin the meeting at 7:30 PM and will hopefully be done by 8:30 PM.

Hope we see you there.

The Ladies of the Absurd, Heidi and Michelle, will be unable to attend our convention in January after all. They are very sorry they won't be able to attend, and we hope they will be available to join us in 2011.

I'm proud to announce:

OEGP will be premiering a new Horror short specially produced for ConJour 2010. More information about OEGP and their film will be posted at another time.

Also at ConJour, Trey Wickwire, the writer of the "Mamluk" comic book, and David Doub, the creator of the "DUSK" graphic novel will be attending as guests.

Kerry M. Tolan, author of Blade Dancer and Waiting Weapon, will be a welcome addition to our Science Fiction author lineup.

The Ladies of Absurd will be returning for a second year.

And those are our announcements for today. Anything new will be posted as soon as I get word of it.

Take care!

The University of Houston-Clear Lake Gamers' Guild is proud to announce the second annual ConJour, a Fantasy, Horror and Sci-Fi convention. For 2010, we return to the Greater Houston area, southeast technically, within spitting distance of NASA to host a cultural exchange of grand proportions on the campus of the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

We do panels on Plot Development, Character Development and Getting Published every year, additionally we are going to do discussions on more specific design elements in the genres as well. Discussion of panel topics is still going on, use our general contact email from the website to contact us with your ideas.

We're in discussions to get MMORPG companies and communities on board for demonstrations and events. If you have contacts in those communities, your help would be greatly appreciated. Game designers and developers with their own equipment to demonstrate their hard work and the glory of their efforts are welcome and will be classified as Game Masters (permitting them free entry to the convention with proper registration).

We need volunteers and game masters, both of whom get in free! We have an art show, an artist alley, and a dealer's room, all with plenty of tables left to be filled. We're presently the least expensive table space you'll find in the state of Texas!

Anthropomorphic artists be aware of our Artist Alley and Art Show, tables are inexpensive for the alley, panels are fairly priced for the show.

Full costumes and fursuits are welcome and encouraged. Realistic looking weaponry may need to be inspected by the campus police and possibly peace-bound, but will not be outright rejected. At worst, you may be asked to lock something in your vehicle by the campus police.

We ask that "mature" furry behavior be limited to room parties at the con hotel or your private quarters wherever you are staying.

Pre-registration is open to the public and will not be closing for several months more. Get in on the fun! Plan your trip now.

We also have 2010 Tee Shirts for sale in advance.

If you know anyone looking for a convention at the beginning of this year's newly created convention gauntlet (five in Texas, back to back, in four weeks, and ours is first and the least known, even with expanded promotional efforts)m, tell them about us. ConJour needs volunteers, game masters, and dealers. Numbers are down from last year at this time. Please, tell everyone you know about us.

Steven Brust graciously accepted our offer to be Guest of Honor at ConJour 2010.

Steven Brust is the author of nineteen novels and one solo album. He's an amatuer drummer, guitarist, banjo player and poker player. All this and more about him and his works is available to be read on his website, The Dream Cafe (http://dreamcafe.com/index.html).

Okay, Our wonderful webmaster has uploaded the following forms:

Pre-Registration

Volunteer

Art Show/Artist Alley

Game Master

You may have to reload the page a couple of times to get what you need, but it's there.  Sign up, sign in, we want to hear from you!!!

Ok We will be discussing budget to present before the SGA in the fall.  Start time 6:30.

Aside from other festivities, the Gamers’ Guild will hold a ConJour planning meeting starting at 6:30 PM  in the student lounge of the Student Services Classroom Building.

 

Topics in no particular order include:

Who we have contacted to attend as either presence or as guests.

Finalizing art work as well as some art work for our face book and twitter accounts

More panel topics and what we have so far.

Okay, I have just come back from Apollocon, and we have been in touch with some new guests as well as some old ones.  We are also getting in touch with old and new dealers.  We are considering an artist alley outside of our art room.  As always you can find our website at www.conjour.net/

Meeting this Friday starting at 7 pm.

