Escapade 23 Con Report
Feb. 25th, 2013 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jetpack_monkeyI went into this Escapade a little apprehensive -- I didn't have the best time last year, although there were bright spots. However, I really had nothing to worry about, as it turns out.
I had such an amazing time this year. A lot of it was just from the fact that it was my second year at the con, but there were other factors. I was staying with roommates this year (anoel, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elipie, and kuwdora) who I could hang with. I knew more people. But more importantly, I saw a con that was more open and friendly, even (especially) to the first-timers around us.
I had some great conversations with fans that I already knew, fans that I knew of, and fans I was meeting for the first time. There were some thoughtful panels, some learny panels, and one panel where I practically busted a gut from laughing (oh Community fans, I heart you so much). At the Dead Dog Party, there was the dramatic reading from The Hazards of Being Male: Surviving the Myth of Masculine Privilege, a screed on how society puts down men and how they can rise above it (seriously, it was sooooo bad).
I moderated or co-moderated three panels this year -- the Mac Vidders Roundtable (where it was literally just people I already knew), the Bestivids of Festivids panel (where there was some excellent discussion of the eight vids we showed), and the Wayback Panel, which was about sexuality, gender, and race in fandom. The last I was very nervous about, being that I am pretty much the definition of privilege, but it went well! There was only one really borderline icky thing that was said and it didn't derail the conversation.
I also offered to moderate a DS9 panel, but I went to the wrong room and that was super-embarrassing and we will speak no more of it.
The Saturday vidshow was AMAZING and there will probably be a separate report on that coming soon. I was honored to join the show behind the scenes as a tech monkey. I even got to sit on the table with the riser! Fancy!
But man, oh, man. The Best. The Very Best Time. We had a belated 30th birthday party for me in our hotel room on Saturday night. My friends got me drunk and brought in new fannish friends for talking and laughing and telling stories. If that had been all that happened, it would have been wonderful.
Thenfranzeska said she wanted to show us a rough draft of the vid she was working on. We hooked up a laptop to the television and the first frame of the vid showed a weirdly familiar graveyard. And I'm like, "Wait..." Then the vid started and Melissa Graps was swinging and I was like "Wait, is this a Kill Baby Kill vid? Did Franzi make me..." But before I could finish that thought, there were clips from Lisa and the Devil...
Let me back up. As most of you probably know, I consider horror movies to be my primary fandom. About 40% of my vids are based on horror source. One of my favorite horror directors is Mario Bava, an Italian director who often turned iffy scripts into things of macabre beauty. He's very well known in horror circles, but amongst my vidding friends, very few people (save probablyabsolutedestiny) have even heard of the guy.
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago in #vidding chat, I said something along the lines of, "If someone made me a multi-source Mario Bava vid, I would absolutely die. But that's never going to happen."
Unbeknownst to me, Franzeska said, "Challenge accepted!" She went and bought a whole bunch of Bava films and started putting together a vid. I should have seen this coming. I didn't. But I should have. Because Franzi.
So back to the vid. I stood there, wide-eyed and barely breathing, as this things of beauty unfurled before me. So many different films that I absolutely loved with connections all coming together. My hands went over my mouth and I made squeaking noises. Someone recorded it and it may get posted to the Internet.
The vid ended, the words "Happy Birthday" came up in bloody font, and I went over and tacklehugged Franzeska and just held on for dear life for what felt like an eternity. I still can't believe that actually happened. I am so overjoyed that I have the friends that I do.
While that whole story wasn't specifically something that happened as part of Escapade, it could not have happened without Escapade or a con like it. These fan run cons that are very sedate and chill allow you to express yourself to your fellow fans without running ragged. At the end of the day, you can go back to your room, have a room party, and have these weird amazing, unique life moments, surrounded by friends old, new, and very new.
I just want to give my thanks to the con organizers who did an amazing job. And I am so pleased that I was able to hang out with such a diverse group of folks. Just a small sampling of some of the people who made my weekend more awesome: Franzeska, Elipie, Kuwdora, Anoel,heresluck, laurashapiro, killabeez, feochadn, mlyn, melina, kerithwyn, nakedbee, renenet, amalthia, arallara, everyone who came to my birthday party (and I apologize that I can't name you individually for I was very drunk -- you were all lovely), and everyone who attended the panels I modded (even the one where I didn't show up because I was in the wrong room). There's some other folks with whom I had significant interactions, but I can't remember their names/find their journals, but you are not forgotten. Except for the name part. That I probably did forget.
