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Convention Idea – Presentations on Certifications

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The roundup of convention ideas is here.

So what certifications are the pro-fans at your con interested in?

People who want careers based around their interests and obsessions have many steps to follow – education, employment, portfolio building, etc.  Missing from this list in all too many cases are professional certifications, except, perhaps in the IT field (and even then they can get overlooked).  Even though certifications can make a difference in a job search (as I have seen firsthand), they do get forgotten all too easily.

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Convention Spotlight: Templecon

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The roundup of convention ideas is here.

Templecon is a gaming convention in Rhode Island, though calling it a
"gaming convention" doesn't due justice to the diversity of the
convention.  It's a convention that started as a gaming convention but
has expanded to include everything from live shows to bands to
workshops.

Of course when I see a convention like that, you know I'm going to
do a profile of it.  As you may also guess, it's a convention that has
branched into "profan" panels for people who want to use their hobbies
in their careers.  A few of these fit the convention's focus on doing
things differently:

  • Doing a seminar on legal issues in game development and publishing,
    exposing people to important issues too often ignored, in an area of
    career interest many forget.
  • A panel on game development by actual game developers – an area that gets too little attention as far as I'm concerned.
  • Assorted workshops, including those run by known authors, diversifying the convention offerings.
  • Finally, the really unusual panel – a panel on why one does not want to
    turn their hobby into a job.  Now as much as I emphasize using their
    hobbies in their careers, I applaud a little bit of contrarianism. 
    Maybe sometime I'll make it out there and have a debate . . .

Templecon's constant growth includes a lot of profan panels and
getting outside of focusing on "just gaming".  I'm looking forward to
seeing what they do in the years to come, as I expect I'll learn a lot,
I think they're a great example of keeping your focus while
experimenting and going beyond people's expectations.

– Steven Savage

Convention Spotilight: Hal-Con

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The Roundup of Convention ideas is here.

Hal-Con is a convention in Halifax Nova Scotia.  It's got a diverse set
of guests and events, and when I talked to the staff, I found the
diversity applied to their profan events.

Hal-Con's approach is to be open about new panels of all kinds, and
seek a balance of fun and practical.  When I say open-minded, I'm quite
serious – Hal-Con looks for and encourages diversity, and you'll find
everything from your typical events to serious discussion of lightsaber
handling.  They like to see what the fans and guests will suggests and
have the courage to try.

This diversity also affects their profan panels in a delightful way.  Among their upcoming offerings:

  • Multiple writing panels, playing to the author's strengths.
  • A panel with model Drakaina (warning, some NSFW content) whose fannish interests led to her modeling for fantasy and SF works.
  • Multiple filmmaking groups discussing their efforts, and even a filmed "nerd debate."

Hal-Con's
open-mindedness looks to be their strength in producing pro-fan
events.  This is certainly the first convention I've talked to with a
discussion of modeling, and I somehow get the impression Hal-Con will
find a way to top this in the years to come.

Over in Novia Scotia?  A fan?  Sounds like you owe yourself a trip to Hal-Con!

– Steven Savage