Topics will include guest of honor stuff and panels.

Just so everyone knows, I will be attending InstaCon this weekend to update my skills and pass on what I learn to others about running a convention. 

Our next meeting will be April 3, 2009.  Start time is 630-ish 7 p.m.; place is the Student Services Classroom Building.  Topics include: artwork for badges, panel tracks, start a discussion on possible movies, and what guests we have so far.

Our brand new website is http://www.conjour.net/.  Please visit often.

We are confirmed for Jan 29, 30, 31 of 2010, I will update as to the next meeting.

Ok, we are waiting on confirmation for the following date: January 29, 30, 31. I have been re-elected to the position of Con Chair.  slvrdragon has been re-elected to "Evil Vizier."  We have two new students who have been elected to the position of Guest Liaison and Dealer Liaison.  I have reserved the following public rooms in the Bayou building: the Garden Room, The Forest Room, Atrium I, Atrium II.  All classrooms that I have reserved will be on the first floor except for two on the second floor and those I have reserved due to their "movie" showing abilities.  Maps of the buildings can be found at prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/FMC/BUILDING_PLAN.

I meant to chime in here last week, and today's post by varchildmarquee reminded me.... That post already covered some of my concerns, such as maps for attendees. Even though I worked in the Bayou Building for two years, I still can't find my way around it based on that strange room numbering system they have! ;-)

Regarding setting a date, boy, that sure isn't easy! I just wanted to mention some other events right around that same time, which the Con Jour folks are probably aware of: Owlcon (2010 date TBA), ConDFW (2010 date TBA; Dallas area convention to which many Houston fans travel), and of course the 2010 Superbowl (Feb. 7; which you may or may not care about).

If possible, it's a good idea to provide guests with their panel schedule (subject to necessary adjustments, of course) about two weeks before the con -- not just on the convention website, but rather in an e-mail listing that guest's specific panels. It can be pretty confusing and easy to miss something if the guest has to scroll through all the panels on a website to find their own (even using ctrl-f to find their own name). Then, at the con itself it's helpful to provide each guest a printed copy of their panel schedule. This is lots of extra work, though, so I absolutely understand it wasn't possible this time around as things were getting off the ground.

I admit this is something of a personal preference, but I really do think that panels longer than one hour are not a good idea. I think it's better to end while the topic is still interesting, and of course people can move the discussion out into the common area after the hour is up if they're so inclined. It's extremely difficult for panelists to sustain a two-hour panel, especially if the audience is not large (but even if it is large). Ninety-minute and two-hour panels also cause scheduling problems -- it keeps you from being able to schedule the panelists for subsequent topics starting the next hour that might be perfect for them.

I wonder if there's a possibility of putting a hospitality "area" into the dealer's room rather than in the other building. It would concentrate traffic there, which might help the dealers, and it would have been nice to hang out there, with munchies, without feeling so separated from the rest of the con.

Just some thoughts. I'm certainly not an expert on con-running, so these comments are in the "for what it's worth" vein.

Thanks again for hosting the convention, and special thanks to Deborah for working so hard to make sure guests and attendees had what they needed.

As the previous convention's registrar (and likely 2010's registrar also), I feel I should make a list of things for myself (and suggest a few things for some others) to do. We need a plan of action to prepare for 2010. 2009 got thrown together, but as is evident some attendees, staff, even guests were not satisfied, and I see no reason they should be. We know there were messes made that we couldn't clean up with a roll of Brawny and a gallon of Clorox (not to mention those eighty five rolls of duct tape). Still we did our best on the short notice we had and we'll do better this year as we have more time to make bigger messes... er... to clean up bigger messes (I'm bringing Shamwow's this year).

In any case, this is what I see is needed for this year to work out (and a timeline to have it completed by).

By February 28th:

Set date for Con-Jour 2010.

Submit Facilities Request forms to SLO office to reserve the space for later processing (I doubt they'll give us clear permission to use the space this early in the year, processing may have to wait until the Smmer SGA meeting when all the clubs reserve massive sets of rooms at once for big events throughout the year.).

