Intervention Con Wrap-Up

Another con weekend done!

This weekend was Intervention Con. It's one of the best out there. It started out as a con to mix Internet and convention. With husband and wife team, Oni Hartstein and James Harknell's core mission being to "Intervene and Inspire everyone who participates. With us you can come meet the creators, actors, developers, and producers of your favorite works and also learn about the process of how it’s all made. Our Creator’s Track within the con is all about mentoring people into fandom industries and many of our guest participate as mentors. It’s a 3 day fandom celebration with a heart toward helping the community."

It is in Rockville, MD at the Hilton Hotel there. It;s a great location, right on the Pike and with lots of shopping and food choices within walking distance of the con, across the street and next door on both sides. 

Intervention this year had more celeb guests than previous years but it did not distract from the original mission of the con. I love celebs so that's always a big draw for me anyway, but with Intervention, I always go because I learn a lot from the discussions, panels, and celeb interviews. 

It's really one of the only cons, along with its sister con, RegenerationWho, that I really just want to attend every panel! I even love the panels so much, I need to make sure I find an hour to get food for lunch and dinner! If not I need to make sure I bring food with me so I don't pass out from the awesomeness! HA!

Intervention does what no other con has managed to do for me, I go to the panels to take notes and learn from the experts and those with much more experience than me, to learn about filmmaking, marketing, and starting my own business. All the things I currently do and am trying to thrive in.

One of the things that Intervention tried out this year was something called "Creator Space". It was meant to bring artists and vendors alike, to a safe place that you could for however long you want, sit at a half table in the hall, to sell things you have made-whether is was fine arts artwork like paintings, or jewelry, or other arts and crafts you have made yourself. I actually did partake in it because I didn't want to vend at the con. (Because I love the con too much to want to attend everything that I don't want to be stuck at a table I can't leave to go learn stuff!) So this was great! 

It dd have its hiccup on Friday, day one. You could sign up for Friday online and you should have received an email saying they will text or call you around 1pm to tell you to set up or if there was room to sit there. While I received my initial email, I hadn't received anything further in the day and it looked completely empty all day there. I did have some free time and could have sat and vended for a short time if things had run smoother. There was some lack of communication on the rules and instructions for the volunteer sitting there. So the space went unused all of Friday, unfortunately. And I did talk with James later that night about it. Hiccups happen, miscommunication happens. The good thing with James and Oni is they are aware of situations and we all know mishaps will occur and trial and error prevail. James and Oni though, they fix things. Always. Never be afraid to tell them when something isn't working, they fit that nonsense then and there! Anyway, so we chatted and things were to be fixed for Sat.

I go to the sign up sheet Sat and they are to text me if there is space. There was even a column to check off on the sign up sheet if texting was ok or not for you. Still nothing by mid-day. Though I do see the tables are starting to be used at least, So it's a step in the right direction. I couldn't find the woman in charge as she is so busy herself with the vendors most the time and you can only be in one place at a time. (Lovely gal, not her fault I couldn't find her for help.) But in quickly talking with someone else sitting there selling her artwork, she mentioned that we just sit in an open space for however we like (part of the rules page) and someone will come to check you off from the sign up sheet. Oh! Ok! That was not communicated with potential creator space vendors. But with this new and very helpful knowledge, I went off to lunch quickly and then came back to set up for a couple hours. And though I didn't sell anything, I was happy to have that opportunity to try to sell my wares and see what may or may not happen. The creator space was a great opportunity to at least get my business out there and to see the fans and those who may be interested in my skirts and bags. And it was nice to meet other creators doing the same thing and we could talk shop and business skills were shared and such. I really hope, once the kinks get worked out, this comes back next year, maybe even at RegenWho, 

Perhaps there could be an actual timegrid for people to sign up on instead of a con worker needing to contact foks, or maybe make it clearer in the rules and instructions of how the system works-- i.e. - to just plop down when you want and we'll check you off, vs we'll contact you method. They had very clear instructions overall but implementing the instructions is where the miscommunications happened, unfortunately.
Sidenote- The woman in charge of the vendors and creator space did talk to me later and apologized for the miscommunication or lack of communication in general. I understood her side and did not, in any way, blame her. I had some interactions with her at RegenWho as well when we couldn't find another specific volunteer to help us with a different issue. So I knew how hard-working this individual is in general. I am just glad it worked out in the end and I was able to get info from other creators in how the space was suddenly supposed to be run.

