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Convention Idea: Must-Use Technology

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The roundup of convention ideas is here.

There's a lot to be said for professional-themed panels.  Voice acting.  Game programming.  Writing.

There's also a lot to be said for "peripheral" professional-themed panels.  Networking.  Making portfolios.

However, to these focused and peripheral panels, let me add one more suggestion to put in your convention event witch's brew.  What about doing panels on must-use technologies like making webpages, podcasting, and so on?

For most geeky and fannish careers, technology is an indispensable part of what you do, how you find a job.  Of course, as fandom is generally technical anyway, these technologies do double-duty in their usefulness – helping you out in your geeky endeavors and your career:

  • Websites allow for "personal branding", to establish a common point of contact for professionals, and to display portfolios.  Do people know how to make them easily enough?
  • Podcasts can do everything from self-expression to establishing oneself as an expert to just building social skills – and a consistent podcast is a great testimony to passion and skill.
  • Social media is . . . well everywhere.  If you DON'T have some social media panel at a reasonably sized con, you're missing out.
  • Smartphones are everywhere.  What can fans get out of them professionally and personally?
  • There's many, many other subjects like Apple versus Mac, best free software, etc. . .

Best of all you can find people able to speak on these subjects easily among your regular convention attendees and staff – since they're probably using them.

So next convention, don't forget fantech.  You've got a lot you can cover – and a lot of resources to draw on.

– Steven Savage

Convention Idea: A focus on failure

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The roundup of convention ideas is here.

How to use Photoshop.  How to find an editor.  How to make a portfolio.  Good events at conventions teach us how to do things.

How an author succeeded.  How an artist became famous.  We hear how the successful have achieved their goals when they speak at conventions, when they lecture, when they instruct.

Positivity is all fine and dandy, but let me suggest that, when doing pro-fan events at your convention, you also keep some events to focus on failure.

Yes.  Failure.  What are the ten things not to do to be an author?  What are the five careers that sports fans think make lots of money but don't?  What would professional artists say in a roundtable if asked "what's the dumbest thing you did in your career"?

Having pro-fan events at your con that speak on mistakes, on what to avoid, can actually have a lot of benefits:

  • Done properly – the "I did this wrong, this is why, this is how I fixed it" people can learn how to avoid or fix common mistakes.  Always make sure any panel on failure includes a  how-to-get-over it section.
  • It can defuse dangerous delusions of competence people may have about their idols and successful people.  Knowing how people make mistakes helps people face their own.
  • It makes people able to face their mistakes easier – especially if it's delivered with humor, understanding, and ideas of how to fix mistakes. 
  • It helps people develop sympathy for others who make errors – knowing others fail, acknowledging you fail, let's you accept it in others.
  • It acknowledges that your convention accepts that finding your dream job is hard, and people will view your events for pro-geeks as more realistic and balanced.
  • It gives you new material to work with as opposed to the same-old-same-old.

So go on, embrace failure as a subject at your convention.  Think of the topics you could cover, the laughs people could have, and the different viewpoints you could bring.

A few suggestions:

  • Have professionals speak on their biggest career mistakes.  Especially good in a more casual or roundtable setting.
  • Combine a discussion of the best software for a profession (writing, artist, etc.) with the worst (though you might annoy some people that make the software).  Make it a debate.
  • Have panels on the "X" most common mistakes in "Y" profession; the five worst things artists do, the six biggest mistakes people make getting into video games, etc.
  • Do a roundtable discussion where attendees themselves discuss the mistakes they made.
  • Discuss great historical mistakes relevant to your convention that relate to careers; what's the worst dub in anime (I was on several panels like that), the biggest flub in film releases, the worst-marketed video games, etc.  Make sure lessons learned are clearly called out.

Remember, you want your attendees to be successes in their geeky jobs.  Help them out by introducing them to failure.

– Steven Savage

Convention Spotlight: Mobicon

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The roundup of Convention Ideas is here.

Mobicon is a convention in Mobile, Alabama with a long history – it's in its 13th year and shows no sign of slowing down.  Mobilcon also takes its diversity very seriously, so its probably one of the few cons that you'll find that includes psychic readings, the Anime Tractor Pull game, and geek speed dating.

Of course, I had to ask them just what kind of fan-to-pro events they had.  It may not surprise you they thought of that too.  What's their secret?

  • They leverage experienced con staff to make sure they get events both expected and innovative.
  • A heavy focus on leveraging the guests' expertise in subject matter, and to make sure they cover other areas beyond the basics.  For example, their next convention will have guests speaking on indie film.
  • Continuing the heavy guest focus by making sure the website contains detailed profiles, information, and even accessibility information.  Mobicon's big on guest involvement and makes sure guests aren't listed as just names and credits.
  • Getting people from the dealer's room, the convention, other conventions, etc. to speak on their own career experiences.
  • Making sure pros judge contests, which also encourages entrant-judge networking deliberately.

Mobicon's focus on making sure everyone involved helps build fan-to-pro content is one worth emulating.  I'm sure they'll keep surprising us more in the future – and I'll be watching.

(And no, I'm not sure what an Anime Tractor Pull is.  I'm afraid to ask.)

– Steven Savage