• Atrium 1
• Atrium 2
• Forest Room
• Garden Room
• any first floor classrooms listed as always available to student organizations
• 1333 and 1335
• 1219 and 1220

Update website by archiving old info (burn to a cd, please), reset to bare page with countdown timer, provide new dates, location and building(s) where we hope to hold 2010, and a note stating, "This is a student organized convention. The listed dates and location are awaiting approval from the university. Please check back regularly in case there are changes."

Register any appropriate domain names which might be used to redirect to the actual website.

Prep fliers to advertise the website, not the convention. Without verification that we have permission to use the rooms we can't advertise the actual dates and locations of the convention on our pass-out promotions, but the website we can advertise.

Use Pay-pal's Merchant Solutions buttons to handle ALL pre-registration, dealer's registration, volunteer registration, and t-shirt/con-promo gear pre-sales.

Prepare Game Master sign-up form for 2010. The form will not go live until June, July or August, but the page needs to be fully tested and edited to be ready for traffic.

Test all submission buttons for functionality before going live with any page featuring one.

Re-establish the Policies page.

(At this point we have no art for next year's convention, not the fliers, not the webpage, not anything.. this is anothe prioprity, but we can live with pure text for a few months if necessary.)


By June:

We must have art for logos, posters, t-shirts, badges, etc. by June 1st.

We should be able to get accurate verification on our convention space by June.

The webpage needs to have enough information to warrant review by online con listing communities.

• We need maps of the convention grounds already planned out and ready for attendees.
• We need to have Cosplay and the rules regarding it at the school listed.
• If an Artist's Alley is planned (instead fo the Art Gallery we had for 2009), we need to prep a page for it.
• If an Art Gallery is planned, the rules and regulatuions surrounding it need to have a page.
• If we're having a Fan Alley for clubs and outside organizations to advertise their stuff, it needs a page.
• We need to have a few confirmed dealers to list on a dealer's page.
• We need confirmed guests and a guest of honor or two, with bios.
• A list of panel discussions should be taking form, if not posted to the site for invited guests and other guests to sign up for via link (like 2009, the open seat links worked well).
• Any work toward a writer's workshop needs to be completed and ready to put into effect/advertise.
• The GM's sign-up needs to be ready to go live any minute (no glitches, no bugs, no faulty email addresses).

Fully informed fliers for pass out/delivery to stores, clubs, orgs, mailboxes, etc. for distribution.

Contact catering supply company about cheaper than wholesale prices on ingredients etc. for Con-Suite.

Contact major movie promoters about content for distribution at our convention (like the Knowing and Push posters and passes this year).

Submit our information to convention lists online to promote our convention for greater exposure.

By November:

We should be able to close all pre-reg sources without worry. If need be we can extend this to December, but November would be optimal for us.

All panels should be finalized, guests should be compiled and dealer's should be assigned spaces.

The programs badges, t-shirts, and any other promo items should be ready to go to print.

At this point I feel as if I've fried my brain, so I'm taking a break to go get myself some food and I will post part two of the list, if I can think of anything else, later. If not, and you can think of anythign else, please feel free to include it in a comment, or if you feel something I've included is unnecessary, please let me know.

I'm going to post some other people's reviews here in link format in the hopes that whay they have to say candidly about our convention will help guide us to a better convention next year. Some of the opinions of others may be harsher than we'd like,. but they're being candid about it.

http://fionnghal.livejournal.com/393332.html

http://misteslaus.livejournal.com/74172.html

http://bald-ruminant.livejournal.com/578116.html

There was one that was more in depth and had a balanced pros and cons style to it, but the gentleman in question put it under lock and key. Not sure how many of us would want to go friend someone just to read their review of the convention.

I have to get offline for now, but I will go look for more later. These were just from people in my friend's list.

This will serve as a review of the convention from one point of view, based entirely on what I myself witnessed transpiring at the convention. Do not take this as a synopsis of all the events as they happened. I was not everywhere at once, nor could I be. Had I been able to do that, I'd have never missed the panel I was supposed to moderate on Saturday evening.