At Intervention Con, I can ask questions freely without judgement, or fear of backlash, to those in my field. And I can approach celebs without there really being a barrier between fan and celeb. The celebs are open and honest and love the interaction with the fans and attendees. And I've heard on a number of occasions from the celeb themselves, how much they love the cons Oni and James have developed, even for just the guest-to-fan ratio and personal interactions they can have. They love the one-on-one time and to of course speak about their profession and give behind-the-scenes stories to share with their fans. They love the intimate nature of Intervention and RegenWho. It's great to hear the celeb tell me that themselves. 

I had a great time at Intervention. I always get so much out of talking to other creators, even if they aren't in my field, we all learn from one another's experience, stories, and mistakes. So I love interacting with panelists, guests, and other attendees who are there for the same reason.

I didn't really know who Rachel Talalay was before going in, tho i was familiar with some of her work or IMDB page but once I sat in the first panel with her, wow! She blew me away! She directed Tank Girl, episodes of Sherlock, and Doctor Who to just name some big ones! So much work history in a man dominated workforce. She discussed how that's effected her, how she handles it, and how things have changed or not, in many cases. More on that in a future post. But without this con, I wouldn't even have known who she was really or been so enthralled to want to learn more about her now and really pick apart some of the episodes and movies she's done to see why she made certain choices, whether it be from lighting, scenery, sets to costume choices. What an amazing lady and all thanks to Intervention for introducing me to her name and making me realize just how important she is to the filmmaking and television worlds.

So it's things like this, that make me want to come back to Intervention Con every year, even if I have to drive 4 hours to get there.

Thank you Oni and James and their whole staff of volunteers for everything you do, for making the guests feel at home and at ease, and for making the attendees feel like they are just as important and that their experience at the con matters, too. You all make the con welcoming, safe, enjoyable, and go above and beyond to make your cons the best possible cons out there. Thank you!!!

I'l be posting up my reviews and what I did at the con in the following posts. So look for those soon!

Intervention Con Wrap-Up

Another con weekend done!

This weekend was Intervention Con. It's one of the best out there. It started out as a con to mix Internet and convention. With husband and wife team, Oni Hartstein and James Harknell's core mission being to "Intervene and Inspire everyone who participates. With us you can come meet the creators, actors, developers, and producers of your favorite works and also learn about the process of how it’s all made. Our Creator’s Track within the con is all about mentoring people into fandom industries and many of our guest participate as mentors. It’s a 3 day fandom celebration with a heart toward helping the community."

It is in Rockville, MD at the Hilton Hotel there. It;s a great location, right on the Pike and with lots of shopping and food choices within walking distance of the con, across the street and next door on both sides. 

Intervention this year had more celeb guests than previous years but it did not distract from the original mission of the con. I love celebs so that's always a big draw for me anyway, but with Intervention, I always go because I learn a lot from the discussions, panels, and celeb interviews. 

It's really one of the only cons, along with its sister con, RegenerationWho, that I really just want to attend every panel! I even love the panels so much, I need to make sure I find an hour to get food for lunch and dinner! If not I need to make sure I bring food with me so I don't pass out from the awesomeness! HA!

Intervention does what no other con has managed to do for me, I go to the panels to take notes and learn from the experts and those with much more experience than me, to learn about filmmaking, marketing, and starting my own business. All the things I currently do and am trying to thrive in.

One of the things that Intervention tried out this year was something called "Creator Space". It was meant to bring artists and vendors alike, to a safe place that you could for however long you want, sit at a half table in the hall, to sell things you have made-whether is was fine arts artwork like paintings, or jewelry, or other arts and crafts you have made yourself. I actually did partake in it because I didn't want to vend at the con. (Because I love the con too much to want to attend everything that I don't want to be stuck at a table I can't leave to go learn stuff!) So this was great! 

