• Convention Compilation - July 13: Galacon Edition

    Pic unrelated, but adorable

    So, we hosted a compilation, but only one guy showed up. This is the quietest week on the convention front we've seen since the idea of conventions started to get taken seriously.

    That means its Galacon's time to shine! Euro bronies everywhere, rejoice and read up on the latest announcement from them. It seems a little silly to summarize this time, so I'll just refer you to the page break where you can see the singular press release from the week. We'll be back next Friday with even more conventiony goodness, provided they start returning our calls. It's two days before you sound desperate, right? I don't want to mess up this "second date" thing...


    Update: Trotcon sent in a piece a little bit late. There's only a week until that happens, though, so let's be nice and slide that in here too. Two's a party, right?

    Canni’s Special Surprise


    Dear loyal subjects,

    Clock is ticking - Towards August! Galacon is hitting crunch time despite the hot weather and we’re all doing our best.

    Our ticket sales were also running hot, evidently. Demand is still high and this is why we encourage you not to hesitate - We have 25 Basic tickets up for sale again! Please note, however, that tickets can’t be refunded after the 16h July. Should you find out that you are unable to attend after this date, you can only privately sell the ticket to someone else. If you want to be on the safe side for a refund, send us a confirmation of your payment once you’ve sent it. For that and all other ticket related questions, go to ticket@grand-galloping-gala.eu.

    To all who can’t attend in person but don’t want to miss out on all the Gala bizzam, we can help you out: We will get a livestream up and running in cooperation with EverFree Radio {{http://everfreeradio.com/}} that will show the events in the event room and record both the event room and the workshop room. If you got a question or three on your mind for the VA panel, message us with the subject “Julia” or “Anneli” at info@grand-galloping-gala.eu. Of course we are also still looking for OC art of the VA ponies for said panel that you can send to the very same adress.

    Do you like games, puzzles ... challenges, even? Maybe you should take a peek at our Twitter {{https://twitter.com/gala_con/status/222650939310481408}} account, then. If you do as told you can unveil the final Galacon poster before August!

    Furthermore, we’d like to remind you that you’ll need lots of €questrian Bits (aka €uros) for both the Your Siblings/Bronies for Good auction and the Dealers Den as well as the fun surprises we’ve packed. Also, you will get the opportunity to buy DVDs and CDs from EDEL at a special Galacon discount price.

    Our email inboxes are always open for all your inquiries, concerns and wishes.

    Best wishes,
    Your Galacon Team




    From the Desk of Trotcon

    Why can't we hold all these announcements?

    TrotCon is a mere week away, but that doesn't mean we're done rolling out exciting new things. In fact, we think it's just the right amount of time to start surprising you with more fun stuff. The astute of you might already know some of this news, as we've dropped subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints in various places. If you're feeling out of the loop, make sure you're following us on all of those fancy social networks and you can be the first pony on the block to find out what's in store! During the con, we'll mainly be posting our last-minute updates on Twitter, so follow @TrotCon and you'll always know what's up. Google+ users might be aware of that recently-added event feature; we sure are, and have an event for TrotCon 2012 that you can be a part of. Taking photos at the con? Join our new Flickr group!

    Got all that? Awesome, now let's have a convention! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First things first, you'll need to know where to be and when to get there. The registration table will be near the stairs on the third floor of the Ohio Union. Registration will open Saturday at 9:30 AM, and will remain there until the line dies down, at which point we'll move it to the second floor near the Con Ops room. Don't worry, we'll have signs pointing the way. If you've already pre-registered, great! Just show up with a photo ID, and we'll find your badge and get you on your way so you can enjoy the con. For those registering at the door, you'll have to fill out a short form, and of course, give us some bits.

    Now, what's in store? A TON! We'll have an unprecedented SIXTY HOURS of total panel content, with at least four events to keep your attention at any given time. Our full convention schedule will be posted by the end of this weekend, so you'll have time to prepare your body, but for now, let's have a glance at just a few of these events.