I had such an amazing time this year. A lot of it was just from the fact that it was my second year at the con, but there were other factors. I was staying with roommates this year (
anoel, elipie, and kuwdora) who I could hang with. I knew more people. But more importantly, I saw a con that was more open and friendly, even (especially) to the first-timers around us.I had some great conversations with fans that I already knew, fans that I knew of, and fans I was meeting for the first time. There were some thoughtful panels, some learny panels, and one panel where I practically busted a gut from laughing (oh Community fans, I heart you so much). At the Dead Dog Party, there was the dramatic reading from The Hazards of Being Male: Surviving the Myth of Masculine Privilege, a screed on how society puts down men and how they can rise above it (seriously, it was sooooo bad).
I moderated or co-moderated three panels this year -- the Mac Vidders Roundtable (where it was literally just people I already knew), the Bestivids of Festivids panel (where there was some excellent discussion of the eight vids we showed), and the Wayback Panel, which was about sexuality, gender, and race in fandom. The last I was very nervous about, being that I am pretty much the definition of privilege, but it went well! There was only one really borderline icky thing that was said and it didn't derail the conversation.
I also offered to moderate a DS9 panel, but I went to the wrong room and that was super-embarrassing and we will speak no more of it.
The Saturday vidshow was AMAZING and there will probably be a separate report on that coming soon. I was honored to join the show behind the scenes as a tech monkey. I even got to sit on the table with the riser! Fancy!
But man, oh, man. The Best. The Very Best Time. We had a belated 30th birthday party for me in our hotel room on Saturday night. My friends got me drunk and brought in new fannish friends for talking and laughing and telling stories. If that had been all that happened, it would have been wonderful.
Then
franzeska said she wanted to show us a rough draft of the vid she was working on. We hooked up a laptop to the television and the first frame of the vid showed a weirdly familiar graveyard. And I'm like, "Wait..." Then the vid started and Melissa Graps was swinging and I was like "Wait, is this a Kill Baby Kill vid? Did Franzi make me..." But before I could finish that thought, there were clips from Lisa and the Devil...Let me back up. As most of you probably know, I consider horror movies to be my primary fandom. About 40% of my vids are based on horror source. One of my favorite horror directors is Mario Bava, an Italian director who often turned iffy scripts into things of macabre beauty. He's very well known in horror circles, but amongst my vidding friends, very few people (save probably
absolutedestiny) have even heard of the guy.Anyway, a couple of weeks ago in #vidding chat, I said something along the lines of, "If someone made me a multi-source Mario Bava vid, I would absolutely die. But that's never going to happen."
Unbeknownst to me, Franzeska said, "Challenge accepted!" She went and bought a whole bunch of Bava films and started putting together a vid. I should have seen this coming. I didn't. But I should have. Because Franzi.
So back to the vid. I stood there, wide-eyed and barely breathing, as this things of beauty unfurled before me. So many different films that I absolutely loved with connections all coming together. My hands went over my mouth and I made squeaking noises. Someone recorded it and it may get posted to the Internet.
The vid ended, the words "Happy Birthday" came up in bloody font, and I went over and tacklehugged Franzeska and just held on for dear life for what felt like an eternity. I still can't believe that actually happened. I am so overjoyed that I have the friends that I do.
While that whole story wasn't specifically something that happened as part of Escapade, it could not have happened without Escapade or a con like it. These fan run cons that are very sedate and chill allow you to express yourself to your fellow fans without running ragged. At the end of the day, you can go back to your room, have a room party, and have these weird amazing, unique life moments, surrounded by friends old, new, and very new.
I just want to give my thanks to the con organizers who did an amazing job. And I am so pleased that I was able to hang out with such a diverse group of folks. Just a small sampling of some of the people who made my weekend more awesome: Franzeska, Elipie, Kuwdora, Anoel,
heresluck, laurashapiro, killabeez, feochadn, mlyn, melina, kerithwyn, nakedbee, renenet, amalthia, arallara, everyone who came to my birthday party (and I apologize that I can't name you individually for I was very drunk -- you were all lovely), and everyone who attended the panels I modded (even the one where I didn't show up because I was in the wrong room). There's some other folks with whom I had significant interactions, but I can't remember their names/find their journals, but you are not forgotten. Except for the name part. That I probably did forget.
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no subject
Date: 2013-02-26 12:14 am (UTC)Escapade was my first real con; I went for several years, back when my life was more permissive of things like flying cross-country for a few days of fan squee, and I love it and miss it. These days Vividcon is the con of my heart (<3 <3 <3) but I still hope to make it back to Escapade again someday.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-26 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-26 10:32 am (UTC)Re: Hazards of Being Male
Date: 2013-02-26 08:27 pm (UTC)Glad you had a great time!
Re: Hazards of Being Male
Date: 2013-02-26 09:22 pm (UTC)Re: Hazards of Being Male
Date: 2013-02-26 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-27 02:19 am (UTC)Your birthday vid story is beautiful, and makes me go OH I LOVE FANS. Happy belated birthday!
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Date: 2013-03-01 08:44 am (UTC)(this was going to be my attempt at an ASCII figure partying down, but it failed)
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