It dd have its hiccup on Friday, day one. You could sign up for Friday online and you should have received an email saying they will text or call you around 1pm to tell you to set up or if there was room to sit there. While I received my initial email, I hadn't received anything further in the day and it looked completely empty all day there. I did have some free time and could have sat and vended for a short time if things had run smoother. There was some lack of communication on the rules and instructions for the volunteer sitting there. So the space went unused all of Friday, unfortunately. And I did talk with James later that night about it. Hiccups happen, miscommunication happens. The good thing with James and Oni is they are aware of situations and we all know mishaps will occur and trial and error prevail. James and Oni though, they fix things. Always. Never be afraid to tell them when something isn't working, they fit that nonsense then and there! Anyway, so we chatted and things were to be fixed for Sat.

I go to the sign up sheet Sat and they are to text me if there is space. There was even a column to check off on the sign up sheet if texting was ok or not for you. Still nothing by mid-day. Though I do see the tables are starting to be used at least, So it's a step in the right direction. I couldn't find the woman in charge as she is so busy herself with the vendors most the time and you can only be in one place at a time. (Lovely gal, not her fault I couldn't find her for help.) But in quickly talking with someone else sitting there selling her artwork, she mentioned that we just sit in an open space for however we like (part of the rules page) and someone will come to check you off from the sign up sheet. Oh! Ok! That was not communicated with potential creator space vendors. But with this new and very helpful knowledge, I went off to lunch quickly and then came back to set up for a couple hours. And though I didn't sell anything, I was happy to have that opportunity to try to sell my wares and see what may or may not happen. The creator space was a great opportunity to at least get my business out there and to see the fans and those who may be interested in my skirts and bags. And it was nice to meet other creators doing the same thing and we could talk shop and business skills were shared and such. I really hope, once the kinks get worked out, this comes back next year, maybe even at RegenWho, 

Perhaps there could be an actual timegrid for people to sign up on instead of a con worker needing to contact foks, or maybe make it clearer in the rules and instructions of how the system works-- i.e. - to just plop down when you want and we'll check you off, vs we'll contact you method. They had very clear instructions overall but implementing the instructions is where the miscommunications happened, unfortunately.
Sidenote- The woman in charge of the vendors and creator space did talk to me later and apologized for the miscommunication or lack of communication in general. I understood her side and did not, in any way, blame her. I had some interactions with her at RegenWho as well when we couldn't find another specific volunteer to help us with a different issue. So I knew how hard-working this individual is in general. I am just glad it worked out in the end and I was able to get info from other creators in how the space was suddenly supposed to be run.

At Intervention Con, I can ask questions freely without judgement, or fear of backlash, to those in my field. And I can approach celebs without there really being a barrier between fan and celeb. The celebs are open and honest and love the interaction with the fans and attendees. And I've heard on a number of occasions from the celeb themselves, how much they love the cons Oni and James have developed, even for just the guest-to-fan ratio and personal interactions they can have. They love the one-on-one time and to of course speak about their profession and give behind-the-scenes stories to share with their fans. They love the intimate nature of Intervention and RegenWho. It's great to hear the celeb tell me that themselves. 

I had a great time at Intervention. I always get so much out of talking to other creators, even if they aren't in my field, we all learn from one another's experience, stories, and mistakes. So I love interacting with panelists, guests, and other attendees who are there for the same reason.

I didn't really know who Rachel Talalay was before going in, tho i was familiar with some of her work or IMDB page but once I sat in the first panel with her, wow! She blew me away! She directed Tank Girl, episodes of Sherlock, and Doctor Who to just name some big ones! So much work history in a man dominated workforce. She discussed how that's effected her, how she handles it, and how things have changed or not, in many cases. More on that in a future post. But without this con, I wouldn't even have known who she was really or been so enthralled to want to learn more about her now and really pick apart some of the episodes and movies she's done to see why she made certain choices, whether it be from lighting, scenery, sets to costume choices. What an amazing lady and all thanks to Intervention for introducing me to her name and making me realize just how important she is to the filmmaking and television worlds.