It starts, not Friday after noon, but Thursday afternoon...

The program is not complete and needed to be in print hours ago. I'm writing my life away and owrking out layout issues with materials, trying to balance the information I have and the information I don't and make it all look like we know what we're doing. Time ticks by, later and later. The sun goes down. I'm getting late phone calls asking where the program is. Telling me to forget the program and just drive to Houston. Telling me to finish it there. In my heart i know, if I take the three hours to pack, and two hours to drive without finishing it, it won't get done in Houston. I fight with the people demanding my pressense in Houston and go to bed with the program finished, but pissed at the world.

Friday, last minute edits while I pack and shower. I'm still not sure if i just want to duck out on the whole thing and abandon the con or actually drive up there, still angry, and help with the whole she-bang. I choose to make the drive, and history begins to be made.

Late for noon, but early for opening gong, I help in the dealer's room and set up my own table (which I will only see again in passing all weekend), The dealer from Yuki Pearl, who I talked to frequently before his trip to Houston from Atlanta, is happy, and has had an enjoyable trip. I'm pleased to hear it. A bitter and synical comic book publisher on the other hand is snidely commenting on the life of conventions in Houston and the likelihood of any of the dealer's making money at the convention. He wanders the room bringing up various facts aboutt he con scene in Houston and expressing his lack of desire to actually have been part of ours, but explaining how his only reason for attending is the patronage of ONE member of our staff of his store at every convention he's ever attended. The other dealers seem ot write him and his comments off, but the fact its happened has me angry and disappointed.

I move to registration to get away from the individual in question and begin greeting guests, game masters, and dealers who've arrived a bit late. The programs have not arrived yet. Nor has one of our guests. It's almost, but not quite 4 PM, and the con will open soon. Programs arrive just before 4 PM, and we set them out and start figuring out the room schedule for the panels, as no rooms were assigned to be included in the program beforehand (due to school-scheduling issues beyond our control). The registration desk printer won't print. We work on it for hours to no effect. We scrap the use of it and get back to important work. Attendance is low. The first three panels of the Con have no attendance and half the guests.

We opt to hold the Opening Ceremony in the Dealer's Room rather than make the few attendees and guests march all the way to the Atrium to perform the ceremony. Dr. White handles the ceremony like a pro, welcoming the assembled and introducing the other professors from the college. Dr. Gorman, offered the spotlight, takes the moment to recuperate his lost panel discussion about Plot Development by giving a synopsis of Aristotelean plot development, and then bringing other panel members from his lost panel discussion into the discussion.

Before I can get interested, Heidi Slade, one of our Guests of Honor, from Absurdness.us draws me aside. Her cohort has arrived, but is lost in space. She is on the campus, in one of the parking lots, but cannot find the school or where we are. We have her describe her surroundings to get a better idea of where she could be. Her response will make me smile for the rest of the day, and anytime i recall it, "Trees! F***ing trees! And some cars." After further questions and responses from her, I suggested she flash her headlights. Heidi spotted them and we headed to meet Michelle Dickerson.

Escorting them both back into the convention, we joined the Opening Ceremony still underway and I made a point to introduce our Guests of honor, who took over for a moment to explain who and what they are. The rest of Friday is a bit foggy to me, I recall closing the Dealer's Room, seeing Michael Scheer of Yuki Pearl off to his panel discussion on Fruits Basket, and hearing word later he'd been talking about it for two and a half hours to a room of three attendees. When I got to my crash pad it was roughly midnight. I had a most restful night's sleep and felt good about the coming day's events

Saturday started with a rush to get to the college and set up our registration desk. The registration materials had been stashed in the Dealer's Room, but we found that the Police Department was unwilling to sign out the key to the room for us because campus scheduling had put the attached the wrong contact to the room request and we couldn't get in touch with her to have the room opened.

After a brief discussion with our con chair, we managed to arrange with the campus police to have the key for the room long enough to get one door open, but then had to return the key. We opened the door and set up for the day just as Dealer's started arriving.

