Michael Lee's Train of Thought

Tomorrow, Lords of Waterdeep, the Dungeons and Dragons-based boardgame that my brother co-developed with Rodney Thompson comes out from Wizards of the Coast.

I had a chance to play this once when my brother was in town for my wedding last year -- so in a very real sense, we played this game as my Bachelor party.  Nerdy, yes.  Relatively low-key: yes, but that's how I wanted it.  But it was also awesome, and I've been waiting almost a year for the game to come out, and I pre-ordered it (because I'm not getting a free copy!) the day it became available.

While I was my brother's first Dungeon Master for D&D, I stopped playing the game in my teenage years.  I didn't have the time or energy to be a lifestyle gamer.  It's a lot of work.

But I have huge affection for the D&D mythos.  Even before my brother started working on the product, I've always believed it's one of the great geek franchises -- like Star Wars, Star Trek, the superhero universes of DC Comics or Marvel, Doctor Who,  The Lord of the Rings, and so on.  Community doesn't do a Pathfinder episode -- they do an episode about Dungeons and Dragons.

I am a fairly regular board gamer -- and some of my favorite games are games like Ticket to Ride, which I'm a hardcore player of on the iPad especially.  And I like some of the games like Dominion, and other games with that sort of flavor as well.  I've enjoyed the other D&D Board Games my brother has worked on like Legend of Drizzt -- especially as they give a bit of that D&D flavor, but in a limited time scope, but Lords of Waterdeep is the best of the games yet, and something that deserves to be played very widely.

Here's a video about how to play the game, with Rodney Thompson.



I think this is a very good fan review of it as well, and gives a good indepth look at the artistic design of the game.


You will be able to get the game at Amazon.com, of course, as well as your local gaming shop like The Source Comics & Games here in Minneapolis, as well as other places.



It's a moment of sibling geek pride for me, obviously -- but more than that, it's a game I can't wait to play again myself, on a final board with graphics and artistic design.

Oh yeah...I should write up about my Arisia experience here.

I had a fantastic time at Arisia.  I'd heard about the convention for years -- it has an origin story is almost identical to CONvergence's, and some friends and acquaintances have attended for years and so when I was able to combine it with a work trip, it was a great opportunity.

One of the things that was especially nice was since I knew people already, I was able to get in and volunteer right away.  It's the reason why the fan-run volunteer conventions are the best -- it's a co-operative activity that everyone does together, and even if you want to make it a "show", it's community based.

Every convention experience is unique for the individual then -- and so perhaps since I was there right away as a volunteer, it wasn't that much different from a CONvergence experience for me -- by the end, when I had five minutes I'd visit my new friends in the Programming Nexus/Operations area, because that's where I ALWAYS go when I have a few extra minutes at a convention.

I took reams of notes -- it was nice to be at a convention that had the same sort of audience as CONvergence, and roughly the same size, and I looked at everything as a student of how you can make good convention experiences.  How can you make it good for all of the various constituents and communities, since we know that the best conventions can have a huge impact on their members lives.

And that's awesome.

Labels: arisia, fandom, scifi

Since you can still pre-register at the last minute, good time to mention that I'm planning a trip to Chicago for the science fiction convention Capricon in a few weeks. I'll be hosting a party for CONvergence over the weekend, and will be partnering with some of the other local MN conventions as well with the party, as we're also planning ahead for Chicon later in the year. I'm going to be on a bunch of panels as well.

Avengers Vs. X-Men - Thursday, 02-09-2012 - 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm - Botanic Garden A (Special Events - Programming) Marvel is planning a major crossover event. Who will win this fight? A discussion of how Captain America punching Cyclops in the face might affect the Marvel Universe. Javier Grillo-Marxuach Michael Lee (M) Les McClaine Frank Salvatini

So You Want to Throw a Con Party... - Friday, 02-10-2012 - 10:00 am to 11:30 am - Birch B So you want to throw a con party? Learn how to do it effectively, safely, and with pizzaz. Kim Kofmel Michael Lee Terrence Miltner (M) Marah Searle-Kovacevic

 My First Doctor- The Classic Doctor Who Panel - Friday, 02-10-2012 - 11:30 am to 1:00 pm - Botanic Garden A (Special Events - Programming) Whether he wore a scarf or a leather jacket, he was still the Doctor. Journey back with us into the vortex to late night PBS in the 1980s or the SciFi channel in the 00s, as we look back at the first time we watched Doctor Who. Javier Grillo-Marxuach Michael Lee (M) Kristine Smith Dr. Michael Unge Joy Ward

We Do It in Groups: Fandom and Social Media - Friday, 02-10-2012 - 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm - Elm Fans can now constantly stay in contact with one another online through social media services such as Facebook, LiveJournal, and Twitter. How does this affect the fandom experience? Is it replacing clubs and conventions? Kerri-Ellen Kelly Michael Lee Leah Zeldes Smith (M)

Cons That Are Almost as Cool as Capricon - Friday, 02-10-2012 - 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm - Birch B Come and hear about other regional conventions that are nearly as cool as Capricon. (CONvergence, WisCon, Windycon, etc.) Michael Lee (M) Dave McCarty Joseph Stockman Kathryn Sullivan