So it's things like this, that make me want to come back to Intervention Con every year, even if I have to drive 4 hours to get there.

Thank you Oni and James and their whole staff of volunteers for everything you do, for making the guests feel at home and at ease, and for making the attendees feel like they are just as important and that their experience at the con matters, too. You all make the con welcoming, safe, enjoyable, and go above and beyond to make your cons the best possible cons out there. Thank you!!!

I'l be posting up my reviews and what I did at the con in the following posts. So look for those soon!

"Imaginary Friends" Review

"Imaginary Friends" by Cupcake Ladies Productions recently showed at Planet Connections Theatre Festival.

Opening the show and between each individual show, was Michael Rehse who helped narrate the shows and kept you entertained during set changes. Rehse managed to improv most of the show with little script in his head, in a very humorous and relatable way.

Rehse discussed things from your childhood like D&D (Dungeons & Dragons for those uninitiated). Using the biggest di I've ever seen, he rolled to see how much you'll like the show or not. That was a cute addition each time.

Michael Rehse narrating and improv-ing at the show

The first show up, "Toy Box" was about what was in Rich Wisneski's head and how he played with toys as a kid. It kind of tugs at all our 30-40 year old brains and memories playing with He-Man, comic book characters, and wrestling figures. His memories included mostly playing all figures as westling matches. The figures came to life before your eyes with Laura Mae Baker as Electra, Xavier Rodney as Jetspeed transformer, (that costume was amazing!!), Rehse as Power Ranger Jason Lee Scott, and a few others. I will take moment to say that the costume for Jetspeed was pretty amazing. It was well built with a lot of nice clean angles and a great paint job. Most everyday cosplayers I know couldn't make it that nice! Wisneski threw in some stop motion videos too and those were pretty good quality. I enjoyed them. The imagination of set building within the videos and such were creative, using things like encyclopedias for buildings and things that we as kids, would have actually done using all the props we could find around the house.

Laura Mae Baker as Electra & Rich Wisneski in "Toy Box"

Michael Rehse, Xavier Rodney, Rich Wisneski, and Laura Mae Baker in "Toy Box"

Laura Mae Baker as Electra & Rich Wisneski

Michael Rehse as Chalkboard Boy in "Toy Box"

Xazier Rodney as Jetspeed Transformer in "Toy Box"

Xazier Rodney as Jetspeed Transformer in "Toy Box"

Laura Mae Baker as Electra & Michael Rehse as Captain Marvel/Shazam in "Toy Box"

Michael Rehse, Xavier Rodney, and Rich Wisnewski in "Toy Box"

There was a scene with Baker as Electra and it dealt with the realities of being a woman action figure. Her knees don't bend, sitting down is a real issue, and she plops awkwardly into the chair butt first and hoping she doesn't fall too far back to tip over the chair. It was pretty funny! Electra discussed how every female action figure was basically the same mold but different paint jobs. And discussed why do all the lady superheroes have heels on? How are they supposed to fight crime in heels? Hehe

Baker did really well as Electra.

Laura Mae Baker as Electra in "Toy Box"

 Overall, the "Toy Box" was a really cute nostalgic piece on being a kid again. 

"The Woman With Asparagus Hair" was more of a short drama piece I'll say. Baker plays an unnamed woman who has a nightmare about making a film and how happy and proud she was of said film. But then the audience, in said nightmare, turned against her and hated the film of the "woman with the asparagus hair." It discussed the fears of being liked and accepted by your peers. Even being financially stable too. Baker showed some great acting talent in going from happy to worried to scared and back to humored in a matter of 10 or so minutes. 

Xavier Rodney & Laura Mae Baker in "The Woman With Asparagus Hair"

"The Case of the Absurdly Tall and Wholly Unnecessary Residential Tower in Queens" is about private detective John Putnam played by Rehse trying to find a woman's significant other, played by Melissa Farinelli. Putnam likes to narrate everything he is doing or everything that is happening around him, with very humorous outcomes or other characters just looking at him funny. The story itself is about how hipsters are taking over Queens and "gentrifying" it and how rents will go up. Which is a reality for much of New York City and the outlying boroughs these days. Wisneski's sarcasm was on point as he played the rich father in the scene. This show was reminiscent of the mystery noir I do love, but with more humor. It was fun to watch.

