End of Year Post, and…Erfworld Party in Minneapolis?
First, Thank You
It's about to be the new year, new decade, even. And I just want to take a moment to thank all Erfworld readers everywhere for making 2009 so successful and bright.
At this time last year, Erfworld was a very different animal. In the year 2009 we finished Book 1, we said goodbye to Giant in the Playground, Harknell built us this amazing new site, we started the Toolbox and the Erfwiki, we took the comic story into prose for the summer (and yeah, part of the fall), Jamie bowed out, we welcomed Xin for Book 2 and beyond, and we got plushies! These were big changes, big risks. Any one of these things could have been a disaster, a disappointment, a wrong turn.
But here we are now at the start of 2010, and Erfworld is doing just great! We are very close to a thousand Tools, the Erfwiki has over 6000 articles, and we pre-sold almost half the plushies we had manufactured! So I especially want to thank those who supported Erfworld directly this year, for your donations and your memberships and your store orders, and those who have filled up the wiki and posted on the forums and the Facebook group, and for the fan art and stories and songs that are being made and shared, and for the chat in the IRC channel, and for everyone who Tweeted or blogged or otherwise told their friends to read Erfworld.
You make me really happy, and you make it all possible.
Next, 2010: Book 1, Erfworld for Mobile, and MarsCon Williamsburg
2010 is already looking busy, as you can see from my con schedule to the left.
We're planning to get Erfworld Book 1: The Battle for Gobwin Knob into print this coming year, of course. But those plans have been amended yet again, and the timetable has been pushed back to something like early summer. We are still working with Rich Burlew and Giant in the Playground, but another publisher has taken the lead and wants to do it in a way that will result in both a cheaper cover price and the probability that you will spot the book at your local chain bookstore. I really can't say no to either of those.
Also this year, thanks to our partnership with Robot Comics we're going to start delivering Book 1 reformatted for mobile devices, including (but not limited to) Android, iPhone, Kindle, and Nintendo DSi. Watch this space soon for a free download of the first part of Book 1 for Android.
Now, speaking of the con schedule, it contains two MarsCons, one in Williamsburg, VA and one in Bloomington, MN. The one in Virginia is a great little party relaxacon and I highly recommend you come. My good friend Tom Smith is their Filk Guest of Honor this year, and he's worth the price of a badge alone. I'll be singing, doing panels with many webcomics luminaries such as Steve Napierski of Dueling Analogs, and also tending bar and getting blitzed in various room parties.
Finally...MarsCon, Minnesota
But I admit, it's MarsCon in Minnesota that really has my heart and other organs. This con is completely unique.
First, it has everything you could want in a small/medium multi-genre convention. Cosplay, dealer room, multiple programming tracks. I've been on some great writing panels there and really learned something from other pros, such as author (and Erfworld fan) Walter Hunt.
But the main reason I go there is the Dementia Music Track. This is insane and impossible to describe, but it's the biggest gathering of comedy musicians anywhere. I won't even try to list them. Even if you can't make it to MarsCon, you can help make it happen and get an idea of the fun if you buy the MarsCon 2010 Dementia Track Fund Raiser CD/MP3 set. Every year, the con raises money to bring us there by selling these choice recordings of last year's performances. This is the funniest stuff from 2009's shows, hand selected by my great friend the great Luke Ski.
I will be leading off the whole track in my (now customary) Friday night, 9 pm slot. This lets me get the stage time done with right away and turn into Party Rob. The parties at MarsCon are legendary. The whole 13th floor of the hotel becomes a giant hall crawl, with theme-room after theme-room competing to be the best party of the con (there's an actual prize).
So Party Rob wants to take it to a new level at MarsCon 2010, and host an Erfworld party. The one at Capclave was great, but we can do better than that, I think. For this, I need help from any Erfworld fans in the Twin Cities area who would be willing to do preparation on the ground ahead of the con (go shopping, make decorations, organize people), and/or help run the party (tend bar, check IDs, run for ice, clean up spills, bounce asshats, etc.) If this sounds like you, please PM me in the Forums.
I will only hold this party if I think I have enough help to make it happen. It's a lot of work but worth it.
Erfworld party or not, I want to encourage anyone who can make it to come to MarsCon. It's the weekend of March 5—7, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Minneapolis Hotel, which is right by Mall of America and the airport. This is one of the biggest highlights of my year, and I want to share it with as many of you as possible.
