ConTemporal is as much an interactive story/LARP/dinner theatre as a convention -- the spacetime-traveling aethership the ConTemporal travels to various points in time, pursuing or pursued by an assortment of foes and rivals, and sometimes gets stranded -- with a storyline running through and between the conventions and numerous vignettes held at (ir)regular intervals. The story thus far can be seen here, and for months before this convention they had posted some radio play-like clips on their YouTube channel (conveniently collected here) to set the scenes for this year and to give people a chance to pre-immerse themselves in the convention.
This year I'd decided to focus on attending panels, live music (Valentine Wolfe! Danny Birt! The Gin Rebellion!), and burlesque shows (the Succubus Sorority and NerdVana!), and so missed out on most (though not all) of the vignettes and other story elements that are so unique to ConTemporal. I'm kicking myself for this now, and shall definitely adjust my plans accordingly for future conventions.
But I definitely had fun this year! (Had I planned better and gotten more immersed in it, I'm sure I'd have had even more fun, but that's entirely on me.)
I have to give HUGE kudos to the ConTemporal staff & volunteers, both for their rapid response to my injury last year and the changes they made this year. When I got back from the hospital last year I made sure to find Mike & Co. to let them know A] I was okay, B] I was in no way going to pursue any sort of action against them for what happened (I did ask if my injury could be worked into the storyline, and to my delight they did!), and C] how sorry I was for this happening, because while it was no one's fault I knew it had to have been a nightmare for them. And I reiterated these sentiments this year at the Con in Review panel, as well as thanking/praising them for the changes they'd made. A lesser con would have just instituted a safety waiver for attendees, and that's all, but ConTemporal didn't stop there. They've got visible security to help escort any attendees who require or request it. They planned out the Nerf gun battles better, giving folks advanced waring of when & where it would be, gave brief safety talks before the Nerf battles, and had everyone 'buddy up' so each player would have at least one other person looking after them. The ConTemporal staff & crew want everyone to have a save & fun time, a mindset that goes hand-in-hand with the love and care and passion they pour into the entire convention, which is what makes it such a great experience.
Lengthier Review below:
I got in line to get my badge as soon as registration opened, at 2:00pm Friday. They were still trying to sort out some issues (I later learned there had been some major changes the day before), but things got moving fairly quickly, and I had badge in hand by 2:30. One change from last year -- brought about in no small part to my injury at last years ConTemporal -- was having attendees sign a Membership Agreement, both a waiver releasing the conventions parent LLC from any and all claims & damages & etc. and granting right for photographs to be taken in connection with attendance of the con, before they were allowed to get their badge. (I presume a refund was given to anyone who chose not to sign the Agreement but had already prepaid their registration.)
The first panel I went to Friday was "Finding Inspiration" (how artists & cosplayers find inspiration for their work), which was a good panel with several fine ideas; Aleta Pardalis was on the panel, and I later learned this was actually her first convention as a speaker! (One bit of advice: put random pieces you want to use but don't know what for in a spot where you'll walk by it every day, and let your subconscious mind work on it.) Next was "What Is Dieselpunk," which kinda veered off into discussion of what [noun]punk is (which was nifty!). "ConSociology 101" (Interacting w/ Humans) was next, and I had mixed feelings on this panel: it did give some good basic advice (the 4-2-1- rule of 4 hours sleep, 2 meals, and 1 shower per day of a convention, notes on being aware of how you speak and stand/sit/present yourself to others), but also some ableist stuff ("if you have a nervous tic and you think it creeps people out, stop doing that"). Then there was the opening ceremonies where we were introduced to the cast/crew (the ConTemporal landed in 1933's Chicago, so there was Al Capone and his gang, and some Irish cops [some corrupt, some not], and warnings of cultists seeking unusual idols that drive people mad and mutate them into fish-people; a detective investigating these had been murdered!), follower by a performance of Valentine Wolfe's Once Upon A Midnight. Oddly, while the schedule said the opening ceremonies were from 7-8:30, and Once Upon A Midnight 8:30-10, but the ceremonies were done by 7:45 and VW was done with their performance by 8:30. I then dashed through thew Bizarre Bazaar, and glimpsed Sara Hunter (last year's guest of honor, now attending as a vendor) as I dashed through. From 9-9:30 was "Meet the Cast," and I went to ask about the idols; based on the info I got was lead to believe it was just one large idol, so I didn't think they were going to be small things you could find around the con, but I later (much later) learned they were indeed small things scattered about (which I wouldn't have found anyway b/c I was so focused on attending panels). I ran to the lounge/bar for a quick bite to eat, and met an old gaming buddy there who I didn't know was attending, and we caught up a bit on things. He joined me in going to the the Succubus Sorority burlesque show, which was scheduled for 10:30-11:15, but wound up going form 10:30-11:45. After that was "The Swingtown Speakeasy with DJ Doctor Q" (scheduled fro 11:30-1:45am, actually running from Midnight-1:30am), which was a rollicking good time. (I did not dance, just sat off to the side, bobbing my head and tapping my feet, watching people far younger and fitter than me swing around like mad.) After that I was feeling people'd out, so was in bed & asleep by 2am.