Michael Rehse & Melissa Farinelli

Rich Wisneski & Xavier Rodney

Michael Rehse & Melissa Farinelli

Michael Rehse & Xavier Rodney

"Breaking News: Live From Your Fragile, Fragile Psyche" was about being in a woman's head as she recalls her most recent but failed relationship. Brought to you like the 5 o'clock news broadcast, Farinelli's character goes from talking to the ego, the memory, the right and left sides of the brain, the conscience and to her emotions.Discussing each part of the relationship and the recent encounter with the ex. Farinelli stretched her talents in being the news anchor but then in reporting from each area of the brain via pre-recorded videos that she needed to keep up with. Playing all the characters, in different tones and attitudes was great. Reminded me of Tatia on BBC's Orphan Black and the diversity of that actor and seeing all the different types of roles and personalities one person can show off. It was a great use of media with the pre-recorded videos and using the broadcast news method.

Melissa Farinelli

Melissa Farinelli in two of many roles.

Melissa Farinelli as news anchor.

The "Horsey McHorseface" seemed like an odd duck. It is about imaginary friends but I felt it crude and maybe mean even. The story itself is about a guy with an imaginary friend who happens to be a horse. But the horse is mean to everyone and ends up getting the main character, played by Rodney, in trouble all the time. It reminded me sort of the Odd Couple in a way too. The horse likes to, for example, sneak up on another young lady and grab her butt. But since no one can see the horse, the main character gets socked in the face by said young lady. There is a turn of events where Farinelli comes into the picture, and we notice she also has an imaginary horse friend. Her horse socks Rodney's horse and the two get along great because finally, someone can see Rondey's imaginary friend. But the video was crude, not the best quality and the sound wasn't fantastic either, as I could hear a lot of background noise. It could be all this was intentional, but I am not sure. They interspersed these videos and continuing storylines throughout the evening, in between bigger set changes. Along with Rehse's improv and narration. 

Overall, the shows on the whole were interesting, fun, humorous, and well-done. I'd recommend seeing this if it comes around again. Great job to Cupcake Ladies Productions and Planet Connections.

The cast and crew

My Whovian Proposal

I got engaged! And it went viral! Here's sites that it was featured on! This is crazy!

http://www.cnet.com/news/will-who-marry-me-time-lords-tennant-and-smith-join-proposal/

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2016/04/doctor-whos-day-roundup-smith-and-tennants-magical-weekend

http://metro.co.uk/2016/04/17/doctor-who-fan-is-proposed-to-just-as-she-meets-david-tennant-and-matt-smith-5822432/

http://www.blastr.com/2016-4-18/doctors-take-manhattan-12-things-learned-david-tennant-matt-smith-nycs-doctor-who-event

http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/showbiz/matt-smith-david-tennant-doctor-who-proposal-wizard-world/

Ok sooo.... my life was a bit crazy for awhile... My now-fiance, Brad, got tickets to this meet & greet via Wizard World convention circuit. He goes hogwild for Doctor Who celebs. And almost no price is too high for him. Haha! So I knew we were going since Feb.

We both got up and cosplayed as the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, appropriately. For those who don't know, Matt Smith played the 11th Doctor and David Tennant played the 10th Doctor.

He bought extra autograph tickets for me because Brad is very generous that way. I had brought my Tennant and Davison 8x10 I got at NYCC autographed by Peter Davison already. I wanted Tennant to sign this one too. And for Matt Smith, I had the postage stamp for him to sign if I decided to not get an 8x10 at his table. I wasn't sure yet. Little did I know why Brad really got the autograph tickets for me....

We waited on a very long line for the photo ops to begin and go through most people. I noticed Brad was acting weirder than normal... like overly excited than his usual "meeting celebs" self but i shook it off, he paid a lot of money to be here, let him have his day. hehe. We made friends with the people in line behind us. They were really sweet and fun and never done anything like this before... So we talked about all sorts of nerdy things and plugged the Way Station in Brooklyn of course.