Conrunning for the Unbalanced - Saturday, 02-11-2012 - 10:00 am to 11:30 am - Elm Are you enjoying your convention experience? Do you sometimes wonder if you should volunteer to help run an awesome convention? A bunch of convention committee veterans discuss what it actually takes to plan an SF/F event. Michael Lee Dave McCarty Helen Montgomery (M) Marah Searle-Kovacevic

Podcasters Are My Secret Friends - Saturday, 02-11-2012 - 11:30 am to 1:00 pm - Birch B In the last few years, there has been an explosion of SF/F themed podcasts such as the Hugo-winning StarShipSofa, the Nerdist, the SF Squeecast, Galactic Suburbia, Writing Excuses, and Escape Pod. Chicon has even added a Best Fancast category to this year's Hugo Award ballot. We discuss some of our favorites. Michael Lee Lynne M. Thomas Michael D. Thomas (M)

My Sarah Jane - Sunday, 02-12-2012 - 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm - Botanic Garden B (Special Events - Programming) Come squee and reminisce about Elisabeth Sladen. We will discuss her impact on both the old and new series and on Doctor Who Fandom. Alex Bledsoe Dermot Dobson Michael Lee Lynne M. Thomas Michael D. Thomas (M)

Should be fun!

Labels: capricon, fandom, scifi

I decided to run again for the Convergence Events board in the election in January. It's a hard job, especially when you both try to keep your own opinions as well as working collaboratively with others. But it's also especially rewarding, and I think Convergence Events can use my experience within the organization as we go forward. Like every candidate, I wrote up some responses based on some pre-existing questions. One thing that makes this particular election difficult for me is that I'm going to miss the actual election meeting, and I'm missing it because I'm going to Arisia, in part because I feel that part of my role as a director is to be an ambassador for the organization at other conventions around the country, as that's one thing that I've felt CONvergence could do a little better at. Because I'm not going to be able to make the meeting, I'm especially open for people to ask me questions, here as comments on this post, or via twitter, or via facebook, by email, or by any forum. Thanks, Michael

Labels: convergence, fandom

I suppose I should Speak Out With My Geek Out.

But then, I probably have for years, and helped others speak as well, by working and volunteering for conventions.

I've been involved with CONvergence here in Minnesota since the very first year back in 1999; it allowed me to bring together my love of science fiction and fantasy in all of its various forms -- specific brands and media types, both the classics and next year's model. Unless there is a larger one that I'm not aware of, it had more members this year than any other non-profit, volunteer-run Science Fiction and Fantasy convention in the world -- and perhaps for a few years before that.

But there are lots of other conventions, and the best elements of all of them is the chance to band together and celebrate your favorite things.  You see this in lots of ways; the cosplay and parade at Dragon*Con, the Hugos of a Worldcon.  Even the big dog & pony show of a San Diego Comic Con is at its best when the Hollywood machine responds to the audience with what it loves -- something that is much more difficult behind a TV or movie screen.

And we see conventions reach out into the rest of the world -- locally I think about things like the over thirty thousand that Anime Detour raised for the Red Cross for Japan. The various activities of Geek Partnership Society.

And this isn't unique to activities in Minnesota -- if you look at something like con news you'll see conventions every single weekend. Some are very focused, others are extremely wide-reaching. That's as it should be; one size doesn't need to fit all. You can have Fencon or Arisia or Gallifrey One or Capricon or any number of other conventions.

That's one way to celebrate whatever sort of geek you have...

Labels: convergence, speakgeek

I attended my first Worldcon recently, Renovation in Reno, NV. I've been going to conventions since I was teenager, primarily locally, but I've attended both Dragon*Con and San Diego Comic Con on the national level.  I've been actively involved in CONvergence for over a decade, and while CONvergence last year was bigger than Renovation, there is a tradition, legacy, and reach to Worldcon that is unique in fandom.

The Hugos themselves are awesome, though I was embarrassed by the production values of the Hugo ceremony itself.  The Hugo Award itself has high production values. I came out thinking that they don't really know what they have, and I was a bit bothered by that. This was perhaps an unusual first Hugo experience for me, since I am friends with the editors of Chicks Dig Time Lords and had more than the usual personal investment in seeing them win.  But I think even when people complain about the Hugos, it is because those awards mean something to a wider group of people than just those that attend Worldcon.

I was also highly envious of the main ballroom for Masquerade and Hugos - it fit 2,000+ people,  and the stage was immense.  It was glorious.

The Masquerade itself was very good, but considering I had heard about Worldcon masquerades forever, I was less impressed than I expected to be.  But I suspect I had unreasonable expectations -- as it really was a very solid and enjoyable masquerade.  I knew that Paul Cornell running Just A Minute masquerade half time show would be excellent, and I was not at all surprised to discover the Seanan McGuire was an immediate master of the game. There was very little hall costuming, but I believe the weather and location may have hampered that.

This was a multi-campus convention; and the distance between the two host hotels required regular bus service. And these were full commercially obtained busses.  Overall, I felt the bus service worked well, though there were some people frustrated by long wait times. Oddly enough, I felt better about the buses when I saw professionals like Larry Niven and special guests like Dr Demento take the bus.