Registration didn't pick up, but continued to flow in at a slow pace. I left to get food in the Con Suite before I needed to moderated the Steampunk panel. Breakfast, for me, was Apple Jacks with milk and a plate of some egg sausage and cheese mess I was told was called "breakfast casserole" that had been donated to the suite by someone rather than being fixed by the chef. Surprisingly, it was deliscious and I had a second helping which I took with me in order to get back to the panel I was in with time to spare.

The STeampunk panel was delightful! We talked about the science of the actual day and age Steampunk draws inspiration from, the Victorian and Edwardian eras. We talked about the literature that inspired both today's inventions and had its roots in the science of the era. We talked about what sort of clothing and costuming is acceptible to those trying to emulate the definition of Steampunk, and actually attempted to find a conclusive definition for what is actually meant by the term STEAMPUNK. It filled the entire time for the panel without any wasted silence.

I attended the Iron Artist conpetetion between The Ladies of Absurd and Simon Nightingale next. I recorded it on my handycam and will be posting soem of it to YouTube if I can figure out how to extract the video from the dvd it's recorded to. Of the three sessions I sat through (sadly I felt I needed to get back to registration and help if i could) the most amusing of them was a drawing of Steampunkers performing a Blues concert in Feudal Japan, for which Simon and Heidi worked as a team rather than competing agaisnt one another to complete.

I wasn't needed at registration, but I was needed at the Art Gallery. I sat and watched it while the attendant of the table went to grab some lunch. While there i heard from an attendee, and friend of the staff, of an incident in the Dealer's Room between onde of the guests and the surly comic book dealer with the cynical attitude toward our convention. He'd apparently insulted our chef in the consuite and made her cry, and the guest had tracked him down in the dealer's room and dug into him with a figurative pitchfork, teraing him a new on three ways to Sunday, up down, frontways, backways, diagonal ways and through the glass roof or Wonka's chocolate factory.

Shortly thereafter I was called to registration to find the chef looking hurt and talking to the con chair. I sat down and took over calming down our chef while the con chair sought out the person in charge of convention beat downs, who also happened to be the dealer in question's biggest supporter. When next i saw him, however, he ollked ready to pitch someone through a wall. Sadly, he didn't. And sadder yet, the gentlement causing the drama, didn't stop causing it.

Our con cahir had a collapse from stress and exhaustion, so I got volunteered to drive her to her home to get a nap, and because of that, I was too late to moderate my panel on Furries, Faeries, and Freakies, but the panel was well-stocked with knowledgable scholars of the subject, so I wasn't worried about them having no one else willing to take charge and man the panel.

While I, the conchair and a GM named Chris Pineau were at the con chair's house waiting for her to get some rest, the University newspaper's reporter came by to interview con-goers, guests, and staff and to take pictures of the proceedings. Upon returning I got included in a group picture of such and may or may not be feautred in the UHCL Signal. (Please, Mrs. Conchair, grab me a copy if I am.) He photographed my LARP in action and I look forward to seeing the results of the interviews.

Speaking of my LARP, I ran it in spite of lacking all my materials. It seems in the course of preparing for my LARP, I got sidetracked when leaving my crashpad and had left the equipment to run the game hanging on a chair there. But I winged it, even allowing the players to MAKE their own characters based on four guidelines, whether they were Furries, Faeries, Steamies or Magis. Then I remembered I actually had notes on some of the pre-mades I had tried to complete written down and I made sure a couple of those important ones made it into the game.

Everyone who played in the game wants me to run it again next year, or at least a continuation of it. It was well after midnight that we got home Saturday night and we crashed and burned hard. Having only eaten twice all day, once being breakfast the second being a bowl of fried rice delivered to me during the LARP by the chef herself. *THANK YOU!* I stopped on the way home and grabbed a bite at Jack in the Box, which I fell asleep eating in bed. *smacks forehead* I didn't finish my dinner ujtil 5:05 AM when I woke up, thinking it had only been a short doze off, and finished the bag before looking at a clock and seeing it was nearly dawn!