Saturday's the main day of the convention, and on this day I decided to wear a costume, repurposing my Dorium Maldovar robes (the purple paisely one and the burgundy one) as Cultist Robes, though without any makeup. After a tasty breakfast in the hotel's restaurant (where I was joined briefly by two of the performers form NerdVana!), I went to "Mask Making & Methods," which was advertised as a workshop you'd need to sign up for in advance where you'd make a mask, but wound up being a discussion panel about making masks, and the panelists showed several masks (ranging from simple eye masks to full head silicon mask/cowl things) they'd made over the years. So no masks were made, but lots of information was given. Next was "Mod Your Goggles," another workshop (hosted by Steampunk Family) you had to sign up for ahead of time; that was quite fun (though frustrating to start off), and the goggles I made can be seen here. That ran a bit long, so I was late to "Comic Book Heroes & Mythos of the 1930s and 40s" panel, but did catch most of it; there was talk of Frederic Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent and its influence on the comics industry, and Captain Marvel/Shazam, and how comics have always reflected contemporary hopes and fears. Then I dashed over to "Menswear and Steampunk," which featured some ridiculously dapper gentlemen (including Dave Lee of Hatton Cross Steampunk, and H.M. and Renfield of The Gin Rebellion); one thing they emphasized (which was mentioned at a steampunk fashion panel I'd attended last year) is that the photographs were sepia, not the people/clothing -- this was the time aniline dyes were introduced, so colors you'd see on a Grateful Dead t-shirt were everywhere. Four panels in a row was a bit much, so I checked out the bizarre bazaar for a bit (saw Sarah Hunter again, got two League of S.T.E.A.M. DVDs and a hug from her), then headed to the "Leatherworking 101" workshop by Matthew Penick of Ribbons & Rivets. (For some reason Matt decided to teach class bare-chested, wearing only a leather tool harness... which no one seemed to have a problem with 8D ) We made leather bracers; here's mine. Unfortunately this workshop also ran long, so instead of missing 1/4 of the Costume Contest I missed 3/4s of it ;_; I did get there in time to see who the winners were (Ambassador Dako was actually a contestant, in the Professional Cosplayer category, and won!) I then dashed off to the "Steampunk Puppet Show: SteamPunch & Judy" by Tanglewood Puppets; several kids there, it was a delight to see their reactions, and the puppeteer had a good mix of silly stuff for the kids and double-entendres for the parents. I then dashed to the lounge/bar to grab a bite to eat before going to the recording of an ep of "Talk of the Tavern" (which was incorporated into this past Monday's podcast, which is already up in their archives section!). Then it was off to the last half or so of Valentine Wolfe's "Creatures, Thieves and Mysteries," a beautiful homage to silent (mostly horror) movies they'd put together specifically for ConTemporal! Following this was "Dr. Fantastical's Time Traveling Carnival," the NerdVana show. Low point were some drunken attendees who really wanted to be part of the act; high point was The Silhouette, a Shadow-themed character doing a striptease to Taylor Dayne's Original Sin (which was the theme to 1994's The Shadow); it was also here that Mr. Boddy, the detective killed which investigating the idols, was resurrected as Mecha-Constable! Then I dashed off to catch the last third or so of The Gin Rebellion's performance, before "Cultist Ritual" at midnight and "Stop the Cultists - Attack!" Nerf gun fight at 12:30. I stood well of to the side to minimize any accidents (though did flail my arms and babbled as a "Background Cultist/Possession Victim"), and while they were setting up one attendee did ask if I was with the cultists (which was the first comment I'd gotten all day about my costume!) There were some delays in getting things set up, the actual fight lasted maybe five minutes. I then headed back to the grand ballroom for "Ballroom Blitz: The Dieselpunk Dance with The Clockwork Cabaret and and Doctor Q," which was more rollicking fun where I sat off to the side bobbing my head and tapping my toes. That was over around 1:30, 1:45, but as I headed back I saw more Nerf/Cultist fighting going on; had I know that was still going on I would've stuck around to see! Ah, well. I saw some folks out in the hallways playing Cards Against Humanity, and others hanging out near the loading/unloading area, but they all seemed quite inebriated (and I don't like hanging around inebriated people) and by then I was feeling people'd out anyway, so headed back to my room.