I saw some improvements i would make in how they could take take advantage of what they had - the parties were in one building, and the Hugos and Masquerade were in another, and the other building had more of the membership.  That meant I went to parties the first twonights, but then stayed in the Peppermill the other two, where I had my hotel room.  There were limitations because casino hotels are not great social spaces for conventions. However, I think in a multi-campus solution there should be at least a small consuite or other designated social space as much as possible - there wasn't a great 'Barcon' or 'LobbyCon' type social space. They had 'event' panels to keep people in the Peppermill in the evening after Masquerade and Hugos, but I was a little disappointed in my chance to chat and be social on both evenings.

That's all a function of the location though -- and one of the things about Worldcon is that it is a largish convention that travels -- you don't have to go to Atlanta or San Diego every year, but it may end up in areas that don't otherwise see a convention like this.

They had a very intriguing 'Art Night' that I did not attend, and I  heard many very positive things that made me regret not attending.

Programming had plenty to keep me interested.  My favorite item was seeing Other Hand Productions's production of Whatnot, a puppet show that was unique, artistic, and wonderful.  There were a variety of other items I attended, some on convention and non-profit running, some readings, and the usual sorts of discussions.  Of course, one of the strengths of Worldcon is that the concentration of professionals is higher than you'd have at any regional, even a larger one like CONvergence.  That has some benefits, but then you do get circumstances where you pull in a pro to talk about something from a fan context and it's actually not as in depth of a conversation as you might be able to manage elsewhere.

I had a personally very positive volunteer experience in programming ops - I was thanked regularly, had fun, and would absolutely do it again.  They have two levels of volunteering rewards - one that after a certain amount of hours you get  a volunteer t-shirt, and another that will get you some level of reimbursement.  I knew from my years of experience on CONvergence that even volunteering a little bit at a volunteer-run convention enhances your experience of the convention, and thankfully that was true here as well.

Consuite was heavily hampered because the convention was only allowed to serve separately pre-packaged food, due to hotel or legal restrictions.  I think this is something that you can't expect to be the same at every Worldcon, and I certainly expect a more robust consuite in Chicago next year.

Registration was very smooth.  I liked the landscape version of badges, and the thin wide ribbons are turning into something that is democratic and not exclusionary, but silly con fun.  With the ease of ordering ribbons online you have something that lots of people made little ribbons to trade and share.  Instead of pre-printing all of the badges they printed out labels that were attached at registration.

Most of the other facets of the convention were what you expect - dealers was OK and was blessed with plenty of space in a main convention hall along with the art show.  They had a teen lounge as well as children's programming and a separate child care, all of which seemed well received.

I attended parts of the WSFS business meeting. OMFG. This is Roberts Rules of Order taken to extreme. You CAN influence things - there were some elections, and a fair amount of votes about future Hugo categories.  But it is a legislative fight, and things move VERY slowly, as just about everything needs to pass a two separate consecutive Worldcons.  WSFS is very much like the early US underer the Articles of Confederation - it's very weak.  There is no Worldcon, Inc. - each year is put on by a different organization. Nothing happens fast at WSFS, though, and while I see a desire to improve Worldcon and an effort to make it relevant to 21st century fandom, it is not going to be quick -- and may not be quick enough.  There is, oddly for 'fans of science fiction', a definite conservative (not in the political sense) streak.

Minnesota is well represented at this Worldcon - there were about 60 MN registered and I saw about two or three dozen people that I recognized from the area.

Parties were OK, not as many as I've seen at CONvergence and a lot of one night parties.  I don't know how typical this was, as Reno has very little SF convention history, and many of the people the were not local and like me, may not have had the capability to bring in additional supplies.

Over all, I had a really positive experience.  I met a good amount of people and strengthened bonds with some acquaintances.  I'm certainly planning on attending Chicago, and I think every science fiction fan should, at some point, try to make an effort to attending a Worldcon, especially when it is near them.   I'd like to see a MASSIVE turnout from Minnesota next year.

Also, with the rise of electronic distribution of the Hugo voters packet, a Worldcon supporting membership has never been more financially appealing, and instead of complaining about the Hugo results, you can nominate and vote and be a part of the process.

Labels: fandom, worldcon

Dragon*Con is terrible, awesome, wonderful, crazy, literary, illiterate, celebrity-focused, and fan-focused. It's a convention where I can casually run into Stan Lee in a bar, and then wait hours to see him in line. Registration takes ten bazillion years to get in, and the crowds are insane, but you have an incredibly diverse Dealer's Room.

Oddly all of these things are true. Dragon*Con is a mass of contradictions -- it is both the best convention and the worst convention I've been to at the same time.

The Dragon*Con Parade is glorious. It's not just one ghost-buster car, but six. You haven't seen that many stormtroopers in one place without special effects or CGI. It felt like the entire Green Lantern Corps is there.

So yes. Everything you hear about Dragon*Con is true, both good and bad. It is the Nerd Mardi Gras.

Labels: Dragon*Con