Wait, what!? Project SEAPonyCon isn't doing an April Fools' thing this year?
Hello from Southeast Asia. It's that time of year again where we pull out a silly fantasy and make a fun little campaign out of it. In 2017 we pretended to give out free flight tickets. In 2018 we thought we could print our own money. In 2019 we had a giggle about organising a convention in a place where everyone could be together without needing to travel.
This year we thought...what if that last one was actually not as distant a dream as we thought?
Sparks flew, arguments were had, sleep was lost and now we're proud to announce Quantum SEAPonyCon - for real this time. Yes, we're actually doing a con that we once thought wasn't possible.
Where are we doing this con, you may ask? Where on earth would you be able to host a convention in peace amidst lockdowns, travel restrictions, movement control orders and other limitations that won't even let you leave your house?
We scoured the world for the answer when it was sitting right in front of us - a Minecraft server.
Quantum SEAPonyCon will be taking place this 24 May in the UTC+8 timezone in The Medium - a Minecraft server that will be created for Project SEAPonyCon's bustling community where everyone is invited to partake in the online festivities. A place that truly resonates with our motto that a place for friendship shouldn't be for just one nation.
If you’re a keen Minecrafter, we welcome you to help us build our dream convention space in The Medium. We welcome you if you have an interest as well as the following:
- A licensed copy of Minecraft Java Edition, preferably running on Windows. The Medium will unfortunately not be compatible with Minecraft Bedrock, sorry.
- An installation of Minecraft Java Version 1.12.2 . You can do this via your launcher.
- A Discord account with a verified phone number
- Voice call capability to participate in group calls
- A stable internet connection
- Basic knowledge of Minecraft blocks and materials
If you are interested, join the Builders' Guild Discord Server at https://discord.gg/hex7Sjz.
We’ll build this world together - a world to become our haven and our safe space. A place to celebrate our resilience and to show the world that the magic of friendship can’t be stopped by some stupid virus.
Despite Southeast Asia being a dispersed region peppered with islands and separated by oceans, our community has been one of the most resilient in the world.
In 2016, PHPonyCon’s swan song was held just as Typhoon Haima, the third most intense tropical cyclone in the world for the year, pounded North Luzon just a couple hundred miles north of the venue, leaving death and destruction in its wake.
In the same year, The Friendship Express, Malaysia’s brony convention was held in the middle of a city under a police lockdown due to anti-government protests, bravely pushing on despite a reduced turnout.
In 2017, Project SEAPonyCon’s debut and Thailand Pony Convention's third event took place in Bangkok, Thailand - the capital of a nation that was still under a military junta.
In 2019, Operation SEAPonyCon narrowly avoided Typhoon Tisoy, which swept through Manila and cancelled most post-con activities, leaving members of our team stranded in the city as flights were cancelled and the airport shut down.
This year, we face a pandemic that threatens social gatherings - soldiering on with a physical convention wouldn’t just be foolish but also dangerous. As we put our attendees first, we do not want to put any of you in the line of danger. Quantum SEAPonyCon is the way we’re going to do this - to celebrate the spirit of community even when we cannot physically be together.
Make no mistake. This is Project SEAPonyCon, just in a new form factor.
That means you get to host panels, run activities, play games and perform just like at any of our previous conventions through Harmony Six, our activity system.
We're not quite ready to deploy the entire rundown and pre-requisites for what you need to run a panel or activity at Quantum SEAPonyCon so stay tuned to our website, social media outlet and Discord Server to be the first to know.
To find out more or keep up with the discussion, join our Discord server at http://discord.SEAPonyCon.com. Note that this server is different from the Builders' Guild server which is being spun up for those who are helping us build the world for our convention to take place in.
Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SEAPonyCon and on Facebook at https://fb.com/SEAPonyCon for the latest updates. You can also find us on YouTube at http://youtube.SEAPonyCon.com and Instagram at https://instagram.com/
Twitter: Calpain