Sunday had more fascinating panels. First was "Choreography in Movies: What We Are Actually Seeing" (nice overview of fighting effects, and they showed actual samples, including audience participation), then "Best of Middle School & YA Books" with Emilie P. Bush, J.M. Lee (dressed as Steampunk!Boushh), and Marina Sergeyeva, where I learned of several book series I should check out. I then dashed into the bizarre bazaar to see Valentine Wolfe, and got a flash drive with all their music on it before heading to "+1 Weapons of Suicide," a discussion of weapons from sci-fi/fantasy that would be just as lethal tot he wielder (like the lightsaber, the Klingon Bat'leth, and Xena's chakram [which was a real weapon but was used more like throwing stars, not something you throw and catch like Cap's shield]), as well as fictional weapons that shouldn't work as weapons (like vibro-weapons, which would shake your arms apart, and Captain America's shield -- if its Vibranium construction lets it absorb the kinetic/vibratory energy of any impact, then if you hit someone with it, it should feel lighter than being hit by a feather, and it shouldn't bounce off surfaces, it should hit and fall to the ground. Great defense, awful weapon), and bizarre real-world weapons (like the Bat Bombs the U.S. almost used on Japan before the Manhattan Project bore fruit, and mortar-launched nuke that had a range of 4 miles but an explosive radius of 5 miles). Then was the "Costuming On A Budget" panel (north of the Mason-Dixon line, you can easily find thrift shoppes with Victorian-era garb, but south, you won't find much of that but can't throw a stone without hitting a military surplus store). Next was the "Con in Review" panel, and at first I was the only non-staff/non-volunteer who showed up, so we joked that I was going to be shaping next years convention 8P I did give them massive praise for all the safety-centric changes they'd made, and the one complaint I could recall at the time was that many of the panel I'd attended ended late and overlapped with the prep time the next panel would need. Other volunteers brought up points I was going to mention -- better signage, alternate schedule formats -- which I enthusiastically agreed with. Next year I'll have to remember to write things down so I can give better feedback. Finally there was the closing ceremonies (the madness-including Cthulhoid idols were collected/bought up by Capone and presented to the ConTemporal crew so they could get them out of his fair city, but cultists attacked and stole them!). One of the crew pursued them, but got stranded in 1630s Germany (as mentioned here).
Oddly, I didn't take nearly as many pics as I did last year; the only ones I got were of Ambassador Dako, and some doodles I did at a free-for-all art table. It's not that there was a lack of awesome costumes -- they were plenty! -- I just... didn't feel an urge to take them. I know I was partly distracted by worries re: my job situation, and my sister's pregnancy (she's due today!), and making sure I didn't injure myself, so maybe it was just stress from all that.
Sad to see contemporal 2014 has ended, but happy it happened! Review to come later.
Theme for ConTemporal 2015: one of the ConTemporal crew, while pursuing some cultists, became stuck in 1632 Germany, in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. And in the distance, he can see what appears to be a late 20th/early 21st century West Virginian town, called Grantsville. (re: Eric Flint's 1632/Ring of Fire series.)
The Leatherworking 101 panel ran long so I missed almost all of the costume contest ;-; But I made a nice violet-stained leather bracer! And congrats to the winners!
10-11am: All-You-Can-Eat Breakfast Buffet
11am-2pm: ???
2-4pm: Registration, people-watching
4-5pm: Finding Inspiration
5-6pm: What Is Dieselpunk?
6-7pm: ConSociology 101: How to Meet People at Cons
7-8:30pm: Opening Ceremonies
8:30-9pm: Check out Bizarre Bazaar
9-10pm: Dinner, decompress
10-10:30pm: Aela Badiana (Belly dancing show)
10:30-11:15pm: Succubus Sorority (Burlesque/Vaudeville Act)
11:30pm-2:00am: The Swingtown Speakeasy with DJ Doctor Q