A little more sleep after that and I was up for the day. Sunday went fast, and with very few problems. One dealer packed up early because three of their attendants were ill, having come down with something mid convention. We bought some things from them before they packed up because we wanted to make sure every dealer made some sales during their stay, but perhaps the largest seller on Sunday was the Ladies of Absurd.

I bought a gift badge for the con chair's daughter depicting her form the LARP the night before with Michelle Dickerson playing Foxx in the LARP. I bought my own badge of myself as Himazalaph from the LARP the night before, half-beast; half-fae, and all CHIBI! LOL I haven't sotopped wearing the badge yet! At least four other people bought multiple art badges from them and, after discussing it with the con chair, I left some images with them to discuss getting the Ladies of Absurd to do the art for next year's convention.

I attended two of the writing panels on Sunday, first the "Character Development" panel which I recorded on my handycam; second on "Okay, I Wrote it! So, How do I Sell it?" which I didn't record. I learned a lot from both and took lots of notes in the "Sell it?" panel.

We packed out everyone and saw all the dealers off. We closed everythign down making certain everything was accounted for and we were out of the college a little later than anticipated, but before our time ran out. For a celebration we tried to go to Chabucca's, but they were closed for the Super Bowl, so we ended up changing venues to Ghengis Grill,  a Mongolian BBQ I will have to visit again when next in Houston.

At 9:30 I got on the road back to Groves, where I'm staying while still on evacuation from Ike, and I got home at 11:00 PM. As soon as I got my things in and changed into pajammies, I crashed and didn't get up until nearly noon today.

I had a wonderful weekend. I will be doing this again.

And that's my review of Con-Jour 2009. If you wouldlike to share your review of what you experienced at the convention, please feel free to post it to our news page. Good or bad, your experience is important to us. It can only prove to make our future events better.

Ok, while I, myself, have a few suggestions for next year's con (since it's 3.22 am on Sunday, I feel like can post this), I'd like to hear what other people have as suggestions. To break the Ice I'll give a few of my own.

-I realized that, while I designed the website, I never even thought to put which building the con was at..

-Also, There were no signs out giving directions through the campus. "Con-Jour this way" or something of the sort would be something to look into

-Also, I was told that no flyers were given/sent out to local gaming stores. This would be a good idea too.

Aeryn Metal Dice Orders
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Azarkarde Productions Publisher (Role Playing and Card Games)

Dark Skull Studios Publisher (Role Playing Games)

Linda Nightingale Author

Marion Carpenter Bargain Basement Miscellany

MBraze Bargain Basement Videos and Comics

Myth Adventures Comics

Simon Nightingale Artist

Vampire Cow Productions Publisher (“Absurd” Webcomic and Art)

UHCL Gamers’ Guild Convention Host

William Hicks Leatherworks

White Lightning Productions Publisher (Comics and Art)

Yuki Pearl and Jade Sculpture, Novelties, and Jewelry

</ul></span>I'd like to take a moment to thank all the vendors who are making this year's convention everything it is or could be.

You may sign up to participate in "Sparrow in the Gutters" at the registration desk, any time Friday or Saturday until 6 PM on January 31, 2009. Assembly of players should begin at 6:30 beside the elevators on the first floor of Atrium 1. We will proceed to the play area as a group, where orientation will conclude and play will begin. The action will start, roughly, around 7:30 PM.

If you are not of an age permissible without a guardian, your guardian is unwilling to participate in order to allow you to do so, or you have no acceptable costume for the setting and genre, please talk with the Director, Marion F. Carpenter Jr., and an exception may be possible.

Sign up will start at 6:00 pm.
The GM would like to start meeting with players at 7:00 pm and plans for the game to start at 8:00 pm

For those interested. Maps to UHCL can be found here.

http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/HOMEPAGE/MAPS_DIRECTIONS

Please park in Parking lot D1 or D2. These can be found here

http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/POL/PARKING_LOTS