    For those who are interested in fanfiction, you might recognize the name ROBCakeran53. Best known as the author of My Little Dashie, he'll be participating in our writers' panel. We also have Cupcakes Nom, writer and Equestria Daily prereader as well as being the ever-humble (har har) Humble Brony Bundle creator. Still not enough? May we remind you that those fine gentlecolts will be joined by another prereader, the author of Spiderses, Argembarger. But wait, there's more: thanks to the magical powers of the internet, we will also be talking with Past Sins author Pen Stroke via Skype! And that's just for ONE panel! If participation is what you're looking for, you might want to head over to our speed fanfiction contest. You'll be given a prompt and thirty minutes to write, then we'll pick the best entries and hand them off to people who have no idea what they're about to read.

    Fanfiction not your thing? How about art? On top of our previously-announced guests, PixelKitties, John Joseco, and WillDrawForFood1, our artists' discussion panel will also be joined by Toxic-Mario, ECMajor, and Skoon. These talented individuals will gather together to draw, chat, and of course, discuss the wide variety of art styles and mediums prominent in the fandom. Not enough art for you? Make some of your own, and be a part of our speed drawing contest. You'll get a prompt and a few minutes to draw, then the judges will pick the winning entries. Bring your wit and creativity with you, too! The judging won't always be based on talent, and everyone has a chance, even if your drawing talent isn't that great.

    There will be wubs! Come to our dance Saturday evening for hours of live DJing, and get shaken by Vinyl Scratch's bass cannon. We'll have pony karaoke as well, so if you've got a great voice, come show it off - and if not, you can still come make a foal of yourself and have a great time doing it! Of course, we'll also be running a pony music panel discussing the history and future of the brony music scene, featuring DoubleCleff, Rawkz0rz, My Little Dashie, Deimos Foxx of Celestia Radio, and Xavier Sade of DJ Pon3 Radio. We'll have a couple surprises in store for you as well!

    Gamers of all sorts will find plenty to do in our gaming room. We'll have a wide variety of computers and consoles, including a Minecraft server which will be hosted locally by the Ponycraft admins, so get ready to poneh poneh. Gentlecolt Collaborations will also be showing off their up-and-coming pony dating sim game, Love is Magic, at our convention, and will have a playable beta for you to try. Get your groove on with a StepMania setup decked out in pony songs, become very confused at the Luna game series, enjoy some classics of gaming history, laugh at the CDi Zelda games, or pony up for a round of some tabletop D&D-style campaigns. Also, if you have a Nintendo 3DS, remember to turn on StreetPass so your Miis can mingle. All this and more awaits you!

    If pony merch is your deal, get your wallets ready, because there will be plenty of great content in our Artists' Acres. Prints, stickers, jewelry, buttons, pins, plushes, and custom ponies are just some of the enticing items that will be available for sale. If none of that strikes your fancy, many of our artists will be doing on-the-spot commissions. Of course, there will be official TrotCon t-shirts and Peanut Bucker pins as well. Those interested in the toys can bring their collections to show off at our pony toy collectors' meet-and-trade. If you're the crafty type, come by our fan merchandise panel, where we'll be giving away a rainbow of pony hair courtesy of Retro Dolls US!

    Are you a total nerd? Put on your propellor hat and have a look at our attendee statistics page. The brony surveys that have been conducted might give you an idea of the whole fandom, but these stats will tell what sort of company you'll be in during TrotCon. This will be updated shortly after pre-registration closes.

    If you're somehow still without a place to stay for the weekend, what are you waiting for? We have a deal with the luxurious Hyatt downtown for hotel rooms at a rate of $125 a night. Split four ways, that's just over $30 a person for a stylin' hotel that will be full of bronies. Plus, that's where the after-hours party will be on Saturday night, so come and party like Princess Luna! Coming to the con by yourself? Too much empty space in that hotel room? Make some friends! Have a look at the Ride and Room Shares board on our forums: http://trotcon.com/forums/viewforum.php?id=7