Then I recall Brad having his phone up to his face at one point typing something out. I asked him what he was doing, again not normal behavior... You'd think I woulda known by now. Nope! Ha!
Apparently he was writing the people in line behind us, that we became friendly with, to try to videotape what was going to happen. So they knew what was about to go down! Of course when we got up there the con people put a stop to them videotaping anything. But at least we got a few photos out of it.

Ok back to the moment in time... So eventually it's our turn. As usual, we throw our bags on the side table, I get out my sonic screwdriver to pose with it. As per the photos, you can see Tennant is first and then Smith. I walked to Smith first, hugged him as he had his arms wide open for such a thing. (I did not ask him nor expect it...I'm not that kind of fan! lol) And Brad was behind me. So when I turned around to greet Tennant, I look down to see Brad is basically at eye level (not normal! Ha!) and see that he has a box in his hand... Then it all came crashing down on me and I knew what was happening! And that's the first photo in the series... With my mouth wide open not knowing what really was happening or that it *was* happening, etc! My brain was going a mile a minute!

By the way, I love Tennant's curious look of "Oooh I think I know what is about to happen!" and Smith's 5 year old face "Ooh what's happening?", like he's waiting for a cookie to appear or something. haha

I do recall Brad actually saying the words, "Will you marry me?" So I do recall I needed to answer or this is not going to look good at all! Ha! So I answered loudly, "Yes!"Which is probably this photo, right before I said yes...

Then I think that's when this photo was taken, a "hooray, congrats, she-said-yes," photo with Tennant and Smith cheering! There was no time to actually put the ring on while in front of them because photo ops are usually 10 seconds long. I'm happy the photographer took four photos!

Original photo before they signed it.

Signed photo afterwards.

Technically, besides the couple behind us, Tennant and Smith were the first ones to congratulate us. Which is very touching! ^_^

My instagram video shows the photos above and one photo of the ring.

My instagram video here shows the ring and Tardis ring box best.

Tardis ring box with ring on top.

R2D2 ring inside the box.

It says "Travel with me in time and space"

Brad wrote up his version of the story earlier, when it happened. (Life went crazy after this and I didn't have a chance to write this up until now...)

As of now we have no definitive date or plans. We have some things up our sleeves but... spoilers!

Regeneration Who 2 Recap

Regeneration Who 2 was another huge success for Oni Hartstein and James Harknell!

The con had brought in major Doctor Who guests like Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor; Terry Molloy, Davros; Colin Baker, Sixtth Doctor; Nicholas Briggs, voice of the Daleks and many other villians or creatures within the Who-verse; Nicola Bryant, Sixth Doctor companion; and just so many more!!

The panels that I attended were wonderful and moderators were great at asking relevant questions and keeping on topic.

The vendors and artists were pretty awesome as usual. Great products and artwork for sale.

As with most cons, I usually go for the celebrity hunt. But this year I was actually more about the panels. I did meet Peter Davison for a selfie with my now-fiance, but overall, I really surprised myself by not "needing" any autographs or photo ops this time. I have met most if not all the celebs already at previous conventions. So, I focused more on the panels this con.

Friday's panels, for me, started with the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison; moderated by Nicholas Briggs. Peter talked about his time as the Doctor of course but also talked a lot about the special he did for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, the Five-ish Doctors. I audio-recorded most of his panel but I am not sure how to edit it to add here haha! Peter is so funny and loves talking with his fans. He's really great with them.

After taking a nice dinner break, I came back to attend the "Freaking Out" panel that a friend was helping to moderate. It was about anxiety at conventions, or associated with attending cons in general. It was really helpful for those in the room to discuss anxieties and how to cope with them. But also I found interesting, was a couple audience members also discussed that it may not be them whom are dealing with anxieties but someone they care about and how to help that person cope at a con (or in life in general as some issues applied for both life in and out of cons). I found myself nodding to a lot of issues that the panelists talked about, agreeing that either I have those same anxieties, or how to cope with them in certain ways, or the way we behave in general based on our insecurities or anxieties. Stephen Webb, Clay Dockery, and Decca Dent did a fabulous job addressing everyone's issues and how to cope. Highly recommend if it's offered in another convention or future RegenWho again.

Saturday started with an awesome "Geek Chic" panel that more friends were moderating again. Being a geeky girl, ahem my blog name hehe, it was great to listen to others who loved dressing up geeky in everyday fashion. They of course touched upon cosplay in general, as all of them do cosplay at conventions and such. But then also related in how they have so many pieces that are normal everyday clothing, bought from second-hand stores or bog box stores, that when they wear those pieces alone, they still get recognized as a specific character. But there are ways to not just look like your favorite characters but rather what you can do to just accessorize your outfits with geeky items like scarves, ties, cardigans, shoes, jewelry, etc. So you may not want to go out looking like a character, but you can still show off your fandoms with little hints of flair. Stephen Webb, Kristin Sirota, Christine Evans, and Decca Dent did great in explaining it all, especially with a lovely slideshow!

I went to the "Doctor Who Travel Guide" which explained many of the places you can go in the UK, United States, and Canada to visit places either Doctor Who (and spin-off Torchwood) have taped or took place at. It was great to hear about the places like museums or exterior locations where they have taped and how to incorporate it into your travels. I've been lucky enough to travel overseas to London and Wales for the main discussion points, but it was before I was that deep into Doctor Who to find the places they filmed. Other than Wales, which was the main reason I traveled there. My friend and I at the time, took a bus to Wales to see the Torchwood hub and had friends who gave us a personalized tour of Cardiff and where they grew up. So now that more seasons of Who and Torchwood and even Sherlock have aired, I'd love to visit more of the places Brian Savoie talked about or to look at with different eyes. One day I'll save up enough to go back and revisit!

Then came my own "panel". I did a live-to-tape taping of our web series "Captain Kyle's Cosplay Spotlight" with host Kyle Williamson and guest cosplayer, Angela Pritchett. It took some time to set up the room of course to tape everything and light everything correctly or as good as we could given the room dynamics. But Angela was fun and engaging as Osgood. And we had a really good audience count for being at a convention taping! The episode will air sometime this fall on SciFiGeekProductions Youtube page! Then it was a very fast breakdown as another panel of course needed the room right after us. But it was definitely fun!

Somewhere in the weekend I also went to Angela Pritchett's book signing! She has an awesome second cookbook inspired by Doctor Who! I have the first one and missed out on getting the second one on site so Amazon it is for me! Haha! She handed out a sample peanut butter cookie from the books recipes. It was so yummy! Fun and delicious recipes! Buy her books!!

I went to the Davros Variety Show. It was so much fun! Terry Molloy is of course the most entertaining! But I loved the ukele performances by Cat Smith and Angela Pritchett. The singing from Hannah Harkness is always funny! So that was a great time! I hope they have something similar again next year!

Gallifrey Squares was something I missed the previous year so I needed to go this year!! The room was still crowded but not standing room only busy. Found seats and watched the fun begin! There were a couple ladies who had too much to drink near me and were acting up, mostly just being loud and shouting out answers and general obnoxiousness. But once their friend was done being "on stage" they left. And then I could enjoy the rest of the game show. It was a lot of fun. Great questions, trivia and such. And I loved everyone who was in cosplay! So much fun!

Sunday was a down day for us. Got up, packed the car and checked out and then just wandered the vendor room for a bit. Didn't really hit any other panels. With the semi-long drive home, we got on the road around lunch time. That meant I would miss Oni and James' closing panel though again. But such is life. Maybe next year!

RegenerationWho is really the only con I actually want to do everything a con has to offer! I love the celebs of course. Meeting them and getting autographs or photos are fab with them. And Regen always gets great guests! And I of course love shopping, so the vendor's room is always a fav to walk around in and try to spend money on local artists and such. And of course I get to see friends from afar. But it's the one con (and Intervention) that I actually enjoy going to the panels. They have wonderful guest speakers, discussions, interesting topics, and topics to entice anyone's interests! So it really is just a wonderful con to go to. I can't wait for Intervention Con in Sept and RegenWho 3!!!! Thanks for a great con Oni & James and your quality staff!!!

P.S. - Next year's guests are already lining up and it's going to be magnificent! Michelle Gomez, who plays Missy, is going to be there! I will finally get to meet her!!! My "namesake" hehe. So my hotel and tickets have already been bought! And I'll be first to get her autograph/photo ticket if there are presales! heehee Cannot wait for next year!!

Geek Girls' Castle Is Coming!

My next big project is getting an online store ready and together to sell handmade nerdy skirts (with pockets!!) on Etsy that I've been working on for myself and friends. But I've decided to finally bring my product to the world. I'm really excited to get all this under way and have inventory to start it all!

A website is being designed to house this blog and the store at Geek Girls' Castle. I have a lot on the backend to still do, a lot of tech and design work to do, along with actual production of my wares I plan on selling. But I'm hoping to get it all done by month's end and be able to share the baby with you all soon.

I'm really excited to finally have the time and energy to get this project off the ground. I know I have some business lingo to learn and web tech to learn and get through too so my apologies if things are bumpy at first. Nothing is perfect out of the gate though and I'm more than willing to learn it all as best I can and as quickly as I can. So just bear with me as I get through it all.

I'll be announcing everything across the board on social media when it's all ready so keep an eye out! I can't wait to share this with everyone!

Regeneration Who 2!!

Maryland’s Doctor Who Convention returns this March 18-20th in Hunt Valley, MD!! And I couldn't be more excited!! Not only are we taping an episode of Captain Kyle's Cosplay Spotlight there, (Saturday at 5pm!) I have a couple new cosplays to debut!! (Can you guess with my name??) haha!

Re)Generation Who is just one of those cons that are so well run and and have the best staff members around, that I now look forward to it every year. And just like any convention, of course I go because I love the celebs, seeing all the fans for Doctor Who in one place, and meeting up with friends I may not get to see everyday!

The programming schedule is also now up and though the hotel is sold out at the con rate, there might still be rooms available through travel websites or the hotel site itself. Also buy tickets asap!! They will be going quickly!!! As you can see below, daily tickets are being sold on March 4th as well, so even if you can only join the fun for one day, those will be available in a couple days. And it's totally worth i!! 

From Regen's website: 

With a very rare Peter Davison (5th Doctor) USA appearance and fan favorite Doctor Colin Baker (6th Doctor) and companions such as Nicola Bryant (6’s Companion), Sophie Aldred (7’s Companion), and Frazer Hines (2’s Companion) the convention has already been named one of the top things to do in Baltimore for 2016 by The Baltimore Sun. Over 25 celebrity guests will greet fans this year. 

Many other celebrity guests from the television show are appearing in person such as Nick Briggs (the voice of the Daleks), Deborah Watling (2′s Companion), Nev Fountain and Rob Shearman (DW writers), Terry Molloy (Davros), and a very rare US appearance by Anneke Wills (1 and 2’s Companion). Doctor Who music composer Dominic Glynn will also perform a full concert for fans. 

The programming will feature a new children’s program, autograph and photo opportunities, deep discussion of both the new and old TV shows, books, audio dramas, viewings of both common and rare Doctor Who videos, scavenger hunts, cosplay contests, an extensive vendor’s room, artists, giveaways, and plenty of surprises TBA. You may view a draft of this year’s program here: https://regenerationwho.com/programming/programming-descriptions/ 

Our entire convention team is thrilled to be working with so many great Doctor Who actors to bring this to the fans. (Re)Generation Who is a safe space where all Doctor Who fans can meet the actors, show off their costumes, and meet other people who love the show just as much as we do. Sign language interpreters are available upon request.
(Re)Generation Who is an Onezumi Events production. Helmed by Oni Hartstein, this will mark the organizations’ eighth time organizing an exciting major 3 day event. 

Tickets for (Re)Generation Who can be bought at ReGenerationWho.com may be purchased in advance online at $75 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under for the full weekend. At door cost is $85 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under.Daily tickets will go on sale on March 4th if the event does not sell out before then. See the website for daily admission prices. Advanced tickets may only be purchased until Tuesday 3/15 at midnight. After that tickets may only be purchased at the door while they last.